The Battalion
STATE & LOCAL
uesday, August 8,1989
, ca |Texas road project stirs up dissent
^jlofficial: Use of South African steel hurts U.S., apartheid battle
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AUSTIN (AP) — The possible use of South
B African-produced steel in the costliest state road
J project in Texas history will hurt American steel
I companies and is a slap against people trying to
end apartheid, the local chapter president of the
NAACP said Monday.
Gary Bledsoe called on the Texas Highway
Commission to cancel the contract to build a
I bridge over the Houston ship channel because
■ the two firms chosen plan to work with a South
I African company to supply 3.1 million pounds of
I steel.
“Countries such as South Africa that permit
I slave labor in mining steel and other materials
are able to underprice American comnanies and
take away their business,” Bledsoe said.
“This causes thousands of persons to be unem
ployed and numerous American businesspersons
to become bankrupt or near bankrupt,” he said.
Although a new state law virtually forbids the
use of foreign steel in road projects, state high
way officials say the $91 million contract for the
4,100-foot bridge across the ship channel was ap
proved before that law took effect June 14.
“We cannot restrict the source of materials,”
said Byron Blaschke, department engineer for
the Texas Department of Highways and Public
Transportation.
“As long as the contractor provides the
material that meets our specifications, the de
partment cannot prevent tnem from obtaining it
from any particular source,” he said.
A joint venture involving Williams Brothers of
Houston and Traylor Brothers of Evansville,
Ind., was awarded the bridge contract in Decem
ber 1986.
Under the new law, limitations on use of for
eign steel for highway projects in Texas now mir
ror limits on federal projects that had been in
place since 1984. The amount of foreign steel al
lowed can total 0.1 percent of the project or
$2,500 —whichever is greater.
State officials say another anti-apartheid di
vestment law passed in 1987 places limits on in
vestments of state treasury money, but not con
tracts, supplies or purchases.
Law may require informing home buyers
of any previous AIDS infected occupants
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AUSTIN (AP) — Texas real es
tate agents may be required this
| month to inform buyers or tenants
that a property for sale or lease was
previously occupied by someone suf
fering from AIDS.
But first, the Texas Real Estate
Commission says, it needs more in
formation about a new AIDS law.
Under legislation that takes effect
Aug. 28, an agent who has “actual
knowledge” that a former owner or
tenant had acquired immune defi-
AIDS
tested agrees to release the iniorma-
tion.
The Real Estate Commission, in a
letter to the attorney general, says
the statutes “pose an irreconcilable
conflict.”
The commission asked the attor-
U
AlDS is not contracted that way. In fact, you have
to go out of your way to get it..
— Robert Bernstein,
State Health Commissioner
ciency syndrome will have to disclose
that fact if asked to do so.
If the information is not available,
the agent is protected from legal ac
tion by potential buyers or renters.
However, the legislation does not
address a law passed two years ago
prohibiting AIDS tests results, from
being made public unless the person
ney general’s office to issue an opin
ion on what constitutes “actual
knowledge” of AIDS. The agency
wants to know whether that means
the agent has seen results from an
AIDS test, obtained the information
from the seller of the property or
simply heard rumors.
In addition, the commission wants
to know if it should develop a stan
dardized form to be used by agents
when a buyer or renter wants AIDS-
related information.
Rep. Debra Danburg, who spon
sored the new requirements in the
House, said lawmakers wanted to
protect real estate agents from the
threat of lawsuits by purchasers who
wanted disclosure of the informa
tion and sellers disturbed by the in
vasion of their privacy.
Real estate agents have continued
to disclose in advertising that a
house had been inhabited by an
AIDS patient, despite the 2-year-old
law designed to prevent tests for the
disease f rom being used to discrimi
nate against people who have it, said
Danburg, D-Houston.
For example, she said, an ad
placed in a newspaper last year by
the Veterans Administration to sell
foreclosed Austin properties warned
that one of the houses for sale had
been occupied by someone with
AIDS.
State Health Commissioner Rob
ert Bernstein said medical experts’
opinion is that AIDS cannot be
transmitted through casual contact,
such as being picked up from some
one’s living quarters.
“There is no danger whatever.
AIDS is not contracted that way,”
Bernstein told the Austin American-
Statesman. “In fact, you have to go
out of your way to get it, through ei
ther blood transfusions or the ex
change of bodily fluids.”
Education holds key to changing
views on minorities, prof says
By Fiona Soltes
at—
CITY EDITOR
For the world to change its
opinion of minorities, more mi
norities need to hold leadership
positions in the technical and sci
entific fields, Dr. Alan Letton, as
sistant professor of mechanical
engineering, said Sunday.
Addressing high school partici
pants of Youth Opportunities
Unlimited, he stressed the impor
tance of education.
“You need to think about who
controls your life,” Letton said.
“It’s not your parents — it’s you.
And in order to control your life,
you need an education.”
Letton told the group of about
100 teen-agers that the main deci
sion-making groups of society
have a low percentage of minority
members. As a result, he said, mi
norities are not well represented
and are not in control of their fu
tures.
“Three things control your
fate: having the right resources
given to you, having the opportu
nity to use them and having the
knowledge of how to use them,”
he said.
Without education and rep
resentation in the technical and
scientific segments of society, de
cisions like these will already be
made for the youth, Letton said.
“For everyone to do better, you
must do better individually,” he
said. “You may not like the way
things are. So, I dare you to
change them.”
Letton’s speech was the last of
an eight-part series aimed at the
youth on campus for this year’s
Y.O.U. program. The program is
designed to encourage high
school students from areas such
as East Texas and Houston to ex
perience the campus community
and what it offers.
The students, who lived in dor
mitories during the eight-week
camp, worked at on-campus jobs
four hours per day for minimum
wage. Each participant also at
tended four hours of classes at
A&M, including classes in En
glish, reading or math. These
courses count as credit toward
high school graduation.
HUD officials question expenditures
of San Antonio Housing Authority
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Department of Housing
and Urban Development officials are questioning mil
lions of dollars in expenditures by the San Antonio
Housing Authority in a confidential report that main
tains there was a conflict of interest involving housing
board members, according to a San Antonio newspa
per.
But the housing authority’s executive director dis
missed the report, saying allegations of improprieties
were politically motivated.
In the report, obtained by the San Antonio Express-
News, HUD investigators question the housing authori
ty’s use of two non-profit corporations to gather funds
and do work. The corporations — San Antonio Hous
ing Assistance Corp. and San Antonio Housing Facility
Corp. — are subsidiaries of the housing authority.
SAHA is an independent agency of the city and is
funded mainly through HUD.
Federal auditors allege conflict of interest by housing
authority board members because they also serve as
trustees of the two non-profit corporations, the Ex
press-News reported Monday.
Among the allegations in the report are claims that
contract-bidding regulations were violated; that the
SAHA board did not approve account transfers of
$15,000 or more, as required by law; and that the au
thority used federal low-income funding for a project
where tenants are not required to demonstrate low in
come.
The housing authority entered into 24 agreements
and one contract without competitive bidding, accord
ing to the report. Bids are required for expenditures of
more than $10,000. The contracts at issue total $3.46
million.
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1.78
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1.61
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1.43
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1.17
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.85
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• 2,175“
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1,285“
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695“
1,100“
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1,365“
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1,850“
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695“
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325“
540“
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540“
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560“
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Carat
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2.11
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1.61
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3,900°°
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1,050°°
795°°
315°°
285°°
165°°
UNUSUAL DIAMONDS
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$1,375°°
1,395°°
1,275°°
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Triangle Cut
T.W. Matched Pair Triangle Cut
Natural Uncut Diamond Fancy Yellow Color
Pear Shape, (Irradipted) Blue
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1,950°°
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