Friday July 12, IQSSA'he Battalion/Page 5
■t
Big Tex is
standing
tall again
IH Associated Press
DALLAS — Big Tex, a 38-foot
'’Wmetal cowboy brought to his knees
,%H)y high winds earlier this year, is
^figam standing tall over the liquor
he promotes alter workmen
completed a new version of the red,
white and blue figure.
nph
the
Funky Winkerbean
X ME/IN , THERE ARE MORE
IMPORTANT THINGS IN LIFE THAN
DATING THE SEXIEST, MOST
POPULAR GIRL IN THE SCHOOL /
by Tom Batiuk
OUST BECAUSE X CAN'T
RECALL ANC> RIGHT AT THIS
EXACT MOMENT DOESN'T
MEAN ...
fl
wVinds of more than 50 mj
whipped the $55,000 sign to
Bund at the store alongside north
ffintral Expressway in March. The
new sign was erected Wednesday at
the Centennial Liquor Store.
Farm workers: contractors
use unjust recruiting system
Bfhe old Big Tex was designated a
students citv landmark in 1982, and the new
heir list,! figure will get die same designation
tiled sum even though it too is bigger than city
najor Ttjordinances allow, said Dallas Devel-
failures opment Planning Manager Torn
l under Niederauer.
V
IBlob Honeycutt, president of Cen-
ident is p tennial Liquor Stores, said Big Tex,
t in any: whose inflatable cousin stands guard
six weekilver the Texas State Fair every year,
“is happy to be out of the sign hospi
tal and get back on his feet.”
THSCAp
udents »|
69 but
an overall
Other rl
on all til
:ir eligibitf
Associated Press
EL PASO — A local farm workers
union, arguing that unjust labor re
cruitment practices resulted in a fa
tal bus accident in this border city,
has called for an investigation by the
U.S. Labor Department.
Carlos Marentes, a member of La
Union Trabajadores Agricolas Fron-
terizos — a border agricultural
workers union — said Wednesday
that under the labor recruitment sys
tem used in the area, “farm labor
contractors, as well as the farmers,
place profit-making above the safety
and well-being of the workers.”
Marentes said he blamed that sys
tem for a Tuesday night bus acci
dent that left two migrant workers
dead and at least six others injured.
He said the labor department
should investigate the accident and
the recuitment practices of farm la
bor contractors. Labor department
officials were not immediately avail
able for comment Thursday.
Police said Tuesday’s accident oc
curred when the bus, returning the
workers to El Paso from southern
New Mexico fields, collided with a
car and slammed into a guardrail.
Jose Rodriguez, an attorney in the
farmworker’s division of Texas Ru
ral Legal Aid Inc., said a labor de
partment safety regulation requires
farm labor transportation vehicles to
have seats for workers, but the bus
had none.
What’s up
Friday
STUDENT GOVERNMENT; h sponsoring a book exchafcg^if
Jig tin 214 Pavilion through Tuesday*
MSG GROVE S5: presents “Last American Virgin* at 8:30
I .tn. at The Grove. Admission is $1 with a student ID and
L50 for non-students.
TAMtT CHESS CLUB; is meeting at 7 p.m. in-4 TO Rudder.
;V ■■ Saturday
GO-OP ASSOCIATION; k taking a rafting and tubing trip to
New Braun fe.b- " L J
Sunday
MSC GROVE 85; presents “Wizards” at 8:30 p.m, at.The' I
:.?|f Grove, Admission is $1 with a student II) and $1.50 for
hoh-students.
Monday
MSC GROVE 85: presents “Casablanca” at 8:30 p.m, at The
. . Grove, Admission is $1 with a student ID and $1.50 for ’
non-students, f
Items for Whet's Up should be submitted to The Battalion,
■ Reed McDonald, no less than three days prior to <£*•
sired publication date.
me bastJ
was an‘|
an hotl
Mexican economy
I Mexico slashing oil prices, devaluing peso for tourists
Opponents: HL&P
hid report critical
of nuclear project
Associated Press
justice."
■ MEXICO CITY — Mexico, slash-
id with a prices and lowering the value
ine at hr the peso on the tourist market, is
’0 averatl» rn ' r “ ster ‘ n £ vitally needed medi-
, (A v cine to its still shaky economy, pri
vate analysts said Thursday.
■ But the analysts said the govern-
Hent didn’t go far enough and
should devalue the rest of trie peso
market, which is used for 80 percent
of commercial transactions.
■The partial devaluation, though,
should be a plus for American tour
ists traveling in Mexico, giving them
more pesos for their dollars.
■ “The government is taking the
ri^ht steps given the situation,” said
Ignacio Trigueros, director of eco
nomic research at the Mexican Au
tonomous Institute of Technology in
■exico. City. “The situation is not a
good one.”
“The government is taking the right steps given the sit-
mtktn* good one, ” — Ignacio Tri-
research at the Mexican
Autonomous Instit ute of Technology in Mexico City.
off sharply, to 800,000 barrels a day
fro
on attain
:d the da
selfish, igti
ople.”
ippointmc
recomiM
ast, and:
ike thislyi
:ed to ed.
?marks m Some analysts said the govern-
recastpml tnent was reimposing austerity mea-
sact rnonilsures in an effort to keep the econ
omy from slipping into the
doldrums of a few years ago.
rge Rhodei
^egislatarfi D on Shuffstall, vice president of
icilisapf international banking for MBank in
ie’s saidt' £] p aso> Texas, worried, though,
Legislate^ that lower oil prices would mean less
(ratheriki|||venues to pay the interest costs on
state woiij!Mexico’s $96 billion foreign debt.
H “That just makes it more difficult
for them to meet the requirements”
for paying their debts, he said.
In recent months, Mexico has
been struggling with an array of eco
nomic problems.
The turbulence and glut in the
world oil market has sharply low
ered demand for its oil, the No. 1
source of foreign revenues to help
meet its debt payments.
Speculation in the currency mar
kets, apparently sparked by Mexi
cans’ worries about the economy, has
driven the currency to record levels
against the dollar.
Moreover, the economy has been
growing at a faster pace than some
consider healthy. Inflation has re
mained high as have government ex
penditures.
With the twin moves announced
late Wednesday, analysts, some of
whom would speak only on condi
tion of anonymity, said the economy
should slow from the pace of about 6
percent in the first half of the year.
Such a slowdown, they said, would
relieve pressure on inflation. But
other analysts said some of the infla
tion relief could be wiped out by a
further currency devaluation, a
move that tends to boost prices in
the long run.
Analysts predicted an inflation
rate for 1985 of 50 percent to 55
percent, under the 59.2 percent of
1984.
In its announcement, the Energy
and Mines Department said it was
cutting the export price of the light-
type Isthmus crude by an average of
$1.24 a barrel, from $27.75. The
price of the heavy Maya brand was
trimmed by an average of 77 cents,
from $24 a barrel.
The price reductions, retroactive
to July 1, vary depending on where
the oil is sent. Oil shipped to Europe
was reduced more than that bound
for the United States.
About half of Mexico’s oil exports
go to the United States, making it
the largest supplier to its northern
neighbor.
The ministry statement said sales
of oil to foreign countries had fallen
barrels.
Mexico is not a member of the Or
ganization of Petroleum Exporting
Countries but in the past has fol
lowed its pricing strategy. The new
pricing announcement, however, in
dicated Mexico intends to act on its
In addition to sluggish oil de
mand, sales of exports of non-petro
leum goods have been weak, slip
ping anout 15 percent in the first
part of the year.
Analysts have recommended that
Mexico trim the value of its currency
so that its exports would cost less and
be more competitive in foreign mar
kets.
The government in recent weeks
has been toying with a currency de
valuation.
Late last month, nationalized
banks were given permission to buy
and sell pesos on the open market,
which had the effect of devaluing
part of the tourist market for pesos.
The Mexican government still fixes
the rate for most commercial trans
actions. On Thursday, that con
trolled rate was 230 pesos to the dol
lar. The rate is (devalued by 21
centavos a day. There are 100 centa
vos in a peso.
Associated Press
BAY CITY — Opponents of the
South Texas Nuclear Project, now
under construction in Matagorda
County, argued Thursday before
the Atomic Safety and Licensing
Board that Houston Lighting &
Power Co. conspired to hide a report
critical of the project.
The Houston utility is manager of
the $5.5 billion plant, which it co
owns with Central Power & Light
Co., City Public Service of San Anto
nio and the city of Austin.
The three utilities recently agreed
to a $750 million settlement of a suit
they filed against Brown 8c Root
Inc., accusing the engineering firm
of mismanagement of the project.
Lanny Sinkin, representing the
San Antonio-based Citizens Con
cerned About Nuclear Power, told
the three-member licensing board
on Thursday that executives of the
Houston utility conspired to hide a
critical report prepared in 1981 by a
consulting firm, Quadrex Corp. of
California.
“Everybody who sees the Quadrex
report reacts with shock, outrage
and indignation,” Sinkin said. “Did
they hide the report and does that
reflect on the character and compe
tence of HL&P?” he asked the
board.
The 500-page report, which out
lined defects in design engineering
by Brown & Root, was not turned
over to the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission until five months after
the utility received it. In addition,
the report was delivered to the utility
just days before a licensing board
hearing, but never was brought to
the attention of the board at that
hearing.
Utility attorney Jack R. Newman
said, “The error — if there was an
error — was committed in good
faith. It was treated by the company
like any other consultant’s report. It
was not hidden from the NRC.”
Newman said any allegation that a
conspiracy existed was “bizarre.”
Any premature release of the report
would have “disrupted the project
and disrupted the lives of thousands
of people who might have acted un
der the assumption the project
would continue.”
The round of hearings that began
Thursday is the second in a series in
tended to lead to the granting of an
operating license for the plant,
which first was announced in 1971
with a price tag of less than $1 bil
lion. Tne first unit of the plant is
about 80 percent complete and
should begin producing electricity in
1987. The second unit is about 50
f iercent finished and is due to go on
ine in 1989.
Edwin Reis, assistant chief hear
ing counsel for the NRC staff, con
tended the findings of the Quadrex
report were already on the record
and that the hearing was “to see if
HL&P should get a license.”
Sinkin said the report upheld his
position that “for 10 years it (the
plant) ran like a train out of control.
I know that plant is not safe.
Utility attorneys said Sinkin was
on a fishing expedition, hoping to
find something to support his allega
tions. Licensing Board Chairman
Charles Bechhoefer also said he
wanted to “see something to show a
conspiracy” instead of acting merely
on assumptions of a conspiracy.
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