The Battalion
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STATE & LOCAL
fhursday, July 13,1989
. Study reveals cost to taxpayers for officials’ travels
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■WASHINGTON (AP) — Texas con
gressmen criss-crossed the globe at a cost to
taxpayers of at least $400,000 over the past
two years, according to a study released
Wednesday.
■ While Rep. Kika de la Garza took the
most overseas trips at taxpayer expense,
Rep. Solomon Ortiz outdistanced the rest
o| the 29-member Texas delegation in the
iiendmenij number of countries visited.
P controtfjM rhe study, however, did not list the cost
problems ; fo> each of the 74 trips taken by Texas con-
nendedd E essmen > making it impossible to deter-
tat racesB" 116 w ^ ose trave * was l ^ ie most expensive.
■ De la Garza took nine trips to 13 coun-
rrent t|H es returning to Mexico five times, for a
in effect ■ported cost of $24,677, while Ortiz’s
'sovemb; seven trips took him to 27 countries at a
■st of $42,966, the study by the congres-
should s 'P Iia l watchdog Public Gitizen said.
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tee on Narcotics Abuse and Control, the
study said Ortiz was in nine countries —
Mexico, Belize, Jamaica, Cuba, the Domin
ican Republic, Guyana, Trinidad, Tobago
and Venezuela.
During another fact-finding mission on
narcotics, the Corpus Christi Democrat
touched down in five more countries —Ko
rea, Thailand, Burma, Singapore and In
donesia — at a cost of $ 18,878.
“Trips are important and not junkets,”
Ortiz said. “They are designed to give con
gressmen a first hand view of the problems
and developments abroad.”
The nine trips taken by De la Garza, the
chairman of the House Agriculture Com
mittee, put him in fourth place among all
members of Congress in the number of
separate overseas outings, Public Citizen
said.
Rep. Martin Frost, a member of the
House Rules Committee, which has no role
in drafting legislation, took two of his three
trips with the panel. One journey took the
Dallas Democrat to Spain, Portugal, Mo
rocco and the Ivory Coast, the second to
Spain, Malta, Turkey, Kenya and Senegal.
A third trip with the House Budget
Committee took him to economic confer
ences in Madrid, Paris and Milan — loca
tions, he said, not of his choosing.
Frost also argues that the influential
Rules Committee decides which bills go to
the floor and whether they can be
amended, meaning the members are asked
to make important foreign policy decisions.
“As a general proposition,” he said, “it is
very helpful for members (of Congress) to
gain exposure to other parts of the world.”
Rep. Mickey Leland, a Houston Demo
crat who heads the Select Committee on
Hunger, took five of his seven trips with
the panel.
“Mickey’s trips have been working,
grueling trips — non-stop in terms of
meetings and on-site visits. They’re hot and
sweaty and substantive,” his spokesman,
Alma Newsom, said.
Leland also visited Taiwan with the En
ergy and Commerce Committee and, at the
speaker’s request went to Spain, the Soviet
Union, and Germany.
Several other Texans also ventured be
hind the Iron Curtain, with Rep. Jack
Brooks of Beaumont traveling to Poland,
and Sen. Phil Gramm and Reps. Jake
Pickle and Jim Wright also going to the So
viet Union.
Others ventured into countries on the
fringes of war or torn by strife. Rep. Tom
DeLay’s only trip was to Nicaragua. Rep.
Charlie Wilson returned three times to Pa
kistan.
The study said only a handful of the
state’s congressmen took no overseas trips
in the last two years — Republican Reps.
Steve Bartlett of Dallas, Joe Barton of En
nis, Larry Combest of Lubbock and Lamar
Smith of San Antonio, and Democrat
Henry B. Gonzalez of San Antonio.
However,Bartlett’s spokesman said he
took one short trip on a regularly sched
uled Defense Department flight to Europe.
Public Citizen said globetrotting mem
bers of Congress took a total of 1,053 over
seas trips in 1987-88 at a cost to taxpayers
of at least $13.5 million.
The information on members of the
100th Congress, who served in 1987 and
1988, was compiled from figures furnished
by committees and from military records.
Construction at several areas of campus will con-
inue for the remainder of 1989, said Tom Williams,
Texas A&M Director of Parking, Transit and Traffic
Services and Keith Chapman, director of Lacilities,
’tanning and Construction for the A&M System.
• Ross and Spence streets:
Construction of the Computer Science/Aerospace
engineering (CSAL) Building and the Richardson Pe-
roleum Engineering Building should be completed
>y December 1989. The surrounding sidewalks and
roads will be cleaned up within the next few weeks. A
walkway is scheduled to be built between the Chemis-
aturecom try Building and the CSAE Building, permanently
losing that section of Spence Street.
•Bolton Hall:
The completion date of Bolton Hall renovation is
August.
• Moses Hall and Davis-Gary Hall:
The restoration of the two Corps-style residence
balls on the north side of campus should be finished in
August, in time for occupation this fall.
• Goodwin Hall:
Goodwin Hall, located between the Coke Building
and Bizzell Hall, and across from the Drill Field, is
supposed to be demolished in September 1989 due to
weak foundation. No decision has been made about
building replacement.
• Lubbock and Nagle streets:
The large hole in front of Heldenfels Hall and the
Quadrangle should be repaved by the end of July, al
lowing Lubbock Street to be reopened.
• Satellite Utility Substation:
In December, the new cooling plant next to the Mil
itary Sciences Building on the corner of Joe Routt
Boulevard and Coke Street should be completed. Con
struction along Joe Routt Boulevard will continue to
cause traffic delays during fall while new pipes are laid
between G. Rollie White Coliseum and the new substa
tion.
• Parking Area 24:
The completion date for the parking area behind
south side residence halls is set for August 1990.
• New residence halls:
The new halls, one across from Sbisa Dining Hall,
and four behind the Commons, are finished. The
street between the recently completed dorms and
Mosher will remain closed. A new move-in policy for
the fall is being considered by Student Affairs and
Parking Administration since no vehicles will be al
lowed near the area.
• The Commons Dining Facility renovation:
The scheduled completion date for the addition of
two new wings to the Commons dining hall is Novem
ber. Until then, students should be cautious of con
struction equipment driving between Aston and Dunn
halls and Krueger and Mosher halls.
• University Center Expansion:
Additions to the MSC and Rudder Tower will begin
January 1990. A chain-link fence will block the mall
between the two buildings, detouring pedestrians
through the MSC. A parking garage and an L-shaped
building will be built across from the Rudder Complex
in Lot 60. The contractor will store equipment on the
Spence Park jogging trail, causing the relocation of
Mt. Aggie. Joe Routt Boulevard and Houston Street
also will be blocked until the project’s completion.
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Reported agreement could mean
end of workers’ comp deadlock
AUSTIN (AP) — Legislative lead
ers said Wednesday they have
reached a tentative agreement on re
forming the workers’ compensation
system, signalling a possible break in
the impasse that has deadlocked law
makers since January and forced a
special session.
“Everybody has signed off on the
points that had been holding up
some of the negotiations,” House
Speaker Gib Lewis, said.
A House and Senate conference
committee was expected to begin
voting late Wednesday on some of
the major issues in overhauling the
system that compensates workers
who are injured on-the-job.
Sen. John Montford, author of a
Senate workers’ comp proposal, said
he hoped the conference committee
could produce a bill by Thursday for
consideration of both chambers.
The major obstacles between the
House and Senate were over how to
resolve disputed workers’ comp
claims, how to calculate benefits and
whether to require employers pur
chase workers’ comp insurance.
The House, backed by business,
supported reducing litigation of
comp claims, computing injury
awards based on a specific benefits
schedule, and had rejected propo
sals to mandate comp insurance cov
erage.
The Senate, supported by trial
lawyers and labor, favored retaining
the right to a jury trial, basing comp
awards on lost wages, and requiring
employers to buy comp insurance.
Under the proposed agreement,
disputed comp claims could be ap
pealed to state district court, but any
settlement before the trial began
would have to be approved by the
administrative workers’ compensa
tion commission.
Dallas sponsors ‘official
welcome’ for scientists
DALLAS (AP) — Two weeks after
a criticized “ribbon-cutting” spon
sored by Sen. Phil Gramm, the city
of Dallas plans an “official welcome”
for scientists of the superconducting
super collider.
The event on Friday, which has
been planned for months, will fea
ture some officials who missed the
earlier ceremony, said Barbara Lusk
of Trammell Crow Co., which owns
the space where the 120 scientists
will design and manage the $5.9 bil
lion atom smasher.
On June 27, Gramm, a Republi
can, sponsored a ribbon-cutting at
the offices that was criticized by
some Democrats because it coin
cided with the House vote on super
conductor funding.
Gramm’s ceremony was planned
in about four days, Lusk said.
Many local officials from the area
around Waxahachie, where the pro
ject will be centered, attended
Gramm’s ceremony.
Friday’s welcome, however, will
include Dallas Mayor Annette
Strauss, who was out of the country
on June 27, and Rep. Martin Frost, a
Democrat from Dallas.
ATTENTION TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY SYSTEM EMPLOYEES
TEXAS HEALTH PLANS IS DEDICATED TO PROVIDING TEXANS WITH QUALITY,
CONVENIENT HEALTH CARE, INCLUDING:
NOW MORE THAN 40 PARTICIPATING PHYSICIANS IN THE BRYAN/COLLEGE STATIQf
Charles R. Anderson, M.D.
Fred Anderson, M.D.
Gene F. Brossman, M.D.
Clyde Caperton, M.D.
Francis Cherian, M.D.
Rany A. Cherian, M.D.
William S. Conkling, M.D.
Mahesh R. Dave, M.D.
Naline M. Dave, M.D.
David R. Doss, M.D.
Ernest A. Elmendorf, M.D.
*this list is subject to
Joseph Fedorchik, M.D.
James B. Giles, M.D.
Asha K. Haji, M.D.
Karim H. Haji, M.D.
John J. Hall, M.D.
Robert A. Howard, M.D.
R.W. Huddleston, M.D.
Noreen Johnson, M.D.
Michel E. Kahil, M.D.
Kenan K. Kennamer, M.D.
James M. Kilby, M.D.
change
J.C. Lee, M.D.
James I. Lindsay,, M.D.
Mark B. Lindsay, M.D.
William H. Marr, M.D.
Kenneth E. Matthews, M.D.
Michael F. McMahon, M.D.
Henry McQuaide, M.D.
Gary M. Montgomery, M.D.
Robert H. Moore, M.D.
Jesse W. Parr, M.D.
Anila S. Patel, M.D.
Kanup Patel, M.D.
Sudhir D. Patel, M.D.
Barry F. Pauli, M.D.
H. David Pope, Jr., M.D.
Kuppusamy Ragupathi, M.D.
Mark Riley, M.D.
Haywood J. Robinson, M.D.
Kathleen H. Rollins, M.D.
Karl M. Schmitt, Jr., M.D.
Randy W. Smith, M.D.
Douglas M. Stauch, M.D.
Mehendra Thakrar, M.D.
NEW THIS YEAR - VALUE ADDED DENTAL PROGRAMS
* Dental - THP Members can receive the following dental care:
In BRYAN at HARGROVE DENTAL CENTER
* 15% Discount on dental services such as General, Children's, Periodontal
and Cosmetic Dentistry, Oral Surgery, Dentures, Bonding, Cleaning,
Fillings, Root Canals and Crowns
This program is not part of your regular Texas A&M Benefit Package. Payment for Dental Services is soley your responsibility
COMPREHENSIVE BENEFITS
PROVIDED WITH NO DEDUCTIBLES OR ROUTINE CLAIM FORM HASSLES
Primary Care Physician office visit (well child care, immunizations, etc.) $5/Visit
Authorized Referral Consultant Visits.
Maternity (pre & post natal care)
Medically necessary hospitalization
Surgery (inpatient & outpatient). X-rays & Lab work
Prescription drugs
______ $5/Visit
$5/initial visit only
100% Covered
100% Covered
Eye glasses or contact lenses
Routine eye exams
$5 per prescription or refill
THP will pay up to $80
THP will pay up to $35
MONTHLY PREMIUM RATES
Employee only
Employee and one dependent
Employee and family
$110.68
$249.04
$343.14
ENROLLMENT ENDS JULY 17, 1989. FOR MORE INFORMATION, CALL GREG JORCZYK OR KEVIN
O'CONNOR TODAY AT TEXAS HEALTH PLANS
Tfexas
(512) 338-6154
OR
Plans, Inc. (800) 234-7912
Health
A basketful of cash is better
than a garage full of 'stuff'
Have a garage or yard sale this week - Call 845-2611
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