2The Daily Tar HeelWednesday, September 4, 1991
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Fire causes 25 deaths '
in chicken factory
RALEIGH The chicken nugget
factory where 25 people died Tuesday
in North Carolina's worst industrial
accident on record had never received a
safety inspection in its 1 1 years of op
eration, state officials said.
The state currently has fewer than 20
health and safety inspectors, said Labor
Commissioner John Brooks, and about
half of them are in training.
The number of inspectors is adequate
for a county but "hardly supportive" for
the state, Brooks said.
The plant had never received one of
the 1,000 or so "general schedule" in
spections a year in which safety offi
cials randomly choose plants to inspect,
said Charles Jeffress, assistant commis
sioner of the state labor department.
The state had never received a com
plaint about the Imperial plant, Jeffress
said.
"We don't conduct nearly as many
inspections as we need to," he said.
Several witnesses said employees
couldn't escape because of locked doors.
Rut invctio9tnrc nnH ramnanv nffi-
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cials said they could not verify that.
Zaire police fire
on protesters
KINSHASA, Zaire Parliament
held an emergency session Tuesday af
ter police battled pro-democracy pro
testers in the capital and in other towns,
leaving shops looted and cars burned.
Witnesses said at least three people
were killed.
Thousands of people were involved
in the riots, throwing up barricades,
burning cars and looting shops. It was
not clear whether the violence started
before or after police fired into the
crowds, reporters said.
The demonstrations were called by
leaders of the opposition to President
Mobutu Sese Seko, a soldier who seized
power 26 years ago.
The opposition wants a national con
ference held to appoint an interim gov
ernment and to organize the first free
elections since independence from Bel
gium in 1960.
The Associated Press
Sterilization controversy plagues Brazilians
ByVicklHyman
Staff Writer
Almost a third of Brazilian women
are sterilized each year but not by
choice.
Harsh living conditions, ignorance
of alternative family planning methods
and papal opposition to birth control in
this predominantly Catholic nation make
sterilization the only viable choice in a
country overpopulated and depressed.
While sterilization is illegal except
in life-threatening cases, 28 percent of
Brazilian women of childbearing age
have been sterilized, usually by the ty
ing of the fallopian tubes, or tubal liga
tion, according to a survey by the Insti
tute for the Development of Resources
in Washington, D.C.
"Many women didn't have any idea
what had happened to their bodies,"
said Sara Costa of the National School
for Public Health. "They thought they
could have children after the operation,
without knowing the procedure is prac
tically irreversible."
A 1987 Census Bureau survey
showed sterilization was the leading
type of birth control among Brazilian
women. Only 5 percent of French
women are sterilized, and only 2 per
cent of Swedish women are sterilized.
The high rate of sterilization in Bra
zil is mostly related to a lack of other
options," said Fatima Mello of the Bra
zil Network, a Washington, D.C, infor
mation center on Brazilian issues.
"Women in Brazil don't have access to
any other alternatives."
The government is investigatingthese
controversial statistics.
"Sterilization is not birth control, but
a form of violence," said Rep. Lucia
Souto, head of the state investigations.
"We don't want Brazilian women to
have a dozen children apiece, but we do
want them to have options."
The Carolina Population Center esti
mates Brazil's 1990 population was
1 50.4 million, up from 92.52 million in
1970. But the fertility rate, the average
number of children a Brazilian woman
could have in her lifetime, has decreased
from 5.8 in 1970 to 3.3 in 1990.
"I ' ve heard noth ing about forced ster
ilization, so apparently what's happen
ing is it's become the method of choice
of women there," said Hal Burden, di
rector of information of the Population
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Come see these programs demonstrated,
along with many others, at the NeXTdays.
September 4 & 5, from 10:00 to 3:00
in front of the Student Stores
Shop Computers
Student Stores
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Qnly currently enrolled UNC students, faculty and staff may
purchase from the RAM Shop of the Student Stores
Institute located in Washington, D.C.
The Brazilian government has never
been a proponent of family planning.
Between 1964 and 1985, the military
rulers said family planning belongedin
the "intimacy of the home." They also
encouraged large families during a time
when overpopulation was not a prob
lem, and larger families meant more
people in the work force.
In 1987, after democracy replaced a
series of authoritarian regimes, church
officials opposed a government-sponsored
family planning program. They
claimed birth control would lead di
rectly to abortion, divorce and promis
cuity. The program lacked adequate
funding and soon collapsed.
The latest sterilization statistics are
not indicative of a new phenomenon,
said Magaly Marques, program officer
of International Planned Parenthood.
"This had been going on for many,
many years," she said. "It's not some
thing that's just happening right now."
Although doctors face up to eight
years in jail for performing steriliza
tions, the government finds such penal
ties difficult to enforce.
Three-fourths of sterilizations are
performed during Caesarean sections.
"Doctors claim the Caesarean is nec
essary because of health risks," said
Audnes Tenorio of the Civil Society of
Family Welfare, a private health orga
nization. "Then they charge INAMPS
(the federal health service) twice the
rate for the delivery, and the woman
pays for the tubal ligation."
Caesarean sections are common in
Brazil, Marques said. " Doctors use this
method to facilitate sterilization.
"The state pays for the Caesarean
section, and then they charge, without a
receipt or anything, without anyone
knowing, the patient a great amount of
money for the tubal ligation," Marques
said. "These are women who have al
ready had three, four, five kids. They're
willing to pay any money."
Corrupt doctors are reaping benefits.
"The doctors are making a lot of money,"
Marques said. "They're making money
on the Caesarean section to begin with.
They could have a natural birth but then
the doctors would make less money."
Some women are sterilized without
their knowledge due to misleading in
formation from doctors, according to a
Rio state commission.
There are few birth control alterna
tives. Marques said the pill is the only
other form of birth control available in
Brazil. "They don't have other forms
like the IUD (intrauterine device), so
people are resorting to sterilization.".
Contraceptive methods are too ex
pensive for the workers who earn too
little and cannot afford day care.
"It will not solve the economic crisis
to stop having babies," Mello said.
"They should try to get a more equal
distribution of income."
The Brazilian government is reluc
tant to put its funds into national family
planning programs, Burden said. Many
Catholic countries think the people are
going to be against birth control, and
they will rise up in protest, he said.
"It hasn't happened," Burdett said.
"You've had tremendous success in
bringing down fertility rates with na
tional programs in Colombia, Costa
Rica, Mexico. That's not to say that any
of those countries have solved their
problems, but they've brought their fer
tility rates down considerably."
Sterilizations are not helping the
economy, and in such numbers are not
healthy for Brazilian society. Census
statistics show an increase in steriliza
tion among young women.
Campus Calendar
WEDNESDAY
Future educator;! SNCAE (Students or N.C. As
sociation of Educators) will be in Peabody Lobby
today through Friday, or slop by 307 Peabody. Be a
member today!
Noon: The Black Interdenominational Student
Association(BlSA)will hold an organizational meet
ing until 12:50 p.m. for all interested undergrad and
graduate students. Check the Union Desk for room
number.
5 p.m. The Carolina Association of Black Jour
nalists invites all minority journalism and RTVMP
majors to its first meeting in 203 Howell. Please bring
$10 membership dues.
5 JO p.m. The Asian Students Association will
have its weekly meeting in 206 Union. Future activi
ties will be planned. All interested students are warmly
invited to attend.
p.m. The Human Rights Week 1991 Commit
tee will hold an organizational meeting to discuss
programming and fund-raising at in the Campus Y
Lounge. All interested students are invited to attend.
Please bring friends and ideas.
Welcome to Wesley Foundation! What is it, you
ask? It's the Methodist campus ministry. The fun
begins tonight with dinner and a program called
"Childhood Memories." Please come join our fun.
7 p.m. "Student Activism for the '90s," a work
shop facilitated by Ann Ards, Black Studies graduate
student, will be held in the BCC, sponsored by the
BSM and BCC.
UNC Pre-law Club meets in 206 Union. Bill
Massengail and Pat Devine. criminal defense attor
neys, will speak. AU are invited to attend.
JOB HUNT 101 : Basic information about how to
use the UCPPS office for seniors and graduate stu
dents will be held in 210 Hanes.
7:30 p.m. All shaggers! UNC Shag Club will meet
in the Women's Gym behind Woollen. Any ques
tions? Call Martin at 933-7005.
The Carolina Gay and Lesbian Association will
hold its first general meeting in 210 Union. Anyone
interested is encouraged to attend.
"Women in the Front Line": A program address
ing human rights violations committed against women
worldwide and the actions that can be taken to help
eliminate these abuses will be held in 226 Union.
Sponsored by Amnesty International Group 84.
7:45 p.m. JOB HUNT 102: Resume Writing
Workshop for seniors and graduate students will be
held in 210 Hanes.
8 p.m. Do you like to dive? UNC Scuba Club will
hold an introductory meeting in 213 Union. '
Street
RUN with our new Greek Vegetarian Pizza!
9
(spinach, mushrooms, onions, feta and mozzarella cheese & tomato slices)
EAT IN OR CARRY OUT
We deliver to UNC Dorms & NCMH
(after 4:30 pm with a $7 minimum)
WE DELIVER
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