Tuesday, August 31,1993
The Battalion
Page 5
Fort Worth social workers fear for safety in
response to nationwide reports of violence
The Associated Press
FORT WORTH — More than half of the social
workers in North Texas responding to a recent poll
say they fear for their safety, a threat that officials
say is a growing reality across the country.
“We're on the front lines of a general breakdown in
society," John Brogden, a risk-assessment coordinator
for Child Protective Services in North Texas said in a
report in Monday's Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
“We've seen an increase in violence. But until re
cently we really hadn't studied it, had a consistent
way to report it, or thought about safety."
Nationwide, the newspaper reported, assaults on
social workers are increasing at alarming rates.
There is no official tracking system, but experts said
the problem is most acute in New York state, where
five case workers have been killed by clients in the
last five years.
"These jobs are becoming more and more haz
ardous," said Peter Grupp, a professor of social
work at the University of Texas at Arlington and
chairman of the advisory committee for the Tarrant
County Department of Human Services. "You are
dealing with people who are desperate and at the
end of their rope."
A CPS survey of 219 North Texas workers —
about a quarter of the agency's work force in the
area — showed that nearly half fear for their safety.
Nine said they had been physically assaulted in the
last year, 71 reported threats of violence, and 36 said
they had been verbally abused.
It also found that some social service workers were
not reporting attacks because they feel they have
somehow failed the client if he or she becomes violent.
"CPS line staff feel that they are playing a kind of
Russian roulette, repeatedly entering threatening set
tings without any clear plan or means of escape," the
survey said.
Among the more recent attacks in North Texas,
a case worker looking for the parents suspected of
abusing their newborn was knocked down and re
peatedly kicked by a group of youths as she and
her co-worker fled the apartment of the baby's
irate father.
Russia, Houston corp. sign gas agreement
The Associated Press
HOUSTON - With the Russ
ian prime minister looking on
Monday, Houston-based Enron
Corp. and R.A.O. Gazprom, the
major natural gas company of
Russia, signed the framework of
an agreement to develop new
markets for natural gas.
The signings, completed with
toasts, came as Prime Minister
Victor Chernomyrdin and U.S.
Energy Secretary Hazel O'Leary
huddled in Houston to try to ease
the way for American energy
companies to do more business
with oil -and gas-rich Russia.
"I think there are unique chal
lenges," O'Leary said. "We are
taking on a partner which for the
last 50 years has had no normal
framework. The challenge is quite
difficult — to put a system in
place. To expect it to happen
overnight is unrealistic."
The Enron-Gazprom agree
ment was announced as Cher
nomyrdin, second in power to
Russian President Boris Yeltsin,
began a week-long U.S. visit with
a stop in Houston.
The trip, which includes stops
in Florida and Washington, is in
tended to increase trade and coop
erative space ventures between
the nations.
Under Monday's framework,
Enron and Gazprom will cooper
ate to deliver Russian natural gas
and develop projects to use the
gas in European countries. Enron
already operates 44,000 miles of
pipelines and is one of the largest
independent power producers in
the United States and United
Kingdom.
Chernomyrdin also visited
with officials of Marathon Oil Co.,
which is involved with Shell Oil
Co. and other partners in a $10
billion project developing two off
shore oilfields off Sakhalin Island.
"He was very encouraging,"
Marathon spokesman Bill Ryder
said. "He reaffirmed his support
and his government's support for
the consortium."
O'Leary said she and Cher
nomyrdin followed up items dis
cussed earlier in the year when
Yeltsin and President Clinton met
in Vancouver, Canada.
Record dry streak
ends after 63 days
in San Antonio
SAN ANTONIO (AP) - A two-
month dry spell has finally ended,
but residents of San Antonio aren't
exactly singing in the rain.
Uhe-Huhdredth of An inch of
rain, the smallest artlblitit that can
be accurately recoi^Ied, was mea
sured at 6:10 p.m. Sunday in three
official rain gauges at the San An
tonio International Airport.
The rainfall officially ended a
63-day record dry streak.
Clouds covered San Antonio
early Monday, holding out hope
for more rain. The National Weath
er Service said there was a 20 per
cent chance of showers or thunder
storms Monday and Tuesday.
Although Sunday's precipita
tion didn't do much practical good,
it was met with sense of relief and
wishes for more of the same.
"It's over. ... It's over. ... It's
over. ... It's over. ... It's over. The
longest period of consecutive
days without measurable rain in
San Antonio has officially end
ed," stated a National Weather
Service bulletin.
Wildfire Danger Report
^Amarillo;;
Grass fires across Central Texas are straining available
firefighting resources.
Source: Texas Forest Service and Texas Agricultural Extension Service 08-25-93
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