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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 13, 1992)
State & Local Page 2 The Battalion Monday, April i; Mon —— Sp- Siblings share more than blood Partial organ donation helps sister conquer diabetes, lead normal life By Lisa Barton Special to The Battalion Karen Prihoda, a technician in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, is described by her boss as "dedicated." That is because Prihoda donat ed part of her pancreas to her sis ter, Sharon Caldwell of Brenham, almost three years ago in an effort to save her from diabetes. "I would do it again tomorrow — if she developed something wrong with her kidney, I would give her one tomorrow," Prihoda said. In May 1989, Caldwell, a dia betic and bookkeeper at the Bren ham Clinic, read about partial pancreatic transplants being done at the University of Minnesota. She decided to contact the doctors there, although she had a hard time deciding whether to go. "She didn't want to jeopardize my life because we knew that it was very dangerous for the donor," Prihoda said. "It is a much harder surgery for the donor than for the recipient." Because part of her body was was taken away, Prihoda said she had to learn to live with only a portion of her pancreas. "The surgery is like robbing the donor," she said. "And because the (organ) is hard to get to, some times they break your ribs to do it." Before the transplant, Caldwell was in the hospital every three to four months with diabetic prob lems — infections, vomiting, etc. Caldwell showed Prihoda the article about the partial transplant. "We're going to go do this," Prihoda said without being asked if she would. Prihoda is not only dedicated to her sister, but also to her work at Texas A&M. "Karen is one of the most dedi cated employees Texas A&M has, and is handling responsibilities beyond the levels of the training she brought to the position," said Dr. Fred Miller, professor and sorghum breeder in soil and crop sciences. "Karen is what I would hope we all could aspire toward." In Minnesota, two days prior to her surgery, Caldwell told her sis ter it was not too late to board a plane (and get out of there). "She just said no way," Cald well said. In October 1989, doctors John Najarian and David Sutherland, pioneers of kidney transplants for diabetes patients, performed the surgeries on Prihoda and Cald well, respectively. The surgery was a success for both women. However, while Caldwell was ready to return to work after six weeks, Prihoda was sick for months after the trans plant. The day after Thanksgiving, Prihoda was sent back to Min nesota and admitted to the hospi tal. She stayed until Dec. 22, be cause of an infection that devel oped near her pancreas. "I had a pseudocyst, which is a pocket of blood — an infection — that had developed down by my pancreas," she said. "They insert ed a tube to drain the cyst that I See Sisters/Page 3 Battalion places 3rd in state press contest The Battalion won 16 awards — including five for first place — at the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association annual conference this past weekend. The Battalion took third place overall in the Division I Newspa per Sweepstakes, competing with other daily college newspapers with large circulations. The Shorthorn of University of Texas-Ar lington won first place and The Ranger of San Antonio College placed second in the sweepstakes. In individual categories. The Battalion won five first-place, two second-place and six third-place awards, and three honorable mentions. First Place: Mack Harrison — On-site Print: Newswriting Steve O’Brien — Division I Newspaper Sports Feature Stacy Feducia — Division I Newspaper Humor Column Jay Janner — Division I Newspaper Picture Story Doug Pils, Scott Wudel, Troy Hall and Anne Woods — Division I Newspaper Sports Page Design Second Place: Karl Stolleis — On-site Photo: News/Action Doug Pils and Bingo Barnes — Division I Newspaper Sports Page Design Third Place: Chris Vaughn — Division I Newspaper News Story Doug Pils — Division I Newspaper Series Scott Wudel — Division I Newspaper Sports News Story Karl Stolleis — Division I Newspaper Sports Feature Photo Karl Stolleis — Division I Newspaper Sports Action Photo Doug Pils, Todd Stone, Sean Frerking, Holly Becka and Karl Stolleis — Division I Newspaper Special Edition Honorable Mention: Tanya Williams — Division I Newspaper General Column Karl Stolleis—Division I Newspaper News Photo Carrie Cavalier— Division I Newspaper Opinion Page Design Dolphin death count rises in Texas waters GALVESTON (AP) - Nearly 80 Atlantic bottle-nose dolphins have died in Calhoun and Aransas counties' bays since March 1, setting a death rate ma rine scientists say is unprecedent ed in the area. Gina Barron, coordinator of the Texas Marine Mammal Stranding Network, said National Marine Fisheries experts are expected to arrive in Texas this week to help investigate the dolphin deaths. Sixty dead dolphins were found in March and 19 have been reported so far this month, she said. "It's major. Historically, we've never had an event like this since the Stranding Network was founded in 1980," Barron said. "The majority of the strandings occur on Gulf beaches. Now we're seeing a lot of animals dying in this bay system and we don't know why yet." Scientists also are alarmed that the deaths are occurring in bays insteacj of along the outer edges of barrier islands, Barron said. The deaths off the coasts of the two counties are up sharply from 1991. "In March of last year, we had only three ... in Calhoun County and one in Aransas County," Bar ron said. "In 1990, which was consid ered a major die-off year, Calhoun had three animals dead and Aransas had only five." According to the Stranding Network, 121 bottle-nose dol phins were stranded along the Texas coast in all of last year. That is compared with 199 in 1990. The surge of deaths in the past two months has pushed the vol unteer organization beyond its limits, Barron said. "Until the last few days, all we've been able to do on most of the animals is document that the animals were there, take the length and sex and leave the ani mal at the site," she said. Barron said the Texas General Land Office and Parks and Wildlife Department have offered to help investigate the deaths. Volunteers in the two counties also have organized to begin tak ing tissue samples of the dead ani mals. She said there are few clues about what is killing the dolphins, but some experts speculate that numerous deaths indicate a prob lem with the animals' habitat. "They're in the bay system and we know that dolphins are high on the food chain," Barron said. "We've always talked about using dolphins as bio-indicators of the quality of the Gulf. That could also apply to that bay sys tem." The Battalion USPS 045-360 The Battalion is published daily except Saturday, Sunday, holidays, exam periods, and when school is not in session during fall and spring semesters; publication is Tuesday through Friday during the summer session. Second class postage paid at College Station, TX 77840. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Battalion, 230 Reed McDonald Building, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-1111. News: The Battalion news department is managed by students at Texas A&M University in the Division of Student Publications, a unit of the Department of Journalism. Editorial offices are in 013 Reed McDonald Building. The newsroom phone number is 845-3316. Fax: 845-2647. Opinions expressed in The Battalion are those of the editorial board or the contributor, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of the Texas A&M student body, adminis trators, faculty or the A&M Board of Regents. Advertising: For campus, local and national display advertising, call 845-2696. For classified advertising, call 845-0569. Advertising offices are in 015 Reed McDonald and office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Fax: 845-5408. Subscriptions: Mail subscriptions are $20 per semester, $40 per school year and $50 per full year. To charge by VISA or MasterCard, call 845-2611. KAMU-FM 90.9 15th BIRTHDAY £ BASH!! April 15, 8:00 PM Stafford Opera House 106 South Main, Bryan $5.00 Person to Benefit KAMU-FM 90.9 Tickets Available at the Door or In Advance at KAMU-TV/FM Studio, Houston at Russell Street Texas A&M University For Ticket Information Call 845-5611 I Aggieland Order your 1993 Aggieland (yearbook) during registration. What: 1993 Aggieland Where: during registration How: choose fee option #16 How Much: $25 plus tax Why: college memories you don't want to forget Tuesday balloting to decidt legislative run-off elections AUSTIN (AP) — Without any presidential candidates, election eering has been pretty quiet the past month. But voters are return ing to the polls Tuesday to decide congressional and legislative run-off elections. The balloting will settle nomi nations for races without outright winners on March 10. Tuesday's victors advance to the November general election. Heading up the key races are three congressional runoffs. In Houston, Democrats will pick a nominee in the new 29th District. That district, one of three new seats awarded Texas after the 1990 Census, widely was regard ed as one likely to elect a Hispan ic. State Sen. Gene Green faces Ben Reyes, a Houston city council man. The winner meets Repul can Clark Kent Ervin,a forir White House aide, inNovembe In the Dallas-Fort H'orfAara: small businessman Phillip Bie/im- owicz, 42, and SteveMasterson, 30, trust administrator ton law firm, are running for the nomination to face Democrati: Rep. Martin Frost in the redraw: 24th District. In El Paso, former sportscastr Chip Taberski faces former com: judge and businessman Pi O'Rourke in a Republicanrunof The winner challenges five-ten: Democratic Rep. Ron Colemani: a race likely to be influenced^ Coleman's writing 673 oven at the House bank. Three state Senate runoffsffi being held. r DEPRESSION STUDY Are you currently taking Prozac' to treat your depression? VIP Researd is recruiting individuals who are currently taking Prozac’ to participatef a research study of an investigational antidepressant medication Participants who qualify and complete the study will be paid $120. 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