1997_03 The Daily Collegian March 1997

              E
THE DAILY
COLLEGIAN   ^
4      Wednesday, March 12,1997
News
News Editor: Matthew Hart
Telephone: (209) 278-2556
NEWS OF THE \fmp
Medical mishaps
• In 1978 the Oakland Raiders'
Jack Tatum made a "clothesline" hit
on New England Patriots' receiver
Darryl Stingley's neck, causing per¬
manent paralysis. At the time,
Tatum arrogantly defended the play
as legal and warned other oppo¬
nents that they could expect the
same. In January 1997, Tatum ap¬
plied for disability benefits of
$ 156,000 a year from the NFL Play¬
ers' Association, pointing to the
mental anguish he has suffered hav¬
ing to live with the incident. (The
$156,000 "catastrophic injury cat¬
egory" is the NFLPA's highest; it is
the same category that Stingley is
in).
• Dick Shields made the Pitts¬
burgh newspapers on his 75th birth¬
day on January 11 for his remark¬
able recuperative powers. Among
the medical traumas from which he
has recovered: in a coma near death
for a week after a burst appendix;
three times a broken neck (once
while falling out of bed during re¬
cuperation from a previous broken
neck); a broken back; triple bypass
heart surgery; a grapefruit- sized
blockage of a blood vessel; a fun¬
gus that ate the skin off his feet; and
duty during World War II that in¬
cluded handmarking of active
mines. Said Shields, apparently
without irony: "I'll have to say I've
been truly blessed."
• Beyond Fingerprints and
Earprints: Lavell Davis, 23. was
convicted of murder in Geneva. 111.,
in February. Prosecutors showed
how Davis and an accomplice re¬
hearsed the murder at the scene just
beforehand, including how the ac¬
complice placed duct tape over
Davis' mouth just as they would
later do to the victim. Davis was
linked to the crime when his lip
prints were found on the tape.
The continuing crisis
• Member of the First Husbands
Club: In October, welfare workers
found a 50-year-old man living
alone in a cave in Ifsahan province
in Iran. According to the workers,
he had moved there 30 years ago
when his wife dumped him.
• Reuters news service reported
in October that seven women and
eight newborn babies were being
held in the King Baudoin Hospital
outside Kinshasa, Zaire — some for
as long as three months — because
they could not pay their maternity
bills. Said a hospital official. "We
are obliged to use unusual means
to force the patients to find the
money."
• In January, the wife of Dr.
Michael Baden — the head of the
New York State Police's forensics
unit — filed papers in her divorce
action against him in New York
City. (Baden testified on behalf of
O.J. Simpson that the victims' knife
wounds probably were caused by
more than one assailant.) Accord¬
ing to his wife's papers. Baden once
performed a pair of autopsies on the
couple's dining room table, once
asked her permission to impregnate
his girlfriend and once told her he
could kill her and make it look like
a natural death.
• In October, a court in Fort
Worth, Texas, awarded former pa¬
tient Jeannie Warren, 23, $8.4 mil¬
lion in her lawsuit against the now-
defunct Psychiatric Institute of
Fortb Worth because of its "rage
reduction therapy." The treatment
involves restraining the patient and
creating a rage "in a controlled and
loving environment," said the insti¬
tute, so that any underlying anger
will be exposed. Warren said that,
in two dozen lessons, institute per¬
sonnel pinned her down, punched
her in the abdomen and ribs, and
demanded continually to know
what she was angry at. Said War¬
ren, "I couldn't think of anything
except, 'You!"
• Pro wrestler Don Harris. 36. (6
feet, 6 inches; 275 pounds) who
with twin brother Ron performed as
the Bruise Brothers, went to trial in
Nashville in January in his lawsuit
against plastic surgeon Glenn
Buckspan. Harris had wanted his
pectorals tightened but wound up
with misplaced nipples such that he
now says he is mortified every time
he takes off his shirt in public and
wrestles only in a vest.
• The University of Arizona
turned down a $250,000 scholar¬
ship gift in November that was to
be available to female American
Indians. Four-year Sally Keith
scholarships would be given on the
basis of personality rather than
grades, and preference would be
given to virgins, a point that caused
the university to balk because, said
a university official, "We can't dic¬
tate morals."
• Taking "Amateur Night" Too
Far: In Betulia, Colombia, an an¬
nual festival in November includes
five days of amateur ball fighting.
This year, no bull was killed, but
dozens of matadors were injured,
including one gored in the head and
one Bobbittized. Said one partici¬
pant, "It's just one bull against (a
town of) a thousand morons."
• Randy Farmer of a Houston
suburb was one of the millions of
people around the world who felt
compelled to welcome in 1997 by
firing off a few gunshots just after
midnight. Farmer shot at a backyard
tree, but then the gun jammed and
he went back inside to unjam it. He
mishandled his gun and acciden¬
tally shot and killed his 7-year-old
daughter. Said Farmer: "God had a
hand in this. He had to. It was like
God called my baby home to be
with him and God used me as the
tool to bring her to him."
• On Feb. 21. the Court of Ap¬
peal of Singapore ruled that oral sex
is illegal as a substitute for "natu¬
ral intercourse*" but permissible if
it is merely foreplay leading to such
intercourse. The ruling came as part
of a decision against a 47-year-old
man who had convinced a 19-year-
old woman that the only way to dis¬
gorge poison in her system was to
perform oral sex on him.
The Weirdo-American
community
• Buffalo State University pro¬
fessor Scott Isaksen. 44, was ar¬
rested in December, allegedly in
connection with his coursework,
which is described in the
university's bulletin as "original
thinking" and "approaching situa¬
tions with innovative techniques."
According to police, he had given
a truant male student the option of
writing a paper on stress or actu¬
ally meeting with Isaksen in private
for a series of stress exercises, and
the student chose the latter, which
included allowing Isakesen to hand
cuff him and to put a rope around
his neck in a hotel room.   .
Update of the weird
• Convicted child molester Lou
Torok, who made News of the
Weird in 1995 from his Kentucky
prison cell for persuading several
governors to declare October 7 as
"Love Day." has written a "power
ful new screenplay." he says, about
the Salem witch trial. "One of the
main characters, who is believed to
have innocently incited the eventual
hangings of 19 accused witches, is
aCarib Indian woman from Barba¬
dos, modeled after the personality
of Whoopi Goldberg." Torok also
says he is working on a second
script. "The Burley Boys," "the
story of comedian Bob Hope's
sponsoring a home for troubled
boys in Cincinnati."
Binge
Continued from page 1.
After drinking^ the motor con¬
trol areas of the brain are also af¬
fected, resulting in slurred speech,
unsteady balance, and slower reac¬
tions. Excessive drinking of alco¬
hol can be fatal. The victim may
pass ouj. while alcohol continues to
be absorbed into the system.
If alcohol reaches the deepest
centers of the brain, it can paralyze
the areas that control breathing and
the heartbeat, which has caused
many deaths.
The College Press Service con¬
tributed to this article.
Campus
Continued from page 1.
"This year, funds being cut has
really impacted what we're able to
do and the number of activities of¬
fered." Oputa said. "It is a volun¬
teer effort, and the people involved
work hard to put it all together."
On March 17, there will be a
"Blow the Whistle Rally" in the free
speech area promoting awareness
of domestic violence. On March 19.
Marilyn Wann, publisher of a maga¬
zine entitled FATISO? "for people
who don't apologize for their size,"
will be speaking to women's stud¬
ies classes and conducting a body
image seminar.
"Wann uses a different spin and
a lot of humor to encourage people
to feel okay with however they
look," Oputa said.
v Also, on March 19 there will be
a more solemn Take Back the Night
candlelight vigil and march to dem¬
onstrate that women are not safe to
walk the streets at night.
USU Productions fs presenting
a film and video series in celebra¬
tion of Women's Herstory Month.
Mo.vies will be shown through
March 14.
The all-female Portable Dance
Troupe will also be performing
through March 15 in the John
Wright Theater.
The Women's Resource Center
and the student-run organization
Women's Alliance have volunteer
opportunities available for people
who want to get involved all year
round. They offer free services and
information for student, faculty,
staff and administration.
For more information on
Women's Herstory- Month, call
278-4435.
Student
Continued from page 2.
he wrote his Feb. 18 column about
Geoffrey Gray, an excellent student
who missed the deadline to apply
for a $325 research grant.
Against the oppression of equal
treatment under the law, Annear
used up almost a whole column to
describe the plight of this unfortu¬
nate — if tardy — grant applicant,
whom he mentions is a newly wed.
Wishing this student a happy
marriage, one wonders whether he
and his wife are planning to have
any children in the near future, as
Annear — a one-time supporter of
the anti-daycare Reality party —
might then have to abandon his
cause.
Slinging mud is by no means be¬
neath Annear. As a clincher to his
Feb. 18 column. Annear made two
suggestions about Tommy Monreal.
the ASI President who didn't accept
Gray's late application.
Annear wrote: "maybe he has
something better to do with it [the
$325 in grant money]; like build
another statue... or pad his pock¬
ets."
Annear, unable to make any real
argument against Monreal — who's
his opponent for other, unmen-
tioned reasons — came up with
these inaccurate and, perhaps, libel¬
ous suggestions.
The campus has two statues, one
of Chavez and the other of Ghandi.
both set it) the lawn north of the li¬
brary. There is also a sculpture of
dancers in front of the Music Build¬
ing.
No statue of Monreal is to be
found anywhere. Rather, it is
Annear who makes monuments to
himself in the form of outrageous
opinion columns.
But if there's any statue of
Monreal. it must be Monreal him¬
self, because of his unyielding po¬
sitions, and because of his statu¬
esque manner during ASI meetings
Although steadfast in his beliefs
that he's doing what's right for the
students. Monreal isn't pretentious
enough to set a statue of himself in
the company of either Chavez or
Ghandi.
Public debate, allowing the for¬
mation of a broad consensus, de¬
pends on clear thinking and a de¬
gree of honesty.
ASI should allow guests attend¬
ing its meetings to participate in the
quest for truth and common under¬
standing.
At every one of its meetings. ASI
mu?t provide an opportunity for
members of the public, including
students, to address officers before
they vote on business.
Moreover, the Reality Party
must distance itself from the tactics
of Eanes and Annear if it is to re¬
store students' confidence in ASI as
a repository of worthy leaders.
Schools
Continued from page 1.
more students are exposed to uni¬
versity professors, they will be in¬
fluenced to attend Fresno State
rather than other colleges.
"They don't know what an ex¬
cellent faculty we have here on
campus," she said. "We're hoping
to attract the best students to our
college."
Benninga said 41 Hoover stu¬
dents are currently enrolled in the
program. She said she was work¬
ing with the district to create a four-
semester program for high' school
juniors; allowing them to earn 12
units of college credit before gradu¬
ating.
While considering this program
successful. Benninga said the uni¬
versity and the district need to build
more partnerships.