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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 4, 1984)
RE ITT AN JL6GIE Mother’s Helpers..Party Help Shopping Service..Yard Work ..from Babysitting to Bartenders.. Owned and Operated by an Aggie mom & daughter CARon g* nxz mantzaito 11 lO B-Sprlng Loop, C.8. 846-8634 Page 4/The Battalion/Tuesday, September 4, 1984 False alarm Prank emergency phone calls not funny, just expensivs’^ ZZZZZZ2ZZZZ zzzzzzzzzzza M s 's s TEXAS A&M SADDLE & SIRLOIN CLUB s s N s S si S First Regular Meeting N s s Tuesday, Sept. 4 7:00 p.m. 115 Kleberg Center All New Members Invited to Attend A* ^ d w w TAMU Tomorrow's Leaders in Animal Agriculture N S i: s N By ANN BRIMBERRY Reporter Carolyn decided to play a prank on her neighbor Susan. She called the fire department and reported a kitchen fire in Susan’s apartment. The firetrucks and the ambulance arrived and the firemen barged through the door only to find Susan terrified and confused. After an in vestigation by the department, Caro lyn was identified through a traced telephone call and arrested for her prank. Although their real names are not Susan and Carolyn, they are real people and the prank actually did occur. False fire alarms in Bryan-College Station cost about $102 a piece last year. This cost includes the actual man hours and wear and tear on the truck. Last year the city of Bryan re ported 25 false alarms, one-third of which occurred from June through August. Of the six cases in College Station, three were prosecuted. “Kids just don’t realize the danger firefighters are in,” Bryan Fire In spector James Jones said. “When we put men on an 8,000 pound firetruck, it’s very dangerous because they can get thrown off in heavy traffic or speeding through intersections. If we are going to save someone’s property, that’s the dan ger involved. There is no sense in taking that chance on a false alarm just when kids want to see excite ment. But when they call, we have to s°- “A lot of times kids call in a false alarm at the same location where a real fire occurred in order to see the excitement again.” Calling in a false fire alarm is a Class A misdemeanor and carries a fine of up to $2,000 or no more than one year in jail, or both. After receiving a call, the Bryan Fire Department responds with 12 firefighters, two engines, the depart ment chief and an ambulance. “We have more ambulance runs than firetrucks,” Jones said, “and this is the biggest problem because if something happened, there would be no ambulance to care for those who really needed help.” College Station Deputy Fire Marshal Joey Porter said it is a com plicated procedure to catch someone because so many people are in volved. “First the phone company must trace the call, which takes about 10 minutes, and then a warrant is re quired by the district attorney,” he said. “So before we make an arrest, we are pretty sure who did it.” Porter said the fire department will continue to trace calls and pros ecute those who call in false alarms. “Since most calls are practical jokes by kids between 15-19 years old, both Bryan and College Station fire departments conduct fire pre vention programs in schools pro moting fire safety for about 900 stu dents during Fire Prevention Week,” Jones said. The College Station Fire Depart ment holds a Safety City Program in »> elementary schools throughout; year. Three to four timesawwi fire department speaks to ti Are y< grade level. crowds a Porter said that he thinks tcsmall pac tion has much to do with thw gallon of the false alarms. cream? Il Even though no false alarnuband Tec been traced to Texas A&M stud* Campus i Portei said there are other protljFood Sc i .it Texas A&M. pleasantb “Seventy percent of the probit The IV with college students is in ktt; agrieultu: the fire lanes open," he said. ager Ray “College students hold a gru economic against us. We are paid to do a (location < and part of fire prevention is ipthe MS F ing fire lanes open. A lotoftia ucts — Sl they don’t understand the imcream — ana they want us to give the from hi c.ik Inadditic Porter also added that the (i lamb ret, insurance rate is affected bytCured pr< amount of fire hiss per year. con or be “We are doing everything top The M vent fires and keep the injurel^d^. ser rate low for taxpayers, and theda 1630 ! 1 * 11 ^' we get, the better. P.E. program toughens grade policy Be All Recognized Student Organizations sure and check your box for information on the 1985 Aggieland. It’s going to be a great book. Don’t Miss Out!! By JODI FELTON Reporter If you can’t folkdance, play tennis, or scuba dive, you can learn how in a physical education course. But don’t expect an easy A. Dr. Bob Pender, chairman of the physical education activity program, said the Department of Health and Physical Education has given many high grades — A’s and B’s — hence, the grading system underwent eval uation last spring. Now students will have to work harder to meet tougher standards. service, I healthy, t chased ft students rience w also allov “It is not a new grading system,” Pender said. “It’s basically the same, but more rigorous. It’s a fair system of evaluation.” It’s hard to compare scuba to folkdance and therefore hard to have a norm throughout the activ ities, he said. “But all instructors look for two things in grading,” Pender said. “They look for cognitive skills, or knowledge, and they look for physi cal skills. The physical skill could be the skill itself or against others in the class, as in a tournament.” The percentage of high grades in P.E. courses was down this past sum mer as compared to last spring, Pen der said. However, there also were fewer students, he said. However, students do have an op tion. They can take the course on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis, also known as pass/fail. According to the Texas A&M University Regulations 1984-85 book, satisfactory is a C or above and the hours are not in cluded in the grade-point ratio. Un satisfactory is a D or F, which “shall be included in the computation of the student's grade points pcrtnj c ® nt 1IUU hour as an F.” * 1 better ti There are some restrictions,h store, is t ever. Students must register for ment,” R during the official registrationt riod. Undergraduate transfers dents must take at least 12 houni Texas A&M before they can uk course S/U. Graduate studenoa take only course numbers 68 690, 691, or 692 S/U. Pender said all P.E. majors stricted from taking any P.E. S/U. Acid leak contained after thousands flee site United Press International OMAHA, Neb. — A nitric acid leak from an outdoor storage tank that sent a poisonous cloud drifting over southwest Omaha, forcing thousands of persons to flee, was un der control early Monday. The leak, which began Sunday night was contained about five hours after workers first saw the acid drip ping from a 4,500-gallon steel tank at Control Data Corp. The acid leak combined with air formed a yellow-orange cloud of poisonous nitric oxide gas that drifted southeast toward homes and hotels, forcing evacuation of about 10,000 Omaha residents Fire De partment Capt. Joe Welge said. “Nitric acid is very, very danger- GRAND SLAM SPECIAL!^ ous in a liquid form and also in a va por form,” Welge said. The leak occurred near Interstate 80, forcing police to close the high way for several hours. Fire crews wore protective masks as they sprayed water on the leaking gas. Welge said water spray was used to get “tne major concentration of the dangerous vapor down to the ground. The |Cowb< umnist E Cowboy the Picki day in Ri The | Black’s j: Burroug gas can irritate the la eyes and skin. The vapor is dead cal comp only in high concentrations on His a those with serious health probes was arra authorities said. of the A After several unsuccessful i ^asocial tempts to stop the leak, firefighz Black, pumped the acid into a stainlessbs cowboy, tank truck. * , □ 1st MONTH’S RENT ' „ □ DEPOSIT OFF □ DELIVERY FEE Offer good through October 1, 1984. Limit one special offer per contract, please More people rent furniture from Aaron Rents than any other company in the country. One word tells you why: Value. Students have known for years that at Aaron Rents the word “value means more furniture, more quality, and more service for less money than anywhere else. Aaron Rents has the lowest rental rates, next-day delivery, a 3-month minimum rental period, and a showroom full of great-looking furniture. That’s why more people coast-to-coast rent from Aaron Rents Furniture than any other furniture rental company in the country. Aaron Ren ts Furniture" 1816 Ponderosa-College Station 693-1446 Showrooms located in: Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Charlotte, Clearwater, College Station, Columbia, S.C., Dallas, Denver, Durham, El Paso, Fayetteville, Ft. Lauderdale, Ft. Worth, Greensboro, Houston, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Knoxville, Kansas City, Lubbock, Memphis, Miami, Midland-Odessa, Nashville, New Orleans, Norfolk, Oklahoma City, Orlando, Phoenix, Raleigh, St. Louis, San Antonio, San Diego, Tampa, Tucson, Tulsa, Virginia Beach, Washington, D.C. MSC OPAS TWELVE Memorial Student Center The Opera and Performing Arts Society TICKET INFORMATION: MSC BOX OFFICE 845-1234 Here's zvhat the critics say! The Black Light Theatre of Prague September 18, 1984 "A totally gorgeous evening of beauty, colour, magic and music! THE IRISH TIMES The London Philharmonic Orchestra Klaus Tennstedt Conducting October 18, 1984 has app stages in K ". • • music-making fo keep everyone on the seat's edge." THE LONDON 1 TIMES // Western Opera Theater La Cenerentola" (Cinderella) October 29, 1984 .excellent — professional and pure, secure and sparkling." SACRAMENTO BEE St. Paul Chamber Orchestra Pinchas Zukerman Playing and Conducting January 24, 1985 "If there was ever a case of love at first sound, this is it." NEWSWEEK Offii Emanuel Ax Pianist February 25, 1985 .a pianist with spectacular fingers and a distinct poetic gift! NEW YORK TIMES The King's Singers March 19, 1985 enormous popularity in what might have been considered an esoteric field. ' BBC The Houston Ballet Mixed Repertoire // rr April 10, 1985 .a credit to America.. .even a credit to Texas!' NEW YORK POST E3- PANNING FOR GOLD? Try our Battalion Classified!!! 845-2611 Develop Stanforc