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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (May 13, 1981)
State / National THE BATTALION Page 13 WEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 1981 Former first lady in intensive care after hip surgery Bess Truman, 96, develops pneumonia in left lung ty officials*,; edite tl in and“redn Iren. 1 months, tl this sunns second h ight. ut the sunns dee preside! nuld try tojio on thefeder, :ed he’s dy in Atlanli ed United Press International KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Former first lady Bess Truman Tuesday contracted pneumonia in her left lung despite antibiotics to aid recovery from hip reconstruction surgery a week ago, her doc tor said. “Mrs. Truman remains in quite serious condi tion,” said Dr. Wallace Graham, Truman’s per sonal physician. Doctors Tuesday noted the early stages of pneumonia in the lower left lobe of Truman’s lung. Graham said the use of broad-spectrum antibiotics would therefore increase, and the for mer first lady would stay under constant monitor ing in intensive care at Research Medical Center. Graham said his 96-year-old patient’s temper ature was gradually increasing during the morn ing, and that she was receiving respiratory ther apy treatments. “Mrs. Truman is getting adequate fluids, con tinually, with perfect physiological balance of electrolytes, vitamins and nutrition,” Graham said. Doctors were concerned about Truman’s fluids because she was receiving diuretics to in crease urinary output, reducing fluid collection in the body to reduce the chances of pneumonia. “Her kidneys are tired and want to lie down on the job,” Graham said. “We are keeping her just a bit dehydrated so as to not accumulate any fluid in the lungs.” The slowdown in Mrs. Truman’s kidney out put has caused what Graham referred to as an electrolyte imbalance in the blood stream. “You’ve got to keep the electrolyte balance up to absolute normalcy or she gets sluggish. It can affect her mental outlook and metabolic system, which affects how she responds to treatment.” The morning discovery of pneumonia ended what doctors called a quiet night after Truman’s first setback Monday from surgery a week ago. Monday Truman’s blood pressure and potassium level were fluctuating, but they returned to nor mal early Tuesday. Late Moday doctors inserted a catheter near Truman’s heart to administer medication directly into her bloodstream, a procedure Graham cal led dangerous. “In a patient of this age, this technique is not without inherent dangers,” Graham said, “but I’d rather not go into those dangers because we would frighten everybody in the United States.” “Anyone 96 years old should be considered in critical condition until moved from the intensive- care unit,” he added. Truman, wife of the late President Harry S. Truman, has been in the hospital since Wednes day when she fell at home and broke her right hip. She underwent surgery Thursday to recon struct her hip. Until Monday, Truman had been “doing as well as can possibly be expected, ” Graham said. She was able to sit up in a chair Saturday, two days after surgery. During a 45-minute operation surgeon Dr. Howard Ellfeldt removed the ball portion of Tru man’s splintered hip joint and replaced it with metal parts and acrylic glue. The bone was then reinserted into the socket. Judge orders reform of Texas prisons 1 the somedi so far haven i of Lidocaiu v used in ini :ontrolthek| ;uspected oft ks. inistrationdl convulsion)! ;)ner has not: e cause ents. lirector who: over the mi! iths saidthei ;6, three fa: nt to the Pe loraryemplw :ed into a m aid Christo ( sin theintei istensensail: pital adminis: i. She said no . Administe refused ton gations, United Press International HOUSTON — Assuming a fed eral judge’s sweeping prison re form order is upheld on appeal, Texas has two options — spend billions to build new penal institu tions or develop programs for managing inmates outside prisons. U.S. District Judge William Wayne Justice April 20 issued his final decree in a massive prison reform case that grew from the 1972 complaint of inmate David Ruiz, who is finishing his robbery sentence in a federal prison. Justice’s order makes the usual requirements that inmates re ceive better medical care, fairer disciplinary proceedings and un impeded access to the courts. It orders the Texas Department of Corrections to increase its guard to inmate ratio from l-to-13 tol-to-6by Nov. 1, 1982, achange which would entail hiring more than 2,000 more guards if the in mate population stayed the same. But the provisions most start ling to many Texans attacked The outcry was immediate. TDC Director Jim Estelle, who himself has complained that Texas prisons are overcrowded, nonetheless rejects Justice’s “one- man, one-cell” approach. “The time frames are impossible,” he said. Attorney General Mark White, a Democrat expected to challenge Republican Gov. William P. Cle ments Jr. in 1982, blasted Justice’s call for “hotels” for inmates and a judge telling Texas where and how to build prisons. White said Tex ans have a right to lock up convicts if they want. Clements, expected to seek re- election, publicly appealed to Re publicans now in power in Washington for help in overturn ing the order. He received a cour teous hearing but as yet no official help. Dallas lawyer John Albach, fed eral court-appointed monitor of Oklahoma’s compliance with a similar court order, dismissed the complaints of White and Cle ments as the “jockeying” of oppos- lan iveral days4 TOC’s basic approach: large, rural prisons housing all inmates in maximum security and working them hard on farms or in prison factories. Justice required immediate steps to reduce overcrowding in the nation’s most populous prison system, which as of April 27 had 1,900 inmates and a net monthly increase of 275. By Aug. 1, 1983, Justifce de- eed that no Texas prison cell shall hold more than one inmate, ed some te Currently, many of the 45-square- Foot cells house two or three in- io nrocrasfe ,nates > one on a floor mattress, n a prison o Tl J e J ud g e promised to close ed to geti ^ exas ^ prisons if deadlines for f died 1 Improvement of various condi- i 1 1 i. dons are not met by Nov. 1 of e VV lS pi, 1982 and 1983. That could ^ prose ^ j niTiates U p j n Texas’ 254 W . :ounty jails, at least three of which vn fa fa* court orders. 0U would® J us h ce a l so sa *fl Texas should . W ° 'eorganize its prisons into admi- listrative units of no more than th had ano» '500 inmates each. The largest n mind. ( faison now has 4,100. Justice said to be a la" 11 ’ffexas should put prisons closer to t be able toes i) ar g e urban areas. ;e they areas The Texas Legislative Budget uth. Board calculates that, under Jus- dice’s order and current condi- aturalsujfl f 1(ins jqc w ill have 5,060 too students: ne of the pi ions, many convicts on Nov. 1, 1981, j 5,583 too many on Nov. 1, 1982, and 13,733 too many on Nov. 1, to be a la" om - students vacations, -obablyprfa m; : to be a la* 1 3 little laws' e said. “The^ that no onep 1 The board also estimated Texas ould need to spend $2 billion just to house its current prison population in conditions satisfac tory to the judge. The board said anaging more inmates outside prison would cost millions less. </> b S N OM o a Free Extra Thick Crust! On any large 16” pizza One coupon per pizza. Fast, Free Delivery • o S< L. r m 846-8861 4407 Texas Ave. 693-2335 1504 Holleman $.50 $ .50 off any size pizza. One coupon per pizza. Fast, Free Delivery ■ m .-I L.. ($2.00 $2.00 off any 16” 2-item or more pizza. One coupon per pizza. | E Fast, Free Delivery * • o U=^ - < I I Just Ask! 4 free cups of Pepsi with a 16” pizza. 2 free cups of Pepsi with a 12” pizza. No coupon necessary. Fast, Free Delivery s from establishrrieni “Take a stroll down Memory Lane*" iVicIuy and Saturday BEER and 50 SOFT DRINKS with every food order ing politicians. Albach said Estelle in the past has said changes need to be made, including creation of more com munity-based programs to handle lesser risk inmates outside pris ons, but he critized Estelle for not leading. Albach, staff director of the Texas Legislature’s Joint Commit tee on Prison Reform that in 1975 recommended some of the same changes mandated by Justice’s order, said the Texas Legislature has heard reform ideas before. “One of the things we put in our report was that unless changes were made by Texas they would be ordered by a federal judge,” Albach said. “I think most states start off being resistant. Oklahoma did in the beginning. Louisiana did in the beginning. Then they begin to see it as an opportunity to have the leverage from a federal court to make changes.” Indeed, the Texas Senate last week approved expanded work furloughs proposed by TDC and the Senate Finance Committee began shifting funds within TDC to respond to Justice’s directives pending appeal. Albach said there have been good things about the Texas sys tem. It is generally clean, orderly, relatively safe and well run from a business management standpoint. It has some good educational programs for inmates. But Albach said TDC’s reputa tion as a model among state pris ons was partly myth: “I think its fair to say TDC had the best public relations department of any sys tem in the country.” THIS SUMMER GO TO A DIFFERENT KIND OF SUMMER SCHOOL LEARN TO FLY CALL BILL AT 693-6567 The Best Pizza In Town! Honest WE DELIVER 846-3412 Mr. GattTs Pizzamat AFTER 5 P.M. — MIN. $5.00 ORDER IKHlBUHtl?! MAKE IT WITH JUAREZ TEQUILA GOLD OR SILVER IMPORTED & BOTTLED BY TEQUILA JALISCO S A ST LOUIS. M0 80 PROOF At the corner of Tex Texas & Coulter • Bryan 779-2458 & ■ IIILYWN — — ' ' '■ .'-fa.':-';:, ■ I I H ■ ^ mLrnm 77V 77t ■ ~ l§ll _ ■i J! imc/^ IS 7 1 ' :7t:!7!77 W^i:$mS0Vg- M iff is now ■ m » W 37 '"7:' : w7- ' We are moving down the street to the new University East Commerce Center. Come see us there after June 1st. 505 University East Suite 805 846-4771