Friday, July 8, 1988/The Battalion/Page 3
State and Local
Researchers
seek origin
of plateau
By Anita Arnold
Reporter
Texas A&M researchers are work
ing with scientists from around the
world to discover the origin of an
underwater plateau that scientists
think was lush forest above the sea
millions of years ago.
The Texas A&rM Ocean Drilling
Program is performing an underwa
ter survey to determine the origin
and evolution of a 97-million-year-
old plateau in the Indian Ocean.
The the Kerguelen Plateau is
2,500 kilometers in length and re
sembles the shape of Argentina.
Scientist on the drillship JOIDES
Resolution, operated and staffed by
Texas A&M crew and researchers
along with international scientists,
took samples from the plateau to
find out whether it had been an
other continent or a land mass frag
ment, Amanda Palmer, assistant re
search scientist, said.
“Volcanic eruptions formed the
plateau, and then it evolved into a
lush forest before sinking more than
a half mile below the surface,”
Palmer said.
Samples examined on the ship
show the rocks had formed either
above or near sea level, which proves
that the plateau exsisted as a sepa-
Irate land mass during the earliest
■ phases of its history, OPD director
IDr. Philip Rabinowitz said.
IM fragments of fossil wood
■'Wound in the reddish brown soil-like
Isilts and clays point to land condi-
Btions with a warm, moist climate, Ra-
■ binowitz said.
I The region’s climate began to cool
significantly 36 million years ago,
which allowed diatoms (microscopic
iytomarine algae) to form. These di-
' ■atomic blooms and layers of rocks
■ were carried by icebergs from An-
Htartica and left a record of the cli-
iggj malic changes during the ice ages.
I By learning more about the an-
Icient climates of the Southern Hemi-
“ wot I sphere, scientists will better under-
Jtspr: Island the connection between wind
anJCj I patterns, ocean circulation and cy-
.Icles of glaciation and their correla-
(opCMtion w j t }j t h e climate history of the
■ Northern Hemisphere, Rabinowitz
I said.
nfflriS thi® expedition, scientists will
Vm also date the track of India’s
SjjSpfl movement toward the A-iiaiA conti-
loices
set of
lem
[will finish its 18-month
Ocean expedition in 1988.
Review: ‘Red Heat’ fries
with action, comic thrills
By Staci Finch
Reviewer
What has lots of blood, lots of ac
tion and lots and lots and lots and
lots of guns? Nope, it’s not “Rambo
XX,” it’s “Red Heat,” starring funny
man Jim Belushi and that action-
thriller-bang-bang-shoot-’em-up
hero, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The scene is the Soviet Union.
The cops' bust a drug ring, but
wouldn’t you know it, the ringleader
gets away, heading for the border
and leaving his cohorts to die. So one
of the cops follows the bad guy to
Chicago and teams up with a wacko
American cop. The two destroy va
rious properties and lives as they try
to track down the bad guy.
Pretty predictable plot, no? In
case you haven’t guessed it, Arnold
Schwarzenegger is the Soviet police
officer, Captain Ivan Danko, and
Jim Belushi is Chicago’s crazy cop
Detective Sergeant Arthur Ridzik.
But once you know that, it doesn’t
matter how old and tired the sce
nario is, because these guys make a
funny movie.
Jim Belushi was good as the ob
noxious friend in “About Last
Night,” but he shines in this role. His
dry, sarcastic humor is funny, but it’s
not I’m-being-a-funny-actor-like-
my-brother here. No way. Belushi is
not relying on nepotism. He is funny
and entertaining on his own merit.
It’s the way he doesn’t play at being a
funny cop, he just simply is. Very
realistic.
A perfect foil for this crazy char
acter is Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Could it be — yes, it is . . . the man
is slowly on his way to becoming an
actor. OK, so he probably won’t win
any Oscars yet, but he’s almost get
ting believable. Of course, the role of
Captain Ivan Danko is perfect.
Schwarzenegger’s already got the ac
cent, and his trademark stoicism fits
right in with this character. And he’s
amusing. The awful puns that
Schwarzenegger is famous for aren’t
as prevalent in this movie; instead,
he’s got some one-liners that actually
provoke laughter instead of winces
from the audience.
These two together make a good
movie. And along with* the humor
and action, they even manage to get
the message across that a lack of un
derstanding still exists between the
two cultures. For instance, there isn’t
an American character in the movie
who doesn’t call the Soviet charac
ters ‘Russians.’ Wrong. Calling all
Soviets Russians is like calling all citi
zens of the United States Texans. It
just doesn’t work that way.
But that’s OK. This isn’t a social
statement movie. It’s an action-
thriller movie. There’s plenty of kill
ing, plenty of car chases — actually,
a game of chicken with charter buses
— and plenty of heroics by Schwar
zenegger and Belushi. Of course,
Schwarzenegger gets shot at point-
blank range and escapes unscathed,
and neither of them ever run out of
bullets, but this is Hollywood. And
there is even a little bit of human
emotion thrown in this one, which
all adds up to an entertaining film.
Inmate charged with murder
after aiding suicide attempt
pinM nent and study the behavior of the
Don® region’s climate patterns over mil-
lions of years.
ODP and its international team
Indian
HOUSTON (AP) — A Harris
County grand jury Thursday in
dicted a county jail inmate for mur
der in the suicide death of bankrupt
real estate developer J-R- McCon
nell.
The action against Thomas Jo
seph Damase, 42, came three days
after McConnell was found dead in
his cell with an electrical cord wrap
ped around his leg. Prosecutors con
tend Damase caused the death of the
former millionaire by plugging in
the wire that electrocuted him.
McConnell had been jailed since
November on fraud charges and
had been unable to raise $750,000
bail.
The grand jury indicted Demase,
who had been jailed for violating
probation, even though District At
torney John B. Holmes said McCon
nell wanted to die.
“If you ask me to get the gun and
then you blow yourself away, that’s
suicide,” Holmes said. “If I do it for
you, that’s murder.
“Even though the facts will proba
bly show that in the past J.R. McCon
nell wanted to die and on another
occasion attempted to take his own
life, this inmate did more than
merely aid him in committing the of
fense. He caused the death,” Holmes
said.
McConnell’s death Monday came
just 15 days before he was to stand
trial on charges that he and five oth
ers took part in a title fraud scheme
that netted between $4.2 million and
$5.7 million. Authorities said he at
tempted to hang himself at the jail in
March.
Holmes said at least one inmate
who witnessed McConnell’s death
testified before the grand jury. T he
district attorney, however, would not
say how many witnesses he had and
left open the possibility further
charges could result from McCon
nell’s death.
“We’re not supposed to parade
our evidence publicly in advance of
the courtroom,” Holmes said.
Other controversy has also sur
rounded the death of McConnell,
who returned from London to
Houston last Nov. 17, 10 days before
he was indicted on the fraud
charges.
Charles Milligan, a Key West, Fla.,
attorney who represented McCon
nell, contends officials failed to take
adequate steps to protect McConnell.
McConnell’s wife and brother also
have complained of his treatment
and said they plan to file a wrongful
death lawsuit.
Senate votes to spend $156.61 million
on Texas energy and water programs
WASHINGTON (AP) — The
[Senate voted Thursday to spend
$156.61 million on water and energy
projects in Texas and sent the bill to
President Reagan for his signature.
The package includes $126.51
[million in water construction pro-
Ijects and studies for the Lone Star
] State and another $30.1 million for
energy projects. The legislation, ap
proved by the Senate on a 91-3 vote,
also sets aside $100 million for re
search and development of the mul-
itibillion-dollar super collider.
“In this tight budget year, I am
= pleased that we have been able to get
some pretty solid funding for Texas
^projects,” said Sen. Lloyd Bentsen,
|D-Texas.
j Bentsen also called preservation
of funding for the super collider “a
major victory in this budget cycle.”
The bill decrees no construction can
begin on the atom-smasher but al
lows for detailed engineering and
some capital eqiupment purchases.
Texas is one of seven states in the
running for the super collider, a
physics project which is expected to
create 4,000 permanent jobs and
have an annual budget of $280 mil
lion.
Also included in the package was
a $22.8 million appropriation to con
tinue construction of the long-
awaited Cooper Lake on the South
Sulphur River in Northeast Texas,
and $11.3 million to deepen Free
port Harbor in Brazoria County.
Cooper Lake backers received a
scare during the appropriations
process, when the Senate initially de
cided to set aside $21.8 million.
They feared environmentalists
would take a lawsuit challenging the
project back to federal court if an
other $1 million was not added to
purchase land that will mitigate the
effects of construction on wildlife.
The case was in court for years
and the lake has been on the draw
ing board for decades.
“The Cooper Lake project can re
main on track with the extra million
we were able to get for mitigation,”
Bentsen said. “Cooper Lake is well
on its way to being completed, and I
think that it is about time.”
Backers of deepening Freeport
Harbor say the Brazoria County
project will play an increasingly im
portant role in the state’s economy
once completed. Dredging work
could begin later this year.
The energy funding includes an
appropriation for the Pantex nu
clear weapons plant in Amarillo,
which will get $20.5 million. Of that
total, $13 million is for a high-explo
sive machining facility and $7.5 mil
lion for security enhancements.
The University of Texas at Austin
received $3 million for nuclear ro
botics, and Texas A&M University
will get $600,000 for hydrogen re
search. Additionally, the Pleasant
Bayou geothermal well in Brazoria
County and two Louisiana counties
received $6 million.
Additional funds were included in
Sunday
TAMU International Folk Dancers:Will meet at 8 p.m. in the MSC, check mon-
iter for room. They will be teaching line, couple and mixer dances from around
the world. Contact Ellen 822-2415. Rudder Tower.
Brazos Valley Alzheimer’s Disease Family Support Group:Will meet at 3
p.m. at St. Thomas Episcopal Church - Parish Hall. The topic is “Nutritional Re
quirements in the Elderly.” Contact Pat Stirling 693-1680.
Items for What's Up should be submitted to The Battalion, 216 Reed McDonald,
no later than three business days before the desired run date. We only publish
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a Battalion service that lists non-profit events and activities. Submissions are run
on a first-come, first-served basis. There is no guarantee an entry will run. If you
have questions, call the newsroom at 845-3315.
Evidence: Cattle rustling increasing
The cattle rustling bonanza is
increasing evidenced by the over
$2 million worth of livestock and
equipment recovered by Texas
and Southwestern Cattle Raisers
Association field inspectors.
Jody Henderson, TSCRA head
field inspector, said field and
brand inspectors recovered 4,050
head of cattle, 97 horses, 19 trail
ers and 94 saddles during last fis
cal year.
Crime has been reduced in
communities adopting the
TSCRA “citizen’s watch pro
gram,” Larry Hyorchuck,
TSCRA field inspector, said.
The program involves one or
two members monitoring suspi
cious activities and keeping in
touch with a base station and local
authorities through citizens band
radios.
When cattle are reported sto
len, Henderson requests a color
description, identification ‘num
ber or brand, purebred or cross
bred classification, age and sex of
the animal and the owner’s name,
telephone and mailing address.
This information is sent imme
diately to auction markets in the
surrounding area.
“It is vital to get information
about the stolen animals to field
inspectors with the TSCRA of the
immediate area as quickly as pos
sible,” Henderson said. “The sto
len animals often are found at an
auction barn several hundred
miles from the theft site or in an
adjoining state.”
Hyorchuck said the rustling oc
curs throughout the year with a
slight increase during December,
and has been unaffected by in
creasing penalties for the rustlers
which vary from county to
county.
New fat substitute reduces calories
A new fat substitute can reduce
calories and cholesterol in dairy
and oil-based products such as ice
cream, salad dressing and marga
rine, Texas A&M researchers say.
A four-ounce serving of ice
cream, for example, can be re
duced from 283 to 130 calories
using Simplesse instead of fat,
based on a study by The NutraS-
weet Company.
“Ice Cream is one of the big
gest markets for the substitute,”
Dr. David Mellor, a poultry mar
keting specialist with the Texas
A&M Agricultural Extension
Service, says.
The substitute, developed and
patented by The NutraSweet
Company, is produced from al
bumin, a protein found in egg.
Because of the heating and
blending process, microparticula-
tion, used to produce the substi
tute, the tongue perceives it as
fat.
If heated, the product loses its
fatlike feel, so it cannot be used
for cooking.
“The substitute is very safe be
cause it is made of egg albumin
which everybody agrees is a good
product,” Mellor says,“and con
sumers can expect to see products
containing Simplesse in 12 to 18
months.”
Equine, canine drug lab opens at A&M
Texas A&M has been designated
by the state legislature to house
Texas’ first drug testing labo
ratory for the detection of drugs
in horses and dogs used for rac
ing.
The Equine and Canine Drug
Testing Lab will conduct research
in the Texas Veterinary Medical
Diagnostic Lab until a separate
facility and equipment are avail
able.
The lab is under the supervi
sion of the i exas A&M Board of
Regents but will be indepen
dently operated and funded by
the state.
Dr. Allen Ray, head of the
drug testing lab, said research will
be done primarily as a service to
the racing guild and also will in
crease proficiency in drug detec
tion.
The first samples taken from
horses and dogs are expected to
arrive after racetracks open in the
spring.
the bill for operation and mainte
nance of existing flood control and
navigation projects in the state.
The following other projects are
included in the bill:
— $25 million for a flood control
project on the San Antonio Channel
in San Antonio.
— $20 million for construction of
Ray Roberts Lake in Cooke, Denton
and Grayson counties.
— $8 million for a flood control
project on Boggy Creek in Austin.
— $7.5 million for a flood control
project on Lake Wichita and Holiday
Creek in Wichita and Archer coun
ties.
— $5.8 million for a navigation
project at the mouth of the Colorado
River in Matagorda County.
SPECIAL
EFFECTS
WATERBEDS
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Complete Bed Any Size
$79 00
SPECIAL EFFECTS WATERBEDS
Friday 12-6
^ Saturday & Sunday 10-9
Complete Bookcase
waterbed with mirror
$119
Sheetsets $19 95
Matress Pads $7 95
Padded Rails $9 95
693-0543 Harvey Road Post Oak Square Shopping Center
COUNTRY
PLACE
APARTMENTS
Low Summer Special
EFF, STUDIOS, 1&2 BEDROOMS
FALL SHUTTLE BUS
•/2 MILE TO CAMPUS
3 LAUNDRY ROOMS
SWIMMING POOL
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PICNIC AREAS
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& LARGE SCREEN T. V.
3902 College Main
(409) 846-0515
TEXAS A&M
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