Friday, February 8, 1985/The Battalion/Page 3
student designs
flying eye hospital
for needy nations
9
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By BRIAN PEARSON
Reporter
What started as a senior class pro-
ect may turn into a very beneficial
xperience for a Texas A&M envi-
onmental design student.
For his final project in a design
:lass, Richard LaSalle designed a “f-
ying eye hospital” which could help
nany underdeveloped countries
around the world.
LaSalle’s designs equipped a DC-
10 jet plane with a teaching facility
nd eve hospital aboard.
The original plans for the flying
ion-profit hospital, project ORB IS,
/as originated by Dr. David Baton, a
Houston eye surgeon.
The concept of ORBIS involves
[lying an airplane around the world
nd teaching the doctors of under
developed countries the latest tech
nologies and tricks of the trade of
ophthalmology, LaSalle said.
I ORBIS must receive an invitation
prom the country’s government be-
Tfore that country can participate in
Bhe program.
I Patients are selected by the doc-
Bors of underdeveloped countries
Based on techniques that are applica-
^ ble to the needs of the host country,
lie said.
I Specifically, the ORBIS doctors
lise the latest laser and microsurgical
? of heat.
-5208.
equipment for treating their pa
tients.
The project was able to get off the
ground in 1982 after United Air
lines donated a DC-8 jet plane to the
cause. All the equipment used by
ORBIS is donated and all the doc
tors involved are volunteers.
For his project, LaSalle said he
was interested in developing a spe
cial facility for ophthalmology. For
background material, LaSalle said
he called a spokesman at ORBIS to
get some general information about
ophthalmology. The spokesman en
couraged LaSalle to work on a de
sign for a possible ORBIS II project
for the future, LaSalle said.
LaSalle said he used the idea for
his class project. He designed the eye
hospital to fit inside a DC-10 because
the Federal Aviation Administration
had banned the use of the DC-8 jet
plane in the United States. LaSalle’s
model can be adapted to fit almost
any large plane, he said.
LaSalle said he gave the design to
ORBIS officials as a gift and expects
no compensation if the plan is used.
Like the original design for the
DC-8, LaSalle’s design includes op
erating rooms, recovery rooms,
classrooms, audiovisual centers, a
scrub area and a library.
Mobility was one of the main
problems with the original ORBIS
ORBIS zt
Photo by FRANK IRWIN
Richard LaSalle with designs for the flying eye hospital.
model, LaSalle said. People on the
plane could not move from the nose
to tail without passing through a
sterilized area, he said.
LaSalle said he designed his
model with two levels. He put the
operating rooms and other sterilized
areas on the upper level so people
could move around inside the plane
without contaminating these areas,
he said.
“We’re all very excited with the
design,” said Gina Demetruis, an as
sistant in the planning department
at the ORBIS headquarters in New
York City.
LaSalle’s design could be used in
the ORBIS II project, she said.
She said the ORBIS project is
enough for now, but the program is
growing so rapidly that a need for a
new plan might exist in the future.
The ORBIS jet plane is currently
in Turkey and is scheduled to be in
China by the end of the summer,
Demetruis said.
Black lawmakers fear racing bill is for rich
3$
ages
Associated Press
AUSTIN — Legalized horse race
■vagering could generate millions of
Hollars for Texas farmers, agricul
ture officials said Thursday, but
ack lawmakers complained that
acing legislation as now written
about BlBvQuid just create “a pastime for the
e’s fingeri
windows
r;i
l; \s
fvealthy.”
With racing bills before the House
ivav to oil van d Senate, the Texas Department
he f
ies and ill
/here it f
le theesi
your nose
do that
i bad.
git up, if
of Agriculture unveiled a study esti
mating horse racing could bring
farmers up to $230 million directly
within 15 years.
Agriculture Commissioner Jim
Hightower said the TDA study con
cluded that development of a Texas
racing industry would generate $138
million for agriculture directly when
it hits full stride by 1990, with a total
economic impact of $427 million.
Hightower said the study indi
cates that two areas—a stretch from
Brenham to San Antonio, and an
area from south of Dallas to the Ok
lahoma border—would become ma
jor centers for horse farms.
While Hightower was releasing
his numbers, black lawmakers met
on the other end of the Capitol to
announce their opposition to the
leading horse race bill, and Gov.
Mark White again insisted that any
racing bill meet tough conditions or
face his veto.
The Legislative Black Caucus, led
by Rep. Paul Ragsdale, D-Dallas,
criticized the horse racing bill intro
duced by Rep. Hugo Berlanga, D-
Corpus Christi.
Ragsdale complained that, unlike
past horse racing legislation, the
1985 bill fails to dedicate part of the
state’s proceeds to financial aid for
families with dependent children.
The governor said any racing bill
must include three key elements—a
statewide vote on whether to allow
racing at all, a county vote before a
track could be built and protections
against the influence of organized
crime. The same goes for dog racing
or a state lottery, White said.
Budget cuts
disconnect
phone lines
By GIGI SHAMSY
Reporter
Alexander Graham Bell would
laugh at the new communication sys
tem in the educational psychology
department—two coffee cans con
nected by a string.
The doctoral students on the
third and seventh floor of Harring
ton Tower lost their telephones Feb.
1 because of University budget cuts.
“Stringing the coffee cans along
four stairwell walls was our humor
ous reaction to the situation,” Jay So
lomon, a graduate student, said.
Students and faculty taking the
stairs will find taped string leading
to two large coffee cans hanging
from the third and seventh floor.
Michael Ash, head of the educa
tional psychology department, said
two wall phones on the third and
seventh floor have replaced the of
fice phones.
“Since we can’t pinpoint the per
petrator of this prank,” Ash said,
“we’ve decided to have a lottery to
choose which graduate student will
be thrown out of the seventh floor
window.”
Doris Gutcher, departmental sec
retary, said students and faculty
have been good-humored about the
prank.
She said two graduate students,
Solomon and Pitchie Smith, dressed
as workmen and came into the de
partment claiming they had direct
orders from the Board of Regents to
disconnect the new intercom system.
“They handed me a memo from
the Board of Regents apologizing
for the inconveniences that may
have resulted from the removal of
the intercoms due to budget cuts,”
Gutcher said.
Dr. Arthur Blair, assistant to Pres
ident Vandiver, said each depart
ment president was asked to exam
ine the year’s remaining college
funds and reserve two percent as
protection against budget cuts that
will be legislated in Austin.
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