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College Station teachers say
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— Page 5
Eaton assures Faculty Senate
A&M not planning layoffs
— Page 3
Hiring freeze leaves A8cM
volleyball program up in air
— Page 11
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Texas A&M
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Tne Battalion
83 No. 115 USPS 075360 14 pages
College Station, Texas
Tuesday, March 11, 1986
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By MIKE SULLIVAN
Stall Writer
Tlvo Texas A&M students re-
ained in stable condition Monday
^e intensive care unit of Bryan’s
seph’s Hospital after being crit-
| injured Sunday in an auto-
pile accident, in which four stu
nts were killed.
Bryan police Lieutenant John ,
mid said an 18-wheeler struck the
r Its the driver was attempting to
akt a U-turn after missing the FM
ilp exit into College Station.
Dr. Robert L. Walker, A&M vice
■dent for development, said his
m, Richard N. Walker, a junior
|m Bryan, hasn’t regained con-
iousness since the accident. He
id the biggest obstacles to his re-
jyeiY are a crushed pelvis and
ven broken ribs.
■alker said his son’s lungs are
so bruised, making it difficult for
unto breathe.
Walker said Glenn M. Buttefly,
nl also survived the accident, is re-
tveiing from surgery performed
londay night to repair a ruptured
iaphragm. He said Butterly also
r(|ered a broken pelvis and ribs but
citing well.
Funeral services for the four stu
ms killed in the accident will be
Id Wednesday. Services will he
tld for:
• David R. Hedegard at 10:00
m. at St. Anne’s Catholic Church in
■tball.
Mitchell Smith wick at 2:00 p.m.
rst Baptist Church in Allen.
Arthur J. Strom at 1:00 p.m. at
morial Chapel in Dallas.
• John L. Thornton at 2:30 p.m.
&M United Methodist in College
ion.
imille Bunting, associate profes-
lin the health and physical educa-
department, said the six stu-
ts were in her outdoor education
lass and were returning from En-
hauted Rock State Park-
Photo by CYNDI LALJER
Time Through A Sundial
The floral test gardens can be seen through the sundial on the south side of Texas A&M.
Sources say
crew remains
being studied
Associated Press
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. —
Pathologists on Monday examined
remains of Challenger’s crew,
sources reported, while rough seas
prevented divers from retrieving
any additional body parts or debris
that might provide cluesjto the shut
tle disaster.
Some remains and crew cabin
wreckage were brought ashore se
cretly Saturday night by the Navy
salvage ship USS Preserver, which
entered port without running lights,
reported reliable sources, who spoke
on condition of anonymity.
In announcing Sunday that cabin
debris and remains had been found
on the ocean floor, NASA did not
say whether anything had been re
covered. The agency said it would
respect family wishes and not com
ment again until the operation was
completed.
The Navy, which is conducting
the search, said the 213-foot Pre
server was at the scene Monday
where the cabin debris was found
but had to return to port in late af
ternoon because of weather, with 20
mph winds whipping up eight foot
waves.
The sources said the ship’s divers
were unable to drop to the ocean
floor and nothing additional was re
covered.
The weather outlook was even
worse for Tuesday, so it is uncertain
when the recovery effort will re
sume.
Private boats were barred from an
area two miles around the search site
and private planes were kept five
miles away. Sections of the cabin
were found about 18 miles northeast
of Cape Canaveral at a depth of 100
feet.
Data tapes that were in the cabin
could shed light on the cause of the
explosion, but it was not known how
well the tapes survived.
The sources did not know if re-
See NASA, page 10
Town Hall losses are estimated at $61,400
7% reduction won’t cut MSC budget
By JEANNE ISENBERG
Staff Writer
The 1986-87 budget of the Me
morial Student Center Council will
not be reduced despite the 7 percent
budget cut approved Wednesday by
the Texas A&M Board of Regents,
the MSC vice president of finance
told the MSC Council Monday night.
Perry Eichor said any cuts passed
on to the MSC shouldn’t affect the
current operating budget because it
has about $127,000 in reserve funds
that should cover any cuts the union
must make. The only problem fac
ing the Council, he said, will be de
ciding what part of the reserves
should be used.
The Council also heard reports on
the financial losses that MSC Town
Hall has sustained this semester.
Sharon Gibson, vice president of
entertainment programs, said Town
Hall has seen losses on two of its big
concerts this semester. The Lee
Greenwood concert Feb. 9 lost about
$20,000, she said. And on Feb. 20
the American Music Tour lost about
$30,000. Both concerts featured top
country-western stars.
MSG Director Jim Reynolds said
these major losses, added to the
smaller deficits accumulated by
Town Hall’s other programs this
year, brings the committee’s total
losses to an estimated $61,400 for
1985-86.
Town Hall accounts for about half
the total losses of the student cen
ter’s programming, Reynolds said.
To cover these losses, he said the
MSC again will have to turn to the
MSC committees’ reserve funds.
About 25 of these funds are set up
in the MSC. The larger committees,
such as Town Hall/OPAS, Political
Forum and the Student Conference
on National Affairs, have individual
funds, he said, and the other com
mittees are grouped into one large
reserve fund.
Reynolds suggested some of the
losses can be attributed to a failure
of the committees to know their tar
get audiences.
Several committees, including
Town Hall, are designed to be a
campus services, not purely money
making groups, he said. He added
that if the committees better eval
uate the audiences’ preferences,
they could at least break even.
And those preferences are chang
ing. As an example, Reynolds said a
country-western program easily
would have sold 5,000 or 6,000 tick
ets six years ago.
See MSC budget, page 10
Texas' U.S. legislators
have cash-on-hand
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — All of
exas’ 26 congressional incum-
nts seeking re-election have
Ish in their campaign coffers,
urging from $191 for Democrat
Henry B. Gonzalez of San Anto
nio to $455,502 for Dallas Repub-
|an Steve Bartlett.
The state’s 27th member of
ICongress, Republican Tom
Deffler of Hunt, is resigning to
■tin for governor.
Six Republicans and four Dem-
tratsare seeking to replace him.
Gonzalez and Bartlett are
‘unopposed this year.
§ The second-highest balance,
cording to campaign finance
reports for 1985 filed with the
Federal Election Commission, be
longed to J.J. “Jake” Pickle, D-
.ustin.
Pickle, who has been in Con-
ess for 23 years, reported cash-
on-hand of $344,604 as of Dec.
31, 1985, but reported raising
only $175 of it during the pre
vious year.
Pickle has drawn three oppo
nents, including former Demo
cratic Austin Mayor Carole Mc
Clellan Rylander, who switched
to the COP to run against him.
Another Democrat facing a Re
publican challenge, John Bryant
of Dallas, was third, reporting
$334,052, with $150,000 coming
from loans.
Republicans are hoping to pick
up Bryant’s East Dallas district,
which includes growing suburbs
and increasing numbers of GOP
voters.
Marvin Leath, an unopposed
Democrat from Marlin, listed a
balance of $333,302.
None of the incumbents re
ported campaign debts, including
See Representatives, page 10
FAA defends air traffic safety record
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The Federal
Aviation Administration acknowl
edged Monday that more fully
trained air traffic controllers are
needed, but insisted its existing
workforce is keeping the skies safe.
FAA Administrator Donald
Engen was to appear before a Senate
air safety task force to respond to a
critical report by the General Ac
counting Office.
The study suggests there are not
enough controllers for peak traffic
loads in some parts of the country —
and flights should be curtailed.
The congressional report released
last week has renewed lawmakers’
concern about air safety.
The Senate task force, part of the
Republican Conference, includes a
number of senators involved in avi
ation issues.
Meanwhile, a House investiga
tions subcommittee on aviation has
scheduled a hearing next week, on
the GAO’s findings.
“Limiting air traffic before conditions worsen seems to
be the prudent choice. ”
— A General Accounting Office study.
Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn.,
chairman of the investigations sub
committee of the House Public
Works and Transportation Commit
tee, said the GAO report “. . . shows
clearly that there are serious stresses
on the nation’s air traffic control sys
tem.”
An FAA spokesman conceded
that controllers still are working too
much overtime at some busy control
centers and FAA planners know
they don’t have enough controllers,
including enough full performance
level controllers.
But spokesman Bob Buckhorn
said Monday, “They do have a cam
paign program to remedy that.”
Buckhorn said in the meantime,
air traffic is being regulated through
flow control techniques designed to
keep controllers from being over
burdened.
The GAO study, however, sug
gests those flow control measures
should be examined to determine
whether they are adequate.
Buckhorn said, “The track record
of air traffic control is excellent.”
He cited statistics that show a 3
percent increase in air traffic in
1985, but an 18 percent decline in
flight delays and a 26 percent drop
in operational errors, instances
where controllers allow planes to
come closer to one another than reg
ulations permit.
The GAO report urges the FAA
to impose restrictions on air traffic
until the agency gets as many fully
trained controllers into the work
force as it wants, and overtime is re
duced.
“Limiting air traffic before condi
tions worsen seems to be the
prudent choice,” the study said.
It was based largely on question
naires sent to more than 5,500 con
trollers and supervisors, as well as in
terviews with the respondents.
The study also said, “Controllers
at many major facilities are being
stretched too thin and, over time,
the situation could impair their abil
ity to continue to maintain the
proper margin of safety.”
The FAA says it has just under
14,000 controllers, with 8,673 of
them considered full performance
controllers who are allowed to work
all traffic control assignments.
Before the 1981 controllers strike
that saw 11,400 controllers fired, the
FAA had 16,200 controllers, 13,200
of them at full performance level.
tudy: U.S. police not trained for toxic accidents
Associated Press
[WASHINGTON — Three-fourths of
nation’s police and firemen are inade-
lately trained to respond to accidents in-
living transportation of hazardous materi-
I, a new congressional study says.
And even if a trained team reaches the
ne of a ruptured tank truck, improper
eling of the vehicle’s contents can pro
ice a wrong, dangerous response, the Of-
e of Technology Assessment said in a
idy released Monday.
OTA quoted state officials as saying that
)m25 percent to 50 percent of the identi-
ation placards required on hazardous
tterial shipments are incorrect and that
shipping documents “are sometimes incom
plete or inaccessible.”
“Emergency crews must assess the risks
of the hazardous material and make deci
sions on how to respond based on informa
tion that may or may not be accurate,” said
OTA, a nonpartisan congressional agency.
“The wrong response to a hazardous
material endangers both emergency per
sonnel and the neighboring communities,”
said the study, which urged adoption of
federal training and response standards to
replace a mishmash of state requirements.
Asked why so many placards are incor
rect, Edith Page, who directed the study,
said: “In some cases it’s ignorance. In some
cases it’s carelessness.”
OTA said the most pressing need is to
develop better ways of training safety per
sonnel to handle accidents involving the
500,000 daily shipments of hazardous
materials on U.S. highways, rail lines and
waterways.
“Three-quarters of the first responders
are not adequately trained to deal with haz
ardous substances,” Page told a news brief
ing.
She said that a joke among response per
sonnel is that you bring tennis shoes and
binoculars to a toxic or nuclear material
spill — using the shoes to quickly get a safe
distance away and the binoculars to read
the placard.,
“Then you call for expert help,” Page
said. “This is often said in jest, but there’s a
strong element of truth in it.”
OTA said that while some states and met
ropolitan areas have good response pro
grams, “most first responders in smaller ur
ban and rural areas have not been trained
to deal with hazardous materials, despite
many existing training programs.”
Although it did not specifically urge
more federal spending, OTA said contin
ued support for state enforcement pro
grams “is important, since federal inspec
tion forces are shrinking due to budget
constraints.”
OTA recommended better training and
a national license for operators of vehicles
carrying hazardous substances in an effort
to reduce the average of 11,462 accidens
the Transportation Department says oc
curred yearly between 1973 and 1983.
In most states, Page said, a truck driver
needs no special license for hazardous car
goes. “The nephew or son of the owner can
drive a gasoline truck,” she said.
Ms. Page said OTA doesn’t trust Trans
portation Department figures indicating
that the incidence of accidents involving
hazardous materials is decreasing.