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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 19, 1985)
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Basically not ted Phalanx last Mi ■ against the Fret ucessfully knocbj Texas education b Senate confirms A&M profe Page3 ’85 season home-opener A8cM softball team hosts Missouri ill -Page'll J Trti^ M D ^ j. j. _ i s ^ M l ne tsattalion in the U.S. Claitt j an otherwise nfl ovalties claimed 1 holds three pate 1 c sabot is needed a tor is smallertki bullet, i seel aboard he largest mid smallest frigatet n warfare, its rati t ac ks incomitigilj Vol. 80 No. 114 GSPS 045360 12 pages College Station, Texas Tuesday, March 19,1985 ated Press 1.0 - As R it quietly in ery, he wore a g two hori: phabetical I nothing, s wife, Karen . the stand to ivorce she sougi ed and folded itfl ;ing thecharactra mion ohscenitv-1 lies tall. a Judge CurtSteip in the action. ” iday hearing, in contempt to Texas student lobby supports moderate hikes in state tuition Associated Press AUSTIN (AP) — The Texas Stu dent Lobby said Monday it would support a moderate increase in col lege tuition — but not a 1100 per cent increase. “Students have been reasonable about tuition this session because of the state’s financial situation,” said Diane Friday, a director of the stu dent group. “We know a tuition in crease is going to have to come of this session.” Friday said a bill introduced by Sen. Grant Jones, D-Abilene, would increase tuition at state colleges and universities from $4 per semester hour to $48 beginning in the fall. Non-resident students’ tuition jyould jump from $40 to $60 per se mester hour starting in the 1986 fall semester, she said. Jones’ bill has not been set for a public hearing. In the bill, medical and dental stu dents would see their tuition go from $400 to $1,200 this fall and $1,400 in 1986. Non-resident medi cal and dental students’ $1,200 fee would climb to $3,600 this fall and $4,200 in 1986. Foreign students’ tuition would also jump from $40 per semester hour to $80 in 1985 and $100 in 1986. The student group has already endorsed a tuition increase bill by Rep. Wilhelmina Delco, D-Austin, which raises tuition from $4 to $8 in 1985, $12 in 1986 and then by $2 increments until 1990. The House Higher Education Committee last week approved Del- co’s bill, which also sets aside 25 per cent of the tuition fees for financial aid. Jones’ bill allots 9 percent. Friday said students are already facing a tough time making ends meet by paying rent, food, clothes, transportation, books, utilities, other students fees and tuition. Catherine Mauzy, another direc tor of the Texas Student Lobby, said students have been working with the Legislature to come up with a fair and eouitable tuition plan. Witn the state facing a $1 billion shortfall, lawmakers are out to in crease tuition to raise money. Mauzy said she is questioning whether any kind of tuition increase is needed after hearing about a re port from State Comptroller Bob Bullock. Bullock says state colleges and universities made $3.4 billion in the last two years from library fines to football tickets. If that’s the case, some of that money should go for student finan cial aid programs, she said. Need A Ride? Photo by JOHN MAKELY Hal Spiegel, a senior recreation and parks major, helps show students in Recreation and Parks 340, Recreation for Special Pop ulations, campus hazards to handicapped students like himself. Class members took turns in wheelchairs and endured the rigors of the ramps of Kyle Field, the heavy doors of Rudder Tower, and the library ramps. Reagan, Mulroney wrap up summit AND >L0 i Innertube m captains an pick up ENDED entries for .m., March 23 and 24. each night s mural Wres- : Class 8 A 4 A 4 B 2 A DA 3 A 3 B 7 A 7 A DA /I ► the Battalion by t Mall and on tff, graphics are sile. X missile Committee recommends approval of funding “A vote Feat For the dangerous thing, not missile. Gold water. Associated Press WASHINGTON — Amid intensive personal lobbying by President Rea gan, the Republican-led Senate Armed Services Committee voted 11-6 Monday to recommend freeing $1.5 billion to < build and install 21 addi tional MX missiles in underground silos in Wyoming and Nebraska. Committee Chairman Barry Coldwater of Arizona predicted an extremely close vote Tuesday when the full Senate decides whether to approve the next stage in Reagan's plan to add a total of 100 MXs to the na tion’s nuclear arsenal. Senate Majority Leader Robert Dole, R-Kan., said “I am confident” the MX will be approved. Coldwater, who had previously said he would op pose tlie MX, voted for it Monday. “A vote against it would indicate a defeat for the president,” he said. “That would be the dangerous thing, not the loss of the missile.” Despite the defeat for MX foes in the committee, they pledged a tough fight on the Senate floor Tues day and again Thursday, when a second vote is scheduled. Sen. Gary Hart, D- Colo., who conducted an anti-MX filibuster almost singlehandedly in 1983, said the MX is “destabiliz ing, a war-fighting weapon. It is designed for a first strike.” An Associated Press survey showed 44 senators fa voring the MX, with 43 opposed and 13 still undecided. If the Senate gives its approval, another dual set of votes is scheduled in the Democrat-controlled House next week. , In the Senate committee vote, six Democrats voted against the MX: Hart, James Exon of Nebraska, Ed ward Kennedy of Massachusetts, John Glenn of Ohio, Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico and Carl Levin of Michi gan. Senate Minority Leader Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., said through an aide that he has made up his mind, but would not disclose the decision. Associated Press QUEBEC — President Reagan ended a friendly summit meeting in Canada on Monday and left for home to renew the administration’s “full-court press” for money to con tinue production of the MX missile. During 90 minutes of talks, Rea gan reportedly told Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney he believes a U.S.-Soviet summit “would be use ful” now that Mikhail Gorbachev has become leader of the Soviet Union. A U.S. official, briefing reporters on the Quebec talks only on condi tion he not be identified, said Rea gan “felt if Mr. Gorbachev is ready, they could have a real, substantive meeting at this point.” But in a luncheon speech, Reagan kept up his tough anti-Soviet line, renewing charges that the Soviets vi olated the Yalta accord calling for free elections in Europe after World War II; the Geneva convention ban ning use of-chemical weapons; the anti-ballistic missile treaty; and the Helsinki agreement to respect hu man rights. “Let us always remain idealists but never blind to history,” Reagan said, offering to talk with the Soviets on a variety of issues, from arms control to human rights to U.S.-Soviet bilat eral issues. At the conclusion of their 24-hour “Shamrock Summit,” Reagan and Mulroney signed agreements to modernize the North American air defense system and work toward further relaxation of trade barriers between the two trading partners and neighbors. They also ratified a new treaty to end years of controversy between the two nations’ Pacific salmon fish ing industries and signed a treaty for mutual law enforcement assistance. In a speech to federal and provin cial leaders, Reagan told Canada’s new Conservative leader, “I’m confi dent there isn’t an area where you and I cannot reach an agreement for the good of our two countries.” Mulroney toasted Reagan, saying the summit “marks a new era in rela tions between Canada and the United States.” At the outset of their two days of talks, Reagan and Mulroney defused the one explosive issue dividing their two governments by appointing spe cial envoys to study the problem of acid rain pollution and report back to them within a year. Presidential spokesman Larry Speakes said that Reagan would turn his attention to the Senate’s “make- or-break vote” today on the future of the MX intercontinental missile. Bullock says tuition hike not needed Associated Press AUSTIN — State colleges and universities have a $3.4 billion “bowl of gravy” that only they can spend, plus tne state money they want from the Legislature, Com ptroller Bob Bullock said Mon day. Bullock urged state budget writers to take a close look at the local funds held by the 48 state colleges, universities and institu tions before raising college tu ition or thinking about new taxes. “These schools have their noses in a $3 billion bowl of gravy which is in their local bank ac counts and which the Legislature never sees,” Bullock said in a speech to the Texas Daily News paper Association. The comptroller added: “I was for a tuition increase until I got into this, but I was wrong.” A college tuition increase pro posal is to be debated by the House today. Later, Gov. Mark White, who See Bullock, page 4 Mars colonization envisioned by scientists Editor’s note: 1'his is the second pan of a two-part series focusing on some scientist's view of the future of Mars. By WAYNE L. GRABEIN Reporter And from the rockets ran men with hammers in their hands to beat the strange world into a shape that was familiar to the eye, to bludgeon away all the strangeness... . “The Martian Chronicles, ” by Ray Bradbury The technology needed to build and support a manned base on Mars is not as futuristic as it seems, say two former NASA officials now em ployed at Texas A&M. “The shape of the structures that we’re talking about could be quite fa miliar; yet, the method of construc tion may be considerably different,” said Dr. Duwayne Anderson, asso ciate provost of research at A&M. Oran Nicks, director of the Space Research Center at A&M, said that because of the lower gravity on Mars (about 60 percent of Earth’s), lighter materials can be used in construction without reducing the strength of the structures. Anderson said honeycombed and composite materials would be ideal for low gravity construction because of their stiffness and strength. At this time Nicks said it’s hard to tell if a base on Mars might be built like a shopping mall or be built un der the protection of a huge dome. “It’s probably going to be a combi nation of all these things,” Nicks said. The Martian environment, with its thin atmosphere composed pri marily of carbon dioxide and sub zero temperatures, is not as hostile as many would think, Nicks said. Humans have overcome some of the most hostile environments here on Earth with inventions such as the jet liner and submarine, he said. In contrast to these inventions which reproduce the Earth’s envi ronment, Nicks said, the future space colonies will not have to re create Earth conditions. “To assume that people have to have a gravity of one G to be satis fied is probably wrong,” he said. “We may just adapt to the lower gravity and love it.” One finding that supports this theory was the discovery made by A&M scientists and engineers that plants only need the minimum air pressure exerted by carbon dioxide to survive. This type of atmosphere is found on Mars. Anderson said that humans, like plants, are able to live in a lower- pressured atmosphere. Studies at A&M’s Hyperbaric La- bratory have shown that humans can live with a pressure of five pounds- per-square-inch without any ill ef fects, Anderson said. The atmospheric pressure, or the force exerted by the weight of gases, on Earth is about 15 pounds-per- square-inch, he said. “On Mars, it is very likely we would not pressurize the living spaces to one full Earth atmosphe re,” he said. “We would live in a re duced atmosphere of probably eight pounds-per-square-inch.” In addition to the pressure stud ies, the Hyperbaric Labratory has derived a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen gases which is not combusti ble and which is suitable for humans to breath. Dr. William Fife, professor emeri tus of biology, director of the project said the new mixture is composed of 97 percent hydrogen to three per cent oxygen. This combination is created by se parating the hydrogen and oxygen from water using an electrolysis technique invented by Fife, and then by re-combining the elements into gaseous form, he said. Anderson said with the presence of water on Mars, Fife’s process could prove very useful in coloniza tion planning, Anderson said. Fife, however, said there is one problem with using this mixture on Mars as atmosphere. The hydrogen-oxygen combina tion requires an atmospheric pres sure of about 95.5 pounds-per- square-inch, Fife said. Mars’ atmo spheric pressure is less than 0.15 pound-per-square-inch. One alternative Fife suggested would be to reverse the mixture per centages to yield an oxygen-satu rated atmosphere for the low-pres- sured community. Anderson said Fife’s electrolysis process could be beneficial to the Mars mission in another way. At Texas A&M’s Hydrogen Re search Center, work is being done using pure hydrogen in fuel cells as a more efficient energy source, An derson said. An abundant energy source is es sential for any type oi colonization of space, he said. T he first settlers of Mars will have access to several en ergy possibilities, including the hy drogen fuel cells. “When we go to the moon or Mars and start a new world, so to speak, that energy limitation is one we can deal with, much better that our fore fathers,” Nicks said. “That will make a tremendous difference in the abil ity to move more quickly into devel oping these places.” Construction, life-support systems and energy needs are just a few of the problems faced by the research ers of space colonization. Nicks said the Space Research Center provides an opportunity to bring the scientific talent at A&M to gether to focus on the problems of space exploration. “The reality of the place as a whole, uncontaminated world sitting there with no one messing with it and then the opportunity to go there and consciously develop it, is just a fascinating idea,” Nicks said.