J 2 The Battalion STATE & LOCAL 3 lefendingand sed “facts” to ourself ;rs, carbon lixing toxins ildn’t pest mgicides, lormones are nt as a whole rples we absorb, :ene rings are \merican entral 'T in the column con- eenng major, id try to learn end because dons will last. imons dining loices: i you failed to by everyone e than polite ?el free to eat too much re- Cadets were 1 they earned a fish in the your lack of i. You volun- activities in- fish are told rson. If you aternity or a Future of the entering the e the right to e on the line Wednesday, April 12,1989 Texas cities experiment with waste recycling By Sherri Roberts STAFF WRITER Although Texas and other south ern states have been slower to adopt recycling programs than many northeastern states that have less abundant aluminum and land re sources, more Texas cities are exper imenting with the programs. Independent companies in Bryan-College Station recycle and sell aluminum, paper and glass products to companies such as Alcoa and Reynolds Metal Co. However, both cities practice “cold-mingling” — depositing recyclable and non-re- cyclable public waste materials to gether in a landfill. “All that stuff we’re packing in there (landfills for waste) is a natural resource,” James Minor, solid waste division manager for Bryan, said. Minor said the expense of imple menting a recycling project is a sig nificant factor discouraging Bryan officials from adopting such a pro gram. A curbside recycling program would require the city to buy trucks specifically for the recyclable material and also to supply con tainers to deposit the material, Mi nor said. In addition, many people would not want the inconvenience of having to separate paper, aluminum and glass materials from the rest of their garbage, he said. Alan Watts, manager of waste re duction programs for Austin, said that city’s curbside recycling pro gram, begun as a pilot program in 1982, eventually will close the gap between its 1987-88 budget of $1 million and revenues of $300,000. The program, which is financed by the city’s solid waste services fee, will benefit the city indirectly by increas ing employment, decreasing pollut ion and saving energy, he said. Because the raw materials in pa per, aluminum cans and glass have been refined, it requires 95 percent less energy to make a can from a re cycled aluminum can and 50 percent less energy to make paper from re cycled paper, Watts said. Shirley Johnson, the Austin pro gram’s public education coordina tor, said the program, which collects more than 550 tons of recyclable materials a month and is provided to 90,000 homes, will expand to in clude the entire city in June. More than 800 block leaders stim ulate publicity and community in volvement in the program, she said. Other Texas cities soon may have to follow in Austin’s footsteps be cause of newly revised Environmen- Lawyer for Wright accused of ‘collusion’ WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Jim Wright’s chief critic Tuesday accused the speaker’s law yer of colluding with Democrats to violate the secrecy of the ethics com mittee as it considers charges against Wright. “My reaction is sort of beyond rage, into amazement,” said Rep. Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., who filed the complaint last year that led to the ethics case against Wright. Wright’s attorney, William Old- aker, was permitted to be present during the three weeks of closed- door meetings beginning in late Feb ruary at which the committee’s out side counsel, Richard Phelan, pre sented his case in detail to panel members. Last week Oldaker began briefing selected House Democrats and a few key Democratic lobbyists on the speaker’s defenses against the issues that have become the key focus of the ethics probe: evasion of outside income limits and business dealings with a Fort Worth developer, George Mallick. The committee took the unusual step of allowing Oldaker to sit in on its private deliberations because it was useful for members to hear “the initial line of reasoning” from the speaker’s attorney, Gingrich said he was told at the time. But the process is clearly confi dential under House rules, he said, and for Oldaker to later brief Demo- Official: Workers comp system doesn’t work AUSTIN (AP) — The chief administrator of the Texas workers’ compensation system said T uesday the system often rewards fraudulent claim disputes and shortchanges legitimate claims. “Right now there is absolutely no accountability in the system,” Joseph Gagen, chairman of the Industrial Acddent Board said. Before a Senate subcommittee considering sweeping changes to the state’s workers’ comp system, Gagen read a letter he received from an attorney, whose client was considering suicide because of a disputed injury claim. After an appeal of the Accident Board’s ruling, the woman’s workers’ comp payments had stopped and she was running out of money, the letter said, “Senators, there is not a damn thing I can do for that lady,” Gagen said. “I guess the biggest frustration I have day-to-day is that inability to resolve problems.” Gagen, of Houston, said under the Texas workers’ comp law, disputes are encouraged and there are no in centives to keep costs down. When an injured worker or an insurance company disputes the decision by the Accident Board “at this point, you can throw the workers’ compensation law away,” he said. Once an appeal is filed, the workers’ comp payments stop. This produces an economic hardship on the worker with a legitimate claim and may cause him to settle for less than to what he is entitled, Gagen said. But those with phony claims know they can settle out of court because the insurance company will pay any thing lower than the cost of going to court. Gagen said 10 percent of the claims before the Acci dent Board are awarded nothing. 1 crats, including outside lobbyists, on the case is “an act so stupid, so fun damentally undermining the ethics E rocess that ... I find it hard to be- eve he is doing that,” Gingrich said. “These are people who are out of touch with the way modern society operates,” he said, adding that two GOP members of the ethics commit tee were “stunned” to hear of Oldak- er’s activities and promised to look into the matter. Committee chairman Rep. Julian Dixon, D-Calif., declined to criticize Oldaker, saying only that “he has to represent his client in the way he sees fit” and that he did not know the content of the briefings. But the panel’s senior Republican, Rep. John T. Myers of Indiana, said he had some concerns. “We extended the courtesy of our committee, which is not required by the rules,” to Oldaker, Myers said. “When he discusses what took place there, he’s in violation of House rules. ... I guess I’m just giving a warning.” The committee continued its de liberations on Tuesday and Dixon said he expected the meetings to continue through the week. But it appeared increasingly likely that there would be no public announce ment of a final decision until next week.' tal Protection Agency rules, which will require cities to recycle a certain percentage of waste mater ial. Minor said Bryan officials, who are working with College Station of ficials to possibly acquire a joint land fill site, do not want to implement a recycling program until EPA re leases its revised regulations later this year. Ron Schmidt, general manager for Texas Commercial Waste, said cities should increase efforts to de velop a market for recycled materi als rather than simply pouring funds into a recycling program. By finding new uses for recycled material, de mand for it would increase, eliminat ing decreased revenues because of a flooded market, he said. Schmidt said drop-spots at which people can deposit recyclable materials are a more efficient alter native to curbside recycling. Texas Commercial Waste and Brazos Beautiful started such a pro gram in February, encouraging peo ple to deposit glass and aluminum containers in receptacles at locations throughout the Brazos Valley, in cluding the Skaggs and Manor East Mall parking lots. Schmidt said the success of the program has exceeded the expecta tions of the project’s organizers. It has generated an average revenue of $600 per month for its sales of recy clable material to companies, he said. Other local community groups are starting recycling projects as well. The Texas Environmental Action Coalition recently rescued 10 to 15 tons of outdated fact sheets and va rious other papers at the Agricultu ral Extension Service warehouse — papers which administrators were planning to burn — and sold them to a Houston paper company for re cycling. Mike Worsham, vice president of the coalition, said paper companies offer about $110 per ton for recycla ble computer paper and $15 for a ton of newspapers. Whatever the method, Bryan offi cials say recycling efforts in the com munity most likely will increase. Civil penalties may result from hospital chopper crash HOUSTON (AP) — Hermann Hospital could face civil penalties stemming from the operation of its Life Flight program, which suffered a setback this week when three peo ple were seriously injured in a heli copter crash. The possible fines would be in connection with findings of non- compliance with Federal Aviation Regulations and FA A guidelines and policies cited in a March 1988 Na tional Aviation Safety Inspection Program Report, said Gerrie Cook, a spokesman for the FAA regional of fice in Fort Worth. On Sunday, a Hermann Hospital Life Flight helicopter plunged 100 feet shortly after takeoff from the hospital parking lot. Investigators on Tuesday continued efforts to try and determine if the helicopter struck the side of a parking garage before plummeting to the ground. The pilot, a nurse and an emer gency medical technician were in jured and remained hospitalized Tuesday. Correction The cutline accompanying a photo on the front page of Tues- * day’s Battalion incorrectly identi fied Phil Gooch as a member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity. Gooch is a member of Sigma Al pha Epsilon. The fight also was identified incorrectly as the final match of the heavyweight divi sion. It was a semifinal fight. The Battalion regrets the errors. Tin “Biting ing i only to he end of Duld we stay savy metal eir songs lie band ^vays and j^ht to edit letters cst be signed and ■eathed Wednesday, April 12 THE MIDDLE EAST: PEACE OR POWDER KEG 8 p.m. Rudder Auditorium Dr. James Jonah Assistant U.N. Secretary-General Robert McFarlane Stansfield Turner former National Security Advisor former C.I.A. Director "Tffod&ititeci 5^ Ed Bradley Co-Editor 60 Minutes *7cc&et& /t