Campus
Page 2 The Battalion Thursday, April 29, M
And the winner is . . .
BILLY MORAN/The Battalion
Texas A&M University Basketball Coach Tony fountain. The drawing was sponsored by the
Barone draws the winning name in a $500 Recreational Sports Department and General
giveaway Wednesday afternoon near Rudder Motors. The winner was Barbara Fletcher.
Health Tips
By KASANDRA MCDANIEL
The Battalion
Smokeless tobacco causes oral cancer, gum dis
ease, mouth sores and increased blood pressure.
Smokeless tobacco, chewing tobacco or snuff, is
not a safe alternative to smoking. The use of
smokeless tobacco has been linked to cancers of
the mouth and throat as well as gum disease, tooth
loss, bad breath and an increased heart rate.
Snuff can cause leukoplakia - ugly white patch
es or sores - which in turn could lead to cancer.
These patches cannot be scraped off and often
must be removed by surgery. The patches some
times disappear when an individual stops using
tobacco.
Users of smokeless tobacco are more likely to
get oral cancer which accounts for 92 percent of
oral cancer cases. Treatment for oral cancer in
cludes surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy.
Currently, about 9,000 U.S. citizens per year die
from oral cancer. Oral cancer accounts for 4 per
cent of all cancers that occur in the United States
each year.
Smokeless tobacco contains 100 times more
nicotine than the FDA permits in other products.
By chewing or dipping, users can rapidly achieve
nicotine levels comparable to or higher than those
of smokers.
The use of smokeless tobacco products may
lead to nicotine dependence and thereby encour
age cigarette smoking.
When thinking about quitting, cutting down is
the key. Set a limit on the number of times you
chew or dip each day. Cut out chewing or dipping
in specific places or times.
Immediately after quitting, carry sugarless
gum, sunflower seeds, or something healthy to
chew for those times when you get the urge to dip
or chew. Avoid foods high in sugar, keep busy
and plan ahead each week.
Remember: Have alternatives ready for situa
tions when you would be tempted to dip and
chew.
Pet store to celebrate week
with animal adoption offer
National Pet Week is the first week in May.
The Brazos Animal Shelter, Post Oak Pets and
Science Diet Pet Foods are teaming up to find
homes for the shelter's animals.
Some animals — vaccinated and neutered — will
be available for adoption at Post Oak Pets.
Any animals adopted from the shop or the shel
ter this week come with a free bag of Science Diet
Food. For more information, call the Brazos Animal
Shelter at 775-5755.
Family endows scholarship
for engineering undergrads
Amanda Howze Amsler, widow of Hervey M.
Amsler '18, and her daughter Kathryn Amsler Prid-
dy have donated $50,000 to Texas A&M University
to establish the Hervey M. Amsler '18 Endowed
Scholarship in engineering.
The scholarship is annually awarded to a stu
dent who meets the following qualifications: is a
U.S. citizen, has graduated from a Texas high
school, and has a minimum GPA of 2.75.
The first scholarship was awarded to Jerod
Markley, a freshman engineering student, last fall.
Hervey Amsler attended Texas A&M from 1914
to 1917, when he joined the Naval Air Service and
fought in World War I. He received his bachelor's
degree in textile engineering in 1918.
Assistant professor receives
history institute fellowship
Dr. Brian Linn, Texas A&M assistant history pro
fessor, has been named as one of the 12 recipients of
a post-doctoral National and Peace Fellowship
awarded by the Hoover Institution.
The fellowships provide scholars with an oppor
tunity to spend one year at the institution to con
duct independent research on historical and public
policy issues of the 20th century.
The National Fellows Program has awarded
more than 280 fellowships to outstanding scholars
from universities in the United States and Canada.
Contest challenges students
to design fuel-efficient trucks
Texas A&M University engineering students will
compete against students from 22 other universities
next month in the Natural Gas Vehicle Challenge.
The event, which will be held in Austin, is an in
ternational competition among engineering stu
dents to redesign pickups to bjaefate orthatm'al gds.
This is the third year of the Challenge, an event
attracting students from Canatfe, Mexico and the
United States.
Students try to develop and demonstrate ad
vanced natural gas technologies for vehicles
Judges will assess the vehicles for fuel economy,
emissions, performance and overall design.
Rural
Continued from Page 1
environmental health hazards, Sweeney said.
Emergency care is slow because rural hospitals
usually depend on volunteer EMS operators.
The hospitals treat patients with more severe
illnesses, he said, because the patients put off
expensive health care until they no longer can.
Hurst said many patients do not mel they
should pay health care or cannot afford it.
"Eighty percent of our patients are on
Medicare or Medicaid, whicn reimburses us
according to the patient's diagnosis," she said.
"Some reimbursements are considerably less
than what we spend treating the patient.
McKay said recruiting staff is another prob
lem in rural hospitals.
Medical students searching for communities
in which to open a practice often have large
debts to pay after graduation, she said. The
rural hospitals cannot offer competitive in
comes, so the students locate elsewhere.
Lack of technology also can discourage
medical students from establishing a rural
practice, McKay said.
"When you are a new resident out of
school, you've had all of this high-tech equip
ment," she said," and then to go to someplace
where you have to relearn how to do diagnos
tic thinking without it is just not easy.
"We don't even have electronic thermome
ters," she said. "If there is something you need
and don't have, you just have to wing it."
Sweeney said the shortage of general practi
tioners also limits the number of doctors able
to open a rural practice. Rural communities
are in need of primary care: family medicine,
general internal medicine and general pedi
atrics. With older physicians retiring and
younger doctors locating in cities, some rural
areas have no one to treat patients, he said.
In 1989, the Texas Legislature mandated
that all Texas medical schools offer a one-
month family practice residency in a rural set
ting to provide the community with an extra
doctor for a month and expose the student to
rural medicine.
National strides have been made as well.
"Recently Medicare recognized that rural
hospitals that are close to larger hospitals pay
the same wages and have the same costs as
larger hospitals," Hurst said, "so they allowed
some rural hospitals to be reclassified as large
urban hospitals. That has increased our reim
bursement from Medicare about $500 per pa
tient, which for us is a lot of money."
Sweeney said efforts such as these may of
fer short-term solutions, but to cure the health
care system in the long run, the nation must
ask, "How come it's the way it is?"
The greatest cause of the problem is the in
ability of leaders in rural communities to
change, Sweeney said.
"They get enormously attached to their hos
pitals," he said. "Rather than struggle to keep
the hospital alive until it finally closes, they
should be pro-active."
In many cases, Sweeney said, rural commu
nity leaders should close the hospital, and
open clinics and emergency care units
equipped to transport patients to an urban
hospital. These new facilities affiliate with ur
ban hospitals rather than duplicate services.
In other cases, the hospital should remain
open but still collaborate with the urban hospi
tal to control costs, he said.
These arrangements, called community care
networks, could be incorporated into the exist
ing health care system, into the managed com
petition model or into other proposals being
considered by the task force.
"We can't fight these trends," Sweeney said,
"So we'd better work with them."
• f -. f
MSC hats
Continued From Page 1
These students cited many rea
sons for not removing their hats
including their right of free ex
pression, and they feel the tradi
tion does not include them since
the University was all-white
when the MSC was dedicated.
However, MSC Director Jim
Reynolds said the tradition
should be honored by all students
out of respect.
"We understand that the rea
son people died was to protect
freedom of expression," he said.
"If people don't choose to remove
their hats to recognize the tradi
tion, that's really their preroga
tive:."
The role of the MSC is to clari
fy the tradition, Reynolds said.
"It's up to the members of the
community to observe it."
The University also is planning
to work with ExCEL (Excellence
Uniting Culture, Education,and
Leadership), Fish Camp and!-
Camp to educate incoming stu
dents about Texas A&M tradi
tions.
"We're hoping the education
might be a positive step so people
understand the reasoning behind
the traditions at Texas A&M," she
said.
Hartman said the MSC Coun
cil is working with the Traditions
Council to develop a brochure
about the traditions of removing
hats and not stepping on the MSC
grass. The brochures will be
placed by the signs in the MSC
for people who have questions
about Texas A&M traditions.
The MSC Council is accepting
suggestions to make the MSC
more open and friendly to people
of every ethnicity, Hartman said.
"It's difficult to know what is
offensive," she said. "We'd like to
stress that if people have a sug
gestion to make the building
more inviting, we'd love to hear
it." ■ 11
iara
TAMU Santa Ck
Da 4 1993
MAY 5, 11:00-3:00, MSC Foyer
Hosted by Dr. E. Dean Gage, Vice
President and Provost
11:00
12:00
FREE Food provided by Double Dave's
Pizza, with a pizza-making demo
12:00
1:00
Dr. Gage speaks; Art Auction of
works by Prof. Paolo Barucchieri,
Dir. Santa Chiara (Proceeds to go
directly to Santa Chiara Center)
%
1:00
3:00
FREE Samples of Espresso provided
by Espresso Plus, and drawings for
free dinners at Rosalie's Pasta and m /
Cenare vJllP
Double Dave's Pizza
211 University W.
268-DA VE
Espresso Plus in the
Postoak Mall
764-0815
Rosalie’s Pasta
102 Church Ave.
846-0950
Cenare
404 University E.
696-7311
Study Abroad Programs; 161 Bizzell Hall West; 845-0544
The Battalion
STEVE O'BRIEN, Editor in Chief
JASON LOUGHMAN, Managing Editor TODD STONE, City Editor
STACY FEDUCIA, Opinion Editor
KYLE BURNETT, News Editor
DAVE THOMAS, News Editor
Staff Members
City desk — Mark Evans, Cheryl Heller, Juli Phillips, Jennifer Smith, Gina Howard, Stephanie Pattillo, Robin
Roach, Jeff Gosmano, Jason Cox, Kevin Lindstrom, Mary Kujawa and Shelia Vela
News desk — Belinda Blancarte, Lisa Borrego, Carey Eagan, Lance Holmes, Elizabeth Lowe, Jennifer Menllik,
Ravae Villafranca and Heather Winch
Photographers - Kevin Ivy, Robert J Reed, Billy Moran, Joseph Greenslade, Richard Dixon, Craig Fox, John W
Bartram, Nicole Rohrman and Mark Ybarra
Lifestyles - Anas Ben-Musa, Dena Dizdar, Melissa Holubec and Jenny Magee
Sports writers - William Harrison, Michael Plumer, Matt Rush and David Winder
Columnists - Julie Ralston, Toni Garrard Clay, Matthew Dickerson, Chris Whitley, Robert Vasquez, Rich
Henderson, Dave Brooks, John Scroggs and Janet Holder
' ■
Cartoonists - Thomas Deeny, George Nasr, Clay Welch, Boomer Cardinale and Jeff Crone
Graphic Artist - Jennifer Petteway
Clerks- Julie Chelkowski, Darra Dees, Wren Eversberg, Carrie Miura and Mary Beth Novak
The Battalion (USPS 045-360) is published daily, Monday through Friday during the fall and Spring semesters and
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A&M University. Second class postage paid at College Station, TX 77840.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Battalion, 230 Reed McDonald Building, Texas A&M Universily,
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Newsroom phone number is 845-3313. Fax: 845-2647.
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DON NORWOOD, Sports Editor
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