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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 8, 1989)
The Battalion STATE & LOCAL 3 Wednesday, March 8,1989 f 4ggie spring break activities ictjextend beyond beach parties ■ tudent religious groups plan trips to various impoverished areas House approves bill cutting worker comp insurance premiums 3yMia B. Moody REPORTER m len ist 'ndo betw« > e tests, w[ Ting. I to 'as a is sometinsl “ hour sti "lling me 3 improvt is served lays. S Greg’s o suffer, ig us all! i addicitiot is. Nintein whirlpoolj o change. homeli sad news I “g. o ruing )ut the w >st too mi cold turl for now ;an. oui ■g and Mi 'then ike up a ime becai en, but myself) is e day to M everyone ill go up y that J nt Mike visit quittf hey’ll kill ■ else in l ndo. Ma'I ' buy a N| ler 1 each an el days spl tly say hi more o I coluwl ly tan, wei irship for jou' : ►/The R People usually think of spring break as a time to soak up some Irays, party and relax. But some Texas A&rM students have chosen to [spend spring break helping people vho are less fortunate than them- Iselves. The Baptist Student Union, the [Wesley Foundation and Campus [Crusade for Christ plan to travel to [different areas and provide reli- [gious and material services to needy [people. Susan Smith, associate director of [the Baptist Student Union, said BSU is sending a group to Canton, Okla., and a group to Atlanta. “I am taking 20 students to the Techwood Baptist Center in inner- city Alanta where we will work in an elderly center,” Smith said. “We will visit elderly people and work with other groups to renovate the ho me.” Smith said the group going to Oklahoma will work at the Canton Indian Baptist Church. “They will take up and put down floor tiles in the church,” Smith said. “They will also provide eve ning revival services and the Satur day before school starts they will have a rally for Indian youth.” Rhonda Johnson, a senior el ementary education major from De- Soto, said she chose to go to Atlanta because she feels it is what the Lord wants her to do. “Lots of people do things for me,” Johnson said. “This gives me an opportunity to do something for other people.” Seanna Dermody, a junior el ementary education major from Dallas, said she is going to Brownsville because she likes to serve people. “I like to help people and I wanted to do something different, so I chose to work with Indians on a real reservation,” Dermody said. Max Mertz, campus minister for the Wesley Foundation, is taking 27 Travel agencies say students’ break will include more slopes than sand By Andrea Warrenburg REPORTER Because of this winter’s intensely cold weather, more students have chosen to party on the slopes rather than on the beach during spring break. “Skiing is more popular this year probably be cause the snow has been so good,” Diane Stribling, owner of A&M Travel Service, said. “The skiing resorts usually have to offer special packages every year to get people to come. This year they didn’t have to,” Stribling said. Of course students also are flocking to the beaches, Hollie Brandesky, travel agent at Aggieland Travel, said. “Florida is extremely popular this year and, of course, so is Padre,” she said. For certain sunshine, Mexico destinations are popular. Acapulco and Puerte Vallarta are the hot spots this year compared to Cancun and Cozumel during last year’s spring break, Brandesky said. The travel agents said ski trips are more expensive than beach trips, but students usually do not like to spend more than $300-$400. Dorothy Hernandez, a travel agent at ITS Tours and Travel, said, “People this year are budgeting, so it was smart to plan early and get the best deals.” Travel agents said hotel and airplane reservations are still available, but are expensive and limited. “Flights out of College Station have been full since January,” Brandesky said. “But if people are really desperate they can still do things in Texas, such as go to San Antonio and visit Sea World and the river walk.” The best advice travel agents can give to future spring breakers or any vacationers who want to get the best prices on package deals is to make arrange ments well in advance. Students will be traveling by car, bus and airplane to all destinations. Agents said the Eastern Airline strike will not af fect travel plans in this area of the state. students to the Good Neighbor Set tlement House in Brownsville. Mertz said they chose Brownsville because it is in the third poorest county in the country. “We will work with underprivi leged children, which is fulfilling because the children are loving and cuddly and they crave a lot of atten tion,” Mertz said. Mertz’s group also will work at a refugee center owned by Catholics. “We will worship with Central American refugees,” he said. “They will preach to us and we will preach to them.” Ray Anderson, director of min istry for Campus Crusade for Christ, is taking 64 students to Cuernavaca, a city about one-and-a- half hours from Mexico City. “We will show a film called ‘Jesus’ which is based on the gospel of Luke,” Anderson said. “We will travel to different villages and set up the film in streets and invite ev erybody to watch it. Last year 2,400 people saw the film.” Anderson said students will give testimonies and puppet shows trans lated to Spanish. For people who aren’t going on missions or to the beach, here’s a list of things to do in Bryan-College Sta tion: • Go swimming. • Go to the LRD in Sterling C. Evans Library and watch videos. • Go shopping either at the Post Oak Mall or the Manor East Mall. • Go to the dollar movies. • Visit area parks. • Go bowling. • Go to Bryan Lake. • Visit downtown Bryan area and do some sightseeing. • Join a gym and get in shape. • And if all else fails, read ahead in all of your classes. AUSTIN (AP) — A sweeping overhaul of the Texas workers’ com pensation system, that includes a proposed 15 percent decrease in workers’ comp insurance premiums, was passed by the House on Tuesday after nearly seven hours of debate. Supporters of the bill, which is sponsored by Bryan Rep. Richard Smith, successfully fought back ma jor changes to the bill and won tenta tive approval by a 117-27 vote. After a final vote, the bill will now go to the Senate where it is expected to face strong opposition from trial lawyers and organized labor. Moves to reinstate jury trials of disputed claims, without regard of previous administrative rulings, and to beef up job-related worker safety provisions failed. The House approved decreasing workers’ compensation premiums by 15 percent over three years, but a provision tacked onto the rollback will guarantee the decrease will never take effect, opponents said. The rate reduction would be con tingent on a finding by the State Board of Insurance that such a de crease would be fair and reasonable. In other action, the House re moved a proposed $1.3 million per year workers’ comp research center at Texas A&M University, after op ponents said the center was a “pork barrel” project for the bill’s author. Smith said he was pleased with the House action. “I’m delighted with the way the bill went. We didn’t have any crip pling amendments. The amend ments that went on in regard to rates I think were productive and help ful,” Smith said. Smith presented the 200-page bill as a balance between competing and powerful lobbies for insurance, busi ness, doctors, lawyers, and labor. The bill would expand the over sight and regulatory powers of the state’s administrative agency for workers’ compensation, raise some benefits for injured workers, and lessen court involvement in the adju dication of disputed claims. House Speaker Gib Lewis said if the Senate made any major changes to the bill it could force a special leg islative session. “If the Senate weakens the bill . . . I don’t think we will accept a weak bill. “I think there is a good possibility we could go into a special session. That is one of the issues that could take us into a special session,” said Lewis, D-Fort Worth. “I think it’s a good bill. It will ad dress the problem we have in the workers’ comp system,” Lewis said. Businesses have complained about the rising costs of workers’ comp premiums, while labor groups say workers’ benefits are too low. The major battles during House debate were on adding worker- safety provisions and reinstating a procedure by which a disputed claim goes to state district court without regard to previous administrative rulings. “We appear eager to turn our backs on the Texas Constittuion and particularly the Texas Bill of Rights,” said Rep. David Cain, D- Dallas. But Smith argued most states have removed this procedure — called trial de novo. Smith’s bill would allow courts to only decide in contested cases whether the previous administrative decision was fair. ARTS & CRfipTS Basket Weaving Wed, Mar 29 - April 19 6:30-9pm $16/student Calligraphy II: Wed, April 5 - May 3 7-9pm $ 18/student Stained Glass: Wed, Mar 22, 29, April 5, 12, 19 6-9pm $25/student Etched Glass: Tues, March 28 6- 9pm $ 10/student Matting & Framing: Wed, Mar 22, 29, April 5, 12 7- 9pm $25/student Counted Cross Stitch: Mon, March 20, 27, April 3, 10, 17 7-9pm $ 15 class fee Embroidery : Tues, April 4, 11, 18, 25, May 2 6-9pm $20 class fee Jewelry Construction Seminar: Sat. & Sun. March 25 & 26 9am-12noon & l-4pm each day $38/student Jewelry Casting Seminar: Sat. & Sun. April 8 & 9 9am-12noon & l-4pm each day $38/student Watercolor: Thurs, March 23, 6-8:30pm Saturday, March 25, 10am-3pm Tues, March 28, 6-8:30pm Thurs, April 20, 6-8:30pm Saturday, April 22, 10am-3pm Tues, April 25, 6-8:30pm $ 18/student Drawing in Color: Mon, April 3, 10, 17, 24, May 1 6-9pm $2 5/student Pottery - Wheel Throwing: Thurs, Mar 23 - April 27 5-7pm Thurs, Mar 23 - April 27 7:30-9:30pm $2 5/student Correction The age of Valerie Kay Hum, who was honored Tuesday night at Silver Taps, was incorrectly listed as 26. Hum was 21. The BattaJion regrets the error. dirjjt) Spring 89 Workshops LANGUAGES American Sign Language: M/W, Mar 20 - April 19 $25/student Conversational Spanish: T/Th, March 21 - April 27 8-9:30pm $2 5/student Int Conv Spanish: T/Th. March 21 - April 27 6:30-8pm $25/student English As A Second Language: M/W, Mar 20 - April 19 6-9pm $2 5/student COOKING Authentic Mexican Cooking : Wed, March 22, 29, April 5, 12. 19 6-9pm $32 Class fee Survival Cooking: Tues, March 21, 28, April 4, 11, 18 6-9pm $32 Class fee Ethnic Cooking: Mon, March 20, 27, April 3, 10 6- 9pm $25 Class fee PLANTS Home Landscaping: Tues, Mar 21 - April 18 7- 9:30pm $20/student Herb Gardening: Tues, Mar 28, April 4 6-8pm $8/student SPECIAL INTEREST Auto Mechanics: Thurs, March 23, 30, April 6, 13, 20 7-9pm $18/student Bike Maintenance: Tues, Mar 21, 28. April 4, 11, 18 7-9pm $16/student Intermediate Guitar: T/Th, March 21 - April 18 8:30-10pm $23/student CPR: M/W, Mar 20 & 22 6-10pm $10/student M/W, April 17 & 19 6-10pm $ 10/student Personal Safety & Self Defense M/W, April 10 & 12 6- 8pm $ 12/student Yoga: T/Th, Mar 21 - April 27 $20/student Wine Appreciation II: Wed, March 22, 29, April 5,12 7- 8:30pm $25/student Bartending: M/W, April 3 - May 3 7-10pm $36/student Potpourri: Thurs, April 6, 13 6-8pm $ 12/student Register Now ! 845-1631 PHOTOGRAPHY Beginning Photography: Mon, March 20, 27, April 3, 10 6-9pm $22 class fee The Visual Art Of Photography: Thurs, March 23, 30, April 6, 13 7 9pm $17/student Beginning Black & White Darkroom: Tues, Mar 21, 28, April 4 6-9pm $25/student WOODWORKING Decoy Carving: Tues, Mar 21, 28 April 4, 11 6:30-9:30pm $25/student Beginning Woodworking: Thurs, Mar 23, 30, April 6, 13 6:30-9pm $27/student Int. Woodworking - Jewelry Boxes: Sun, Mar 26, April 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 6-9pm $20/student Wooden Toys: Mon, March 27, April 3, 10, 17, 24 6-8pm $ 18/student BUSINESS Career Counseling: Thurs, Mar 23, 30, April 6, 13 6-8pm $14/student Business Etiquette M/W, April 3, 5, 10, 12, 17, 19 6:30-8pm $ 10/student Interviewing: Thurs, March 9 OR Thurs, April 27 6-9pm $8/student Resume Writing: Thurs, March 2 OR Thurs, April 20 6-9pm $8/student