The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, June 09, 1997, Image 5

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    The Battalion
mday - June 9, 1997
kirsing the wounds
ierly citizens not given respect rightfully deserved
Mgine being
trapped to a bed
rad administered
ecessary medica-
sorlying in a bed
ifilthy sheets which
a body plagued
jedsores. Now imag-
thatthe only person
tlyon was someone
iwasverbally and
ideally abusive.
Hiisisthe harsh reality faced
ranyofour nation’s elderly
iseekthe care of nursing
se centers.
lie plight of aged Americans
neofthe least mentioned
Ispotsin society. Elderly peo-
icross the United States are
parted off to nursing
icswhere they often are hu
lled, abused and abandoned,
(anted, many nursing
ware legitimate care cen-
which provide valuable ser-
Bto elderly Americans and
irfamilies. But according to
Itralgovernment data, in-
Kesofabuse may be getting
ire.These violations provide
supleasant insight into atti-
tetoward age and illness in
Columnist
< ^ i
Handy Cater
Senior psychology major
America today.
A USA Today report
said there are approxi
mately 15,000 nursing
homes nationwide
with about 1.3 million
people seeking care.
This kind of care
does not come cheap.
Individuals, families
and government pro
grams filter huge
amounts of money to nursing
centers to ensure quality care.
According to the Texas Depart
ment of Human Services, the
state of Texas alone made
$1,279,620,856 in payments last
year to long-term care facilities.
One can only wonder where
all this money goes. The U. S.
Department of Health and Hu
man Services currently lists sev
en different types of violations
common to nursing centers.
These violations range from
misuse of restraints and neglect
to stealing private property to
physical abuse. Federal reports
indicate that over one-quarter
of the nation’s nursing homes
do not meet hygiene require
ments. Others have patients
ridden with bedsores.
Still others attend to patients
personal care needs without any
privacy; not so much as even a
curtain around their beds.
Linda Finch, a Texas woman
who recently made headlines
retracing Amelia Earhart’s his
toric flight, also is making head
lines in a less than pleasant
light. While Finch was jetting
around the globe, charges stood
against her for numerous viola
tions that investigators discov
ered three years ago in two
nursing homes she owns.
At her trial this September,
Finch could face $500,000 to
$50 million in fines.
State regulators asked the at
torney general to sue Finch
when Cruz Santa Ana, Sr., a resi
dent at Pecan Grove Nursing
Home in Austin, died. Staff
members apparently failed to
administer proper treatment for
Cruz’s diabetes and urinary
tract infection.
Inspectors in May 1994 found
so many problems at Finch’s
Dublin Nursing Center in
Stephenville that a trustee was
forced to take over.
Finch is quoted as saying the
inspection report is “greatly exag
gerated.’’ Finch said she refuses
to pay the fines since the prob
lems were “not life-threatening.”
Though Finch’s remarks may
seem callous and uncaring, they
reflect attitudes which pervade
society today.
Americans have a strange
distaste for illness and growing
old. Millions of dollars are
spent each year on plastic
surgery, fitness programs and
beauty regimes as Americans
eternally search for their “foun
tain of youth.”
Senior citizens and those who
suffer from illness, however, are
pushed into care facilities and
hospitals, so others are not “of
fended" by having to see them.
Other cultures revere elders,
but Americans rely on the idea
of “out of sight, out of mind.” It
seems as long as death and ill
ness are not visible, they are
not real possibilities. While citi
zens of countries such as Japan
bow to elders, Americans lives
more like James Dean: “Live
fast, die young, leave a good-
looking corpse.”
■ m
■■■■■I
da Finch, airplane pilot, stands accused of violating health codes regarding nursing home facilities under her ownership.
End to homeless
lifestyle requires
society’s support
m r
Jack Harvey
Columnist,
Junior economia
major
A ccording to the General
Accounting Office of the
United States Congress,
the number who are homeless
for at least one night during
the year is probably over three
million. Homelessness is a
problem which requires the
attention of everyone.
The United States Confer
ence of Mayors reported that
one out of four homeless is em
ployed full- or part-time. At the
time of the report in 1992, a per
son working 40 hours a week at
minimum wage grossed about
$700 per month and took home
less than $600. Getting a job will
not help many of the homeless
when they must save up enough
for a year-lease rent, not to
mention a deposit. Homeless
families are in a much more
desperate position.
The Mayor’s report also esti
mated that one-quarter of the
homeless are veterans — most
of them from the Vietnam con
flict. Many veterans of that war
were abandoned and discour
aged, even dishonored. In
many cases, they ended up liv
ing on the streets; some of
them were disabled, others
mentally traumatized by war
experiences and more were un
able to find work. These people
need and deserve help.
One out of four homeless
people is a child. The fastest
growing group of homeless is
families with children. Their
number nearly doubled be
tween 1984 and 1989, and the
numbers continue to increase.
Surely there are people willing
to help homeless children. The
sad fact is many homeless chil
dren grow up to be homeless
adults. If given a chance, most
of the homeless would choose
to get off the streets.
Elderly people on fixed in
comes do not fit the traditional
image of the homeless, but a se
nior citizen who receives $450 a
month in benefits can not sur
vive in any city where rent is
$350. Social Security, Medicare
and other senior-oriented pro
grams, however, provide a
safety net for many individu
als. But there are people who
are not homeless, but living in
poverty and often homebound
without proper heating, water
or other amenities.
The opportunities for stu
dents on tight budgets to help
the homeless and less fortu
nate are everywhere. Without
any money at all, one can re
fer a homeless person to a
shelter. Students with money
to give, but wary as to where
the money will go, have other
options. Giving someone a
fast-food gift certificate is just
one possibility to consider.
Donations are another op
tion to consider. Recyclables are
collected by shelters with the
proceeds used to help the
homeless. Perhaps all Aggies can
take stock of their wardrobes
and give the pieces no longer in
use to the homeless.
Volunteering also is a great
way to help. Habitat for Humani
ty is an organization attempting
to get at the root of the homeless
problem by providing affordable
housing to low-income families.
Families are provided a home in
exchange for “sweat equity” and
approximately $30,000. The
money comes in the form of a
loan which is repaid at a low rate,
typically $150 per month. “Sweat
equity” is the term used to de
note the time and effort put into
the construction of a home by
the recipient family. Volunteers
and the family construct the
house together, building com
munity ties that reach across in
come barriers. More immediate
help is offered by shelters and
soup kitchens to serve the day-
to-day needs of the homeless.
Help is always appreciated at
these organizations, especially in
the summer months when many
regular volunteers are on vaca
tion or at home taking care of
children out of school. Now is a
prime time to make a difference.
Homeless people are like
everyone else. They deserve to
be treated with dignity and
compassion in their effort to live
a good life. A little effort on the
part of people more fortunate
can make a huge difference in
their quality of life.
ampus
Voice
try
Lc
Rec Center policy slights students
L E E
Photograph: Tim Moog
kerning the homelessness
him America faces today.
Locally, I don’t
e too much being
one about the
otneless people ...
e don’t think about
W as much
'tting the summer;
le y get forgotten.
Kalatu Davies
^nior math major
May's Campus Voice:
Mj'sfs and their actions.
Mail Call
Student Rec Center
policy causes upset
Dennis Corrington’s decision
to end the issuing of Rec Center
passes is appalling. It appears that
local gym managers were allowed
to sway Corrington’s mind regard
ing this issue of student affairs,
but the students themselves had
no such success.
Fall and spring students were
willing to pay good money ($70)
for use of the Rec Center during
the summer. Now, even though
the Rec Center will lose a lot of
much-needed income, local busi
nessmen apparently know the
right people and they will contin
ue to get their way unless some
thing is done.
The argument used by the gym
managers is nonsensical. Contrary
to the false statement of these
managers, fall and spring students
do get to use the Evans Library
during the summer. We can also
use the MSC and the University
computer system, even though we
only pay fees for access to these
facilities during the fall and spring
semesters. We are still Aggies.
We do not stop being Aggies the
minute we turn in our last final
exam in the spring. I’m not going to
use any of the local facilities this
summer. I hope others will join me.
Keith Volanto
Graduate Student
Columnist
Len Callaway
Junior journalism major
O nce an Aggie
always an Ag
gie — not any
more, according to
an internal policy
memorandum en
acted by the Texas
A&M administration.
According to the
policy, when students
are not currently en
rolled in classes they
are no longer students
of A&M. This means students who
take fall and spring classes, but do
not take summer classes, are not
allowed to use any of the perks
available while attending A&M.
The shame of the matter is that
the students of A&M (whether cur
rently enrolled or not) are not pro
tected by this policy. By stating
currently non-enrolled students
are not considered students any
longer, A&M once again gets vague
and nondescript in its policymak
ing. With these rules, students who
choose to take the summer off
should have to reapply for fall ad
mission — after all, they are no
longer students according to
A&M’s policy. ,
Whether current students or
not, anyone may use the services
at the A.R Beutel Health Center,
Evans Library, the Memorial Stu
dent Center, and the University
computer system. All of these ser
vices include mandatory fees insti
tuted upon students of A&M by the
administration but all are treated
differently by the administration
than the Student Rec Center. ,
A few years ago, A&M decided
opening the Rec Center and al
lowing non-students to join
caused an unfair advantage for
A&M, thereby putting the Univer
sity in direct competition with lo
:
cal fitness organizations.
The policy allows for a
fee of $25 per summer
session to be assessed for
students who are en
rolled; students not en
rolled could pay $70 for
the summer. The $25 fee
for enrolled students is
still in effect, but the dis
crepancy falls in the area
of non-enrolled students.
These students can no
longer purchase a $70 pass for the
summer sessions.
But A&M always has had a spo
ken good-neighbor policy in which
it has tried to quietly co-exist with
the private business owners in the
area, many of which are alumni.
At the inception of the Rec
Center, A&M decided
that the fee for the using
the Rec Center must be
a mandatory fee for all
students in order to
raise enough money to
run the facility and
make the payments for
it. By forcing every stu
dent to pay, the admin
istration has a guaran
teed number of dollars
to spend paying for the
Rec Center each year.
The bottom line is
A&M made a decision
some time ago. It voiced
this decision and allowed
it to be known to the
community. Now the
University has an ethical
obligation to stick by this
agreement.
What A&M needs is
a little consistency.
The administration
has always maintained
that students need an
arena to be physically active.
Hence, they agreed with the
statute mandating a minimum
of four hours of kinesiology
credit to be earned before gradu
ating. However, it appears physi
cal activity is only important if
students are paying the adminis
tration for use of buildings in
which they are active.
This whole controversy is about
money and nothing else — this is a
race for the student buck.
However, some sort of middle
ground should be found in order to
resolve this issue. When the original
Rec Center financing agreements
were being made, the deal should
have been structured to allow stu
dents a choice. Students have
choices when it comes to meal
plans and sports passes, but not the
Rec Center. One might wonder if
the renovation of Kyle Field and the
construction of Reed Arena will
bring mandatory sports facility fees
in the year to come. The Rec Center
should have been an option to the
students, but the University could
not secure adequate funding to
build the building without guaran
teeing the payment schedule.
It seems the administration
will not honor a deal it made
with students because it made a
different deal with two local
business owners, both alumni.
For students, it might feel awk
ward to be caught in the middle of
this situation, but the administra
tion always says students are
A&M’s greatest resources.
ifi
Restrictions
Can’t use Rec Center
Can’t find Parking
TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
’il
Graphic: Brad Graeber