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.
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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.
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