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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 15, 1982)
local/state Battalion/Page 4 February 15,1982 Rate may be nation’s highest ' Many Texans die at work United Press International DALLAS — Texas may have the nation’s highest worker fat ality rate, but a federal official says authorities never may be able to prove it. “There’s no doubt that Texas has probably one of the highest worker death rates, perhaps the highest in the nation per capita,” said Roy Evans, worker compen sation adviser for the U.S. Labor Department’s southwest divi sion. “All the evidence points that way.” But Texas is one of three states in the nation — the others are South Carolina and New Jersey — that does not have compulsory worker insurance, which is used as a standard to determine the fatality rate. That qjeans precise comparisons be tween Texas and other states cannot be made. What information Texas does record, however inadequ ate, is alarming. More than 1,000 workers were killed each year during the 1970s out of a work force of ab out 4 million, according to in complete data compiled by the state’s industrial accident board. That figure only includes fatalities covered by insurance and does not include deaths out side the jurisdiction of state law, such as those in the interstate maritime industry. “There are many other fac tors,” Evans said. “Occupational disease is not always recorded. A man who dies when a brick falls on his head clearly represents a work-related death. But a man who dies because he’s exposed to chemicals is often a controver sial case. And there are a lot of chemical manufacturers in Texas.” He cited the worker fatalities caused by asbestosis, a lung dis ease caused by exposure to asbestos. “Virtually every one of those Texas cases is disputed,” he said. The state has a further com plication — illegal aliens. “They're called illegal aliens, and they’re used heavily in many construction jobs,” he said. “But you may never hear about some thing that happens to them.” In California, which employs a far more sophisticated worker injury and fatality accounting system, more than 329,000 dis abling injuries were reported in a work force estimated at 8.6 million. That compares to Texas where 171,482 compensable in juries were reported out of a work force less than half Califor nia’s size. “That’s pretty astounding when you think that California includes a lot more information, has more covered workers and is considered one of the nation’s most dangerous states to work,” he said. Evans said Texas has more than its share of dangerous occupations. “Anything having to do with the mining of oil and gas is going to have a high fatality rate,” he said. “The same is true in the construction industries. A booming economy in Texas means that there’s a lot of con struction, and obviously there are going to be more deaths.” Texas is seeking to improve its accounting system and has established a governor’s task force on work-related accidents. “The thrust of the organiza tion is to sit down and come up with some accurate statistics that can be used to compare to other states,” Evans, a member of the task force, said. “This is a problem that will get more severe as the states take over those jobs that used to be handled by the federal govern ment,” he said. “States like Texas must improve their ability to inspect work sites, and cities should pass ordinances beefing up safety precautions. “But we have to have hard numbers in order to focus our attention on the problem. Too many workers are sacrificing their lives.” Washington trip registration starts by Cindy Manicom Battalion Reporter Registration begins today for the annual spring break trip to Washington, D.C. The MSC Political Forum Committee, which sponsors the event, says the trip is open to Texas A&M students and fa culty. Registration for the trip lasts through Tuesday in the Student Programs Office, 216 Memorial Student Center. The trip is li mited to 30 people and will be filled on a first-come, first- served basis. The group will depart from Houston Intercontinental Air port March 14 and return to Houston Marc-h 20. The group will stay at the Capitol Hilton Hotel. Cost of the trip is $474. A $275 deposit is required upon registration, with the rest of the money due Feb. 26. The price includes airfare to and from Washington, break fasts and dinners (with the ex ception of two dinners), hotel accommodations and all sche duled tours and activities. Scheduled highlights of the trip include tours of the Washington Monument, the National Botanical Gardens,the National Air and Space Museum, the Lincoln Memorial, the Pentagon, Arlington Na tional Cemejery, the U.S. Capi tol, the Smithsonian Institution and the White House. Also scheduled are a special hearing of the Watergate tapes in the National Archives, a breakfast with the Texas con gressional delegation, meetings with the Republican and Demo cratic national committees, anil meetings with Judge John] Sirica and Bob Walclren, a for mer White House aide to Lyn don Johnson. Tours of the Washington Post, ABC, CBS and PBS head- quarters also are planned. Other activities will include! night at the Kennedy Center and a night at the National Theatre to see “Pirates of Penz ance,” a light opera. You can have a whole family of phones for much less than you'd expect. Just bring your family to the GTE Phone Mart, and take home a house full of extension phones. We've put them well within everyone's reach. PHone uJiSmaRT Culpepper Plaza Teens say parents OK contraception United Press International DALLAS — The director of six Dallas birth control clinics says more than half the teena gers who used family planning services report their parents knew they were sexually active. Congress has scheduled hearings Feb. 18 on rule changes proposed by the Health and Human Services depart ment. The rule changes would mandate that federally funded clinics inform parents if teena gers use their services. Dr. Stephen Heartwell, dire ctor of the Southwestern Medic al School’s family planning pro ject, said about 300 teenage pa tients at the clinics were asked how the rules would affect them. Heartwell said 55 percent of the respondents told clinic staff that their parents already knew they were sexually active. “The problem of notifying parents is a moot point for 55 ercent of the teenage girls who ave come here,” Hartwell said, “Another 9 percent told us they’d still be able to come if their parents were notified. Its the other 32 percent we re wor ried about.” And of the 32 percent who said they would not use theclira under the new rules, Heartwel said only 4 percent reponed they would abstain from sex. One out of five of the respon dents said they would use com mercially available contract^ lives, such as vaginal foam, or ask their lovers to use condoms. And another 12 percent of tht group said they would remain sexually active, but without am contraceptive protection. Reporter to talk about Enquirer Glenn Singer, who now works for the Palm Beach (Fla.) Post will speak at 7 p.m. in 105 Har rington Classroom Center. The speech is sponsored by the T exas A&M chapter of the Society of Professional Journal ists, Sigma Delta Chi. Admission is free. Singer has worked for both the National Finquirer and the New York Times. He also co vered the NASA flights for the Cocoa T oday in Florida. Singer will speak about the National Enquirer and libel suits against the publication. Aques- tion-and-answer session will fol low the speech. The public is in vited to attend. Come Join Us For Happy Hour!! qq 2 p.m.-6 p.m. Daily yUC Pitchers of Lowenbrau and Miller Lite 990 Orders of Nachos at ALFREDO’S TACOS AL CARBON 509 University Dr. NORTHGATE 846-3824 A tormer employee ol the National Enquirer will speak tonight on “How I went straight after two years at the Enquirer.” Te >Cv\iB O Prescriptions Filled Glasses Repaired 216 N. MAIN BRYAN 822-6105 Mon.-Fri. 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat. 8 a.m.-1 p.m. DIETING? Even though we do not prescribe diets, we make 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 Basement. OPEN Monday through Friday 10:45 AM-1:45 PM QUALITY FIRST