Thursday, October 29, 1987/The Battalion/Page 3
State and Local
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official says campus day-care
requires commitment from A&M
By Cindy Milton
Staff Writer
For the past 15 years, several at
tempts to get a child care center on
or near the Texas A&M campus
nave started and fizzled out with lack
of support, perhaps because of the
jtremendous time and money consid
erations that starting such a facility
Requires.
“We’re talking about a tremen
dous financial commitment from the
Jniversity,” says Diane Welch, fam
ily-life specialist at the Texas Agri
cultural Extension Service.
Welch says a needs assessment is
necessary before any actions can be
taken to create a child-care service.
The Faculty Senate committee on
the status of women last spring men
tioned the possibility of a child-care
■acility in a a survey given to A&M
■acuity. Both men and women fac
ility agreed that child care services
vould benefit A&M.
A report to the Faculty Senate
from the committee says “the addi
tion of child-care services would be
an asset to the campus work environ
ment.”
Linda Busby, a member of the
committee, attended a meeting of
the National Coalition for Campus
Child Care last spring that gave ad
vice on planning for child-care facili
ties.
The committee, she says, is con
cerned with getting people inter
ested in child care together and es
tablish support for campus child
care.
Dharam Ahluwalia, a member of
Students with Children, a group
whose goal is to get University sup
port, says an A&M-sponsored child
care facility that would cater to stu
dents and faculty could be a great
selling part of A&M.
“We think a University child-care
program would appeal to anyone
who has children, and it would be
fair to everyone involved,” Ahluwa
lia says.
Members of the group met with
Carolyn Adair, director of student
affairs, Oct. 26 for a faculty opinion.
Adair says she would support a
child-care facility for A&M. How
ever, she says the procedure to cre
ate a campus child-care program
might take a great deal of money
and continuous support.
“If the University is interested in
attracting 25 percent of the student
body — people like graduate stu
dents with children — it will con
sider adding child-care facilities,”
she says.
But problems could arise from
Bryan-College Station child-care
centers that expect business from
A&M students and faculty, she says.
The University, she says, is sensitive
to the surrounding area, and other
centers may see a University effort
as interference with their business.
Ahluwalia says Students with Chil
dren is interested in seeing how
other Texas colleges and universities
have developed child-care programs
supported by the schools.
The University of Texas at Austin
has a child care center, the Univer
sity Student Child Care Association,
that caters only to the school’s stu
dents and is supported financially by
the university and other organiza
tions.
Dr. L. Wayne Bryan, chairman
for the association’s steering com
mittee, says the facility, in its fourth
year, has had a good response so far.
He says the development of the
association was a result of high stu
dent demand, which is what A&M is
dealing with now.
The UT facility, Bryan says, bene
fits university students with children
and offers child care flexibility. The
association’s financial support comes
from a university grant, UT’s stu
dent counseling center, the student
government and United Campus
Ministry. The university also helps
the child-care program with money
from student fees.
Station’s billboards
provoke controversy
with Plano residents
KS-
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SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Heart specialists in
Philadelphia prepared Wednesday to examine
layer Henry Cisneros’ ill infant son, who has
een diagnosed as having a congenital heart de
lect, officials said.
I Four-month-old John Paul Anthony Cisneros
has not had any complications, but Cisneros
wanted a second opinion on the diagnosis.
The baby, named after Pope John Paul II and
Ian Antonio, was to be examined by Dr. John D.
durphy, said Shirl Thomas, Cisneros’ adminis
trative assistant.
Murphy is a child heart specialist and assistant
professor of pediatrics at the University of Penn
sylvania medical school.
I Murphy has worked closely with Dr. John D.
Norwood, a professor of surgery at the medical
school, who invented some surgical procedures
treat children with heart deformities.
Norwood also may examine the child, hospital
officials said.
The Cisneros child was born June 10 and
shortly afterward pediatrician Dr. Fernando
Guerra and Dr. James Rogers, a specialist in
childhood heart disease, diagnosed the child as
having asplenic syndrome.
“We feel very confident about the care John
Paul has received here,” Cisneros said Tuesday.
“But as in all other cases of very complex medical
problems, Dr. Rogers concurs that it just makes
good sense to have the most experienced doctors
in the country also have an opportunity to con
firm the diagnosis.
“Our baby is doing very well now, and we feel
very fortunate to be able to meet with Drs. Mur
phy and Norwood.”
The mayor and his wife, Mary Alice, took the
baby to Philadelphia Tuesday.
John Paul Anthony’s heart never fully formed.
Instead of having two upper chambers, he has
just one. The heart acts as if it only has two cham
bers because of an abnormal opening between
the two lower chambers.
The baby also has problems with his stomach
and he has no spleen.
The mayor’s mother, Elvira Cisneros, said her
grandson is feeling very well, but that the family
wanted to take him to the consultation with the
Philadelphia specialists.
“It’s nice to get a second opinion before the
winter settles in and before he gets any colds,”
Mrs. Cisneros said.
The baby was blessed by the pope during the
pontiffs visit to San Antonio last month.
“I am praying they will have good news for
us,” the mayor’s mother said about the Pennsyl
vania physicians.
PLANO (AP) — A radio station’s
billboard campaign is making waves
with some residents who think the
signs are bordering on porno
graphic, but the station’s manager
said Wednesday most listeners like
the naked truth.
Dallas station KTXQ launched a
$300,000 advertising campaign for
its morning show during which disc
jockey Bo Jackson encourages un
clothed early risers to describe their
immodest activities on the air.
“People just call in and say, ‘Hi.
We’re here at work and we’re all
naked,”’ station general manager
Clint Culp said.
But one resident complained to
the Plano City Council that the signs
threaten the integrity of the city.
Shelton Cotton told the council
Monday,“I don’t want to bring my
son up in this kind of environment.
If Plano wants to continue to project
a positive image across the nation, it
needs to screen these kinds of
things.”
Council members drafted a letter
Monday urging the station to re
move the signs.
The signs feature the torsos of
men and women with a big red bow
covering areas of traditional public
concern.
The four signs with male torsos
carry the caption “Early Risers Love
Bo.”
The six signs with female torsos
read “It’s Bo or Nothing.”
Culp said the billboards, posted in
10 locations leading to this north
Dallas suburb, are toned down from
original designs.
“The first design of the torso we
felt was too provocative, and we
changed it. These are cartoons —
these are not even real people,” he
said.
Culp said he hadn’t received the
council’s letter by Wednesday and
only received five other complaints.
“That’s not very many,” he said.
“These signs are out on the outskirts
where people get in early and drive
to work.”
Disc jockey Jackson asked listen^
ers Wednesday morning to give
their opinions of the billboards, and
he didn’t have one person call in say
ing anything negative about them,
Culp said.
“When you do any kind of adver
tising, you try to do something that
stands out,” he added.
Yuletide sales
will indicate
stock's effects
AUSTIN (AP) —- A significant
drop in Christmas retail sales would
be the first indication that the stock
market’s plunge is affecting the
Texas economy, state Comptroller
Bob Bullock said Wednesday.
“A slowdown in consumer spend
ing will tell us that the fallout from
the problems of the stock market has
hit home,” Bullock said.
Falling stock prices on Wall Street
in recent days, particularly the re
cord 508-point plunge in the Dow
"ones industrial average Oct. 19,
ave sparked fears nationwide about
the direction of the economy.
Bullock said any lack of confi
dence in the economy that translates
into a steep drop in retail sales could
spell trouble for the state’s budget.
Taxable retail sales in the fourth
quarter last year in Texas totaled
more than $16.3 billion. The comp
troller’s office said sales have been
expected to grow slightly this year to
about $ 16.9 billion.
The Legislature spent more than
a year struggling to balance the state
government’s budget in the face of
Falling oil prices and a slumping
economy. Lawmakers finally in
creased the state sales tax rate from
514 percent to 6 percent to raise the
money needed to balance the bud
get.
I'
IGOGIVE
SOME
BLOOD!
1987AGGIE
BLOOD DRIVE
November 2, 3,4 & 5
ommons—10 cun. to 8 p.m.
MSC—10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
SBISA—10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Zachry—10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Also on Nov. 6 at MSC — 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
“Sponsored by The Aggie Blooddrive Club”
Another service of Student Government, APO, OPA.
THE
BLOOD CENTER
at Wadley
Illustration by Kyle E. Jones
BEAUTIFUL
$4
00 Per Dozen ROSES
BEAT LOUISIANA TECH!
Available For Pick-Up Between 2 and 6 p.m.
O A In Front of SBISA DINING HALL or
r nle WW I . OVF In Front of COMMONS
COMPANY
sponsored by ENVE
THE DIXIE ROSE
TO ORDER CALL
☆ 693-6703 ☆
anytime
i
i
ARE WE HELPING OR HURTING?
Panel Discussion: Dr. Janies Christiansen
Dr. W. Alex McIntosh
Dr. John Norris
Dr. Dwayne Suter
moderator - Dr. James T. Goodwin
THURSDAY OCTOBER 29, 1987
301 RUDDER .
7:30 p.m.
FREE ADMISSION
MSC JORDAN INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL AWARENESS
Call Battalion Classified 845-2611