6
Clinton tours Johnson Space
Center, reaffirms commitment
HOUSTON (AP) — President Clinton reaffirmed his
commitment to space exploration and got a taste of an
astronaut’s life—food and all—during a tour of Johnson
Space Center on Tuesday with the nation’s newest and
oldest astronaut.
Led by 76-year-old Sen. John Glenn, D-Ohio, who is
preparing for a space flight in October, Clinton chatted
with astronauts and toured life-sized mockups of the
space shuttle.
With only the slightest crinkle of
his nose, the president even braved a
taste of space food—a mash of green
beans and mushrooms that Glenn re
hydrated and served.
“I thought this was a good chance
to let the president sample a little
space food that I might be eating a lit
tle bit later on,” Glenn said in broad
cast interviews after the tour.
During his visit, Clinton also made
a video call to the crew of the space shuttle Columbia,
which is scheduled to launch Thursday from the Kennedy
Space Center for a 16-day flight focusing on the human
nervous system and how it functions in space.
“The space program has enormous potential to
change life here on earth for the better,” Clinton told the
astronauts.
The president then addressed some of Johnson’s
15,000 employees before heading 30 miles to downtown
for an evening town hall meeting on race and sports.
Clinton thanked the space center workers for their
dedication to the nation’s space program, and reiterated
his support of their mission.
“I am committed to maintaining a strong, stable, bal
anced space program,” he said. “We cannot imagine our
future without a vigorous, comprehensive and consistent
commitment to our mission in space.”
Citing ongoing congressional fights over funding for
the International Space Station, the multibillion-dollar
venture scheduled to begin construction later this year,
Clinton said future Americans would wonder why it ever
was the subject of debate.
“It was a fight for a while and there were those who
thought we should abandon it, but we did not abandon
it,” he said. “We will all, before long, be thanking our lucky
stars that we had the vision... to set up the International
Space Station in the sky.”
The president’s remarks were welcomed by Johnson
employees, who would like to see more congressional
support for space exploration and research.
“It seems like he’s a big proponent of the space pro
gram. Hopefully, he’ll stick by those words,” said Drew
Nash, a co-op student from Iowa State University who
works for the center.
Local leaders also used the president’s visit to make a
pitch for increased spending on space.
“It’s crucial, Mr. President, that we make NASA’s bud
get a priority,” U.S. Rep. Nick Lampson, D-Texas, a mem
ber of the House Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee,
said in a speech to the JSC audience. “Your presence here
is certainly an indication of your commitment and your
vision of space.”
Coke pulls tab on curvy test can
ATLANTA (AP) — Coca-Cola’s
new curvy can is being pitched into
the recycle bin.
The company pulled the con
toured, red 12-ounce can from four
of five test markets as it tries to re
solve problems and come up with a
can that repeats the success of its
curvy bottles that lit up sales four
years ago.
Consumers liked the cans, but
not enough to pay extra for it, com
pany officials said. There also were
problems fitting the cans into some
vending machines.
“This is just a natural part of the
testing (and) learning,” company
spokeswoman Polly Howes said
Tuesday. “We continue to work
on it.”
The company had tested the
cans for about a year in Terre Haute,
Ind.; Tucson, Ariz.; Las Cruces,
N.M.; and Brownsville, Texas. The
cans are still available in El Paso,
Texas, as development continues.
One problem to work out is the
cost of production. Mike Harris,
sales manager at Coca-Cola Bot
tling in Tucson, said some con
sumers balked at paying the extra
10 percent to 12 percent it added to
the cost of a Coke.
“It was pretty good for just kind
of a test,” Harris said.
The contoured can was used
only for Coca-Cola Classic in the
test markets.
John Sicher, publisher of Bever
age Digest, said he expects testing of
curvy cans to continue because
Coke’s contoured bottle has been so
popular. He said production costs
will eventually come down.
“Coke’s test was just that — a test.
When and wherever we see the
shaped can again is dependent
upon an awful lot of variables.”
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Wednesday • April:
Study estimates drug reactio
kill more than 100,000 aye 1
\lediv
CHICAGO (AP) — Bad reactions to prescription
and over-the-counter medicines kill more than
100,000 Americans and seriously injure an addition
al 2.1 million every year — far more than most peo
ple realize, researchers say.
Such reactions, which do not include prescribing
errors or drug abuse, rank at least sixth among U.S.
causes of death — behind heart disease, cancer, lung
disease, strokes and accidents, says a report based
on an analysis of existing studies.
“We’re not saying, ‘Don’t take
drugs.’ They have wonderful ben
efits,” said Dr. Bruce H. Pomer-
anz, principal investigator and a
neuroscience professor at the
University of Toronto.
“But what we’re arguing is
that there should be increased
awareness also of side effects,
which until now have not been
too well understood.”
The harm may range from an
allergic reaction to an antibiotic
to stomach bleeding from fre
quent doses of aspirin, Pomeranz said. The study, by
Pomeranz and two other colleagues at his school, Ja
son Lazarou and Paul N. Corey, did not explore which
medications or illnesses were involved.
The authors analyzed 39 studies of hospital patients
from 1966 to 1996. Serious drug reactions affected 6.7
percent of patients overall and fatal drug reactions 0.32
percent, the authors reported in Wednesday s Journal
of the American Medical Association.
In the study, serious injury was defined as being
hospitalized, having to extend a hospital stay or suf
fering permanent disability.
The most surprising result was the large number
of deaths, the authors said. They found adverse drug
reactions ranked between fourth and sixth among
leading causes of death, depending on whether they
used their most conservative or most liberal estimate.
In 1994, between 76,000 and 137,000 U.S. hospi
tal patients died, and the “ballpark estimate" is
106,000, Pomeranz said. The low estimate, 76,000
deaths, would put drug reactions sixth. The ballpark
estimate would put them fourth, he said.
An additional 1.6 million to 2.6 million patients
were seriously injured, with the ballpark estimate 2.1
million, he said.
More than two-thirds of the cases involved reac
tions outside hospitals rather than in hospitals, the
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“...what we’re arguing is
that there should be in
creased awareness also of
side effects...”
Dr. Bruce H. Pomeranz
neuroscience professor at
University of Toronto
authors reported.
Experts commended the study
whether the estimates are on target.
Dr. David W. Bates of Partners Healthat
and Brigham and Women’s Hospital inB
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