Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 2, 2004)
Monday, August 2, 2004 THE BA TUI Heads or tails? by Will Li Texas hospitals are running out of roo BRIAN WILLS • THE BATTALION Dub Martin of Waco, organizes his coin collection that has been growing with his other collectibles for 60 years at the Gun Show at the Brazos County Center. Martin and his wife used to own an antique store, but now they travel the country showing off and selling their collection of history. LUFKIN (AP) — Texas’ 10 state hospitals have been running at or near capacity for weeks, forcing counties to pay to transport psychiatric patients hun dreds of miles to the nearest available bed, a newspa per reported Sunday. At one point last week, the hospital in El Paso was the only one with any room, and all new patients had to be sent there, said Kenny Dudley, director of state mental health facilities with the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation. “We’ve hit a point where every bed in the system is full. ... The thing that got us in trouble the last couple of weeks is that we’ve just been full all the time,” Dudley said in Sunday’s edition ofThe Lufkin Daily News. The system usually runs at up to 98 percent of its 2,260-patient statewide capacity, Dudley said. Department spokesman Don Rogers said the system traditionally sees high numbers of admissions at the end of every summer. But stretching capacity seems to be more than a seasonal problem at some hospitals. Big Spring State Hospital, serving West Texas and the Panhandle, has been running at or over capacity for three months, spokeswoman Valerie Avery said. And North Texas State Hospital consistently has seen capacity patient loads for years, spokesman Jerry McLain said. The problem involves funding and staffing levels, rather than space, Rogers said. Hospitals only can hold as many patients as they have doctors and nurses to treat them. A systemwide overcrowding plan does notadt; possibility that the entire system could reach Austin State Hospital Superintendent CarlSchoci His hospital, which serves Central Texas, has bee near capacity for the past few weeks. “The last month has been pretty bad,” Schot “It’s tough all around.” Rogers said additional nurses and doctors o called to work in case of an emergency. Rusk State Hospital in East Texas began & patients last week, when the facility held 285 pc Its staffing levels call for a maximum of 271 [e spokeswoman Judy Garner said. The diversion meant Angelina County depute drive people facing court-ordered mental more than 700 miles to El Paso. The deputies leave their local duties and use county vehicles:: iat a " ( trip, and the sheriff’s budget must pay fortheirfc cor ^ * n and accommodations. Sheriff Kent Henson said CINC [anagei this was suicide s I He w; I Adam squeeze Tead r the Cine louston Kin 7-5 I Morg; |Bls fo Isacrifi lut thei Iff Ker In John walk to ilaid dov yond odd Va El Paso “is the farthest we’ve ever had to go,”AE ve , ' iaL * a County Judge Joe Berry said. “We have nocnoic; David Cozadd, director of operations at a health care services agency in Lufkin, said more!: may face mental health crises because state stretched to the breaking point. That could for hospitalization, he said. Government warns of threat against certain buildings Golf Continued from page 1 By Jennifer C. Kerr THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON —The federal govern ment warned Sunday of possible al-Qaida terrorist attacks against “iconic” financial institutions in New York City, Washington and Newark, N.J., saying a confluence of chilling intelligence in recent days pointed to a car or truck bomb. Recently obtained information — including photos, drawings and written documents — led the government to take the unprecedented action of naming specific buildings as potential targets: —The Citigroup Center building and the New York Stock Exchange in New York City. —The International Monetary Fund and World Bank buildings in Washington. -—Prudential Financial Inc.’s head quarters in northern New Jersey. “The preferred means of attack would be car or truck bombs,” Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said in a briefing for journalists. “That would be a primary means of attack.” The government said the new intelli gence indicated the meticulous planning of al-Qaida. Ridge identified explosives as the likely mode of attack, as opposed to a chemical or biological attack or a radiological “dirty” bomb. Ridge said the government’s threat level for financial institutions in just the three cities would be raised to orange, or high alert, but would remain at yellow, or elevated, elsewhere. The Federal Reserve, the most potent symbol of America’s financial strength, was not on the list of threatened buildings. The government provided a wealth of detail that it had obtained in the past 36 hours to 72 hours, but a senior intelli gence official described it only on condi tion of anonymity. The official described “excruciating detail” and meticulous planning “indicative of al-Qaida.” The official said the intelligence gath ered from several sources indicated scout ing had been done to identify security in and around these buildings; the flow of pedestrians; the best places for recon naissance; how to make contact with employees who work in the buildings; construction of the buildings; traffic pat terns; locations of hospitals and police departments; and which days of the week present less security at the buildings. To illustrate the level of the intelli gence, the official cited these examples of detail possible plotters had accumulat ed: midweek pedestrian traffic counts of 14 people per minute on each side of the street for a total of 28 people; that some explosives might not be hot enough to melt steel; and that the construction of some buildings might prevent them from falling down. The warning is based partly on docu mentary evidence — obtained during successful CIA counterterrorism opera tion _ that provides clear indications that al-Qaida operatives are casing specific buildings in the financial sector, another official said, also speaking only on the condition of anonymity. Cities warned of terrorist activities ‘We s doii liggio i ixecutio: dial we mprovei or fired fter the Oswa Jng ever le settle linings i hance t The government warned of possible terrorists attacks against “iconic" financial institutions in New York City. Washington and Newark. N.J. New York City has been on the orange level of precautions since the attacks of Sept. 11.2001. Severe condition High condition for her to pay for school. “With more money received in sd arships, students can work less It enhancing their time and abilitytosto Gilbert said. “I think that more trative scholarships should be aim especially with rising tuition costs." Satterwhite said tournament et fees go into an endowment andseto ships are funded from the interest. “The endowment was created by i sion employees through fund-raisers: donations,” Satterwhite said. Elevated condition Sing Guarded condition Low condition Night Continued from page 1 SOURCE: The Office of Homeland Security GRAI sive ga introdu and jus a previi next foi As tl Singh [ chuckle best wi; Singl rock-st; <AP> TERROR ALERTS 080104: Graphic shows the five levels of terrorism alerts as announced by the Office of Homeland Security: with BC-Terror Threats; 1c x 3 3/4 inches, 47 mm x 95 mm; JB/Staff; ETA7 p.m. </AP> Power line Continued from page 1 of the lines and the modification of the electrical substations that relay electricity throughout the grid. The total cost incurred by the University is approximately $5 mil lion, Sippial said. Wilkerson said including under ground and overhead lines, modifica tion of substations and other materials necessary to transfer the electricity will cost BTU approximately the same amount, about $5 million. Compared with how much A&M has spent in the past, $5 million is a relatively small amount to improve and update the infrastructure and maintain reliability of power delivery, Sippial said. “We’ve invested over $50 million in our own utility infrastructure over the past six to seven years,” Sippial said. Wilkerson said that the campus operating only on a single line for so long is unusual. After the project is completed, the two lines will be in service at all times, and if one line fails, the other will be able to supply the campus with power, he said. Wilkerson said that after the project is completed, it is likely that A&M will not have another major outage. “There are better ways that the University could spend the money because I really don’t mind having blackouts,” said Johnathon Cramer, a senior sociology major. Construction on the project will begin this August and will be com pleted in August of 2005. The under ground lines will run beneath West Campus and through Research Park. Overhead lines will be installed on FM 2818 which will run directly to the substation near Rio Grande Drive. Because of the construction, pedes trians and drivers may experience some inconveniences such as tem porary road and sidewalk closures, obstructions to parking lots and con struction-related noise. If there is another region-wide blackout in the future, we now have the necessary back-up generators and additional lines that will not leave us stranded without power for an extend ed period of time, Sippial said. frequent victims of property crimes. “I would encourage students to parti in National Night Out because theyne have a better relationship with tho neighborhoods,” Melnyk said. “They® have a neighbor available who can trait* for criminal activity around their to their absence.” Baron said National Night Out events held for students who live on and offcait “Events are being coordinated i University apartments, and all studeif welcome to come,” Baron said. CORRECTIONS A front-page article Wednesday ^ rectly reported head football coach I Franchione as making a statement! coach's clinic in New Mexico. The st# was delivered from Houston. A column in Wednesday’s S tion misspelled the name of Texas Ra«? infielder Mark Teixeira. CHINESE RESTAURANT NOW OFFERS FAST AND CONVENIENT ONLINE SERVICE use http://jins.tjgy.com and get 15% OFF your pickup or delivery order Northgate location 317 Church Ave. • 979-691-8688 Friday and Saturday: open till 1:00 a.m. He<Mhy Pcuv-AyLoAvCitiACne' •f Parties of FIVE or more get a 15% discount after 5 p.m. Across from Blocker Building I 10 Nagle Street • 979-691-0116 Offers expires September 1,2004 Kjenelc (grossing (College Station — ~T~liere’s l\]o place Like Ljome! n With gorgeous homes starting at $115,000, Krenek Crossing offers Aggie Students the opportunity to invest while they’re going to college! These homes are designed exclusively for students and feature choices of spacious 3 and 4 bedroom floorplans. Located on the corner of Dartmouth and Krenek Tap Roads, Krenek Crossing is 2.5 miles from Texas A&M University on the Texas A&M Shuttle bus route. Call Eric, Dan or Jane today! WIEUFT BUILDERS, INC. James Hardie* Siding products rou .i« u .»o , UEMDER REAITOR® Charming exteriors featuring durable, low maintenance James Hardie Siding. MODEL HOME OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK! 979-764-9900 rl^TAggieland Dept Graduation Gifts epoti www.ai ™^| Culpepper Plaza • 695-H2!, The Battalu Joshua Hobson Editor in Chief The Battalion (\SSH #1055-4726) is Monday through Friday during the fall a«“ semesters and Monday through Thursdatt'! summer session (except University W# exam periods) at Texas A&M University, fr* 1 Postage Paid at College Station, W1W MASTER: Send address changes to the SS Texas A&M University, llllTAMU.CollegeSSi 77843-1111. News: The Battalion news departmentistff students at Texas A&M University in thi fW Student Media. News offices are in McDonald Building. Newsroom phone: 845-J5. 845-2647; E-mail: news@thebattalioh.mt* t http://www.thebatt.com Advertising: Publication sponsorship or endorsement by the campus, local, and national display a*e®'l 845-2696. For classified advertising, cal Advertising offices are in 015 Reed office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday. Fax: 845-2678. Subscriptions: A part of the Student Se 1 ''-- entitles each Texas A&M student to pM ! P " copy of The Battalion. First copy free, addW : ; 254. Mail subscriptions are $60 persclrf for the fall or spring semester, $17.50 for A and $10 per month. To charge by Visa,*' Discover, or American Express, call 845-26 1