Wednesday, October 14,1992
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Hispanics seek education change
Mexican American attorneys say border area in need of 'first-class' universities
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AUSTIN (AP) — Lawyers for Mexican
Americans in the border area asked the Texas
Supreme Court Tuesday to declare the state's
higher education system unconstitutional be
cause it denies their clients equal opportunity.
"There's no (other) place in the whole Unit
ed States where so many people live so far
away from first-class universities," Al Kauff
man of the Mexican American Legal Defense
and Educational Fund said after the court
hearing.
But state attorneys said the Texas Constitu
tion doesn't require that everyone be provided
substantially equal access to a comprehensive,
"first-class" university, such as the University
of Texas at Austin or Texas A&M.
"It may be good policy, it may be good leg
islation, but it's not required by the constitu
tion," lawyer Rick Gray said.
The Supreme Court didn't immediately rule
in the case. Justices questioned the lawyers
about constitutional provisions and the place
ment of universities.
Kauffman cited among other items a consti
tutional mandate that the Legislature provide
for "an efficient system of public free schools."
That was the section originally used by the
Supreme Court in ordering reform of elemen
tary and high school funding.
"I'm having some difficulty wrestling with
your rationale" that the provision also applies
to higher education. Justice Bob Gammage told
Kauffman during the hearing.
Special Assistant Attorney General Javier
Aguilar and Gray said if applied to universi
ties, that would require the state to provide tu
ition-free higher education to all students.
Kauffman said that's not the case. And he
said that under the constitution, "There is no
way you can have a system like this."
Besides denying equal access, he said the
system is inefficient, in part because of the con
centration of resources in some areas.
The state has spent money "in a discrimina
tory fashion," Kauffman said. Some areas of
the state have "every conceivable program,"
he said, while the border area has "basically
nothing."
Among other questions from the court. Jus
tice John Cornyn asked whether the state
could remedy cited problems by providing
students with transportation and rooming
costs. He noted that it's not "particularly un
usual" for people to attend college away from
their homes.
And Justice Raul Gonzalez asked if the loca
tion of universities is more a matter of "politi
cal clout" than discrimination.
Gray said plaintiffs have cited five areas
with comprehensive university programs:
Austin and Bryan-College Station, whose uni
versities are provided for in the constitution;
the large population areas of Dallas-Fort
Worth and Houston; and Lubbock, which
Gray suggested got program expansions at a
time when state leaders hailed from West
Texas.
The state is asking the court to overturn a
January ruling by State District Judge Ben Eu-
resti Jr. of Brownsville, who found that the
higher education system violates the Texas
Constitution by denying Mexican Americans
equal education opportunity.
Plaintiffs have contended that the state has
discriminated against Hispanics by systemati
cally underfunding higher education institu
tions in a 41-county swath stretching from
Brownsville to El Paso.
Euresti gave lawmakers until May 1, 1993,
to make changes or quit funding state colleges
and universities.
Since the Supreme Court scheduled Tues
day's hearing, Hispanic leaders have offered a
$2 billion, 10-year plan as a way to end the
lawsuit.
The University of Texas and Texas A&M
University systems have announced their own
plan, with a similar price tag, to boost border
programs.
Monty Jones, a UT spokesman, said that the
universities didn't offer their plan as a pro
posed settlement, although Attorney General
Dan Morales has said it had that potential.
Kauffman said there are no ongoing settle
ment discussions. Some state leaders have not
ed that Texas is facing tight budget times.
"This state doesn't have money," Gov. Ann
Richards said. She said she's warned state
agencies, "We're going to make do with less."
32
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Payment must be made at time of service
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Governor endorses
insurance reform plan
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
schedule
:aring®'
o discuss 1
AUSTIN — Gov. Ann Richards
on Tuesday endorsed a proposal
for the state to start collecting in
formation independent from in
surance companies to help in set
ting automobile insurance rates.
Currently, the data considered
by the State Board of Insurance is
supplied by organizations that are
controlled by the insurance indus
try, Richards said.
Changing that system "may be
the single most important reform
that the Board of Insurance has
considered to make insurance
more accessible and more afford
able to the people of the state of
Texas,” she said.
A proposal is being considered
by the three-member Insurance
Board.
Insurance representatives criti
cized the plan, saying the cost to
collect independent data would
drive up premiums.
They also said a recent state au
dit found nothing wrong with the
data supplied by the industry to
the Insurance Board.
"The bottom line was that the
data collection organizations were
doing a good job," said Rick Gen
try of the Insurance Information
Institute.
Gentry said another concern
was that if the state collected the
data, then insurance companies
could find out confidential infor
mation about their competitors.
But Richards dismissed the in
surer's objections as "non-issues,"
adding that no other regulated
service is the sole supplier of in
formation in the rate setting
process.
"This independent data collec
tion would give us what we have
never had before, and that is reli
able, verifiable information. Let
the sun shine in," she said.
Richards said she did not know
if the proposal would lower rates,
but added, "It's designed to tell
the public that these are the hon
est to God fair rates."
But insurance spokesmen said
it would cost tens of millions of
dollars for the state to collect the
data, and that would have to be
passed on to the ratepayers.
On another topic, Richards crit
icized a proposed health insur
ance plan by Employee Retire
ment System for teachers and
school district employees.
She said the health insurance
plan was too expensive and of
fered low benefits.
"The agency has failed to do
what the Legislature told it to
do," she said.
Last resident left in town
refuses to leave for collider
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BOZ — The last resident of
this tiny North Texas communi
ty has refused to leave her
home to make way for the su
perconducting super collider
being built in Ellis County.
However, if she hasn't
moved by Oct. 26, she could be
removed forcibly by sheriff's
deputies, said Robin Stringf el-
low, spokesman for the Texas
National Research Laboratory
Commission.
The state began proceedings
Monday against Monnie
Bratcher, but the woman re
fused to sign eviction papers
and insists she won't budge.
The 84-year-old woman has
been living in her home for 56
years.
"AH hell is coming loose,"
Bratcher said. "I'm not going to
do it."
State officials say they will
file a complaint with an Ellis
County justice of the peace if
the woman doesn't move out
within three days.
Bratcher's case is the first
eviction proceeding in the 172
relocations of families in the
collider's path, Stringfellow
said. The state plans to move
181 families in all.
Bratcher already has sold her
house and 42 acres to the state
for $170,000 and has bought a
house and 47 acres in nearby
Maypearl for $160,000.
But she says the new house is
rundown and dirty and the
land has no fences, which she
needs to keep her 10 head of
cattle. She wants more money
from the state to fix it up.
Bratcher has been living in
her house rent-free since Febru
ary 1991, when she sold it She
bought the new property in
April.
The state also paid her clos
ing costs and a relocation al
lowance, leaving her about
$20,000 extra to repair her new
property, according to Rick
Hurst, project manager for
United Field Services, the com
pany handling land purchases
for the collider.
Boz, which once had a popu
lation of 200, sits in the path of
what will be the West Campus
of the $8.3 billion collider. The
campus will contain laborato
ries, office buildings and the
machines that will send sub
atomic particles speeding
around a 54-mile underground
ring of magnets.
RESEARCH
Skin Infection Study
VIP Research is seeking individuals 12 years of age or older with
uncomplicated skin and skin structure infections. If you have a skin
infection, you may qualify for a four week research study using a currently
available antibiotic medication. Participants who qualify and complete
the study will he paid $200.
Genital Herpes Study
Individuals with genital herpes infection are being recruited for a 3 week
research study of an investigational anti-viral medication. If you would
like to find out more about this study, call VIP Research. $400 will he
paid to qualified volunteers who enroll and complete this study.
CALL
Volunteers in Pharmaceutical Research, Inc.
776-1417
Friday, November 13
Rudder Auditorium
Tickets on sole Saturday, October 17
8:00 am Rudder Box Office
RESERVED SEATING
Judge encourages
passage of law
okaying castration
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
HOUSTON - A Houston
judge who agreed to grant proba
tion to a sex offender if the man
underwent castration says Texans
should demand the Legislature
pass laws allowing alternative
punishments.
State District Judge Michael T.
McSpadden told sex offenders
counselors attending a statewide
conference Monday that they
should work for such legislation.
"I strongly urge you to accept
(castration) before every woman
and child is touched by this horri
ble, horrible crime," McSpadden
said.
McSpadden drew nationwide
attention earlier this year when he
agreed to allow Steve Allen But
ler, 28, to undergo castration and
receive a 10-year probated sen
tence if he pleaded guilty to rap
ing a 12-year-old Houston girl.
The sentence never was carried
out because no doctor could be
found to perform the procedure.
Butler, who already was serving a
probated term for sexual assault
of a 7-year-old, was convicted
and sentenced to life in prison.
McSpadden said the laws
should make surgical removal of
a man's testicles a voluntary alter
native for sex offenders and sug
gested the state eventually might
follow the path of some European
countries that have made castra
tion mandatory treatment for
rapists who repeat their crimes.
But a medical authority speak
ing at the same conference urged
restraint in such cases.
If all 9,000 sex offenders now in
the Texas Department of Criminal
Justice were castrated, there
would be only 450 repeat offend
ers, McSpadden said.
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