The Michigan Daily-Saturday, May 12, 1979-Page 9
COAST GUARD SAVES 26:
Divers search for missing oil rig
GALVESTON, Texas (AP) - Divers
entered a mostly submerged oil drilling
platform in the Gulf of Mexico yester-
day to search for eight men believed
trapped when the rig toppled over on a
collapsed support leg.
Coast Guard and private vessels
plucked 26 men from the dark Gulf
waters 12 miles off the Galveston coast.
Four required hospitalization, in-
cluding one with an arm sheared off
and others with burns.
DIVERS HAD waited for the go-
ahead from officials worried that the
three-fourths submerged platform
could sink further and endanger would-
be rescuers.
,, They temporarily withdrew from the
water late yesterday afternoon when it
became apparent that they would need
more air hoses to allow them to get into
the wreckage, said Tommy Clemmons,
k-n-U. Coast Guard operations duty officer.
But Coast Guard officials said diving
AP Photo operations would resume and continue
%N/OIL DRILLING platform sits partially submerged in the Gulf of Mexico. into the night, despite the steady rain
the Coast Guard is searching for eight men believed trapped in the rig. and heavy seas that have hampered the
rescue effort.
A
T
workers
"SINCE IT IS dark inside there, it
doesn't make any difference if it is
day time or night time," said Clem-
mons, adding that he did not know when
the needed equipment would arrive.
Another Coast Guard spokesman said
700 barrels of diesel fuel were on the
platform. He said the fuel was leaking,
affecting diving operations but not
posing any serious threat of fire.
There were 34 men aboard the rig,
which was being prepared for drilling,
when one leg of its tripod stand gave
way late Thursday, tilting the platform
at a 45-degree angle.
"I WAS JUST standing there when all
of a ,sudden there was a 'boom' and
there was water coming in
everywhere," said Timothy Stout, 21,
who escaped with nothing more than a
finger injury.
Coast Guard Lt. Gabriel Kinney,
operations officer for the Galveston
base, said there were reports some of
the men may have been welding on the
platform and were electrocuted.
Survivor Paul Fromberg, 26, an em-
ployee of IMCO Service Co., was in the
galley of the crew quarters when the rig
sank.
"I didn't hear any crash, there was a
sensation of dropping," he said. 'I was
in the galley when it suddenly dropped
and we were up in the air with the fur-
niture flying."
MANN THFEATRF$
Fox VILAGE
ADULTS: $4.00 (R)
CHILDREN: $2.00
MON-THURS 8:00 FRI 7:00, 10:15
SAT 1:00, 4:15, 7:30, 10:45
HIRING PROCEDURES DISCUSSED:
Ivw 'U'
By PATRICIA HAGEN
Negotiations between newly-
unionized University Cellar employees
and the bookstore's Board of Directors
resumed this week, focusing on hiring
procedures for the employees. -
At the last meeting at the end of
April, the Board decided to maintain
the present departmental structure of
the store - where employees make
most of the administrative decisions
collectively - rather than implement a
proposed hierarchical structure that
was vehemently opposed by Cellar em-
ployees.
The negotiations will continue in ef-
forts to draw up the first contract bet-
ween management and the employees,
who have been represented by In-
dustrial Workers of the World (IWW)
Local 660 since January.
BOARD MEMBER Matthew
Neumeier said more discussion of the
issue was necessary. "We want the
departments involved in hiring," said
Neumeier. He maintained that "final
say (on hiring) has to remain with the
Board ... We're the ones who pay the
wages."
The IWW is "trying to get more
departmental control in hiring," accor-
ding to union negotiator Felicia
Cassanos.
"Management maintains they still
have final say," said Bill Vargo,
another union negotiator. "The
question is - how much participation
are the departments going to have?"
NEITHER SIDE could cite cases in
which departmental choices were
overridden by management under the
present hiring system.
One of the main disagreements is
deciding on the wording of the contract,
according to Neumeier. More
discussion of hiring procedures is ex-
pected at future meetings. "I'm sure
we'll come up with something
agreeable to everybody," he added.
The managerial structure of the store
was not discussed during Wednesday's
meeting according to spokespersons for
both sides.
"STRUCTURE HASN'T been
discussed yet. I don't believe it's going
to come up any more," Neumeier said.
He emphasized that the store's
Cellar talks
managerial structure was no longer an
issue because of the decision to main-
tain the present structure at the last
meeting.
Management "refused to discuss
structure" said Cassanos. "We're hit-
ting a brick wall on it."
Negotiations are expected to continue
for several months. Spokespersons for
both sides mentioned that talks are
going slowly with only small issues
being resolved, but there have been no
resume
major confrontations.
A "big backlog" of issues has
developed, Vargo said. He noted a
"major impasse" on the question of a
"union" or "open" shop.
"We'd really like to get a contract
done now," said Neumeier. He said the
Board would like to meet more frequen-
tly with the employees since contract
negotiations have already been
"dragged out."
Report cites 'human error'
n nuclear plant accident
WASHINGTON (AP)-Operators of
the Three Mile Island nuclear power
plant inadvertently turned what could
have been a minor accident into a
major one because they could not tell
what was really happening inside the
reactor, the Nuclear Regulatory Com-
mission staff reported yesterday.
The staff recommended im-
provements, in addition to those
already ordered, at most of the nation's
nuclear power plants.
THE STAFF REPORT said the reac-,
tor's radioactive core could have
eseaped severe damage despite
mechanical failures, but the operators,
by incorrectly diagnosing the
problems, took actions that only made
matters worse. They also missed chan-
ces to make the right moves, the NRC
staff said.
The report listed at least half a dozen
human errors which apparently con-
tributed to the March 28 accident,
which released some radioactivity into
the environment and threatened for
several days to force evacuations
around Harrisburg, Pa.
PRINCIPLES of
Wholistic Education
Public Library- May 18
7:30pm FREE
Saturday, May 12 Aud. A Angell Hall
BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID
(George Roy Hill, 1969)
PAUL NEWMAN and ROBERT REDFORD in the best "buddy film" of all times.
As Butch and Sundance thev outwit the law with humor and a rare camaraderie
that makes them the Dick Powell and Myrna Loy of the 70's. With KATHERINE
ROSS and an Academy-Award winning score. A tilm to be enjoyed again and
again. (112 trai.)
Tonight at Tickets
7:30 &9:30 $1.50Qeach
Cinema I is now accepting new member appicati9ns. Pick them up at
all our film showings.
EASTMAN (Gt.Q
ADULTS. $3.50
CHILDREN: $2.00
Mon- Thurs 700. 9.00
Fri630, 8:15, 1000
SAT-Sun 1:30, 3:15, 5:00
7:00, 9:00