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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 19, 1985)
Thursday, September 19, 1985/The Battalion/Page 15 illlQf from Jo- church’s i, serving ns. :lich, said > releast it harder, e’reeoing te all the ntustratot ty Hospi- ie walked k. A resi- i Calif., he it the pre- reportet anything uation , 'ii e is a sym- , was act- t the uni :edjune8 : been at- Pdmpss utherland ride from Plimpton, day fron rrival. Su- om Colo- and had tans) have hanceller use! said, elligenct Protection the Inte- rr permis- illance, he rities an- ; Willnen they had Friedrich which it lemocratit he Chris- ar’s coali- rosecutor, East Ger- adore 161- the chan- rFDlC 5 • by Kevin Thomas SO, THAT'S GO/MG OFJ, TOOTS? BOY, WHAT JT J A NEATWAT i TO MEET \ CHICKS' l h L ) Sim ft M ) v/vHn lidfe JV Insurance groups worrying that AIDS will raise payouts Associated Press Insurance companies are keeping a wary eye on costs from AIDS, wor rying that health and life insurance payouts could skyrocket as the dis ease spreads. Some say they may have to begin screening applicants by using a blood test that reveals ex posure to the AIDS virus. Wisconsin and California, how ever, have barred the use of test findings for insurance purposes and New York state’s Insurance Depart ment won’t let insurers ask about blood test results on application forms. The possibility of insurers using the test has raised fears of discrimi nation among high-risk groups, principally homosexual men. They note that the test, used by blood do nor centers, detects exposure to the AIDS virus and that only 5 percent to 20 percent of those who test posi tive will actually develop acquired immune deficiency syndrome. The insurance industry contends the blood tests can be a valid tool in underwriting individual health and life insurance policies. But group policies would not be affected since they are not based on individual medical reports, industry spokesmen say. The Wisconsin law has been at tacked by Milwaukee-based North western Mutual Life Insurance Co., which threatened this week to begin excluding coverage of AIDS from policies in its home state. George Hardy, legislative counsel for Northwestern Life, said, “In the case of all other diseases, we’re per mitted to get all the facts, but this legislation prohibits us from requir ing a test to determine if they have the AIDS virus. We think we can show that it’s a reliable test for insur ance underwriting purposes.” He has drafted legislation, now pending, which would allow insur ance companies to see the AIDS test results. Insurance companies say such Gamma radiation detector will hover above East Texas Associated Press LOS ANGELES — A huge, he lium-filled balloon soon will be launched into Earth’s upper atmo sphere carrying a device designed to help scientists understand how dy ing stars emit radiation. Researchers from the University of California at Riverside hope the balloon, measuring 400 to 500 feet across, will hover tor two days at an altitude of about 25 miles above East Texas, allowing the device to detect incoming gamma ray radiation from neutron stars and pulsars. The date of the sunset balloon launch depends on weather and wind conditions. It could occur as early as next week at the National Scientific Balloon Facility in Pales tine, Texas, UC Riversiae physicist Allen D. Zych said. Neutron stars are believed to be dying stars that run out of nuclear fuel and are compressed by gravita tional forces until they measure only several miles in diameter. Pulsars are rapidly rotating neu tron stars that emit pulses of various types of radiation, including visible hghc, radio waves and gamma rays. Unlike normal stars, dying stars emit gamma radiation, but “the mechanism for producing gamma rays in pulsars and neutron stars is unknown,” Zych said. “By looking in careful detail at the radiation com ing from these stars, we can better try to understand the physics of what's going on in these objects.” The $250,000 gamma radiation detector will be carried above 99.7 percent of Earth’s atmosphere by the $60,000 balloon, which will be filled with about $10,000 worth of helium, Zych said Tuesday. After the planned 48-hour flight, ground controllers will transmit a ra dio signal that will cause a cord to rip the balloon apart. The 1,800-pound radiation detector is supposed to parachute to the ground somewhere in East Texas. Zych said the radiation detector, which will be reused if successfully recovered, is one of only two of its type in the world. He said scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Ex traterrestrial Physics in West Ger many plan to place the other, similar device into space on a satellite to be launched from a U.S. space shuttle in 1988. By rising to the edge of the earth’s atmosphere, the balloon will let Zych’s radiation detector determine the location of gamma ray sources in space and the intensity of the radia tion they produce. Earth’s atmo sphere prevents most gamma rays from reaching the ground. One of the stars it will study is the Crab pulsar, which is about five miles in diameter and emits radio waves and light 30 times each sec ond. The device also will search the northern sky for other, yet-undisco- vered sources of gamma rays. “It is a radiation detector, but it does serve as a telescope in that we can locate the sources of (gamma ray) emission in the sky and there fore make a crude star map of the sky,” Zych said. Alleged members of crime gang held without bond after FBI arrest Associated Press HOUSTON — Two alleged Houston members of a Taiwan-based crime gang were being held without bond Wednesday after their arrest by the FBI earlier this week. Chen “Yellowbird” Chih-Yi, 34, and Tien Yun “Peter” Yang, 36, were ordered detained by U.S. Mag istrate George Kelt Wednesday. The two men are charged in New York with conducting and conspiring to conduct a racketeering enterprise. FBI officials arrested the two men Monday in a roundup of United Bamboo members in three states. Kelt said the two men would be detained until their trial in New York, where the racketeering charges were filed. David S. Edward, an FBI special agent, testified Wednesday that United Bamboo is a Taiwan-based crime gang involved in contract murder, large-scale drug distribution, kidnapping, extortion and gambling. Officials say Chih-Yi is the U.S. leader of the gang. Chih-Yi has lived in Houston for 12 years and has operated two businesses. Best Produce and a restaurant called Shangri-La, FBI agents said. Much of the illegal activity of United Bamboo has taken place in New York and California, officials said. Federal officials have tape-recorded conversations with Chih-Yi and two other key United Bamboo leaders who “admitted their participation in the homicide of Henry Liu,” the complaint says. Liu, a crusading anti-Taiwan journalist, was killed in the garage of his Daly City, Calif., home on Oct. 15, 1984. Two members of United Bamboo were convicted in the killing in April and sentenced to life imprison ment. Another member allegedly involved in the killing is still at large. The federal complaint, filed in New York, says Chih- Yi and at least three other United Bamboo members met in September and October 1984 to plot Liu’s mur der. “They agreed and planned that he should be shot to death and took steps to accomplish this aim,” court pa pers say. Special agent Edward said Chih-Yi told undercover agents that he “was aware of how it would happen and when it would barmen.” ROBINSON AVIATION INSTRUCTION • RENTALS PILOT SERVICES 10 hours free instructor time with enrollment Easterwood Airport 846-1700 INTERURBAIV loin us Thursday nights for FROZEN STRAWBERRY MARCARITAS! Only $1.50 from 9:00 pm until Hosing The INTERURBAN 505 University Dr. "an aggie traditien" practices are standard with any se rious illness; higher premiums or an outright refusal of insurance can go along with a history of any serious illness such as cancer, heart disease or diabetes. “In general terms, company prac tices are not different than before,” said Rob Bier, a spokesman for the American Council of Life Insurance and the Health Insurance Associa tion. The 630-member council, which represents 95 percent of the nation’s life insurers, recently adopted a pol icy that insurers would not seek to obtain or use the results of blood tests from blood donation centers because to do so might discourage donors. However, Bier said, insurers “do seek to reserve the privilege of ad ministering medical tests, including the tests for antibodies for the AIDS virus .. . Otherwise, he said, costs could get out of line and premiums would soar. ii Problem Pregnancy? we listen, we care, we help Free pregnancy tests concerned counselors Brazos Valley Crisis Pregnancy Service We re local! 1301 Memorial Dr. 24 hr. Hotline 823-CARE The Battalion SPREADING THE NEWS Classified 845-2611 OFFICIAL NOTICE TO TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY STUDENTS In the f>ast, certain information has been made public by Texas A&M University as a service to students, families, and other interested individuals. Under the "Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974", the following directory information may be made public unless the student desires to withold any or all of this information. Student's name, address (local and permanent), telephone listing, date and place of birth, sex, nationality, race, major, classification, dates of attendance, class schedule, degrees awarded, awards or honors, class standing, previous institution or educational agency attended by the student, parent's name and address, sports participation, weight and height of athletic team members, parking permit information, and photograph. Any student wishing to withhold any or all of this information should fill out, in person, the appropriate form, available to all students at the Registrar's Office, no later than 5 p.m. Friday, September 20, 1985. R. A. 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