The Battalion
Wednesday - June 4,19ft
■
: i : ;i\
■
% As,-» '
IJ - ||H ■ ■ ' 1 I 1
iBi
if
mm
MM:;..
w
" ’ rSK:- s ::
..
m
■lil
■H
On the Ball
Photograph: Tim Moog
Biron Germann, a verterinary school student, passes the ball before getting tackled by Carson Hickson, a senior
exercise technology major. They are practicing for this weekend’s qualifying game in Dallas.
Baylor sues hospital consultant over fee demands
DALLAS (AP) — Baylor University has sued
hospital consultant Josh Nemzoff, claiming it
does not owe $4.2 million in fees he is demand
ing for his advice on the possible sale of Baylor
Health Care System.
The Baptist-affiliated university in Waco
paid Nemzoff a $100,000 retainer fee in late
1996 after he agreed to advise the university
on the possible sale or consolidation of the
hospital system.
Nemzoff says his contract called for him to be
paid a percentage of the proceeds from any sale,
merger or joint venture. He claims he brought the
university board of regents an offer from Tenet
Healthcare Corp. to buy the hospital system for
$1.2 billion. Although the regents decided not to
sell, the Nashville, Tenn.-based consultant be
lieves he is still owed the money.
“I think it is very sad that a Christian universi
ty would behave in a manner like this,” Nemzoff
is quoted as saying in Tuesday editions of The
Dallas Morning News. “I was simply sending
them a bill and saying, ‘This is what you owe me
according to our agreement.’”
Baylor’s lawsuit, tiled in federal district court
in Waco, states that although Tenet, a for-profit
hospital system based in Santa Barbara, Calif.,
was interested in buying Dallas-based Baylor
Health Care System, “an expression of interest is
not an offer.” Tenet has repeatedly refused to
comment on its interest in Baylor.
The lawsuit states that Tenet’s interest became
irrelevant because soon after its offer, Baylor
Health Care System changed its structure by re
linquishing control of five of its hospitals. It per
suaded the hospitals to change their articles of in
corporation, effectively putting control of the
hospitals into another company.
The Baylor hospital system, whose flag
ship Baylor University Medical Center in east
Dallas has been affiliated with the university
for 75 years, recently agreed to sever most of
its ties with the school.
Nemzoff said his contract said, “No matter
what we do, we are going to get paid.’ ! He said an
amendment to the original contract stated he
would be paid a percentage of any offers that
were made.
INS offices plagued
by processing dela
Citizenship application waiting perioi
range from five weeks to two years
WASHINGTON (AP) — Swamped
by a huge surge in citizenship applica
tions, Immigration and Naturalization
Service offices around the nation are
posting sharply different results in the
time taken to complete naturalizations
and other cases.
In a new report to Congress, the
General Account
ing Office notes that
the processing of le
gal permanent resi
dent applications
ranged from a low of
five weeks to a high
of two years. For cit
izenship processing,
the time varied from
16 weeks to more
than 22 months.
Congressional
auditors said the dif-
ferences in process
ing times at the 33 INS field offices sug
gest “opportunities may exist to
improve the production rates of some
of the units.”
INS officials didn’t dispute that con
clusion. But in an official response to
the GAO study, INS Commissioner
Doris Meissner said “the data in the re
port are suggestive and not conclusive.”
That’s in part because there has
been no consistency in data gather
ing among field offices — with some
considering a naturalization appli
cation complete when the appli
cant’s in-person interview has been
conducted, others only when the cit
izenship oath has been taken, weeks
or months later.
“We recognize there is a need to
improve how we gather and report
that data so we can make better
management decisions about what
needs to be done,” INS spokesman
Greg Gagne said Tuesday.
Gagne said delays may reflect the
burdens imposed on some of the
busiest offices.
But, said GAO: “We did not find a re
lationship between production rates
CC —
... opportunities
may exist to improve
the production rates
of some of the units.”
Congressional auditors
and the mix of applications receivedi
the volume of completed application!
In Texas, the Houston office had tl
longest processing time — 799 days-
for legal permanent resident applic
tions, while El Paso had the third wot
rate, with 669 days.
For citizenship applications, Hod
ton recorded a 61!
day average, sej
ond only
Phoenix’ 678 dajj
Dallas also had pit
cessing times
yond the 373-(j|
INS average, wi
455 days; wl
Harlingen, El Pi
and San Antoii
posted better-thai
average times.
Under fire |
persistent
lems in its citizenship program, INShj.T
been struggling to cope with an exp*
sion in naturalization applicatioi
prompted by immigration and vvelfai
law changes. A record 1.8 millionapl J
cations are expected this year—I
from 300,000 just five years ago.
In fiscal 1996, INS received nearlys
million applications for naturalizatiM]
lawful permanent residency, emploj I
ment authorization, replacement I
alien registration card and immigraj
visa for alien relative.
The agency completed nearly 5.
million applications and endedtheyea j
with a backlog of some 1.7 million apj
plications, GAO said.
The goal of processing citizenshi
applications within six months hi| Jn j
been abandoned under the strain <j; )(|
coping with the huge caseload. j j e
Adding to the delays are new safe
guards INS has instituted to ensure tha
there is no repeat of last year’s lax pro
cedures that allowed 180,000foreignl
to become Americans without com
plete criminal background check;
Some 16,400 of the new citizens hada
least one felony arrest.
Courts bombarded with asbestos cases
HOUSTON (AP) — Out-of-state plaintiffs suing as
bestos companies flooded Houston courts with cas
es a day before Gov. George W. Bush signed a new law
that would have blocked them.
Lawyers representing the nearly 3,000 plaintiffs
filed the cases last Wednesday, a day before Bush
signed into law a bill discouraging lawsuits by non-
Texans. Supporters had argued that Texas courts have
been swamped by outsiders “shopping” for venues
and high-dollar verdicts.
State judges in Harris County now are ordering at
torneys to separate the plaintiffs in two of the largest
lawsuits against 60 makers or distributors of asbestos-
related products. Many of the plaintiffs live in South
eastern states, primarily Alabama..
“We anticipated some additional filings were like
ly since we knew the change was effective with the
signing of the bill by the governor,” said Wes McCoy,
assistant chief deputy clerk for Harris County.
“We just had no way of knowing whether it
would be 20 or 200 or 2,000 new cases. It has bur
dened our entire operation by having to field it with
the normal work flow.”
Brent W. Coon, the Beaumont attorney who filed
the suit for 2,512 of the plaintiffs, acknowledged they
wanted to beat the deadline for what he called a “hor
rible law in several respects.”
Coon said Alabama has blocked most asbestos
lawsuits from being heard there, leaving Texas as
the last opportunity to fairly compensate for the
wrongful deaths and severe injuries from the can
cer-causing substance.
“The tort reformers are misrepresenting the true
facts about this,” Coon said. “Most of the defendants are
based in Texas. They produced the asbestos in Texas,
and the cases should legitimately be heard in Texas.”
The new law bars future cases being filed by non-Tex
ans and gives judges greater authority to dismiss other
cases filed this year. Those filed before 1997 and after
Aug. 1, 1995, will remain, but are subject to punitive-
damage limits that apply to many other civil lawsuits.
Last-minute case filings frustrated the swamped
staff of District Clerk Charles Bacarisse.
Court officials said an order is being prepared to
separate individual plaintiffs from the two cases
claiming to represent almost 3,000 plaintiffs.
The judicial order will help Bacarisse in raising the
revenues to deal with processing the cases.
With the filing fee of $150 for each suit, the two
cases were accepted for $300 in fees. By separating
them into individual cases, the fees for filing will to
tal about $436,000.
Coon said his firm, Provost & Umphrey, does not
oppose the separation of plaintiffs. He said the con
solidated filing was only to minimize paperwork for
the clerks and court system.
Skrgfeh
By Quatro
.4 WEBSITE PEVcrreP TO VOYEURISM? /IT’S POU8LE~U, PUM-P*P...P-Py8'i>J
fiOUNOS KINKY,.. WHAT'S THE 4DPRESS? { POU?-P, UH , DOUBLE
its pem'pi&..
$EZ YDU'KE SmiN’fttMCT
J"'
]DWIGHT’S STUTTER, ALONG WITH HIS
IIKTATUATION WITH PE0«£, MADE FOK
t SOME VERY INTERESTING NET SURFING.
Weather Outlook
mat
FRIDAY
SUNDAY
Thunderstorms
High: 91°
Low: 67°
Partly cloudy
High: 92°
Low: 69°
1 f
Partly cloudy
High: 90°
Low: 66°
r BACK TO SUMMER SCHOOL BASH A
With Kevin Smith and the Flashback Rabbits
Hoppin Country Band
G,aX\&
s FITZWILLY’S
WEDS., JUNE 4th 9:30
out on the patio
^nt s
Discount Tobacco
GRAND OPENING
Friday, June 6th • 1:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
§$> • Cigarettes • Tobacco
• Snuff • Import Cigars
• Import Cigarettes
" We put money back in your hands/'
1 623 Texas Ave. S. in Culpepper Plaza 695-1256
M-Th 9-7 Fri.,-Sat., 9-9
The Nation’s
course
-HIST QQT EVEN
Kaplan’s
Expert Instructors
teach you how
to master
every question
on the MCAT.
Classes for the
August Exam
Begin June 7th !
Personalized Study Plans
Over 105 hours in class
Over 500 practice passages
Over 36 years of MCAT
experience
The perfect balance of
content end strategy
KAPLAN
1-800-KAP-TEST
www.kaplan.com
•MCAT is a registered trademark of the Association of American Medical Colleges
Stew Milne, Editor in Chief
Helen Clancy, Managing Editor
John LeBas, City Editor
April Towery, Lifestyles Editor
Kristina Buffin, Sports Editor
James Francis, Opinion Editor
Jody Holley, Night News Editor
Tim Moog, Photo Editor
Brad Graeber, Graphics Editor
Jacqueline Salinas, Radio Editor
David Friesenhahn, Web Editor
Staff Members
City- Assistant Editors: Erica Roy & Matt Weber;
Reporters: Michelle Newman, Joey Schlueter &
Jenara Kocks; Copy Editor: Jennifer Jones
Lifestyles- Rhonda Reinhart, Keith McPhail
& Jenny Vrnak
Sports- Matt Mitchell, Travis Dabney & Jeremy
Furtick
Opinion- John Lemons, Stephen Llano,
Robby Ray, Mandy Cater, Leonard Callaway,
Chris Brooks, Dan Cone, Jack Harvey &
General Franklin
Nigkt News- Assistant Editor: Joshua Mill
Photo- Derek Demere, Robert McKay, Rony
Angkriwan & Pat James
Graphics- Quatro Oakley, Chad Mallam &
Ed Goodwin
Radio- Will Hodges, Missy Kemp, Amy
Montgomery, Sunny Pemberton, Joey SdilueM
Michelle Snyder & Karina Trevino
Web- Chip Riley
Office Staff- Stacy Labay, Christy Clowdus &
Mandy Cater
News: The Battalion news department is managed by students at Texas A&M University in the Division ofStm*
Publications, a unit of the Department of Journalism. News offices are in 013 Reed McDonald Building. News*
phone: 845-3313; Fax: 845-2647; E-mail: Batt@tamvml.tamu.edu; Website: http://bat-web.tamu.edu
Advertising: Publication of advertising does not imply sponsorship or endorsement by The Battalion. Fores 1
pus, local, and national display advertising, call 845-2696. For classified advertising, call 845-0569^*0$
offices are in 015 Reed McDonald, and office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Fax: 845-26’
Subscriptions: A part of the Student Services Fee entitles each Texas A&M student to pick up a single coff
The Battalion. Mail subscriptions are $20 per semester, $40 per school year and $50 per full year. To clia#
Visa, MasterCard, Discover, or American Express, call 845-2611.
The Battalion (ISSN #1055-4726) is published daily, Monday through Friday during the fall spring semesters*
Monday through Thursday during the summer session (except University holidays and exam periods) at is*
A&M University. Second class postage paid at College Station.TX 77840. Postmaster: Send address change 5
The Battalion, 015 Reed McDonald Building, Texas A&M University, College Station.TX 77843-1111.