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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 6, 1989)
AFFORDABLE SNORKELING GEAR ° ^ • MASKS J/ •FINS • SNORKELS tri-state SPORTING GOODS 20% off with cs coupon Q»s 1047 3600 Old College Rd. only (expires 9-9-89) 846-1947 (across from Chicken Oil Co.) " v M /wy Aggie Cinema Movie Information Nacgo^^inema/ Hotline: 847-8478 RAIN MAN SEPT. 8/9 7:30/9:45 $2.00 DIRTY DANCING SEPT. 8/9 MIDNIGHT ....$2.00 STAR WARS: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK SEPT. 9 3:00 PM $2.00 Tickets may be purchased at the MSC Box Office. TAMU ID required except for International features. READY TO PUBLISH? LANG PRINTING Specializes In Publishing Books • Directories • Manuals* Journals Modern Equipment • Quality Minded LANG PRINTING, INC. 209 W. Carson • Bryan • (409) 779-7221 COLLEGE STATION'S SOUTHWOOD VALLEY POOL HOURS Mon.-Fri. •6-7:30 a.m. Adult Lap Swim Mon.-Fri. •9-7p.m. General Public Sat. & Sun • General Public 764-3787 ALPHA EPSILON DELTA THE PREMEDICAL AND PREDENTAL HONOR SOCIETY OF TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY Requirements: 1. Overall and Science GPA of 3.4 2. Completed 45 Hours Pledge Information Meeting Sept 6, 1989 7 p.m. 308 Rudder Tower TEXAS A&M SPORTS CAR CLUB *** FIRST MEETING *** Wednesday, Sept. 6th, 7:00 PM RUDDER TOWER - Room 601 (Ownership is not essential, ENTHUSIASM is!!! For more information call: 846-2062 or 696-RACE or come by our car show all day Wednesday at Rudder Fountain D MSC Political Forum THERE’S A PLACE FOR EVERYONE IN... POLITICAL FORUM Join us at our next GENERAL COMMITTEE MEETING THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 7 7:00 P.M. 226 MSC Page 4 The Battalion Wednesday, September 6,1989 Holiday deaths hit 3-year higl ASSOCIATED PRESS Seven accidents on Texas roads that killed two people each during the Labor Day weekend con tributed to the highest death toll for the holiday in three years, a Department of Public Safety spokesman said Tuesday. The 46 deaths shattered the agency’s predic tion of 34 fatalities during the 78-hour weekend counting period, DPS spokesman Mike Cox said. “We’re certainly disappointed that the count went that high,” Cox said. The highest number of deaths in recent years during Labor Day was in 1982, when 57 were killed. Last year, 32 people were killed. In 1987, the tally was 28 and it was 51 in 1986. Cox noted that no fatal traffic accidents were reported in Dallas, Corpus Christi, the Panhan dle and most of West Texas during the weekend. He said, however, that 10 of the accidents in volved pedestrians and 13 were what authorities term alcohol-related. Eleven fatalities were reported in the final few hours of the counting period. Maria Carmen Castillo of Houston was killed Monday evening while riding in a pickup in volved in a three-vehicle collision in Harris County. Officials say a traffic light malfunction caused the accident that injured six others. A Fort Worth pedestrian, Jose Jimenez, 46, died of injuries suffered when he was struck by a vehicle. The driver fled the scene and has not been arrested, investigators say. David G. Kimball, 26, of Houston was killed when he lost control of his motorcycle and struck a stop sign. Houston officials say he was traveling at a high rate of speed and wasn’t wearing a hel met. A mandatory helmet law went into effect in Texas on Friday. Mario v alero, 60, of Alpine was another destrian killed Monday evening when a pir truck hit him while he was walking down an pine street. Patricio Adam Nava, 24, of Rockport killed Monday evening in one-vehide accit about four miles west of Rockport. Author! said she lost control of the vehicle, eras! through a fence and was pinned in the vet for 40 minutes. Gorden Randall Dover of Texas City killed Sunday evening when the vehide he riding in went out of control and skidded oil road and into a ditch in Harris County. Eddie Leroy Tillis and Cassandra Faye comn, both of Houston, died Monday ever died in a motorcycle accident. Harris Counts thorities said three of four stop signs had taken from an intersection, causing the drive lay the motorcycle down in his attempt to Marine experts stay hopeful for survival of beached whale park. GALVESTON (AP) — Marine mammal experts at Sea-Arama Ma- rineworld remained hopeful Tues day an infant 900-pound sperm whale that washed up on a beach over the weekend would adapt to an artificial whale nurser and a for mula. “He’s not getting any worse, but not getting any better,” said Cheryl Snyder, senior trainer at the “He’s holding his own.” The whale, estimated to be no more than two weeks old, was found ashore on the Bolivar Peninsula Sat urday. When volunteers from the Texas Mammal Stranding Network couldn’t find his mother, the 12-foot whale was hoisted onto a flatbed truck, smeared with zinc oxide suns creen and wet down for the trip to the marine park. Snyder said park personnel, after consulting experts from other ma rine parks around the country, were constructing an artificial nurser and had come up with a whale infant for mula they were hoping the whale, named Odie, would eat. “We got diagrams from marine parks who had raised baby killer whales,” she said. “We’re getting a very strong suckling reponse. He’s sucking hands or anything that comes in his mouth. “I’m real excited. This is an amaz ing animal. It’s an animal that re searchers and scientists — that no one gets much contact with. It’s ex tremely exciting to have one this close. Mostly, we’re all cautious be cause although we’re enthusiastic, you’re realistic. (Survival) statistics for a stranded animal are very low.” Odie was young enough to nurse and has not yet cut his teeth. A sperm whale will nurse for six months after birth. Until he adapts to the artificial nurser, Odie was being fed fluids ev ery four hours through a stomach tube. Experts were making a simulated formula from a powder milk that contains no lactose, which marine mammals are not capable of digest ing. “He’s able to float and hold him self in the water,” Snyder said. “His equilibrium is off. Volunteers are in the water with him 24 hours a day. They gently hold on to him to keep his blow hole above water.” The discovery of a whale on the Texas coast is quite rare. Since 1984, only two whales have been found. A 500-pound, 9-foot-long male sperm whale was found dead in Cor pus Christi two years ago. In 1984 a pygmy sperm whale died at Sea-Arama 11 days after it beached. It died of peritonitis caused by eating a garbage bag, a bread wrapper, a corn chip bag and parts of two other plastic bags. Sea-Arama officials said they hoped to be able to release Odie once he begins feeding himself whole foods, normally squid. That was not expected, however, for seve ral months, although by then he likely would double his size. Sara Lee Tight’ dessert lose misleading name AUSTIN (AP) — Everybody doesn’t like something, but no body likes being told a “light” cheesecake has fewer calories when it doesn’t, said Texas Attor ney General Jim Mattox when an nouncing a settlement Tuesday with the Sara Lee Corp. Mattox said he and attorneys general from eight other states obtained a settlement in which the Chicago-based Sara Lee will stop advertising its diet cheese cake and pound cake snack as “light.” Mattox said that Sara Lee’s Light Classics cheesecakes and its All Butter Pound Cake Snack have more calories and fat than the original Creme Cheesecake and the Original All Butter Pound Cake, respectively. The advertisements for the “light” cheesecake and pound cake were misleading, Mattox said. “Those of us who are weight- watchers and connoisseurs of des serts need as much help as we can get,” Mattox said. “Mislabeling a dessert is unfair to consumers.” But officials with Sara Lee said the “light” designation referred to the texture of the dessert, not the calorie content. “The word light appeared in small print and referred to the dessert’s texture,” T. Patrick Cos tello. president of Sara Lee Bake ries retail division, said. “We be- lieve this objection has no merit in fact, but we have decided tosei because it will save us addition costly legal expenses.” In any event, Sara L dropped the “light” designate before the attorneys generalcc plained about it, according William Hammer, a spokesni for the company. He said the “light” referee proved to be an ineffective keting tool. Hammer said there also was dispute over whether the “ligl products actually had fewerc ories. For example, he said a slice Light Classic cheesecake had 2! calories as compared with 230a ories for the traditional produci But the attorneys gener maintained that was because “light” slice weighed less thantl traditional product, although was similar in volume. Under the settlement, Sarah has agreed to display the [ serving calorie content of products, and that any prodr labeled “light” will contain more than two-thirds of the a ories of the product to whichil being compared. The company also will pa each state $ 10,000 in investigate costs. The other states involved the settlement are California, nois, Iowa, Massachusetts, nesota, Missouri, New York Wisconsin. 181 E SI e\ c Residents fear radioactive dum[ threatens homes, family health Cigarettes may be cause of forest fire MANVEL (AP) — Garbage dumped as far back as 1962 in a landfill near this north Brazoria County town included radioactive materials that now threaten homes, water and health, residents say. closed in 1987 because it was filling up and would be too costly to oper ate, City Manager Ron Wicker said. E ort two homes; otherwise a lave been out of ago here HENLY (AP) — Youths playing with cigarettes are believed to have started a raging fire that charred more than 700 acres of ranch land near the Pedernales Falls State Park, authorities said. The stubborn fire was brought under control late Monday after a 28-hour battle, officials said Tues day. An army of at least 80 firefighters from across Central Texas and be yond had to overcome flames, rugged terrain, 101-degree temper atures and gusty winds in battling the blaze. “There is not enough people, not enough water and too much wind,” Tommy Holder, a volunteer with the Blanco Volunteer Fire Depart ment, said at the height of the fire. “We’ve had problems ever since we moved out here in 1976,” said Marvin Pomfrey, 52, who lives across from the abandoned dump he claims caused the death of several of his dogs. “We didn’t know there was a land fill that was radioactive,” Pomfrey said. “When we moved out here, there wasn’t a word said about con tamination.” “We used to go berry-picking along the road,” said Walter Fergu son, 45, who used to live across the street from the dump. “There are berry vines all along the . fence. We didn’t know anything about radia tion or that this was a dump.” For 10 years, companies and indi viduals dumped trash ranging from household garbage to radioactive waste at the six-acre tract, which served as an open dump for the city of Pearland. The city asked only for a small user’s fee, but filed no re cords of the debris. The landfill was The Fergusons moved to Houston after a radioactivity sign was posted at the dump in 1986. Since then, their son was born with Down’s Syn drome and they have filed a $6.8 million lawsuit claiming endanger- ment to him. Joe Rost, 49, moved his college- age daughter to Houston, but told the Houston Chronicle he cannot af ford to move the rest of the family. “When you put your family on the front lines, you can’t take any chance,” Rost said. “We’re stuck in a corner. I can’t sell, and I can’t sup- An Environmental Protect Agency study done in 1986 c eluded there was insufficient f dence to evaluate the extent ok tarn i nation. Higher-than-nor surface readings of radioactj were recorded, but nothing exp considered dangerous. No sut face readings were done. Soil samples taken from thedc| reveaLJ extensive PCB contr nation. A total of 29 compote were identified and detected in' concentrations, as well as 1 centrations of lead and barium I Barium, a toxic metallic eleu and manganese, also toxic aneb to toughen steel, were locatecj three residential water wells| higher than normal levels. The fire was brought under con trol by 8 p.m. Monday, but firefight ers remained on the scene to douse rekindling hot spots. No homes or other buildings were burned, and no one was injured. Some boys playing with cigarettes near a subdivision just north of Henly — a Hays County community of about 60 people — are believed to have started the fire about 4:30 p.m. Sunday, said Arkie Byars of the Johnson City Fire Department. Winds blowing at 15-20 mph fanned the fire north from Henly along the Havs-Blanco countv line. Problems from money to marriage plague millions of gambling addicts HOUSTON (AP) —Joe is a bright, successful, proto typical yuppie. At least, he appears to be. But his wallet is padded with credit cards charged be yond the limit. He owes the Internal Revenue Service several thousand dollars. He owes his boss. He .owes his friends and relatives. He amazes himself with how he keeps coming up with more money, money that is begged, borrowed and stolen. He won’t leave his house unless he has at least $2,000 cash in his pocket. The money goes fast. He enjoys the everything-is- wonderful rush of cocaine. But even more than that, he loves the thrill of a heavy wager, the danger of a defeat that will leave him penniless again and challenge his in genious mind to devise new ways to raise money. Compulsive gambling is one little-known asp# ' the Age of Addiction, which is the logical extensio Firefighters with the Blanco Vol unteer Fire Department were the first on the scene. As the flames con sumed more and more land, re inforcements were called from 18 other departments. Firefighters from the Texas Forest Service in Lufkin also responded. Although the fire was thought to be under control several times, it continued to jump past fire lines, Blanco volunteer firefighter Mickey Cougot said. “We had it out in areas, but the wind kept blowing it,” Cougot said. Sixteen forest service officers ar rived at the fire about 2 p.m. Mon day and began organizing units and setting up command posts, Sam Logan, a spokesman for the Texas Forest Service, said. He plays the riskiest sector of the stock market, the puts and calls that greatly magnify every gentle swing in the index. He also gambles on sports. He subscribes to a tele vision cable service so he can watch several games a day. He goes to bed with his radio on as he tries to pick up the last scores from the West Coast. He wins some but loses more. Finally, he no longer can replace what he loses. He can’t make the minimal credit-card payments. And no matter how much he lies on his financial statements, he can’t coax more loans. His wife has left, and now the bookies are leaning on him, making not-so-veiled threats that harm will befall him if he doesn’t pay his debts. Now, Joe is desperate. He sees his life as hopeless and worthless. He ponders suicide. He has struck bottom. Joe is not an actual person but a composite of typical compulsive gamblers as described by members of Gam blers Anonymous and counselors at the New Spirit Clinic in Houston. the Me Generation of the 1970s. In this era of self-indulgence, the quest for thrilk euphoria too often becomes a compulsion. Alcohol caine, sex or food can overwhelm a person’s life. AnJ can gambling. The National Institute of Mental Health estimy 4.5 million Americans are compulsive ganW According to Gamblers Anonymous, the figure exo 8 million. One of these compulsive gamblers, addiction exp suspect, could be Pete Rose, manager of the Cinditf Reas. “He looks like a good case of it,” says Dr. Tho*' Clocher, a Houston psychiatrist and licensed addx nologist who heads New Spirit. Arnold Wexler, director of the Council on Co®: sive Gambling in New Jersey, says, “From what - read, and if it’s true, it sure sounds like Rose isaC' pulsive gambler who needs help.” Rose was barred from the game Aug. 24, but can ply for reinstatement next year. Some of those who are knowledgeable about a® tions decry lifetime banishment as unfairly harsh A fault the baseball rule book, written decades ago" out benefit of modern research in addictionologj forcing a compulsive gambler to lie and make deni®' maintain his employment. While baseball and other sports give cocaine ad® second and third chances to rehabilitate themsA Rose would be out after his first strike. Wexler argues that major-league baseball should low compulsive gamblers to “admit their addiction 5 begin treatment without fear of having their livelik taken away from them.” He contends that Rose isP means an isolated case. I