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Friday, February 8, 1991 The Battalion
Health care concerns professor
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By Mack Harrison
Of The Battalion Staff
Changes in the health care system as well as
J major scientific advances are only some of the
[trends in medicine in the near future, says a for
mer dean of Texas A&M’s College of Medicine.
Dr. Robert Stone, director for the Center of
Health Systems and Technology and dean of the
College of Medicine from 1978 to 1987, says the
biggest shift will occur in the health care system.
“People not in medicine will have a greater in
fluence,” he says.
Stone, a professor of pathology and lab medi
cine, says the question of health insurance in
volves access to medical care and is a primary
concern in the decade.
The medical community must make medical
care possible for everyone, he says.
Private health care insurance, employer and
student medical plans and government-funded
health programs all must be considered, Stone
says.
“It’s unlikely we’ll have a monolithic system,”
he says.
Doctors also must deal with medical malprac
tice suits. Stone says lawsuits increasingly are
seen as part of an overall problem in modern so
ciety.
Law reform should address the problems of
too many lawyers and large personal injury
awards, but medical professionals should not
play a central part in the change, he says.
The general public must take greater responsi
bility for its personal health, Stone says.
Stone also predicts a vaccine and cure for the
deadly AIDS virus will be found by the year
2000.
Although doctors are using experimental vac
cines now, Stone says he does not expect to see
one perfected within the next two years.
Stone says the way doctors follow medical cases
will change as well.
New information management techniques will
go a long way toward standardizing medical
practice and reducing diagnostic errors, he says.
Doctors now have practice parameters they
employ in treatment and diagnosis. Stone says
these general guidelines leave less probability for
uncertainties or errors.
Doctors also can use computers to keep track
of the effects of different treatments.
Stone says doctors used to use remedies that
had not been proven. For example, pediatricians
once recommended tonsillectomies for nearly all
children. Stone says today such operations are
rare.
He says that during the next 10 years medical
science will increase its insight into how the hu
man brain functions.
“The coming years have been called the de
cade of the brain,” Stone says. “We can expect a
greatly improved understanding of how the
brain works.”
He says this comprehension of the brain will
result in better educational methods.
Stone says he also expects great headway in the
E revention and treatment of depression that can
:ad to suicide.
Stone says suicide is a large problem in the
United States, but new drugs to treat depression
can reduce the loss of life.
Stone says advances in genetics will be “breath
taking”.
Physicians already are able to treat individuals
using the patient’s own genetically modified cells.
Stone says that in the future doctors will under
take treatments before attempted.
Doctors will be able to diagnose and fix hered
itary diseases in infants before birth. Stone says.
“They will perform more and more gene the
rapy in utero,” Stone says.
Scientists also will understand and retard the
aging process in coming years, he says.
Drugs and other treatments combined with
personal responsibility will improve the lifestyle
of older individuals, Stone says. Alcohol, tobacco
and diet can cause adverse effects over the years.
“Much of the disabilities associated with aging
are actually from misuse,” he says.
, the J Communications technology
between
'-Ameri-
lare this
Advances aid rural economies
itrick
olan
AUSTIN (AP) — New commu
nications technology can help revita
lize rural economies, the chairman
of the Federal Communications
Commission said.
FCC chief Alfred Sikes, in a
speech Thursday at the University
of Texas, said rural America boasts
some of the best examples of new
businesses relying on such advances.
“An array of high-speed data
links, toll-free 800 numbers and
computerized management systems
that communications companies are
now delivering are having a positive
impact on economic development
goals,” Sikes said.
“And, given the decline in many
parts of rural America, these new
opportunities are especially excit
ing,” he said.
Sikes pointed to the Superior
Livestock Company, based in Fort
Worth and Amarillo, and its satel
lite-based TV auction system.
“Cattle are videotaped on the
ranch, the tapes
are then edited
together, and the
program is re
layed to cable
television sub
scribers nation
wide via the
WestStar 5 satel
lite, with buyers
placing their or
ders using an 800
number,” he said
in prepared re
marks.
“It’s like the Home Shopping Net-
Sikes
work, only for ranchers and prize
cattle,” he said. “Since the service
was inaugurated, incidentally, Supe
rior’s sales reportedly have more
than doubled to 800,000 head last
year.”
Sikes said similar communications
advances allowed Mobil Oil to relo
cate credit card operations to Le
nexa, Kan., population 18,000. He
said 4,000 jobs were created in Dod-
geville and Cross Plains, Wis., when
the Land’s End mail order company
moved its headquarters from Chi
cago.
“By virtue of today’s advanced
communications, Wal-Mart, Ameri
ca’s largest retailer ... has been able
to maintain its corporate headquar
ters in Bentonville. Ark.,” he said.
Two killed
in explosion
NEEDVILLE (AP) — A series of
explosions rocked a petroleum stor
age yard Thursday, killing at least
two people and seriously injuring a
third, authorities said.
David Wells, a spokesman for the
Department of Public Safety, said
crews at a vacuum truck were un
loading a crude oil tank when the
blast and fires occurred.
Wells said three or four tanks
could be involved in the accident,
which occurred about 11 a.m., one
mile east of the San Bernard River.
Smoke from the fire could be seen
as far as 25 miles away, Wells said.
The fire was in a rural area of
Fort Bend County, about 45 miles
southwest of Houston.
State, Quaker Oats
settle without fines
AUSTIN (AP) — A settlement
without fines was reached Thursday
in the state’s lawsuit against The
Quaker Oats Co. for alleged decep
tive marketing.
The settlement, or dismissal as
Quaker called it, was announced by
the Chicago company and Texas At
torney General Dan Morales.
The lawsuit was filed in 1989 in
federal court in Dallas. The state al
leged that Quaker Oats had con
ducted a national advertising cam
paign that claimed eating Quaker
Oatmeal could reduce cholesterol
levels and risk of heart disease, Mo
rales said.
The suit, filed after months of un
successful negotiations, contended
that Quaker violated state and fed
eral law by making a disease-reduc
tion claim without approval of the
Federal Drug Administration, Mo
rales said.
The state also asserted that there
is insufficient scientific evidence that
oatmeal does, in fact, reduce the risk
of heart disease, he said.
Quaker senior Vice President Lu
ther McKinney said, “All of our ads
referring to health benefits from
eating Quaker Oats and Quaker Oat
Bran were substantiated by reliable,
scientific research and passed a year
long review by the Federal Trade
Commission.”
In Advance
Chinese celebrations begin with New Year
Celebrations for Chinese New
Year will explode on Texas
A&M’s campus Saturday with
special exhibits and perfor
mances in the MSC.
The Chinese Student Associa
tion has planned many activities
to introduce one of China’s most
important festivals to A&M stu
dents.According to the Chinese
lunar calendar, Feb. 15 is the
Chinese holiday.
New Year’s activities begin at
7:30 p.m. Saturday in 201 MSC
Miss TAMU crowning scheduled for Saturday
Twelve Texas A&M women will and evening gown,
vie for the Miss Texas A&M Univer- Miss Texas A&M is awarded a
sity crown at 7 p.m. Saturday in $1,500 scholarship and runners-up
Rudder Auditorium. will receive $1,000, $600, $400 and
The student-run event is spon- $300 scholarships, respectively,
sored by the MSC. The three-hour The evenings’ entertainment in
program will culminate with the c l U( j es performances by the Aggie
ciowning of one of 12 previously se- Wranglers dance group, 1990 Miss
lected contestants. Texas A&M Rhonda Jo Horn and
Contestants will be judged Satur- vocalist Karen Jackson, Miss 1990
day on sportswear, talent, interview Black and Gold.
with a Chinese New Year show,
followed by a short film recount
ing the holiday’s history.A band
also will provide musical enter
tainment.
Other programs include per
formances of Chinese music and
drama and a Chinese Fighting
Arts demonstration.
The association also has
planned a traditional Chinese
dinner and cultural exhibit at
5:30 p.m. Saturday in 226 MSC.
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“Below is a nutritional comparison of
Freebird’s to other fast foods.
You’ll see, there is no comparison...”
-Art Gilbert
Professor of Nutrition, UCSB
Freebird’s
Monster Chicken
Taco Bell
Burrito Supreme
Random Pizza Joint
Pepperoni Pizza
Fat
14 g
31 g
25 g
Fiber
19 g
8 g
0.5 g
Protein
46 g
28 g
41 g
* chart compares comparable caloric intake
FREEBIRD’S
r
i
L
FREE Coke® i
w/order of Burrito, Taco or Quesadilia.
Expires April 30.1991 * 1
319 University Dr., Northgate
Next to the Texas Aggie Bookstore
846-9298