Politics ovember 29j|| Fbursday, November 29, 2001 THE BATTALION Page 5A -CS has lowest Inemployment ntina Linus, will p it. Special gue tor the band Jamo will plays' onal message; i of memoracli lyrical conteit that the intere- : is to make p» ething umversa percussion ar?: amo’s tools',: companyingfr; claimed Dante; ere is no m ibed by one i "good-loofe ill captivate s ge at 9:30 p.m. es idwork, will be House from S SI. Stitch (By Courtney Stelzel THE BATTALION The Bryan-College Station 0 tropolitan Statistical Area 13A) has the lowest unem- yment rate in the state for the ith of October and always L said Larry Jones, director of hmunications for the Texas Irkforce Commission (TWC) nd Class of 1970. he most recent state season- adjusted unemployment ales show an increase from 5.0 cent to 5.2 percent. TWC Shir, Diane Rath, said that the iationwide unemployment rates .5 percent, from 4.9 percent .4 percent— a stark increase ipared to that of Texas. This was the first time since ■il that the Texas unemploy- Btt rate has been lower than national rate,” Rath said, he United States was expe- cing a slowing economy r to the Sept. 1 1 attacks, but ce that point the unemploy- t rate has continued to rise, mg to the economic prob- s. Not surprisingly, cities )ss the nation are reeling the affects of the attacks on ■ economy but not in Bryan- plege Station. ‘The Bryan-College Station A has been unaffected by acks experienced in other hs of the state,” Jones said, ones said 78,520 people in Bryan-College Station area e currently employed, with |y 1,224 of those actively king a job. On a state level, the TWC has teased in the number of per- s filing for Unemployment urance (Ul) on their phone Item, from 74,413 calls, end- the week of Sept. 7, to 97,760 calls, ending the week of Nov. 1 7. To help with the increase in filers over the phone, the TWC has instituted several additions to their phone system in an attempt to create a more simpli fied system. One of the changes is the addition of two extra filing days to relieve some of the phone congestion experi enced during peak filing days, usually Mondays and Tuesdays, Jones said. “About two years ago we went to the UI Tele-Centers System. Before that time, peo ple went to Texas Employment Centers (TEC) offices to file for a job and to claim UI, which caused a lot of extra traffic,” Jones said. The Tele-Centers System aids in the reduction of the num ber of persons claiming unem ployment in the TEC offices. Also, the phone system helps persons who are unable to drive to a TEC office file. “For people in rural areas, or urbanites who do not have trans portation, this is a convenient system because you can just use the phone,” Jones said. Foreign language representa tives also are available for per sons to file in another language. Jones said that the unem ployment rate can be a dou ble-edged sword. “Low unemployment rates make it difficult for employ ers to find and retain educat ed employees, yet it is easy to find a job. When there are high unemployment rates, it is difficult for people to find jobs, and yet easy for employers to find educated employees,” Jones said. New districts give Hispanics more representation AUSTIN (AP) — A feder al court ordered new Texas House district boundaries Wednesday, boosting Hispanic voting strength but mostly leaving in place a Republican- drawn map. The court also upheld the GOP-leaning Texas Senate plan enacted by the Legislative Redistricting Board. Republicans applauded the decisions. Ninety-eight percent of the House map approved by the GOP-controlled redistricting board and the entire Senate map were preserved by the court, said Republican Attorney General John Cornyn, the LRB chairman. “Our goal was to pro duce maps that comply with the law and preserve minor ity voting rights. Today’s rulings show that the LRB was successful in achieving these goals,” Cornyn said. Despite his loss in court. Democratic House Speaker Pete Laney was resolute about his future. “The court’s map does not change my plans to seek re- election to the House and another term as speaker,” Laney said. By some estimates, the map approved by the redistricting board could give Republicans as many as 88 to 90 seats in the Texas House. Currently, Democrats hold a 78-72 edge. In the Senate, the GOP, which held a 16-15 edge in this year’s legislative session, could gain three or more seats under the new plan. “We prevailed in the House,” said Nina Perales, an attorney for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. “It means more representation for Latinos, more districts in which Latinos can elect candi dates of their choice.” ming NEW SHIPMENT OF LOOSE DIAMONDS! ROUND DIAMONDS MARQUISE DIAMONDS CSX :o. urgers >creen TA' Drinks w? 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PEAR DIAMONDS $t9000 nil SOLD 1.05 K/L S, 3 23 5 0 00 1.00 G VS, 5880°° GIA Cert. .92 H SI, 2965 00 PRINCESS CUT DIAMONDS .88 J 1, 1700 00 1.66 H si 3 54 00 00 .80 G vs 2 3250°° EGL Cert. 1.18 D S»2 4250°° EGL Cert. .78 G VS2 2975 00 EGL Cert. 1.02 1 ws 2 3825°° GIA Cert. .76 G SI, 2700 00 EGL Cert. .86 F vvs 2 3400°° .75 K 1, 1 1 50°° Old European Cut .72 E vs 2 3 1 00 00 EGL Cert. .74 G S« 2 2450°° .72 K Sl 2 1890 00 EMERALD CUT DIAMONI .7, H S, l 2450 00 .7, H VS, 2650 00 EGL Cert 1.52 l vvs, 6490°° EGL Cert. .66 1 vs, 850 00 Old Mine Cut 1.02 K vs, $3975°° EGL Cert. -M— —F —S»l 1595°° pol-cfit—SOLD .68 1 SI, 1 275°° EGL Cert .59 1 SI 3 950 00 .62 E VS, 1675°° EGL Cert. .58 I vs, , 075 00 .55 1 »l 850°° Old Mine Cut OVAL DIAMONDS .54 F VS, 1 575°° .SI .50 .50 .48 *7- G G H H -h- Sl 2 VS •l S1 2 +1 .42 .37 T Sl 2 •l 950 00 ,575°o 650 00 700 00 —470 n " SOLD 5 SO 00 375 00 Old Mine Cut 1.13 H 1, ,975' 1.06 F h 2400' 1.00 1 SI 2 3200' .54 H si 2 950' .32 H SI, 550' Ikiate^ :-SiX