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Find Out What’s
Under Those Togas!
Join us Saturday, February 5th for
"Roman Ruins," the newest in our series
of fun Murder Mystery Dinners.
You are a guest at the Roman villa of renowned poet
Flabbius Corpus. Flabbius has asked you and the
other guests to help him celebrate his newest poem,
"Rome Wasn't Bilked In A Day." But, Flabbius is
detained. Being murdered tends to make you late.
Who finalized Flabbius? Licentius Caesar?
Maximus Testosterus? Or, just maybe it was you!
You'll love this new, fun Murder Mystery Dinner.
It's only $85 per couple. Wonderful food, but
you will have to stop laughing to eat.
For reservations or more information, please call
Designer Events at Messina Hof
(409) 778-9463, #34
STATE
X THK BATTALION
HMO sale gets approval;
150 jobs still set to be cut
ARLINGTON (AP) — State regulators officially gave the
go ahead for PacifiCare Health Systems’ buyout of the I larris
Methodist Health Plan —• a move that precedes sharp job cuts
among Harris’ workforce, company officials said.
PacifiCare said 150 employees will be let go immediately
at the HMO’s Arlington headquarters east
of Fort Worth. Most of the hits were to top
managers, including Harris president
Patrick Spears.
About 20 other deleted positions were
in medical support areas, said PacifiCare
officials, who refused to be more specific
about the job cuts.
Many of the remaining 700 Harris em
ployees were told that their jobs will end
in three to 12 months, according to the
Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
As part of the sale, PacifiCare has said
it plans to move many of Harris’s opera
tions to its service center in San Antonio.
A PacifiCare management team will
move into the f farris offices this morning and begin evaluating
where to cut more expenses, Pat Feyen, president of PacifiCare
of Texas, said.
"We’re very pleased,” Feyen told the newspaper. “We’ve
worked long and hard on this and think the completion is a cred
it to both companies.”
Spears declined to comment on the deal.
Santa Ana, California-based PacifiCare’s plan for turning
around the ailing Texas HMO was outlined in documents tiled
in November with regulators.
Hut at the tune, state insurance commisM l .,Ku |,. s e Men
temayor called the filing “deficient" be
cause it didn't include the price that Paci
fiCare agreed to pay for I farris and didn’t
quantity job cuts.
“The law requires them to disclose it
to us and for us to evaluate it,” Mon-
temayor said. “A lot of this needs to be
fleshed out sooner rather than later as we
move forward.”
1 farris had been the largest health plan
in Tarrant County, with more than 300.000
members in its primary health mainte
nance organizations. It served XO.OOO iHh-
er members with other insurance plans.
Hut the plan had been losing money,
and its parent, Texas I lealth Resources,
put it on the auction block two years ago.
Documents released in December disclosed that Pact fit .uc
agreed to pay SI 17.5 million for the Harris plan As part of the
deal. Texas 1 lealth was to turn around and pa\ PocifK .ire $62.8
million, primarily to cover future losses that the Hams plans
are expected to incur.
“We’ve worked long
and hard on this
and think the com
pletion is a credit to
both companies.”
— Pat Feyen
President of PacifiCare of Texas
Ethical issues discussed by justices
AUSTIN (AP) — State supreme
courts need to prepare for the complicat
ed cases likely to come from the contin
ued growth of breakthrough fertility' and
gene treatments, chief justices from
across the nation were told Tuesday.
The justices from the 50 states and
U.S. territories were in Austin for a con
ference to discuss current issues facing
their courts and to attend education sem
inars. The four-day meeting ends
Wednesday.
On Tuesday, a professor at the Uni
versity of Texas law school said that as
in-vetro fertilization and other genetic
treatments become more common, more
disputes involving them are expected to
end up in the courts.
Because few states have laws regard
ing fertilization or gene issues and no
federal laws exist, state supreme courts
could be asked to set precedent, profes
sor John A. Robertson told the judges.
Cases such as that of Houston auto
dealer Don McGill and his ex-wife Mil-
These are maturing
technologies that
are now well in
place, people accept
them, insurance of
ten covers them”
— john A Robertson
Professor at UT law school
dred Schmidt are just the beginning of
what effect science could have on the
courts, Robertson said.
the Texas Supreme Court to determine
“These are maturing technologies that
are now well established, well in place,
people accept them, insurance often cov
ers them." Robertson told the Justices.
“You now have access to the c
and its genes, he said. “There is
sihility of altering — of first scree
tor its characteristics and then it lu
netic defect of altering it, or in the
adding genes to enhance it.”
Judges will be asked to decide
bryos should be treated as propert
a person protected by law.
Wednesday .Februm
Pastor say
God faithfi
to Church
Groff an
Aggie Al
FOR I WORTH, Texas (AT
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it c iod was there pnxectingifi :
ds in a killing field al pom-s,
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g details of the iiighuhaiLami
shbrook w alkcd into the Wedp
nctuary with two guns,2001,
ammunition and a pipe hom?
Before killing himself, Asfer
id killed seven people and woe
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Brav es returned 1
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suspension.
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Most Students Are
Making Healthy Choices
But most students don’t know they are most students
Special to the Battallion
The Department of Student Life Alcohol
and Drug Education Programs wants every mem
ber of the university community to know the truth
about healthy decisions and lifestyle choices at
Texas A&M University. The truth is 64% of
Texas A&M students drink 0-3 drinks per
week. This information was collected from the
June, 1998 CORE survey on a random sample
of 861 A&M students. When students were
asked “on the average how many drinks do you
consume a week”, the following responses were
collected: 35.4% responded “0 drinks”; 13.9%
responded “1 drink”; 9% responded “2 drinks”;
and 5.6% responded “3 drinks”.
Memory
For many students, faculty and staff at
Texas A&M University, as well as at other in
stitutions ofhigher education, the message ‘ ‘most
students are making healthy choices” is difficult
to believe. There are a number of different rea
sons why it is hard to believe this fact. Accord
ing to psychology and memory research, we re
member those events most vivid and memorable
(i.e., the 1 person that is passed out at a party
vs the 10 people that were drinking moderately).
Further, attribution theory tells us that we want
life to be predictable so we may inaccurately
attribute behaviors to the individual rather than
the circumstances (i.e., a student consistently
misses Friday classes and we interpret “that’s
what A&M students do” rather than “that stu
dent may have a personal conflict with this class”).
Finally, the media and advertising perpetuate an
image of the “partying” college student (i.e.,
MTV Spring Break coverage).
Fact or Fiction
Our perceptions, however, don’t always
tell the true story. When it comes to subtance
use and perceptions of substance use, the re
search shows that there is typically a large
gap between what we perceive and what is ac
tually occurring. For example, students reported
they believed 61 % of A&M students used al
cohol 3 times a week or more. In reality.
only 21 % of students reported actual usage of
alcohol 3 times a week or more. This is a grossly
exaggerated misperception regarding alcohol use
at Texas A&M University. The problem lies with
our perceptions about the misuse of alcohol rather
than the actual misuse of alcohol. This is not to
say there aren’t issues with high risk drinking be
haviors at Texas A&M or at other higher edu
cation institutions. Many universities are expe
riencing the after effects ofhigh risk drinking (i.e.,
alcohol poisoning), but most Texas A&M stu
dents are making healthy choices and not en
gaging in high risk drinking (defined as
5 or more drinks in one sitting).
Freshmen
The research suggests that perceptions of
peer norms, regardless of the accuracy, may con
tribute significantly to student alcohol use
(Perkins, 1999). For example, students may
“party” excessively on a Thursday night because
they “believe” that is what “everyone” else is do
ing. Freshman are particularly vulnerable to the
influence of misperceptions. Coupled with avail
ability of alcohol, new found freedom, absence
of parents and the desire to fit in, their alcohol
use can increase as a result of the misperceptions
they have about A&M students’ alcohol use. In
addition, they hear “stories”, jokes or comments
which may serve to perpetuate the myth of the
“hard drinking Ags”. We are all “carriers” of
these misperceptions which contribute to the
problem. The result is a “reign of error” (Perkins,
1999). Rumor becomes a self-
fulfilling prophecy.
The Department of Student Life Alcohol and
Drug Education Programs goal is to reduce high
risk drinking by telling the truth! Our entire com
munity is a strong agent of change when armed
with the facts. When students hear the facts and
are supported by the university community,
healthy decisions will follow. For more informa
tion about Alcohol and Drug Education Pro
grams , contact 845-0280 or stop by their of
fice at 222 Beutel Health Center.
President Ray Bowen’s vision for Texas A&M University is “a campus environment that is free of alcohol
abuse and its effects in the classroom, in student residence communities (on and off campus), in our time-
honored traditions and in those activities that are the social fabric of our campus.”
Want to Motivate
the Class of 2004?
SGGIE
Applications available January 23 - February 7
Interviews: February 10-13
Mandatory Training: April 8 and 9
Orientation Leader Applications are due
February 7 in 314 YMCA
For questions and applications please call 862-2746
or stop by 314 YMCA
Email: aolp@stulife2.tamu.edu Web: http://stulife.tamu.edu/slo/aolp