Page 16
THE BATTALION
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 2, 1980
Free handbooks: aid for consumer gripe
United Press International
It isn’t eligible for traditional best
seller lists — they are based on book
store sales —- but a new government
guide for consumers looks like a win
ner all the same.
The “Consumer’s Resource Hand
book’’ is published by The White
House Office of the Special Assistant
for Consumer Affairs.
Most such books cost anywhere
from $2 to $10 or up. More and more
good ones are available in retail
stores and libraries.
Before investing in a bigger book
for which you have to pay, try the
free government handbook. If your
problem can be solved by a local,
state, regional or federal agency,
you 11 find out who to write or phone,
and where. Some calls are toll-free
800 numbers.
The handbook begins with a con
sumer checklist of questions to ask
before you buy or sign a contract to
buy goods or services.
Examples:
Have you checked the company’s
track record for reliability with your
local consumer agency or Better
Business Bureau?
20th year
for satellite
United Press International
WASHINGTON — A drum
shaped satellite going by the strange
name of Tiros opened a new age 20
years ago Tuesday. It radioed back a
television picture of cloud patterns
seen from the vantage point of space.
Now, the weather forecasts that
play a large role in our everyday acti
vities rely routinely on the latest
cloud pattern views produced by an
operational network of weather
watching spacecraft that trace their
lineage back to Tiros 1.
The National Oceanic and Atmos
pheric Administration, which oper
ates the civilian weather eye satel
lites, is using satellite images of the
Earth in a wide variety of ways to
improve life.
Besides showing the cloud pat
terns associated with weather, the
images have been used to provide
warnings of crop-killing frost in the
South during winter nights, to guide
ships through packs of ice, to map
snow cover for flood control efforts
and to locate the most favorable areas
for salmon and albacore fishing.
The RCA Corporati on’s
AstroElectronics division, which
built Tiros 1 and most of the more
recent weather eyes, is now working
on an advanced Tiros that will carry
instrumentation to help locate
downed aircraft and personnel lost at
sea.
Abe Schnapf, then RCA’s assistant
program manager for Tiros, remem
bers the morning well on April 1,
1960, when Tiros 1 took off from
Cape Canaveral, Fla.
“As the missile lifted off the launch
pad, I was left with a feeling of empti
ness. Two hundred of us had worked
on that satellite for 18 months and it
just disappeared in two minutes.
“The real thrill was racing back to
the receiving station to watch the
first pictures come back over the
transmitter. ”
Squirrel on
strange list
United Press International
HARTFORD, Conn. — Aetna
Life & Casualty handled 30 million
insurance claims last year. But the
one about the suicidal squirrel made
claims handlers do a double take.
That item made Aetna spokesman
Bob Nolan’s strangest claims’ list.
For the past few years, Nolan has
compiled a list of what he felt were
the most unusual claims, deleting
the names of the claimants and how
much they received.
His latest list showed for Aetna,
1979 was a year of unusual activities
involving animals, from the baby
chameleon to an impolite seagull and
a hungry New Hampshire squirrel.
First there was the claim of the
Yankee visitor to Florida who lay
down on a friend’s couch for a noon
siesta when she felt something crawl
ing on her neck.
Checking her scalp, the woman
felt a cool, scaly creature — and im
mediately did a number over an easy
chair and onto a coffee table. The
culprit turned out to be a baby
chameleon.
“Let’s not forget the gull who
added insult to injury when it bom
barded a car windshield with an un
sanitary in-flight missile, breaking
the window with an enclosed rock, ”
Nolan wrote in his annual listing.
As for the squirrel, its trip into an
Aetna policy-holder’s empty home
ended in tragedy, not only for the
animal, but also for the homeowner.
The rodent apparently “lost its
cool upon finding no food, ’’ and took
to chomping away at window mold
ings before it drowned itself in a
toilet.
“Consider the time (a mouse)
appeared at a Minnesota railway
yard between two burly workers,”
Nolan wrote. “One of the men lifted
a wrecking bar to drive our little hero
6 inches under. He missed, hit his
co-worker in the pedal extremities
and sent the poor guy doing an Irish
Jig all the way to the emergency
If professional help is needed,
have you asked about fees, services,
qualifications and licenses?
What are the company’s policies
for handling complaints?
The handbook also contains step-
by-step suggestions for resolving
complaints, a sample complaint let
ter, and many specific suggestions of
where to go for help: not just state
and local consumer protection
offices, but also occupational and
professional licensing boards, Better
Business Bureaus, media programs
such as Call for Action, small claims
courts, and legal aid and legal ser
vices for people who cannot afford to
hire private lawyers.
Dozens of organizations and gov
ernment agencies are listed by
name, address and telephone num
ber in the handbook. In most cases
the name of the appropriate indi
vidual to contact is also given.
For single copies of the 76-page
publication, write the Consumer In
formation Center, Dept. 532 G,
Pueblo, Colorado 81009.
If your problem involves a product
or services from a privately or public
ly owned company, good sources to
turn to include “Help,” an $8.95
Everest House paperback annually
edited by Arthur E. Rowse of Con
sumer News Inc. in Washington,
D.C., and the “Consumer Com
plaint Guide,” a $5.95 Macmillan
paperback now being published
semiannually.
Rowse’s book lives up to a line on
the cover of the 1980 edition: it does
tell you “where to get help on just
about anything.” Among other
things, it lists companies that are re
quired by law to give refunds for va
rious products and services — and
subject to government action if they
do not comply with the law. It has
up-to-date comparisons of national
charities, moving companies, air
lines and package delivery firms, a
list of food colors whose safety has
been questioned; treatments for 50
common stains on fabrics; and a chart
showing complaint ratios of auto in
surers.
It also describes some of the more
widely used scams that survive, year
after year, such as chain letters,
work-at-home schemes that don’t
live up to their advertised promises
and “miracle” diet products.
by looking for the product's
The 1979 edition of the Macmillan
guide is currently available. It is
largely a directory of governmental
consumer protection agencies and
private corporations who make or
supply consumer goods. Thousands
of products are listed and cross-
referenced, so a reader who doesn’t
know a manfacturer’s identity or
address, for example, can find both
The “EM Complaint Dirette
Consumers” was prepared k
editors of “Everybody’s Monev
association’s quarterly magazit
provides tips on complaining!!
brass, and tells whom to wi
dozens of companies thatraabi
ducts or provide services,
charge includes postage and I
ling. Order from: Eve™
Money, F.O. Box 431, Ml
Wis. 53701.
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ShopPiggly Wiggly
for Eastertime
Menus
PlAY & WIN!
iODDS CHARIOTS
These prices good
Thurs., Fri., & Sat.
- April 3-4-5
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TOTALS
41,242
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41,566
99,443
1 k 59
1 to 4.5
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Local Winners:
Eva Gustavus
Bryan 20.00
Ray Robinson
Somerville 50.00
Blossle T. Payton
C.S. 100.00
Robert C. Jones
C.S. 100.00
Nancy Satterfield
C.S. 100.00
Tom Decker
C.S. 50.00
James M. Lewis
Gainesville $1000.
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LADY VICTORIA
Fine Crystal Stemware
Imported from FYance
t FEATURED THIS WEEK
4 Champagne —
Glasses ~ ; “
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4- 1 , ^PATTERN
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CHUCK
ROAST
Heavy Beef
Boneless
lb.
69
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moisture added
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WHOLE HAM . Rodeo Buckboard Boneless i sausage Hilishire Forms Reg. Smoked $
whole ham::=;^:;::;,*i« smoked turkeys esv *
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PIMENTO SPREAP^^l n HOT DOGS
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Deckers Quality
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12 oz. pkg. ‘
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FRESH SAUSAGE Oldham's Reg. or Hot 2-ilb.
Gold Medal - All Purpose
FLOUR
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Brown 'n
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green stamps
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FILM PROCESSING
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Del Monte Cream Style
GOLDEN CORN
Del Monte Whole Kernel
GOLDEN CORN
Del Monte Cut
GREEN BEANS
Del Monte French Style
GREEN BEANS
Del Monte
SWEET PEAS
Del Monte New
POTATOES....
Del Monte
SPINACH
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917 oz. cans
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TOMATO JUICE
PICKLES Vlaslc Kosh *' Dill or 3<5 .
Hamb. Chips 32 ® z - J«r
GRAPE JELLY Welch's 32 oz
TRASH BAGS ^
NAPKINS.. |40 et pkj
Mardi Gras gient
Decorator Paper 102 ct roll
MUSTARD French's ....... 24 oz. jar
69. COND MILK..,4 „.c.» 89
89* CHEF-WAY 0ll. p “.!!.y. f .!!!:!!« 48 „
|or 99* MARGARINE...?™ B %?ft....,-| b es,. 59*
20 Ct. box 'tf 9 CREAM CHEESE KMft p “ e| i >hla ct!?' 59*
Quantity rights reserved.
WHIPPING CREAM
59
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3516 Toxas Ava.
200 E. 24th St.
9 Redmond Terrace
COUEGE STATION,
and
BRYAN. TEXAS
Double 2&H Green Stamps every TuGsday wrtfi^Z^Oor more purchase.
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