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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 23, 1987)
The Battalion sXa>|UOui ol. 82 No. 183 CISPS 045360 6 pages College Station, Texas Thursday, July 23, 1987 itliheld f; past weeJ “Mr. QJ ave not > t)m thislij ly recall. 1 >re at ilit , r s, is the 1 • % : : ^ que Call A Plumber |l0S*elly Walraven, a volunteer firefighter from B Heart of the Pines Fire Department, works on a Connection of a hose running between two fire Photo by Robert W. Rizzo trucks. liy connecting two fire trucks together, firefighters are able to achieve the maximum wa ter usage efficiency out of a single Tire hydrant. Clements declares victory in budget war AUSTIN (AP) — Gov. Bill Clem ents, saying his signature on the largest tax increase in Texas history was written grudgingly, declared vic tory Wednesday in his battle against state government spending. “We stopped the growth of state government,” Clements said, repeat edly admonishing news reporters to get his message straight. “Now that’s no small goal, and it’s no small ac complishment. “I think our Texas taxpayers will be happy to hear that if you will just, please, repeat it.” Clements last year campaigned on a “no-new-taxes” theme and this year pledged repeatedly this year to veto any tax increase larger than $2.9 billion. But Tuesday night, he signed into law increases in the sales, motor fuel and other taxes that to taled nearly twice that — $5.7 bil lion. “I reluctantly signed die tax bill last night,” Clements said. “The deed was done, so to speak.” The Republican governor said he had run out of options. Democrats control the Legislature, and the end of the state’s fiscal year, Aug. 31, is approaching. “We had to open the schools, “We did what we had to do. I don’t think we had any choice in the matter. ” — Gov. Bill Clements Clements said. “We had to continue state government on some reasona ble basis. And we had to address the problem in the federal courts on mental health-mental retardation and the prison system. “We cl id what we had to do,” he said. “I don’t think we had any choice in the matter. I would appre ciate reading that in print some where, or hearing it on television.” Clements argued that the 1988-89 state budget — totaling $38.3 billion — represents only a 2.4 percent in crease over the $37.4 billion spent for 1986-87. That represents a 1.2 percent annual increase, he said. “And please,” he urged, “write that down.” Clements has 20 days to review the budget before signing it. He has the power to veto individual items and indicated he probably would. “When I see the bill and I con sider it, I will consider vetoes at that time,” he said. “I will consider each item on its own merits.” As the state’s only 20th century Republican governor, Clements has been at odds with Democratic legis lators since taking office for the sec ond time on Jan. 20. He said the 1988 legislative elec tions — in which half the Senate and all 150 House seats up are up for grabs — will be important to the GOP. U.S. Navy tanker escort reported on ‘high alert’ bique ? ports ;is figtaf IK lit j ile of N Alzheimer’s victim loved serving God, helping Aggies, wife says By Kirsten Dietz Edits r. ' Senior Staff Writer iass acret wyhile Mike Mistovich will be re- ie I(, " !1 tnembered for a long list of accom- 1 plishments in the 40 years he lived in ) y Sl Brvan, his wife says he was proudest ‘ on ‘j l i l of two. vijH'He loved the Aggies and broad- ? I”' casting football and baseball games ^ and serving the Lord,” Mary Jane I 1 ' Mistovich said Wednesday. “The lU “ Lord came first with him.” V' ||HMistovich, 71, died Tuesday , morning from heart failure caused ;’j, by pneumonia. 7 A memorial s ihe' ’ uffiar president of the Bryan-College Sta tion Rotary Club. Mrs. Mistovich said Cod came first with her husband, as his in volvement in religious programs at tests. He conducted devotional serv ices at a local nursing home and was a member of the Gideon Society and of a Sunday school class at the First United Methodist Church of Bryan. Memorial contributions can be made to the Mike Mistovich Memo rial Fund at the Aggie Club or to Gi deon Living Memorial Bibles. DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Two Kuwaiti tankers sailed swiftly up the Persian Gulf on Wednes day, escorted by U.S. jet Fighters and Navy warships on high alert for Iran’s high-speed gunboats and helicop ters. Iran has vowed to strike the convoy, take American sailors prisoner and burn the Stars and Stripes Hying on the fantails of the reflagged Kuwaiti tankers if any of its ships are attacked. The supertanker Bridgeton and the smaller oil prod ucts carrier Gas Prince were surrounded by three and at times five U.S. warships as they passed within range of an Iranian missile battery in the Strait of Hormuz, considered the most perilous part of their three-day, 500-mile journey to Kuwait. Overhead, aircraft from the carrier USS Constella tion stationed outside the gulf flew a rotating air cover. In Washington, the Pentagon said the Navy had not detected any move by Iran to ready any of its Chinese- made Silkworm anti-ship missiles and that the ships were out of range after the convoy cleared the strait. “So in reality, the ships are already safely through the passage and on their way to Kuwait,” one official added. By midafternoon, they had passed within 12 miles of Abu Musa, an Iranian island used by Revolutionary Guards, fanatical followers of Ayatollah Ruhollah Kho meini, to launch gunboat and helicopter attacks on commercial shipping. As night fell on the gulf, the convoy cruised past the long shoreline of the United Arab Emirates and the port of Dubai. “They are moving fast in close convoy,” reported one shipping source as the cluster of ships traveled through the strait at about 16 knots, the approximate top speed of the 401,382-ton Bridgeton. Capt. David P. Yonkers, who commands the Navy es cort dubbed “Operation Earnest Will,” said the U.S. ships would come no closer than one or two miles to the “exclusion zone” declared by Iran along its side of the gu'f- “Remember, this is the real thing — this is not a drill,” Capt. William W. Mathis told the 476-member crew aboard the Navy cruiser USS Fox before it entered the Strait of Hormuz. Both the Bridgeton, formerly the Al-Rekkah, and the 46,723-ton Gas Prince, formerly the Al-Minagish, ran up the American flag Tuesday off the United Arab Emirates. The ships, with American captains, left the United Arab Emirates port of Khor Fakkan on Wednesday morning for Kuwait’s Al-Ahmadi oil termi nal. The Fox led the convoy, while the frigate Crommelin and the destroyer Kidd steamed nearby. An Associated Press reporter who was part of a Pentagon media pool on the Kidd said the convoy maintained a condition just below General Quarters, the highest state of alert. The United States says Iran, at war with Iraq for nearly seven years, is the major danger to shipping in the gulf, and it allowed Kuwait to register 11 of its state- owned tankers under the American flag to safeguard the flow of oil. The Reagan administration sent a 15-vessel naval task force to the gulf after the Soviets leased Kuwait three tankers and promised military escorts for them. U.S.-supplied Saudi Arabian AWACS planes are hand ling reconnaissance. Iranian President Ali Khamenei vowed Wednesday that his nation would “strike blows to the ominous alli ance” of the United States and Kuwait. Iran accuses Ku wait of helping Iraq in the gulf war. Shipping sources and gulf area diplomats, all of whom spoke on condition of anonymity, said they didn’t expect the Iranians to take any action against the convoy. Support groups con help fomilies cope day at 3:30 p.r Methodist Gnu service will be held to rn. at the First United rch in Bryan. Stages of Alzheimer’s frustrate victims [M^oBHis body will be donated to the 1 .. Tevas A&M medical school for re- V# rch - net isilMistovich had double-bypass <l r |()() , : h(»art surgery 15 years ago, his wife hrx^ $»d. He could not have another nrt operation, she said, because he ——'go has been suffering from Alz- Jf|imer’s disease for the last eight years. ■However, she said, after a trip to a ftuston doctor, Mistovich said the ■ctor told him he had had a stroke. ||B's. Mistovich said she doesn’t know Hw her husband got that idea, but ■ used it to explain his behavior to others. ■“That was the way he could cope with it,” she said. ■Mistovich was involved in numer ous A&M, community and religious activities. 'li ■mr 30 years he did play-by-play broadcasts for the A&M football earn and announced A&M baseball janes for many years. He also en- iowed several scholarships for A&M itudents. He was honored for his lontributions to the University with ['■honorary membership in the As- ociation of Former Students and 'lection to the Letterman’s Associa- ion’s Hall of Honor for Distin guished Service. Mistovich also be- onged to the Aggie Club. ■le was the former owner of (ORA radio and Mistovich Business Machines. In 1970-71 he served as By Janet Goode Reporter Gladus Couchman’s mother, a former resident of the Four Sea sons nursing home in San Antonio, died of Alzheimer’s disease in Feb ruary 1986. Couchman watched her mother Effects of Alzheimer’s disease Part two of a two-part series regress through all of the stages of the disease until her death. From her experience, she learned that the stages an Alzheim er’s patient goes through are the exact reverse of the developmental stages of a child. And, if patients live long enough, they often end up dying in a fetal position, she says. Mary Jane Mistovich, whose hus band died Tuesday, is a member of the local Alzheimer’s support f roup. Mistovich had taken Mike, 1, to the support group meetings to help them both deal with the hopelessness of his disease. At (he time, he was still in the early stages of the disease and still recognized everyone. She says she doesn’t know how much of the meetings he under stood, but he listened intently and often nodded to the speaker. Mistovich considered herself lucky because her husband never became violent, wasn’t a “wande rer” and wasn’t readily agitated. Part of the reason for this is the long periods between the progres sive stages of his disease, she says. Another reason for Mike’s grace ful acceptance of Alzheimer’s may be because he didn’t know he had it. Mistovich decided it would be easiest for her husband to handle the disease if he thought he had suffered a stroke. Also, he was suffering from heart disease and' she felt this was enough for him to deal with. Since Mike was in the early stages and progressing without violence, Mistovich kept him at home like most “care-givers.” Mistovich lists the rising costs of nursing homes as one reason for home care. The standards for re ceiving aid involve requiring a per son to be dirt poor and poverty stricken, she says. And most pro grams won’t give aid unless a pa tient has lost control of all bodily functions. Sarah Jackson, who works with senior citizens at Humana Hospital, says this is very stressful to the Alz heimer caregiver, who must put in a “36-hour day.” “It just goes on and on forever with no end in sight, ” she says. Bette Jackson, social activities di rector for the Brazos Valley Geriat ric Center, says that less than 5 per cent of Alzheimer’s patients are in nursing homes. She says in addition to high costs, an age-old stigma is attached to the homes. She says this image of old people ignored in nursing homes is a myth and that nursing homes have had to work hard to overcome this reputa- ton. Bette says the worst part is that usually the elderly, brought up when the rumors were common, are the ones most afraid of the homes. She says this places a great amount of guilt on the children or loved ones who must place a family member in a nursing home. “Years ago they (nursing homes) were bad,” she says. “They were hideous dumping grounds.” But at the Brazos Valley center, it is hard to believe that the pink ta pestries, flowers and smiling in terns could ever conjure fear. The center also has one of the few complete Alzheimer’s units in the state — which puts some family members at ease. Bette says these specialty facilities are growing rapidly to combat the growth of the disease. Much literature lists Alzheimer’s as the fourth leading cause of death in the United States today, behind heart disease, cancer and stroke. Alzheimer’s disease affects about 10 percent of Americans over 65, nearly 2.5 million adults, more than 100,000 of which die of the disease anually. As the population becomes older, more and more risks for the disease develop. According to the Milbank Memo rial fund Quarterly on Health and Society, the elderly population has grown by 9.3 million from 1960 to 1980. There currently are 2.6 mil lion people over the age of 85. And 36.3 million people over the age of 65 are expected by the year 2000. But whether care is given in a nursing facility or at home, Bette says the first step to helping Alz heimer’s patients is understanding them. She says this comes easily for her since she is in her 60s and ap proaching old age. When patients tell her they are old and tired, she nods her head and says, “I am too.” Mistovich says the most impor tant thing a person can do in deal ing with Alzheimer’s patients is to give them a sense of accomplish ment. “Let them know they are nee ded,” she says. “Try to let them do things on their own.” Mistovich says her husband once was wanting to hold his own glass. i Uai one little uimg meant so much to him,” she says, “It let him feel he was accomplishing some thing— that he wasn’t completely dependent on me.” At the center, Bette says the best remedy in dealing with these pa tients from day to day is humor. She demonstrates this when she walks through the television room of the center. “They’re all unloading in their pants right now,” she says laug hingly, holding her nose and wav ing a hand in front of her face. But Mistovich says at times it was hard to keep a happy face, knowing what lay ahead. For some peace of mind, Misto vich recently told her husband’s doctor that she wants his brain given to science for research on Alzheimer’s disease. Bette agrees that it is extremly hard to deal with people she knows are going to die. She takes classes on death and dying and tries to help patients deal with it. She sometimes sits in their rooms at lunch and talks those who know they are going to die soon. “Most of the people in here know that they came here to die,” she says. “They know that when they leave it will be from here. “Sometimes there are tears, sometimes happiness and some times it’s peaceful, but you never get used to it.”