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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 1, 1993)
r1,1993 nsporta- idjust to i people /an and Is along for mo- :hey an- 'oid po- oad be- Tipany, ady be- bip and itomers ership. ;e Jeep- ■sion to ease in y- /ears," a time or the doing Coldus uct re- hings ^e are ’ebble re be- >ur as- iching r was :er an foot- >eople )tball >ck at of my 'oung ter fa- ;d me ding) 1 mo- _eih g s ^ iters )/ at sity. t of laid call jgh rge State fjge3 The Battaijon Wednesday, September 1, 1993 Last two black residents of Wdor leave all-white town The Associated Press VIDOR — Ugly catcalls have iken their toll on Bill Simpson djohn DecQuir. After just six jonths, Vidor's only remaining jlack residents are packing their kgs, frightened by too many in- itances of harassment. "There are good people here, jon'tgetme wrong," said Simp- ion, a 7-foot, 300-pound trans plant from nearby Beaumont. Cut it's overshacfowed by the ■egativity, the hostility, the big- jtiyof this town." A federal judge last year or- iered the eastern Texas town, ome to 11,000 whites, to desegre- |ate its 70-unit public housing amplex. A few blacks moved in istFeb., becoming Vidor's first iack residents in at least 70 years. When they walked through town, they were hailed with racist slurs. Simpson, 37, and DecQuir, 59, are the last of the arrivals to leave. They were preceded by two black women and their five children, who fled in July. DecQuir moved out some of his belongings Tuesday — he's heading back to his native Beau mont — and Simpson is planning to depart on Wed. to an undis closed location. While no one has physically at tacked them, the men say the de risive yells, the threats and the op pressive fear have become all too much to bear. "I've had people who drive by and tell me they're going home to get a rope and come back and hang me, physical gestures, derogatory words," Simpson said. The police department said someone phoned in a bomb threat six months ago, prompting them to post a 24-hour guard at the housing complex. Simpson and DecQuir rarely leave their apartments, which are shielded behind the housing es tate's chain-link perimeter fence. "It's too much pressure," said DeQuir. "People just won't leave it alone." By that he also means the me dia. Journalists from as far away as Australia have come to town to meet the men. The two moved to Vidor as the result of a 1980 class-action law suit filed against the U.S. Depart ment of Housing and Urban De velopment by three blacks who were refused available public housing because of their race. Funeral set for UTEP track athlete The Associated Press DALLAS — Services are Wednesday for Travis Hiomas, a standout college track athlete at the Uni- ersity of Texas-El Paso who died in a car crash that i!sotook his mother's life. Thomas, a 20-year-old MP junior and his mother, Catherine Thomas, 46, were led Friday morning on their ay to the school when Travis til asleep at the wheel and the ;arveered of the road and lipped over three times. Joint services for Travis and Katherine Thomas are sched- dedforll a.m. Wednesday at Riverside Baptist lurch in South Dallas. They will be buried in Lau- ilLand Memorial Park. Friends, coaches and teammates from South Oak QiffHigh School and UTEP were saddened by the ieath of a student whose future looked bright on id off the track. "He was the kind of person who lit up a room "He said he couldn't wait to come back to school." - Bob Kitchens, UTEP head track coach when he walked in," said Bob Kitchens, head track coach for UTEP. Kitchens had recruited Thomas from South Oak Cliff High School two years ago. He received an ath letic scholarship and went on to lead his track team to several major victories including a first place per formance in the 400-meter Texas Relays. Last spring Thomas lost fo cus and his grades began to fall and he left school. Kitchens said. After taking several sum mer classes, Thomas stopped by to tell his coach that he had got ten things together and would be returning in the fall. "He was really focused and determined to come back," Kitchens said. "He did it all by himself." At a track meet in April, Thomas told his best friend and teammate Andrew Tynes that he was looking forward to rejoining the team. "He said he couldn't wait to come back to school," said Tynes, a junior who ran the second leg on the relay teams. Psychiatric hospital pays S.A. teen (300,000 after FBI investigation The Associated Press SAN ANTONIO - A teen ier whose detention in a mental hospital led to state and federal westigations of private psychi- itric institutions has been award ed $300,000 in a lawsuit settle ment with the hospital. Sid and Marianne Harrell, the hoy's grandparents and legal guardians, agreed in court docu ments as part of the settlement for leramy Harrell not to reveal the Mount awarded. The $300,000 was paid "into the registry of this court for the sole use and benefit of Jeramy Harrell," stated an agreement sanctioned by state District Judge Michael Peden and quoted Tues day in the San Antonio Express- Hews. The Express-News first report- fd the April 1991 apprehension of Harrell, then 14. Ensuing state investigations re sulted in a legislative package of mental-health industry reform measures that Gov. Ann Richards signed into law in June. The re forms take effect Wednesday. Defendants agreeing to the lawsuit settlement with the Har rell family included Colonial Hills Hospital of San Antonio, which closed May 1992, and its corpo rate owners. National Medical En terprises of Santa Monica, Calif. Last week, the FBI raided Na tional Medical's corporate offices in Santa Monica and four regional offices, including one in Dallas. The agreement with the Har rell family stated the Harrells "understand that this is a com promise of a doubtful and disput ed claim and that such payment is not to be construed as an admis sion of liability on the part of any of the (hospital, its corporate owners and others), each of whom expressly deny any liabili ty-” Hospital officials consistently claimed Jeramy Harrell voluntari ly accompanied two private secu rity officers to the hospital and that his grandparents agreed. But the grandparents charged that the two officers, working for the now-closed Sector One Mental Health Services, intimidated them by threatening that the boy could be held longer at Colonial Hills if the family forced them to obtain a mental health apprehension war rant. Harrell was held five days and released only after U.S. Rep. Frank Tejeda of San Antonio, ob tained a court order. Tejeda then was a state senator and the fami ly's attorney. In May 1992, Colonial Hills Hospital was found guilty of wrongful seizure of the teen-ager, a misdemeanor, and fined $10,000. After the Harrell case was re ported, state Sen. Judith Zaffirini, along with Sens. Mike Moncrief, and Chris Harris, were named to a special state Senate investigative panel that held public hearings on mental health issues in San Anto nio, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and Austin. fc\\V ^ Monday 9/6 lA+ Tuesday 9/7 ru c . Wednesday 9/78 rot[ Thursday 9/9 5 pm Physics 201 Chp 1 Physics 201 Chp 2 Physics 201 Chp 3 7 pm Chem 101 Chp 1 & 2 Chem 101 Chp 3 Chem 101 Chp 4 Chem 101 Test Review #1 9 pm Chem102 Chp 15 Part A Chem 102 Chp 15 Part B Chem 102 Chp 16- 16.8 Chem 102 Test Review #1 11 pm 1 am Physics 218 Chp 1 Physics 218 Chp 2 Part A Physics 218 Chp 2 Monday 9/13 Tuesday 9/16 Wednesday 9/15 Thursday 5 pm 7 pm 10 pm Math 141 Math 152/161 Math 161 Math 152/161 Acct 229 Review I Acct 229 Review II Acct 229 Review III Acct 229 Exam I For more information call 260-2660 or come by 725 B University Dr. All Classes $3.50/hr. Blocker Bldg. > + 3 James H C < Coney o h~ Island n. 5 Zachry (Q Bldg. McDonald's South College A+ will be offering Chem. 101, 102 • Rhys. 201, 218 • Bana 303 • Acct. 229, 230 • Math 151, 152/161 • Math 141 6.97 Rubbermaid K * 1 Vi bushel laundry hamper. | Available in 8 assorted colors. Style no. 2987 llil Hill 2.99 Rubbermaid 1 l A bushel laundry basket. Also in assorted colors. 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