The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, October 06, 1999, Image 10

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    ■ * ; < =-l l/M H =H :T^
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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