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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 5, 2003)
The Battalion Classified Advertising • Easy • Affordable • Effective For information, call 845-0509 'mm 1805 Briarcrest ^ BRYAN 979-776-0999 ^g| Come One! Come All! Come early! — Starting Times — Wed-Thur-Sat Friday Sunday 6:45 & 9:00 7:15 & 9:00 6:00 & 8:00 EXPERIENCE THE 3 THRILL OF WINNING ,/ *£j** s Large Non-Smoking Roo^^ • Door hums • Great Food • Security • Puu Tabs and Much More! Due to merit changes, no one under 18 is allowed to enter Over $30,000 Won Each Week Tuesday, August 5, 2003 THE BATTALI01 Small plane crashes, two dead By Noreen Gillespie THE ASSOCIATED PRESS BVCASA I Bbazos v *Lltv Student Counseling etpJUnL n /-v % lf\I ■ r\ 4 4sn e~\ w*\ O “ Are you a good listener? Do you want to help others? fUunteeu TiudU., .Atl m&jou welcmtf «j Brochure & application - Room 104 of Hendereon Hall. For more information call Susan Vavra at 8454470 ext. 133 or visit www.scs.tamu.edu/emergency/volunteer.asp and WE'R GROTON, Conn. — A small business jet crashed into three houses Monday, setting two of them on fire, then cartwheeled into a river less than a mile short of an airport. Both people aboard the plane were killed, authorities said. Nobody on the ground was seriously hurt, although one woman was treated for minor injuries after she jumped out a win dow of her home, Poquonnock Bridge Fire Marshal Michael Richards said. Thirteen people were either left homeless or told they could not return to nearby homes Monday. The Learjet was approaching the airport when it slammed into the homes in the Poquonnock River Bridge section of Groton. “People were running down the street, and all I could see was blazing fire and smoke and people running up and down the street,” said Pauleatha Glover, 55. “It was an explosion, you know, I thought somebody had blown up the Poquonnock River Bridge.” Richards said the plane clipped a vacant home before cutting through two others and setting them on fire. The plane broke apart 30 mi MASS. ^Hartford 73 CONNECTICUT Groton island Sound. ■4 A Learjet crashed, killing two on board SOURCES: Associated Press; ESRI AP and the pieces landed in the river, he said. Ross Finlayson, 17, said he saw the plane hit the houses and a riverside walkway in the residential area. “It did a cartwheel,” Finlayson said. “It exploded. It clipped over the top of that house and went right through the next house.” Police did not immediately release the names of those on board. Gloria Aldana leaped from her burning home when the plane hit her one-story house, her husband said. She was treated at a local hospital. "She got panicked and jumped out t window,” Edwin Aldana said. “She’sdoi OK.” The Learjet went down about a half-m from the runway at Groton-New Loud Airport, Federal Aviation Administraiii spokesman Jim Peters said. He said ill taken off from Farmingdale Repi Airport on New York’s Long Island. Catherine Young, the Groton aip manager, said the plane was on its seco approach when it went down. The crashliap pened 20 minutes before the tower opetiei and airport officials were using recording of air-to-ground communication to pi together what happened, she said. “The pilots announced something at coming to the airport, but it was garbli she said. The FAA and state Department Environmental Protection were on scene. The plane is registered to Jetpro LLC, corporation based at New Hyde Park, NT The plane was believed to be camii about l,2(X) gallons of jet fuel, saidNt Torres, who works for the Department Environmental Protection’s oil andchemn spill unit. eforei uriexpanded sters- Doctors struggling over best candidates for obesity surgery Impasse Continued from page l special session or Dewhm restores a Senate tradition of requiring two-thirds of senator: By Lauran Neergaard THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON —Amy Topel had tried exer cise, weight-loss pills and every diet, real or fad, around. But at age 15, she’d reached 260 pounds and a difficult decision: It was time to try surgery. Operating was scary, but her mother had undergone it and lost 100 pounds — and Amy was tired of classmates’ taunts. So in June, a sur geon shrank Amy’s stomach. She’s dropped 30 pounds and counting. Gastric bypass surgery has long been a dra matic solution for obese adults, but more doctors are operating on teenagers, too. Now, the first pediatric guidelines are due out soon, and they’ll urge doctors to put more limits on teen surgery than on adults — because nobody yet knows the long-term outcomes of such a radical operation on a still-developing body. The main recommendations: —To qualify, teens should have obesity- caused problems, either physical or, like Amy, from the stigma of being fat — and a starting weight at least 30 pounds higher than adult can didates. —Don’t operate before teens nearly reach their full height potential — usually around age 13 for girls and 15 for boys — because the sur gery limits nutrient absorption. —Hospitals should establish a panel of experts in adolescent obesity, psychology and nutrition to evaluate teens’ physical and psycho logical well-being and pick the best candidates. Surgery clearly will help some teens, but “it made sense to all of us to set the bar a bit high er,” says Dr. Thomas Inge of the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, who co authored the guidelines with fellow specialists in pediatric surgery and obesity. The guidelines have been submitted to a med ical journal for publication later this year, and promise to be somewhat controversial. Some surgeons say there’s no reason to be more cau tious with teens. After all, heart disease, diabetes and other obesity-related illnesses can take root in childhood — and teens will have longer to reap the benefits of being slimmer. “There’s no doubt surgery is a drastic meas ure. It is a risk to life. But at times, living with a condition like this obesity — it is a risk to life by itself,” says Dr. Constantine Frantzides of Rush- Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center in Chicago, who operated on Amy. There are no statistics on how many teens get gastric bypass; the number is believed very small but growing. The operation entails stapling closed part of the stomach, forming a small pouch that’s con nected to one end of the small intestine. That limits how much food it’s possible to consume, and how much is absorbed. Typically, patients lose 70 to 80 percent of their excess body weight in about a year. But the surgery itself comes with risks, such as wound infections, the possibility of stomach leaks, and occasionally, life-threatening blood clots. Once patients recover, they must follow strin gent rules: They eat small servings, carefully counting to get enough protein. They take vita mins and calcium to counter nutrient deficien cies, including bone loss. Gorging causes vomiting. The body no longer processes sugar properly, so too much causes dizziness and diarrhea. Regularly breaking the rules can bring back the weight. Such changes are hard enough for adults. So the pending pediatric guidelines stress having experts evaluate if a teen is mature enough, and has stable family support, to follow the rules before surgery is offered. As for size, obesity is measured with a height-to-weight ratio called the body mass index. A BMI of 30 is obese — for someone 5- feet-8 like Amy, 197 pounds. For teen surgery candidates, the new guidelines will recommend a BMI of 40 — an additional 60 pounds — plus serious obesity-caused illnesses; or a BMI of 50 if they have less serious obesity-related prob lems, such as being maliciously teased. Adults, in contrast, qualify with a BMI of 35 plus obesity-caused illness. Amy is the youngest of the 19 teenagers Chicago’s Frantzides has operated on. His top criteria is that the teen’s family be overweight, under the theory that people genetically predis posed to obesity are less likely to benefit from diet and exercise alone. to agree to take up a Senate floor. Under that tradition, the Democratic senators bloc redistricting in the last spe session. Dewhurst said he would change his mind about the» called “two-thirds rule,” saying it is a tradition for the Senatenol to have it in place when lawmak ers tackle redistricting. “I don’t think our 11 col leagues are in a position to ask for anything,” Dewhurst “They have broken the Texas Constitution. They need to come back. They were elected todoa job.” Democrats said that is nol going to happen without move ment from Perry or Dewhurst “If I were a betting man con sidering a wager on how we’ll continue, if we’ we’ll fold. I’d place my chipson the Texas 11,” said West, invok ing the name the Senate Democrats have been calling themselves. The Texas Senate met briefly Monday afternoon and then broke for the day because of a lack of quorum with the Democrats gone. The Democrats, meanwhile, held their daily meeting, reading aloud letters of support from constituents as photographers took their pictures. Austin folk singer Steven Brooks, who said he was touring in New Mexico, stopped by the hotel briefly and entertained the senators with a song he wrote called the “Killer Ds of Texas.” An often-repeated line in the song goes: “The killer Ds of Texas put the sting on Tom DeLay.” Volume II A& By Jc THE E More gree offered to mol from football Bush Drive, U Texas Avenue, reduction plan Green,” Unive officials said. June Brouj tions coordinat Transportation streets w games Move out for any reason. Choose independence and enjoy your freedom! Month to Month Leases Rents Starting at $349 Zero Deposits/Zero Fees $ 100 cash referral fee paid for all new residents! On A&M bus route • Your choice: Rent by the bedroom or lease an apt. Roommate matching • Free Internet & Cable with HBO 979-680-84Z5 • E-mail: collegeleasing@crossingplace.com • Visit: crossingplace.com Location: 400 Southwest Parkway, College Station. Clubhouse Office: 9:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m. *Offer begins July 21 and ends August 31, 2003. All offers are limited and could end without notice. a Gra star unc Mary Schii er equipment sands of mile: Her son, K Texas A&M Acquisition, ization with a “The one I arl) is doin these trips cai Waukegan, III Mary said learning abou Karl, aloni y, Scott Stei jlorms for nea the University Texas four ye gradua radio: KliVIIv SOURCE: A& By Steve THE ASSOC JAKARTA, suspected suici Marriott H lunchtime carr business dis killing 13 peo ing 149, settin scattering gh blocks in a bio Ihe continuing in the wor bus Muslim n The blast i before a verdic ley suspect in club bombings killed 202 pe E-ma B) T An e-mai with informa legislation Representati Department woman Mom The e-ma House Bill Hade it illeg: