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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 25, 1996)
Page 6 • The Battalion • Thursday, July 25, 1996 GOP dares Clinton to veto welfare bill WASHINGTON (AP) — Faced with White House pressure to craft a welfare bill more to President Clin ton’s liking, Republican con gressional leaders indicated few changes would be forth coming and practically dared Clinton to veto the measure. “Given the many promises you have made to end welfare as we know it, a veto would represent a serious breach of your word,” said a letter House Speaker Newt Gin grich and Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott sent to Clinton on Wednesday. “It would tell the Ameri can people that you would rather talk about reforming welfare than act to bring help to the neediest American citi zens,” they wrote. At the White. House, spokesman Mike Mccurry said: “We remain very hope ful ... that this bill is headed toward a signature and not a veto.” But he said no final de cision had been made. Earlier, Clinton had laud ed some improvements in the bills but still worried that they might weaken protec tions for children. Irvin suspendet AUSTIN (AP) — The NFLhandel Michael Irvin a five-game suspensk| after the wide receiver’s no conte plea to cocaine possession. I “We were surprised to a certaitj degree because we had heard: might be eight games, so I gues:! five just fell right into the slotj Cowboys personnel director Laml Lacewell said. The question is, can the Cowboy; survive until October without Irvin “Any time you lose a great fooi ball player, you're going to struggle^ but this team has a knack of overf coming adversity,” Lacewell said. PAST The five-game suspension wi-lnvestig - cost Irvin more than 500,000 makes $102,647 a game. Clinic Continued from Page 1 “When I think of resident, I think of someone like myself who has lived here for a number of years,” he said. “We’re not geared to provide services to students; there’s the health facility on campus.” Hickson questioned the validity of statistics provided be the BVCAA, and asked if students were distinguished in the numbers. “The question I’ve got is when you do these studies, are you asking the difference between Col lege Station residents versus students?” In an interview with The Battalion, Hickson said College Station already takes up a lot of slack for the University. “I have empathy for the students, but we have to know how many students will be using the clinic so we can get support from A&M. We al ready let the University use our Fire Depart ment for free, and there’s really no revenue pro jected outside of payroll.” Marianne Oprisko, a College Station resident and Texas A&M graduate student, said perma nent residents or not, students already financial ly contribute to the city. “Are you saying that College Station students, students who work full time to pay for school, those who aren’t under their parents (support) and even those who are, and are still working full time are not residents of this city, even though they pay taxes every time they pay rent or go down to the grocery store and buy taxable products?” Oprisko asked. “I really don’t think you wanted to say that.” Oprisko said although students have access to some facilities on campus, the services are limited. 9d to be ■)pened,” jfid of the ■ory than ■troyed fc I cockpi.4 9cted di' IIBa crucis “They (A&M health services) do not prov;® 11 ! 111 - 1111 1 things like prenatal care,” she said. "The A» n ordear- health facility is only good for Band-Aids and coldsflsh a c r At the meeting, Dr. David Lawson, directe ' e ' °f st* the counseling and assessment clinic at Twlftive sov A&M, said mental health care could also bep:lr ress - vided at the clinic. JlB'h 6 sear- ‘We deal with issues that we sometimes don’t uiris on tT to talk about in public such as battery and sex dbw first cc es,” Lawson said. “If the center opens we would all along tl have the medical backing we sometimes need.” pht path Dr. Don Sweeney, chairman of the board fortlir 8 a pd tl Brazos Valley Community Action Agency, members of the BVCAA think students are zens and should have access to the clinic. “As far as we re concerned, students particij in the community and they should be able to i the clinic,” he said. “There is a means of testii find out if the patients can or cannot affo services and those who show they have more ey will be required to pay a little more.” Hub Kennedy, a College Station City Coun member, said when the plans are completed, hopes students will have access to the clinic. “Nothing’s final yet,” he said. "The key is funding. There’s a fairly large amount money which will be spent and we neet know if they will be able to track it back! the students.” Chris Reed, speaker of the Student S and a senior finance major, said this should not divide the community. “I can see their point,” he said. “But I can see that every student pays taxes. If we playing this tit-for-tat game, then the \s community will be the loser. A&M is very gratf ful for College Station letting us (the Universitl use their fire department for free. The Univers! ty is dried up for funds. I would think the onf way A&M could support (the clinic) would bel have a fee increase.” TAMU PUBLIC EDUCATION MATERIALS FOR LEAD IN WATER SYSTEMS 7/23/96 Introduction Based on samples taken in Februaiy 1996, the Texas Natural Resources Conservation Commission (TNRCC) has advised Texas A&M University that there are undesirable levels of lead in its drinking water at some locations on campus. Although subsequent testing by an independent laboratory has shown that lead levels were witliin acceptable ranges, TNRCC has asked the university to initiate an awareness program to acquaint its students, faculty and staff with the possible dangers of lead in drinking water. The information that follows is part of that program. These materials also will be posted at various locations across campus. The university’s water supply, which is provided through wells similar to those used by Bryan and College Station, is not contaminated by lead. The low levels of dissolved lead found during required monitoring are from plumbing materials, primarily lead solder, found in some older buildings. Although those construction materials were part of the normally accepted practice prior to 1986, it now is recognized that, under certain conditions, the lead could tend to dissolve. Officials of Texas A&M’s Physical Plant and the Safety and Health Office are confident that the university’s water is safe to drink. However, Texas A&M will continue its aggressive testing programs for the next six months to offer maximum reassurance that university water is safe to drink. We also encourage all members of the campus community to review the educational information that follows. Public Education Texas A&M University Physical Plant/Utility Plant, Office of Safety and Health and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) arc concerned about lead in your drinking water here on campus. Although most buildings have very' levels of lead in the drinking water, some buildings on campus may occasionally show lead levels above the EPA action level of 15 parts per billion (ppb), or 0.015 milligrams of lead per liter of water (mg/1). Under Federal law, the Physical Plant/Utility Plant is required to have a program in place to minimize lead in your drinking water. This program includes corrosion control treatment, source water treatment, and public education. We are also required to replace each lead service line that wc control if the line contributes lead concentration of 15 ppb or more after we have completed the comprehensive treatment program. If you have any questions about how we are carrying out the requirements of the lead regulation, please call 845 4541. . This article explains the simple steps you can take to protect yourself by reducing your exposure to lead in the drinking water in a public facility and in your home. Heath Effects of Lead Lead is a common metal found throughout the environment in lead-based paint, air, soil, household dust, food, certain types of pottery, porcelain, pewter and water. Lead can pose a significant risk to your health if too much of it enters you body. Leail builds up in the body over many years and can cause damage to the brain, red blood cells and kidneys. The greatest risk is to young children and pregnant women. Amounts of lead that will not hurt adults can slow down normal mental and physical development of growing bodies. Lead in Drinking Water The EPA estimates that drinking water can make up to 20 percent or more of a person’s total exposure to lead. Therefore, lead in drinking water, although rarely the sole cause of lead poisoning, can significantly increase a person’s total lead exposure, particularly the exposure of infants who drink baby formulas and concentrated juices that are mixed with water. Lead is unusual among drinking water contaminant’s because it seldom occurs naturally in water supplies like rivers and lakes. Instead, lead enters drinking water primarily as a result of the corrosion or wearing away of materials containing lead in (lie water distribution system and plumbing. These materials include lead-based solder used to join copper pipe, brass, and chrome plated brass faucet’s and in some cases, pipes made of lead that connect your buildings to the water main (service lines). In 1986, Congress banned the use of lead solder containing greater than 0.2% lead, and restricted the lead content of faucet’s, pipes and other plumbing materials to 8.0%. When water stands in lead pipes, or plumbing systems containing lead, for several hours or more, the lead may dissolve into your drinking water. This means the first water drawn from the tap in the morning, or later in the afternoon may contain higher levels of lead. Steps you Can Take to Reduce Exposure to Lead in Drinking Water Despite our best efforts mentioned earlier to control water corrosivity and remove lead from the water supply, lead levels in some buildings on occasion can be higher than desired. The following precautions can be followed: 1. Let the water run from the tap before using it for drinking or cooking any time that water in a faucet has gone unused for more than six hours. The longer water stays in your plumbing, the more lead it may contain. Hushing the tap means to run the cold water faucet for about 15-30 seconds. Although flushing a toilet or running a shower also flushes water through a portion of your plumbing system, you still need to flush the water in each faucet before you use it for drinking or cooking. Hushing tap water is a simple and inexpensive measure you can take to protect your health. It usually uses less than one or two gallons of water. To conserve water, fill a couple of bottles for drinking water after flushing the tap; and whenever possible, use the first wateryou flush to wash the dishes or water the plants. 2. Try not to cook with, or drink water from the hot water tap. Hot water can dissolve lead more quickly than cold water. If you need hot water for cooking, draw water from the cold tap and heat it on the stove. 1. Texas A&M University Safety and Health Office (409)845-2132 This office can provide you with information about your community’s water supply, and a list of local laboratories that have been certified by EPA for testing water 2. Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission Water Utilities Division P.O.Box 13087 Austin, TX 78711 Phone:(512)239-6020 3. Texas Department of Health 1100 West 49 th Street Austin, TX 78756 Phone:(512)458-7111 This office can provide you with information about your community’s water supply, and a list of local laboratories that have been certified by EPA for testing water quality. This office can proride you with information about the health effects of lead and how you can have your child’s blood tested. 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