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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 31, 1987)
Monday, August 31, 1987/The Battalion/Page 3B S mayor says he likes orking in college town atttlm i ihe ino : variety ?k either pletelv j f Frisbet \ senior ijor, sar :e to regi awavfrc talofpn ; of its i and "r i Piboot ecreatioti ilities 1 By Annette Primm Reporter ■is both the mayor of College Sta ll HR and head of Texas A&M’s statis- Hdepartment, Dr. Larry Ringer is Hd to seeing college students — Jand he likes them. j] think it kind of keeps the com- imunity young and alive,” Ringer pays. allege Station, being a university i, creates a different kind of at- tphere than a town without a uni- tity, he says. Vith the students, you have a lot acilities that serve that group,” he “The bars, the bookstores, the J-food restaurants — those kind places.” city the same size, but without a hersity, would be more industrial, Ise a different type of people and different types of programs, he fou would have people that may be as interested in such things as ries, concert series, the arts and and recreation programs,” ;er says. jven college football creates a ma- pifference, Ringer says, f you didn’t have a university, wouldn’t have football crowds Saturdays,” he says, chuckling, [rring to the traffic rather than Twelfth Man. w enforcement tends to be an- r area with a different kind of |r|giam in a university-oriented irea, he says. ^When the city council searched foe a new police chief earlier this year, the council thought the indi- ndual taking the job should be ware that a college town has a dif- eyent type of problem. Most of the city’s crime problem nvolves theft, often of stereos and ither items from cars, he says. *It’s a mischief kind of thing,” he lays. “Youthful exuberance, I jufess.” Pthe police should remember and vork around the fact that these are /oung people, Ringer says, and not ^fcomething that will affect the heir lives forever. “Maybe scare them a little,” he ays. IBlthough being mayor takes up a opof his time, Ringer says, the statis- Photo by Sarah Cowan Dr. Larry Ringer, mayor of College Station tics department takes up more time. Since that job pays his salary, he feels he should devote most of his work ing hours to it. “I found that being mayor takes maybe a little more (time) than I thought at first,” he says, although he says his seven years on the Col lege Station City Council gave him enough insight to know the mayor’s job isn’t a slack one. Ringer says his interest in the po sition of mayor started when he worked on community activities as a member of the council. “I felt like there were programs that I liked and wanted to keep going,” he says. “I think our parks and recreation programs have come a long way from when I was first on the council.” Ringer says he would like to keep those programs and add others. Two important plans he says he wants to focus on are improvement of College Station’s attractiveness and the landscaping of major en trances into the community. “I’m going to try to get some com munity groups involved in programs much like the adopt-a-highway pro gram,” he says. In his version of the state litter control program, groups adopt a road or street inside the city’s limits and keep it clean and at tractive. “I just like the community, and I want to work with the community and try to do what I can to help it,” he says. dmissiorBL Counselors offer reasons people turn to cocaine use Team Bank I By Teree Thompson Reporter Although the American Medical SSCK iation declared drug addiction n illness in 1954, people continually xperiment with cocaine and other rugs. Bow and why do people get in- blved with cocaine? What keeps so By of them coming back for more ^oefline? How does cocaine affect the ^^TJjpjple who use it? How can one tell r ^T'lfcmeone he knows is addicted to B |pCaine? B j “Many people think if you do it "ery day, then you have a prob- m,’ Sandra Hove, a certified alco- iol and drug counselor, says. “It’s iot;how much you use cocaine or low often you use cocaine, but why ouluse cocaine.” iCharlie McMordie, a counselor- iHraining in substance abuse, says, Bhe reason people use cocaine is ecause it has become so socially ac- :ptable. Jf you want to have a party, it sets hostage to have a good time. People elate cocaine to having a good time, he drug brings relief to a world latjs crumbling around them.” If someone is having problems ith his family, with his job or with ealing with world crises, he might urn to cocaine. McMordie says peo- le have an obsession with self-de- truction and they rationalize that ,hey deserve it. After a hard day at work a person light rationalize that they deserve a inejof cocaine because of the relief it rings them, he says. TCocaine addiction is a feelings ill- ss,” Hove says. “It makes you feel ft: of.’ ” People who use cocaine isually have a low sense of self- orth. she says. “The psychological addiction is pid,” Hove says. People begin to dieve they cannot relax or have a ]Hp time without it, she says. Hantinual use of cocaine, a nar- ■ obtained from dried coca §4' ! taves, causes the body to build up a AjjiiiWerance for the drug and more co- ^ aine is needed to produce the same ts that were previously pro- uced by a lesser amount, McMordie ays. “If you start out with one gram a eek, six months from that you on’t bother with a gram,” he says, on continually and continually ant more of the drug to achieve the effect.” cause of the increased toler- ice cocaine produces, and because |e high does not last very long, co- prie is an expensive drug to use. McMordie says, “A lot of people, fnce they can’t afford the habit will -urn to dealing.” ' Hove says people also get money for cocaine by selling their belong- ings. McMordie says cocaine affects all ages. “Young people from ages 15 to 19 financially are not able to support the habit, but the mentalization can be cultivated here,” McMordie says. “They’ll burglarize and get arrested, but Mom and Dad bail them out.” The kids then think they can get away with it for a while, he says. Many people get involved with co caine because of its availability. “There is probably not a town in the United States you can’t go into and find cocaine,” McMordie says. Hove says most people experi ment with a chemical. This does not mean they will get addicted, how ever. “People who become addicted do so the first time they use cocaine,” Hove says. “It has to do with some thing in the body chemistry.” McMordie says prolonged use of cocaine depletes the brain chemistry and causes a craving for more. Hove says once someone becomes addicted the process is sneaky. “You have no control over the progression of the addiction pro cess,” Hove says. Hove says she advises the patients she counsels to test their control by having one hit an hour. She says the control the patient thinks he has will not last. “If you are an addict, there is no such thing as controlled use,” Hove says.“Cocaine is a major drug and I don’t know how someone could con tinually use it and not be addicted.” McMordie says cocaine addiction is a disease that gets progressively worse and results in self-destruction. “Cocaine addiction is chronic,” McMordie says. “If left untreated, it is fatal 100 percent.” McMordie says when a cocaine death occurs, however, the cause of death is usually attributed to the physical problem that resulted from cocaine use, such as a heart attack. Hove says when a person becomes addicted to cocaine, the five major areas of life are affected. The areas are social, physical, emotional, men tal and spiritual. The spiritual area of life is the first area affected and the last area to return. This results in a change in morals and values. With the personality change comes a distorted perception of real ity, Hove says. Denial is a core element in the life of someone who is addicted to co caine, Hove says. The person begins to deny the fact that he is addicted. “People don’t come to counseling because they want to, they come in because they are pushed by someone HOW TO ENRICH YOUR EDUCATION BY $1,100 A MONTH. If youTe a math, engineering or physical sciences major, you could be earning $1,100 a month during your junior and senior years. This excellent opportunity is part of the Navy Nuclear Propulsion Officer Candidate Program. It’s one of the most prestigious ways of entering the nuclear field —and rewarding, too. 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McMordie says, “Denial has a lot of rationalization and justification.” When a person is addicted, he ratio nalizes and justifies his use by saying he deserves it to relieve the tensions he may be under. Hove says cross-addiction often occurs. “Someone who uses cocaine usually thinks that is all he’s addicted to,” she says. “So, he turns to an other drug like alcohol and even tually comes back to the cocaine.” “Johnnie,” who asked that his real name not be used, is a sophomore at Texas A&M and uses cocaine ap proximately twice a month. He says he first experimented with cocaine during Christmas break in 1986. “I did it out of curiosity,” Johnnie says. Like many first-time users, John nie was drinking alcohol first. He went into the bathroom with some other people at the party and tried cocaine for the first time. “I was disappointed because noth ing happened,” Johnnie says. He did not experience a high. After this first experience, John nie says he tried cocaine again. “Why not do it?” Johnnie says. “When friends do it they don’t usually like to do it alone. So you do it with them.” Johnnie says he tried cocaine the second time to find out what the high was like, since he had not expe rienced anything the first time. There was not much of a high this time, either, so he tried cocaine a third time. “The third time I got some really good stuff,” he says. “Since then it’s been great. “The high doesn’t last very long. “There’s a feeling of euphoria right after you do it. After it’s gone you don’t feel bad if you don’t do a lot. “Your heart beats faster, you have a lot of energy and you feel like dancing. “If you do too much you feel bad afterward. “When I did a whole lot I didn’t want to dance. I just wanted to sit there. “Some people do so much they can’t sleep. When they finally do fall asleep it’s really late and they have to do a line just to get up in the morn ing.” Cocaine can either be inhaled or injected. “You want more when you’re high on it,” Johnnie says. “You make irra tional decisions to spend more money to get more cocaine.” Children $8°° & up Men’s Cut & Style $ 16°° Regular Manicures $10°° Women’s Cut & Style $18°° Slightly higher for longer hair • REDK1N • MATRIX • SEBASTIAN • PAUL MITCHELL • DON SULLIVAN OPEN Mon-Sat Tues-Thurs * *til 7 pm 696-8700 Walk-Ins Welcome