Tuesday, August 5, 1986AThe Battalion/Page 3 Old problem needs new attention Homocide of blacks an ‘epidemic’ ■ HOUSTON (AP) — The high hpmicide rate among blacks is not a ntw problem, but one that has been gding on for years and deserves more attention, the former presi dent of the National Medical Asso- Ktion says. ■ Edith Jones, a physician practic ing in Houston’s inner-city neigh borhoods since 1953, says the homi- dde rate among blacks in Houston is rlilective of the national problem. ■ “It’s an epidemic,” she said. ‘‘It is a disaster and one that much attention slould be given.” I Records show homicide is the leading cause of death for black males ages 15 to 44, Jones said. A federal report showed that since 1981, 40 percent of Houston’s homicide victims were black, even though the black community makes up only 18 percent of the city’s pop ulation. Whites, who make up 73 percent of the population, com prised 26 percent of the city’s homi cide cases. Homicide Figures from the Hous ton Police Department show that about 45 percent of the perpetrators of those homicides were black. The Figures also indicate that the victim and the perpetrator knew each other in at least 60 percent of the cases. “The reason homicides are more frequent (among blacks) is because of the environment they are exposed to,” Jones said. “Any explanation I’ve heard doesn’t justify it. But it is a problem — a societal problem —and must be dealt with from all sides.” At a recent NMA conference doctors suggested that each physi cian spend more time routinely screening black patients for violent or homicidal feelings and help pa tients who are inclined toward vio lence. Dr. Paris Bradsford, who at tended the conference, said the sug gestion is a practical one. “Physicians need to understand what is going on behind the patient’s eyes,” Bradsford said. “There cer tainly are socioeconomic factors that should be looked at beyond checking a man’s high blood pressure and giv ing him a bottle of pills.” Jones sees other problems in so ciety that need to be resolved. “Blacks are still the invisible ones,” she said. “The last hired and the first fired.They fight only with the weap ons they know how to Fight with. wChat with governor leaves teacher ’ 14 1 I AUSTIN (AP) — A chance meet ing Monday gave teacher James C. Robertson what many of his col- Bagues would like — a chance to tell ;{)ov. Mark White what he thinks of teacher competency test. B It may have won White a vote. I “He has changed my mind. I will now consider voting for him, whereas I would not have until I met him personally,” said Robertson, an 11th grade English teacher at Clear Lake High School in League City. Robertson, who is entering his 33rd year of teaching, was touring the Capitol when he unexpectedly bumped into White as the governor was leaving his second-floor of f ice. ' The chief topic of conversation was the Texas Examination of Cur rent Administrators and Teachers, the mandatory competency test re quired under school reform legis lation White pushed through the Legislature in 1984. White’s Republican opponent, former Gov. Bill Clements, says he opposes the test as given. Clements has said teachers with 10 to 15 years experience should not have been re quired to take such an exam. Robertson told White the test was very unpopular among veteran tea- happier chers. White pledged that they won’t face another exam. “If I can go back and tell our fac ulty that you said there will never be another test during your administra tion, I think you’ll get overwhelming applause from the faculty,” Rob ertson said. “You can tell them that,” White assured him. New bill could resolve 2-year museum battle DALLAS (AP) — A congress man’s bill that would permit the Mu seum of the American Indian to move onto federally owned property in New York is the latest chapter in a two-year battle over its location. Rep. Morris Udall, D-Ariz., filed the bill last week as an alternative to computer magnate H. Ross Perot’s offering a new building in Dallas for the collection of Indian artifacts. If passed, the bill would allow the museum exhibits, which are now at a site on Manhattan’s upper west side, to be relocated at refurbished Cus toms House in lower Manhattan. But settling the matter may be months away. “It’s awfully hard to estimate,” the museum’s director, Roland Force, said. “Every time I think I know how much longer it will take, I’m im pressed with how wrong I was.” A New York Supreme Court judge has ruled that the financially strapped museum is not forever bound to a location inside New York state by a 1916 deed of trust filed by its founder. But the judge still must conduct a hearing on other aspects of the pro posed move and issue a final ruling. Force said. Meanwhile, Udall’s bill has been referred to a House Governmental Operations subcommittee, chaired by Rep. Jack Brooks, D-Beaumont. “It’s not clear what our timetable is,” said Bob Walker, legislative di rector for Udall. “We’ll just have to wait and see.” If the bill runs into problems, it may come from Texas representa tives who support Perot’s $70 million Dallas plan, Force said. “I recognize there may be some opposition from Texas members who may like to see the museum go to Texas,” Walker said. “But we haven’t heard any words of personal opposition from the chairman yet. I would hesitate to say we perceive any problems at this point.” Force and his staff continued work on technical innovations that will be introduced to the expanded exhibits when, and if, the museum makes its move. The master plan that now sits on Force’s desk calls for expansion of the current 15,000-square-foot Mu seum of the American Indian to about 100,000 square feet. That means the bulk of the arti facts collected by the museum finally will be pulled from storage. Currently, the museum has room to show off only about 1 percent of the 1 million objects it owns. Thousands of baskets, jewelry, weapons, masks, carvings and pot tery assembled over the years are boxed in a research building 12 miles from the muesum. ctical m not ups! do it oil ceiling n the 1 o vote (si ling it; 1 irb spe»f| >, nonil ower k| ch used;| (et bad I kes up l notatj ise speni the last:| 1.4'3 pel spent dtfl ■ of a tec] tat woiill on how'il .. Strangil it Read these: | idicate I Tarrant County drops emergency aid for illegal aliens ■ FORT WORTH (AP) — Undocu mented aliens in Tarrant County no longer will receive emergency food, rent and utility assistance, county commissioners decided Monday. I The commissioners’ action came a week after Assistant District Attor- nevjoe Lockhart issued a legal opin ion that the county has the right to exclude such aliens from emergency benefits. County Judge Mike Moncrief asked Lockhart to work with Hamil ton’s office on a policy that would satisfy the commissioners’ wishes and the requirements of the law. During Monday’s session, Hamil ton denied claims by caseworkers in her department that she changed the department’s longtime policy of not issuing aid to undocumented aliens. The caseworkers, all of whom re quested anonymity because they feared reprisals, said Hamilton changed office procedures in late 1985 to eliminate any restriction against undocumented aliens. “That’s the way I was trained,” one caseworker sdid. “It was an unw ritten policy that if people were in the country illegally, we would refer them to other sources (of assis tance).” Hamilton told caseworkers several times they must stop asking ques tions about an applicant’s citizenship during interviews for county bene fits, the employees said. The county’s Human Services De partment issues vouchers to help poor people with bills for food, rent and utilities. The department has a budget of almost $1.2 million. If an applicant who was an undo cumented worker was genuinely hungry, caseworkers would issue food vouchers, the caseworker said. ard tor 'ditor tor ling us/U-Mjw • ihose d lit rtlprs, «*“! lewspaydn raphy di# 1 rough Frida | tcepiforli"' aiplious > rape the girl when her aunt walked in the room and screamed, Ortega said. After hearing the scream, the girl’s mother grabbed a pistol she kept in her home and chased af ter the youth, who had bolted from the home. In an interview with the Dallas Times Herald, the woman said after she found Phifer a few blocks away from her home, she confronted and shot him. Phifer ran away from the scene and col lapsed in the yard of his mother’s home. MSC 4r PRESENT 2500 Texas Ave. S./College Station 693-5113 THE PRMP ALKjUSf 6-9 ttR iwm itiftmvrioN vu- e»ts-i^4-