Page 4/The Battalion/Monday, September 30, 1985
Rhodes Scholarship 1985
Are you a senior with a 3.50 + average? If so,
you may be eligible for a Rhodes Scholar
ship. You could spend the next 2 years at
Oxford University honing your career skills,
widening your educational base.
Contact Professor J. F. Reading
Room 211, Physics
845-5073 or 696-9190
Deadline: September 30, 19S5
TSO for contact lenses.
Fifty years of experience is reflected
in every pair we fit.
After just one visit, it’s easy to see why a comfortable fit is
synonymous with contact lenses from Texas State Optical.
It starts with a wide selection.TSO offers one of the widest
choices of hard and soft lenses
available, so you not only get
your prescription filled to the
doctor's exact specifications,
you also get the kind of fit and
comfort 50 years of experience
can offer.
t,. ... .. rs. t ~. -..w. - r
Texas State Optical:
216 N. Main
Brvan - 779-2786
Post Oak Mall
College Station-764-0010
RAMADA
DAILY LUNCH BUFFET
Bring a friend and enjoy a variety of delicious
salads, entrees, vegetables, and desserts.
Located at Texas and University Dr. across
from TAMU
Locally owned and operated
FRIDAY -Ramada Special
CATFISH
SATURDAY NIGHT d a
Plays & Spins Music of the 20’s,
30’s, and 40’s
Dance to the music of Glen Miller,
Tommy Dorsey and Harry Jones
8 p.m.-12 p.m.
Rooms available for football games
409-696-4242
2UC
2UC
2U£
3UC
2UC
..—a
State and Local
Warp
> THAT;
PA V
Vow,
Aircraft kept at Easterwood
« ■££/ NO
ft*TAT»<
STM-10 iv/
fALP IA
A&M uses state-owned planes
By TRENT LEOPOLD
Senior Staff Writer
Aggies sometimes opt to fly to
get where they’re going. And
when they do, they might choose
to fly on one of three “Aggie”
planes based at Easterwood Air
port.
The state owns five airplanes,
three of which are basen here.
Texas A&M’s three planes and
the one at the University of Texas
are Beechcraft King Airs. The
other plane, based at Texas Tech,
is a Piper Navajo.
Robert McCreight, chief pilot
for the Texas A&M University
System, says he flies two Beech-
craft C-90s and one A-100 model.
The older C-90s can carry the pi
lot and seven passengers while
the newer A-100 holds nine pas
sengers.
All three planes are kept in a
hangar at Easterwood Airport.
McCreight says the planes are
available on a priority basis for all
A&M employees.
Many times the planes are used
to travel to places where commer
cial service is limited or nonexis-
By JO
jjpace is
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One of three state-owned planes kept at Eas
terwood Airport prepares for takeoff. The planes
are available on a
tent.
“I’ve flown to places where you
literally had to look for the run
way in the middle of some field
somewhere,” he says.
An A&M plane flies one hour
each way on an average trip, Mc
Creight says. The average cruis
ing speed is 370 mph at a height
of about 12,000 feet. And, while
the trips are paid for out of the
A&M travel budget, a flat fee of
$2.15 per statute mile is charged
on each trip.
“It really amounts to how
much the people’s (those who fly
in the planes) time is worth,” he
says. “If several departments can
get together and split the cost of a
flight by sending more than one
person on a trip, they can actually
use the planes cheaper than fly
ing commercially.”
The aircraft probably spend
more time in the air than they do
on the ground, McCreight says.
“We take the president to Aus
tin .. . and carry department
heads to various places across the
state,” he says. “The regents have
first priority (for use of the
planes) followed by the chan
cellor, president and officers of
various schools.”
McCreight says he stays espe-
' lai
cially busy when the legislature is
in session.
When the planes aren’t in the
air, they constantly are being
checked and maintained to en
sure that they are in tip-top
shape.
“About every 100 hours of
flight time we have to change the
turbine wheel inside the jet,” Mc
Creight says. “We also do such
things as greasing and checking
lights every 40-50 hours.”
The planes were painted Aggie
maroon and white about two
summers ago.
“Before painting them 1
wanted to get some new identifi
cation numbers on the planes —
something to represent A&M.”
McCreight says. “After looking
through sheets and sheets of pa
per to see what numbers had al
ready been taken by other state
aircraft across the country, I de
cided on the numbers 92 AM, 94
AM and 96 AM."
The University of Texas Sys
tem flies a Beecncraft King Air
Super 200-B.
Charles Perrone, the adminis
trative officer in charge of sched
uling UT aircraft operations, says
the plane is flown only within the
state.
Like A&M, UT uses its plane
for of ficial school business such as
flying members of the marine
and engineering departments to
places where commercial aircraft
don’t fly, Perrone says.
It costs $350 per hour to flv on
the UT plane. Perrone says. And
passengers are hilled the same
Photo by TRENTilOPO; periods of d
priorit\ basis for A&M employ- W P resent ’
farjrange fu
Speaking
amount whether or not thep tailed the pa
is full. "Project
Charges on the UT planullace in the
based on actual flight lime n served only <
than the statute mile. K-——
1 he ■ plane flies about
hours a yeat which. PerroneciM, * ^
is more than most stateHmS
aircraft.
“The benefits of flying on
KAUF
. ^ontinue*
l I plane melude the timtat two inma
l>\ those using it," he saw.tused of
there is an advantage in bq from the
able to reach places where c»
men ial airlines don’t fly."
I ex.is I < < h pilot RusselDott tharged \
flies a 1973 twin-engine tuiti ^ilhani 1
liaiged I’lpi-I \.iy.i|<) iliatBU ng held '
pahle ol art uising speedofalw escaped
260 mph.
The flight-priority list is ski
to that of A&M’s and ITi
Tech’s flight-billing procedm
are similar to those usedbyAi!!
All state agencies must file Ik
charges per flight hour withtk
state aircraft }>oolingboard.
Southland Corp. beset with problems
Associated Press
DALLAS — These are not easy
times for Southland Corp., the par
ent company of 7-Eleven, inventor
of the Slurpee and the 30-second
checkout. ,
The world’s largest operator of
convenience stores has been beset
with legal, economic and image
problems, but company chairman
John P. Thompson says calmly it
isn’t “the end of the world.”
A five-year federal bribery probe
in New York led to a tax fraud con
viction for Southland, a proxy fraud
conviction for one of its top officers
and a guilty plea to bribe conspiracy
by another Southland official who
resigned.
Then Southland’s 2-year-old gas
refining business, Citgo Petroleum
Corp., suffered large losses, forcing
big layoffs last year. More Citgo
losses in the first quarter this year
threatened the parent company’s fi
nancial picture.
The volatile refinery business
made a turnaround and Citgo
turned profitable in the second
quarter, boosting Southland earn
ings to a record $88.7 million.
But at the same time, the 7-Eleven
retail division was hard hit by in
creasingly tough competition and a
continued attack from right-wing re
ligious goups who picket the stores
for selling adult magazines.
Thompson, however, remains op
timistic even as the company contin
ues to pursue new merchandizing
techniques.
He says Southland previously has
had “tough years economically going
way back.”
“Obviously, the last two to three
years have been difficult ones,” he
said.
Of the tax fraud and bribery case,
Thompson said he was personally
hurt to learn that former Southland
official Eugene DeFalco had ar
ranged a bribe scheme involving
state tax officials in New York.
But he continues to argue the in
nocence of Clark J. Matthews II, the
company’s chief financial officer
who is appealing his conviction on
proxy fraud.
The Southland chairman said that
even if Matthews does serve his two-
month prison sentence, “I look for
ward to him returning to Southland
as quickly as he can.”
Thompson doesn’t brood about
the past.
“We’ve got a fine company, and
certainly over the years have been
involved in outside activities — char
itable activities, the Olympics, which
offset the negative with the positive,”
he-said.
For years the company has spon
sored the Jerry Lewis Muscular
Dystrophy Association Telethon and
the March of Dimes’ March Against
Birth Defects. It also sponsored the
1984 Summer Olympics.
However, the company came un
der attack earlier this month by the
Rev. Jerry Falwell and several thou
sand anti-pornography protestors
who gathered across the street f rom
Southland headquarters.
The groups have launched cam
paigns targeting Southland for sell
ing three adult magazines.
“1 think it’s a tree country, and
they’re free to believe whatever they
want,” Thompson said.
Marketing vice president Frank
McKeown said research indicates
“the vast majority (of customers)
agree with our policy,” which has the
magazines displayed behind the
counter with false fronts.
But 7-Eleven sales are being hurt
this year by other factors, Thomp
son said, including tougher competi
tion and many price promotions of
7-Eleven merchandise.
“7-Eleven is not going to have a
great year,” he said.
Company profits this year will
jably con
“1 think there’s no limitto«l
can go into those stores,” Witt
said.
T he range of food offerinpi
mushroomed from the slicedk
gna and bread that Thompson
calls workers buying fortheirfcB
at the early dav stores.
"What we’re really becon
mot e and more as years gob
source of near-premise an
premise consumables," said
eown.
\i tin d with a new food it
staff. Southland is testing salad
in four markets along with stt
tables: the company’s finelyw
marketing data shows itscusn
are getting older and more
conscious.
probably come from the cyclical gas
refining segment, which Thompson
joked can’t accurately be predicted
for more than six weeks at a time.
Despite such trials, Southland
seems regarded by most analysts as
the leader in the industry. They do
not project failure.
“T hey’re so far ahead of everyone
else and probably the best run com
pany in that business,” said Fred
Wintzer of Alex Brown & Sons in
Baltimore.
Such items as hot dogsandnad
are sold in 5,500 stores. Fresha
wiclies are offered in 3,000, hea
while sales of most standardgnw
items have dropped about 13|i
cent over the past decade.
But food is not the only sep
to t each for variety.
Videotape cassettes are rented
in 1,500 stores, and automatedid
machines offer cash in nearly2J
stores. Gasoline debit cards,
ticket sales and the direct oi
merchandise by computer arealli
ing tested around the country
eown said.
TAMU Summer
Study Abroad
College of Liberal Arts
Come and find out about all
opportunities offered
Summer 1986
October 1, 7:30 p.m.
MSC RM. 228
Study Abroad Office
101 Academic Bldg.
845-0544
College of Liberal Arts
Ms. Ann Todd Baum
Rm. 802 Harrington
845-5143
xerose y
of fence
through,
"Our j
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