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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 11, 1988)
State/Local The Battalion Tuesday, Oct. 11, 1988 Pag e 3 Official: Construction o end soon By Fiona Soltes Staff Writer J It may seem that construction on Re Texas A&M campus has been ling on forever, but there is an end | in sight to most of the current pro ds. Tom Williams, director of parking, iffic and transit, said all campus instruction is on schedule and most [ejects will be finished in Decem- |Spence Street is an exception, he d. It will be reopened at the begin- ngof the year. Ross Street, which ns in front of Halbouty Geosciences ilding, and Ireland Street, which ns in front of Blocker Building, be reopened at the end of Decem- Construction on Sterling C. Evans brary and the Northside Parking irage is on schedule and should be ished in January, Keith Chapman, inager of construction, said. Chapman said construction on Bol- tliHall, which will be the last of the irrent projects to be complete, also i|going as planned. The extensive ovation will be complete in winter ?™i||?89, he said. ‘Basically, we’re tearing the guts It of the building,” Chapman said. |will be a complete renovation, in cluding new heating, ventilation and a|conditioning systems and architec- 1 finishing.” file project, funded by Permanent iversity Bonds, will cost about $2 llion. Catherine Hejl, assistant resident ineer of the Texas Department of ;hways and Public Transportation, |d construction on University Drive mid be complete in the spring. I'We’ve been widening the four- road to a six-lane road with a itinuous left-hand turn lane,” Hejl d. “It won’t be complete until ng because of the hot mix, which the final finish on the road. Be- iseof the outside temperature, we ’t lay it down in the middle of the ter.” Computer use in agriculture increases By Denise Thompson Staff Writer Cows, crops, computers. What’s wrong with this picture? Because of microcomputer applica tions in agriculture, nothing is. While stereotypes about farmers and ranchers leave many people with the impression computers are not used on farms, Dr. James McGrann, Texas A&M extension economist, said the number of farmers and ranchers using computers is increas ing. McGrann leads a project to teach farmers, ranchers and those involved in agribusiness about microcomputer applications in agriculture. Although McGrann supervises the project, four extension specialists work with county agents, farmers and ranchers around the state. “We recognized that the microcomputer could become an important managerial tool to help farm ers and ranchers become better business people,” McGrann said. “Also, we knew that it would become an impor tant educational tool for us to teach them econom ics and finance, which is our primary responsibili ty-” Because most of the farmers taking the com puter courses have a gross income of more than $100,000, McGrann said their farm operations should be considered large businesses, of which 72 percent gross more than $100,000 and 30 percent gross more than $250,000 per year. “It helps if you think of these farms as a large business,” he said. “They make important busi ness, finance and marketing-type decisions. In Texas, we have more than 30,000 farms with a gross income of more than $250,000.” Focusing on computer education, business man agement education using computers and software development distribution, the group has initiated several education programs. Probably the most significant project started from these efforts is the development of an educa tion center used as a computer training center, McGrann said. Built on the Stiles Farm in Thrall, the original computer center was used to teach short courses on microcomputer use in farm and ranch manage ment. However, because the first computer center was so successful, McGrann said they have ex tended the program to junior colleges and research centers around the state. “What we do is bring in small groups of farmers, ranchers and agribusiness people and train them on specific subject matter using computers,” McGrann said. Courses taught during the sessions are special ized and concentrate on in-depth subject matter. Sessions last three days. The registration fee of $125 includes educational material and spreadsheet software. “If we’re going to teach farmers and ranchers about accounting, we have to get them in the class for at least three days,” McGrann said. “It’s in tense because we’re trying to give them a course in three days that a normal student would expect to take over a semester.” Courses offered include “Computer Applica tions in Family Financial Management” and “Farm and Ranch Accounting.” McGrann said the most popular course is “Electronic Spreadsheets and Their Use in Agriculture.” “Electronic spreadsheet teaches them to set up and use decision aids, which are computer pro grams that help make marketing decisions using economics and finance,” he said. McGrann said the courses generally work best on larger farms with well-educated managers and decision makers. Complex farms that have mul tiple enterprises of crops and livestock also benefit from these courses because many decisions must be made in running them. McGrann and his group also have begun to de velop exclusive software packages for farms and ranches. “We work directly with the farmers and ranchers to define what their needs are, and we work with them in terms of their terminology and what kind of decisons they need to make,” McGrann said. “We have a good distribution system where they order whatever software they need through a cata log, and it’s sent to them just like they receive magazines through the mail. “Primarily, they ask us for programs dealing with economics, finance and marketing. These programs answer such questions as whether to put stock and cattle on wheat or take them to the feed- lot — questions that are production and finance questions.” One of the most popular programs among farm ers evaluates the government farm program. “Each year the government has a certain setup of programs in terms of commodities, acreage con trols, subsidy payments and other things that can become complex,” he said. “We develop decision aids to help people under stand the government program.” McGrann said the software packages, which are IBM compatible, cost from $25 to $50. In the eight years that McGrann and his team have been working with the idea of applying mi crocomputer technology to agriculture, McGrann says,the program has become one of the strongest in the country. “We may not be the first program like this one in the United States, but we are certainly one of the strongest, and we hope to continue expanding with the needs of Texas’ agricultural economy,” McGrann said. Tenneco takes steps to quit oil business HOUSTON (AP) — Tenneco Inc., taking a giant step toward getting out of the risky oil business, announced Mon day it had agreed to sell most of its oil and gas operations for an amount ex pected to exceed $7.3 billion. Although negotiations continued for some minor portions, the nation’s 10th largest oil company said it had entered into definitive contracts with several buyers. Gross proceeds from the transactions are expected to exceed $7.3 billion, Ten neco said. Analysts earlier had predicted the sale would fetch between $5 billion and $7 billion. The Houston-based company said in May it would sell Tenneco Oil Co. — which makes up about 22 percent of total revenues — and use the proceeds to help pay its $8.5 billion debt. Companies buying up chunks of Ten neco Oil Co. include Chevron Corp., which said it had agreed to buy Tenne co’s Gulf of Mexico oil and natural gas reserves, production facilities and lease hold interests for nearly $2.6 billion. The San Francisco-based Chevron said the transaction will need federal approval. Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens’ Mesa Limited Partnemship has entered an agreement to buy the mid-continent division oil and gas subsidiary for $715 million in cash. Dallas-based American Petrofina Inc. and Seagull Energy Corp. in Houston also announced plans Monday to get a piece of Tenneco. Fina Oil and Chemical Co., American Petrofina’s principal operating subsid iary, has agreed to buy Tenneco’s Gulf Coast-Southwestern exploration and pro duction business in a stock purchase plan valued at a little more than $600 million. Seagull Energy has signed letters of intent to buy the outstanding capital stock of Houston Oil & Minerals Corp., an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Tenneco, for $16.4 million. Tenneco had previously said it expects all the transactions to be completed by the end of the year. After the sale, com pany officials said Tenneco will be com prised of 31 percent farm and construc tion equipment, 23 percent pipeline, 14 percent shipbuilding, 13 percent auto parts, 10 percent packaging and 9 per cent chemical. The company said more information would be released Tuesday following a board meeting. This summer, Tenneco posted net in come of $154 million for the 1988 sec ond quarter. The earnings included a one-time gain of $23 million related to the sale of a European shipping and stor age company and a New Jersey heating oil retailing company. Total sales and operations revenues for the quarter were $3.9 billion. Operat ing income for the quarter was $322 mil lion, excluding operating income of $147 million for Tenneco Oil Co. James L. Ketelsen, Tenneco’s chief executive officer and chairman, said in May that money from the planned sale of its oil business might also be used to re purchase shares of the company’s com mon stock, depending on market condi tions and total proceeds from the sale. Correction The date of former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Michael Denv er's speech was incorrectly reported in The Battalion Monday. Denver will speak about “Presidential Image- Making” at 7:30 p.m. today in Rud der Theater. The lecture, sponsored by MSC Great issues, is free and open to the public. fie, eso sfai ‘0 elite hapf 1 /’re :a esi'i waul :noi |«el the fS i# lit* t SELF CARE FOR CHILDREN I'm In Charge Part of St. Joseph Hospital & Health Center "Learning To Live We invite you to bring your children who are "In Charge" to this special event. Four dates to choose from! October 7, 11, 18, 21 St. Joseph Hospital & Health Center Education Room, Second Floor 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. $5 per child Enrollment limited to 20 per class FM IN CHARGE What to expect Telephone Safety Door Safety Stranger Danger Fingerprint/Photo ID chart Halloween Safety Tips What you receive Home Safety Materials Poison control (Mr. Yuk) Operation Ident-a-Kid and Photo Hospital Button and Magnet Refreshments "I’m In Charge"Certificate REGISTRATION FORM Self Care For Children - ’Tm In Charge” Child’s Name (age) Child's Name (age) Parent's Name Phone # Address City State Zip Check OneQ October 7 □ October 11 ! I October 18 □ October 21 MAIL FORM AND CHECK TO: Community Relations Dept. St. Joseph Hospital & Health Center 2801 Franciscan Drive Bryan, Texas 77802-2544 OR CALL: (409) 776-2459 Deadline two days prior to class date St. Joseph Hospital & Health Center }f red f. 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