Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 8, 1988)
Thursday, September 8, 1988/The Battalion/Page 7 Restaurateur helps Bush “The power you feel when you sit with this woman (Otila Garza) is just unbelievable. Yet she’ll jump up and get you a cup of coffee. ” -Elvia De Leon Salyer daughter ■ HOUSTON (AP) — When Ninfa Hiurenzo seconded George Bush’s nomination for president in New I offer k Orleans, she touched her listeners’ JltlXHijj heartstrings. ^ P'^v! The story of the poor single ^ Bother of five who turned a tiny j : Mexican restaurant on Navigation Sw 0 a wi,dl y successful chain of ai 7[> Texas restaurants appealed to women, to minorities, to other hard- leciior working people who have made it on SofBr, nothing but grit. ■ It’s a story Otila Garza, a hard- booh working minority woman, can ap is Pfe;' m-eciate. In fact, Garza and Lau- I reiuo have an astonishing amount in * IJ, ^»mmon. ■ Garza, for those who have not idQjJ been lucky enough to dine at one of her or her sons’ establishments in tested! Pharr, Harlingen, Edinburg or Mis sion, may be the premier restaura- ll7 Pt teur in the Rio Grande Valley and surrounding areas. m |r |j She’s certainly one of the Valley’s Bading citizens. She’s invented so |.^■any dishes and dreamed up so dhe-f; V* n >' successful restaurant concepts, ^■en her kids can’t remember them 1 Vatti all (>r some partially. ■ But Garza, like Laurenzo, entered the restaurant business long on de termination and short on cash. Garza, like Laurenzo, has four boys and a girl, and both women were thinking of those kids when they launched their businesses. Explained Garza, “I needed an open road. I was looking for a future for my children.” To Garza’s knowledge, Laurenzo never has dined at her family’s res taurants. But Garza, whose daughter lives in Houston, has visited Ninfa’s res taurants on Navigation and West- heimer. “I like her food,” Garza said. “I have plenty of admiration for this big lady. She is good and hard work ing like me.” Garza is 67. Rolando De Leon, her fourth of five children, is 35. “She’s in better shape than I am,” he said. “She could run the Pentagon. Or Exxon.” Elvia De Leon Salyer, Garza’s daughter and a resident of Houston, said, “The power you feel when you sit with her is just unbelievable. Yet, she’ll jump up and get you a cup of coffee.” The grande dame of Valley res taurateurs was first exposed to the business as a child. Her grand mother ran a small restaurant in Reynosa called Rio Bravo, and there she taught Garza how to cook. “Even at 8 years old, I was looking in the kitchen all the time,” Garza said. It was years, however, before she practiced her skills in a professional way. Garza married, produced five children, divorced and remarried. All the while, she focused on her children. She worked, De Leon ex plained, but her work was at home. Garza came from a family that was well-to-do. Her first husband had been prosperous. Her second husband, however, tried to support her and her chil dren on his truck driver’s salary, and Garza found it difficult to adjust to the new standard of living. In 1970, she took virtually all the money she had — $1,500 — and plunked it down on a small drive-in in Pharr known as the Round-Up. “We had curb service, four little tables and a very simple menu,” De Leon said. “Hamburgers, fried chicken, some Mexican food.” When Garza began searching for one more item to add to the menu, she settled on a fajita recipe she had learned at her grandmother’s knee. “At that time,” De Leon said, “no body in the area knew what fajitas were.” Garza remembered, “I gave them away free to the people. I would give them packages of tacos, fajitas, pico de gallo, flour tortillas, big butterfly shrimp. And everybody responded. Pharr is a small town, but the people are beautiful.” n.aiij «5p- >.m.r ietirc • New prison causes people hunt jobs top lenlr' ‘l AMARILLO (AP) — As con- truction begins on a new maxi- um-security prison, hundreds jf residents in the Amarillo area lave lined up for hundreds of obs as laborers, carpenters and equipment operators. More than 500 people picked bp applications Tuesday for jobs as construction workers at Am arillo’s new state prison, and about the same number of appli- ants were expected Wednesday, officials said. Tuesday was the first day the obs were offered to the public. It has not been determined how manyjobs will be available during construction of the prison, to be called the William P. Clements Jr. Unit. Most construction workers for the 2,250-bed, maximum-security prison will be hired locally, Mike Riley, local Texas Employment Commission supervisor, said. Common practice is for out-of- Itown companies to bring in su- Ipervisors and equipment and [then hire workers from around Ithearea, Riley said. TEC so far is only handling the I hiring process for Clearwater I Constructors of Austin. Texas chemical companies make disintegratable plastics BEAUMONT (AP) — Chemical companies in Texas and elsewhere that spent fortunes making plastic last longer now are trying to make milk jugs, soda bottles, garbage bags, diapers and other plastics that rap idly disintegrate. But making cheap, self-destruct ing plastic that won’t fall apart be fore its time is proving difficult, company spokesmen say. “Right now, there is a big call for biodegradable medical products and food packaging,” Doug Draper, a spokesman for Dow Chemical U.S.A. in Midland, Mich., told the Beaumont Enterprise. On East Coast beaches, plastic sy ringes and other plastic debris have washed ashore, causing a public out cry. “But there is a real problem with this stuff breaking down before its time,” Draper said. People don’t want their trash bags to decay along with their garbage in their kitchens, and scientists aren’t sure if they can develop biodegrada ble plastic containers that won’t in fect food with bacteria. And although most of the major chemical companies are researching biodegradable plastics, they are re luctant to market the products be cause large-scale production might endanger the market for conventio nal plastics. And, biodegradable plastic typ ically costs about 15 percent more than conventional plastic, which sells for an average of 65 cents a pound on the market. Dow Chemical Co. in Freeport, Texas, developed photodegradable plastic in 1985 for plastic six-pack canned drink connectors because animals, birds, turtles and fish were getting caught in or eating the origi nal plastic rings and dying. Photodegrable plastic disinte grates when exposed to the sun for long periods of time. Upon request from some man ufacturers, Dow has also developed a biodegradable plastic, but it is not ready for marketing, Draper said. With biodegradable plastic, bacteria eat the plastic and cause it to fall apart. An additive such as cornstarch is used to make the plastic appealing to bugs. Exxon Chemical, a unit of Ex xon Corp., also is testing a plastic to which iron and nickel compounds have been added. The compounds eventually cause the plastic to break down. Every American produces about a ton of garbage a year and most of that waste is thrown into landfills where it will remain intact for de cades, said Allen Gray, Mobil Chem ical Co. spokesman in New York. “No matter what the material, there is very little decomposition in landfills due to lack of moisture and exposure to air and light,” Gray said. “Biodegradability is not a solution to the nation’s trash problem. We need more recycling, incineration and sanitary landfills.” Even if the plastics decompose in the landfills, it might create another environmental problem, Gray said. Decomposing plastics may create chemicals that contaminate ground- water. Some decaying plastics also give off such gases as methane, which is flammable in large concentrations. “We can’t solve one problem by creating another,” he said. “Garbage disposal is a volume problem, not a materials problem.” Scientists at Chevron Chemical Co.’s plant in Orange, Texas, began researching degradable plastics about three months ago, said plant manager Robert A. YValker. “This technology is in its infancy,” he said. Take an additional 25% off two-piece challis print separates. Challis is the cool way to slip into Fall. And now it’s even easier to slip into challis. Because Suzannes is having the most incredible sale on beautiful, brilliant, two-piece challis print separates-all in vibrant colors with calf length skirts. You won’t find prices this attractive or a selection this wide in any department store. Shirts Original Department Store Price: $28.00 - $32.00 Suzannes Sale Price: $14.99 ■ $18.74 Shirts Original Department Store Price: $32.00 - $38.00 Suzannes Sale Price: $18.74 • $22.49 Frequent Buyer Club Our Frequent Buyer Club is our exclusive club that pays you to shop! Join and get a $10 gift certificate for your birthday, plus advance notice of our Private Night Sales. And for every $500 you spend with us, you’ll also get a $25 gift certificate. Drop in and apply today. Suzannes K J The look you want for less. k. " Culpepper Plaza Open 10 a.m. - 8 p.m. Monday - Saturday, 12-5 p.m. Sunday. No sale is ever final. Over 50 locations in Texas, New Mexico and Louisiana. Major credit cards accepted. Rhodes Scholarship 1988 Are you a senior with a 3.75 + average? If so you may be eligible for a Rhodes Scholarship. You could spend the next 2 years at Oxford University honing your career skills, widening your educational base. Contact Professor J.F. Reading Room 505, Physics 845-5073 or 696-9190 DEADLINE: SEPT. 30, 1988 SIGMA PHI EPSILON issssssa ® ® ® s :• i: SIG EP Fall Rush 1988 Shut Up And Dance Thurs. Sept., 8 8 p.m. Outrageous Lake Party Sat., Sept 10 12:30 p.m. 6 Pack Bowling Sun., Sept. 11 7 p.m. For More Info Call 846-9927 or 846-5334 JOIN Double Dave's erts Enjoy 60 Imported Beers From 25 Nations Drink Your Way Around The World IT'S FUN What You Win 1. A Global Beer Expert T-shirt 2. Have your name dis played forever on the Global Beer Expert Haque. 3. Enter the drawing for a trip to London. How You Win All You Have To Do Is Drink Beer Grand Prize Drawing A Trip for Two to London All those who complete their Global Beer Expert Card this year are auto matically entered in the drawing. Here's what you win: — Round trip air travel for two from Houston to Lon don. —$600 allowance for lodg ing. food, and transporta tion. —A guided tour of the Wat- ne/s Brewery. Complete your Global Beer Expert Score Card by last call December 3 1 1988 to be eligible. The trip is non redeemable and non-transferable. Winner need not be pres ent at the drawing. SOMETHING’S BREWING! happy hour friday 2-6 movie rental over 5,000 titles $1.99 feature films 99< Tlies. & Wed. Children's 99< Everyday • Adult & New Releases $2.49 $2.00 off all IP's and cassettes $8.98 and up all CD’s $13.98 and up all books 25% off (excludes remainders and sale books) OPEN: Sun.-Thurs., 10-10 Fri. & Sat. 10-11 25% OFF 30% OFF Paperback Bestsellers! Hardback Bestsellers! EVERYDAY EVERYDAY hastin&s Something’s Always On Sale! College Station • Culpepper Plaza • Music • Books • Movies • Video • Music • Books •