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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 5, 1981)
THE BATTALION THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 1981 Page 9 State ‘Blood-Money’ libel suit on United Press International AUSTIN — A Pulitzer Prize winning reporter testifying in a libel suit against the author of the steamy bestseller “Blood and Money” called the book excellent but said it was not entirely fair to the plaintiff, Ann Kurth. “It was apparent that neither the author nor the publisher parti cularly concerned themselves ab out telling the other side,” Roy M. Fisher said Tuesday of the nonfic tion account of the death of Hous ton socialite Joan Robinson Hill; the murder by neglect trial of her plastic surgeon husband, John; his affair with Kurth, who became his second wife, and Hill’s subse quent slaying while awaiting ret rial. Fisher, now dean of the Uni versity of Missouri School of Jour nalism, said while Tommy Thompson’s book was “in most re spects an excellent book,” it was slanted against Kurth. Kurth admitted in her own book, “Prescription: Murder,” that she and Hill were lovers while he was still married to Joan Hill. However, she claimed her reputa tion was ruined and she was humi liated by “Blood and Money’s” de scription of her as a “sex bomb,” a mistress and a demanding wife. She is asking $3.75 million for alleged libel and slander. Thomp son, 46, once city editor of the defunct Houston Press and now a resident of Los Angeles, has filed a countersuit charging she defamed his reputation as a writer. Fisher testified Thompson apparently interviewed mostly friends of the first Mrs. Hill for information about the behavior and character of the second Mrs. Hill. “There’s a crack in journalism that ‘too much research spoils the story,”’ he said. One of Kurth’s complaints against Thompson is that he called her book “the demented fancy of one woman.” Kurth, 50, divorced three times and the mother of three sons, has dressed sedately during the trial, in contrast to descrip tions in “Blood and Money” of her provocative dress. She wofe a loosely fitting grey suit Tuesday, short hair and very little make-up. Kurth, who has dropped the name Hill and now lives on Lake Travis in Austin, said in her book John Hill confessed to her he had killed his first wife. She said he also tried to kill her. Altered license fee, gas tax hike sought Health foods don’t prevent cancer otynCa aft K 11 United Press International HOUSTON — A nutrition re searcher Wednesday warned against large doses of so-called health food supplements as a can cer preventative and said such overdoses can cause illness. “There is no one or two magic nutrients that are going to alter your chance of getting cancer by taking them in large amounts, such as Vitamin C, Vitamin E, selenium,” Dr. William J. Darby said. "Excessive amounts of many nutrients can indeed be harmful. ” Darby, president of the New York-based Nutrition Founda tion, an agency supported by gov ernment, private and food indus try grants, cited one recent health food fad, selenium. He told reporters at a Universi ty of Texas M.D. Anderson con ference on nutrition and cancer that selenium, a trace metal, can be healthy in trace amounts but toxic in overdose. “The health food promoters are promoting selenium as a cancer preventative and yet we have evi dence (from animals) that it can be carcinogenic,” Darby said. “I think recommending high intakes of selenium can be dangerous. “The best preventative that we know of at present is to eat a well- varied diet that comes from really the five food categories, meat, bread products, dairy products, fruits and so on. “There is no one food that is a bad food. One can overeat any kind of food. We shouldn’t be trying to think of foods as ‘black hat’ or ‘white hat’ foods. ” Modera tion in all things, including mod eration.” Darby also advised Americans to “relax” about tests showing overdoses of food additives like saccharin can cause cancer in rats. He said government and industry constantly test and have come up with no positive links to humans. “There is no example, that I know of, of any clear evidence that any food additive has ever been responsible for malignancies in man,” he said. Darby, a former professor of biochemistry and medicine at Vanderbilt University, said addi tives have contributed to better health. “The diet that is associated in the minds of many as a risk factor ial refo olutii i the# 55 ml ehstf: Isforf Fort Worth boy robs more yin, gress: D' posalj ;dTrs lis CO! eipftj 55 n? United Press International FORT WORTH — A youth, possibly prompted by reports of a bank robbery by a New York boy, pulled a gun on a grocery clerk and robbed her of the store’s cash. Fort Worth police are speculating the boy, said to be between 10 and 14 years old, got his idea from similar incidents in New York and Dallas. In Dallas, a boy working with an older man robbed a res taurant. The boy entered the store about 12:15 p.m. Tuesday, “soaking wet” from the rain outside and headed for the candy counter, clerk Mandy Mahaffey, 23, told police. She was mopping in the back of the store when she looked up to see the boy pointing what appeared to be a .38-caliber pistol at her. After telling her to drop the mop, he motioned her to the cash register. I J Mahaffey said the youth told her to give him “all of it,” referring to yj the money. As she was handing him the money, a postman walked in. J “I didn’t know what was going to happen,” Mahaffey said. “The kid ’ put some of the money in his pocket, he told me to put what I had in my . ^ hand bade in the register. Then we waited until the postman left. ” 1 After the mailman left, the boy demanded the rest of the money. “He put some of it in both pockets of his windbreaker, and some in ; his one pants pocket. Then he stuffed the gun in his pants and ran out. ” ^ Just before he left, “he handed me some of the money I had just taken out of the register and said, ‘Here — this is for you. ’ I don’t know why he did that. ” Now 40% Off at the LOCKER ROOM Warm-Ups by: JOG-JOY HANG TEN WINNING WAYS t/ OPEN 9:30-6:00 800 VILLA MARIA RD. ''The l.orkrr Room 0 SPORTSHOES UNLIMITED' ACROSS FROM MANOR EAST MALI DIETING? Even though we do not prescribe diets, tve make it possible for many to enjoy a nutritious meal while they follow their doctors 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 Basement. OPEN Monday through Friday 10:45 AM-1:45 PM QUALITY FIRST diet is really characteristic of affluent societies,” Darby said. “Health evidence indicates we are healthier than we would be if we went back to earlier diets. “The causes of cancer are un doubtedly multiple. These (tests and health food fads) are kinds of things where we’ve overinter preted or people have taken a little bit of evidence and drawn sweep ing conclusions.” United Press International AUSTIN — Speaker Bill Clayton said Wednes day he has requested research on possible in creases in the state gasoline tax and a revision in the state method of charging for auto license plates in the event more revenue is needed to meet rising highway costs. Clayton said legislation passed several years ago entitles the highway department to draw directly from the general revenue fund for its road programs, and said the draw next year will be “about $900 million — that’s about double what we thought it would be. I know it’s a ton of money.” The speaker said discussions of the unex pectedly heavy highway drain on the general re venue fund came up in a meeting with Gov. Bill Clements to draw up an agenda for a meeting next week of the Texas Energy and Natural Resources Advisory Council. That discussion prompted Clayton to request research information on a possible switch in the gasoline tax to a percentage of the pump price rather than a fixed rate per gallon, and to consider basing auto license plate fees on the value rather than on the weight of vehicles. “I want to see what it would be if we based it on value, so a $60,000 sports coupe wouldn’t have the same $12 license fee as a Chevrolet Impala, ” he said. “We’re looking at different types of things that might produce some revenue if we fool around and get in trouble with the drain on the general revenue fund.” The speaker SEiid he also asked for research to determine if it is feasible to base gasoline taxes on a percentage of the retail price rather than a fixed rate per gallon. “We’re looking at a percentage of 5 percent right now. It probably wouldn’t make but about 1 cent (a gallon) difference, but if we can devise a way to do it with a percentage then the tax would follow inflation when the price of gasoline goes up and down.” A 1 cent per gallon increase in the gasoline tax would generate about $100 million in additional state revenue. Clayton said Clements indicated he expects gasoline prices to decline in the next four to six months because of a glut in supplies, and a Cle ments aide indicated earlier a percentage tax on gasoline might not be feasible because of prob lems in changing gasoline pumps to reflect a per centage of the price rather than a flat rate per gallon. Here’s the difference between a bank’s interest-bearing checking account and ours: Ours pays 5.47% effective annual yield. Theirs pays 5.39% (or, in some cases, much less). MoneyStore was the first interest-bearing checking account in the Brazos Valley. And it’s still the best. 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