Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 6, 1978)
Viewpoint Top of the News The Battalion Thursday Texas A&M University July 6, 1978 Bombs or bread? Human rights should include a full stomach as well as freedom from a dictator’s whims. Long before President Carter began lecturing tyrants, this country was freeing millions from hunger. We hope the President prevents a lamentable lapse in a humanitarian tradition by vetoing a move in Congzess to cut off “Food for Peace” aid to South Korea. Morality aside, the cutoff would be an unfortunate blow to this nation’s human rights image. The House voted 273-125 to cancel $56 million in food aid in retaliation for the Seoul government’s refusal to let Ethics Committee investigators ques tion a former Korean ambassador about influence buying. Similar action is expected in the Senate. It’s bad enough that many congressmen want to punish a corrupt govern ment by taking food from its peple’s mouth. But the problem is compounded by Congress’ intenion to leave intact the much larger aid budget for military hardware. Together, these positions indicate that Americans are interested in Koreans as allies but not as human beings. That hardly benefits the President’s human rights campaign. There may be corruption in the food program, as some have said, but hardly more than in Korea’s military procurement programs. If any aid is to be cut as a way of slapping the wrist of the Seoul government, weapons should be more expendable than food. The Miami Herald Paying for side effects of The Pill By JULIAN ISHERWOOD United Press International COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Eight women who claim they became seriously ill after taking birth control pills are fight ing a legal battle to determine who, if any one, is legally responsible. Eight drug manufacturers and the pa tients’ doctors disclaim responsibility. Health authorities have refused to let the women see their own medical records. The women, aged between 18 and 40, suffered cerebral thromboses — blood clotting in the brain — and their lawyer Jorgen Jakobsen said the pill was to blame. The drug companies insist Jakobsen prove whether doctors advised the women about possible side effects, whether the pill was prescribed as a pregnancy pre ventive measure and whether the pill was responsible for causing the thromboses. The women claim their doctors never warned them of possible consequences. Jokobsen went to court when doctors re fused to give him the necessary medical records. Preliminaries in the case already have taken 18 months. Jakobsen said legal action against the drug companies probably won’t start for another year. Science "\ must admit that the old-fashioned at titude of the Danish medical profession on the question of medical records is baffl ing, Jakobsen said in an interview. Surely it must be in their interest to re lease the information so we can discover the real reason for the women’s blood stoppage.” The first test case involves Jane Juhlin, a nurse s helper from Ronne on the Baltic island of Bornholm. In 1969 I went to my doctor and asked for preventive pills because I didn’t want any more children,” she said. “The pill had just come on the market, and through various publications one had heard there were no ill side effects. “My doctor, who had known me since I was a child, gave me the pills without any further ado. Everything was bliss until 1973 when I began suffering from dizzi ness and severe headaches. I also began bleeding out of my normal menstrual period and I went straight to a doctor. “After an examination I was taken off my original pills and given a six-month supply of another pill. After a couple of months things got better. Then one day I was on my way home and I began to feel my heart working strangely and I was paralyzed on my left side, she said. She was treated at a state hospital in Copenhagen and then she contacted Jakobsen. “It’s not a question of money,” she said, “but more a question of principle. I feel that I should have been told of the pos sibilities of side effects, in which case 1 would never have dreamed of taking the pill. Jakobsen said the Juhlin case was similar to the other seven he is preparing. “In none of the cases were the patients warned there could be side effects if they took the pill," he said. In the United States, the pills are ac companied by a warning that oral con traceptives are associated with a higher risk of blood clots. American manufacturers of oral con traceptives say claims and law suits have been filed over the years by users of the pills, but one company official said claims related to thromboses base been in frequent lately because of the warnings. A spokesman for another company said legal action generally results in the com pany’s favor because of a lack of evidence linking specific problems to the pill. "If we win," Jakobsen said, "I expect there will be a wealth of women who will want to sue in similar cases.” Rights for all kids The good used car United Press International WASHINGTON — The Federal Trade Commission is proposing some full- disclosure regulations to take a lot of the guesswork out of buying a used car. The proposed rules would require win dow stickers to disclose such information as the approximate mileage on a used car and repairs made by the dealer that cost more than $100, including reconditioning. Dealers also would be required to dis close, if known, whether the car was sub jected to governmental or commercial use as rental, lease, driver education, taxi, police vehicles or the like. And they would have to state the extent of any warranty or if the car is sold “as is.” “Disclosures relating to appearance re conditioning, odometer readings and the prior history of a vehicle will materially assist consumers in making a general as sessment of used vehicles in determining the nature and extent of prior use and care as well as potential mechanical perform ance and reliability of vehicles,” said United Press International FORT WORTH — A former Vietnam POW has sent a $1 check to the Louisville (Ky.) Courier Journal to establish what he called an “educational fund” for Muham mad Ali. Air Force Col. Robert B. Purcell, a former Louisville resident who spent 7V2 years as a prisoner of the North Vietnamese, said the fund was in response to Ali’s 35-minute meeting last month with Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev. During the meeting Brezhnev made the former world heavyweight boxing cham pion his “unofficial ambassador for peace with the United States.” Later Ali said that on being presented to Brezhnev, “I gave him a hug and a kiss on both cheeks and he returned it.” James Greenan, the FTC official who pres ided over public hearings on the proposed regulations. He said such disclosures would not provide prospective buyers with full in formation about used vehicles, but are ma terial facts that would “constitute a signifi cant gain in information.” Greenan said evidence from recent FTC proceedings on the matter “leaves no room for doubt that consumers, with few exceptions, come to the used motor vehi cle market with virtually no mechanical knowledge or competence sufficient to en able them to determine the actual mechanical condition of vehicles offered for sale.” As a result, he said, buyers are forced to rely almost entirely on the dealers for in formation on the mechanical attributes or deficiencies of the used cars. The FTC’s final decision on the recom mendations is not expected for several months and will be based upon Greenan’s report, a staff report and public comments on both. Purcell, now stationed at Carswell Air Force Base, said Ali’s conduct “makes a mockery of the yet to be erected headstone for the 2 million Cambodians reportedly eliminated by the newest communist government there.” The former POW said he hoped the fund “could be used to purchase the May 29 edition of U.S. News and World Re port’ that documented Yuri Orlov’s fate at the hands of Ali’s new friend, Leonid Brezhnev.” According to the article, the Soviet dis sident was sentenced May 17 to seven years hard labor and five years internal exile. Purcell said he did not have a “personal vendetta” against Ali. However, he said Ali was “a visible citizen and people pay attention to what he says, so he should be careful about what he says.” By PATRICIA McCORMACK UPI Education Editor A “bill of rights” for handicapped chil dren takes effect the first of September. It gives crippled, blind, deaf, slow to learn, wheelchair-bound and otherwise handicapped boys and girls the right to enter the mainstream of education, going to the same school as other kids in their communities instead of going to a special school. They have a right to be put in the regu lar education program, not sent to a hand icapped children’s school within a system. And within a public school the law re quires that the new students must be as signed to classes for the nonhandicapped. THE “MAINSTREAMING BILL” offi cially is The Education for All Handicap ped Children Act of 1975, Public Law 94- 142. Its passage, a victory for parents of the handicapped who challenged laws that de nied their children a public education, made parents of the nonhandicapped wonder if their children will get less atten tion — since the handicapped will need more. Education Time will answer that one. There are an estimated 8 to 9 million handicapped young Americans, and more than half of them have not been receiving adequate educational services. This is the way the law works: federal funds will go to the states, the amount based on the number of handicapped children, ages 3 to 21, who are receiving special education and related services. The law calls for the federal portion of funds to states to increase in steps up to 40 percent of the average expenditure per pupil by the 1982. The first step, however, calls for a pay ment of only 5 percent. Nationally that comes to only $70 per pupil, according to a report in “PTA Today,” a publication of the National PTA. The rest of the money needed to get the mainstreaming program moving will need to Come out of state and local education budgets already strained by inflation, salaries with cost of living increases and the high cost of fuel. The PTA says the Education for All Handicapped Children Act offers the pos sibility of realizing a wonderful dream: to educate all the children. “But to convert this dream to reality will require much greater federal support, as well as a bountiful measure of parental ac tion within local communities, if these new programs are to succeed,” the “PTA Today” report says. SOME OF THE KEY rights cited in P.L. 94-142: —Right to education. All states that choose to participate must provide, by Sept. 1, 1978, free and appropriate public education for all handicapped children, ages 6 to 17. —Unless in conflict with court order or state law, the same provisions apply to all handicapped children ages 3 to 5. By Sep tember 1981 the provisions also will apply to handicapped youths 18 to 21. —Children defined by the Act as hand icapped include those who are mentally retarded; hard of hearing or deaf; visually handicapped; deafblind; speech-impaired; emotionally disturbed; orthopedic-ally or otherwise health impaired; and those with specific learning disabilities. -—If a handicapped child requires a tuition-based program to receive an ap propriate education, the program must be provided at no cost to the parents, but in stead must be paid for out of public funds. —Right to non-discriminatory evalua tion: All tests and methods of evaluation must be free of any racial or cultural dis crimination and must be administered in the primary language of the child. —Right to an appropriate education: An individualized education program for each handicapped child must be developed jointly by a school official, the classroom teacher, a special education teacher, the child’s parents or guardian, and, if possi ble, the child. This is a kind of educational prescription, custom-designed. The edu cational plan is to include long-term and short-term educational goals. Also to be spelled out: all the specific services that will be provided. —Right to be educated in the least re strictive environment: The new law seeks to ensure “to the maximum extent possible that handicapped children will be edu cated with children who are not handicap ped.” ' —Right to due process: If parents or children 18 or over do not feel that the identification, evaluation, or placement deisions made by school officials are ap propriate — or if no appropriate program has been provided, they may request a due process hearing at public expense. If parents are not satisfied by an impar tial hearing officer, they may apppeal the decision through the state education agency to state or federal courts. THE SCHOOLS HAVE been getting ready and the states, too. Seminars, work shops, conferences and special training has gone on for administrators and teachers, but no one knows if mainstreaming will get off to a smooth or bumpy start in Sep tember. For the handicapped youngsters par ticipating, it will be a new feeling — going to school with all the other kids. And that is the idea: get the handicap ped children into the mainstream of American life — and eventually into the work-aday world, too, when they reach adulthood. His dollar’s worth State Holiday deaths counted Nineteen drownings and a record number of motorcycle auidt during the more than four-day Fourth of July holiday contributn the deaths of 69 persons in Texas, final figures showed Wednesc The Texas traffic death total — 49 — was second in the nation California’s 87, as was the overall Texas holiday fatality count drownings, plane crashes and traffic. The Texas list also include Fourth of July rodeo rider, Belio Fuentes, 33, who fell fromhisW and was kicked fatally by the animal at Crystal City. CR Mi Dll Family denied damages The Texas Supreme Court Wednesday in Austin reversed a !> GR court decision and ruled the wife and child of a man killed i 1 accident at a tire-testing track in West Texas cannot collect dan* from the tire manufacturer. Lower courts had ordered Arnut? Rubber Company to pay $75,000 to the wife of Clemente Urqt and $12,000 to his son. Urquidez was employed by Automotive! ing Grounds, Inc., near Pecos and was killed when a front tirew tractor-trailer rig he was driving blew out, causing the truck to? DI turn. Couple drowns GB A woman and a man who tried to rescue her both drowned Tun in Galveston Bay within sight of her two daughters who weretr to steer a speedboat to the couple. The bodies of Caroline Hall and William Ammonette, 31. were found alxnit 150 yards oflfk Point by the U.S. (Joust Guard shortly alter the accident 1: w-vwiy tigators said Mrs. Hall, a nonswimmer, was Ix-ing towed mj preserver behind the speedboat. The life preserver broke and> t ' monette jumped into the water to try to save her. He could swin had no life jacket. GRi Man soaked with gas, burned An elderly man soaked with gasoline burned to death in thA yard of his suburban Dallas home Wednesday. The victim’s wilti he hud been working on a garden tiller found near his l«c- ^ spokesman for the Dallas County Medical Examiner said Williti 76, became engulfed in flames but it was not known how hebto soaked w-ith gasoline or what set off the fire. A pat ti.dly hill pm can also was found near his body. R( Houston has bad air Houston was the only Texas city listed Wednesday among20c suffering the nation's worst air quality as surveyed by the N. CL Wildlife Federation in Washington. Houston ranked seventh, bd Los Angeles, Denver, Albuquerque, Philadelphia, New York' Jersey metropolitan area and Boston. Houston was determine have had 141 days of bad air pollution in 1975. the year upon*: the study was based. Nation wc Many Texas motorists speed The U.S. Department of Transportation says 41 percent of ( orado s motorists regularly drive oyer the speed limit Although ^ J out of every five Colorado motorists regularly exceed the 55 t wt/ speed limit, the DOT said Wednesday the state’s drivers still* among the most law-abiding in the nation Wyoming is the|J_. offender in the nation with 77 pen ent of .ill motorists regularly too ping the limit, the DOT said, while Texas showed 71 percentd drivers being a bit heavy-footed on the gas pedal JSTI not l 200 lbs. meat imported natte lativ Sup President Carter has signed a proclamation implementing his Jtc Wil 8 decision to allow- an additional 2(X) million pounds of nu-atto a y- imported over the remainder of this year, the White Housephby nounced Wednesday. with t opit irrow C I • I I * >e Co ' Company jorbias smoking on w day. Quint Corp. officials looked at the statistics and gasped. Now#© co of the company’s employees, executives included, are under orii a g ei to quit smoking on the job. 'Hie company, located in Tilton, N.M be< makes asbestos-based electrical insulation. The smoking ban at or a * plant becomes effective July 24, and the company says it will notfdeali new workers who smoke. Statistics show asbestos workers \vho'in can ^ have a 92 times greater chance of getting cancer than asbestos M a V tor ers who don’t smoke, he said. on ht ght v r s a World to CO tactii 2 in t aytoi ns al Cosmonauts return id th want: of i The Polish and Russian cosmonauts aboard the Soyuz 30 spa inci capsule returned safely to earth Wednesday, ending their eight-i. mission in space. Cosmonauts Pyotr Klimuk of the Soviet Union<Ve n Miroslaw Hermaszewski of Poland made a soft landing in their sp*rity c capsule 186 miles west of Tselinograd in Soviet Kazakhstan, thelld be news agency reported. The Soviet agency said Klimuk and Hern*, I d, zewski were in good condition after their return. wo-tl lands Weather C aboi r tax >w in: Partly cloudy and hot today and Friday with warm nightr High today near 100, low tonight mid-70s. High tomorro' near 100. Winds from the southeast at 10-15 mph decrea; ing to less than 5 mph tonight. The Battalion Opinions expressed in The Battalion are those of the editor or of the writer of the article and are not necessarily those of the University administration or the Board of Re- gents. The Battalion is a non-profit, self-supporting enterprise operated by students as a university and com munity newspaper. Editorial policy is determined by the editor. LETTERS POLICY Letters to the editin' should not exceed 300 words and an- subject to Iteing cut to that length or less if longer. The editorial staff reserves the right to edit such letters and does not guarantee to publish any letter. Each letter must l>e signed, show the address of the writer and list a telephotie number fin- verification. Address correspondence to Letters to the Editin', The Battalion, Room 216, Reed McDonald Building, College Station, Texas 77843. Represented nationally by National Educational Adver tising Services, Inc., New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles. The Battalion is published Monday through Friday from September through May except during exam and holiday periods and the summer, when it is published on Tuesday ^through Thursday. Mail subscriptions arc $16.75 per semestr' school year; $35.00 per full year. Advert# nished on request. Address: The Battalion Reed McDonald Building, College Station,If United Press International is entitledexdn 1 use for reproduction of all news dispatches Bights of reproduction of all other matter herf Second-Class postage paid at College Stntioi MEMBER Texas Press Association Southwest Journalism Congress Editor l> . Sports Editor D ■•News Editor Lee Ri>) City Editor Campus Editor ^ Photo Editor * , Copyeditor Reporter ? • ^ Student Publications Board: Boh C. Joe Arredondo, Dr. Cary Halter. Dr. ('/im'l^ Dr. Clinton A. Phillips. Rebel Riee. I)hv<^ Publications: Donald C. Johnson.