News
Tuesday 'July 15,1
Data overloads Pathfinder compute
Transmission of panoramic shot caused equipment to shut do 1
Photograph: Associated Press
The rover Sojourner is seen still latched to a lander. Before the computer overload Monday, Pathfind
er had successfully transmitted an image of the Sojourner touching Yogi, a rock being analyzed.
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — The com
puter aboard the Mars Pathfinder over
loaded and reset itself early Monday for
the second time in just over three days,
interrupting the transmission of a full-
color panoramic scene.
No data was lost, but controllers will
have to go back to where they left off.
Transmission of the panoramic shot
“takes a lot of processing power,” said
Mary Beth Murrill, a spokeswoman for
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. She
likened the data overload to what hap
pens with a personal computer “when
we ask it to do too many things at once.”
To prevent a recurrence, controllers
will schedule activities one after anoth
er, instead of at the same time, project
manager Brian Muirhead said.
It was the second time the Pathfind
er’s computer reset itself while trying to
carry out several activities at once.
The previous reset occurred Friday
night. It delayed the chemical analysis
of a tubby rock named Yogi.
In response, controllers reprogrammed
the computer over the weekend to slow
down the rate of activities and avoid an
other reset. But on Monday, about an hour
into a two-hour transmission session, it
happened again.
Muirhead said that before the prob
lem hit, Pathfinder had successfully
transmitted an image of its Sojourner
rover touching Yogi, as well as the first
part of the 360-degree panorama. At the
same time the spacecraft was sending
down images, it also was collecting at
mospheric and weather data and taking
more pictures.
The next available attempt to go
back and receive the rest of the color
panorama data was Monday night.
Controllers could not do it immediate
ly Monday morning because the
Earth-based stations that relayth
formation were busy with (
spacecraft visiting Jupiter.
Controllers on Monday r
hoped to retrieve data fromSojouii
analysis of Yogi’s chemical makeu;
If the analysis was good, then
could be instructed onTuesdaytol
fbr another rock nicknamedSa
Doo.
Sojourner’s examination ofYoj
been waylaid for several days,
analysis first was postponed afteroi
the rover’s wheels rolled up the rod
got stuck.
The spacecraft and rover weresc
again Thursday when a human erroi
suited in no instructions being sentti
spacecraft. Then on Friday, the comp
reset itself and cut short communicaj
with controllers on Earth.
State sues aviator for
nursing home death
AUSTIN (AP) — Linda Finch, the
San Antonio businesswoman who
flew around the world in Amelia
Earhart’s path, has been sued by the
state in connection with the death
of a resident at an Austin nursing
home she owns.
Responding to the lawsuit filed
Monday concerning Austin’s Pecan
Grove Care Center, Finch said, “We
did absolutely nothing wrong.” She
said the nursing home followed in
structions from the patient’s per
sonal doctor.
It is the second lawsuit filed by
Attorney General Dan Morales in
volving a nursing home owned by
Finch. The first alleges Dublin
Nursing Center near Stephenville
was operated under life-threaten
ing conditions, based on problems
inspectors said they found three
years ago.
In that case, Finch has denied
life-threatening conditions existed.
She said deficiencies were cleared
up within days, long before the law
suit was filed.
The Dublin Nursing Center case
had been expected to go to trial in
September, but the attorney gener
al agreed to a continuance. A trial is
expected next February or March,
said attorney general spokes
woman Sonya Sanchez. The poten
tial total fine could range from
$500,000 to $50 million.
Pecan Grove was investigated
this February by the Texas Depart
ment of Human Services, which
regulates nursing homes. The
agency’s report concluded that an
elderly male resident received im
proper treatment that eventually
contributed to his death, according
to Morales’ office.
State investigators said the fa
cility didn’t properly monitor the
resident’s blood sugar levels in ac
cordance with a doctor’s orders
when he was admitted. The pa
tient later died in the hospital
from respiratory failure and
shock, secondary to a severe uri
nary tract infection, according to
Morales’ office.
The lawsuit alleges that exces
sive blood sugar was a contributing
factor in the patient’s death, al
though not a direct cause.
A&M student
dies following
car accident
Tiffany Lynn Hunnicutt, a
speech communications gradu
ate student from Fort Worth, died
of injuries sustained in an auto
mobile accident Sunday night.
Texas Department of Safety
Trooper Brian Hall said Hunni
cutt was driving north on Texas
Highway 6 when her car fish
tailed, and she lost control of the
vehicle. The vehicle swung into a
southbound lane and was struck
by a Jeep driven by Joseph Mar
tinez Jr., Hall said.
Hunnicutt was transported to
Columbia Medical Center in Col
lege Station, where she later
died, Hail said.
The accident occurred between
9:30 and 9:45 p.m. about 6.6 miles
south of College Station, Hall said.
Kristin Sayre, associate direc
tor of the Department of Student
Life, said Hunnicutt’s family has
been notified of her death. Fu
neral arrangements have not
been made.
Campus Calendar
Tuesday
TAMU Waterski Team: There will be
a general meeting at 8:30 p.m. at
Fitzwilly’s. For more information call
Mike Coyle at 268-2076.
The Writing Center (Department of
English, Texas A&M): The Writing
Center in 249 Blocker will consult
with any TAMU student who needs
help with his or her writing projects
for Summer II. Hours are 9 a.m.-5
p.m. Come by or call 862-4181 for
more information.
Aggie Roadrunners: There will be a
daily run of 2-3 miles beginning at 7
p.m. in front of G. Rollie White. Run
ners of all levels are encouraged to
attend. For more information call
Hank Bullinger at 821-6339.
Aggie Wranglers: Dance lesson sign
ups will be held from 8 a.m.-3 p.m. in
MSC Flagroom.
Wednesday
The Writing Center (Department of
English, Texas A&M): The Writing
Center in 249 Blocker will consult
with any TAMU student who needs
help with his or her writing projects
for Summer II. Hours are 9 a.m.-5
p.m. Come by or call 862-4181 for
more information.
Aggie Roadrunners: There will be a
daily run of 2-3 miles beginning at 7
p.m. in front of G. Rollie White. Run
ners of all levels are encouraged to
attend. For more information call
Hank Bullinger at 821-6339.
Texas A&M Women’s Rugby: There
will be practice from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
at the TAMU Rugby Field. No experi
ence is necessary. For more infor
mation contact Wendy at 696-9012.
Thursday
The Writing Center (Department of
English, Texas A&M): The Writing
Center in 249 Blocker will consult
with any TAMU student who needs
help with his or her writing projects
for Summer II. Hours are 9 a.m.-5
p.m. Come by or call 862-4181 for
more information.
Aggie Roadrunners: There will be a
daily run of 2-3 miles beginning at 7
p.m. in front of G. Rollie White. Run
ners of all levels are encouraged to
attend. For more information call
Hank Bullinger at 821-6339.
I
■HIM
Texas A&M Women’s Rugby: 1 '
will be practice from 6 p.m.toSp
at the TAMU Rugby Field. Noei
ence is necessary. For more in
mation contact Wendy at 696-90:
Friday
The Writing Center (Department
English, Texas A&M): The WritingO
ter in 249 Blocker will consult
TAMU student who needs helpwil
or her writing projects for Sunra
Hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Formoie
formation call 8624181 or comet
Sunday
TAMU Chess Club: The TAMUCI
Club will be playing chess in 308
der from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Form
information contact Scott Gi
696-3879 or griggs@myriad.
What’s Up is a Battalion senii
that lists non-profit student
faculty events and activitie
Items should be submitted
later than three days in adva
of the desired run date. A#
cation deadlines and notice
not events and will not bq0
What’s Up. If you have any
tions, please call the newsi
at 845-3313.
Attorney: Industry lies about smoking research
Weather Outlook
MIAMI (AP) — A $5 billion lawsuit by flight atten
dants who say passengers’ smoke harmed their health
went to trial Monday with an attorney accusing the to
bacco industry of singing a “phony song” about the
dangers of cigarettes.
Stanley Rosenblatt, a lawyer for the 60,000 current and
former flight attendants represented in the class-action
case, opened the landmark trial by accusing the industry
of hying to mislead the public into believing the hazards
of smoking and secondhand smoke are still disputed. .
Rosenblatt begged jurors to tell the industry: “The
game is over.”
In their lawsuit, nonsmoking flight attendants
blame cigarette smoke in airline cabins for lung cancer,
respiratory problems and heart disease.
Smoking has been banned on domestic flights since
1990, and four-fifths of U.S. airline flights to and from
other countries are now smokeless.
This is the first tobacco class-action case to reach tri
al, and the first secondhand-smoke trial. It could prove
to be the only class-action tobacco case*to be decided
by a jury, because the proposed $368 billion nationwide
settlement — if approved by Congress and White House
— will limit such suits.
So far, in at least 20 other tobacco liability suits, the
industry never paid a cent in damages.
Tobacco lawyers will have their chance to address
the jury on Tuesday. The industry denies cigarette
smoke causes any ailments and says flight attendants
can’t prove they suffer any higher rate of illnesses than
the general population.
Rosenblatt said those defenses followed a pattern of
four decades of lies, deceit, manipulation and denial of
unfavorable research and damaging government reports.
“They hid and they distorted and they lied about this
information,” he told the six-member jury. “The evi
dence will show it is a phony song. There is no more re
search needed.”
Rosenblatt promised to give jurors a historical
overview starting from a 1953 report in the medical
journal Cancer linking cigarette tar to cancer in mice.
He cited depositions in April from executives of the
four biggest cigarette makers denying tobacco addic
tion, despite a Brown & Williamson memo from 1963
calling nicotine an addictive drug.
Rosenblatt also charged that the tobacco industry
used its political might to get what it wanted after Jesse
Steinfeld, President Nixon’s surgeon general, expressed
worries about secondhand smoke.
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. wrote Nixon to congratu
late him on his re-election in 1972, remind him of its cam
paign contributions and ask why Steinfeld was still on the
job, Rosenblatt said. He was gone a short time later.
More recent government reports saying 435,000
smokers and 3,000 nonsmokers die each year from the
effects of smoke are denied by the industry, he said.
THURSDAY
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Political Ethics anil Open Government
A nonpartisan review of Texas legislation
on finance reform, conflict-of-interest, and
open government.
Suzy Woodford, Executive Director
Common Cause of Texas
Wednesday, July 16, 1997
4:00 p.m. 230 MSC
FREE Admission
845-1515
The views expressed in this program do
not necesdrily represent those of
MSC Political Forum, the MSC. or Texas
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