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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 29, 1986)
Tuesday, July 29, 1986/The Battalion/Page 3 .■ >— IW i.—iwi ■ , A' \ \ ‘ ,• -’.V-' o . . ^ i 'oint plan changes to deter pullouts By M.K. Pfeifer Reporter The Aggie Point Account will un- jdergo some drastic changes this fall Ito discourage students from pulling lout of the program, said Lloyd H. ISmith, assistant director' for the I Food Services Department. “We have a certain group of stu- Idents that have found that getting [on point plan and then getting off of it, is a good way to get money from I their parents,” he said. Smith said the changes made by food services and business services lare meant to make students take the point plan more seriously. Originally, students or faculty [could start an account with food services lor $150. Students paid full price for food, instead of getting the discount that is offered with the I board plans. To put additional money into the I account, the student had to add a minimum of $50, and bonus points were given for larger depbsits. In the fall, however, it will cost I $250 to start an account and additio Cyclists to hold anti-nuclear rally at Rudder Texas bicyclists will travel to the Texas A&M campus today and will hold a rally at 1 p.m. at Rudder Fountain to protest nu clear arms buildup. In addition, members of Bra zos Valley Peace Action will at tend the rally to discuss connec tions with nuclear weapons buildup at A&M and Bryan-Col- lege Station. The cyclists are participating in the “Pantex Pilgrimage” in which they ride from Houston to the Pantex Nuclear Weapons Facility north of Amarillo. Pantex is the only final assembly- point for nu clear weapons in the United States. This is the third consecutive year the pilgrimage has been made to the Pantex plant. People are traveling by car and bike along various routes to converge on Pantex for a ‘Peace Witness’ to be held on the site August 6. nal deposits must be for at least $100. The large deposit discount has been eliminated. Students must also put a deposit into the account to keep it active, otherwise the account will expire in two semesters and the money in the account w ill revert to food services. If a student drops point plan, the semester or dp aw'ay with the point plan altogether. *Smith added that the problem seems to be prevalent in the entire meal plan program. Smith said he assumes some stu dents ask for money from their par ents to get on point plan, then open an account and close it a few days “We have a certain group of students that have found that getting on point plan and then getting off of it, is a good way to get money from their parents. ” — Lloyd H. Smith, food services assistant director. money is refunded with a $50 fee deducted to pay for the charges food services incurred by having the fiscal office process the refund check. If these changes don’t work, Smith said, the administration will raise the fee to withdraw from point plan, make a provision that a student cannot withdraw until the end of the later without making a transaction. “As an example, the Fiscal De partment tracked down a girl who every semester for five years, got on board plan only to drop it without ever using it,” he said. Food services has had the same point plan account opened and closed as many as three times in one semester. Smith said. He said food services has about 8,000 active point plan accounts, but the average daily movement of cash through the accounts is only about $1.60. He explained that refunding money for meal plans is an account ing nightmare for the fiscal office and food services. The point plan has become a major accounting problem because they have a 35 per cent return rate, he said. “In one week at the beginning of the summer semester, we took in $20,000 and refunded $7,000,” Smith said. Also, he said, the red tape that the department has to go through is a bureaucratic triumph. “They have to process, we have to process . . .,” he said. “Then, we rec oncile both of our books to make sure (the student) got the check and the account was taken out of our books.” “We didn’t want (the changes),” Smith said. “It’s penalizing everyone else because they’re playing games with it.” Four killed in Beaumont house fire BEAUMONT (AP) — A woman and three children died Monday in a house fire that the victims might have survived if smoke detectors had been installed in the residence, au thorities said. Killed were June Droddy, 26, of Beaumont; her 4-year-old daughter, April, and 8-year-old son, Michael; and her niece Cheryl Keith, 14, of nearby Buma, said Justice of the Peace Harold Engstrom. The fire, which was reported just before 3 a.m., apparently started in the living room and had been smol dering for a long time, Engstrom said. The cause was not immediately determined. The mother and her two children were found huddled in the hallway of the one-story frame house, appar ently trying to escape the billowing smoke, Engstrom said. The niece, who also apparently had tried to get out of the house, was found beside her bed, he said. Fire officials said the victims might have escaped had precautions been taken. “Two mistakes they made: One, they didn’t have a smoke detector and two, they hadn’t had fire drills or had a second way out,” said Jeff McNeel, a fire department spokes man. Beaumont has had nine fire fatali ties so far this year, compared to the annual average of about four to five, the spokesman said. Northgate parking problems continue By Nancy Conces Reporter Despite signs warning against illegal parking in the parking lot at Skaggs Alpha Beta, Music Ex press and Fat Burger, people continue to park there illegally, store managers say. The lot is across the street from the Zachry Engineering Center on University Drive and is conve nient to the Texas A&M campus. Although the majority of the lot spaces are reserved for Skaggs’ patrons, the store direc tor, Oliver Bishop, declined to comment on how Skaggs handles the illegal parking problem. Music Express manager Carlos Rodriguez says the store uses a tow service to remove cars parked illegally and will warn non-pa trons verbally from parking in their reserved spaces. “It’s extremely embarrassing for a business owner or manager to have a customer come in and complain about walking in the hot sun because they had to find a parking space away from your store,” Rodriguez says. He says he works closely with Fat Burger, the restaurant next door, to regulate people who park illegally in the 12 to 14 spaces reserved for their employ ees and patrons. “I don’t tow unless I inform them (Fat Burger),” Rodriguez says. “When his spaces are filled, his customers park over here and when mine are full my customers park there.” He says the store used to spend about $30 a month on spray paint and flyers to warn people about illegal parking, but because the store has reduced the hours it’s open this summer, they can’t af ford the materials. Rodriguez says the store puts warning signs in front of the store during the beginning of semes ters because illegal parking is es pecially bad during that time. But the signs detract from the store, he says. “Right away the signs present a hostile attitude and that goes completely against the grain of the store,” Rodriguez says. “We’re really carefree and loose here and we run a clean and effe- cient business, but we don’t want to give the impression of hostility. So, when people who park ille gally say they didn’t see the signs we try to be nice about it.” He says illegal parking is a problem in the summer from about 8 a.m. until 1 p.m., but dur ing the regular school year illegal parking is an all-day occurrence. “There’s people we see park here three days in a row,” Rodri guez says. “We have to tow these people because they’re getting into a habit we can’t afford. I feel bad about towing, but some days I just have to, because literally, I don’t have any room to park.” Fat Burger manager Moe Ab del Moaty says about 80 percent of the cars parked in front of the restaurant aren’t customer cars. “We used to come to the res taurant at about 6 a.m. to tell the construction workers not to park here,” Moaty says. He says he thinks it’s better to warn people instead of towing their cars because many of the construction workers and stu dents may be regular lunchtime customers. Moaty says that although the restaurant put up illegal parking signs about a month ago, the ille gal parking problem continues to be serious because there is no real control of the area. LTV renews health care: strike continues EAST CHICAGO, Ind. (AP) — LEV Corp. announced Monday night it had arranged retiree-paid group medical insurance coverage for its pensioners, but a steelworkers union official, anticipating the move, dismissed it as company officials’ at tempt “to ease their conscience.” Jack Parton, director of District 31 of the United Steelworkers of Amer ica, predicted earlier Monday that the strike that has idled an LTV plant for four days may spread if the corporation fails to restore its insur ance benefits to retirees. “I don’t think we’re talking weeks or months,” he said. LTV, which filed for protection from its creditors under Chapter 11 of the federal bankruptcy code, also operates major steel facilities in Cleveland and Hennepin, Ill. No work stoppages have been reported at either plant. LTV, in an announcement read by spokeswoman Jolice Pojeta, said Monday night it had made arrange ments with Metropolitan Life Insur ance Co. and John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Co. to offer retiree- paid group medical insurance cover age to the retirees. The coverage will provide alterna tives to the company-paid medical coverage, which LTV is prohibited from continuing after filing July 17 in bankruptcy court. The coverage provides benefits retroactive to July 17 for all retirees, surviving spouses and their depend ants covered under prior plans,. LTV said. Monthly costs for each covered retiree will be $39 for indi viduals eligible for Medicare and $132 for others, it added. Parton anticipated the announce ment and said before it was released that LTV officials “are trying to ease their conscience.” “They (retirees) don’t need LTV to arrange that,” Parton said. “If they had money, they’d go out and get it themselves.” Parton’s prediction that the strike would spread challenged a warning issued by LTV when the members of Local 1011 began refusing to cross demonstration lines set up by re tirees at the Indiana Harbor Works. “I've got a terrible secret. If they only knew what I go through to stay thin.” When the extreme fear of being overweight becomes obsessive, it leads to unusual and harmful eating practices. Anorexia and Bulimia are eating dis orders which are becoming more prevalent Anorexia, the excessive pursuit of thinness, can result in mal nutrition, low blood pressure, loss of hair, irrational thinking and even death Bulimia, compulsive eating binges followed by the purging of food, can lead to severe dental problems, kidney failure or cardiac arrest Warning Signals may vary, but often include: □ The secret fear of becoming fat □ Feeling out of control around food □ Binging on huge quantities of food and then purging, by vomiting, laxatives, or diuretics □ Feeling irritable, depressed and self-conscious □ Extreme dieting and exercise Greenleaf’s Eating Disorders Program can help you regain control of your life. Our specialized treatment team understands your pain and despair. Living with your secret could be killing you. Call us now and ask for a counselor with the Eating Disorders Program. (409)822-7326 405 West 28th Street. 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