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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 27, 1983)
iimself as thecoi irter as the beft unded by spea laches, the Dei ivonder whetlid iinination-electi) irty activists sti i“ Walter Mondi pe for the nomiit om polls of thei ceived modenit be the most el« mg asked is™ ■ Glenn can »ij lation or w d as a down-i c or Cranstond A&M System to get new insurance plan Round and round she goes photo by Charles Dugan ratio leader d his concernsiii h last week, dll Lucie Prann, a Branford, Conn. senior marketing major from ,, goes for a spin on the merry-go-round Creek Park. in College Station’s Bee by Yvonne Cuzick Battalion Reporter A new hospitalization and medical insurance program that will result in more take-home pay for many Texas A&M Uni versity System employees will go into effect September 1. Effective September 1, the State of Texas will increase its $58 contribution toward the cost of an employee’s insurance program to $70. John Honea, director of in surance and risk management at Texas A&M, says this increase, combined with the favorable premium rates in the new' medical insurance program, should result in more take-home pay for many system employees. The new medical insurance program offers two plans that include features aimed at con tainment of the rapidly rising cost of health care. Premium rates for each plan take into consideration six new cost containment features: re quired second opinions on elec tive surgery, pre-admission test ing performed on an out-patient basis, incentives for use of ambulatory surgical centers, penalties for unnecessary Friday or Saturday hospital admissions, extended care facilities/home health care and hospice care. Both plans cover customary charges in the event of treat ment for illness, injury or pre gnancy and also cover catas trophic accidents or illnesses, as well as more routine services. The primary group insur ance package includes $5,000 of required life insurance and $5,000 of accidental death and dismemberment insurance for each employee. Under the new program, Plan I covers 100 percent of the eligible expenses for bed-patient hospitalization with a $50 de ductible per admission. The de ductible is waived for readmis sion within 30 days for the same disorder. Eighty percent of other medical expenses, such as surgeon’s fees, doctor’s visits and physical therapy sessions, are paid after a $200 calendar year deductible. Plan II is a “Major Medical” plan. Eighty percent of all eligi ble health care expenses, both in and out of the hospital, are paid after a $400 calendar year de ductible. Rates for Plan I are: em ployee only — $66.54; employee and one dependent — $135.23; employee and two or more de pendents — $176.98; and em ployee and one dependent co vered under Medicare — $112.86. Rates for Plan II are: em ployee only — $53.01; employee and one dependent — $108.16; employee and two or more de pendents — $141.48; and em ployee and one dependent co vered under Medicare — $94.91. Meetings to explain the new insurance program and answer questions will be held at 9 a.m. Aug. 2 and 3 in 109 Academic and Agency. erit pay alternative seen DID YOU KNOW? by Yvonne Cuzick Battalion Reporter l|Vhile legislators have prop- )sed action such as teacher merit es to raise the quality of edu- ty well lock are reached aid, is that tht are often sol in be madethai tie piece is tal»Lj oni a f ew x exas a&M educa- unravel. ion professors see differenti- he said, is thaiited staffing as a more effective i considerableepternative. t the philosopiB’fhe difference in the two :h a particulari}PP roaches is this: r o >> Bunder a merit raise plan, all ^ |j fathers are assumed to have the , ... f ame duties and responsibilities :r in a shiftfw® are se i ectec l f or raises incept oi oBhrdjng to how' well they per- the comniiijorm them. approach to»BUnder the differentiated raffing plan, however, teachers ennis, D-Miss iregrouped according to educa- finds much ' ona ^ training and areas of ex- tissions, notinffe with different pay scales r r .L 0 i°r difierent levels ol work. ( . , ■Each teacher would progress of the presided one leyel lo ano / her 6 for Biniple, from apprentice to Bfessional teacher to senior "■'bather and so on, Dr. Dean igan, the dean of the Col- im e of Education, said. “It would be very much like a Udllifliversity structure,” he said. |The differentiated staffing would allow teachers to ove into areas they enjoy the lost, which would provide in- entives for teachers currently the schools and for recent mtrak delays Han holding ursestrings education graduates to make (differentiated staffing) pretty teaching their career, Corrigan well,” he said, said. Erlandson said merit raises Corrigan said an important would create pressure in the reason why people leave the school because it often would be teaching field is not just because hard for principals to decide of low salaries but also because who to give the merit raises to if, of the amount of stress teaching for instance, there are too many involves. teachers the principals feel de- In an article in the Bryan- serve the raises. College Station Eagle, Corrigan Merit raises also can cause a wrote, “The bottom line is that morale problem for the teachers for many teachers today the re- who do not receive the raise, wards are few, morale is low and Erlandson said. Differentiated a large number of the best staffing, however, would give teachers are bailing out.” teachers much more control Differentiated staffing could over their own future by giving help keep quality teachers in the them the opportunity to special- field because each teacher ize in one area or move on to would be doing what he or she another area, Erlandson said, wants to do, Corrigan said. School programs closely re- Dr. David Erlandson, associ- lated to the concept of differen- ate professor of educational dated staffing are in effect in administration, agreed that dif- South Carolina’s Charlotte- ferentiated staffing is a good Mechlenburg School District answer to the question of how to and in Tennessee, but Texas has keep quality teachers in the not yet adopted any similar teaching field. plans. “I think principals and admi- Corrigan said, however, that a nistrators could live with that committee has been formed to research ways to improve the quality of education in Texas. Corrigan is a member of that group, the Select Committee on Public Education, which recent ly met with Governor Mark White, Lt. Governor Bill Hobby and Speaker Gib Lewis to dis cuss future plans for the com mittee. “The meeting mainly pro vided an information base,” Corrigan said. In August, the members plan to visit 10 to 20 Texas school districts to gather more infor mation on the state of education which should aid in making re commendations on needed im provements in the school sys tems. \ THEY AIN’T MAKIN’ NO MORE LAND? WHY WAIT? IF YOU ARE A VETERAN. . . YOU MAY BE ELIGIBLE TO PURCHASE A PIECE OF CHOICE LAND. VETERAN ADVANTAGES: 1. YOU GET CASH PRICE BECAUSE THE STATE OF TEXAS BUYS IT FOR YOU. 2. YOU PAY ONLY $1200 DOWN (INCLUDING CLOSING COSTS). 3. YOUR FINANCING IS AT 8V 2 %, 40 YEARS, SEMI-ANNUAL. WE PROCESS ALL YOUR PAPERWORK PROMPTLY AND ACCURATELY. THE VETERAN TRACTS ARE AVAILABLE NOW.. . OPEN OR WOODED. CALL ANYTIME FOR THE LOCATION COUNTRY LAND COMPANY (713) 468-8501 - you the i to the sect irst, I press it; and /10» is lever to left hand, and rotate FAMILY MEDICAL CARE in Downtown Bryan Less waiting • Less expensive THE Doctors office Tues.-FrL, 8 to 8 / Sat. & Sun. 10 to 3 / Closed Mon. 105 W. 26th, Downtown Bryan 775-7492 United Press International Washington — Rep. iwrence Coughlin, a key mem- r|of the House panel that fl ees Amtrak, nearly missed a iduled meeting with national p transit officials because his was late. An aide said the Amtrak train ;hlin was riding from tashington ran into power lems and arrived in Phi- phia more than an hour and the congressman was “a | annoyed.” MSC Summer Dinner Theatre presents FREE “Stress Management Seminar” SAT., JULY 30, 3-5 P.M. How to recognize and reduce stress in your life Techniques in Self Relaxation Free Movies BOSS BIRD TAKES AVOW. swear that you, ah say you, will be drafted inj -etball Assocti ed from then statistic shout ?nt to the V image prob lanned to $ a ugh France, -n — all sociJ' 5ut now Frd jossibly fearif I inceled his in 1 ssult, the Cu his trip in 1 :an way? Acc ( 'ensbackOpi" s today are i spending t also believe; rtant than of- Plump, flavorful chicken cooked up light ’n crispy in the natural goodness of pure vegetable oil. Fresh rolls baked from scratch (we were the first). Lots of real country honey—not those piddly little packets of artificial stuff. Honest-to-gosh brewed tea, iced to a refreshing chill. Plus extras like cole slaw, potato salad, big french fries, andjalapeho peppers. That’s the terrific kind of meal you’ll find at Tinsley’s Chicken ’n Rolls. Ask any body if it isn’t so. Ask Boss Bird. AU G 3-6 MSC SOI Purchase tickets at least 24 hours in advance at MSC Box Office. NIG HTS MEALS STUDENTS NON- STUDENTS We d ne sd a v R e f r e s h ni e n t s $2.5 0 $3.50 Thu r s da y B-B - Q Din ne r $6.50 S 7.50 Friday Chic Ife H Dinner $7. 50 $8.50 Saturday Buffet Dinner $9 50 $ 10.50