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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 7, 1986)
of money :j| me thedt in becameM trted selliiijB Little League crash kills 1, injures 9 PUTNAM (AP) — A Pecos man was killed and nine youths injured, one possibly seriously, Wednesday when their vehicle overturned on the way home from a state Little League baseball tournament in Waco. The accident occurred about 1:30 p.m. just west of Putnam, 35 miles east of Abilene. The victim, Chano O. Prieto, 41, was driving through a well-marked construction zone on the westbound lanes of Interstate 20 when the vehi cle drifted off the road, Department of Public Safety Trooper Bill Russell said. Prieto apparently lost control of the vehicle when he tried to jerk it back onto the highway, Russell said. The most seriously injured pas senger appeared to be Chano Prieta Jr., 16, the victim’s son, who was re ported to be in undetermined condi tion in Hendrick Medical Center in Abilene. The other injured boys were 11- and 12-year-olds. SPCA warns againsthaste Pets bought on impulse By M.K. Pfeifer Reporter Impulsive buying is the most com mon reason people get pets that they can’t properly care for, said Angela McCoy, vice president of the Brazos Valley Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Between 8,000 and 10,000 pets are turned in to the Brazos Valley Animal Shelter each year. McCoy said many people, not just students, buy pets on the basis of “isn’t it cute and cuddly.” “That’s when someone should step in and say, ‘Wait! Get a stuffed animal instead,’ ” she said. McCoy worked for the local Hu mane Society when it was in exis- tance five years ago and said she she noticed a great influx of animals at the end of the semester. She said the summer is a double problem not only because the semes ter ends, but because all the animals are going through a breeding cycle. Charles Huneycutt, College Sta tion animal control officer, said he attributes the increase of abandoned animals at the end of semester to the large number of college students that live in College Station and go home for the summer or graduate. Huneycutt, who has been a dog- catcher for 10 years in Brazos Val ley, said he feels that people do not abandon their animals maliciously, but thinking the animals will easily find a new home. McCoy agreed. “People have good intentions when they get a pet,” she said. “It’s just then they discover that having a pet is a big financial respon- siblity, including shots, boosters and neutering.” Kathy Ricker, executive director of the Brazos Valley Animal Shelter which takes in animals from seven different counties, said the shelter asks people who want pets to fill out an application. “All applicants fill out a form that gives us a full background of where they live, the history of their pre vious pets and the kind of animal they are looking for,” she said. A 24-hour waiting period lets the staff review the application and lets the applicant consider the responsi bilities of a pet. Ricker said she hopes this will pre vent impulse buying. The shelter also gives gift certificates so a person can come in and pick out a pet, which prevents the shelter from giv ing away an animal someone might not want. Ricker said when the shelter first opened they asked people why they were surrendering their pets. “We got any reason from they couldn’t afford the pet deposit at their new apartment to the cat didn’t match the new furniture,” she said. Thursday, August^, 1986/The Battalion/Page 3 "What’s . Thursday COLLEGE OF SCIENCE: Any junior and senior in the de partment of biology, chemistry, mathematics or physics who entered his current major prior to catalog 107 and who has not previously taken the English Proficiency Ex amination should plan to do so this semester. The exam will be administered by the English department today. Please contact Mrs. Marilyn Radke in 152 Blocker for de tails. Advance registration is required. COMMODORE BRAZOS USERS’ GROUP: anyone inter ested in free tutorial on Commodore 64 or 128 systems can call David Gruben at 845-8889. STUDENT SERVICES BOOK EXCHANGE: will be held from August 18-29. Go to the second floor of the Pavilion to sell your used books and save money buying books. For more information call 845-3051. Friday BAPTIST STUDENT UNION: will sponsor an international dinner in the BSU. For more information call 846-7722. Monday AGGIE SPACE DEVELOPMENT SOCIETY: will show vi deo highlights of the report of the National Commission on Space at 7 p.m. in 604D Sterling C. Evans. Tuesday TAMU SCUBA CLUB: will have a dive planning meeeting at 7 p.m. in the Memorial Student Center lounge by the pi ano. For more inf ormation call Jeff, 696-2163. Items for What’s Up should be submitted to The Battalion, 216 Reed McDonald, no less than three days prior to de sired publication date. >ecame a 1 artney said “i, and popular. Q . hat violateq/ s sad that sc: i souls forsojl <enior joun|ii, st for The I ily 25 col hie j will becasi etters) oneo! s possible: eally warrani ;s not perfect liberals dork?) at ■ desirable, should be editor will Ex-con doctor hired for state hospital work AUSTIN (AP) — A psychia trist imprisoned last year for ille gally distributing narcotics is working at the Austin State Hos pital. Dr. Clarence J. Coombs, 56, also pleaded guilty in 1985 to de frauding the Medicaid program by submitting false bills. Kenny Dudley, the state hospi tal superintendent who hired Coombs for the $58,000-a-year job, said he hired Coombs be cause he previously worked at the mental hospital and “did a good job for us as a psychiatrist,” he said. “I don’t know about all the things that took place in his fel ony trial,” Dudley said. “As long as he’s got a Texas license and has done a good job for us, Pm not going to worry about the other.” Maryland jurors last summer found Coombs guilty of four fel ony counts of possession with in tent to distribute narcotics and one felony count of being a public nuisance through illicit drug ac tivities in a Washington suburb. Suzanne S ch n eid e r , a spokeswoman for the Montgom ery County state attorney’s office in Maryland, said Coombs was dispensing large quantities of narcotics to drug addicts even though he did not have a license to operate a drug therapy pro gram. L. Leonard Ruben, the Maryland judge who sentenced Coombs to five years in prison said at the time, “He has wreaked havoc upon people he says he was helping.” Coombs said Wednesday he saw nothing improper about Working at the hospital. “I’m a licensed physician,” he said. “I’m doing the job here.” Coombs was sent to the Rox- bury Correctional Institution, but the sentence was suspended in March when Ruben allowed him to enroll in a residential drug abuse program in Richmond, Va. Texas parole officers will be notified that Coombs is in the state, according to Harriet Pau ley, Ruben’s secretary. Coombs began work July 17 at the state hospital’s acute care unit, working with adult psychiat ric patients. He had worked at the mental hospital for one year be fore he returned to Maryland for the trial. The Maryland Commission on Medical Discipline in November 1983 issued findings that said Coombs presented “an imminent threat to public health and safety” because he prescribed excessive amounts of narcotics. By doing so, he “created or se riously threatened to create drug dependency in those patients,” the commission said. Coombs declined to comment on whether his job could be in jeopardy because of the Maryland convictions. Telephone registration to begin in fait By Bob Grube Reporter Beginning in November 1986, Texas A&M students may no longer have to stand in long registration lines at the Pavilion hoping to get the class they need or saying a prayer that the computer won’t go down. Starting with the Spring 1987 pre registration period in November, students will be able to take advan tage of a new system that will enable them to register by touch-tone tele phone from anywhere in the world. Robert Lacey, A&M registrar, said he is pleased with the new system, which he says will greatly reduce the headaches of registering at the Pavil ion because the students can register at home. “We’ve been testing the system with incoming freshmen during the summer orientation conferences,” he said. The system will also be used during delayed fall registration so upperclassmen can try it, he said. “We want comments on the sys tem so we can make the procedural instructions as clear as possible,” La cey said. “Clear instructions are the key to the success of the system.” In April 1984, Brigham Young University implemented the first university touch-tone registration system in the country. A&M’s system is modeled after BYU’s program. Lacey said a team of A&M admin istrators went to BYU to study its system and to decide whether or not that type of registration system would work at A&M. While the two systems are similar, A&M’s system will be more complete than BYU’s, he said, because it will handle all fees, not just tuition and class schedules. Doug Bell, director of registration at BYU, says there’s no comparison between the old standing-in-line sys tem and the new touch-tone system. “Prior to this, the University dic tated to the students where to be and when to be there,” he said. “Now, the students can register when and from where they want to.” Bell said the biggest advantage of the system becomes clear when the computer goes down. “It is not a catastrophe,” Bell said. “A student trying to register while the computer is down will not get an answer on the phone; he just calls again later.” While there is a $50 registration deposit required at BYU, Lacey said there will be no such fee at A&M. However, Lacey said, any blocks that prevented students from regis tering under the old system will re main in effect with the new system. Lacey did not know the cost of im plementing the system, but said the only cost being incurred by the Uni versity was the one-time equipment cost, which he said worked out to about 25 cents to 50 cents per stu dent. He said the human labor costs will be greatly reduced when the new system is put into use because there will be no need for the computer ter minal operators who currently help the students register. He said the new system will save the University about $50,000 per year in computer terminal operator costs. Lacey added he did not yet know whether or not a priority registra tion system (seniors first, then ju niors, etc.) would be used. He also did not know whether or not the sys tem would be used during the drop- add period. “Our goal was to offer the stu dents the most complete registration package available,” Lacey said. “We wanted to eliminate the central proc essing point from the registration process.” Police chief selling ‘souvenirs’ from manhunt BIG SANDY (AP) — A law officer says he had a good reason for de signing a limited edition of posters and T-shirt transfers commemorat ing last month’s search for an es caped murder suspect. Big Sandy Police Chief Richard Lingle says the drawings will thank the more than 300 law officers who helped capture Jerry Walter McFad- den, commonly known by his self- proclaimed nickname “Animal.” But Upshur County Sheriff Dale Jewkes doesn’t agree. “That’s in poor taste,” Jewkes said Wednesday. “I don’t know what the reason behind it is. I just don’t think a law officer should do that. I think it’s commercializing.” McFadden escaped from the Up shur County Jail in Gilmer after overpowering two guards and taking a third hostage. About 50 hours later, he was apprehended without resistance in a vacant house in nearby Big Sandy. The hostage es caped unharmed. Lingle, who was a commercial art ist for Woolco department stores be fore becoming a law officer, said, “It’s kind of one of those things just try and see if its works. “I had gotten some feedback from the community, people who appre ciated all the people and the depart ments who were involved.” Under the headings, “I Survived the Big Sandy Manhunt” and “Texas’ Largest — The Big Sandy Manhunt,” the drawings show heli copters, police cars, tactical officers, canine patrols and mounted officers. It also lists 59 police agencies in volved in the search. McFadden and Deputy Rosalie Williams, who was taken hostage, are not pictured on the posters. Williams declined comment. McFadden was unavailable for comment. Lingle said the $3 posters and $5 transfers are “great gifts and souve nirs” and a “very limited offer.” neve: won a few :li rector of Ik ity. remark is far Loren .Scott Sutfiei. SueM :as A&M and BrpP ot necessarily repirf itopaphy classes «# pt for holiday mihn year. Advertising^ 1 >n, TX 77m iversity, College Stity Hftl p /7cec^ iiiiP 1 - — mmWwm mm mis mm mm mm'iSm 1 } NX/rth this coupon through August , 1986 11am -11pm Taco | i eeao Burrfto . \ Tostaba \ Pintos T 49 Bunrito Supreme 99 % 49 Beefy Tostada »99 T,0 Cinnamon Machos .. A9 99 .49 Combo Burrito .99 .49 Beet Burrito .99 .79 Nachos Bellgrande .. 1.99 otW/ Kid’s Right Rider h\ea\ ... 1.89 f(fc (WtuVe suppWes Vast) -yy/ Seafood Salad 9.99 ^ Taco Salad 9.99 Pizzazz Pizza ^ Quantities uniimvted Not good 'With an V other otter TACO = S ^'BELL Bryan/College Station Battalion Classified 845-2611 VILLA MARIA AUTO SUPPLY | GREEN^==! LIGHT^SjlOj The Right Parts and Everything Else You Need. QUALITY CAR PARTS ! 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