Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 13, 1989)
f The Battalion LIFESTYLES 4 Moi Monday, November 13,1989 Recycling centers offer alternatives for trash disposal By James A. Johnson Of The Battalion Staff Warning: Don’t throw away those old aluminum cans, beer bottles, torn clothes or even the newspaper you’re reading — they could benefit you and the envi ronment you live in. In an effort to improve the Bryan-College Station environ ment and overflowing waste sites, people are recycling as a profita ble way of maintaining the area economy and saving many of our natural resources. Local recycling stations have been accepting anything from waste oil to cardboard for more than 20 years, but not until re cently has it been viewed as such a crucial form of conservation. Currently, there are more than a dozen Bryan-College Station sites available for people who wish to make some fast money or volunteer their services toward pollution control. Bryan Iron and Metal, located on Highway 21 West in Bryan, has been recycling for more than 20 years. In conjunction with Brazos Beautiful Inc., a program dedicated to the beauty and pro gress of Bryan-College Station, Bryan Iron and Metal jointly op erates four 24-hour drop-offsites at Academy on Texas Avenue, El Chico Restaurant in Bryan, Sue Haswell Park and at Skaggs Al- E ha Beta. All proceeds from oxes at the sites are given to Bra zos Beautiful. The company buys glass sorted by color (with or without labels), brass, aluminum, copper, stain less steel, cars, car batteries, cast iron, pipe, engines, computer cir cuit boards, radiators, lead and steel. Open from 8 to 5 on week days, the full-service company maintains 24 paid employees and is the largest recycler in the area. Lee Ragland, assistant man ager at Bryan Iron and Metal, said people recycle for different reasons, but some reasons are more common than others. “Some folks with lower income recycle to supplement their inco me,” Ragland explained. “Others do their part to help the ecology and reduce the strain on natural resources.” He added that some people may be indifferent or not realize the importance or avail ability of recyling. Recycling also helps save space for local waste sites, he said. “It allows us to save landfill space while saving energy con sumption,” he said. “It’s much more efficient.” Ragland said his company re cycles aluminum cans more often than other materials. Because the number of cans that are recycled varies, he said it’s hard to estimate a daily production rate. A person can get two cents for every pound of aluminum or glass they bring in, and more than 3,000 pounds of glass from bottles and jars are processed da ily. Recycling glass is more time- and cost-efficient than the usual process of making glass from sand and then into a glass bottle again, he said. Ragland said that it costs too much to keep dumping garbage into landfills and that space for landfills is shrinking. Ed Ilschner, director of the Bryan Public Works Administra tion, said that people in the Bryan-College Station area pro duces close to 300 tons of solid waste each day, but the Bryan landfill looks to have about 10 years left while the landfill in Col lege Station has about 20 years. In a recent report, the Envi ronmental Protection Agency es timated that only 10 percent of America’s municipal solid waste is being recycled. This includes 30 percent of our newspapers, 40 to 45 percent of cardboard, 10 to 15 percent of office paper, 50 per cent of aluminum cans, 10 per cent of glass bottles and only two percent of plastic products. Cynthia Pollock Shea of the Worldwatch Institute in Wash ington said people could recycle much more. “Recycling all copies of just one Sunday edition of The New York Times could leave 75,000 trees standing,” she said. Almost 100 percent of alumi num cans are made into new alu minum cans. The metal also can be processed into items such as See Recycle/Page 5 Social workers face challenge! Extra dedication required to fight child abusi i By Katsy Pittman Of The Battalion Staff Four-year-old Meara Taylor, screaming “I don’t want to die!” was stabbed 22 times by her mother last week in Brazoria County. Meara is just one of the estimated 3 or 4 American children who die each day from abuse or neglect — murdered because she had broken a cheap mu sic box. Agents with the Child Protective Services in Bryan may find Meara’s story sad — but not shocking. And the fact that reported child abuse cases in this area have creased 88 percent in 1989 makes it hard to worry about other regions. Typical, everyday cases in Bryan and College Station include: • Toddlers who are raped by male relatives and spend weeks re covering in hospitals. • Starving children whose moth ers repeatedly sell food stamps to t buy crack. • Parents who devise ways to abuse children that don’t draw atten tion. For instance, burning the soles of their children’s feet with rettes so the burns won’t readily show. Dana Sawyer, supervisor of the lo cal Child Protective Services said the greatest increase they are seeing in Bryan-College Station is abuse of young children that results in sex ually transmitted diseases. “Of course, it happens to 12 year- olds,” Sawyer said. “But we’ve seen the highest increase in gonorrhea and syphilis cases in younger chil dren — usually from ages one to 10.” Case workers at Child Protective Services may not have it as bad as the abused children themselves, but their work is no piece of cake, either. For instance, dangerous situations often occur when case workers must take children away from their par ents. “We’ve had several occasions where workers have gotten attacked in the home,” Sawyer said. “We also get yelled at a lot. “It can be a difficult job, because when we go out to their (the abus er’s) home, we are kind of in their el ement and we walk into a lot of un perceived situations when we go knock on the door . . . but we have to do it.” Workers now use police assistance after dark or in situations in which the family has a history of violent be havior. ‘Baker Boys’ sizzles with fine performances, script Michelle Pfeiffer and Jeff Bridges perform in the movie “The Fabulous Baker Boys.” Bridges’ real-life brother Beau Bridges also stars in the film. By Todd Stone Of The Battalion Staff Like smooth jazz, old scotch or a sly look from a woman dressed in red, “The Fabulous Baker Boys” is one of this year’s most stylish films. It has all the elements of a great movie: great story, believable dialogue, fine performances and fantastic music. Jeff and Beau Bridges star in the title role as two brothers (Jack and Frank Baker) who perform as a cocktail-lounge piano act. They never became famous, but they survived for 15 years. Now, business is bad. Nobody wants them anymore because their corny style isn’t in demand. Frank (Beau Bridges) handles all the business aspects of the duo, and decides that the Baker Boys need a change. A singer. Enter Susie Diamond, played by Michelle Pfeiffer. Suzie’s only previous experience is with an escort service, but she has the voice and look that would make any man drool and say “Wuf, wuf.” Suddenly, with Susie on stage, singing sweet and looking sultry, The Baker Boys are in demand. Though business picks up, Susie’s presence disrupts the relationship with the Baker brothers. One would as sume there would be a competition for the affections of Miss Diamond, but Frank is happily married with a family. The problem is Frank, the older brother of Jack (Jeff Bridges), has always called the shots and taken care of his little brother who seems distant and disinterested in life. Now, all of Frank’s decisions are questioned by Su sie instead of accepted by Jack. When Jack and Susie have an affair, this system of Frank being in charge is totally destroyed. Someone else has an influence over what happens to Frank’s little brother. The filmmakers promote the sexy presence of Pfief- fer, but the true themes of this movie center around the bond of brotherhood and lost dreams. Although both brothers play piano, Jack (Jeff Bridges) has a true talent for music, but seems willing to Illustration by Doug LaRue “It’s unfortunate, but people get very angry at us,” Sawyer said. “But I can understand why.” Understanding seems to be the key element to the social worker’s job, and case worker^ must keep their cool even in the toughest situa tions. “It gets very hard, but everybody deserves your respect because they are human beings. Now, you may not like them and they might not like you, but you are a professional and you must demonstrate tact.” Tact must override frustration in all situations, says “Linda” (her real name is not used for safety reasons). In a calm, passive voice Linda said she never lets her anger toward abu sive parents overcome her ratio nality. However, she does get very “disappointed” in families that re- E eatedly leave their children on the rink of disease and starvation —un til Child Protective Services step in — and then let the children’s health slide as soon as the agency is out of the picture. “You sometimes get the feeling that you’re being used,” Linda said. “But I can’t sit around when I know that there are children in the house and they are starving.” Sawyer said caseworkers also must overcome social prejudices. “People always ask me, ‘Isn’t it that lower-class neighborhood over there that has all the reports?’ And I have to say, ‘No — a couple of weeks ago we investigated a professor.’ ” waste tail ac his br ■nil) Baker off he horde i has hi ‘T Sus might risk of some form of abuse ort^ s gleet each year. 1'; '. And while the number of abu^^ S children in Texas is increasing.- c number of child abuse workersisi R< 66 We’ve had several occasions where workers have gotten attacked in the home. We also get yelled at a lot. — Dana Sawyer, Child Protective Services Overall, Sawyer says they proba bly will have had about 1,000 con firmed cases of child abuse from January 1988 to the end of this year. Child abuse is not just a local problem, however. The Texas De partment of Human Services says that an estimated 431,400 (or 8.5 percent) of Texas children are at Fabulous/Page 5 creasing. For most workers, salaries are a degree in the social sciences is quired and the hours are long. M caseworkers are on 24-hour seven days a week, 365 days a yfi A usual workday lasts from Sic' but Sawyer said workers usit (Com don’t leave until 6:30 everyday, f: Linda says the turnover rate workers is fast: about every 12topwnc months. Pec “Sometimes I wonder wkiffijings going to happen,” Linda sij m jacl “We’ve got to have warm bodRcycli from somewhere.” jacket: So does Linda ever considerleBocei ing, even during the roughestdai ers, g Not a chance. And her supen. Ninety won’t be leaving either. used t “1 don’t always enjoy it,” Saw be use said. “I just know it has tobedont Jo , Sawyer did leave once foranott direct job in the Texas Department ofE recycl man Services, but said “This is: sion a calling — I had to come back." tribut Rfirroi J tf ers — Toor i up ro; DNA fingerprinting, stakeouts offered at diverse ‘cop school’ Cl us to the sti NEW YORK (AP) —John Salamy, a 22-year-old aspiring FBI agent, was a bit disconcerted when he looked down during an exam and saw a .38-caliber revolver strapped to the ankle of the student next to him. On this campus, you may smoke only in desig nated areas. You may carry your gun anywhere. The John Jay College of Criminal Justice, part of the City University of New York (CUNY) system, is indeed an unusual institution of higher learning. It is a liberal arts college where you cannot major in English, history or philosophy, but you can major in forensic psychology, criminology or deviant be havior and social control. A science lab is equipped to do DNA testing, the ultimate in identification. Kojak is now filming in the environs. A vintage firetruck, enclosed in glass, is the major artwork of one building. “It’s the only school where you might have an ex felon, a recovering alcoholic, an FBI man and a cop all taking notes in the same class,” says Dr. Charles Bahn, a psychology professor. “In fact, we used to joke back when it was nearly all cops, ‘How do you grade a class where everybody is armed?’ We told them we gave credit for time served and were open to plea bargaining.” John Jay is one of only a few colleges of criminal justice, including the universities of Chicago, Ne braska at Omaha, Wisconsin, Louisville, Baltimore and East Tennessee State. Soon to celebrate its 25th anniversary, John Jay is still called the “cop school,” but it has expanded its horizons since it was housed in the Police Academy and all the students were New York’s finest. Now housed in two buildings near Lincoln Cen ter, and just south of a housing project, the student body is predominantly civilian, with only a quarter of them cops or others in uniformed services. There are more than 8,000 students, most of them pursuing associate and bachelor’s degrees. In addition, 550 are working for their masters and their doctorate. John Jay, named after the first U.S. Chief Justicf has a special mission within the CUNY system, tlif largest urban university in the country with IS? schools and 194,000 students. Says Jay’s presideni Gerald Lynch: “We hope John Jay will help professionalize tlif| criminal justice system, teach people in lawenfor« | merit that life is ambiguous, that life is made upol grays, that it will give them more compassion. “We don’t teach fingerprinting here. We haveali l brary, which I insisted be the first thing people sef when they enter the new building. We have a 623 seat theater. “The students learn things here they will use out' side of their professional life, things to enrich theit personal life.” Students often complain about the liberal art! I courses, since many have already decided on a ca reer. Salamy, for example, wants to become eithet an FBI man or a DEA agent. Despite the similarity of interest, there is greatdi versity. “Students here want to be anything from pr tion officers to judges to senators,” says Julia Bryantil a school spokeswoman. “There are 19-year-olds who I want to be on ‘21 Jump Street’ and older cops who I want to be commissioner.” [ T here are also indications that some of the policU students are preparing for a second career. Securitf management is an increasingly popular major. “Maybe the biggest thrill of going to John Jay i knowing you are going to have a job when you gd I out,” says Dr. Lawrence Kobilinsky, who is a recog' nized DNA-fingerprinting expert. College/Page 6