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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 25, 1989)
J^xasA&Mf^ am f • ne Battalion WEATHER TOMORROW’S FORECAST: Mostly sunny and warm HIGH: 84 LOW: 60 r ic ;,. |Vol. 89 No.39 USPS 045360 12 Pages College Station, Texas Wednesday, October 25,1989 undai ises a*; Hm econd victim found n plant explosion Jearch party doubts more employees survived srrotti av: enom PASADENA (AP) — A second 'ictim was found in the smoldering ubble of a plastics plant today as escue teams prepared to launch a iroader search for more than 20 nissing workers. The series of explosions at the xplosion aftermath/Page 6 jhhcif )le. ichaija Haketln and<® he G» irmixi ith foil t arnon lillips Petroleum Co. plant on onday killed at least two people id injured 124. The second body was sighted by a -person team trying to determine aether it was safe for a larger arch party to enter the ruins of the ant. It will take heavy equipment to ove the body, which was buried in bble, and to search for others, Harris County Sheriff Johnny Kle- venhagen, said. “It’s going to take a long time. This is not going to be easy. Some of the buildings are gone — not there,” Klevenhagen said. The larger search party was to be sent in later today, he said. Authorities’ opinions varied on whether there could be survivors. “You always hope for the best. Our fingers are crossed,” Phillips spokesman Jere Smith said. But the emergency medical direc tor for Houston said it was unlikely anyone could survive such an explo sion, which shattered windows and rocked buildings for miles around. “We don’t think there’s anybody alive in there,” Dr. Paul Pepe said. Doctors treated 124 people for in juries. Thirty-five were hospitalized, up to six of them in critical condi tion, Pepe said. Some had severe burns, he said. Survivors said they had less than half a minute’s warning to get out of the plant after a reactor began leak ing flammable gas that ignited into a huge fireball. A series of explosions followed. “I thought it was the end,” said Billy Ridenour, a 35-year-old worker who was inside the plant when the explosions began early Monday af ternoon. “I was thinking, ‘Run till you die.’ ” Missing were 20 Phillips employ ees and three contract workers, Phil lips President Glenn Cox said before See Phillips/Page 12 Discovery seems to confirm A&M physicist’s prediction INIVERSITY NEWS SERVICE IcroMi The discovery by scientists in California and Switzer- |Tam,nd that all matter is divided into three ‘families’ of I* imdawental particles seems to confirm theoretical pre- to*! ictions made more than 10 years ago by a physicist iow at Texas A&M University. Physicists at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center 5LAC) and the European Laboratory for Particle Phys- s (CERN) reported separately late last week that they ev/i ac i determined that, at its most fundamental, all mat- rcan be divided into three families of particles. s whan mts, iderfU “ft is always gratifying to see one’s theoretical predic- ons confirmed so exactly by experiment, but this re- ult also has dramatic consequences in particle physics, nwoi strophysics and cosmology,” Dr. Dimitri Nanopoulos, owed physicist in Texas A&M’s Center for Theoretical lings 'hysics, said. fthe< Texas A&M physicists said the CERN and SLAG re- ihin® ults both confirm the so-called ‘standard model’ of par- )wn» icle physics and point the way toward new physics the- i one ties that will require powerful accelerators like the advia|uperconducting supercollider (SSC) to test. In 1977, Nanopoulos calculated -- along with Dr. indre Buras of the University of Munich, Dr. John El- s of CERN and Dr. Mary K. Gaillard of the University and »f California at Berkeley — that matter could be divided antiisi nto exactly three types. «n,"i The announcements by the Stanford research team and a team working at the CERN Large Electron-Pos itron (LEP) accelerator near Geneva was based on both f roups’ production and measurement of bits of matter nown as Z-zero particles. Z-zero particles are the heaviest known elementary particles. They disintegrate to produce all the lesser particles. Nanopoulos said that the significance of the CERN and SLAG discovery is that it provides confirmation of physics theory that goes well beyond what physicists call the standard model of particle physics. The standard model describes the relationship be tween two fundamental forces — the weak and electro magnetic forces. Development of the standard model won the 1979 Nobel prize for physicists Dr. Sheldon Glashow, Dr. Abdus Salam and Dr. Steven Weinberg. Nanopoulos said that the standard model allows for many more than three generations, or types, of matter, but more ambitious models such as so-called ‘grand uni fication’ theories limit the number to three. “If we want to go beyond the standard model and try to unify weak-electromagnetic and strong interactions together in a grand unification theory (GUT), the num ber of generations, or types of particles, had to be exac tly three,” Nanopoulos said. The CERN and SLAC researchers measured the number of generations to be 3.25, plus-or-minus .22 — a nearly perfect match with Nanopoulos’ predictions. Bonfire beginnings Gordon Richardson,junior economics major from Caldwell and junior climber on stack, rigs the Photo by Scott D. Weaver lights and P.A. box on one of the four Bonfire pe rimeter poles Tuesday afternoon. pCA urges C.S. city council to up safety requirements joM Finbi By Julie Myers X The Battalion Staff enoig ghi.c Off Campus Aggies will petition le College Station City Council in inuary to require deadbolt locks nd peepholes in all rental prop- rties. OCA president Curtis Rick, a se nior biology major said too many off campus students take their safety for granted. “First of all, deadbolts and peep holes are needed because of the ig norance of the off campus student who is used to being at home where the parents are more concerned with safety,” Rick said. “It’s scary how many students have first floor windows open at night or leave their door unlocked while getting the mail,” he said. “They may only be gone five min utes, but that’s all it takes for some one to get in.” Students can also use a window to identify strangers, but Rick said stu dents cannot realistically be ex pected to do this. Students who have Presidential candidate shares plight of Guatemalan people CO* olio &1" SlJ 0* T V* tr l By Todd Connelley Of The Battalion Staff When Father Andres Giron was a college student he was con vinced that revolution was the only way to liberate the people of Guatemala, until he met Martin Luther Kingjr. “I had the privilege of shaking his hand and becoming his pu pil,” Giron, presidential candi date for the 1990 Guatemalan elections, said. “He changed my way of thinking and taught me non-violent methods.” Giron, who marched with King in civil rights movements in Mem phis, spoke to a crowd of about 150 last night in a speech pre sented by MSC Great Issues. He hopes to defeat President Vinicio Cerezo, a Christian Dem ocrat whose election in 1986 ended 16 years of often oppresive military rule. “The change in Guatemala is a facade,’’Giron said. “The coun try’s still run by the military. We have a nominal power and a real power. I’m going to force open the door to political change or make them slam it shut.” Giron claims the root of the Father Andres Giron problems in Guatemala is land distribution. “70 percent of the land is owned by one percent of the pop ulation. Doctors, military officers and other rich people own almost all of the land. Something must be done about all this,” Giron ex- Photo by Mike C. Mulvey plained. And Giron believes he is just the man to do it. “When I saw people dying and starving in my country it changed my whole concept of w'hat I was See Giron/Page 12 peepholes use them. “The odds of students looking out the door before they open it are greater if there is a peephole,” he said. Rick said that whereas the Resi dent Hall Association has a more central role in increasing student safety, OCA can only appeal to the city government. Rick expects the measure to pass in January. If passed, students who do not al ready have peepholes and deadbolts would receive them in March. Peepholes cost $3 and are in stalled in five minutes. Few students, however, would put one in themselves, Rick said. Although Peppertree apartments manager Josephine Hancock said peepholes were a good idea, dead bolts were less important. “If someone wants to break in, they will,” she said. “With or without a deadbolt, it’s much easier to enter through a win dow than to break down a door. (But) personally, I feel much better with a deadbolt lock.” Because of the cost and difficulty of installation, however, deadbolts may have a more difficult time be coming an actuality, especially if the council decides to let residents vote on the proposals. If rents increase due to installa tion of peepholes and deadbolts, Rick said most rents would not go up until May. Because they are easier and cheaper to implement than the locks, Rick said OCA anticipates peepholes being installed first. In fact, he doesn’t foresee any strong opposition. “We hope it doesn’t go to that be cause students don’t vote,” Rick said. “But, it is the kind of thing that not many people would oppose.” San Francisco death toll reaches 63; could climb with nine people missing SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Only nine people remained unaccounted for Tuesday — one week after Northern California’s ravaging earthquake — and geologists pre dicted a 50-50 chance by Christmas of a major aftershock capable of causing considerable damage. The U.S. Geological Survey on Tuesday also revised upward the magnitude of the Oct. 17 quake, from 6.9 to 7.1 on the Richter scale. Meanwhile, a $2.85 billion quake aid bill passed the U.S. House. Back in California, survivor Buck Helm’s condition improved to se rious with his kidney function re ported normal. Demolition crews were taking down sections of Interstate 880, where Helm was found, in Oakland for fear still-standing sections of the elevated, double-deck structure could tumble like dominoes onto the 1 '/i-mile stretch that collapsed in the Oct. 17 quake. The death toll rose to 63 with a coroner’s discovery of a 39th victim among the remains dug out of the rubble of 1-880, which was the first elevated freeway built in California. “I’m not willing to speculate how But authorities have been able to many of those nine missing people account for all but 9 of the 280 re- may or may not be up there,” Wraa ported missing during the last week, California Highway Patrol Lt. Kris _ _ . _ Wraa said. See Quake/Page 12 Couple gives $500,000 to College of medicine The Texas A&M College of Medi cine received a $1 million endow ment for research in clinical medi cine at the Temple campus, the first endowed chair for the Temple cam pus. John L. Cox, of Midland, who serves on the college’s Advisory Council and is chairman of the board of trustees of the Scott & White Memorial Hospital, and his wife Maurine, donated $500,000 to ward the endowment. This was matched with another $500,000 from A&M’s endowment funding program. Billy Rankin, assistant dean of the College of Medicine, said research would be funded by the interest earned after the money is invested. Rankin said the endowment would be instrumental in recruiting faculty and staff for the college. “These are the kinds of things that enable schools to attract lead ers,” he said.