Wednesday, August 27, 1986/The Battalion/Page 5
'hitmire, council
fill disagree over
hiring of workers
OUSTON (AP) — City council
m|inbers and Mayor Kathy Whit
mire remained split Tuesday on the
fat< of 83 sanitation workers who
wf e fired during a protest over lay
offs and increased workloads.
HvVhitmire dismissed the workers
Iasi week after they went to the city’s
four solid waste service centers and
refused supervisors’ directives to go
to work.
■A four-hour meeting Monday be-
uyten the mayor and four council
members ended with no resolution.
The council members want the
workers reinstated, while Whitmire
is opposed to letting them return to
work.
H“We really don’t have anything to
announce,” Whitmire said after the
evening meeting. “That’s why we
didn t invite the press.”
■The mayor said the talks were
t |)ductive, but she refused to say
Iw close they are to a conclusion.
■Councilman Rodney Ellis said
Whitmire “has shown a willingness
to listen,” and hoped that further
talks would provide a breakthrough.
If Whitmire accepts amnesty, the
workers will still pay a price for the
wildcat strike, such as a two- or four-
week suspension without pay, offi
cials said. The average laborer earns
about $350 per week
Meanwhile, city crews supple
mented by temporary workers were
sent out on all 137 city routes as the
Solid Waste Management Depart
ment continued its efforts to restore
normal collection schedules.
The wildcat strike began Aug. 18
when 400 of the city’s garbage collec
tion drivers and laborers began a
protest of extended working days
and other working conditions.
The councilmen have pushed
Whitmire to rehire the workers, but
she has said the workers were fired
for an illegal strike and are being re
placed witli workers laid off earlier.
Sixty-nine of the fired workers
have appealed to the city Civil Serv
ice Commission.
:er-l)ii
Late mail
Couple receives lost letters
husband wrote during WWII
■ HOUSTON (AP) — During
■orld War II, Charles Reass wrote
of undying love for his young bride,
who was finally able to read what he
Kd to say this week when the Postal
Service delivered a batch of 42-year-
okl letters.
■ Houston Postmaster Samuel
■teen Jr. on Monday presented the
eight letters with apologies for the
delayed delivery to Charles Reass
ratid his wife, Eunice.
jaih
: sail:
head»
onab
a will
has mi 1
)avidi
ied im
ward
I’sMrt
ertf
arlv tf
J to of 1 "
ml
it she
foral*'
Number of
active rigs
decreases
HOUSTON (AP) — The num
ber of working oil and gas rigs in
the country dropped to 727 after
the count had increased five
weeks in a row, Hughes Tool Co.
officials said.
The count dropped 11 from
last week’s total of 738, company
officials said Monday. Last year at
this time the count was 1,940. In
July, the rig count hit an all-time
low of 663, officials said.
Before 1971, the lowest num
ber was 805 rigs working in April
1943, according to officials of the
oil tool maker that has kept in-
untildl dustry statistics since 1940.
3 ,ni, I; More than 1,000 rigs have
saintil 1 been idle since December when
i ClitJ oil prices began to decline, falling
as low as $9 a barrel. Since Dec.
23, the rig count has dropped
steadily from 1,995, officials said.
In contrast, 4,500 rigs were ac
tive in December 1981.
Government nixes
Eastern-Texas Air
erger proposal
BOTHER’S
BOOKSTORES
Your Complete Greek Headquarters
340 Jersey (across from Univ. Police) 901 Harvey (Woodstone Center)
ROTHER’S
BOOKSTORES
Open Late to Serve You
340 Jersey (across front Unlv. Police) 901 Harvey (Woodstone Center)
ROTHER’S
BOOKSTORES
Custom Silk Screening Specialists
340 Jersey (across from Unlv. Police) 901 Harvey (Woodstone Center)
“I knew the post office always
comes through,” joked Reass, 64.
Reass said the letters actually were
delayed due to a problem in the mili
tary — and not with postal workers.
As an Army private, Reass wrote
the letters to his wife of 19 months
while on board a troopship bound
from Virginia to North Africa.
“When I say, T love you,’ it means
that every morning when I open my
eyes, I love you more than when I
laid down, and each night when I lay
me down I love you more when I
wake up,” one of the letters said.
Opening one of the lettes, Reass
studied one for a moment, and then
said, “I suspect these are a little on
the mushy side.”
Reass’ letters to his wife, his par
ents, an aunt and a service buddy
were among 235 pieces of V-Mail
found recently in an attic in Raleigh,
N.C.
A young man from Raleigh, now
dead, was to have mailed the letters,
but for reasons unknown, did not do
so.
Instead, he left a duffel bag full of
mail in his aunt’s attic.
V-Mail sheets were a combination
letter and envelope supplied to serv
icemen on uniform stationery.
They were mailed free of charge
and accorded preferential sorting
and transportation.
A pest control operator recently
discovered the mail while working in
the aunt’s attic and turned them
over to the Postal Service.
Until two weeks ago, the couple
did not know the letters were miss-
ing.
Reass said that since he wrote his
wife nearly every day during the
war, he never checked on whether
each of his letters had been received.
| WASHINGTON (AP) — The
overnment on Tuesday grounded
he proposed $676 million purchase
f Eastern Airlines by Texas Air
lorp., but said it would consider a
ew merger plan that resolves com-
etitive problems in the lucrative
Jortheast air-shuttle market.
A spokesman for Texas Air Corp.
[aid the company remains, com-
litted to the merger and is “absolu-
jely confident” it will still get prompt
overnment approval. Eastern offi-
ials also said they are optimistic the
government’s objections can be re
solved.
1 Industry and government
sources, who spoke on the condition
they not be identified, said the two
Companies are likely to rework their
merger plans as quickly as possible
^nd resubmit them to the Transpor
tation Department.
I One solution, one of the sources
jaid, would be to help Pan American
orld Airways obtain needed air-
ort access — especially at New
ork’s LaGuardia Airport — so it
an better compete wdth Eastern Air-
nes in providing air shuttle service
etween Washington, New York and
oston.
The Transportation Department
ive tentative approval to the Texas
ir-Eastern merger on July 9, but at
[he time conditioned the decision on
ssurances that a final deal would
reserve competition in service be-
kveen the three cities.
Eastern Airlines and New York
Advertising in The Battalion
is as
Good as Gold!
CALL 845-2611
Air, already owned by Texas Air
Corp., now compete head-on with
hourly flights linking Washington,
New York and Boston, making it the
most heavily traveled commercial air
corridor anywhere.
The merger of Eastern with
Texas Air, which also owns Conti
nental Airlines, would create the
country’s largest airline holding
company, slightly larger than United
Airlines.
The department said Tuesday it
had no problems with the merger
except for the impact on competi
tion in the Northeast and that a new
proposal aimed at solving those
problems would be reviewed expedi
tiously, “with the focus on the pro
posed competitive remedy issue.”
But the department said the
merger before the government
would bring both Eastern and New
York Air under common control
and eliminate effective competition
in the Washington-New York-Bos-
ton shuttle corridor.
Texas Air thought it had resolved
the Northeast competition question
with a deal last May with Pan Am in
which Pan Am bought some of New
York Air’s landing and takeoff slots
at New York and Washington for
$65 million.
Pan Am plans to begin shuttle
service in competition with Eastern
in October.
WHO COULD ASK FOR MORE?
WHY SETTLE FOR LESS?
Loupot’s Means Book Reserves
Wouldn’t it be nice to have one less line to
stand in? Ole’Army Lou understands. He’s been
serving Aggies for over fifty years and some
things never change. That’s why Loupot’s offers
book reserves. Just hand in your schedule and
Lou’s crew will handle the rest. Drop back by at
your convenience and a bag of books with your
name on it will be waiting. Reserve before
September 1 and receive a free Aggie T-shirt,
too!
Loupofs Means Used Books
without a Hassle
Thousands of Aggies sell their books back to
Loupot’s each semester, so they have plenty of
used books for every class you’re taking. No
digging through lists and piles of books to find
the right one for your class section - Loupot’s
does all the work for you. Just hand them your
schedule and they get your books before
classes start!
Loupot’s Means More than Just
Books
School supplies, calculators, Aggie gifts,
t-shirts, shorts, veterinarian school supplies,
architectural supplies, Corps of Cadets
equipment and dorm refrigerators. Loupot’s has
it all and now there is twice as much room to
put it in! With neW services like video rentals
and one-hour photo processing, Loupot’s is now
more than just your bookstore. It’s your one-stop
for everything at Northgate.
Loupot’s Means Convenience
Loupot’s is right across the street from the post
office at Northgate. It’s within walking distance
for dorm residents and there is lots of free
parking behind the store. If you should have to
park as far as the “mud lot,’’ Ole’Army Lou will
reimburse your dollar with a valid parking ticket
from the lot attendant.
At Northgate 335 University Drive
: :
m 1 ’> 1
< ''7
■
«0i
igjlj I
1 i|
11
111:
I1JP
HiiP
llll
FnnVmm
IUI hum:
Bssifiess