TEXAS PRESS ASSOCIATION

Vol. 70 No. 135

The Battalion weather

Wednesday, July 20, 1977 College Station, Texas

News Dept. 845-2611 Business Dept. 845-2611

Partly cloudy today and tomorrow with southeasterly winds 10-15 mph. Slight chance of afternoon and evening showers through to­morrow. High today in the mid-90s, low tonight in the low 70s. Twenty per cent chance of rain.

Nursing home control given legislative priority

Bagging it! Baltalion photo by David Friedman

;s Peters demonstrates “bagging heads” of sorghum for seif- lination at the A&M Experimental farm on the Brazos River tom land. Peters works for the A&M Agronomy Department.

isted that there was no cover-up

By GLENNA WHITLEYBattalion Campus Editor

A bill designed to impose stricter controls on Texas nursing homes is a priority of the state legislature as it enters the second week of a special session called by Gov. Dolph Briscoe.

The bill introduced by Sen. Chet Brooks, D-Houston, will probably be consid­ered on the floor of the Senate today said Steve Renfrew, Brooks’ administrative assistant.

Senate Bill 9 deals with many aspects of nursing care and Renfrew said the bill was introduced as a result of a recent investigation by Atty. Gen. John Hill.

Renfrew said the study showed that although many such homes are doing a good job, there are cases of neglect, questionable standards and methods of medication. Physical and mental abuse, as well as financial abuse of patients, was also investigated by Hill’s office,

The bill calls for the transfer of licensing authority horn the Department of Public Welfare (DPW) to the Texas State Department of Health Resources (DHR). Renfrew said there has been concern in the past about the way the DPW has monitored nursing, homes and the bills’ sponsors believe another agency should be given a chance to do a better job.

The DHR would have the authority to rewrite standards for the licensing of nursing homes. State licensing of nursing homes has been in existence since 1953, and licensing of the nursing home administrators has existed since 1970.

Brooks’ bill would not affect licensing of administrators.The bill also increases penalties for physical abuse of patients by nursing home

employes and administrators.

Renfrew said abuse has been changed from a Class C misdemeanor to a Class A misdemeanor, which provides for a larger fine and a longer jail term.

The bill also allows the court to issue civil penalties in cases of abuse and neglect to not less than $25 and not more than $1000, he said. The fines now range from $100 to $200. Renfrow said this allowed the court more legal leverage in the case.

The bill would move all cases involving nursing homes to Travis County. Ren­frow said this was to centralize the eases for faster trials. Instead of sending lawyers to tne counties pt nursing homes in question, the lawyers will work with the cases in Austin.

“We re real optimistic about it (the bill’s passage),’ Renfrow said. The bill will probably be discussed on the Senate floor tomorrow. A similar bill will be consid- erd in the House this week also.

A nursing home bill introduced by Sen. Walter Mengden, D-Houston, was rejected during the regular session of the legislature. His bill would have

provided for semi-annual meetings of nursing home occupants to express their complaints and requests with an inspector from the licensing bureau. Mengden is co-sponsor of Brooks’ bill and a provision for annual meeting of patients was included by Brooks. >

Howard Allen, the director of the Nursing and Convalescent Homes division of the DHR, said he agreed with most of the provisions of Brooks bill.

“Overall, the bill will aid in the enforcement of nursing home standards, he said. The penalties for abuse and neglect do need to be stiffer than those at present he said.

“There are some physical abuses in nursing homes, but it isn’t widespread,” Allen added.

Gov. Dolph Briscoe said yesterday he had proposed measures to prevent el­derly persons from being abused or neglected. Briscoe said the proposed mea­sures include unannounced inspection visits, stiffer penalties for violations and increased fines on homes found in violation of state regulations.

Begin offers ideas for talks with Egypt

16-

Kissinger says he knew about aid committment

nothing to Vietnam

United Press InternationalASHINGTON — It was no cover-up, claimed Henry Kissinger indignantly, nd he knew nothing about any alleged secret aid commitment to North

itnam other than the published letter Richard Nixon wrote, he former secretary of state was in top form when, flanked by a posse of Secret vice agents and with his son David tagging along, he str ode into the crowded, id-lit chamber of the House International Affairs Committee, le was summoned to answer questions on the Feb. 1, 1973, letter by then sident Nixon to North Vietnamese Premier Pham Van Dong, offering some 75 billion in aid “without any political conditions.

octors still puzzled er cause of poisoning

United Press International

DIS0NVILLE — Doctors are “im- ly frustrated” in their efforts to inewhat killed two Navajo Indians

yed on a Southeast Texas railroad according to a hospital administra-

lison County Hospital administrator Clark also reported five of the nine ers of the crew who had been hos­ed with high levels of a toxic wood vative in their blood were released day, and another four workers re­

in satisfactory condition, of their co-workers, both Navajos,

ast week. Pathologists investigating aths of the two 26-year-old Gallup, men have not yet released autopsy

ksaid doctors were awaiting further )orts in the investigation, e doctors are-immensely frustrated.

B just haven’t been able to set a pat- ls yet,” he said.I' hospital administrator said blood lues of all 85 railroad workers had 1 completed and traces of the chemical I chloraphenol or PCP had been found I h case.’U Clark said pathologists still are notI if the PCP caused the illnesses or Is, although it has been the only toxic Binee found in lab reports.l)t one drug or one other toxic sub-II has shown up in the tests," Clark I The early culprit was PCP, since the

ice of the deaths and sicknesses d symptoms of PCP. But PCP has i up in 100 per cent of the other so we don’t know why there would been any deaths.”irk said PCP would not cause prob-

| if it is used as labled, but if someone areless with it, or didn’t follow ic measures, they could get very ill

Bven die.”victims’ symptoms included high muscle cramps, nausea, stomach

s and excessive salivation.Austin, officials of the state Health rtment said 'reports received from agents indicated the railroad workers very minimal levels” of PCP in their

■any people would carry that level,” ■forace Adrian, whose division works

(industry health conc erns. “We re at asee any job-related causes at this

The men, who were from the Navajo reservation in Arizona and New Mexico, were working for the Rock Island Line on a section of track near lola, Tex., when the deaths occurred.

Clark said the men were being kept under observation and had not been al­lowed to resume work since the incident.

“They’re just staying around their work camp, singing songs and getting bored and wanting to go home. They seem healthy and cheerful and anxious to get this episode over with,” he said.

The text of the letter finally was released last May, after four years of denials that it even existed.

Rep. Lester Wolff, D-N. Y., chairman of the panel's subcommittee on Asian and Pacific Affairs, asked bluntly:

“Dr. Kissinger, my two basic question to you today are: why did you and other members of die Nixon and Ford administrations repeatedly deny the existence, and then when that became impossible, the substance of Mr. Nixon’s letter; and second, are there any as yet undisclosed agreements or promises or substantive matters relating to aid. In short, are there any more secret agreements or propo­sals on aid which may yet come to the surface?”

Brisding, Kissinger replied, “You already are asking me to comment on your conclusion ... it is totally untrue.”

Kissinger, who was foreign policy adviser at the White House before becoming secretary of state in 1973, said Nixon’s letter “must be seen in the context of the entire negotiations” which resulted in the Paris peace treaty.

The issue of reconstruction aid was not new, he said. It was mentioned in the peace accords, and had first been suggested by Lyndon Johnson in 1965. He said the Nixon administration followed through by pledging to contribute to healing the wounds once the war ended.

The 1973 letter, he said, was clearly contingent on negotiations, Hanoi’s strict adherence to the treaty and eventual congressional approval and there was no need to tell Congress since the dollar sum “was a ballpark figure to be negotiated. ”

In any event, he added, the offer became “inoperative” when the North Vietnamese flagrantly violated the peace terms.

“We owe them nothing,” Kissinger said.“Why the cover-up in the first place? asked Rep. Anthony Bielenson, D-Calif.“The phrase cover-up,” Kssinger replied stiffly, “is extremely unfortunate

. . . there was nothing to cover up.Wolff asked about North Vietnamese claims that the offer was still valid and that

there might be an additional aid commitment still secret.Kssinger said it was “absurd” for Hanoi to ask U.S. compliance with the one

peace treaty clause regarding aid when they had violated all the rest.

United Press InternationalWASHINGTON — Israeli Prime Minis­

ter Menahem Begin has given President Carter several ideas for renewing peace talks with Egypt, Syria and Jordan. The President is said to have found them “for­ward looking and worthy of considera­tion.”

The Israeli leader planned breakfast today with presidential national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski before meet­ing Carter for a second round of talks in the Oval Office.

Begin scheduled a midafternoon news conference to disclose Israel’s peace plan, which has been held secret until now.

Leaving the State Department yester­day after a two-hour talk with Secretary of State Cyrus Vance, Begin characterized the Israeli formula only as “a plan for the framework for the peace-making process. ”

In Tel Aviv, Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan briefed members of parliament on the Begin plan, which calls for large-scale Israeli withdrawals in the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights, but seeks to keep Israeli military control of the occupied West Bank of Jordan.

A report by the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz said Begin s plan deals with pro­cedures for renewing peace talks by mid-October.

Should efforts to reconvene the Geneva conference fail, the Begin plan calls for the United States to set up joint committees with Israel and the three or four confronta­tion states, it said.

After the first day of talks in Washing­ton, the White House issued a statement saying Carter and Begin agreed to seek a reconvening of the Geneva conference be­fore the year is out.

And White House spokesman Jody Powell said Carter termed Begin’s ideas “forward looking and worthy of considera­tion.”

At a dinner last night in honor of his guest, Carter said he believed he had suc­ceeded in resolving some differences with the Israeli leader.

“We have explored differences of opin­ion. I think we have resolved some of the differences,” Carter said.

“I have been very proud of the attitude taken by the Prime Minster of Israel who has said all issues are negotiable. And he has already expressed publicly his hope that we, and President Sadat of Egypt, and (Syrian) President Assad can meet with others in Geneva in October,” Carter

said, adding his hope that “conditions will permit” such a meeting.

Carter said Vance will go to the Middle East next week “for private conversations with leaders there and will also have follow-up meetings with the Israeli leaders themselves.”

Begin responded with a historical re­view of the Jews’ struggle for survived, and cautioned: “We must have a sense of urgency, but we must have some pa­tience.

“With a sense of urgency on the one hand and patience on the other, I think we can build a foundation of peace in the Middle East.”

Teng Hsiao-ping returns to powerin Chinese party

United Press InternationalHONG KONG — China’s top leaders, in

a secret meeting, apparently have ap­proved the return to power of two-time purge victim Teng Hsiao-ping.

Wall posters appearing in Peking yes­terday and today said Teng had been reinstated to all the posts he held in the Communist party, the government and the armed forces when he was purged for the second time in April, 1976.

At that time he was first vice premier, a vice chairman of the party, chief of the general staff of the armed forces and a member of the party’s Military Affairs Commission.

Diplomatic analysts in Peking and Hong Kong said the posters, some of which were signed by members of a government minis­try, “undoubtedly” reflect an official deci­sion.

Sources in the Chinese capital said the meeting, which opened secretly in Peking during the weekend, apparently is an enlarged meeting of the party’s powerful Politburo.

The first poster put up yesterday wel­comed Teng’s reinstatement to the po­sitions he previously held, according to sources in Peking. It was signed by mem­bers of the Ministry of Economic Relations with Foreign Countries. It was removed today.

Senate working on second piece of major legislation

United Press International

AUSTIN — Senators have approved one of the two major bills remaining to be considered by the special legislative ses­sion, and now are ready to decide on the second — a measure tightening regu­lations concerning operation of nursing homes.

The Senate scheduled a vote for today

Lower tax rates increase employe’s take-home payMost employes noticed an in­

crease in take-home pay received for work after June 1. The reason is lower tax withholding rates. .

The Internal Revenue Service said today that the rate adjustment resulted from tax law changes in the Tax Reduction and Simplification Act of 1977.

Frank Nason, Director’s Repre­sentative at the Bryan IRS office, said that employers have been provided with revised withholding rate schedules. The withholding rates are contained in a Circular E Supplement. Included, too, is a bul­letin board notice which will help explain the change to employes.

on the nursing home legislation.House action on both measures was

sluggish at best, however.Rep. Tom Uher, D-Bay City, chairman

of the House State Affairs Committee which is considering legislation authoriz­ing state financing of a $750 million deep­water port for oil supertankers off the Texas Gulf Coast, indicated it may be sev­eral days before his committee approves a bill for House debate.

The Senate approved the superport legislation 23-4 yesterday and sent it to the House. The bill provides for creation of a nine-member Deepwater Port Authority to seek a federal license and issue revenue bonds to finance the port if the governor determines private efforts such as Sea- dock, Inc., fail.

Uher disagreed with that provision, say­ing, “We think maybe the legislature ought to be called back in special session to decide if it’s going to be built rather than letting one person decide that.”

The House committee chairman said he wants to hear testimony from federal wit­nesses on what the state’s responsibilities would be in development of such a port, and what federal restrictions the state would face.

“I think if we can get the answers to some of these questions that concern the committee members the bill can come out. We just want to make sure we don’t leave the people of Texas saddled with a white elephant,” he said.

The work goes on Battalion photo by Bernard Cor

Braving the humid weather and hot sun, these workers lay the concrete for sidewalks near the Drill Field on West Main Street yesterday after­

noon. The sidewalk is only part of the many con­struction projects going on at Texas A&M Univer­sity.