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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 21, 1989)
STUDY ABROAD ^ JR. FULBRIGHT Grants for Graduate Research Abroad Competition Now Open INFORMATIONAL MEETING Wednesday, February 22, 10:00-11:00 a.m. 251 Bizzell West STUDY ABROAD OFFICE 161 W. Bizzell 845-0544 Texas A&M Debate Society Presents: Parliamentary Debate “Resolved: That Texas Should Abolish Capital Punishment.” •Pro and Con Speakers •Open Forum Debate •Free Admission and Refeshments February 21,1989 601 Rudder 7:00 p.m. Dept, of Speech Communication and Theatre Arts soft contacts, at a very Soft contacts comfortable price. “dS™ of the doctor’s prescription. Their flexible design makes them comfortable almost from the moment you slip them on. And the price fits right into your budget, too. Texas State Optical: Bryan 214 N. Main 779-2786/Post Oak Mall College Station 764-0010 Page 6 The Battalion Tuesday, February 21,1989 Microwave popcorn not as good for you as air-popped type By Andrea Warrenburg REPORTER Microwave popcorn is not the low- calorie, nutritious snack people think it is. Unlike the traditional In dian health food with about 25 cal ories and loads of fiber per cup, sat urated fat is added to microwave popcorn making its nutritional value questionable. “A two- to three-serving pouch of microwave popcorn contains be tween 4.5 and 7.9 teaspoons of fat,” Dr. Mary Kinney Sweeten, a regis tered dietician with the Texas Agri cultural Extension Service, said. “One teaspoon of fat alone has about 45 calories, making the caloric count in one bag anywhere from 200 cal ories to 355 calories, compared to air-popped popcorn with about 23 calories per cup.” Saturated fat, in the fdrm of coco nut pil, palm kernel oil and vegeta ble oils, is added for flavoring and cooking ease. Large amounts of salt and seasoning also are added, she said. At a time when consumers are looking to reduce saturated fat and sodium in the diet, this can be unat tractive. “It is very important that health conscious individuals always read the label and look for unnecessary addition of saturated fat,” Kinney said. Of the 70 brands of microwave popcorn available on the market, a few companies are now offering their product with artificial butter and low salt. “It’s not the popcorn that’s bad for you, but what manufacturers add to it,” Kinney said. In Advance Zaeske to speak on English as official language Lou Zaeske, head of the Amer ican Ethnic Coalition, will speak about making English the official language of Texas with an amendment to the state Constitu tion at the Aggie GOP meeting tonight at 8:30 p.m. in 308 Rud der. Scot Kibbe, a junior journalism major and vice president for pro grams in Aggie GOP, said the is sue is a hot topic. “It’s being introduced to tb" Legislature this session and will be one of their main issues,” Kibbe said. “So the AEG wants to get ‘English Eirst’ on the ballot.” Kibbe said that during the March primaries, the amendment passed with 92 percent of the vote. It has passed in 16 .states. Zaeske recently was a guest on ‘The Morton Downey Jr. Show" where he discussed the “English First” issue. Local GOP women sponsor national internship The Republican Women of Brazos Valley is sponsoring an in ternship for women to work in the Washington, D.C offices of the National Federation of Re publican Women. The Dorothy Andrews Kabis Memorial Internship Program is open to female college students between 19-21 years old. Appli cants should have a general knowledge of government, an in terest in Republican politics and experience in campaign and cleri cal office skills. The program also provides a scholarship and ar ranges for housing. Applicants should apply by March 10. Applications are avail able by calling 846-9700 or 846- 5232, or by writing the Republi can Women of Brazos Valley, P.O. Box 4506, Bryan, Texas, 77805. Birthday party ends in tragedy in San Antonio SAN ANTONIO (AP) — A man celebrating his birthday was fatally wounded and his cousin was crit ically wounded while trying to evict an armed party crasher, authorities said. The assailant ram out of bullets and was attacked by others who stabbed him eight times, police said. Andrew Acosta, 23, was celebrat ing at a party given by his friends when he was murdered. Acosta was pronounced dead at Wilford Hall Air Force Medical Center at 2:39 a.m. Sunday. His cousin, Felipe Fernandez, 22, was in critical condition at Wilford Hall on Monday. He was shot twice in the back and also suffered a head wound, au thorities said. The suspect, Ruben Villarreal, 18, remained in stable condition at Medical Center Hospital. Villarreal was jumped by other guests, who struck him with their fists and feet as well as stabbing him. Villareal was charged by proxy with one count of murder and one count of attempted murder. Bonds totaling $75,000 were set by Magistrate Alan E. Warrick. Acosta was at a birthday party with family and friends late Satur day when an uninvited guest and two of his friends became unruly, officers said. The three were asked to leave and went outside, but stayed in the front yard. An argument started after Acosta and Fernandez escorted the three outside. “The victim apparently tried to calm him down, get him settled down,” said police homicide Sgt. Eddie Pinchback. “Poor guy. This is how his family will always remember his birthday,” Pinchback said. Acosta had been married only four months. “He was the best thing that ever happened to me and I can’t believe he’s gonfe,” said his wife, Monica Ann. The assailant fire two rounds into the air from a .25-caliber pistol, then shot Acosta and Fernandez, who had tried to disarm the man. The assailant ran out of bullets and was attacked by others, who stabbed him five times in the but tocks and three times in the abdo men, police said. Cattle producers expect prevention of brucellosis By Ashley A. Bailey STAFF WRITER By the year 2000, Cattle producers probably will be breeding brucellosis-resistant cattle. Dr. Garry Adams, a Texas A&M veterinary patho logist and a member of the brucellosis research team, said that what was once thought to be a complex genetic situation may be relatively straightforward. Adams said the organism responsible for brucellosis, Brucella abortus, causes “contagious abortions” in cattle and has been linked to diseases in humans including undulant fever, meningitis and arthritis. “In the beginning, the way to control diseases was to identify the animals that had them and eliminate them (the animals),” Adams said,. “Then, the next hope turned to producing vaccines, antibiotics and chemicals that would kill or eradicate the organism from the ani mal. “Concentration was usually on the organism — now it has turned to the host.” In 1979 Adams began to challenge (feed the orga nism to the cattle) animals that were not vaccinated, but some of those animals did not contract the disease. This proved that some cattle are naturally resistant to the disease pathogen, he said. The next step involved collecting and breeding the resistant cows and bulls to discover if the natural resis tance was a genetically passed trait, he said. Results of those breedings confirmed that the resis tance is passed genetically and that it is a dominant trait that can be strengthened through further breeding. It is not yet known, however, how many genes control this resistance, he said. “In one generation 18 percent to 20 percent ot cattle are naturally resistant to brucellosis,” Adams said. The number was increased to about 40 percent when the cows were bred to a resistant bull. And, when resistant bulls and cows were bred the resistance number was raised to about 60 percent. Adams said this concept is exciting because it’s a new way of looking at disease. “We don’t want to make the claim that this is some thing that ranchers will be using tomorrow, but we do think that it’ll be in widespread use within the next 10 years,” he said. “Knowledge is always in your favor. What you do with that knowledge is another thing- that’s where wisdom comes in.” One single “cure” for brucellosis does not exist, Ad ams said. “Wise use of better vaccines and antibiotics, con trolled eradication programs and host resistance to dis ease will probably be a better answer for the future,” he said. “It’s like a table with many legs. If you take up one of those legs, the table will sooner or later tilt. “If they are all on there, it’ll Ire a much more stable situation.” Further application of this research could be useful to humans, Adams said. “The basic immune response to brucellosis is similar in man and cattle,” he said. “So, we (the research team) might someday be able to apply what we’re learning in cattle to humans and vice versa.” All research performed by the brucellosis research team is funded by the T exas Agricultural Experiment Station, the United States Department of Agriculture and various private foundations. Group says HL&P rate hike could cost Houston 8,000 jobs AUSTIN (AP) — The $432 mil lion rate increase sought byTIouston Lighting & Power Co. could cost Houston 8,000 existing jobs by re stricting the purchasing power of businesses and consumers, Texans United said Monday. “At a time when the Texas econ omy is still suffering from the af tershocks of oil-driven recessions of the ’80s, the HL&P rate increase threatens to stifle Houston’s eco nomic growth and future leadership in the state of Texas,” Michael Den- i nis, Texans United research direc tor, said. People oppose the rate increase for HL&P because they don’t de serve it, said Rick Abraham, director of Texans United, which describes itself as a membership organization working to improve the economy, environment and living standards. HL&P spokesman Graham Painter called the claim of lost jobs “hogwash.” He said the utility is as suring sufficient power for industry, thus encouraging economic devel opment, and that it would invest a large amount of any rate increase in local service. The rate increase being sought by HL&P represents the first stage of its effort to recover costs of the South Texas Nuclear Project. The proposed increase also includes costs of a lignite plant and other electricity costs. The estimate of the number of lost jobs was based on a model by Leonard Rodberg, associate profes sor at the Queens College urban studies department. Rodberg said in a letter to Dennis the rate increase would affect em ployment by reducing the ability of businesses and consumers to pur chase other goods and services, thereby reducing employment in sectors providing those items. The loss of employment would rt- duce income and spending, Rodberg said. Texans United also presented! calculation for an $856 million rait increase over four years. That nun her of lost jobs was put at about 16,000. Painter said the company hasn’t decided the amount of future ratt increases it will seek. Abraham said the group has pre sented the Houston City Council with 13,000 signatures from metro politan area residents who oppost the requested rate increase, The PUG currently consider! some economic aspects of proposed rate increases, said commission Es ecutive Director Coyle Kelly. Developers deny sewage responsibilities EL PASO (AP) — An El Paso County water agency chairman who profited from selling land in colonias with no running water or sewers said ensuring proper sewerage is the job of the health department or other agencies, not the developer. And a water improvement district president who also sold such land said hauling drinking wa ter is nothing new: He’s done it himself, and the problem stems from poor planning in the past. The El Paso Times reported Monday that re cords filed with the Central Appraisal District and county clerk show Joe G. Hanson, chairman of the city’s Public Service Board, sold lots with out running water and sewerage in Bauman Es tates east of El Paso. The same records show that Johnny Stubbs, president of the El Paso County Water Im provement District No. 1, has sold lots without running water and sewerage near Clint and San Elizario, the newspaper reported. The subdivisions are legal because they meet county lot size and road grading requirements. “We have more health problems than any where in the country because of these colonias,” County Attorney Joe Lucas said Saturday. Health officials have reported that children and adults in the colonias have suffered high in cidences of hepatitis because they don’t have dean water and adequate sewerage. The fact that Hanson and Stubbs developed subdivisions without water and sewerage “raises a lot of questions,” Lucas said. “But, I don’t think I should elaborate because I’ve got several lawsuits pending against colonias developers,” he added. Both Stubbs and Hanson said they have never benefited from any of the board policies they ap proved. “All the (Bauman Estates) lots have been sold. It’s impossible for me to reap any benefit,” Han son said. Stubbs also said most of his lots have been sold. Hanson sold a Bauman Estates lot Jan. 30 and Stubbs sold a Morning Glory Manor lot Jan. 24, county property records show. Hanson, who said he lived in Bauman Estates for 15 years, said good well water is available in the subdivision. “The water is hard. We used to haul water to make iced tea and coffee. But I can assure you, it’s not only fit to drink, it’s safe,” Hanson, who has been on the PSB since May, said. “In my opinion, the colonias in the Lower Val ley serve a need,” Hanson said. “If you compare them with the conditions in which most of those people live in, in South El Paso, in the tenements, one bathroom and Third World conditions, at least it gives these people an opportunity to own something of their own.” Asked about the lack of sewerage, he said, “You’re confusing the role of a developer with the responsibility of the health department, or somebody else. It’s not my responsibility to see that those people put in the proper kind of sewer service.” Stubbs said he subdivided his farmland in the Lower Valley a few years ago, when he and other farmers fell on hard economic times. “I’m not saying it’s a good system. I think they need safe drinking water,” Stubbs said. “I hauled water all my life to drink. 1 doni now,” he added. Stubbs blames the current problems associated with the colonias on poor planning by past gov ernment leaders. “Eve lived out in this country all my life. I’vf never had a sewer system,” Stubbs said, "fvf never had, until a few years ago, a water supply.” Stubbs also said he never told anyone who bought residential lots from him in the Brink man Addition, Bosque Bonito and Mornint Glory Manor subdivisions that water and sewer age were included in the sale. The two water agencies last month struck* deal to help provide safe drinking water to thf Lower Valley colonias. T he El Paso County Water Improvement Dis trict No. 1 controls the county’s irrigation water Its board of directors, including Stubbs, is elected by people in the district who own irrigation waif' rights. Attorn remov; inWal FORT WO torney questh ity of District in presiding o Wal-Mart Sto } motion seel from the case The motio plaintiff atto said Auld is it rights and ai against a woi Craig- Craig aske preme Court to decide wh should contii the suit agains Craig clain tiality “might tioned” becat both cases. “I have vi dent sources Christian’s al Auld was th the termina proceedings his wife wen Craig said i filed in the 1 District Clerk Auld has r cuse himself suit. IBM and Persor