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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 23, 2003)
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NATION THE BATTALION 6A ATION Thursday, October 23,2003 ifHE BATTALK California wildfires burn six homes By Paul Chavez THE ASSOCIATED PRESS LOS ANGELES — High temperatures helped spur four wildfires in Southern California, including a fast-moving arson blaze that destroyed six homes in the Reche Canyon area of Riverside County, officials said. The hot weather also stoked fires in Fontana, Camp Pendleton and the hills above Burbank. The blaze in Reche Canyon was reported Tuesday afternoon and by early Wednesday had burned at least 1,000 acres, said Becky Luther, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry. Investigators deter mined that it was set, he said. It destroyed six homes and on Wednesday it was threaten ing about 100 homes, said CDF Capt. Rick Vogt. The blaze was 10 percent contained, he said. Mark Josephson and his friends and family members fought alongside firefighters as the blaze threatened his Reche Canyon home. He had 12 hors es, a goat and several sheep on his property, and the neighing of frightened horses could be heard above the din of helicopters. “Flames came within a foot of the house,” Josephson said. “We didn’t lose anything.” Evacuations were ordered and about a dozen residents spent the night in a nearby school, Vogt said. More than 530 firefighters were battling the blaze and one firefighter suf fered from smoke inhalation. There were no other injuries, Vogt said. Southern California has experienced record, triple-digit temperatures in recent days and the warm weather is expected to continue for the next few days. A high of 95 was forecast Wednesday in Riverside. Another wildfire charred 2,000 acres at the far north end of Fontana in San Bernardino County. The blaze, which was burning away from homes, was under investigation, said Bill Peters, a CDF spokesman. In the hills above Burbank, a suspicious wildfire covered about KM) acres, said Dave Starr, spokesman for the Burbank Fire Department. Crews expected to have the blaze contained Wednesday. A brush fire at Camp Pendleton blackened more than 1,000 acres in an uninhabited area used for training exercises at the Marine base. Authorities said the blaze was apparently started by ammunition. Blazes flare up in Southern California Wildfires broke out in the Reche Canyon area, Fontana, Camp Pendleton and in the hills above Burbank. At least six homes were destroyed. 5} CALIFORNIA ^ Burbank v. Fontana —vj?/ 4^' Los i Reche Angeles 4c< Wildfires anyon Camp' ® Pendleton Yv Pacific Ocean — „ vjfps/m 0 25 mi San 0 25 km I SOURCE : Associated Press AP D'ego^ Student whose father died in windshield gets $10,000 scholarship from death-row opponents By Angela K. Brown THE ASSOCIATED PRESS DALLAS — Death-row opponents on Wednesday gave a $10,000 scholarship to a college student whose father was hit by a car and left to die in the windshield. The money for Brandon Biggs was raised through donations and subscriptions to “Compassion,” a bimonthly newsletter written by the nation’s death-row inmates and a project of the Roman Catholic church’s peace and justice committee. “We want to debunk the myth that death-row inmates are subhuman monsters need ing to be killed,” Rick Halperin, the Texas death penalty abolition coordinator for Amnesty International USA, said after the scholarship presentation at a Dallas church. Gregory Biggs was walking on the side of a Fort Worth highway in October 2001 when he was hit. With his torso in the car and his broken legs lodged in the windshield, he held onto the inside passenger door panel and may have begged for help as the car kept going, according to court testimony. He died a few hours after the driver parked in her garage and left the house. Chante Mallard was convict ed in June of murder and sentenced to 50 years in prison. She was not eligible for the death penalty; her maximum punishment would have been life in prison. The scholarship money is for relatives of any murder victims, not just those in death- penalty cases. During her trial, Mallard tes tified that her judgment was clouded by drugs and alcohol after a night at a bar, and that she was afraid of being arrest ed. She also apologized to Brandon Biggs, sobbing. Brandon Biggs later said he forgave Mallard. “I still want to extend my forgiveness to Chante Mallard and I want the Mallard family to know that they are in my prayers,” he said Wednesday. Brandon Biggs said he respects prisoners who are try ing to give back to society. He would not say whether he opposes the death penalty but said overturning a death sentence would be a “great act of mercy.” Fred Moor, the “Compassion” coordinator and a member of St. Rose Parish in Perrysburg, Ohio, said he heard about the case and contacted Brandon Biggs about applying for a scholarship. Few murder victims’ rela tives want to accept money from death-row inmates. Moor sard. Brandon Biggs is only the third scholarship recipient. “A family member has been murdered, so for them to go to a prisoner and ask for some thing is very difficult to do,” Moor said. No scholarship applicants are asked about their feelings on the death penalty. Moor said. The Catholic Diocese of Toledo, Ohio, handles ihe Finances of the scholarship fund and newsletter, which is sent to the nation’s 3,500 death-row inmates. Prisoners do not get paid for working on the publication. “Brandon Biggs is an excellent example of compas sion,” Missouri death row inmate Dennis Skillicorn wrote in the newsletter’s September issue. “Brandon’s response (to Mallard) was far from typical.” Brandon Biggs, 20, is a sophomore pastoral ministry student at Southwestern Assembly of God University in Waxahachie, about 25 miles southwest of Dallas. He said his father, a brick layer, lost his car and home after loaning money to a friend about two years earlier. Brandon Biggs said he visited his father at a Fort Worth home less shelter several times before his death. NEWS IN BRIEF Football "pray-in" causes controversy in Loranger LORANGER, La. (AP) — A “pray in” before the latest Loranger High School football game drew enough people to sur round the football field in what amounted to a protest against the American Civil Liberties Union. LHS is a target in the third ACLU-related lawsuit over religion filed against the school board in the last nine years. The latest complaint was filed in federal court Tuesday in New Orleans on behalf of a Loranger resident identified only as John Doe and minor sons James and Jack Doe, who are LHS students. The complaint alleges the school board endorses prayers or religion at LHS foot ball games, during the school day and at board meetings, in violation of school pol icy and the Constitution. Loranger United Methodist Church sold shirts Friday saying, “Yes, I’ll pray,” School Board member Sandra Bailey- Simmons said. Louisiana ACLU director Joe Cook said he watched the “pray-in” on television. “The message that was sent that night was ‘only Christians are welcome here at this event,”’ Cook said. “It also sends a very bad message to students that the majority can trump the rights of those in the minority or those who believe in the separation of church and state.” By Adam i THE ASSOCIAT NEW YORK iployers who ■ecommuting, jol impressed work impetitive job it 190s are cutting rork/life” progrr The programs, ve workers moi eseen as easy ite ally strained b iminate, anal Ihough some ad ipular programs inies and employ “It’s hard econ id Lori Rosen, lalyst for CC iverwoods, lll.-b; formation pub leased a survey ograms Wednesi e saying where c 'slocking like th ell this is a benef intake it away.” The survey of n nployers found es offering opped from 37 X)2 to 30 perce lenate ontinued from nendment to I in le line-item budge ) students and pa Her failed. Chair John Mat iriieved the liould be more r We to students. “It’s students’ n iey want to know ' teyhave the right ti natter of principle,’ Earlier in the ev< hairs of the Senate 'Democratic tadment” to iConstition as erne ta, a bill that the; nan unusual show ikins said. “The solidarity < fficers on this issu tangly we believe ovemment,” he sai The amendment o strengthen the etween the Sen, ixecutive Branch ai igislation the Sen ddressed by the ; ixecutive Council latasha Eubanks. “We are calling iip,” she said. “(1 Iso for our voice tc ■ ^ .i.g 4 ^ U Contraceptive Injection medroxyprogesterone acetate injectable suspension DEPO-PROVERA” Contraceptive Injection (medroxyprogesterone acetate injectable suspension, USP) This product is intended to prevent pregnancy. It does not protect against HIV infection (AIDS) and other sexually transmitted diseases. What is DEPO-PROVERA Contraceptive Injection? DEPO-PROVERA Contraceptive Injection is a form of birth control-that is given as an intramuscular injection (a shot) in the buttock or upper arm once every 3 months (I 3 weeks). To continue your contraceptive protection, you must return for your next injection promptly at the end of 3 months (13 weeks). DEPO-PROVERA contains medroxyprogesterone acetate, a chemical similar to (but not the same as) the natural hormone progesterone, which is produced by your ovaries during the second half of your menstrual cycle. DEPO-PROVERA acts by preventing your egg cells from ripening. If an egg is not released from the ovaries during your menstrual cycle, it cannot become fertilized by sperm and result in pregnancy. - DEPO-PROVERA also causes changes in the lining of your uterus that make it less likely tor pregnancy to occur. How effective is DEPO-PFiOVERA Contraceptive Injection? The efficacy of DEPO-PROVERA Contraceptive Injection depends on following the recommended dosage schedule exactly (see "How often do I get my shot of DEPO-PROVERA Contraceptive Injection?"). To make sure you are not pregnant when you first get DEPO-PROVERA Contraceptive Injection, your first injection must be given ONLY during the first 5 days of a normal menstrual period; ONLY within the first 5 days after childbirth if not breast-feeding; and, jf exclusively breast-feeding, ONLY at the sixth week after childbirth. It is a long-term injectable contraceptive when administered at 3-month (13-week) intervals. DEPO-PROVERA Contraceptive Injection is over 99% effective, making it one of the most reliable methods of birth control available. This means that the average annual pregnancy rate is less than one for every 100 women who use DEPO-PROVERA. The effectiveness of most contraceptive methods depends in part on how reliably each woman uses the method. The effectiveness of DEPO-PROVERA depends only on the patient returning every 3 months (13 weeks) for her next injection. Your health-care provider will help you compare DEPO-PROVERA with other contraceptive methods and give you the information you need in order to decide which contraceptive method is the right choice for you. The following table shows the percent of women who got pregnant while using different kinds of contraceptive methods. It gives both the lowest expected rate of pregnancy (the rate expected in women who use each method exactly as it should be used) and the typical rate of pregnancy (which includes women who became pregnant because they forgot to use their birth control or because they did not follow the directions exactly). Percent of Women Experiencing an Accidental Pregnancy in the First Year of Continuous Use Method Lowest Expected Typical DEPO-PROVERA 0.3 0.3 Implants (Norplant) 0.2* 0.2* Female sterilization 0.2 0.4 Male sterilization 0.1 0.15 Oral contraceptive (pill) 3 Combined 0.1 Progestogen only 0.5 IUD 3 Progestasert 2.0 Copper! 380A 0.8 Condom (without spermicide) 2 12 Diaphragm (with spermicide) 6 18 Cervical cap 6 18 Withdrawal 4 18 Periodic abstinence 1-9 20 Spermicide alone 3 21 Vaginal Sponge used before childbirth 6 18 used after childbirth 9 28 No method 85 85 Source: Trussed et al. Obstet Gynecol. 1990:76:558-567. •From Norplant" package insert. Who should not use DEPO-PROVERA Contraceptive Injection? Not all women should use DEPO-PROVERA. You should not use DEPO-PROVERA if you have any of the following conditions: • if you think you might be pregnant • if you have any vaginal bleeding without a known reason B>irtK oon-trol you-tKirvk aB-out jus-t ‘+xayear • if you have had cancer of the breast • if you have had a stroke • if you have or have had blood clots (phlebitis) in your legs • if you have problems with your liver or liver disease • if you are allergic to DEPO-PROVERA (medroxyprogesterone acetate or any of its other ingredients). What other things should I consider before using DEPO-PROVERA Contraceptive Injection? You will have a physical examination before your doctor prescribes DEPO-PROVERA. It is important to tell your health-care provider if you have any of the following: • a family history of breast cancer • an abnormal mammogram (breast x-ray), fibrocystic breast disease, breast nodules or lumps, or bleeding from your nipples • kidney disease • irregular or scanty menstrual periods • high blood pressure • migraine headaches • asthma • epilepsy (convulsions or seizures) • diabetes or a family history of diabetes • a history of depression • if you are taking any prescription or over-the-counter medications This product is intended to prevent pregnancy. It does not protect against transmission of HIV (AIDS) and other sexually transmitted diseases such as chlamydia, genital herpes, genital warts, gonorrhea, hepatitis B, and syphilis. What if I want to become pregnant after using DEPO-PROVERA Contraceptive Injection? Because DEPO-PROVERA is a long-acting birth control method, itrtakes some time after your last injection for its effect to wear off. Based on the results from a large study done in the United States, for women who stop using DEPO-PROVERA in order to become pregnant, it is expected that about half of those who become pregnant will do so in about 10 months after their last injection; about two thirds of those who become pregnant will do so in about 12 months; about 83% of those who become pregnant will do so in about 15 months; and about 93% of those who become pregnant will do so in about 18 months after their last injection. The length of time you use DEPO-PROVERA has no effect on how longit takes you to become pregnant after you stop using it What are the risks of using DEPO-PROVERA Contraceptive Injection? / .Irregular Menstrual Bleeding The side effect reported most frequently by women who use DEPO-PROVERA for contraception is a change in their normal menstrual cycle. During the first year of using DEPO-PROVERA, you might have one or more of the following changes: irregular or unpredictable bleeding or spotting, an increase or decrease in menstrual bleeding, or no Bleeding at all. Unusually heavy or continuous bleeding, however is not a usual effect of DEPO-PROVERA; and if this happens, you should see your health-care provider right away. With continued use of DEPO-PROvERA, bleeding usually decreases, and many women stop having periods completely. In clinical studies of DEPO-PROVERA, 55% of the women studied reported no menstrual bleeding (amenorrhea) after I year of use, and 68% of the women studied reported no menstrual bleeding after 2 years of use. The reason that your periods stop is because DEPO-PROVERA causes a resting state in your ovaries. When your ovaries do not release an egg monthly, the regular monthly growth of the lining of your uterus does not occur and, therefore, the bleeding that comes witn your normal menstruation does not take place. When you stop using DEPO-PROVERA your menstrual period will usually, in time, return to its normal cycle. 2. Bone Mineral Changes . Use of DEPO-PROVERA may be associated with a decrease in the amount of mineral stored in your bones. This could increase your risk of developing bone fractures. The rate of bone mineral loss is greatest in the early years of DEPO-PROVERA use, but after that, it begins to resemble the normal rate of age-related bone mineral loss. 3. Cancer Studies of women who have used different forms of contraception found that women who used DEPO-PROVERA for contraception had no increased overall risk of developing cancer of the breast, ovary, uterus, cervix, or liver However women under 35 years of age whose first exposure to DEPO-PROVERA was within the previous 4 to 5 years may have a slightly increased risk of developing breast cancer similar to that seen with oral contraceptives. You should discuss this with your health-c i-care provider 4. Unexpected Pregnancy Because DEPO-PROVERA is such an effective contraceptive method, the risk of accidental pregnancy for women who get their shots regularly (every 3 months [ 13 weeks]) is very low. While there have been reports of an increased risk of low birth weight and neonatal infant death or other health problems in infants conceived close to the time of injection, such pregnancies are uncommon. If you think you may have become pregnant while using DEPO-PROVERA for Rx only contraception, see your health-care provider as soon as possible. 5. AIIergic Reactions Some women using DEPO-PROVERA Contraceptive Injection have reported severe and potentially life-threatening allergic reactions known as anaphylaxis and anaphylactoid reactions. Symptoms include the sudden onset of hives or swelling and itching of the skin, breathing difficulties, and a drop in blood pressure. 6. Other Risks Women who use hormone-based contraceptives may have an increased risk of blood clots or stroke. Also, if a contraceptive method fails, there is a possibility that the fertilized egg will begin to develop outside of the uterus (ectopic pregnancy). While these events are rare, you should tell your health-cane provider if you have any of the problems listed in the next section. What symptoms mav signal problems while using DEPO-PROVERA Contraceptive Injection? Call your health-care provider immediately if any of these problems occur following an injection of DEPO-PROVERA: • sharp chest pain, coughing up of blood, or sudden shortness of breath (indicating a possible clot in the lung) • sudden severe headache or vomiting, dizziness or fainting, problems with your eyesight or speech, weakness, or numbness in an arm or leg (indicating a possible stroke) • severe pain or swelling in the calf (indicating a possible clot in the leg) • unusually heavy vaginal bleeding • severe pain or tenderness in the lower abdominal area • persistent pain, pus, or bleeding at the injection site What are the possible side effects of DEPO-PROVERA Contraceptive Injection? /.Weight Gain You may experience a weight gain while you are using DEPO-PROVERA. About two thirds of the women who used DEPO-PROVERA in clinical trials reported a weight gain of about 5 pounds during the first year of use. You mav continue to gain weight after the first year Women in one large study who used DEPO-PROVERA for 2 years gained an average total of 8.1 pounds over those 2 years, or approximately 4 pounds per year Women who continued for 4 years gained an average total of 13.8 pounds over those 4 years, or approximately 3.5 pounds per year Women who continued for 6 years gained an average total of 16.5 pounds over those 6 years, or approximately 2.75 pounds per year 2.Other Side Effects In a clinical study of over 3,900 women who used DEPO-PROVERA for up to 7 years, some women reported the following effects that may or may not have been related to their use of DEPO-PROVERA: Irregular menstrual bleeding, amenorrhea, headache, nervousness, abdominal cramps, dizziness, weakness or fatigue, decreased sexual desire, leg cramps, nausea, vaginal discharge or irritation, breast swelling and tenderness, bloating, swelling of the hands or feet, backache, depression, insomnia, acne, pelvic pain, no hair growth or excessive hair loss, rash, hot flashes, and joint pain. Other problems were reported by very few of the women in the clinical trials, but some of these could be serious. These include convulsions, jaundice, urinary tract infections, allergic reactions, fainting, paralysis, osteoporosis, lack of return to fertility, deep vein thrombosis, pufmonary embolus, breast cancer or cervical cancer If these or any other problems occur during your use of DEPO-PROVERA, discuss them with your health-care provider Should any precautions be followed during use of DEPO-PROVERA Contraceptive Injection? / .Missed Periods During the time you are using DEPO-PROVERA for contraception, you mav skip a period, or your periods may stop completely. If you have been receiving your DEPO-PROVERA injections regularly every 3 months (13 weeks), then you are probably not pregnant. However if you think that you may be pregnant, see your health-care provider 2. Laboratory Test Interactions If you are scheduled for any laboratory tests, tell your health-care provider that you are using DEPO-PROVERA'for contraception. Certain blood tests are affected by hormones such as DEPO-PROVERA. 3. Drug Interactions Cytadren (aminoglutethimide) is an anticancer drug that may significantly decrease the effectiveness of DEPO-PROVERA if the two drugs are given during the same time. 4. Nursing Mothers Although DEPO-PROVERA can be passed to the nursing infant in the breast milk, no harmful effects nave been found in these children. DEPO-PROVERA does not prevent the breasts from producing milk, so it can be used by nursing mothers. However, to minimize the amount of DEPO-PROVERA that is passed to tne infant in the first weeks after birth, you should wait until 6 weeks after childbirth before you start using DEPO-PROVERA for contraception. How often do I get my shot of DEPO-PROVERA Contraceptive Injection? The recommended dose of DEPO-PROVERA is 150 mg every 3 months (13 weeks) given in a single intramuscular injection in the buttock or upper arm. To make sure that you are not pregnant at the time of the first injection, it is essential that the injection be given ONLY during the first 5 days of a normal menstrual period. If used following the delivery of a child, the first injection of DEPO-PROVERA MUST be given within 5 days after childbirth if you are not breast-feeding or 6 weeks after childbirth if you are exclusively breast-feeding. If you wait longer than 3 months (13 weeks) between injections, or longer than 6 weeks after delivery, your health-care provider should determine that you are not pregnant before giving you your injection of DEPO-PROVERA. 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