4The Daily Tar HeelThursday, March 7, 1991
WcHM
:FDA commissioner
fcalls for safer capsules
'WASHINGTON Drug manufac
turers should consider reformulating
their non-prescription capsule products
lessen the threat of tampering, the
tJood and Drug Administration's new
commissioner said Wednesday.
;'But David Kessler, testifying before
a: "Senate committee days after a na
tionwide recall of the Sudafed 12 Hour
bold capsules because of tampering,
Cautioned that no packaging is tamper-
TSOOf.
X "Any product can be tampered with,"
Kessler told members of the Senate
Labor and Human Resources Commit
tee. "Consumers must maintain their
vigilance. They must look twice before
lairing any over-the-counter product."
X Kessler, sworn in last week, said the
agency would consider whether capsule
forms of non-prescription drugs should
be banned.
; 'Today, if I were a drug manufacturer,
I would seriously look at other ways to
formulate my products than capsule
form," he said.
However, Kessler said he recognized
that capsules were the best and some
times only viable dosage form for some
drugs. Also, many elderly people prefer
capsules and "they perhaps would not
take their medicine if they did not have
a form they could swallow," he said.
Kessler has appointed a task force to
consider the issue.
As of Wednesday morning, investi
gators had looked at 24,000 Sudafed 1 2
Hour cold capsules for signs of cyanide
after two deaths and one serious illness
in the Puget Sound area of Washington
state.
The manufacturer, Burroughs
Wellcome Co. of Research Triangle
Park, N.C., issued a nationwide recall
of the product last weekend. No arrests
have been made.
Since the recall was announced, in
vestigators have found three suspect
capsules in Sudafed 12 Hour packages,
all in stores near Interstate 5 exits in the
Tacoma-Olympia area of Washington
state.
8,000 leave Albania as
political unrest grows
VIENNA, Austria Police fired
warning shots Wednesday over the
heads of thousands of Albanians who
When:
besieged Tirana's Embassy Row, and
8,000 would-be emigres were reported
to have fled Albania.
Continuing unrest in this turbulent
Balkan land of 3.2 million residents
cast doubt on the ability of either the
ruling Communists or opposition parties
contesting elections this month to con
trol popular discontent.
Theexodus appears to reflect mistrust
of Albanian President Ramiz Alia's
promise to improve political and eco
nomic conditions in Europe's poorest
nation.
Thousands have tramped overland to
Greece and Yugoslavia since the
Communist leader reversed 46 years of
one-party rule in December and allowed
opposition parties to form following
student demonstrations for democracy.
Radio Tirana reported the figure of
those leaving as 8,000, but stressed the
actual number would be known only
when they arrived in Italy, about 50
miles across the Adriatic Sea.
Syria, Egypt may lead
gulf security force
DAMASCUS, Syria Syria and
Egypt would form the core of a per
manent gulf security force for weaker
oil states under an agreement reached
Wednesday with the Gulf Cooperation
Council nations.
The pact also seeks establishment of
a new Arab order and the elimination of
all weapons of mass destruction from
the Middle East.
The agreement followed two days of
talks by the foreign ministers of Syria,
Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait,
Qatar, Oman and the United Arab
Emirates. It is to be ratified later by their
governments.
In a post-conference communique,
the ministers stressed the need for in
creased Arab economic, security, cul
tural and political cooperation, as well
as achieving a just and comprehensive
solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict and
the Palestinian problem.
Theministers said the postwar period
provided "the best conditions toconfront
the other challenges and threats in the
region, primarily the challenges result
ing from the continuation of Israeli
occupation of Arab territories and the
settling of Jews there."
They appealed for an international
peace conference for the region under
United Nations sponsorship.
The Associated Press
ZETA BETA TAU
GENERAL
Thursday, March 7
5:30 P.M.
GKAIB THIS OPPORTUNITY TODAY?
YOU MAKE THE MULES.
ZBT HAS NO PLEDGING?
Questions? Call: Gregg Sanderson
(919)932-3000 Room 172
University Inn - Best Western
ZETA BETA TAU FRATERNITY
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More schools turn to
Editor's note: This is the fourth seg
ment of a five-part series on mass trans
portation in America.
By David Etchison
Staff Writer
Many universities across the country
are realizing the value of encouraging
the development and use of mass transit
systems on their campuses.
"Universities are looking at what they
can do on college campuses to reduce
congestion created by students and
faculty," said Sandra Spencer, executive
director of the Association for Com
muter Transportation.
At the University of Maryland in
College Park, a student-run transporta
tion system called Shuttle MD has been
in use since 1973. "Primarily, it's a
commuter system," said Keith Lynch,
operations coordinator for Shuttle MD.
"It has really done well. It's extensively
used."
Spencer said, "They have more cars
Kuwaitis accused of abusing Palestinian prisoners
Officials say beating victims being hospitalized for injuries ranging from broken bones to cigarette burns
The Associated Press
KUWAIT CITY, Kuwait Kuwaiti
army and resistance personnel are
beating scores of Palestinians suspected
of collaborating with occupying Iraqi
soldiers, hospital and resistance officials
said Wednesday.
Palestinians have been burned with
cigarettes, hit with typewriters and chairs
and had their fingernails pulled out,
according to those familiar with the
beatings.
At least 4,000 Palestinian and other
suspected collaborators have been jailed
since last Wednesday, when all ied forces
chased Iraqi invaders out of Kuwait,
according to resistance officials man
ning three police stations.
"What we are giving them is nothing
compared to what we got from the Ira
qis," said Aziz Ghuloum, a resistance
fighter in charge of a police station in
the Abiya section of Kuwait City.
"It feels good to bloody these bas
tards." A 22-year-old Palestinian medical
student at Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital
said five Palestinians with bullet wounds
to the head or chest have been brought
to the hospital since the Iraqi pullout.
Since then, he said he has treated
between 35 and 40 Palestinians beaten
by the resistance and the army, and
heard of about 20 more cases.
Officials at three police stations and
3 n
NTERES
TE1 AH O P O HTAT1 0 IJ
j2
coming and going at the University of
Maryland than any other site in the
Washington area other than the Penta
gon. During the day, the service runs 10
routes off campus and serves a five
mile radius. At night, the buses serve
the campus only. Demand Response
Call-A-Ride system is also in place to
provide individual rides for students
who need them. The system also runs
charter buses and a ParaTransit system
for the handicapped.
"The program is entirely student
managed (with) a few professional
staff," Lynch said. "Each of the depart
ments is managed by students."
Shuttle MD employs 120 students in
two hospitals told similar stories of swift
Kuwaiti retribution against the Pales
tinian community for its perceived
support of Saddam Hussein.
Resistance fighters accused their
victims of denouncing members of the
resistance, profiting from the Iraqi in
vasion by doing business with the in
vaders and stealing Kuwaiti property.
A doctor at the Al-Farwaniya Hos
pital said he and his colleagues had
treated about 50 Palestinians over the
past week.
Many have fractures, lacerations and
contusions. One of the worst cases was
a 22-year-old whose face was made
unrecognizable by coagulated blood.
The victim said he had been beaten for
eight hours, the medical student said.
A doctor at Mubarak brought an
Associated Press reporter to the room of
a 23-year-old man who he said was
dumped at the hospital's steps with
cigarette burns on his back and with
four nails missing from his fingers.
The patient was sleeping. Bruises
and bandages covered his face and head.
The doctor said Palestinian victims
of Kuwaiti interrogations told of being
hit over the head by typewriters and
chairs.
"They have huge gashes in their
heads," he said. "We are seeing a vio
lation of human rights."
Doctors said it was difficult to obtain
Where:
FRATER
HEMES
mass transit systems
jobs such as driving, dispatching, route
design and training.
The program began with a couple of
vans that provided a Call-A-Ride service
at night. "The system was set up origi
nally as a security measure ... so people
didn't have to walk at night," Lynch
said. "It has mushroomed into what it is
today."
At the University of Washington
(UW) in Seattle, there is a proposal to
initiate a Universal Pass which would
allow students, staff and faculty to use
all transit services in King and
Snohomish County where Seattle and
its suburbs are located.
The pass also provides for free car
pool parking and van pool service, along
with a security shuttle at night. For
faculty and staff, a Guaranteed Ride
Home program will allow a limited
number of free cab rides home for those
who miss their bus or car-pool ride.
"We have found in some other mar
kets we have worked in, that people are
concerned about being stranded on
details on the attacks because resistance
and army officials often supervised the
treatment of their victims.
"There is no way for us to protest. We
just do our jobs and keep quiet," the
medical student said.
A Western diplomat said he was
disturbed by the reports.
The government is "worried they
can't control it," the diplomat said,
speaking on condition of anonymity.
"Kuwait for seven months has been
supported by the world community
being victimized by Saddam Hussein.
You don't want, when this is over, to be
painted no better than the brutal one."
Also on Wednesday, Kuwait's crown
prince, Sheik Saad Abdullah al-Sabah,
said he would not tolerate maltreatment
of Palestinians.
"I want to put an end to the rumors in
Kuwait and outside Kuwait that the
security authorities (will) ... try to arrest
the Palestinians, try to push the Pales
tinians," Saad told a news conference.
Kuwait's Palestinian community,
estimated at 350,000, has dwindled to
about 150,000 since the occupation
began. Their main occupations have
been in health care, construction, engi
neering and management.
The diplomat said he was worried
that once Kuwaitis who were abroad
returned to their country the retributions
would increase, a fear echoed by Pal
1595
NITY
MEETI
X T J "c
Room 205
Student Union
campus or at work," said Bill Roach,
supervisor of market development for
Seattle Metro.
Of the 50,000 people working at UW,
20 percent use the transit system. The
Universal Pass would give all students
a good reason to use it, Roach said. In a
referendum, 70 percent of the student
body approved of the idea, and 40 per
cent said it should be mandatory, he
said.
The plan would cost students $4 a
month if the pass were made mandatory.
Additional money will be raised by
increasing parking rates on campus from
$24 to $40 a month.
The plan was proposed because the
university area has the worst air quality
in the county and because expansion of
parking lots is extremely limited due to
traffic from surrounding neighborhoods,
Roach said.
"If all goes well, we should have this
up and running by the fall of this year,"
Roach said.
estinians.
"They don't know what happened in
Kuwait," said a Palestinian engineer,
who identified himself only as Amin.
"They think all of us were with Saddam."
At the Adiya police station, Ghuloum
and other resistance fighters proudly
displayed four men they said were
Palestinians or Iraqi sympathizers.
One Iraqi man, Khaled Mohammed
al-Turki, was bleeding from the eye and
his face was puffed up like a caul iflo wer.
He said he had been beaten; Ghuloum
said he had been in a car accident.
Ghuloum said al-Turki was being ques
tioned but so far had yet to be accused of
any crimes.
A Palestinian man, Ayab Abastain,
had what appeared to be burn marks on
his arms. Asked in front of resistance
fighters what they were, he replied:
"They are mistakes. My mistakes."
Ghuloum and the others laughed. He
said the man also had yet to be accused
of any crimes.
At another police station intheBayan
section of town, a resistance fighter.
Ibrahim al-Jaish, said he broke the jaw
of a Palestinian man suspected of rap
ing his sister.
"I just let him have it with this," he
said, showing a cracked plaster cast that
had encased a bullet wound on his arm.
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