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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 21, 1986)
Crowd thin, applause thick at country music concert — Page 3 r'/k Lady Aggies try to regroup for final home game of '86 — Page 7 V Texas ASM ■ m m m • The Battalion 83 INo. 103 USPS 075360 12 pages College Station, Texas Friday, February 21, 1986 Dldiers Ned in renada Honored Associated Press GEORGE’S, Grenada — Un- dazzling Caribbean sun, Presi- Reagan on Thursday retraced steps of American invasion that ousted a radical Marxist nment from this tiny island 27 hs ago and vowed the United 5 also “must help those strug- for freedom in Nicaragua.” agan Hew here to honor the 19 emen killed in three days of ng that forced Cuban troops Grenada and led to formation democratically elected govern- tid a green wreath with a pur- bbon at the foot of a memorial e 19, then stepped back and silent for a moment, a speech hours later to a ing, flag-waving crowd, Rea- ikened events in Nicaragua to that prompted him to order Invasion of Grenada and de- I he won’t he satisfied “until all aeople of the Americas have d ns in the warm sunshine of y and justice.” : was introduced as “our own nal hero, our own rescuer” by Minister Hci bert Blaize, who red a national holidav in honor visit. te audience estimated at more 20,()()() roared approval when an hailed democracy in Gre- and declared, “When people ree, their rights to speak and to tre protected by law, and the is are not running the jails, they i the jails.” porters asked Reagan whether ad any plans to use military in Nicaragua. o," he replied. “I think it’s an ely different situation. We have Blans.” I tt in his speech, Reagan said, lay in Nicaragua we see a chain ents similar to what happened ere We hear the same excuses ■e for the communists, while the eople of Nicaragua see their free- ■ slowly but surely eaten away.” RVs greet Prince Charles in Austin Cadets join in Sesquicentennial ceremony By staff and wire reports AUSTIN — When Britain’s Prince Charles and Gov. Mark White stepped out on the Capitol’s steps Thursday for a ceremony cel ebrating Texas’ Sesquicentennial, 15 members of Texas A&M’s Ross Volunteers stood at attention to greet them. The RVs, the official honor guard for the governor, formed two lines on Capitol steps, through which White and Prince Charles walked. During the 10 minute cere mony, which included a 21-gun sa lute by the National Guard, Prince Charles gave a short speech and exchanged gifts with White. As the ceremony concluded, the prince pulled a cord to unveil a huge Texas flag to a crowd of more than 3,000 people. Mark Feagins, a senior agri business major, describes the event as an emotional one for the RVs. “The highlight of the trip was Photo by GREG BAILEY Thousands watched as Texas A&M’s Ross Volunteers participated in a Sesquicentennial ceremony with Prince Charles and Gov. Mark White standing there representing A&M while our national anthem was playing,” Feagins says. “It was just a great experience. “It was something I’ll remember mv whole life. 1 was just glad to get the opportunity to go.” In another ceremony Thursday, Prince Charles, skillfully wielding a three-foot sword, cut a 45-ton cake to help Texas celebrate its 150th anniversary. “I bring the very best possible wishes from the people of Great Britain and her majesty, the queen,” Prince Charles said earlier in the day. “I do wish you a very happy birthday indeed.” The Texas-sized cake, 110-by- 80-feet, was made with 36,000 pounds of yellow cake mix and 30,000 pounds of vanilla frosting. The tuxedo-clad prince received an ovation from the crowd when he tried the cake. He also handed pieces to two children who were se lected for the first samples. Cutting the cake capped a day of Sesquicentennial-related events. During a tour of the Capitol, Prince Charles received a gift he jokingly said might prove useful around the palace. While meeting state legislators in the Texas Senate chamber, the prince was presented a 1 '/a-foot- long wooden gavel by Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby. “I can only say that this gavel — which is by far the biggest I’ve ever had and which is entirely appro priate because it comes from Texas — I’m sure will be a frightfully use ful blunt instrument for maintain ing discipline in the home,” said the f ather of two young sons. The giant gavel was one of many gifts Texans offered during the prince’s day-long visit to Austin. Presents included a Texas flag that flew over the Capitol, given by House Speaker Gib Lewis; an 1838 London-made map of Texas from White, and a stuffed longhorn steer toy from a University of Texas student. The prince said he has enjoyed his Texas trip, which began Mon day in Dallas, took him to Houston and ends Friday in San Antonio. 'orker at A&M files complaint with safety administration By SONDRA PICKARD Staff Writer construction worker at Texas A&M a complaint Wednesday with the Oc- [itional Safety and Health Administra- saying he was fired because he refused >rk under unsafe conditions. Bandy Thomas, 34, said he was exposed B s day to dangerous levels of harmful jnicals found in an epoxy solvent being in the construction of the new Engi- ing Physics Building. He said he re el to work under the potentially hazard- [conditions and was fired. ■homas worked for Houston Metro Btric, a subcontractor of Rogers Con struction, the general contractor for the construction project. He worked Five weeks as an electrician’s assistant at the site before he was assigned a job in the basement of the building where epoxy was being sprayed on the walls. Epoxy is a resin, or plant-extracted sub stance, that is commonly used in strong, re sistant glues and enamels. It is sprayed over paint to give it a shiny appearance and to protect the surface. Thomas said he worked in the basement for four days, sometimes for hours at a time, as painters applied the epoxy. During that time, he said, he experienced symp toms such as dizziness, nausea, headaches and irritated eyes — symptoms that he said persisted up to eight hours after leaving work. *■ Thomas said that when his requests to be relocated to another part of the building were denied, he refused to continue work ing and was told by his foreman, Jerry Tra vis, to “pick up your tools and go on home.” Thomas has filed complaints with the Austin and Houston OSHA offices and the University Safety Office at A&M. The complaints he filed are listed under paragraph 11C of the Occupational Safety Health Act, which states that every em ployee has the right to safety and health at his workplace, and must not be discrimi nated against for complaining about unsafe conditions while on the job. Ed Cosgrove, an industrial hygienist with the Austin OSHA, took Thomas’s com plaint. C.osgrove said Thomas’s complaint will he forwarded to OSHA’s regional of fice in Dallas, where a discrimination offi cer will take the case and contact both Thomas and his former employer by tele phone. Cosgrove said if the complaint is le gitimate, OSHA would like to see Thomas get his job, back, receive any back pay he may be missing and get his personnel re cord purged of the incident. In this particular kind of case, Cosgrove said, an investigator will not be sent to the worksite because the job in question will probably be finished in a couple of days. In cases involving ongoing projects posing an extremely serious threat to workers, an OSHA investigator is usually sent within seven days. A graduate student in the A&M Recre ation and Parks Department, Thomas said he was working on the construction to earn some extra money and that he knew the job would only last about two months. “Everybody’s been getting high as a kite while they’re working down there,” Thomas said. “You get dizzy and sort of lost while you’re trying to work. Your lungs hurt and you’re nauseated. “I’d have been glad to work anywhere, just not right in there where they’re spray- See Worker, page 12 :ourt reduces bond for Texaco's appeal Associated Press ■ NEW YORK — A federal ap- jMs court took pressure off Jexaco Inc. Thursday, ruling ■exaco need not post a $12 bil- Tm bond before it can appeal a lulti-bil lion-dollar damage ■dement won by Pennzoil Co. in Jexas. ■ A three-judge panel of the 2nd l.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Spheld a lower court ruling that ■exaco would have to put up $ 1 fllion in security, a requirement Be company satisfied by pledg- |g stock in its Canadian subsid* jiy. ■ The appeals panel said the $12 BHion bond that would have been ■Iquired by Texas law “lacks any jliional basis, since it would de stroy Texaco and render its right of appeal in Texas an exercise in futility.” “This would at least amount to a deprivation of its property in vi olation of its right to due process under the Constitution,” the court added. John K. McKinley, the compa ny’s chairman and chief executive officer, said, “This decision con firms Texaco’s ability to appeal the judgement of the appellate courts without the burden of op pressive bond and liens.” In Houston, Pennzoil Chair man J. Hugh Liedtke told The Associated Press that he joined McKinley in being “delighted” See Court, page 12 A&M nuclear reactor Uronium fuel level expected to be downgroded by 1988 By BRIAN PEARSON Senior Staf f Writer High-enriched uranium fuel used in Texas A&M’s nuclear reactor is expected to be replaced by low-en riched fuel by the end of 1988, the director of the A&M Nuclear Sci ences Center said Tuesday. Donald Feltz said this change is being made to comply with a Feb. 6 ruling made by the Nuclear Regula- tOry Commission. The ruling re quires about 24 nuclear research re actors around the country to use low-enriched fuel because if this fuel were stolen, it would be more diffi cult to use in the composition of a nuclear weapon than would the weapons-grade, high-enriched fuel. The fuel replacement should al low the facility, upon approval by the NRC, to upgrade reactor power from one megawatt to two mega watts, Feltz said. “We’ve opposed this (rule) all along,” Feltz said. Feltz said the current fuel, which is not weapons grade, would be diffi cult to steal and convert to weapons- grade uranium. Weapons-grade uranium is almost 99 percent pure. Uranium fuel less than 99 percent pure must go through a complicated refining process to become weapons grade, he said. Feltz said that although the NRC has not set a deadline for replace ment, the A&M facility probably will switch the fuel in 1988 and follow through with the proposed upgrade of the reactor. “The (NRC) rule only will be put into effect if federal funds are avail able," Feltz said. “In the long-range planning of this facility, we were looking at upgrading our reactor in its performance anyway.” He said the federal government, through the U.S. Department of En- ergy, will pay about $150,000 in fuel shipping costs and about $750,000 for the recently-developed, low-en riched fuel. Feltz said the A&M reactor cur- rently uses 70 percent unranium-en- riched fuel and is on the end of the list of facilities affected by the NRC ruling. The first reactors that wall be asked by the NRC to switch fuels currently use 93 percent enriched fuel. Feltz said. He said the new' fuel will be less than 20 percent enriched, the point at which a fuel is considered to be low enriched and -difficult to use to make a nuclear w'eapon. The new fuel along with the up grading of the facility, Feltz said, will allow the reactor to provide more re search because the low-enriched fuel will be operated at a higher mega watt capacity than the current fuel. The present high-enriched fuel can operate at a maximum of 1.5 mega watts and the new low-enriched fuel design can operate at three mega watts. To operate a nuclear reactor at a higher megawatt power, the control rods in the reactor core are further out to allow for more Fission to oc cur. This allows For a greater release of neutrons. “The higher the neutron flux, the See A&M nuclear, page 12