Wednesday, March 29,1989
The Battalion
Page 5
Nuclear reactor
gets OK for use
by commission
WASHINGTON (AP) — The
Nuclear Regulatory Commmis-
sion unanimously authorized its
staff on Tuesday to issue a full-
power operating license for the
second reactor at the South Texas
Project nuclear plant 90 miles
southwest of Houston.
The 5-0 vote virtually con
cluded a 14-year, $5.5-billion ef
fort by the Houston Lighting &
Power Co. and three other own
ers, who were forced into several
design modifications and re
placed the original builder,
Brown & Root, earlier this de
cade. Construction started on the
twin-reactor plant in 1975.
The NRC issued a full-power
license for the Unit 1 reactor last
year, and commercial operation
of that facility began last August.
Each of the reactors is designed
to produce 1,250 megawatts of
electricity. Together, the two re
actors will generate enough
power to serve 500,000 homes,
roughly the energy equivalent of
25 million barrels of oil or 8.3
million tons of coal each year.
Once in full operation, the
plant, in Matagorda County, will
employ 1,650 people.
Engineering and construction
of the plant came under inten
sified NRC scrutiny in the wake
of the Three Mile Island accident
in Pennsylvania in 1979.
The owners eventually hired
the Bechtel Energy Corp. and
Ebasco Constructors to finish the
job.
Official says relationship
of speed, deaths unclear
By Ashley A. Bailey
STAFF WRITER
The number of serious accidents has increased 20
percent since the speed limit was raised to 65 mph on
rural stretches of interstate highways about two years
ago, but a Texas A&M research scientist said that the
existence of a cause-and-effect relationship between the
higher speed limit and the accident rate has not been
proven.
Dr. Quinn Bracket, a researcher at the Texas Trans
portation Institute at A&M, in a 65-mph speed law
study that was completed in September, said that there
is not enough statistical evidence yet to prove that a
cause and effect relationship exists between the number
of serious accidents and the raised speed limit.
“What we can say is that corresponding to the in
crease in speeds there was an increase in serious acci
dents,” Bracket said. “What we don’t know is whether
it’s a fluctuation of the accident experience on these
roadways or if it’s the beginning of a trend. We need
more information to establish that.
“In this case the increase in accidents could be due to
an increase in traffic volume on the freeway, or it could
be due to adverse weather conditions,” he said. “There
are a number of alternative explanations that can’t be
eliminated with the data we have.”
The absolute number of fatalities increased this year,
which is a reversal of the declining trend Texas has had
for the past several years, Bracket said.
The number of Texas drivers is also important, he
said.
“If you’re introducing more drivers and more vehi
cles, or if the drivers are driving more miles this year
than they were last year, then you’d expect accidents
and fatalities to increase in absolute numbers,” Bracket
said. “To assess that, we use another figure known as
the accident or fatal accident rate (the number of
deaths per 100 million vehicle miles).”
The fatal accident rate for 1988 was 2.2 deaths per
100 million vehicle miles, he said. And, even though
Texas had an increase in the absolute number of fatali
ties this year, the accident rate remained the same, he
said.
“The increase of fatalities and the number of fatali
ties is a tragedy and one to be averted, but from an ob
jective standpoint, the system hasn’t gotten any worse
overall,” he said. “And, when you’re talking about the
roadways which have experienced the 65 mph change,
you’re talking about a subset of the roadways within the
overall accident experience of the state.”
The 65 mph speed limit is only one contributing fac
tor to the problem, he said.
Bracket had predicted the rise, and also had pre
dicted that more drivers would violate the new 65 mph
limit.
“There’s nothing mystical about that prediction be
cause if you have vehicles going faster and the accident
frequency remains the same, then the energy has to be
dissipated somehow,” he said. “It’s being translated into
more severe accidents.”
Bracket said people always tend to want to drive a
little faster than the speed limit authorizes them to, and
more Texas drivers also are driving faster than the new
speed limit in rural areas, Bracket said.
“We’ve had an increase of motorists exceeding the
speed limit from 24 percent at the 55 mph limit to 44
percent at the 65 mph limit,” he said. “Most of the peo
ple exceeding the 65 mph speed limit are doing it by
less than 5 mph.”
It would not be practical in any sense, Bracket said, to
lower the speed limit back to 55 mph.
“I think what we need to do is investigate this situa
tion further,” he said. “If there seems to be an increase
in trend or a strong relationship between the speed law
and the accident experience, then we’ll need to examine
where and why those accidents are occurring.
“It could be possible that we picked the wrong pop
ulation cut off for establishing the 65 mph zones. Right
now if you have a rural interstate and the population
for that area is less than 50,000, then you can raise the
speed limit to 65 mph. So, it would be more practical to
lower the speed limit in selected areas.”
‘Gleaners’ provide aid to needy border residents
MONAHANS (AP) — What be
gan more than five years ago with a
woman helping a man in need has
mushroomed into an organization
that has donated tons of clothing
and supplies to the needy on both
side of the Mexican border.
"We’ve had more fun the last five
years than we’ve had our entire
lives,” said H.B. “Jack” Moore, 71,
whose wife, Maxine, helped that first
needy man in 1983.
“Once you light up someone’s
eyes by giving them something they
had little hope of ever receiving,
well, you’re hooked,” he said. “And
we’ve been doing it ever since.”
A large shipment of clothing and
school supplies collected by the
Gleaners of Monahans recently were
trucked to Ojinaga, Mexico, for dis
tribution to poverty-stricken areas in
the Mexican state of Chihuahua by
the Ojinaga Lions Club, Moore said.
The efforts of the Cleaners, who
took their name from the biblical
story of Ruth, no longer are limited
to the small town, located 36 miles
southwest of Odessa. Others are
joining in, including a newly elected
Texas lawmaker who helped trans
port the goods to Mexico.
“I would like to see this kind of
neighbor-helping-neighbor attitude
spread to the rest of West Texas,” he
said. “I was very impressed with the
commitment the people of Mona
hans made in a project such as this,
and I would like to see other com
munities pick up this project and
carry it all the way. This is the type
of thing that will pull West Texas to
gether.”
Miguel Torres, a past president
and member for six years of the Oji
naga Lions Club, said most of the
clothing gathered by the organiza
tion was separated according to
adult and children’s sizes. Most of
the children’s clothes were for an or
phanage in Hidalgo del Parral, a city
in southern Chihuahua, where 500
children live, he said.
“We have a lot of poor people he
re,” Torres said. “There’s not much
to do in the way of work. Those who
are lucky enough to have a year-
round job earn the equivalent of
about $3 for eight hours work.
“They’re making a living, but noth
ing else. We try to help as much as
we can.”
Some of the donated goods, in
cluding school supplies, were for
about 1,000 Tarahumara Indians
who live in the Sierra Madres in
western Chihuahua.
Lucia Rede Madrid of Redford, a
Once you light up
someone’s eyes by giving
them something they had
little hope of ever
receiving, you’re hooked
— H.B. Moore,
“Gleaners” founder
retired school teacher who has been
collecting and distributing goods to
the poor since she moved to Redford
in 1945, said the Tarahomari are the
“poorest of the poor” in Mexico. She
now works with Moore and Torres
with their projects.
“Over the years I’ve collected and
given away tons and tons of clothing
and food that has come from every
where from New York to Cincinnati
to Texas,” Madrid said. The collec
tions are distributed to communities
on both sides of the border.
Moore said 231 families in the
Monahans area were helped in
1986-87 when the group distributed
nearly 400,000 pounds of food. In
1988, the number of needy families
dropped to between 50 and 60. But
Moore said this year the number has
climbed back to between 100 and
110 families.
“The number of familes fluc
tuates. I think a lot of times some of
the people move away, but there al
ways seems to be more to replace
them,” he said.
The effort started when Moore,
who retired from the Texas Youth
Commission nearly 10 years ago,
and his wife went grocery shopping
in September 1983 and saw a man
getting food from the garbage.
“He looked at her and said, ‘Will
you help me? I won’t hurt you.’ So
she took the man to the Salvation
Army for help,” Moore said.
She asked the store manager if
she could pick up the outdated food
before it was thrown away, and the
Gleaners got its start and its name.
The Association of
Former
Students
Spring Senior
Induction Banquet
Tuesday & Wednesday, April 4 & 5, 1989
6:30 p.m.
MSC
All May and Aug. graduates are invited to attend. Free tickets will be available
as long as they last, Tues. March 28, Wed. March 29 and Thurs. March 30 in
the MSC, near the Flag Room.
This is your invitation to attend the formal induction of Class of ’89 graduates.
Dec. grads will be inducted in Nov.
TICKETS GIVEN ON FIRST COME—FIRST SERVED BASIS
(T
%
For Parent's Weekend
MSC Variety Show
presents
'-tl r\ _ ^
A ^
l
‘ ( ^
M
Don t miss your chance to Catch a
Rising Star on April 7, 7:30 pm.
Rudder Auditorium
Tickets on sale now
MSC Box Office
845-1234
CTWP
"Best Prices in Town"
Starts as low as
$ 750.00
Ahyund/xi
Practical Compatibles.
CTWP is the new HYUNDAI Computer
Sales and Service Center in B-CS. Call
today for pricing on HYUNDAI Computers:
Computers that make sense
693-8080
2553 Texas Ave. South
Consumer Studies
Wanted: Healthy volunteers (26 years and older) to evaluate la
beling information or taste-flavor of currently available medica
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tients chosen to participate and who complete study.
$100 $100 $100 $100 $100 $100 $100 $100 $100 $100
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IRRITABLE BOWEL SYNDROME STUDY
Wanted: Symptomatic patients with physician diagnosed
Irritable Bowel Syndrome to participate in a short study.
$100 incentive for those chosen to participate.
$100
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ASTHMA STUDY
$200
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$200 Wanted: Individuals ages 12-70 with asthma to partic-
$200 jpate in a research study to evaluate asthma medica-
$200 tions - $ 200 incentive for those chosen to participate.
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ACUTE BRONCHITIS/PNEUMONIA
Do you have any of the following? 1. Productive
cough 2. Fever 3. Rattle in chest. Call for information
about a three week antibiotic reseach study with close MD
supervision. $100 incentive for those who qualify.
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HI PEDIATRIC SORE THROAT STUDY
575 Children 3 to 12 years with sore throat pain to participate in
575 a currently available over-the-counter pain relief medica-
575 tion study. No blood drawn. Free strep test. $75 for those
575 who qualify. Evenings & weekends call 361-1500.
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Hog HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE STUDY
$300 individuals with high blood pressure medication $300
$300 dai| y t0 P artici P ate in a high blood pressure study.
$300 $300. incentive for those chosen to participate. 5300
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l]oo SPRING ALLERGY STUDY
$100 Looking for individuals (12 years and older) with spring tree
$100 and grass allergies to participate in a short study. Monetary
$100 incentive for those chosen to participate. Free skin testing
$100 to determine eligibility.
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CALL PAULL RESEARCH
INTERNATIONAL
776-0400