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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 26, 1984)
Page 4/The BattaliorVThursday, January 26, 1984 Attempt to smuggle out nuclear bomb parts fails United Press International WASHINGTON — Parts to a nuclear bomb disappeared at a high security weapons plant in Colorado, but were redisco vered after an apparently un successful attempt to smuggle them out, the Scripps-Howard News Service reported Wednesday. Scripps-Howard quoted sources as saying the missing components included pluto nium, and the disappearance triggered a major investigation at the Rocky Flats weapons plant near Denver. Investigators said the parts disappeared about three years ago. They were never able to learn who took the parts or why. UNDERGROUND DELI AND STORE THE DIET PLACE OPEN BREAKFAST 7:30am - 10:30am LUNCH 10:30am - 3:30pm Mon— Friday QUALITY FIRST’ but the components mysterious ly reappeared a year later in same general area from which they were taken. “There was a strong suspicion that insiders tried to smuggle them out but couldn’t, and de cided to bring them back,” Scripps-Howard quoted one in vestigator as saying. “The dis appearance focused a lot of attention on the possibilities of inside theft at weapons plants.” Jerry Bellows, deputy assis tant area manager for the De partment of Energy at Rocky Flats, refused comment on the incident because of its classified nature. The news service said the Rocky Flats incident is only one of dozens of security failures cited by investigators as substan tiating fers that government- operated nuclear facilities are very vulnerable to theft or sabotage. One alleged failure recently brought to the attention of Pres ident Reagan involved storage of enriched uranium and nuc- learbomb components at the government’s Y-12 facility at Oak Ridge, Term. Pathologist testifies baby died from lethal injection < United Press International GEORGETOWN — A pathologist tes tified Wednesday that a 15-month-old baby, under the care of nurse charged with murdering the child, died from a lethal injection of a muscle relaxant. Dr. Kathleen Kagan-Hallet, a neuro pathologist, testified that after studying the brain of Chelsea McClellan, it was her opinion that the baby died from an injec tion of succinylcholine, a muscle re laxant. Genene Jones, a nurse who was tend ing to Chelsea, is charged with murder ing the baby by injecting her with the drug. “In my opinion, the cause of death is respiratory arrest, which then led to car diac arrest due to an injection of succiny lcholine,” Dr. Kagan-Hallet testified. The pathologist, who was consulted after an initial autopsy found no defini tive cause of death, admitted that her initial opinion was that Chelsea died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, but added that that was not a valid ruling because she had not been given Chelsea’s complete medical history. In earlier testimony Wednesday, Dr. Fredric Rieders, a Pennsylvania toxico logist, testified that the highest concen tration of succinylcholine found in Chelsea’s body was in her thigh, where witnesses previously said Jones gave the baby two injections the day Chelsea died. Rieders said nearly 4 trillion mole cules of the drug succinylcholine were detected in a piece of thigh muscle from the 15-month-old girl’s exhumed body. The only tissue that contained a higher concentration of the drug was Chelsea’s gall bladder, Rieders said. The muscle relaxant was also found in the child’s kid ney, liver and urinary bladder. Jones, a 33-year-old mother of two, is accused of killing Chelsea by killing her with succinylcholine at a Kerrville pediat ric clinic on Sept. 17, 1982. Previous witnesses, including an emergency room nurse and Chelsea’s mother, testified Jones, a vocational nurse, injected the 15-month-old girl in the thigh with what she sgid were routine immunizations. A few hours later Chelsea died. mine the amount of succinylcholine that was injected into the baby before sht died. He did not say whether the amounts found in her tissues were suffi cient to cause her death. State District Judge John Carter earli in the day ruled Rieders and anothertox icologist, Dr. Bo Holmstedt, would be prevented from telling the jury the re suits of tests for other substances in Chelsea’s body. The other substances re portedly were chemicals found in the brand name drug Anectine, whose active ingtedienl is mi< (iny h holine. f ;a& Ha Re] i we I |WT: i legi cor bre Court-appointed defense atlorneyjim Brookshire asked Carter to bar those test results from thejury because prosecutors had failed to turn over the results totbe defense in accordance with a previous order issued in the case. Jones faces other trials later on charges of injuring children in Kerrville and San Antonio by injecting them with the same drug, which interferes with respiration. Those children survived. “We have continuously asked the state to provide information. It’s been iile pulling teeth,” Brookshire said. Brookshire tried to show that succiny lcholine could occure naturally in the body, but Rieders said the chances of that happening were “extremely remote.” | ; sets ! ob\ fra mir I wot em no\ ! Ecc i mis Rieders said the tests he performed on Chelsea’s body tissue in a Stockholm, Sweden, laboratory were unable to deter- “In my opinion, it will not occur. No thing can preclude it, but it makes ilex tremely unlikely,” Rieders said. 'a fine southern tradition' 7 'call Jeff Martinez 846-5659 Will Simmem 696-7328 Ur ID strips Director says meal plan check system has 'bugs' By KARL PALLMEYER Reporter The new computerized sys tem for checking me;;i plans has developed a problem, a food services official said Wednesday. As with all new system said Lloyd Smith, Assistant Director for Board Dining Food Services, there are a few bugs that need to be worked out. Several students have found the magnetic strip on their I.D. cards has been damaged and cannot be encoded. These stu dents will receive a temporary card that will allow them to eat in the dining halls. % Candidate for State Representative Working Together for Brazos County and Texas A£?M University c c Featured Speaker •Member Squadron 22 •Varsity Swimming Team •Distinguished Student •B.S. in Mechanical Engineering •4 years active duty in U.S. Air Force •Captain, TJSAF Reserves •Former City Councilman 6? Mayor of Bryan •Local Businessman - Bryan/College Station Realtor •Founding President Brazos Animal Shelter, Inc. Thursday, January 26 7:00 p.m. 601 Rudder Tower Sponsored toy College Republicans of TAMU The problem with the magne tic strip on the I.D. card is a low- bid problem, Smith said. The first batch of cards were of low quality, but arrangements are being made to have another company supply a more durable card to be used during the next fall semester. The new cards can last up to five years. can be encoded with various in formation. This information tells the computer-reader if the student is eligiable to eat in that dining hall and if that person is on five- or seven-day meal plan. It was the magnetic strips that has caused the problem, he said. sle, and if a student U coupon book it cannotta placed. Under the newsystq an 1. D. card is lost, FoodSq employees can cancel thea number on the cardands Kentu tau ran m “w< new one. Wheood Services receives a shipment of blank cards with the magnetic strip, it will issue these cards to the students for a $5 deposit. This deposit will be re funded when the student re turns the card in reuseable con dition. Several of the students who have been issued the temporary cards have found that they no longer need them. Food Ser vices discovered that several of the cards thought damaged and not able to be encoded were actually fine. The reading heads of the computer-readers have to be cleaned periodically, Smith said. Once the heads were cleaned many of the cards would work. Smith said the problem with the magnetic strip will be solved by the new I.D. cards. With this problem solved, he said, the new system will prove more reliable than the olci one. The new system also will be used by students who used to use coupon books. Smith said. In stead of coupon books students will be able to buy “points" for their account. The number of “points” will be encoded on the I.D. card. Smith said the new >'1 also willve the problems of j dents loaning their cani others and going throuti since more information a programmed onto thecarij the computer keeps tradtfl information. These proia cost Food Services aw SI 50.000 a year, Smith sail one,’s ■an J had h throug tigati dearec I Ru: nev W as sayi singlec inform to a gr G Uni The new system for checking ■ meal plans is part of a larger computer system that includes encoders and readers for the dining halls and a computer in ventory system. Smith said the new system should save the uni versity about $350,000. When students use their I.D. cards to eat in a dining hall or snack bar, they will receive a re ceipt showing how much credit they have remaining in their account. The student will be able to buy more “points” at any time. AM 1 he new system also wity" used to computerize Focc^| | vice’s inventory. The com| will determine what itea* most needed so that Food vices can arrange the wan more ef ficiently. The ne>i©ctjui venlory system will also lit 1 :: of testi terminewhat needs to beb ! sun cot and in what quantities.i it|g of said the inventory systemsMman Ja save about $200,000 am! J Jud paper work. On the back of every student’s I.D. card is a magnetic strip that Goupon books have always caused problems. Smith said. Counting the coupons is a has- Wedne quest fi of Boi Sturdiv Tuesd; Benton withou field. 9 Gt a filed th the co Qarson J SI! free m ' ' .. ' '' Proms Bridals Wedding Party Pagents Formats Short & Long 823-0630 2018 Texas Ave.