Wednesday • April 22, 1998 1 ON i $ 3.95 m :ath caused by fungus remains topic of hospital controversy pager airtime Discount Paging System Free Activation ‘Accessories Calling Cards Aerial phones sold here HOUSTON (AP) —There is no way to tell B a common fungus that killed an M.D. Bson Cancer Center patient originated, ■ing the hospital should not be held liable, law i r for the famed cancer center said. Buie admitting that a fusarium fungus in- Bn killed David Cozad, 43, in 1995 while ewa staying at the University of Texas facil- ttorney lohn Giberson said the hospital sijiiit responsible. He fungus is found everywhere, including Hi ngernails, teeth and in our hair,” Giber- jilaid, and it would be impossible to tell ■ and where Cozad became infected. Ajtorney Richard Jaffe, representing Cozad’s family, argued officials were aware the facility was contaminated but did nothing about it. The family filed the malpractice lawsuit upon learning there had been internal dis putes at the cancer center over the possibil ity of fusarium contaminations in some of its areas. They seek unspecified damages. The common fungus is normally harmless, but it can become deadly when it infects pa tients like Cozad undergoing treatment for cancer of the blood system. Such patients have little or no immunity. The hospital is not abnormally contami nated with the fungus, Giberson said, adding that its high number of reported deaths from fusarium compared with other facilities shows Anderson has been much more careful to monitor deaths from fusarium. “If India does not report tuberculosis and the U.S. reports 10,000 cases, it does not mean we have 10,000 more cases of tuberculosis in the U.S.,” he said. Jaffe said that in the late 1980s, Elias Anaissie, an infectious disease physician at Anderson, noticed about 10 deaths there from fusarium. Anaissie, now at the University of Arkansas, asked hospital officials to study the matter as the deaths continued to increase, Jaffe said. And, Jaffe said, a few Anderson physicians wrote a paper on the deaths in 1988, but the hospital “didn’t do anything.” Graduate student Robert Kushar produced a master’s thesis in 1996 saying the hospital’s water was contaminated with fusarium, as were three units where patients are isolated for treatments, Jaffe said. Cozad developed a fusarium infection af ter a bone marrow transplant in the summer of 1995, Jaffe said. He was re-admitted that November after developing the fungal infection in December, a few weeks before he died. irty laundry JAMES FRANCIS/The Battalion Hephen Lair, a junior marketing major, does his laundry at Har- |ye\ Washbangers Tuesday afternoon. Scientists find evidence of other worlds treehouse apartments You Can Afford to Have It All! • Great Location, Walk to Campus • Computer Lab, Clubroorn • Covered Parking • 2 Pools • Sand Volleyball NOW Pre-Leasing Starting as low as $390 (409) 696-5707 Marion Pugh @ George Bush ^^^^~~^ww\vstarteLnet/treehouse/^ "A WASHINGTON (AP) — Signs of a new family of planets orbiting a distant star are the clearest evi dence yet of worlds forming be yond our solar system and suggest that planets where life could evolve may exist throughout the universe, astronomers say. Using powerful new instru ments on telescopes in Hawaii and Chile, two teams of astronomers independently found a doughnut shaped disk of dust rotating around a star 220 light-years away. They said at a news conference Tuesday that the hole in the dough nut may have been caused by the birth of planets. “A solar system like our own is being constructed in the middle of this disk,” said David Koerner of the University of Pennsylvania. He is a member of an astronomy team that used the Neck II tele scope in Hawaii to study the star. He said the finding, along with similar discoveries reported this week in the journal Nature, sug gests that planets may be very com- ‘A solar system like our own is being constructed...” David Koerner University of Pennsylvania mon throughout the universe. “Perhaps there are lots of places for life to exist,” he said. Another astronomy team, using the Sarah Tololo Observatory in Chile, made a confirming observation. Both teams focused on a star called HR 4796 . Earlier studies had suggested that this star could be at the cen- Environmental agenda blocked 1 Hero soft’s true intentions Bges consider motive behind Internet Explorer WASHINGTON (AP) — Three fed- ppeals judges, asked to consider luial questions in the Justice fartment’s fight against Microsoft, ad went to the heart of the debate: |the company illegally trying to dom- /fs competitors? /licrosoft is appealing a judge’s 11 preliminary injunction that hibited it from forcing computer ;ers who sell Windows 95 to also fer Microsoft’s Internet browser. ie company claims the browser is died so tightly within its domi- tWindows operating system that Irnet Explorer is not actually a arate product. J.S. Circuit Judge Patricia M. Wald questioned Tuesday how that in junction was granted. The Justice Department, which is considering a broader antitrust case against Microsoft, contends the soft ware company is using its Windows market-muscle to foist its browser on customers unfairly, illegally squeez ing other companies’ browsers out of the market. Government attorneys say “tying” the sale ofWindows 95 to the use of Internet Explorer is anti competitive and “plain wr ong.” “What is all comes down to in the end is, what is an integrated prod uct,” Wald said, and much of the hearing was spent trying to answer that question. WASHINGTON (AP) - The shrill partisan rhetoric over environ mental regulations — a hallmark of the Republican revolution three years ago - no longer echoes on Capitol Hill. Gone are the calls to strip the Environmental Protection Agency of its power or to gut the Endan gered Species Act to protect landowners. The abandonment of frontal assaults on environmental regula tions does not mean congression al Republicans are ready to em brace President Clinton’s top environmental priorities. From a modest package of tax cuts and incentives to address global warming to new efforts to clean up the nation’s waterways and purchase new parkland, the Clinton environmental agenda is being blocked at every turn on Capitol Hill. Marking Earth Day on Wednes day, Clinton plans to highlight his frustration with Congress over that agenda during a visit to the Ap palachian trail. Republican congressional lead ers maintain the disputes simply involve disagreements over spend ing priorities as well as serious doubts - voiced by both Republi can and Democratic lawmakers - about the global warming agree ment the administration agreed to last December in Kyoto, Japan. “Congress has learned to be more surreptitious,” said Rodger Schlickeisen, president of Defend ers ofWildlife. “There’s not as much chest beating. Now they’re being much more cautious in their approach. But there’s still an anti-environ ment agenda.” “Sure there’s still an anti-envi ronmental agenda (among some lawmakers)... but it’s essentially a handful of people who shout the loudest,” said Sherwood Boehlert, R-N.Y., a moderate supported by most environmental leaders. “There’s no doubt in my mind there’s a heightened sensitivity to environmental issues,” continued Boehlert. He blames the adminis tration for not pushing some envi ronmental issues, such as Super fund reform, more aggressively. Have you... : Picked up or purchased your '97 Aggieland? If you ordered a 1997 Aggieland yearbook and haven't picked it up, stop by room 015 (basement) of the Reed McDonald Building between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Please bring your Student ID. If you did not order a '97 book, you may purchase one for $35 plus tax in 015 Reed McDonald. The 1997 Aggieland is an 848-page record of the 1996-97 Texas A&M University school year. Cash, Check, VISA, MasterCard, Discover and American Express accepted. nars \\ -3. 0 I £ y Q PICK UP YOUR 1997 AGGIELAND HERE Q -c % M if^ I w CW ter of what is called a protoplane tary disk. “These disks are thought to be the birthing rooms of plan ets,” said NASA astronomer Ed ward Weiler, head of a space agency program that is search ing for evidence of extrasolar planets and life. “We haven’t actually detected any planets,” said Lee Hartmann of the Harvard-Smithsonian Cen ter for Astrophysics and a mem ber of the Cerro Tololo team. But he said the most likely ex planation for the absence of dust in the hole of the disk is that planets have formed. He said new and highly sensi tive instruments are allowing as tronomers to move “from just speculating about planets form ing to actually seeing it.” Hartmann said that over the next few years, there will be many new planetary families discov ered outside the solar system. Forthcoming Title... JAPANS HIDDEN FACE A Call for Radical Change in Japanese Society & Commerce By Toshihiko Abe Former Trade Director, Casio Computer Ltd May 1998 $27.50 Hardback 371 pp. ISBN: 1-891696-05-X A Japanese businessman critiques his country, calling for freedom and democracy - not feudalism & submissiveness. AT YOUR BOOKSTORE or write: Trans-Atlantic Pub., 311 Bainbridge, Phila PA 19147 www.transatlanticpub.com Earth Week Celebration! Wednesday, Apr. 22 - Friday, Apr. 24 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. * Booths • Bands • Prizes • Fun • Free T-shirts! ( EjlC. 2001 Do you want to be a leader of our class? Your chance is here! Apply for a Committee Chair Position and get involved in ‘01 Class Council. Applications are available on the 2nd floor of the MSC, Spo-West in the 2001 cube. It’s a great opportunity to meet people and become part of an exciting organization that represents ‘01 for A&M. Applications are due by 5:00 on Tues., 4/28 in the President’s box. IT’S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN! Fall Open House is Sunday, September 6 from 2 to 6 p.m. Tables are now on sale! Don’t miss out! It’s simple! Just go to the MSC Box Office in Rudder Tower and pay $30 for your recognized student organization. We take cash, check, aggie bucks, credit cards, or departmental accounts (you’ll need an IDT). euuf 'teeftetH^en . , . Space is limited! Remember, Open House tables are limited, and are awarded on a first come, first served basis! Only one table per organization. Please come and join us! Any questions? If so call the Relations Office at 845-7627. Spojvsorer By: MSC RELATIONS TEAM - IK-^nK-.-sa eoopl