■
Wednesday, September 10, 1986/The Battalion/Page 5
ident survivor gets MADD
Victim cautions drinkers
Bv Olivier Uyttebrouck
Ty Will speaker:* Staff Writer
■tors assumed Rusty Combes
peak on enhar ^ never be able to walk or talk
rv school at following an alcohol-related
^'H accident in 1981 that hurled
it 'ii Bgainst a brick wall, damaged
' 1 ' v,1: left side of his brain and put him
1| Hma for 53 days.
will meet at >lut| today, Combes lives in Dallas’
Vmd Park area, staying in the
11 meet at 7 pirB lie purchased with part of the
^ Bllion he received in a legal set-
f'lKTV. ii Bt after the accident.
*• willmceiBf his business card, Combes
ntijies himself as a spokesman for
m - >n 115 Kleberjirs Against Drunk Drivers — a
'! ■ very different from the one
LUB: will meet envisioned for himself
Ho his accident, which occurred
i m in (moo j B ie was a finance major at the
' ' iversity of Texas. But it would be
Ho imagine a more effective
IA I ION: will ■ke|man against drunken driving.
“5 MSC. Hbes is spending this week
id yearly evenuHK and talking around the
■ A&M campus, speaking with
. a , H who will listen but targeting
nterested peoDrH'. • , 6 B
ollie White H lty gr0ups in P artlcu, ar-
me. began regaining his voice
'S Of MEXlClIavears ago and is now deter-
~ p m. in 410RH t0 use 11 to prevent the same
t of accident that befell him five
tins at 9:30p.itH*g H from happening to some-
! telsc Far from being an impedi-
nt, his slow and halting speech
His words an impact no actor or
itician could hope to match.
through FridaH 11 ^ t0 t ^ ie s ’ ( * e C 0111 *
n J^rain ha
)2 Rudder.
>re information
has rendered the right
“It’s something that could
have happened anytime to
anybody. ”
— Rusty Combes, com
menting on his accident
half of his body all but useless. He
can walk now, be it slowly and with
great effort, with the help of an or
namental cane.
But in spite of the frailty of his
body and voice, there is an unmis
takable strength in his words. People
look comfortable in Combes’ pres
ence — not only with Combes him
self, but with one another. As he
talks and jokes with the people
around him, it’s clear that he has a
skill for galvanizing a group of
strangers into a purposeful body.
“I’m a very determined, hard
working young man,” Combes says.
“It’s a lot of hard effort — very hard
today still — but it’s no big deal. I
just love challenges.”
Combes’ accident happened dur
ing a big spring celebration, “Old
South,” nis fraternity holds every
year in Austin. For this reason,
Kappa Alpha bore much of the $21
million settlement Combes received
in compensation for the accident.
But remarkably, there is no bad
blood between Combes and his fra
ternity, he says.
"It’s something that could have
happened anytime to anybody,”
Combes says, implying that for a
group of men to pile into the back of
a pick-up truck after a night of
heavy drinking is not exclusively fra
ternity behavior.
In Combes’ words, “dangerous
horseplay” was going on in the cab
of the truck that carried himself and
several of his fraternity brothers
away after the “Old South” cele
bration.
The driver had been unable to
reach the brake pedal and the truck
sped through an intersection, down
a hill and collided with a brick wall at
40 mph. Combes, the only person in
jured seriously in the crash, was
hurled out the back of the truck.
According to a November 1985
article in Newsweek, the fraternity
provided 40 percent of the $21 mil
lion compensation, the driver paid
$10,000 of the settlement and an
other fraternity member, who was
on the floor jerking the accelerator
up and down, was liable for the rest.
In the end, insurance companies
covered nearly the whole settlement.
And Combes was still able to pur
chase his Highland Park home, even
after his lawyers collected their $2
million share from the settlement.
On the other hand, he lost the girlf
riend he had gone out with for five
years prior to the accident.
“I think I’ve hit the nail on the
head,” says Combes in regard to the
new career he is contemplating, as a
spokesman for MADD
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?r from 10a.ni.
ienate budget negotiators offer
o increase total spending cuts
:les and'comir.:
oorofthePau
^KTIN (AP) — Senate budget
available inr»Hators made the House a coin-
Hse offer Tuesday that would
nents for audiMS se tota * Senate spending cuts
icstra are beine' l 9 * 7 by $ 153 million.
Id Saturday Hr tyie Senate stands ready
split the difference,” said Sen.
-Stanley y -jjmt Jones, D-Abilene, chief Senate
ntecture wil!.'ptH ator j_j e no t e d that compro-
Hfforts were about $326 million
1 an Aggie sup| art when the first special session
: H unsuccessfully.
i . r WaruHiis is our effort to reach a mid-
c ni oc | ier H ound ’'’J ones tcdc * a meeting of
J *7 an Hpropriations conference com-
*rs at /:30 p m »ec that served in the first special
Bn on the state budget deficit,
in 305A-BR«Re|>. Jim Rudd, D-Brownfield,
House negotiator, said, “We’re
i 114 Blocker. “
trying to put a plan together. We’ve
just got some basic ideas with no bot
tom line yet.”
The meeting of the Senate and
House negotiators was unofficial be
cause the House has not acted on its
appropriations bill, which makes
$739 million in spending cuts from
the 1987 budget. The bill will be pre
sented to the entire House Wednes
day, and a House conference com
mittee cannot be appointed until the
House acts on the bill.
The Senate approved a bill Mon
day that would reduce spending by
$413 million.
Jones said the Senate’s compro
mise plan would cut another $5 mil
lion from the governor’s office util
ity contingency fund; $20 million
from special fund balances except
those for insurance regulation,
crime victims and fish and wildlife;
$23 million savings in the Mental
Health and Mental Retardation de
partment brought on by new reve
nue sources; $24.6 million from the
state highway department’s volun
tary savings in 1986; $4 million from
personnel losses; $10 million from
the College Coordinating Board in
reduction of the tuition shortfall;
$13.4 million from junior college
funds; $20 million increased collec
tions at state medical schools and an
additional $33 million cut in state
funds for higher education.
A RUSSELL LEE PORTEOLIO:
EARLY TEXAS PORTRAITS
a special screening of the video tape
Photographer: Russell lee
to be presented by
Ann Mundy
Producer/Director
4:00 pm, Sunday, September 14, 1986
CAED Gallery Langford Architecture Center
Reception following.
Portrait exhibition continues through October 8
CAED Gallery hours 8-5 weekdays & 12-5 Saturday and Sunday
This exhibition was organized by the Amarillo Art Center with funding from TexArt/150, the Texas Com
mission of the Arts, Mr. and Mrs. R.T. Alexander and Mrs. Francie Whittenburg Klein. Local support from
Texas A&M University Art Exhibits and the College of Architecture and Environmental Design.
p new member!
i 7:30 p.m.alt
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meet at 6 pan •,
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