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THE BATTALION Page 3
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1980
“Russians do without wheat,
i&M does without pianist
By JED T. YOUNG
Campus Reporter
Russians will do without American
yheat and Americas will do without
s of Coiifjlussian performers. Texas A&M
So would,University has recently felt an im-
rial presijjpt of this non-exchange with the
ie Senate, igncellation of a Russian artist’s per-
CongressiPrmance here.
m a hard A soviet pianist, Lamar Berman,
TOukl have been presented by the
1 in the H;k
1 of the (M,
I later sent®
envoy to G
ngressfroi
Texas A&M’s MSC Opera and Per
forming Arts Society March 27.
OPAS adviser James Randolph said
the cancellation was due to the cur
rent political situation.
Randolph said Soviet artists are
much like American artists in that
both usually have American manage
ment agencies who handle tour
arrangements. The agency wrote to
Berman in the Soviet Union to ex
plain that his tour had been can
celled.
Randolph said the agency, Jacques
Leiser of New York, told Berman
that it was cancelling the tour be
cause it felt adequate security could
not be provided due to the current
political situation.
They had also written to OPAS:
“In view of the situation between the
U.S. and the U.S.S.R., we request
that you take strict precautions to
assure the safety (of Berman).”
Randolph said he thought there
was no reason to be so concerned
about the safety of a Russian pianist
performing in the U.S., because his
life was not truly in any grave
danger.
The proposed tour would have in
cluded performances in Cleveland,
Philadelphia, New York and at the
Kennedy Center in Washinton. This
would have been the fourth year that
Berman has toured the U.S.
In Berman’s place American pian
ist Bryon Janis will perform April 17
in Rudder Auditorium. Ironically,
Janis was the first pianist to visit the
Soviet Union at the beginning of the
cultural exchange.
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it possible for many to enjoy a nutritious meal\
while they follow their doctor’s orders. You will\
be delighted with the wide selection of low\
calorie, sugar free and fat free foods in the\
Souper Salad Area, Sbisa Dining Center Base
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OPEN
Monday through Friday 10:45 AM-1:45 PM
QUALITY FIRST
ty assessmi
ident will
ith a Conj
ig cowered
ts, increase:
j special i
andicapped help
Center puts special people to work
By AMY DAVIS
City Reporter
Joe, 27, works at a local food ser-
ce business, a job he has held for
iree years. He is active in his
lurch and attends night school.
Mundane as his life may sound,
>e|)refers it to the 16 years he spent
> a patient at state schools for the
ten tally retarded.
In September 1976, Joe left the
lexia State School and entered a
aining program set up by the Bra-
is Valley Mental Health-Mental
etardation Center.
Four years later, he has become a
razos County resident who is so
lormal” that his co-workers do not
now he is retarded.
He is the epitome of success for
ie Dilly Shaw Vocation Training
enter.
©r. John McBeth, director of the
rental retardation programs for the
Irazos Valley, said the center is a
heltered workshop that his staff su-
ervising clients who work on
ssigned tasks.
p*We try to keep the clients chal-
;nged, but not to the point of frus-
ration,” McBeth said.
The center is set up “kind of like a
mall business,” McBeth said. The
lients are paid according to the
mount of work they do and the cen-
er is under contract to a company.
For example, the clients are cur-
ently installing storm windows and
ynother group works as a janitorial
Service, he said.
When the clients start
T! pproaching minimum wage in their
. ay scale, they are usually moved
nto the janitorial service. From
here they go to a job in the com-
nunity.
“We try to build the client up
Jrogressively to the point where
py can successfully perform a job in
he community at a pay of minimum
vage or higher,” McBeth said.
He said many of the employers
>enefit from hiring “handicapped
clients. The government provides a
tax break for the employers.
When a client has been trained
and is ready for a job, he is as good, if
not better, than the person he re
lieves, McBeth said.
He said the center usually tries to
place the client in jobs with a high
turnover.
“One thing about mentally re
tarded people — they don’t mind
doing the same thing over and over
again in their jobs,” he said.
The Brazos Valley MHMR Center
does more than just train people for
jobs.
Another program provided is “The
Family Tree,” a halfway house for
mentally retarded males. Presently,
there are six men living in the four-
bedroom home in Bryan.
McBeth said, “The goal of the
program is to bring people out of the
state schools and rehabilitate them.
“The men are taught things most
of us learn by just growing up,” he
said. Brushing teeth, washing hair
and managing money are some ex
amples.
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“It is really interesting to watch
these men develop into real human
beings,” he said. “That is what the
center is trying to accomplish.”
The center helps the taxpayer
monetarily. It costs about $400 a
month more for a client to live in a
state school than a halfway house, he
said.
Another thing that cannot be mea
sured is the greater amount of happi
ness found in a house, as compared
to a school, McBeth said.
“You can’t assign a monetary value
to someone’s happiness. The client is
involved in society when he lives at
the house. In a school, he is only
exposed to other mentally retarded
people,” McBeth said.
The facility is funded by grants
from the state and McBeth said he is
pleased with the amount of money
they have been receiving.
“I have nothing to gripe about. It
would be nice to have a better facility
for the sheltered workshop, but right
now, we have what we need,” he
said.
It’s magic you know...
and the artists
at our two
locations can
show you
the spell.
mSmtoSki
696-6933 693-0607
We Welcome
John Wicke
to the staff of
Courtea
John invites all his friends and
customers in for appointments.
C'on ■* tea
Behind Ramada Inn, next
to the U-TOT-M on Univ. Dr.
846-3877 or 846-2924
Owned & Operated by: Reese Moore
—FOR A CUT ABOVE THE NORM -
eli
I’ll bet.
it, there ars,
i the Rose 6 :
Girls do b®
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te to Mrs. It
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HE li:
'HAT IF HE
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YHIS CuTVlW'W
OLD 0^1 St I
J <-£ QR Hoojmt-'
Thursday
February 21st
Bryan-College Station
will have a
new FM rock
Radio Station
r F|V1 STEREO* j
h 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 M 1 1 M 1 1 1 1 II
1 1 1 1 1 1111 111 ] 111111111 h
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OPEN 10-10 “Behind Skaggs & McDonalds”
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