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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 24, 1994)
Page 2 • The Battalion Health Science Weekend rains establish new record By Katherine Arnold The Battalion Last weekend’s deluge of rain into south east Texas left many people homeless, valleys soaked and the San Jacinto River polluted. The rainfall broke the previous Brazos Valley record for rainfall in a 24-hour period. According to the State Climatologist’s Office, between 7 p.m. Sunday and 1 a.m. Monday, 10.46 inches of rain drenched the Brazos Valley. As of Wednesday afternoon, the storms had brought 16.53 inches of rain. This rainfall is unusual for a fall storm. Dr. Jonathan Smith, assistant professor of geography, said. “The usual rainfall for this area is about 40 inches per year,” Smith said. “This storm brought nearly half of the year’s rainfall in one weekend.” Smith said Brazos County is classified as a Gulf and Atlantic coastal plain. This amount of rain is unusual for this area, he said. Much of the flooding was caused by creeks and rivers overflowing and the slow infiltra tion of water into clay-filled soil, Smith said. The damages of the flood have not yet been fully evaluated. Joan Peschke, of the State Emergency Management Office, said that President Bill Clinton has declared 33 counties eligible for emergency federal aid. The major impacts of the flood are be cause of people building in flood prone areas, Jeff Jacobs, assistant professor of geography, said. “Floods are an act of nature, but flood damages are an act of man,” Jacobs said. Flood prone areas are often developed be cause of their agricultural benefits and aes thetic qualities, Jacobs said. This is particu larly prevalent in river valleys and areas near creeks. “People are often easily duped into buying easily flooded property because they do not know the history of the region,” Smith said. Besides damages to buildings, the flood ing also left several people stranded for days because of road closings. The San Jacinto Health insurance necessary to cope with life’s accidents, injuries By Arlana Bobo A.P. Beutel Health Center If you groan at a $25 parking ticket, how about a $10,000 hospital bill? Most college students would never list health insurance as a top priority, but maybe they should. Two nights in a semi-private hospital room at $300 a night costs more than a year’s worth of coverage on some insurance plans. Why does one need health insurance? No one expects it, but an injury or illness that requires medical attention beyond that which the health center supplies, can be costly. Your $25 per semester health center fee covers unlimited physician visits and up to 10 days of infirmary care, but it does not cover visits to outside doctors or hospitals. Injuring your knee in an intramural sports game, skiing during spring break, get ting into an auto accident or having a severe case of mononucleosis can and does happen to A&M students each semester. A one week stay at a local hospital can easily run $10,000 to $15,000. Who needs it? Everyone! Experts recom mend that everyone have a health insurance policy of some kind, regardless of health, age or financial status. Beware - Age limits vary from age 18 to 25, and you may have been dropped by your parents’ insurance. Pregnant and married students can also be dropped. If you are not covered under someone else’s policy, you will be solely responsible for any medical costs you incur. What are your options? You can go with out insurance and play Russian Roulette with your finances, hoping you won’t get hurt in an auto accident or sick with a major illness. Or, you can rest “insured” that you have the right coverage. 1. Family Plan — coverage under your family’s insurance plan. 2. Group Plan - special coverage as part of a specific group, e.g. work, school; usually has lower rates as more people join. 3. Individual Plan - your personal cov erage provided by a private company or in surance provider. Also, know if the insurance covers physi cian visits, accidents only or major medical costs. Each policy differs. A student health insurance plan designed specifically for A&M students, reviewed by the Student Health Insurance Committee and approved by the A&M Board of Regents, is offered through a representative in Col lege Station. Information packets and the local representative’s phone number are available at the Health Center and various other locations on campus. Scott & White offers only group insurance now, but expects to have individual plans by late this fall. The yellow pages of the tele phone book contain a complete listing of providers in the insurance section. What to look for - First of all, look. Don’t buy into the first policy you see. Always, al ways, always look at more than one policy and talk to more than one representative. Ask if they cover pre-existing conditions (e.g. surgery on an old knee injury), dental work, major medical expenses, psychothera py, pregnancy, suicide, alcohol/drug related incidents and allergy medications. Consider, for example, the A&M approved policy and answer the above questions. Use this as a guideline to compare with other policies. Important terms to know: •inclusions and exclusions — what is and is not covered. •usual and customary charges - a set price for a given service; if a doctor charges you more than this price, insurance may not cover it. •pre-existing condition - insurers may deny coverage for costs relating to health con ditions within the past several months. •premium - the amount of money you pay for your policy; can be yearly, monthly, etc. •deductible - the amount you pay above your normal premium before the in surance will pay any of your bills; can be one fee per year or per incident. Be a good consumer. Hesid everything and ask questions. It’s your life and money you can protect. r NOW OPEN Thunder FRESH, FAST, & HEALTHY FREE! FREE! BUY A LARCE SUB & CETA SMALL SUB FREE! ONE COUPON PER VISIT NOT VALID WITH OTHER OFFERS EXPIRES 11/11/94 2205 LONCMIRE 693-6494 COLLEGE STATION 2205 LON6MIRE NEXT TO ALBERTSONS 693-6494 S&uUrUf GesitsuU Sinoe 1975 Delta Zeta New Initiates! Karen Barger Becky Hodges Lisa Orman Slacy Barrow Debbie Howard Tammy Osina Trillin a Beard Leslie Ingram Tiffany Owen Dusti Beck Wendy Jakubczak (Stacie Paulk Linette Brezina Tiffany Janak Jil Pandoll Katy Brirason Amy Jezek Michelle Pea Qachel Broussard Ashley Johnson Meg Pobertson Courtney Burrow Juli Johnson Christy Pobertson Kerry Caldwell Marie Jordon Jennifer Scholl dhellene Cantwell Kimberly Keene Brandi Schroeder Kelly Church (Stephanie Land Lana Shinkle Mindy Conway Dana Lauterjung Terri Simmons Kathy Davenport Kelly Maloan Pam Stanley Angela Davis Beth McClelland Sharia Streeter Tena Davis Misty McDaniel Kortney Stutz Tina DeCarlo Jennifer Mizar Sheri Thomson Cheyenne Dunn Kim Moore Melanie Varney Nancy Hightower Dhsti Morris Whilncy Ward Dawn Hilliard s Lea Neal Karen Nelson Amy Yarborough A r; v Monday • October^, River is suffering from leaking crude oil pipelines and gasoline pipelines. Environ mental damages have not yet been assessed. Houston has also faced trouble because the massive flooding overflowed a water treatment plant. Rick Jensen, information specialist for the Texas Water Resources In stitute, said the danger of flooding in a treat ment center can be great. “There is a process for water treatment, and if a center floods before the material completes its cycle, it can contaminate cur rent water supply by getting into the rivers and creeks,” Jensen said. Floodwaters also present a danger to wa ter supply from in-ground pollutants being “recharged” by the large amount of rain, Jensen said. The most important thing to remember is not to get a false sense of security from flood protection, Jensen said. “Many people take a lot of precautions, but when large floods come, we will never be able to stop all damages,” he said. Women have more influentlS on younger gynecologists WASHINGTON (AP) — A woman can lower her odds of having a hysterectomy by choosing a younger gynecolo gist — male or female — and then simply telling the doctor she wants to avoid surgery, a new study concludes. The study of North Carolina gynecologists blasts the com mon assumption that male doc tors are more likely to perform the controversial operation and suggests that women have a lot more control over their treat ment than previously realized. “If a woman has any ques tion at all, she really ought to be right up front with her con cerns,” said Dr. Nina Bickell, whose study appears in Mon day’s American Journal of Pub lic Health. “That could have a major impact.” Critics say between 25 per cent and 50 percent of the 650,000 hysterectomies per formed every year in this coun try are unnecessary, putting overall healthy women at risk of serious complications and even death. The controversy is fueled by the great disparity in hysterec tomy rates. In the South, 83 hysterectomies are performed for every 10,000 women, vs. a rate of 48 per 10,000 in the Northeast. But nobody knew how much a woman could influence a doctor’s decision about the op eration — or whether female gynecologists really believe more hysterectomies are inap propriate than their male counterparts. So Bickell, then at the Uni versity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, surveyed 140 North Carolina gynecologists, asking how often they per formed hysterectomies and having them rate how appro priate the surgery is in differ ent hypothetical situations. The male gynecologists per formed 60 percent more hys terectomies than females. But Bickell scrutinized that data further, controlling for age. The gender gap disappeared among recently trained gyne- 27 .(({ Rabin’s irs more s a securil al said, 'he secur eulogists, leading her to se rvi« • rael ontinued frc rs, F ahmom sician ar Itical lea [lean htinued fr< nnel near frye U.S. and a po cars, mol rize that gynecology itse;: : | ave “cart came more sensitiveto!« [jnche” t terectomy when women 1^ j rsu e wan flooding the field in thee [people, sa: 1980s. jjg officia “The more recently tra; he adde gynecologists tended to,: ian y officia lieve the uterus contrik paw the lir more than just a reprodtt; issassina function to women, andf | politic* were less likely to beta aders of H surgery was the bestty: : |ctly invol treatment,” said ~ ’ at the New York State Hi Department. More importantly, found the first proof that patients make a differem their treatment. When tients objected to ahysta my, the doctors immefe changed their ratings oik appropriate the operation Again, newer gynecoiogis changed their opinion! about the same rate rej..— less of their sex. B rc * 01 “Patients tend to bebroiif |A lading up in the United States;!;F'nto emp you go to the doctor to be;; ; b f f ue ' ' m e what to do and dutifullyk: iMurky dr ply,” said Dr. Joseph Gaini':l n, ^ e ^0 loo of the University of Calk; Los Angeles. “This verifiestii if physicians know pafc want to be more involved,h are going to pay heed to that 1 In the study, doctors saiii hysterectomy for painful broids, which are noncant ous uterine growths, was propriate until women obi ed — and then they said operation was “equivoci; The same thing happened bleeding fibroids andcenit dysplasia, small cell in the cervix that can cervical cancer. For each disease, prevint studies have found hysterf tomies are very often not* ically necessary. The study finally v,e$| the advice of critic Dr. Wolfe, of the advocacy Public Citizen. “If a doctor mediately says, 'Have terectomy,’ shop for a physician,” he said. “You tests to write off all the natives.” n is reopen [Ford said belines rut L in the flo All 1 n after b explodec ^1 gas line Officia nday said The jtiAi 'i ALioN BELINDA BLANCARTE, Editor in chief MARK EVANS, Managing editor HEATHER WINCH, Night News editor MARK SMITH, Night News editor KIM MCGUIRE, City editor JAY ROBBINS, Opinion editor STEWART MILNE, Photo editor DAVE WINDER, Sports editor ROB CLARK, Aggie life editor Sr softwar the corn don’t re a felony copyrig and ans What softwc Staff Members City desk— Jan Higginbotham, Katherine Arnold, Michele Brinkmann, Stephanie Dube,| Fowle, Melissa Jacobs, Amy Lee, Lisa Messer, Tracy Smith and Knri Whitley News desk— Robin Greathouse, Sterling Hayman, )ody Holley, Shafi Islam, Tiffany Moore,S< r ' | Stanton, Zachary Toups and James Vineyard Photographers— Tim Moog, Amy Browning, Robyn Calloway, Stacey Cameron, Painton, Nick Rodnicki, and Carrie Thompson Aggidife— Margaret Claughton, Jeremy Keddie, Constance Parten and Haley Stavinoha Sports writers— Nick Georgandis, Kristina Baffin, Tom Day, Drew Diener, Stewart Doreeiu'ill'J Hostead Opinion desk— Jenny Magee, Lynn Booher, Josef Elchanan, Laura Trnka, Aja Henderson,EYj Jeremy Keddie, Michael Landauer, Melissa Megliola, George Nasr, Elizab#^ Gerardo Quezada and Frank Stanford Cartoonists— Greg Argo, Brad Graeber, Alvaro Gutierrez and Quatro Oakley Office Assistants— Heather Titch, Adam Hill, Karen Hoffman and Michelle Oleson Writing Coach— Timm Doolen The Battalion (DSPS 045-360) is published daily, Monday through Triday during the fall andydl semesters and Monday through Thursday during the summer sessions (except University WWl exam periods), at Texas A&M University. 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