Wednesday, February 3, 1988/The Battalion/Page 7
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Retail sales
|show rebound
in economy
AUSTIN (AP) — Final figures
from Christmas 1987 showed strong
retail sales, a good sign that the
Texas economy is rebounding, the
state comptroller reported T uesday.
| “When things are looking better,
people splurge at Christmastime be
cause they expect to be able to pav
their bills the next year,” said T om
Proffitt, director of tax information
for Comptroller Bob Bullock. “It’s
psychological as much as anything,
but it does turn into cold cash.”
Bullock reported that tax collec
tions during December showed a 56
percent jump over December 1986
collections.
“A surge in consumer spending in
December brought in more than
$619 million in state sales taxes,”
Bullock said.
During December, the 1987 Leg
islature’s latest sales tax increase —to
a 6 percent rate — was in effect. But
Bullock said the increased tax collec
tions were greater than any factor
that could be attributed to the
higher sales tax rate.
Bullock also said a survey of major
retailers showed Christmas season
sales up an average of 5.5 percent in
1987 compared with 1986.
“That’s a healthy gain that will
translate into a better financial posi
tion for T exas merchants and an
overall improvement in the economy
for all Texans,” he said.
According to Proffitt, Christmas
season sales are a good economic in
dicator for two reasons.
“Number 1, they represent from
15 percent to 20 percent of a mer
chant's yearly business,” Proffitt
said. “Number 2, when people do
not have confidence that the econ
omy is going to get better they hold
! back on purchases at Christmas.”
Bullock said the stronger retail
sales offer another indication that
Texas is rebounding from the dol
drums which began two years ago as
the price of oil fell from near $30
per barrel to less than $10, sparking
a downturn in many segments of the
state's economy, particularly energy
and real estate.
Up in the air
Randy Hughes works Tuesday to resurface the
bricks on the old chemistry building. The work is
Photo by David Eller
part of the ongoing renovation program on the
A&M campus.
Parking
(Continued from page 1)
Wellborn Road to Texas Avenue
widened to handle six lanes of
through traffic. The widening
means all of the parking spaces on
the A&M side of University Drive
from Wellborn Road to Bizzell
Street will be lost. According to the
highway department’s plans, that
strip of land will be used to provide
another lane for traffic.
Robert R. Odstrcil, supervising
planning engineer for the Texas De
partment of Highways, said the wid
ening was necessary to handle the
traffic flow on University Drive and
for safety reasons. The highway de
partment would have widened Uni
versity Drive even if A&M was not
building a parking garage, Odstrcil
said.
Most of the construction work
should take place in the summer
when thexe will be fewer students on
campus and less traffic on University
Drive, he said. Construction on Uni
versity Drive should be complete by
the scheduled opening of the gai age
in October, Odstrcil said.
Waitt said, the garage also will
mean the following changes in traf
fic flow on campus:
^•'1 . *4. k • *
• Asbury Street will remain a
one-way street, but the direction of
traffic flow will change from south
bound to northbound.
• Traffic on Ireland Street from
University Drive to the south en
trance of the parking garage will be
southbound only. That is a reverse
of the current direction.
• From the south entrance of the
garage to Ross Street, two-way traf
fic will lie allowed. This will enable
Ross Street traffic to use Ireland
Street to enter the garage without
circling around to University Drive.
Traffic will be able to enter the ga
rage from either freland Street or
University Drive, and traffic will exit
the garage onto Asbury and Univer
sity Drive.
• A&M also will close the Ireland
Street entrance to Parking Annex 5,
which is the lot between Blocker
Building and University Drive. The
entrance to PA 5 on Spence Street
vyill remain open and a new' entrance
will be created to allow direct access
to the parking lot from University
Drive.
irstorms (
g Rain
Students, teachers mourn death
of teacher; suspect remains jailed
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HOUSTON (AP) — Teachers
I and students of a local middle school
mourned the brutal death of a Span
ish teacher, the second such killing
in the district in two weeks, while the
teacher’s alleged murderer re
mained jailed Tuesday.
“Nobody will be able to replace
him,” Sandra Gutierrez, a 12-year-
old seventh-grader at Galena Park
Middle School, said of Benjamin
Jesse Todd. “He was one of my fa
vorite teachers, and I’ll really miss
him a lot.”
Several teachers took the news of
Todd’s death hard, school counselor
Gregg Hay said. Todd had taught at
the school for 22 years.
“Some students are upset and the
counselors are working with them,
but we sent five teachers home,”
principal John Manison said Mon
day.
Manison said that although Todd
was a veteran teacher, he only had
55 students because he was recov
ering from a stroke that he suffered
last August and had just returned to
school Jan. 20.
Assistant Principal Ed Rigsby, in a
loud-speaker address at the start of
classes Monday, told the school’s 875
sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders
that Todd would want them to re
main strong.
A moment of silence was observed
and the school’s U.S. flag was low
ered to half staff.
Meanwhile, Kevin Wayne Ware,
21, remained in the Harris County
Jail in lieu of $10,000 after being ar
rested and charged Monday with
Todd’s murder.
Todd’s sister found his nude,
bloodied body at his Harris County
home Sunday evening, sheriffs Lt.
Juan Jorge said.
Todd, 45, died from multiple stab
wounds to the chest and neck, an of
ficial with the Harris County medical
examiner’s office said. A knife
thought to have been used in the
slaying was found at the scene, inves
tigators said.
On Jan. 18, Wilbert Lavoid Perry
Jr., 36, assistant principal at Cun
ningham Middle School, was found
strangled at his home.
Police say there is no evidence that
the two deaths related.
Police arrest
nine in raids
for gambling
Oyster’s red discoloration
harmless, biologist explains
AMARILLO (AP) — Police ar
rested nine people in two raids on
alleged gambling operations, seiz
ing $10,000 in cash and equip
ment allegedly used in gambling,
I authorities said.
Although it was Super Bowl
[Sunday, most of the alleged gam
bling activity was on basketball
games, police said.
Agents of the Organized
[Crime Unit and Amarillo Police
! Department Special Weapons
and Tactics team executed the si-
multaneous raids Sunday morn-
[ingat Unisex Hair Design beauty
shop and Tic Video, authorities
[said.
Six people were arrested at the
[beauty shop, police said, and held
on felony charges of promotion
Iof gambling and operating a
gambling house.
Three men were booked into
I the city jail on identical charges in
connection with the raid on Tic
Video, according to a police de
partment spokesman who asked
I that his name not be used.
Eleven men who were at the es
tablishments at the time of the
raid were issued citations for
gambling, a class C misdemeanor,
[police said.
Both operations, which had
been under surveillance for some
I time, were taking bets on sporting
(events, officers said.
Authorities seized more than
J$10,()00 in the raids. Also confis-
jeated were numerous betting
(slips, copiers and adding ma-
(chines. Also, a cash register, a
(safe and a poster listing point
(spreads on various games were
(confiscated during the raids on
(both establishments, according to
(police.
Undercover officers had pre
viously placed bets at both estab-
(lishments, authorities said.
GALVESTON, Texas (AP) — A
pigment similar to that in carrots is
causing consumers to shy away from
“red” oysters, although the discol
oration is harmless, an oyster biolog
ist said Tuesday.
“Although this condition is not
harmful to the oyster or to the con
sumer, its appeal is disconcerting,”
said biologist Sammy Ray of Texas
A&M University.
Such red discoloration has two
primary causes, he said. One is a sin
gle-celled organism related to green
algae taken in through natural fil
tering by the oyster, and the second
is a pink yeast called torula.
Researchers at the school’s Galves
ton campus say the current outbreak
is due to the one-celled dinoflagel-
late.
“This discoloration is something
that occurs sporadically throughout
the years,” Ray said. “In this case,
the oystermen can either put them
back in the water until they purge
themselves, then reharvest, or dis
card them.”
The abnormal color in the oysters
also disappears when they are
cooked, Ray explained, as the pig
ment is destroyed. In most cases, the
oysters are sent back to the produc
ers and discarded, he said.
The dinoflagellafe produces a ca
rotene-like pigment similar to that
found in carrots. Oysters feed on the
dinoflagellates, which may remain in
the gut of the oyster until it is har
vested.
When oysters are frozen, ice crys
tals are formed in the cells of the
oyster meat. These crystals may rup
ture the cells, allowing the pigment
to leach out and give a red color to
the liquid when thawed.
“The shucker-packer has two
ways of determining whether a lot of
oysters wall turn red,” Ray ex
plained. “He can take a representa
tive sample and freeze them over
night. After the sample thaws the
next day, he observes the color of
the liquid.”
A faster means of detection is by
blending the oysters with an equal
volume of denatured ethyl alcohol
and allowing the mix to settle for 10
minutes.
An orange to reddish color in the
upper layer indicates the presence of
the pigment, and a yellow color indi
cates its absence.
“The question has also arisen as to
the connection of this discoloration
to so-called red tide,” Ray said.
“Red tide is any abnormal bloom
ing of phytoplankton or red discol
oration, and this one is non-toxic,
both to the oyster and td the con
sumer. T here is no harm, only dis
comfort and lack of appeal.”
Former jail trusty receives life
for death of prison dispatcher
HUNTSVILLE (AP) — A former
jail trusty convicted of capital mur
der in the July slaying of a sheriffs
dispatcher was sentenced to life in
prison Monday.
Jurors in State District Judge Er
win Ernst’s court deliberated about
45 minutes before sentencing James
Herbert Mann, 27. The defendant
could have received the death pen
alty.
Mann, an eighth-grade dropout,
was convicted of capital murder Fri-
day in the shooting death of Wesley
Alford, 22, a dispatcher at the
Grimes Count) Jail. Alford, a for
mer military policeman and martial
arts enthusiast, was killed during an
escape at the jail.
Testimony during the trial
showed that Mann, serving a 25-year
robbery sentence in the jail, and Al
ford clashed often over jail discipline
and policies.
The capital charge stemmed f rom
prosecution contentions that Alford
was acting in the line of dutv when
the shooting occurred.
But Billy Carter, Mann’s court-ap
pointed attorney, argued that the jail
was a zoo and Mann was scared that
Alford and another trusty were out
to get him.
Mann testified Alford threw
things at him, cursed him and even
sneaked into his cell on occassion.
Garter said that on the night of
the shooting, Alford w r as harassing
Mann and thus wasn’t acting as a
peace officer — meaning the shoot
ing wasn't capital murder.
But prosecutor Latham Boone
said Alford was doing what was nec
essary to keep Mann from hurting
anyone or escaping.
TEMPORARY CASH
SHORTAGE BETWEEN
PAYDAYS??
WE HAVE SHORT TERM PERSONAL
LOANS. FOR FURTHER INFORMA
TION, PLEASE CALL STANLEY SOM
MERS AT CENTRAL TEXAS LOANS,
INC., 2305 CAVITT, BRYAN, TEXAS
77801.
Phone: 823-5626.
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OUiom of ConUtmoo Cuodil CommiHioni of
< 11toSlaioof < liuU~
TXA/l/
Tan for Only
S3 00 per session
with proof of
Health Club Members
846-9779
104 College Main
Lotus 1-2-3
One-week classes
for students who want,
to learn this popular
spreadsheet program
Cost $35.00
Sterling C. Evans Library
Learning Resources Department
Room 604 845-2316
Feb. 8-12, 3-5
Feb. 29-Mar.4, 5-7
Mar. 28-Apr. 1, 4-6
Apr. 18-22, 2-4
KAPPA ALPHA PSI
FRATERNITY
Salutes The Achievement of
Black Americans:
REGINALD F. LEWIS
In August of 1987, Reginald Lewis captured
the attention of the world when his invest
ment firm, the TLC Group, acquired the cor
porate monolith Beatrice International Food
for $985 million in a leveraged buyout. This
historical event placed Lewis in the elite class
on not only Wall Street but corporate America
as well. A visionary, Reginald Lewis has
shown that with hard work and fortitude that
Black Americans can and will continue to
have impact on corporate America.
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