Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Sept. 28, 1994, edition 1 / Page 7
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Saily oar Hppl Pneumonic Plague Continues Spreading Throughout India Residents Trying to Flee the Disease Pass it Along to Others on Railroad Cars THE ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW DELHI, India—A huge banner proclaimed “Plague Control Room” at the capital’s train station, and police stood by Tuesday to rush the sick to the hospital. Officials urged calm, but as pneumonic plague spread from western Surat to New Delhi and across the nation to Calcutta, authorities escalated their efforts to find the sick, rush antibiotics to pharmacies and spray insecticide to kill disease-cany ing fleas. TV broadcasts advised that pneumonic plague could be treated with common an tibiotics like tetracycline, which is avail able in India without a prescription. But some pharmacies in New Delhi and Bombay ran out of antibiotics, so New Delhi officials released a list of 200 stores that were well-stocked and would be open 24 hours a day. In Bombay, officials raided two phar macies because they were selling antibiot ics at black-market prices. For the first time, confirmed cases of pneumonic plague were reported outside Surat, the port in Gujarat state that an estimated 400,000 people fled after the disease struck a week ago. Nine cases were reported in New Delhi and Calcutta, hundreds of miles east of Surat. At least 54 people have died in Surat, including three on Tuesday. Unofficial estimates put the death toll as high as 300. Twenty people, most ofthem from Surat, were admitted to the Infectious Diseases Hospital in New Delhi. Two tested posi tive forpneumonicplague, Dr. R.C. Panda said. People shivering or sweating with fever arrived at the emergency room and were examined by doctors whose faces were covered with surgical masks. “We fled Surat because most of the private doctors were gone,” said Ramesh Aggarwal, a businessman whose 9-year old son, Varan, developed a fever after the family left Gujarat. “I rushed him here before I even reached my relatives in Delhi.” Another man from Surat with a high fever tried to sneak out of the emergency room to phone his family, but doctors stopped him. At New Delhi’s train and bus stations, loudspeakers ordered arriving passengers with any ailment to report to doctors work ing there for free around the clock. Pneumonic plague is a more deadly form of bubonic plague the disease that ravaged 14th century Europe and Asia as “the Black Death.” The current plague outbreak is the first in India in 30 years. Indian officials and the World Health Organization urged people not to panic. They said there was no evidence of a wide spread epidemic, but many nations an QUEEN FROM PAGE 3 be considered as applicants for Homecom ing queen. Applicants must be female se niors who are registered as full-time stu dents with a minimum GPA of 2.5. Each candidate must be sponsored by a —Faculty— i Help Student Stores pay your students maximum value for their used books at buy back time. Turn in at least one Fall Textbook Request Form by Friday, September 30 and get a SI.OO gift certificate to the Daily Grind espresso bar courtesy of Student Stores! 80-See your textbook coordinator for details.<4 nounced plans to monitor travelers from India. Many of those who fled Surat moved there in search of jobs in diamond-cutting and textile plants and returned to home cities and villages across India, possibly carrying the disease with them. Hospitals reported suspected plague cases in Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Tamil Nadu, some of the largest states in the nation of9oo million Many of the patients reportedly had left Surat. Madhu Sudan Dayal, the federal health secretary, said Tuesday night that all In dian states had been ordered to track down people who fled Surat. State-run Doordarshan television broad casts programs explaining pneumonic plague, which is caused by a bacterium spread by fleas from infected rodents or by contact with infected people. The World Health Organization, aU.N. agency, expressed concern about the spread of plague from Surat but recommended caution. “WHO is worried that the plague is spreading to many places, but there is no need to panic yet,” said Dr. B.A. Kawengian, a WHO official inNew Delhi. “Antibiotics are available, and the govern ment has intensified the surveillance of the disease.” However, West Bengal state officials in Calcutta, home to 11 million people, de clared an alert Tuesday night after an nouncing that seven patients tested posi tive for pneumonic plague, the United News of India said. The agency quoted Prasanta Sur, the state health minister, as saying all seven patients returned to West Bengal from Surat, 1,000 miles to the west. In Bombay, India’s financial center 160 miles south of Surat, thousands of para medics conducted house-to-house surveys looking for people with plague symptoms. More than half the city’s 12.5 million people live in slums. The city also beefed up crews that trap and poison rats, and other workers stopped and sprayed insecticide in cars entering from neighboring Gujarat state. Maharashtra officials announced that the whole state would be sprayed with BHC, an anti-flea chemical, at a cost of $7 mil lion. Ten suspected pneumonic plague pa tients were admitted to hospitals in Bombay on Tuesday, raising the total to 42, health officials said. But tests had not confirmed any cases of pneumonic plague in Bombay. In states as far away as Tamil Nadu in southern India, city workers roamed streets in cities killing rats and spraying homes with insecticide, news agencies reported. In Surat, doctors and soldiers again searched shantytowns for plague victims. Soldiers wearing face masks and cra dling automatic weapons remained out side the main hospital to stop plague pa tients from fleeing the area before being cured. recognized University organization. This organization is not recognized on the bal lot because group sponsorship ends once applicants are accepted. The selection process consists of three parts that include the application review and the interview, each worth 1/6 of the applicant’s total score. The remaining 2/3 STATE & NATIONAL Lobby Reform Bill Moving Through House BY SREE CHAVALI STAFF WRITER Legislation mandating lobbying reform and regulating congressional gift giving is being voted on in Congress this week. According tO"a statement released by U.S. Rep. John Bryant, D-Texas, the House sponsor of the Lobbying Disclosure Act, the bill will require anyone who is being paid to lobby to disclose the amount they are spending to lobby, who they are lobby ing, what issue and on whose behalf. “This agreement deals head-on with the public’s concern about the influence of lobbyists in the law-making process,” Bryant said. The new regulation will be enforced by the Office of Lobbying Registration and Public Disclosure, which will have the power to impose fines for violations. Bryant said in his press release that the agreement would usher in anew era in lobbyist restrictions. “Never before in our history have lob byists been so restricted in their activities seeking to influence government decisions or required to disclose so much informa tion about their efforts. And never before in our history has Congress so broadly and European Nuclear Waste Ships To Remain Off N.C. Coast THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WILMINGTON Ships carrying nuclear waste from Europe will remain several miles offshore here while South Carolina challenged the U.S. Department ofEnergy’s right to bring the waste ashore, officials said Tuesday. “Secretary Hazel O’Leary, as a cour tesy to the state, for a short time delayed delivery,” DOE spokeswoman Jayne Brady said. South Carolina wants a federal appeals court to reconsider its decision allowing the spent nuclear fuel rods into the United States, contending that the federal govern ment misled the state. State Attorney General Travis Medlock on Tuesday said papers were sent to the U.S. Supreme Court to take the case there if the 4th Circuit rejects the state’s appeal of the federal court’s decision. “We will use all means at our disposal to keep South Carolina from becoming the dumping ground for the world,” Medlock said. The state contends that the Department of Energy used negotiations to delay a lawsuit, then allowed the ships to sail. As a result, the department now improperly claims the matter is an emergency, the appeal said. The DOE said accepting the waste was crucial to keeping control of the world’s weapons-grade uranium. The state said a more detailed environmental study should be conducted, which could take two years to complete. Last week, a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals threw out a of the total score is made up of the general student body vote. The applications are reviewed by lead ers of student organizations that are not sponsoring a candidate. Rumfelt said that the applications were judged in five cat egories: academics, service, extracurricu lar activities, benefits of their service extensively limited any opportunity for abuse of the decision making process,” the release stated. Among the exceptions to the lobbyist gift ban are gifts from close personal friends and family members when they are given for a nonbusiness purpose, and campaign contributions and attendance at political events. Also exempted from the ban are food, refreshment and entertainment in the member’s home state, and contribu tions to legal defense funds. Jerome Climer, president of The Con gressional Institute, said that under cur rent law, people who spend half their time lobbying congressmen are required to reg ister with the Office of Lobbying Registra tion and Public Disclosure. He said this bill would significantly increase the number of people required to register. “This bill will cause around 13,000 lob byists to have to register,” Climer said. Although he said he believed this bill would pass smoothly through Congress, Climer said he did not think any real re form would come as a result of its passage. “No member of Congress can afford to oppose this bill,” he said. “These changes are more symbolic than real.” Climer said he attributed this bill to lower court ruling blocking the shipment. The weapons-grade uranium is from research reactors in Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden. A shipment of 153 fuel assemblies was to come through Sunny Point Military Ocean Terminal in Brunswick County, then be shipped to the Savannah River Site weapons plant near Aiken, S.C. North Carolina officials considered a lawsuit some time ago, but DOE said its international treaty authority would over ride any legal challenge, said Rachel Peny, spokeswoman for Gov. Jim Hunt. The DOE encouraged reactor operators around the world to stop using highly en riched uranium fuel and move to a type of uranium that could not be easily converted to weapons use. The federal government promised to take back all the spent fuel it sold to foreign reactor operators. The DOE wants to import a total of 409 fuel elements in the next six months and 10,000 to 15,000 during the next 10 to 15 years. DOE officials met Tuesday with town officials in Pembroke and with students at Pembroke State University. “We basically asked them why they’re not going to Hamlet, where there’s a rail yard,” said Scott Stewart, student govern ment vice president at Pembroke State. “They said CSX (railroad) said Pembroke was the best place to turn around.” The train will switch from east-west tracks to north-south tracks at Pembroke or Hamlet to make its way into South Carolina. projects, and overall impression of the can didate. This year’s interviewers included Dr. Slayton Evans; Kenan Professor of Chemistry and member of the Morehead selection committee, Marcia Harris; direc tor of University Career Services, and Dr. Joseph Lowman, assistant dean of Arts and Sciences. “This agreement deals head-on with the public’s concern about the influence of lobbyists in the law-making process. ” JOHN BRYANT U.S. representative, D-Texas election year posturing. “The public feels special interests are running Washington (D.C.) and that they have lost control and influence over Con gress,” he said. “This bill won’t do any thing to increase the public’s influence.” Congress would not be willing to em brace many real changes that are needed to clean up the legislative process, Climer said. “Among the kinds of changes needed are the reduction in congressional districts, so that people know who their congress men are. There should also be law requir ing campaign funds come from people who actually live in the district,” he said. Many congressmen who voted against PHYTOSAUR FROM PAGE 1 Triassic Period. After randomly choosing about 10 outcrops in the area, Brewer no ticed a small bone protruding from one of the spots. They uncovered several small bones, but decided to confer with UNC geology Professor Joseph Carter before proceeding. Carter and eight students from his in vertebrate paleontology class—including Brewer and Coffey returned to the site Sunday, and by Monday had unearthed much of the 7- foot structure. “ i UAL Brewer and Coffey returned to the site Sunday, and by Monday had unearthed much of the 7- n, exciting,” said UNC Assistant " “It’s great for de- Geology Professor Kevin Stewart, who partment, ”he said. “It’s nice that students think it’s very * exciting,” said UNC Assistant Geology Professor Kevin Stewart, who is teaching Geology 11 this semester. "I think it’s great that two undergrads were able to make the discovery. It shows they have a real knack for it. “I’ve talked a lot with Brian Coffey, and I’ve known him for several years. I would expect him to make discoveries like this.” In all the class found two limbs, shoul der blades, clavicles, part of the spine, tail vertebrae and several teeth, including one measuring four inches. Students had hoped CRIME FROM PAGE 3 The new officers were hired last spring, and are scheduled to start duty in about three months, Cousins said. The Graham Street substation was opened on Graham Street at West Franklin Street in April because it was well known for many years as an open-air drag market, according to Lt. Robert Frick, one of two officers who work the station during the day. According to Frick, the substation HE’S NOT HERE on the Village Green Friday Night - Jessie’s Zoo Saturday Night - Dr. Rox Every Sunday Karaoke Chapel Hill 942-7939 Every Wednesday is Student Pay! A/nur r oA cost me ss.soloday^r looks because I’m a student! That s New or returning* donors jjfj who bring this ad to Sera- Tec jETsSIL will receive '^tg# SKA THIS JLic (based on two visits) •those who have not donated in the past 30 days ' w ~ SLJfe SERA-TEC BIOLOGICALS 109 1 /z E. FRAIMKLIIM ST. (expires 9/28/94) 942-0251 Wednesday, September 28,1994 the bill said they believed that this bill was just another addition to the ever-expand ing Washington bureaucracy. Rep. T. Cass Ballenger, R-N.C., who voted against the original version of the bill, said he believed the bill would create more loopholes that would just add more problems. “The bill is so strict in its considerations that a constituent, a longtime friend could violate a provision without knowing it,” said Patrick Murphy, press secretary to Ballenger. “It would set up a whole new bureaucracy to police lobbying. It’s going to cost millions to set up an office.” While Murphy said he did not think this bill would have any significant effect, he did say he believed congressmen should make it a common policy to disclose as much information as the public wants. “It’s not going to change the behavior of congressmen,” Murphy said. This opinion is shared by a number of congressmen, including Sen. Lauch Faircloth, R-N.C. “He (Sen. Faircloth) has made it his office policy to record everything,” said Trish Hilton, legislative correspondant to Faircloth. “He is a big advocate of disclo sure.” to find a complete skull, but could only find fragments of it. The specimen was found lying on its back with its legs crossed against its chest. Carter said at first there was some con fusion over the identification of the crea ture, but its teeth and abdominal ribs matched previously found phytosaurs. There was no mistaking the excitement in Mitchell on Tuesday. Many in the geol ogy department bubbled with enthusiasm. Stewart said the discovery JA was an honor for the Bg; University. “It’s great for the (geology) de partment, ” he said. “It’s nice that students from Chapel Hill found this." The find couldn’t have come at a better time for Donna Whitley, an assistant pro fessor of geology who also teaches Geol ogy 11. Today, she is lecturing on mass extinction. “It’s such an exciting find,” Whitley said Tuesday. “It actually corresponds with my lecture. Everyone’s talking about it. We’re all pretty excited about it. We’re proud of the two students." was designed to move the drag problem off Graham Street and has been quite effec tive. “It has given us a much more visible presence,” Cousins said. “The people in the neighborhood feel safer.” Efforts to make neighborhoods safer can also be seen through the civilian patrol program headed by Chapel Hill police Lt. Tony Oakley. The civilian patrols consist of people who are often enrolled in criminal justice curricula at some of the local technical schools, Cousins said. 7
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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