State & Local
Page 2
The Battalion
Wednesday, July 17,1991
e
The Battalion
(USPS 045 360)
Member of:
Associated Press
Texas Press Association
Southwest Journalism Congress
Texas Daily
Newspaper Association
Texas Intercollegiate
Press Association
The Battalion
Editorial Board
Editor
Timm Doolen
Managing Editor
Todd Stone
City Editor
Sean Frerking
News Editors
Jennifer Jeffus
Callie Wilcher
Art Director
Richard James
Lifestyles Editor
Rob Newberry
Sports Editor
Jayme Blaschke
Opinion Editor
Keith Sartin
Editorial Policy
The Battalion is published da
ily except Saturday, Sunday, holi
days, exam periods and when
school is not in session during f all
and spring semesters. Publication
is Tuesday through Friday dur
ing the summer sessions. The
newsroom phone number is 845-
3316.
The Battalion is a non-profit,
self-supporting newspaper oper
ated as a' community service to
Texas A&M University and
Bryan-College Station.
The Battalion news depart
ment is managed by students at
Texas A&M University and is a
division of Student Publications, a
unit of the Department of Jour
nalism.
Opinions expressed in The
Battalion are those of the edito
rial board or the author, and do
not necessarily represent the
opinions of the Texas A&M stu
dent body, administrators, faculty
or the A&M Board of Regents.
Comments, questions or com
plaints about any of the editorial
content of the newspaper should
be directed to the managing edi
tor at 845-3313.
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Mail subscriptions are $20 per
semester, $40 per school year and
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POSTMASTER: Send address
changes to The Battalion, 230
Reed McDonald, Texas A&M
University, College Station TX
77843-1111.
Second class postage paid at Col
lege Station, TX 77843.
Location: The Battalion, 216
Reed McDonald, Texas A&M
University, College Station, TX
77843-1111. Campus mail stop:
1111.
Advertising
Advertising information can be
obtained from the advertising de
partment at 845-2696 Monday
through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.,
or by visiting the office at the En
glish Annex.
Advertising Manager
Patricia Heck
Battalion Adviser
Robert Wegener
Production Manager
Paige Force
BATTIPS
The Battalion encourages
its readers to contribute story
ideas and suggestions by call
ing BATTIPS, The Battal
ion's phone line designed to
improve communication be
tween the newspaper and its
readers.
The BATTIPS number is
845-3315.
Ideas can include news sto
ries, feature ideas and person
ality profiles of interesting
people. Readers also are en
couraged to offer any other
suggestions that could im
prove the newspaper.
A&M trio conducts test on natural grass
Astrodome
may replace
turf with grass
By K. Lee Davis
The Battalion
The Houston Astrodome
might soon have a natural grass
playing surface again, thanks to
the work of three Texas A&M
faculty members.
Dr. James Beard, a professor
of soil and crop sciences, has
teamed up with soil specialist
Arthur Milberger and retired
A&M professor and lighting ex
pert Dr. Cornelius van Bavel to
test four different types of
grasses that could be used in
side domed stadiums.
"They are all grasses in gener
ally widespread use," Beard
said. "We did not select a
unique new grass to put in."
The two primary grasses used
in present research are Bermuda
and Kentucky Bluegrass.
"Kentucky Bluegrass is a type
readily available in the Michigan
area," Beard said.
Present light levels in domed
stadiums cannot support natu
ral sport turf grass of any kind,
so recently produced supple
mental lighting systems will
have to be employed in the pro
ject.
"They (the dome consortium)
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PENNY DELOS SANTOS/The Battalion
Three A&M faculty members are testing a natural grass for domed stadiums that would replace astroturf.
approached several institutions,
but we were the only ones that
said it could be done," Beard
said. "W' .now we can grow
and pro> ce grass indoors,
there is n jubt about that.
"The question is one of cost,
and how low supplemental light
levels can prodfuce satisfactory
turf."
The tests are presently being
conducted inside the Super-
dome, with the final test coming
Monday when coaches and
members of the U.S. national
team play on several sections of
the grass.
Representatives from the As
trodome, the New Orleans Su
perdome and the Silverdome in
Pontiac, Mich., have stated they
would like to install temporary
natural surfaces to host World
Cup Soccer matches in 1994.
The Federation Internationale
de Football Association, the rul
ing body of the World Cup Soc
cer Championship, specifies
that all World Cup games be
played on real grass, with cer
tain performance requirements
for the playing surface.
The World Cup, a tournament
played in one chosen country
every four years, is one of the
world's most popular sporting
events.
Dan Mannix, manager of spe
cial projects for the Houston
Sports Association, said in the
case of the Astrodome the grass
would only be used for the du
ration of the World Cup.
"Operationally we do so
many events and. switch config
urations that it (natural grass)
would not make sense for us,"
Mannix said. "We do concerts,
rodeos, football, baseball, su
percross motorcycle racing and
tractor pulls."
Mannix said he believes
World Cup games could bring
$50 million to $60 million into
the Houston area.
"The Astrodome has been a
stadium that has set many firsts,
and now we hope to become the
first domed stadium to host the
World Cup," Mannix added.
The cost for the project is be
ing entirely picked up by the
three-dome consortium, al
though they are now trying to
solicit corporate sponsors.
If the project receives passing
marks, the cost to each stadium
could be as much as $1.2 mil
lion.
"We think that as a result of
these experiments we should be
able to cut that by anywhere be
tween 25 and 50 percent," Beard
said.
Beard said he believes if the
project is successful, it should
bring worldwide recognition to
the University, as well as bring
in a great deal of research
money.
Ceremony
to remember
freshman
A Texas A&M student died
Sunday when he drowned in the
Brazos River near Millican.
Michael Sloan Davidson, 18,
was found at about 8 p.m. Sun
day.
Davidson, a freshman wildlife
and fisheries major from Chil
dress, will be honored at the
£>ept. 10 Silver Taps ceremony.
BACK PAIN STUDIES
Patients needed with acute
(recent) onset of muscle spasms
(back pain, etc.) to participate in
a consumer use research study
with an FDA approved drug.
Medical evaluation at no cost
to patient. Eligible volunteers
will be compensated.
G & S STUDIES, INC.
846-5933
Texas continues
Wednesday
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS: General discussion at noon. Call COPE at 845-0280 for
more information.
DEPARTMENT OF MULTICULTURAL SERVICES: Accepting reservations for San Antonio
Road Trip to Mexico Art Exhibit with side trips on Friday. Cost is $25 plus ad
mission to exhibits. Call Bonne Sandars at 845-4551 for more information.
TEXAS ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION COALITION: General membership meeting to discuss
summer activities. Everyone welcome at 7 p.m. in 119.4 Zachary. Call Gary at
i at 693-S
846-4713 or Helen;
-9990 for more information.
KANM 99.9 FM CABLE: Vietnamese Buddhist monk and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Thic
Nhat Hanh reflects on the war in the Persian Gulf at 6 p.m.
Thursday
CAMPUS CRUSADE FOR CHRIST: Everyone welcome! Philosopher Wes Baker will be
speakino on the holiness of God. 7:30 p.m. in Rudder 308. Call Pat at 696-1091 for
more information.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS: General discussion at noon. Call COPE at 845-0280 for more
information.
ADULT CHILDREN OF ALCOHOLICS: General discussion at 6 p.m. Call CDPE at 845-0280
for more information.
GAY AND LESBIAN STUDENT SERVICES: General meeting at 7 p.m. in 230 MSC. Call
847-0321 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 Battal
ion 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 ques
tions, call the newsroom at 845-3316.
to battle budget
Richards
gambles
on lottery
Gov. Ann Richards
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Wednesday, July 17, 1991
9:00am - 5:00pm
Room 224 of the MSC
VerCom Systems cordially invites Professors and Researchers to attend this
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You are welcome to visit exhibits of interest at your leisure. There will be
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AUSTIN (AP) — Texas joined
a nationwide battle of the budget
on Monday when Gov. Ann
Richards convened a special ses
sion of the
Legislature
and urged ap
proval of a
state lottery.
"It is the
rarest of crea
tures; a popu
lar way to
generate reve
nue," Rich
ards said.
"The people of Texas do not
want an income tax," Richards
told legislators. "We certainly
are not going to have an income
tax in this session."
Texas lawmakers face a pro
jected $4.8 billion deficit to pay
for an estimated $57 billion bud
get that would continue the cur
rent level of services for 1992-93.
The current budget doesn't ex
pire until September.
Richards said the Legislature's
first priority will be consider
ation of state Comptroller John
Sharp's budget-cutting, fee-rais
ing plan to save $4 billion
Legislator
wants to curb
complaints
AUSTIN (AP) — A key legis
lator has told higher education
officials that lawmakers are se
rious about cutting the state bud
get and said university adminis
trators should stop complaining
and start cooperating.
Sen. Carl Parker, D-Port Ar
thur, met with several dozen
higher education officials as the
Legislature's budget-writing
special session began Monday.
He told them he will sponsor
legislation containing budget
proposals by Comptroller Jonn
Sharp, including tuition hikes
and putting some local univer
sity funds into state coffers.
The key question, Parker said,
is "whether or not we really do
have the best minds available on
our college campuses, or
whether or not we're just going
to have a bureaucratic, bunker
mentality, and 'Let's all get to
gether and tell the politicians to
leave us alone.'"
Parker left no doubt that he ex
pects the university administra
tors to do more than complain
But he was greeted with silence
when he asked them for sugges
tions on saving money.
Kremlin pays $7,000 fi
to oil company after 1
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — San
Antonio collections agents may
have smelled money, but it took
them 11 months of pestering So
viet officials to finally wrangle
payment of a $7,000 fuel bill out
of the Kremlin for a Texas oil
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"We weren't about to give
up," said Milo Mims, spokes
man for Abbott, Abrey & Beck, a
commercial collections agency.
"We were determined to make
the Soviet Union pay this bill,
one way or the other. Our client
is very important to us, and this
became kind of a project with
us."
The Texas oil company tried
for nine months to collect the
$7,000 on its own, after a Aerof
lot Soviet Airlines jet refueled its
tanks at the company's facilities
at Anchorage International Air
port in October 1989.
But the oil company, which
declined to be identitied al
though it confirmed the collec
tion agency's efforts, was forced
to turn to Abbott, Abrey andj
Beck when the Soviets stone
walled on paying the bill.
After numerous calls to Aerof
lot in New York, Mims said the
collection agency was told that
the Kremlin had to authorize
payment of the bill.
"That's where we started to
get the big runaround. But we
couldn't communicate because
don't have anyone who
we
speaks Russian. We had wires
going back and forth, between
Aeroflot in New York and the
Air Ministry in Moscow," Mims
said Tuesday.
Aeroflot finally wrote a check
in June for the $7,000 out of its
operating budget, Mims said.
At the same time, the Bank of
the Soviet Union in Moscow
wired the funds to the collection
agency's bank via international
banking channels.