They beat 729,000 to 1 odds
(Continued from page 1)
The babies — all girls — and their birth
weights are: Lolita (2 pounds, 6 ounces),
Rebecca (3 pounds, 5 ounces), Diana (3
pounds, 7 ounces) and Carolinia (3
p>ounds, 10 ounces).
Gall said that the chance of quadruplet
births is one in 729,000.
Since birth they have been under the
overall care of Dr. Lillian Blackmon,
director of Duke nurseries and the
neonatologist on service at the time.
On tour
Twenty-four ninth graders from
Carringto.n Junior High School in
Durham are touring the medical
center today. The students are
accompanied by Dot Honeycutt and
their teacher, Ruth Haggard.
Because of their prematurity and the
difficulty of their lungs to adjust
immediately to an air environment,
Blackmon said the babies are all
experiencing hyaline membrane disease,
or respiratory distress, and had remained
on respirators through the early part of
this week.
Improving steadily
They improved steadily and by
midweek the three larger babies were off
their respirators. Blackmon said the
smallest, Lolita, probably would be off
hers by the end of the week.
Mr. and Mrs. Roura have been married
seven years and have two other children,
also girls — Angelita, 4, and Christina, 15
months. The father works for Ridgeway
Opticians in Fayetteville and also works
at night as bass player in a band.
Patiently responding to dozens of press
inquiries and numerous interviews, the
one word the Rouras have used to sum up
their immediate reaction to this
unexpected turn of events in their lives is
"shock."
THE HISTORY-MAKINC 7MM—Five of the centra} figures in the birth of Duke Hospital's first
quadruplets reassembled this week for this formal portrait. Standing are Dr. Stanley Gall (left)
associate professor of obstetrics-gynecology, and Dr. Arnold Grandis, chief resident on the
service, who delivered the babies. Seated with the parents, Duilio and Rebecca Roura, is Dr. Lillian
Blackmon, associate professor of pediatrics, who is overseeing the care of the quadruplets. The
other primary participants in the event — Rebecca, Lolita, Diana and Carolinia — were receiving
. some special care in the nursery and weren't able to attend. (Photo by Lewis Parrish)
Program for ^college students’ over 60
Elderhostel, the program that offers
people over 60 unique opportunities for
weeklong experiences of campus life and
academic achievement on campuses in 17
different states, will convene at Duke for
three weeks in July.
According to Dr. Jean O'Barr, director
of continuing education, Elderhostel '78
will offer nine courses each week, July 2-
8, 9-15 and 16-22. Duke is one of 10
North Carolina schools in the program.
Regular Duke faculty will teach most of
the non-credit, college level courses
which cover a broad spectrum of
interests. Three 90-minute class periods
are involved daily, so that an
Elderhosteler who registers for all three
weeks may attend every
throughout the session.
course
The nationwide Elderhostel program,
supported in part by Title I Funds of the
Higher Education Act, limits registration
on any campus to 30 persons per week.
Duke courses will include an
assessment of the New Deal from a
contemporary viewpoint; an examination
of Cuba's place in history, including U.S.-
Cuban relations today as well as pre-
Castro; a course on "What We Know and
Don't Know about Nutrition;" one in
modern poetry, and another on Medicine
and Society — how our lives are shaped
by questions of health.
There also will be a course on how
history is documented and how "oral
history" changes what we know; a how-
to-do course on writing the nostalgic
piece; and a course entitled "On Being
SEPTEMBER
M T U' T F
March
*'-'*»CR
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*♦ Jj 3/ ^ J/ i«
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’7 « II ^
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16,
7 IS
March 31-April 7, 1978
Tht MtJical Center Calendar lists lectures, symposia and other activities of interest to faculty, staff and students. Notices should he sent lo Box 3 3 54 no later than one week prior to
publication. If last minute scheduling makes it impossible to send a written notice in time, please call 684-4148.
Friday, March 31
9 a.m.
12:30 p.m.
12:30 p.m.
1 p.m.
Monday, April 3
12 noon
4 p.m.
Tuesday, April 4
12:30 p.m.
4 p.m.
4 p.m.
Spring Nursing Program. Ann M. Jacobansky Aud, School of Nursing. Continues through Sat. morning.
Joint seminar sponsored by Cellular and Molecular Biology Program and the Department of Biochemistry. Joan A. Steitz,
Dept, of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Conn., "How Ribosomes Recognize Initiator
Regions in mRna," Rm 147, Nanaline H. Duke Bldg. Coffee at 12:15 in the lobby.
Microbiology and Immunology Seminar. Dr. Angus F. Graham, Dept, of Biochemistry. McGill University School of
Medicine, Montreal, "Replication of Reovirus," Rm 143, Jones Bldg.
Network'^or Continuing Medical Education (NCME). Program on "Osteoporosis: A Disorder of Bone-Remodeling, View in
Rm M405 at Duke and Rms D3008, C6002 and C7002 and Bldg 16 at the VA Hospital.
Pathology Research Conference. Dr. Hal Hawkins, assistant professor of pathology, "Lanthaum as a Tracer for Cell
Membrane Injury," Rm M204.
Seminar sponsored by Pharmacological Sciences Training Grant. Dr. Richard Miller, Dept, of Physiological and
Pharmacological Sciences, University of Chicago, "Distribution and Functions of the Enkephalins, Rm 408, Nanaline H.
Duke Bldg; Coffee at 3:45.
Genetics Seminar. Dr. Charles Radding, Dept, of Medicine and Dept, of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale
University, "Superhelical DNA and General Genetic Recombination," Rm 147, Nanaline H. Duke Bldg. Coffee at 12:15 in the
lobby.
Seminar sponsored by Pharmacological Sciences Training Grant. Dr. Andre Dray, Dept, of Physiology, "Interactions or
Barbiturates ami other Central Depressants with Amino Acid Antagonists," Rm 408 Nanaline H. Duke Bldg. Coffee at 3:45.
Council on Aging and Human Development. Dr. Herschel Jick', Boston Collaborative Drug Surveillance Program, Boston
University Medical Center, "The Influence of Age on Drug Reactions," Rm 1504, Gerontology Bldg (blue zone).
Human in the Contemporary World."
The latter course involves in-class
discussions of human experience in areas
of culture, nature, self, others and the
sacred, O'Barr said.
Camp^s dormitory facilities are the
"hostel" and meals may be taken in
university dining halls, along with other
summer students.
Fees of $75 per week for in-state
residents and $105 per week for out-of
staters include room and board and
tuition.
Local residents living at home may
attend as day students for a $15 a week
fee.
Members of Duke's Institute for
Learning in Retirement may attend as
part of their regular summer program.
Registration forms and brochures
covering Elderhostel programs in North
Carolina this summer may be requested
from Elderhostel, 204 Abernethy Hall
OOO2A, Chapel Hill, N.C. 27514. Day
students must register through the
Continuing Education Office at Duke in
107 Bivins Bldg., East Campus.
Particulars on the Duke program may
be obtained by calling 684-6259.
Save in 1984
National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NHTSA) officials
estimate that owners of 1984 model cars
will save approximately $1,000 on the
cost of gasoline (computed at 65t a gallon)
and $200 in maintenance costs over the
life of the car as compared to 1977 models.
Maintenance costs will be less because
vehicle weight will decrease, permitting
use of smaller and therefore less
expensive tires, brakes, batteries, an
other parts.
g
IS
Wednesday, April 5
8:15 p.m.
Roundtable on Science and Public Affairs. Sir William Hawthorne, Master of ChurchUl College, Cambridge University,
"Energy and Environment: Conflict or Compromise," Gross Chem Lab Aud.
"WiMtsver happened to that
physical fitness program you
were all steamed up alwutr’