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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 19, 1984)
Thursday, April 19, 1984/The Battalion/Pace 13 ir & Bill | i>£lW£ m.m, lam jcousswr M4/W 'lew treatment for kidney stones pleases doctors fits ns, he wont 1 lefits.” bis experiei ill be imi down at managei of the Pin Vince Loni ichigan iating team, y figures lie bargami . that shoii al king,’ 1 he United Press International IHOUSTON — Doctors said ednesday they were opti- stic about an experimental iceclure that dissolves kidney nes within an hour by using ind waves through water, he procedure, called extra- loreal shock-wave litho- jpsy, is a relatively painless latment which uses no drugs surgery and requires only a al anesthetic for the patient. Id Dr. Don Griffith, director the project at Methodist Hos- alin Houston. The machine, an updated version of one developed a de cade ago in Munich, West Ger many, pulverizes kidney stone into dust-size particles. Within 48 hours, the granules pass through the patient’s body nat urally and painlessly, Griffith said. Five patients have undergone the procedure in Houston this week, and Griffith said each is doing well. Overall, there is a 90 percent success rate, which means a few of the patients have to undergo secondary treatment. The treatment begins by placing the kidney stone patient in a tub of water over an energy source that produces shock waves. The shock waves are concentrated directly on the kidney stone and force an im plosion on the stone causing it to disintegrate, but do not de stroy or damage the kidney or surrounding tissues. During the hour-long treat ment, the patient receives about 1,000 to 1,500 shocks which are monitored by a urologist with fluoroscopes. The test program in Hous ton, utilizing the $2 million ma chine, is one of six in the United States, including centers in In dianapolis, Boston, New York, Gainesville, Fla., and Char lottesville, Va. The entire procedure costs the patients between $2,500 and $7,000. Not all insurance companies are reimbursing for the costs because the procedure is still considered experimental, Griffith said. “We are selecting patients now who are in good health and who have simple, solitary stones,” Griffith said. “But by June, we should be able to treat people with more than one stone. By August, we hope to treat patients with any stone in the kidney of upper uretary tract.” Patient George Black, 58, un derwent the treatment Tues day. He said it felt like “a little mild slap,” but he felt no dis comfort. In fact, he said, within a few minutes he fell asleep and had to be awakened at the end of the procedure. “It was totally painless,” said Black, who attended a news conference and expected to he released from the hospital this week. Sara Wilson, 29, a school tea cher, Said she underwent an op eration two years ago to remove kidney stones. At that time, she was out of work six weeks. She had the procedure performed on her Monday. “I plan to. be back at work next Monday,” she said. Griffith said patients lxim> accepted into the program unoi not weigh more than 280 pounds and stand no more i' 6-feel-6 or less than 4 i They also must have no Hi threatening medical probf or uncontrolled urinary in lion, he said. : ord unveils first natural as powered vehicles United Press International DEARBORN — Ford Motor b. unveiled a fleet of natural MFLandNltj s-powered Ranger compact lot of expen mip trucks Wednesday, that L 1 " aid are safer and cheaper to 3$ erate than conventional gaso- e-powered vehicles. The 27 natural gas Rangers be tested by utility and nat- uul gas-related companies ross the nation. Each is pay- |g $20,GOO over two years to Irticipate in the program. Natural gas is commonly ed to power vehicles in Italy, the All-Aml ew Zealand, Canada and the etherlands, but this is the first ajor test of the fuel’s use in eUnited States, officials said. The Ford program is being in conjunction with the merican Gas Association, ach Ranger has been equipped Hh a 2.3 liter engine that has modified to use 130 oc- ne natural gas fuel. In additional to mechanical edifications, the trucks are pipped with four fuel tanks ade of fiberglass-wrapped iiminunr These add about pounds to the weight the truck. NCAA cki /orked out 1 Tuesday knees, he might it m /rr if he ami his value, day night, l rimmages t up into i layers each, astants mil adjoii ednesday m rwardsandi p i their resptt ' waiting lot ession wan ing baskets, ■al surveyitf at times s folding bet» urts. xas star Dale Compton, vice presi- ent of research at Ford, said h truck gets about 18 mpg on gasoline and would get about 20 percent better using natural gas. He said the cost of operating the natural gas trucks is “roughly half per mile” of regular gasoline powered trucks. However, the vehicles can carry only enough natural gas to travel about 250 miles. The firm hopes to convince major oil companies to begin offering natural gas at their service sta tions, Compton said. He said the natural gas pro gram is part of a larger effort to test alternative fuels. Ford offers a propane option on 1984 LTD and Mercury Marquis autos and is testing GOO Escorts powered by methanol. It has sold 300,000 autos in Bra zil that are powered by grain al cohol or ethanol. “Gasoline prices have re mained relatively low and have hilled us into a false sense of se curity,” said Compton. Gas association spokesman Kenneth T. Cuccinelli said there is enough natural gas in the world to power 100 million vehicles for the next several hundred years. Both officials maintained drivers need not worry about the safety of natural gas-pow ered vehicles. Cuccinelli said the fuel tanks “had bullets fired at them — they’ve been burned, crushed and dropped. They’re extremely safe.” Compton said Americans use natural gas to heat their homes and to cook with, and that fear of the fuel was not a issue. Get Off Your Rocker! and help Alpha Kappa Psi National Professional Business Fraternity support the Brazos Valley Geriatric Center by purchasing raffle tickets Tickets will be on sale April 23-26 for $1.00. Drawing will be April 28 and you need not be present to win. Get your tickets from any Alpha Kappa Psi member! Memorial Continued from page 1 fter that, the decision was lade to put it at west gate.” Peel said the west gate site as his second choice for the wer’s location. er, the way l can't sign ference sc SWC letter* ^ irsl c ! 1() > ce vvas to build „ k on west campus,” he said. and we're I lr ut 56016 old buildings need to him tosien 1 ^ torn d° wn fust, and since 6 Wr. Albritton wanted to begin Miilding immediately, another ewas chosen.” for Texas vas still in ege, until Tt The location of the bell tower id the removal of the memo- have aroused concern hong some Texas A&M stu- lents. Several students told The attalion that though they do it object to the bell tower, they Texas assist do object to its location, m to a nati» I ere today is nancial Arkansas, 1 not sign! ports Infoflj Sill Little t ’. If he <ansas and ‘There is “If he (Albritton) wants to sen shipsti Mtale money for a hell tower, signedhert lat’s great, hut I .don’t think st Confer# tey should have moved the tigate the sit lemorial,” said Tim Goggin, a m nior building construction letter I beiftor. “I don’t think they put tough thought into where to tal letter,"* w the bell tower.” assistant 5* Monique Gox, a freshman Philip Toelkes, a sophomore ocean engineering major, de fended Albritton’s decision to donate a bell tower. “I think it’s a good idea,” Toelkes said. “I think it’s great of him to donate so much money to the University. A lot of people are running him down, and I don’t think that’s right.” One student commented on the propriety of Albritton’s gift. Peel said he was surprised and pleased al students’ interest in the future of the bell tower and the memorial. However, students should keep the “big picture” in mind when consid ering the issue, he said. “When someone is making a gift, it’s real hard to say, ‘We don’t need it, we need some thing else,”’ Peel said. “They have specific things in mind that are their preference. We could not function, we could not operate without gifts. One has to evaluate the big picture.” aur confer# usiness major, agreed with nal letter tklfoggin. ionsareg5*B "I don’t like the idea of mov- uatedbefoK ig the memorial,” she said. “I made, W '* n ^ they could have found a p ers " etler place for it (the hell tow- tj.” EIlg««OE SHOE CLEARANCE F7BR00KS HALF/ new balance F/ A PRICE Plus: All men's and ladies'swimwear 20% O ff ^Locker Room 800 Villa Maria Rd. 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