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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 6, 1999)
■ * ; < =-l l/M H =H :T^ *3.95 pager airtime Free Activation | •Accessories •Calling Cards i PrimeCo phones sold here j Discount PaginK System ! Hair Design Free Haircut with Full Flighlight ( $ 20 Savings) 696-4144 Serving Aggies For 25 Years Sat., Oct. 9 - Junior Brown w/Ruthie Foster - Crighton Theatre 4:30 p.m. Sun., Oct. 10 - PAT GREEN'S TEXAS PARTY w/Roger Creager & Corey Morrow 12:30 p.m. .Hey . Aggies!) hog*#*, CONROS CAJUN CATFISH FESTIVAL For |nfo ca|| October 8 • 9 • 10 800-324-2604 Located on the square in Downtown Conroe 409-539-6009 A Night in Oct. 14 8:00 The Acoustic Tour Chris Rice Cindy Morgan Watermark Ginny Owens Performing at Rudder Auditorium Tickets: MSC Box Office $ 10 Advance, $ 12 Door Sponsored by Compass College Ministries 845-1234 ii AMERICAN UNIVERSITY WASHINGTON. DC Professional Graduate Programs in Public Affairs The following graduate programs in the School of Public Affairs offer you the opportunity to learn new management and research skills and to prepare for careers in a wide variety of government, not-for-profit and private-sector organizations, private or public research, policy analysis and advocacy, and professional organizations: Master of Public Policy Master of Arts in Political Science Master of Public Administration Master of Science in Justice, Law & Society Master of Science in Organization Development Master of Science in Personnel/Human Resource Management and Ph.D. programs in Political Science; Public Administration; and Justice, Law and Society A representative of American University will visit the Graduate & Professional School Fair on Thursday, October 7, 1999, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m At the MSC Flagroom, Texas A&M University For information, call or write: American University School of Public Affairs 4400 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20016 Phone: (202) 885-6201 or 885-2469; Fax: (202) 885-2353 E-mail: spagrad@american.edu Internet: www.american.edu/academic.depts/spa/spa-home.htm Page 10 • Wednesday, October, 6, 1999 N ATION e Banal \ Loan rates drop to all time low (AP)—The default rate on government student loans has dropped to the lowest level since Washington began keeping track more than a decade ago. The rate dipped to 8.8 percent in fiscal 1997, from 9.6 percent the year before, according to fig ures released yesterday. Education Secretary Richard Riley credited responsible stu dent borrowers, schools, under writers and lenders, a crackdown on debtors and the robust econ omy with its plentiful jobs. The rate has dropped each year since a peak of 22.4 per cent in fiscal 1990. Student loans underwritten by the federal government averaged $4,103 in fiscal 1997. The loans went to 2.15 million students attending more than 7,000 vocational schools, college and universities. Of students, about 189,000 defaulted by falling behind in their payments. The figures represent borrow ers whose first payment was due in fiscal 1997 and who failed to make a payment before Oct. 1, 1998, the end of fiscal 1998. Default is not the end of the matter. Collection can be ob tained in various ways, such as taking the debtor’s IRS refund or wages. FDA approves fluj CHICAGO (AP) — An experi mental drug nearing government approval would give flu sufferers their first effective pill against both A and B flu viruses, the two major types that afflict Ameri cans, researchers said. An inhaled powder that works against both types was approved by the Food and Drug Adminis tration (FDA) in July. The pill, to be marketed as Tamiflu, helped reduce the dura tion and severity of flu symptoms by about half in 80 unvaccinated adults who were voluntarily in fected with the flu virus, re searchers reported in today’s Jour nal of the American Medical Association. The prescription drug also helped prevent the flu in unvaccinated adults who took the drug before be ing exposed to the virus, said re searchers led by Dr. Frederick G. Hayden of the University of Virginia. Only eight of 21 people who took the drug before exposure got infected (38 percent), compared with eight of 12 who did not take the drug (67 percent). "These drugs are not a substi tute for vaccine,” Hayden said. “They’re an adjunct, a supple ment, in terms of the protection they can provide.” Vaccination is always pre ferred, he said. But some people cannot take a vaccine because of certain medical conditions or al lergies, many people do not get vaccinated, and vaccination does not prevent all cases of flu. The research was funded by ks p* crets fa the drug’s manufac:. man La Roche Ltd. tional InstitutesofHi Tamiflu (generica eltamivir) and thei Relenza (zanamivir) class of medicinestl chemical process viruses to spread [rocUgjzziin • Unlike older dri* oks , tr0 n; against both A andE ter buffa 1 The two older flii| a p e p r iv. Symmetrel (aman:; io n f j n a Flumadine (riman;;:«! It’s different mechanisir i Though they areb: jN 0> h’s L as pills, theyonlj« y n da TV- virus A, which accoui f 15 niin 1 two-thirds oftheestir. she has lion U.S. flu cases yea ; classify the most severe. ||g’s Del Dr. Ben Z. Katz,a ea ] S o ha ase specialist at.phiracy Memorial Hospital 5 ter’ssui said the new median;;Wi of tv- the advantage of a Trawl in virus later in its lifec jyet anot = less likely to causegt -s hould- tions that lead to dnij itrcsses > Katz said the stud pp is sui ■ only on healthy adults blu hun laboratory and said the r4se of he be different in the real ;ords. Hayden said that: TYipp h£= real-world studies teKwortfi - shown Tamiflu effeaiv; wsuit is j side effects. King fc He said the drug vv; jtjety, for sidered for approval tely twe«2 month by the FDA.The As chief not comment on its scfK's cas« considering drugs. gyided ii No price has been setie: 1th frienc according to Hoffman-La ■nsky - bident c NASA to deliberately blow up launch (C Tipp is with 1 mistra CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — When the count down reaches zero next week at historic Launch Com plex 41, the entire pad will be blasted to pieces — de liberately, as part of a modernization project. In a business where even the word “blastoff” touch es a nerve (rocket scientists prefer "liftoff”), the very idea was unsettling, especially for the safety officers at the labotag Air Force station where the pad is located. “They spend their lifetimes try ing to make sure we don’t blow things on the pad,” Adrian Laffitte, a Lockheed Martin Corp. launch manager, said. “They went, ‘Hel lo, are you guys on something here?’ But once we explained the process, then they said, ‘Hey, that sort of makes sense.’” Blowing up the 34-year-old pad that launched innumerable spy satellites as well as NASA’s Viking spacecraft to Mars and Voyager probes to the outer planets is the quickest, cheapest way for Lock heed Martin to renovate the place for its new line of Atlas V rockets. “5-4-3-21 and then figure out what the right word is. How about 'boom'? 3-2-1 boom, kaboom. I’m trying to think what Wile E. Coyote said.’ — Adrian Laffitte Lockheed Martin Corp. launch manager It also happens to be the most fun. Next Thursday’s demolition — the first at Cape Canaveral in 23 years — is turning into a party and charity fund-raiser. Hundreds of workers are expected to gather a safe 2,500 feet away to watch the two steel launch towers come tumbling down within milliseconds of each oth er. Hundreds, if not thousands, of others at Cape Canaveral Air Station and NASA’s adjacent Kennedy Space Center will almost certainly stop wherever they are to watch. A countdown will precede the 10 a.m. demolition. “5-4-3-2-1 and then figure out what the right word is,” Laffitte said, laughing. “How about ‘boom’? 3- 2-1-boom, kaboom. I’m i rving to think whalKmatic Coyote said.” Bilation At the precise moment the 180pound.mie.\touate. are detonated, the winner of a Demolish-the-PaRimistra will push a make-believe plunget. e^edher Hundreds of $5 raffle ticketstiaveMaiKassoct, sold. Also going like speeding rocKets:r'^ifripp, v with the words “Bl@ the Past” and apicttiRdl dent pushing a tel (Launch pad workei&d selves “pad rats.”) will go to needy fan Christmas. The last time a laundtl deliberately blown up.inlj Army was called in tot Launch Complex Glenn’s pad — had dangerous, and theAirF the money to ftxtt. The larger Launch Cota will be brought downbj^ tion experts hired by Martin. Built in 1965, Complejj 14 Li the starting point for 27 Titan flights, most ofai itary. The last two, in August 1998 and Aprils ed in failure: one rocket blew up seconds afterlii other dumped a satellite in a useless orbit. On Monday, demolition workers used blow weaken the legs of the 200-foot umbilical to' which propellants once flowed to the rockets. The 300-foot mobile service tower, whichii the rockets until just before liftoff, stands SOOffffj The towers will not be needed for Lockheed powerful Atlas V, which will be transported foil J unfinished building to the pad a mere 121 liftoff, a process intended to speed up launches LASIK vision correction now available in Bryan. a few minutes you can reduce or eliminate your dependence on eyeglasses or contact lenses. Over a million people have been set free from their glasses, thanks to refractive surgery. The procedure is painless, takes only a few minutes, does not involve long days of recuperation and can be paid for in installments. The best part — now it’s available in Bryan at The Surgical Center. No overnight trips to Houston or Dallas. No extra expenses for travel and lodging. No hassles for parking or traffic. And no need for a companion to miss a day of work to accompany you on an out- of-town trip for surgery. The Surgical Center has doubled its capacity for Lasik procedures. The equipment is state of the art, carefully calibrated and continuously tested by on-site technicians. You choose the ophthalmologist to perform your surgery from area physicians who have special training and experience in refractive surgery using a computer-controlled excimer laser. The first step is a thorough examination by an eye care professional to determine if you are a candidate for this procedure. For more information about LASIK and The Surgical Center, call or write us today. H SURGICAL MMrl CENTER 2800 E. 29th St. / Bryan. TX 77802 / (409) 776-4300 Free Food! B jckv Students , Infires I Dr. l Indafe tbrisjr I'd Du 100 Lucky Students Will Be Selected To Have Free BBQ At The President’s Home With idarkgi Entertainment r L by ** &ns,» IT ant Ray and Sally Bawen entsat The Singing Cadets Rot Isitors Wednesday Oct. 13, 1999 6:00 p.m. hag (Rain site: Clayton Williams Alumni Center) Students sign up at: j http://rev.tamu.edu/freebbq Registration deadline: Oct.7,1999 For more info call the Office of University Relations 845-4642 ^Vinners will be notified via e-mail or phone Friday, Oct. ^ i!S!W
