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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 7, 1990)
e Battalion TATE & LOCAL JJW; fuesday, August 7,1990 J "50 f ’ ouston man still missing in Kuwait Mattox: oil companies hiked prices unjustly Associated Press ill Grs the rig nuzzle 0K;!e iccoli. Am irts ; boriog ’tletiil Six Texas refinery workers sta- ioned in Kuwait, along with a bas ketball coach and his wife, have been iccounted for in the wake of last week’s Iraqi invasion, but at least one ther Texan was still missing Mon day, family members said. U.S. officials said Texans ac counted for were Charles Amos, 59, i Santa Fe Drilling Co. employee hose family resides in Gilmer; Rainard L. Walterscheid of Dallas; Gary Carr of North Richland Hills; Edward Hale, 52, an oil rig supervi sor from Spring, and Bobby Gene Parker of Vidor, near Beaumont. Another American, John Henry Cole, 50, who like Hale and Carr orks for OGE Drilling Inc. of Houston, was accounted for Mon- y- Relatives of a San Antonio couple said they were relieved to learn that im and Phyllis Calvin are alive and well. Kelly Calvin told KKYX-AM radio that his father phoned him Monday afternoon. Jim Calvin coaches the Kuwaiti national basketball team. The State Department said it had not been able to contact Steve Betts, 35, of Houston. He coaches the Ku waiti national swimming team. Iraqi troops rounded up 28 Amer icans in Kuwait Monday and placed them aboard buses heading for an unknown destination, the U.S. State Department said. AUSTIN (AP) — Texas Attorney General Jim Mattox called for a federal investigation Monday into what he said was a conspiracy by major oil companies to use the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait as an excuse to pump up gasoline prices. In a letter to U.S. Attorney General Dick Thornburgh, Mattox said the oil companies “have simply seized upon these events half way around the world to raise their prices without justification. “The gasoline currently being purchased by Texas consumers was obtained, refined and shipped to the pumps long before the re cent invasion,” Mattox said. “To raise the price of gasoline already at the pumps is an unconscionable act of cor porate greed perpetrated by major oil compa nies,” he said. Mattox said recent increases in crude oil prices should not hit pumps until September. “Texas consumers will likely be paying higher prices soon enough,” he said. Kelly Fero, a spokesman for Mattox, said some gas stations across the state have in creased their prices as much as 20 cents per gallon. The attorney general’s office has received hundreds of telephone calls from Texans an gered over the price hikes following Iraq’s in vasion of oil-rich Kuwait on Thursday, Fero said. Mattox started receiving calls Thursday night at his home. Fero said, “The phone is ringing off the hook. People are angry and suspicious of the price hikes.” A special task force has been established within the state attorney general’s consumer protection division to investigate allegations of price-gouging, Fero said. He said the task force will determine whether the oil companies have violated state anti-trust or price-gouging laws. Meanwhile, Mattox said he wants the Jus tice Department to investigate whether the companies broke federal anti-trust laws. Jim Shillingburg, executive vice president of the Texas Oil Marketers Association, said gasoline wholesalers are having to pass along the increases from the oil companies. “The fear of the unknown has made the major oil companies increase their price,” he said. A spokesman for the Austin-based Mid- Continent Oil and Gas Association, which represents major oil companies, was out of town Monday and unavailable for comment, according to the office. Messages left with the national Mid-Conti nent Oil and Gas Association were not imme diately answered. Fero said gas prices increased by 20 cents in several stations in Beaumont; 13 cents in Marshall; and 10 cents in Corpus Christi and McAllen. Engineer recounts his escape from Kuwait AUSTIN (AP) — It was the fighter jets roaring over his desert drilling rig that first alerted Mike Morris to the Iraqi invasion of the tiny emirate of Kuwait. “We stood out there and watched them,” he said Sunday, after return ing to his Austin home from the Per sian Gulf. “We didn’t know who they were.” Morris, 36, a drilling engineer for Dresser Industries of Houston, re called his escape from invading Iraqi troops in an interview with the Aus tin American-Statesman. He also spoke of his thankfulness that most of his colleagues and friends had escaped the turmoil in Saudi Arabia. A native of Borger in the Panhan dle, Morris had worked in Kuwait for about five years, alternating be- Tuesday ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS: will have a general meeting at noon. Call the C.D.P.E. at 845-0280 for more information. NARCOTICS ANONYMOUS: will have a general meeting at 8:30 p.m. Call the C.D.P.E. at 845-0280 for more information. UNIVERSITY APAltTMENT COUNCIL OF TEXAS AGGIES: will have a Na tional Night Out event against crime at 7 p.m. at the University Owned Apartments. Call Sandra at 846-5798 for more information. COMMUNITY OF SINGLE ADULTS: will go dancing at the Hall of Fame at 8 p.m. Wednesday TEXAS ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION COALITION: will have a social get-to gether in lieu of regular meeting at 7 p.m. at Hensel Park. There will be volleyball and conversation. For more information, call Filo at 823-0960. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS: will have a general meeting at noon. Call the C.D.P.E. at 845-0280 for more information. NARCOTICS ANONYMOUS: will have a general meeting at 8:30 p.m. Call the C.D.P.E. at 845-0280 for more information. 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 publish the name and phone number of the contact only if you ask us to do so. What’s Up is 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. usS- Ml ^.10% Discount for all Texas Aggies every Tuesday! Limited time only! Just flash your student ID and get 10% off any great-tasting Long John Silver’s® meal. See you soon — at Long John Silver’s® — near campus! LongJohn Silvers. SEAFOOD SHOPPE ] Now Taking Phone Orders BRYAN 3224 South Texas Ave. 779-3995 COLLEGE STATION 1808 Texas Ave. 696-8555 “T I hey had road graders and ditch-diggers and artillery all over the place digging in. They’re going to be there a long time.” —Mike Morris, drilling engineer tween a month there and a month in Texas. He said he would return to the Persian Gulf as soon as the “major powers get this worked out.” Morris said he and his friends were lucky to have been working close to the Saudi Arabian border over which they escaped Friday morning. They first heard fighter jets at 4 a.m. Thursday. the When he crossed the border, Morris said, he saw military con struction work that convinced him the Iraqis had no intention of leaving Kuwait any time soon. “They had road graders and ditch-diggers and artillery all over the place digging in,” he told the newspaper. “They’re going to be there a long time.” He was still worried about the fate of a few friends who were working closer to the Iraqi border. He said the Iraqi troops had captured them and taken them to the Iraqi capital of Baghdad. At least four Texans in Kuwait re main unaccounted for Monday, family members said. Five others have been accounted for and were in Baghdad Sunday. Morris and his drilling crew was working in the dark last Thursday in the Umm Gudair oil field in south west Kuwait about 10 miles from the Saudi Arabian border. BATTIPS Anyone with story suggestions can call BATTIPS, The Battal ion’s phone line designed to im prove communication between the newspaper and its readers. BATTIPS’ number is 845- 3315. Ideas can include news stories, feature ideas and personality pro files of interesting people. Cleanup crews prepare to dismantle barge HOUSTON (AP) — Cleanup crews Monday scooped up several oil patches that washed ashore after a massive oil spill, while the tanks of a crippled barge that leaked the oil were cleaned so the vessel can be cut up and moved out of Gal veston Bay. After dismantling the damaged barge, the pieces will be moved out of the bay so unre stricted two-way traffic can resume in the Hous ton Ship Channef Booms were placed around the barge to prevent any remaining oil from es caping during the operation. An estimated 700,000 gallons of oil spilled into the seafood-rich bay July 28 when a tanker col lided with two barges in the ship channel. Cleanup crews were scouring the damaged barge Monday. “We want to get whatever oil is on it, off of it,” Rick Meidt, U.S. Coast Guard chief warrant offi cer, said. “We don’t want to cut it open and have a mini-oil spill added to what we’ve already got.” The tanks also must be cleaned of any oil be cause a spark from cutting torches could set off an explosion, the Coast Guard said. The channel remained open Monday to two- way barge traffic, but deep-draft vessels could only travel one way because the Coast Guard is concerned their wakes could disrupt the salvage operations. Meidt, meanwhile, said a morning flyover showed that there was little oil left to clean up. A patchy, light sheen stretched from a seven-mile area of shoreline along Houston Point out about two miles into the bay. A few heavy patches re mained to be cleaned up along the shoreline. The sheen was created by shifting overnight winds that scattered heavier concentrations of oil along the shore. “There’s not much oil out there right now,” Meidt said. “The heavier concentrations are just splotches here and there along the shore. “I think that’s good because the heavy stuff is right at the shoreline where it can be collected by the vacuum trucks,” Meidt said. Police seek leads in convenience store robbery Brazos County Crime Stoppers is seeking further information about an armed robbery at a Seven Eleven store in College Station in June. At the Seven Eleven at the inter section of Southwest Parkway and Wellborn Road in College Station Monday, June 4, an African-Ameri can male entered the store at ap proximately 2:45 a.m. He threat ened the clerk with a large knife and demanded money from the register. After the sus pect grabbed the money, he fled and was last seen running east on Southwest Park way. The suspect is described as a 5-foot-8-inch, 145-pound African- American male in his 30s with short, wavy black hair. College Station de tectives believe the suspect lives in STOPPER 775-TIPS the store’s vicin- ity. This robbery was featured as the crime of the week five weeks ago, but Crime Stoppers has re ceived only two calls regarding the crime. Detectives have exhausted all possible leads and have no suspects. If you have information that could be helpful, call Crime Stop pers at 775-TIPS. When you call, Crime Stoppers will give you a coded number to ensure your safety. If your call leads to an arrest and grand jury indictment, Crime Stop pers will pay you up to $1,000 in cash. Crime Stoppers also pays cash for information on any felony crime or the location of a wanted fugitive. Professional Computing HAS A CALCULATOR FOR YOU! CALCULATORS FOR BUSINESS 10B....S37.50 12C....S70.00 14B....$60.00 17BII...$82.50 19BII..$132.00 CALCULATORS FOR SCIENCE & ENGINEERING 205.. ..$37.50 215.. ..$37.50 225.. ..$45.00 275.. ..$60.00 BUSINESS HOURS M-F 8:00-5:30 SAT. 10:00-3:00 32S $52.50 42S $90.00 28S $176.25 48SX..$262.50 HEWLETT PACKARD Authorized Dealer 505 CHURCH STREET COLLEGE STATION (409) 846-5332 $800 $800 $800 $800 $800 $800 $800 $800 $800 $800 ASTHMA STUDY $800 incentive for those who enroll and complete study. Individuals (12 and older) who have asthma and medicate daily to participate in a research study. CALL PAULL RESEARCH INTL. ® 776-0400 $800 $800 $800 $800 $800 $800 $800 $800 $800 $800 PUBLIC MEETING TUESDAY AUGUST 7,1990 7:00 P.M. BRAZOS CENTER STATE DEPARTMENT OF HIGHWAYS AND PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION WILL CONDUCT A PUBLIC MEETING TO DISCUSS THE PROPOSED RECONSTRUCTION OF WELLBORN ROAD-RAILROAD CORRIDOR (LOTRAK) FROM VILLA MARIA ROAD TO FM 2818 PUBLIC MEETING