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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (June 4, 1986)
Wednesday, June 4, 1986/The Battalion/Page 5 >td A/aldo by Kevin Thomas I CAN'T TN/NK op [he factor M 'DfA Fo« THF nersandi BartooN voOAYf 1 to pui k. Who's Dishes ik| >okingfo: iner ao APD2 ce" sou iits "He he's breitf i get the eet KfVW THOMAS’ famous CARTOON/ sT AND 4«AVf Roese* Consumer group seeks morticians board probe l come;.' ; are pe; in cordli Taylor >ut 40 i g is fm it range start of the it tacked: eonedi' nobod' rnerfori Shoe by Jeff MacNelly ^ or Funky Winkerbean by Tom Batiuk mb ^ 1 FWSICS - PWSICS DEALS 0JITM CONCEPTS OF MECHANICS , HEAT AND USHT, ELECTRICITV , AND MAGNETISM /THESE KINDS - Russeii'l OF THINGS OULU DRIVE VOO CRAZA> IF <VOO THINK ABOUT ; Dailv Tl THEM TOO MUCH / ed oncfiij LET'S FACE IT... IF AOU'RE CONTENT TO GAZE UP AT e bomb 4 THE NIGHT SKP , SECURE IN THE KNOWLEDGE THAT VOL) ic part'I (DON'T FALL OFF THE EARTH AND THAT NONE OF THE Utorn.f' ? 1 r i j STARS ABOVE WILL LAND ON OOOR HEAD,THEN HOW MUCH STUDENT / MORE DO 000 REA LLP NEED TO KNOW *?- ifU '• HANDBOOK H ended k j ist Scoff l IcT - | _ £3 N»wi America Syndicate C New* Group Chicago, Inc., 1985 AUSTIN (AP) — The Consumers Union called Tuesday for an investi gation of the State Board of Morti cians, which regulates the sale of fu neral and burial services in Texas. Carol Barger, Southwest regional director of the consumers organiza tion, told a news conference, “It is obvious the board won’t clean up its own act. It is time for the Legislature to act to reform the board. Reform ing the funeral law has not been enough.” A board spokesman said the agency welcomes an investigation and board members would cooper ate in any way they could. Barger said the request for an in vestigation was sent to Rep. Brad Wright, R-Houston, chairman of the House Public Health Committee. “He seemed very interested,” Bar ger said of her conversation with Wright. Board Chairman James Brous sard said, “We will cooperate in any way we can. We think we earnestly try to do our job. We do not oppose an investigation. We don’t feel we have anything to.hide.” Barger’s request was backed up by Grady Baskin Jr., a Tyler insurance executive who was a public member of the board for six years. In 1984, Baskin made a personal survey of 24 Texas funeral homes and said he found only one in full compliance with the law. Barger said her call for an investi gation was sparked in part by a re cent report by Cable News Network, which used hidden television cam eras in visiting Texas funeral homes. “The entire CNN report and other evidence demonstrates misre presentations and high pressure sales tactics to bereaved families and other abuses of the law are all too common in Texas,” Barger said. “Also, all too rare is any enforce ment of the rules, or discipline to vi olators by the State Board of Morti cians,” she said. Barger said the CNN report shows “the funeral industry’s contin uing blatant disregard for the law.” She said the report shows funeral home employees misrepresenting the preservative qualities of embalm ing, misrepresenting the protective capabilities of caskets and liners and failing to provide customers with a price list. Barger said a legislative investiga tion “may find it necessary to change the composition of the board, re move some members from the board, or put regulation of the fune ral industry under some other body, such as the Department of Health.” In 1979, the Sunset Advisory Commission recommended abolish ing the board and giving the duties to some other state agency. The Legislature did not phase out the board but did change its makeup from six funeral directors and three public members to five funeral di rectors and four public members. Barger said the Consumers Union made a survey of Texas funeral homes in 1985 and found that 58.3 percent were still not in compliance with the law. “We have had about 70 com plaints since Dec. 1,” Broussard said. “I venture that 30 or 40 of those have no validity or should have been directed to another state agency. Under the statute we are doing the best we can.” Traffic murder gets 30 years for Austin man AUSTIN (AP) — Manuel Espi noza, 22, who prosecutors say shot a man in the face because he was driving too slowly, has pleaded guilty to murder in ex change for a 30-year prison sen tence. Espinoza was charged in the Feb. 17 slaying of 44-year-old Louis Garcia Jr. Garcia was driving a friend home when a car pulled along side them on a city street, said Brian Case, an assistant Travis County district attorney. The second car’s occupants yelled obscenities at Garcia, then drove up the street, stopped and backed up to Garcia’s car, which had stopped to allow the passen ger out at his house. A man in the back seat pulled a shotgun from his coat and fired point-blank at Garcia’s head be fore the car sped away, Case said. Garcia died shortly after. Mexican president gets whirlwind tour of state of Sonora .idem nr $it\ of k hoax [died cif- l r him." ■JlERMOSILLO, Mexico (AP) — restedb)Erlm steaming coast to desert, from >s May B:tronics plant to sparkling new outsb bakery, a presidential tour goes received through the border state of Sonora dressed41 a drill sergeant’s pace. le straff M'he trip Sunday and Monday by estaurar; President Miguel de la Madrid was one of dozens he makes each year, 11(1 ' f pan of a Mexican political tradition 1 dating back decades. Tl CJ<»"||! [ ie “giras,” the Spanish word for tours, are intended to take the presi- fake bo* new he »> bhbhhhhhhiiiihhhiihhh as intend dent to all of Mexico’s 31 states each year. It is part political campaigning, part inspection of public projects and other major — and not a few mi nor— enterprises around Mexico. “Is there anything left to inaugu rate?” a reporter wryly asked de la Madrid after two days of hopping up on boats, touring plants and un veiling plaques in a non-stop proc ession through Sonora. “Not for the moment,” the presi dent responded with a robust laugh. Officially, the tours are a way for the president to carry the symbol of government and keep in touch with every point of this nation of nearly 80 million people marked by vast re gional differences. They also get the president out of his office in the Los Pinos complex of Mexico City and into the seats of provincial power as well as the back roads and byways of the nation. Sonora, Mexico’s second-largest state, haS a strong tradition of re gional independence and resent ment of the concentration of power in Mexico City. Some here say there generally is little enthusiasm for vis its by any Mexican president. Ceruunly little was evident among the citizenry as de la Madrid whizzed through the state by bus and plane on this trip. The plaza in front of the Palace of Government in this state capital was fairly full with a quiet group Sunday night for what was billed as the pres ident’s “greeting to the people of Hermosillo.” Occasionally small crowds gath ered to watch the motorcade breeze by. One of the few moments of genu ine excitement visible was when an elderly woman watched from a porch in the Gulf of California port of Guaymas. She waved both her arms high in the air in greeting, with a huge grin on her face. The tour staiirted Sunday in Guay mas, where the annual Navy Day cel ebration was held. De la Madrid and his delegation sailed out into the Bay of Guaymas to observe naval ceremonies and ma neuvers that included a simulated cleanup of an oil spill. Then the tour headed to Nacozari for the inauguration of a $332.7 mil lion copper smelter and ground breaking for an accompanying acid plant. • jtatufd ;ritwa!i, : :)int btini' for funs' :an be ^ : of the mind shtf anies. jrislature p to the ourts," e contrib tstry. th plain® do not I#] rtial.” riouw® jr a vote ■ ;e, anti I id prope* ittentioi' is for the' ieat ;ials diM CALL-AMERICA Do you know an Ivory Girl? Call Texas For 12 cents! Announcing the Call Texas program from Call America. Now call anywhere in Texas nights and weekends for only $7.20 per hour (120 a minute). With no minimums and no additional fees. It’s the best long distance at the best price in Texas. Compare Call Texas to AT&T’s “Reach Out Texas” plan. AT&T costs almost twice as much ($14 per hour). AT&T charges a minimum one hour of calls no matter how few you make. AT&T charges $6 extra to start your service. 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