Friday, January 29, 1988/The Battalion/Page 3
State and Local
m theliJ
tther 1
dkyo quartet’s plays with skill
ut fails to captivate listeners
i truly,
to get Boil
liis involJ
By Brian Frederick
Reviewer
Last night, the Tokyo String
uartet lived up to its billing as one
.... _ _ the world’s best string quartets
ohngtoaii. when it performed for a nearly full
'fling wli house in Rudder Auditorium.
pi'ofoun|Bh° u gh the audience recognized
11 does M d a PP rec * ate<: l the Quartet’s virtu-
io /Bity, the pieces it performed
. ]J' Bemed to fail to captivate the listen-
■nd Nix
-’sidenthkB The evening’s performance con-
-call crilmRted of string quartets by Schubert,
polity dfcB ozart an d Debussy. While the au-
o stand kH ence seeme d moved by Schubert’s
/■ork, which opened the program,
quartets by Debussy and Mozart
x ’ lV | did not represent of the composers’
Ins action
ce to
best work, and the audience sensed
it.
Regardless of the relative merits
of the pieces, the performers played
flawlessly. Violinists Peter Oundjian
and Kikuei Ikeda, Violist Kazuhide
Isomura, and cellist Sadao Harada
clearly demonstrated why they are
so highly regarded. Their instru
ments seemed to be extensions of
their bodies as they played beauti
fully together.
The Quartet opened the evening
with Schubert’s Quartet in B-flat
Major. Schubert composed this piece
when he was only sixteen. Perhaps
his youthfulness is the source of the
piece’s playful exuberance. The mu
sicians played energetically and
showed from the beginning that
they were deeply engaged in the mu
sic. The audience rewarded the per
formance of the piece with enthu
siastic applause.
At this point the listeners were ex
pecting better things to come, but
the following pieces failed to satisfy
this expectation.
While Mozart’s Quartet in D mi
nor had some pretty melodies, it was
primarily quiet and mournful, lack
ing the sparkle that characterizes
Mozart’s best work. Yet the musi
cians performed it well, skillfully
passing the melody from one instru
ment to the next. Though the audi
ence again responded warmly, it
lacked some of its earlier enthu
siasm, giving the impression that it
appreciated the skill with which the
music was performed rather than
the music itself.
Following the intermission, the
quartet performed Debussy’s Quar
tet in G minor. Characterized by
tense, unruly passages and tempes
tuous peaks, it provided many op
portunities for the musicians to dis
play their technical prowess. Yet its
underlying tension and frustration
failed to move the audience.
The applause at the final curtain
called the musicians back for three
bows. Clearly the Quartet’s perfor
mance impressed the viewers, but
the music failed to penetrate their
hearts fully.
\
t‘rs tenij
ii realiad
nalism ©
(Mattox says
second prison
can be built
AUSTIN (AP) — Attorney
I General Jim Mattox on Thursday
Jnotified the Texas Public Finance
[Authority that a proposed second
[state prison had been properly
[authorized by Cov. Bill Clements
jand may be built.
Mattox last week clouded the
I plan by deciding that the appro-
[priations bill approved by the
[Legislature in 1987 allowed the
issuance of state bonds for the
construction of only one prison.
But the state prison board
Tuesday turned to a provision in
[the appropriations bill that allows
[the transfer of funds if the gover-
|nor decides there is an “unfore
emergency.” The board
[asked for the declaration, and
[Clements responded quickly to
[clear the way for construction of
both 2,250-bed maximum secu-
[rity prisons approved by the
Iboard.
First person in U.S. receives
new treatment for gallstone
DALLAS (AP) — A South Caro
lina woman who became the First
person in the country to undergo a
new procedure that uses shock
waves to dissolve gallstones said
Thursday she was feeling Fine.
At Baylor Medical Center on
Wednesday, Melissa Smith of Spar
tanburg, S.C., received 1,637 shocks
delivered to a Five-eighth-inch gall
stone.
“Until now, surgery had been the
primary means of treating gall
stones,” said Dr. Ron Jones, chief of
surgery and one of four doctors who
administered the procedure. He said
between 250,000 and 500,000 peo
ple have surgery for gallstones in the
United States each year.
Smith, 37, said becoming the First
person to undergo the treatment
was not a factor in her decision to
have it done.
“I really didn’t think of myself as
being a pioneer,” she said. “I just
didn’t want to go through an opera
tion.”
The new procedure uses a biliary
lithotripter, which creates shock
waves to fragment the stones into
small pieces that can be dissolved in
the gallbladder with medication, or
pass through the bile duct.
An ultrasound machine is used to
locate the stones, which occur pri
marily because of an imbalance of
water, bile salts and cholesterol in
the gallbladder.
Gallstones can inflame the gallb
ladder and cause painfully disabling
attacks by blocking the outflow of
bile. Obstruction of the bile duct can
lead to jaundice.
The treatment is part of a Federal
Drug Administration study of more
than 200 patients at seven hospitals
around the country.
Baylor doctors said they do not
know how long the study will take to
complete, but the results of Smith’s
treatment seem to indicate that the
procedure will help the estimated 20
million Americans suffering from
gallstones.
Doctors said it is difficult to esti
mate how much the procedure
would cost if it is approved by the
FDA. Dr. David Vanderpool, a gen
eral surgeon, said hospital costs re
lated to the treatment probably
would be about $3,500.
Chairman: Panel
plans to take care
of firms in Texas
AUSTIN (AP) — The chair
man of the new Texas Depart
ment of Commerce told top state
officials Thursday the depart
ment’s No. 1 goal is to take care of
existing Texas industries — not
bring in new ones.
“We believe out first order of
business, rather than running
around the world trying to attract
new industry, is to make our
existing industries happy,” Ed
ward Vetter said.
Vetter, a former U.S. underse
cretary of commerce, said the
Texas Department of Commerce
cannot allow energy to “go down
hill while we’re running around
attracting high-tech industry.”
Cov. Bill Clements, who ap
pointed Vetter, said there already
are indications that state efforts,
including creation of the depart
ment, “are bearing fruit.”
Clements, presiding over the
first meeting of the Strategic Eco
nomic Policy Commission, nomi
nated as commission vice chair
man Jim Adams of Dallas,
president of the Texas division of
Southwestern Bell Telephone Co.
Adams was elected unanimously.
The commission is charged
with developing a long-range
plan for diversifying ana devel
oping the Texas economy, and
must submit its plan to the Legis
lature before Jan. 1.
“This strategic plan will assess
our state’s resources, evaluate fu
ture economic possibilities and, of
course, recommend appropriate
actions,” Clements said. “ This is a
big, big job.”
But Clements cited several in
dicators that the Texas economy
is regaining momentum: The
fourth quarter unemployment
rate was down almost 2 percent;
employment was up 284,000,
compared with 1986; retail sales
were up 5.5 percent in the first 10
months of 1987; and the gross
state product in the last three
months of 1987 was up 2.8 per
cent over the same period a year
ago.
Vetter, on the job since the De
partment of Commerce started
on Sept. I, said the agency’s ma
jor objectives are to retain and ex
pand existing industries and busi
nesses, attract new industry,
promote tourism and improve
business survival rates.
Gore, Jackson campaign in Texas
AUSTIN (AP) — Sen. Albert
Gore Jr. urged Texans to join him in
ignoring the Iowa caucuses, and
Jesse Jackson called on all presi
dential candidates to run 50-state
campaigns as both Democratic con
tenders stumped in the state on
Thursday.
Gore began the day in Rio Grande
City and then spoke to a Texas AFL-
CIO convention here before head
ing for Cotulla. Jackson had a Capi
tol news conference and also spoke
to the AFL-CIO meeting.
A third Democratic contender, Il
linois Sen. Paul Simon, canceled his
scheduled AFL-CIO speech to stay
in Washington for a Senate vote.
Gore turned most of his attention
on the Republicans, especially Presi
dent Reagan, during his AFL-CIO
speech, saying the current adminis
tration has ignored energy industry
problems in Texas.
He recommended that Texans
turn a deaf ear on the February cau
cuses in Iowa and concentrate on the
March 8 Super Tuesday primary
that includes Texas.
“Don’t listen to the commentators
about Iowa either,” he said. “You
know that 97 percent of the people
in Iowa do not participate in those
caucuses and they don’t have a secret
ballot.
“Do you think that the great state
of Texas has to wait until . . . Iowa
tells you how to vote?”
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