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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 14, 1986)
n ■■MB Scorn Oil, religion, modernization in Mideast explored at A&M — Pages 6,7 'Fish' setting school marks 1 for Ag women's swim team — Page 12 ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ Texas A&M "■ % mm The Battalion Vol. 83 Mo. 98 USPS 075360 14 pages College Station, Texas Friday, February 14, 1986 DA warns against use of Tylenol capsules in Associated Press (VHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — More nide-laced Tylenol capsules were md in the same county where a man was poisoned last weekend, impting the manufacturer and Food and Drug Administration I warn consumers nationwide Tjursday not to use the painkiller in sole form. I bottle with tainted capsules re ted Thursday in Westchester inty was among those removed m store shelves after the death jmpted thousands of stores na- i^iwide to stop selling Tylenol, re- ingthe 1982 deaths of seven Chi- ;o-area residents after taking nide-laced Tylenol. children :illed in )laze in il Campo A third contaminated bottle was found in the county and although a FDA official initially said it con tained a trace of cyanide, FDA Com missioner Frank E. Young later said it could be an “industrial contami nant” that was not proven to be cy anide and was probably not harmful. Four states on Thursday banned the sale of Tylenol capsules. Tylenol in other forms was not affected by ei ther the state bans or the warnings from the FDA and Johnson & John son. Five capsules in a bottle of Extra- Strength Tylenol pulled from a Woolworth’s store in Bronxville, a few blocks from the A&P where the first poisoned bottle had been pur chased, were found to contain cy anide, Young said. George Gerstenberg, the director of the FDA’s Brooklyn office, said a trace of cyanide had been found in a third bottle, which was taken from an A&P in Shrub Oak, about 27 miles north of Bronxville. But Young described what was found as “a blip. We think it’s an in dustrial contaminant. It’s such a small trace that it wouldn’t have done anything anyway. It’s just so small we don’t know what it is.” Further tests will be conducted at the FDA laboratory, he said. The five capsules poisoned with cyanide showed evidence of tam pering — the logo printed on the capsule halves was misaligned, and the bottles had been turned over to the FBI for fingerprint and other analysis, Gerstenberg said. He said the agency had tested more than 40,000 capsules since Tuesday. “We’re still running samples to night,” he said late Thursday. “We’re going to continue sampling and testing until we get to the bot tom of this.” Young said, “Even though this still appears to be a local occurrence in the greater New York area, all consumers should as an extra pre caution remove all Tylenol capsules from the medicine cabinets to avoid use by any family members or chil dren.” ’ Marc Moran, a spokesman for the county executive’s office, said a trace of cyanide was discovered in one capsule in a bottle retrieved from the Shrub Oak A&P. He said the Wool- worth’s bottle had been pulled from the shelf Monday night or Tuesday, picked up by the FDA and tested Thursday. Lawrence Foster, a Johnson & Johnson spokesman, said the Wool- worth’s bottle had come from batch number AHA090, with an April 1987 expiration date. Another spokesman, James Murray, said that batch was manufactured at a McNeil Consumer Products Co. plant in Puerto Rico. The first tainted bottle had been from batch number ADF916. The seals on the bottle from Woolworth’s appeared untouched, Moran said, adding that he had only a partial lot number — AJR — on the Shrub Oak bottle. Moran said five capsules from a Tylenol bottle retrieved from the Woolworth’s had 60 percent potas sium cyanide, the same chemical makeup of the cyanide that killed a woman last week. Diane Elsroth, 23, of Peekskill, died Saturday at the Yonkers home where her boyfriend, Michael No- tarnicola, lived with his parents and brother. Associated Press iL CAMPO — An early morning :Thursday swept through a small ■me house trapping and killing ■en unattended children from two ■lilies while their mothers were in mmAwu 25 miles away, officials said. Opftolice Chief }.C. Elliott said fire- fiihters arrived at the tiny, one-bed- m house about 12:30 a.m., too : to save any of the children, who ged in ages from 2 months to 8 jirs old. |The two mothers returned about hours later. was terrible when I heard all f hollering and screaming and I ildn’t get to them,” said Pearlie e Wilkins, a neighbor and one of fc first on the scene.“I got the front or open and the flames shot out Id the crying stopped.” nse! sc 13 one, incv' 1 i i Elliott quoted witnesses as saying Bcqueline Wiliams, who lived at the ’help jitsidence with her five children, and ests W rs ^ a Owens, whose two children Bre visiting and also died in the jors jlla/e. were in Bay City, 25 miles to ifthesouth, when the fire started. {■Owens lives in nearby Glen Flora. erviCt!|| State welfare authorities reported |!a history of complaints about Wil liams' care of her children, although friends said she was a good mother. JPolice said Williams lived alone nth her five children. Jlhey said they had located the fa- ler of Owens’ children but that he ■fered little information. I Gene Daniel, regional director for liildren’s protective services for the lexas Department of Human Serv- Kes in Houston, cited four incidents I which Williams was reported to Bs department in connection with ecare of her children. Blwo of those cases involved leav- |g the children alone unattended, lesaid, the last case being in 1983. I But he said no legal action was per pursued and he called the Bother a “caring person.” City Fire Marshal Garland Myers lid the windows and back door to See 7 children, page 14 Look, Mom Rob Hoyt, a 6-year-old fisherman from Bryan, dis plays the trout he caught Thursday at the 4th An nual Pool Trout Fish-Out sponsored by the Col- Photo by ANTHONY S. CASPER lege Station Parks and Recreation Department. The contest, which is being held at Adamson Pool in Bee Creek Park, will continue through Sunday. Marcos ahead; Aquino asks him for resignation Associated Press MANILA, Philippines — Presi dent Ferdinand E. Marcos was well ahead Thursday in the official vote count by the National Assembly, which his party controls. Corazon Aquino, who claims she won the election, said he must resign to pre vent violence. Aquino’s aides reported that an other of her campaign workers was killed Thursday, bringing the total since the Feb. 7 presidential election to more than 20. After seven hours of tabulating tally sheets from the archipelago’s 74 provinces and more than 60 cities, the assembly had Marcos ahead with 6,403,785 votes to 5,584,581 for Aquino. The assembly’s count determines the outcome under Philippine law. The National Movement for Free Elections, an independent poll- watchers’ group called Namfrel, had Aquino ahead in its unofficial count. Marcos, who has governed the Philippines for 20 years, appeared on government television and pledged to “honor, without reserva tions, the people’s verdict at the polls.” The president deplored the vio lence and said he also had lost sup porters, including a town mayor he said was killed by communist rebels “encouraged by the opposition.” An official report by the military police said 35 Marcos supporters and 20 people who supported Aquino had been killed since the election. “I ask all our supporters and sym pathizers to join me in this effort to bind the wounds and hurt that this electoral contest has produced,” Marcos said.” Aquino said the president should resign because “the failure of the electoral process to move swiftly to a fair conclusion has dangerously heightened tensions. She said the resignation would “defuse some of the swelling political anger” of Filipinos who feel they have been cheated, and allow the question of who won the election to be settled in a manner acceptable to all. She did not say how that could be done. Women say child care supplements incomes Types of day care businesses vary locally r jing corns* Judge denies 4 men bond in firearms case iieswltW |, ooks,™ tefSi# you,cal* 5 By JEANNE ISENBERG Staff Writer Editor’s note: This is the second story in a two-part series on home care and day care centers. Local day care businesses exists in many different shapes and forms, and women say they are getting into it for the advantages of income supplements and tax benefits as well as for the simple love of children. Opal Robbins, 67, says she has been taking in children for 12 years because she loves them. “You really enjoy something like this if you love children,” Robbins says. “I had a friend who ran a nurs ery, and I needed something to do. Of course, my husband and I also had nine children of our own, so we were used to being busy. “Though you’re so tired at the end of the day, watching them gig gling and playing and having the time of their lives is wonderful. They even call us Nanny and Papa. They’re such good children.” Robbins runs a registered home, which means she can take in up to six children on a regular basis. There are a number of registered homes in Brazos County, including 180 in the Bryan-College Station area. Barbara Palasota, who also runs a registered home, has been watching children for seven years. She says day care offered the chance to stay home with her own children and still bring in a steady income. “I had three children under school age,” Palasota says, “and I couldn’t afford to work because day care for them would have canceled out a salary. “I knew one girl who’d just started and was seeing some success. It was slow at first, but people spread the word, and it’s worked out to be a really good business for me. “It’s given me a stable income, at Associated Press CORPUS CHRISTI — A fed eral magistrate T hursday refused to set bond on four men who were arrested after federal agents seized automatic weapons from a alane apparently bound for Co lombia. The four, including Eastern Airlines pilot Gerald J. Mershan, were in the Nueces County Jail Thursday after U.S. Magistrate Eduardo de Ases declined to set bond. The men — two Americans, a Colombian and a Guatemalan — were charged with possession of unregistered firearms. Before the detention hearing began Thurs day they were charged of posses sing 500 kilograms of cocaine. They were arrested about 3 a.m. Wednesday, a few hours af ter federal agents responded to a report of a suspicious plane at Brooks County Airport in Falfur- Authorities said they found two Uzi 9mm submachine guns valued at $1,000 each, one Ber- reta 9mm pistol valued at $350, one Heckler & Koch 9mm pistol valued at $500, 588 rounds of 9mm ammunition valued at $128, seven clips valued at $40 and $14,481 in U.S. currency. A handwritten flight plan to Guatemala was found on the $1 See Judge, page 14 Meaning of Valentine’s changes By DAWN BUTZ Reporter Remember the good old days, when Feb. 14 meant a party by the PTA, a box decorated with hearts of all shapes, and a nervous feeling in your stomach as you opened the val entine from that cute kid across the room. Today the idea is the same, and the nervous stomach may linger on, but the days of writing valentines from a list the teacher supplied are gone. Like everything else in life, Valentine’s Day has taken on a new meaning since we’ve grow older. As early as the 14th century, peo ple believed Feb. 14 held special sig nificance. Love was in the air — for the birds at least. It was once a com mon belief that birds began mating on this day. Did Valentine’s Day grow from this legend? No one is sure, but there is also a tale that this great day for lovers was named after a martyred saint, who was put to death Feb. 14 in A.D. 270, after refusing to renounce his Chris tian faith. St. Valentine is said to have been a young Roman, who, before being put to death, wrote a farewell note to the jailer’s daughter who had be friended him in prison. Legend has it that he signed the note “from your Valentine.” From these legends have come customs. The celebration of St. Val entine’s Day is unique in many areas of the world. Scottish custom calls for girls to draw lots, which they term Valen tines. The names of a select number of the opposite sex are put into a box. Each person draws a name to be their Valentine. Gifts are exchanged and the couple goes around together for some days following the draw- ing. At one time a Scottish custom called for lotteries to be drawn three times. If the same name was drawn three times, marriage was certain. There was also a common belief per week per child. There are also a number of tax benefits in hav ing a business in the home. Utilities, for example, can be written off. And it’s a nice feeling to be home for my children.” Palasota says the worst thing about having a registered family home is the limitations it places on freedom. Confinement to the house y gets boring, she says, and there is a lot of wear and tear on the house. Still, she says, blending the children See Women, page 14 that the first man seen by a woman Feb. 14 must be her Valentine. Be lievers of this custom took great pains to ensure that the first man they encountered was the right one. The modern-day Valentine card came into being during the 18th cen tury. The first cards were hand made, decorated with hearts and flowers, and usually contained a short verse composed by the sender. Today’s Valentine’s Day cards are similar, though a bit more commer cial. Gentle love verses usually pre dominate over humorous ones. No matter how the custom of Val entine’s Day came to be, it’s still rec ognized as a day to tell someone spe cial that you care and as a day to exchange tokens of this affection. Though the general meaning is See Ways, page 14