The Allen American (Allen, Tex.), Vol. 15, No. 72, Ed. 1 Monday, March 26, 1984 Page: 2 of 16
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Page 2 - ALLEN AMERICAN - Monday, March, 26, 1984
opinions
ting a dealer at this time. Attorneys in my is likely to be less than here in Texas.
Consumer Protection Division tell me that a
Where to Ask
The Task Force on Indigent Health Care health care problems of the needy.
federal, state and local programs for in-
are not covered by public or private health vices, financing and administration.
review, evaluate and develop administrative
The Eligibility subcommittee, which is options to use in implementing and main-
insurance.
municipal elections ’84
tion which usually leads to expensive digent persons in Texas.
plans to develop several approaches for pro-
April 3
the subcommittee will determine the unmet of the public hearings is to gather the ideas
ed on, usually to the taxpayers.
April 7
ELECTION DAY
that many Texas counties, cities, hospital this state.
Likewise, the opinions of those who utilize
April 12
available to the needy.
April 12
Mayor issues certificates of election.
1
posed of health care providers, elected of- care program in Texas.
April 12
Sixty-Ninth Legislature in 1985. Included in
Oaths-of-office given to elected officials.
May 7
letter policy
To the editor,
of our own homes.
A
DATE
April 2
The 70-member Task Force, chaired by natives and recommendations to the Task committees will prepare a final report with
Mrs. Helen Farabee of Wichita Falls, is com- Force for the funding of an indigent health recommendations to be submitted to the
A study of indigent health care problems needs of the programs that currently pro- and opinions from the people that work
was prompted by the increasing difficulties vide services to the indigent population of within the various health care programs.
letters to the editor_________________
Reader thinks columnist has found himself
new federalist papers______
State constitutions truly independent
Last day for filing post-election statement
of campaign contributions and expen-
ditures.
The area was known as the
“Hampshire grants,” and was
claimed jointly by New Hamp-
shire and New York—claimes
vigorously resisted by the local
towns, who threatened to shoot
any tax collector from either
state.
sufficient funds.
Of course, you should always make sure
Eloise Charboneau
Midwest City, Ok.
Official canvass of election returns by the
City Council
woman an enormous favor - your ex! and (2)
You are evidently now free to enjoy what
you seem to consider the best conversation
available; listening to your own.
Last day for absentee voting by personal ap-
pearance. Also, last day for receiving ap-
plications for mail ballots.
ACTION
Last day for filing second statement of cam-
paign contributions and expenditures.
pe rspectives----
slow down and don't drink
____________________-by jim herman
etc., which are already invading the privacy ed two bright spots:(l) You have done one
Virginia early in the revolu-
tionary war had conquered the
French settlements in Illinois
and added this as a “country,”
but subsequently ceded Illinois
with the other parts of the old
Northwest territory to the Con-
tinental Congress.
The Texas Department of Public Safety has released figures for
the 1983 year that indicate that, for the first time in 25 years, the
total number of Texas traffic fatalities has been reduced.
Also this week, there is the story of Drew Pearson and his un-
fortunate accident.
Pearson, driving on the LBJ Freeway late at night, drove his
car into the back end of a parked 18-wheeler Thursday morning.
Although Pearson escaped major injury, his 27-year-old brother
was killed in the accident.
The case has been turned over to the Dallas County Grand Jury
because it was a fatality accident. There is no question that Pear-
son was not driving while intoxicated—his blood alcohol tested at
less than half the amount that can be considered intoxicated
under Texas law. According to early news reports, it is thought
that Pearson fell asleep at the wheel and simply did not see the
truck. The accident points out that the best of drivers—and from
what I know of Drew Pearson, I would be surprised to learn that
he is not a careful driver—can make fatal mistakes. It is even
more likely that drivers who do not follow common sense rules
and who break the laws are going to be involved in traffic ac-
cidents, a certain number of which will involve fatalities.
It is clear that there are three major contributing factors to
vechicular fatalities: Driving drunk, driving at unsafe speed, and
unbelted passengers. A person who drives unbelted hurts only
himself, but unsafe speed and driving while drinking can injure
and kill others as well as the driver. And while the total number
of traffic fatalities in Texas is down, there is no evidence that
fatalities involving drunken driving have been reduced at all.
The problem is education. Sometimes even persons who are
seriously injured because of an accident that involved drinking,
or speed, or not using their seat belts, or even all three, don’t
learn their lesson. A case in point.
Several weeks ago I was hospitilized for a minor surgical pro-
cedure and found myself sharing a room with a man who had been
involved in a car accident several months ago, had been treated
and released, and then readmitted because of complications.
He had been out drinking one night and, while driving home,
decided to set his cruise control—at 80 mph. Somewhere along
the way home, he went to sleep at the wheel and his pickup hit a
concrete abutment on a curve. He suffered multiple fractures of
his arms and legs, a crushing chest injury and severe head in-
juries.
On this, his second trip to the hospital, he was released before I
was and on the way out I told him “to take it easy.” He had told
me several days before, while we were discussing the stupidity of
driving on cruise control at 80 mph while drunk, that he had
learned his lesson. On his way out, he told me he was happy he
was leaving because he had developed “one hell of a powerful
thirst.” I have no doubt that he quenched that thirst, maybe even
on the trip home from the hospital. If so, he hadn’t learned the
right lesson.
In his case it can be argued that he hurt no one other than
himself. But that is not always the way it is.
I have a 16-year-old cousin who was confined to a hospital bed
for more than 16 months following an accident. The car she had
been driving had been rear-ended at a stop light by a drunk driver
who was also speeding.
He was tried and found guilty of driving while intoxicated. He
got a six month sentence. He got six-months because it was his
third offense.
His license was also suspended, but later reinstated because he
needs to drive to work and support his family. Not only has my
cousin, guiltless in this instance, served more time than the
drunk did, but she is still bed-ridden at home, still serving her
time. Unlike the drunk, who can now support his family, my
cousin, a former honors student, will probably never walk or talk
again. She will certainly never be able to support a family.
Driving unbelted is stupid. Driving at excess speeds is
dangerous and illegal. Driving while drinking is stupid,
dangerous and illegal.
The only thing more stupid or more dangerous than drunk driv-
ing is the slap on the wrist we give drunk drivers. Unfortunately,
it remains legal.
If you have an opinion on an issue, write us. We want to find out
what you are thinking about the world we live in. We do, however
reserve the right to publish or not publish the letters we receive ana
to edit the material as we see fit.
Letters should be addressed to the editor, be printed legibly or
typed, and must contain your name and address. Send letters to
THE EDITOR, c/o The Allen American, P.O. Box 27, Allen, TX
75002.
In many cases, the indigent will delay vice-chaired by Mrs. Frances Goff of taining a program that will serve indigent
seeking medical attention because they lack Houston, will examine population groups to persons in Texas.
the money or insurance coverage. Finally, determine what eligibility criteria to apply By studying the programs used by other
they are entered in as an emergency situa- for a medical program that will serve in- states, the Administration subcommittee
ficials, health care administrators and con- To formulate proposals for the funding of the report will be the proposal for a pilot pro-
sumers from throughout the state. These an indigent health care program. The gram to test the effectiveness of the Task
people are well acquainted with problems of Finance subcommittee will examine current Force’s recommended method of providing
providing health care services and are trends in costs and expenditures for in- indigent health care.
devoted to finding a better solution to the digent health care programs and review
Two centuries ago this
winter—in January, 1784—the
Continental Congress ratified
the Treaty of Paris, ending the
American revolution. Now that
the war was over, Americans
faced the problem of devising
more permanent forms of
government. The 1780’s and
90s saw a flurry of constitution-
making, as former colonies ex-
changed their early constitu-
tions for newer ones.
Several of the state constitu-
tions as well as the Articles of
Confederation had been expe-
dient plans of government
drafted in haste at the outbreak
of the Revolution or in the
critical period of the war. Flaws
in these early charters began to
show up soon after peace was
won.
The first state to adopt a con-
stitution was New Hampshire,
early in 1776. In the late winter
and early spring of 1784, New
Hampshire prepared to enact a
second charter, more detailed
than the tentative wartime
measure. South Carolina had
adopted a second constitution
in 1778 and would adopt a third
in 1790. In that same year, Pen-
nsylvania enacted its second
consumer alert---------—----
Mobile home dealer selection important
___________________________________________________— by jim maftox
Consumers shopping for mobile homes to Texas consumers. Others are not. consumer who is legally entitled to a refund
should be particularly careful about selec- Remember, your protection in those states won’t be able to get one if the dealer has in-
___________________________________________by william swindler
constitution, while Georgia the factions supporting one of in 1777, although it would be
adopted its second in 1789 and two proposed Rhode Island almost fifteen years before this
a third in 1798. Delaware charters. Eventually the United state was finally recognized.
is investigating and forming recommenda- The Task Force has divided into four sub- digent health care.
tions concerning the availability and financ- committees. Each subcommittee is responsi- The Administration subcommittee is vice-
ing of health care services for persons who ble for an in-depth study of one of the chaired by Mr. Jamie Clements of Temple,
are unable to pay for those services and who assigned areas that include eligibility, ser- The Administration subcommittee will
While visiting with my daughter, I had oc-
casion to read the editorial in the March 19 However, the sub-title of your editorial,
Allen American. “Ex-Wives and Other Robots,” is a
I agree with your views concerning the derogatory statement about women, and I
part robots will play in our future, along highly resent the implications of such a title,
with such things as computerized voices, Fortunately your last paragraph contain-
»
hospital based treatment. Health care pro- The Services subcommittee that is vice- viding health care for indigent persons in
viders often agree that if the patient had chaired by Dr. Mary Walker of Austin, will Texas.
been able to receive early treatment, review, evaluate and establish priorities of An important part of the Task Force’s
hospitalization would not have been service needs for the indigent population of study has been public hearings. For the past
necessary. Since the patient cannot afford Texas and make recommendations for serv- six months, the Task Force has held public
the medical treatment, the cost is then pass- ing the indicated population. Additionally, hearings throughout the state. The purpose
This subcommittee is to develop alter- Upon completion of their studies, the full
adopted a new constitution in States Supreme Court was
1792. As for 1784, there was a brought into the struggle,
strong movement in Virginia to although it ruled that a state
call for a second constitutional constitution was a “political
convention the following year, question” not within its
spearheaded by Thomas Jeffer- cognizance.
son. Besides the disposition of a
Not only were the new number of states to adopt new
American states learning to documents better suited to the
draft constitutions by trial and new nation, there were also
error, but most public leaders several movements to create
assumed that such frames of new states altogether. The
government were intended to Treaty of Paris had recognition
change with the times. It entire- the United States as an area ex-
ly in keeping with this political tending from the original
practice, therefore, for national seaboard settlements to the
leaders to look for im- Mississippi River, and most of
provements upon the Articles these “western lands” had been
of Confederation. ceded by the original colonies to
Not all the former colonies the Continental Congress as a
welcomed the idea of a new con- condition for adoption of the
stitution. Two of the original Articles of Confederation. Now
royal provinces—Connecticut the settlers in these frontier
and Rhode Island—elected to areas were beginning to ad-
continue into the new nation vocate their admission to the
under their English charters, new Union as separate states.
Connecticut did not adopt a Some of these movements for
constitution, in fact, until 1818, statehood had begun during the
and Rhode Island held out until Revolution. Towns in the.Green
1849. Even then, a bloodless Mountain area, eventually to
“war” known as “Dorr’s become Vermont, drafted their
Rebellion” broke out between first proposal for a constitution
A second abortive attempt at
statehood took place in the
Transylvania region of western
Pennsylvania and eastern Ken-
tucky. This region went so far
as to send a delegate to the Con-
tinental Congress, where he was
unceremoniously rejected. Ken-
tucky itself met with better
treatment from its mother state
of Virginia, which in 1785
authorized its “Kentucky
District” to begin planning for
separate statehood.
districts and charitable organizations have Mr. Joseph Boro of Tarrant County is the services are valued in the research of the
experienced in making health care services vice-chair of the Finance subcommittee. Task Force.
large number of manufactured housing If you plan to buy a mobile home, it is wise all guarantees and promises are made in
retailers are going out of business these to first check with your local Better writing. Remember, anything the salesman
days. If you buy a home from a dealer who Business Bureau and my Consumer promises to you orally will have no effect if
later closes his doors, you will have a lot Protection-Housing Section to find out it’s not in writing.
more difficulty getting warranty work done, whether there have been consumer com- For Help
Bonding plaints against the retailer you are in- If you are having problems with your
In Texas, manufactured housing brokers, terested in. You can also call the Depart- mobile home or your dealer, you can get help
dealers and manufacturers are all required ment of Labor and Standards to see if the from the Attorney General’s Consumer Pro-
to post a bond with the state Department of retailer has posted the $50,000 bond (call the tection Division-Housing Section (P.O. Box
Labor and Standards. Retailers must post a Austin office at 512/475-5712, or any of 12548, Austin Tx. 78711) or the nearest
$50,000 bond to protect consumers in case their 14 regional offices). regional office of Consumer Protection
the dealer goes out of business or becomes More Tips (Austin, Dalls, El Paso, Houston, Lubbock,
insolvent, and a manufacturer must put up a If the dealer is not bonded, or has an insuf- McAllen and San Antonio). We also have a
$100,000 bond. If you plan to buy your ficient bond at the time of a sale, then the free brochure on manufactured housing and
mobile home in a nearby state, you should sale may ne voided at the discretion of the on other common consumer complaints,
hknow that some dealers in Louisiana and consumer. However, it is always better to Write for your copy. The Attorney General’s
New Mexico are bonded so that they can sell buy from a bonded dealer, because even a office is here to help you.
statehouse views_________________
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Herman, Jim. The Allen American (Allen, Tex.), Vol. 15, No. 72, Ed. 1 Monday, March 26, 1984, newspaper, March 26, 1984; Allen, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1434579/m1/2/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Allen Public Library.