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.
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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
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al said,
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and a po
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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
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explodec
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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
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Rep. Candidate for
Lieutenant Governor
pi§j|gpi
Tex Lezar
Tuesday, October 25,1994
7:00 p.m.
MSC 292
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