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Vol. LXXXVIII, No. 53
Ann Arbor, Michigan-Tuesday, November 8, 1977
Ten Cents
12 Pc
0
I I
Liquid protein diet may
be hazardous, even deadly
By RICHARD VANDER VEEN
A "last-chance" liquid protein diet - several varieties of
which are being sold over the counter in local drugstores -
may be jeopardizing the health of Ann Arbor dieters.
Last week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) began an investigation yith the Center for Disease
Control in Atlanta to see if the diet may be related to the
deaths of it people. An FDA spokesman says no cause-and-
effect relationship has yet been established.
THE DIET, marketed under the brand names Prolinn,
Nature Slim, Health Right and Nature Made, is sold in every
pharmacy in the Central Campus area. The diet offers pre-.
digested proteins and other nutrients, and is recommended
by author Robert Linn in his book "The Last Chance Diet."
Local merchants report high sales both of the diet liquid
and Linn's book in the area, indicatinga high level of use.
Several users of liquid protein diets have been treated for
potassium deficiencies, abnormal liver function and general
fatigue at Ann Arbor hospitals over the last two months. One
patient has even been admitted to St. Joseph Mercy Hospital.
"I KNOW OF four cases over the last two months," said
Dr. Jeffrey Stross at the University Hospital Department
of Internal Medicine. "Our general policy on this diet has
been to recommend that it not be continued unsupervised."
The FDA reported last week that the liquid diet lacked
sufficient levels of potassium. One potential danger of a
reduced potassium level is an irregular heartbeat.
"This is another fad diet which sells well for a time but
has no long-range usefulness," said Marge Murphy,
professor of nutrition at the University School of Nursing.
"I told my students it is very unsafe unless very closely
supervised by a doctor who has and who uses laboratory
facilities to take periodic blood tests."
THE DIET should be used only by the grossly oyer-
weight, she added, or by those in danger of death because of
their weight.
The FDA report said the liquid diet is "rarely suitable"
for use by children or nursing women. "To the best of our
knowledge, none of the diet supplements are nutritionally
complete," said an FDA spokesman.
Local pharmacists seem completely aware of the
dangers involved in the diet - yet few, if any, of them have
withdrawn the diet products from their shelves.
"LINN SAYS that (Prolinn) is dangerous is used without
a doctor's supervision," said Fred Caeye, pharmacist at
Village Apothecary. "Any diet that doesn't have the proper
carbon-nitrogen mix is dangerous." Village Apothecary con-
See LIQUID, Page 9
PREDIGESTED LIQUID PROTEIN-a popular item in diet-conscious Ann Arbor. Campus Corner employe John Kush
takes a new look at one of the leading brands of this diet substitute, which has come under investigation by Federal I
authorities.
Death count
reaches 38
Et dam flood
after
TOCCOA, Ga. (AP) - Claiming their
faith in God is unshaken, students at the
small northeast Georgia Bible college
where at least 38 persons died when a
dam burst said yesterday their religi-
ous fellowship will see them through
mourning and-rebuilding.
We don't understand the meaning of
it all or the purpose of it," said A. J.
Moser, vice president of Toccoa Falls
Bible College. "But we feel very
strongly that God is in control."
TWENTY CHILDREN were among
the 38 known dead in the flood. All the
victims were students or staff of the
-eorgi
college or members of their families.
One man remained missing and was
presumed dead late yesterday. About
45 persons were injured, 12 of them seri-
ously enough to be hospitalized.
The latest body to be recovered was
that of Dr. Jerry Sproull, 45, a member
of the college staff, found yesterday.
IN NORTH CAROLINA and Tennes-
see, weekend flooding from the same
heavy rains that hit north Georgia
killed 11 persons, including -six.
children.
Toccoa Creek - normally a placid'
stream only inches deep - turned into a
destructive torrent about 1:30 a.m.
Sunday when an earthen dam burst a
half-mile upstream from the college
and Kelley Barnes Lake spilled over
187-foot Toccoa Falls and down to the
campus below.
A 30-foot wall of muddy water,
throwing boulders and tree trunks
before it, smashed into a student dor-
mitory and two mobile home parks. Of
about 20 mobile homes, only one re-
mained yesterday.
"We'VE ALL BEEN praying that'
God would touch our campus in a'
special wiy," said Lorene Mays, 24, of
Utica, N.Y, a senior at the 425student
college.
"We pray he'll raise spiritual giants
from among us," she said after con-
soling a friend who lost his wife a
child in the flood.
President Carter declared Geor
majoradisaster area yesterday, ma
federal assistance' available
disaster victims and local public
cies touched by the devastation.
Lady Rosalynn Carter, who flew
Sunday, called the scene
describable" and said it was "a ter
tragedy."
GOV. GEORGE J3USBEE~, who
inspected the. area, said fhedam
been declared a high hazard dam b
U.S Army Corps of Engineers. A
spokesman- said that the design,
did not mean that the dam was ur
but that if it broke it would carry a
See DEATH,Page 5
LSA to cut enrollment
by 500 over 3 years
By SHELLEY WOLSON
The College of Literature, Science
and the Arts (LSA) plans to cut its en
rollment by 500 students over the nex
three years, LSA Dean Billy Frye an
nounced yesterday.
IN Speaking before the members of th
Literary College faculty, Frye said th
reduced enrollment is necessary fo a
er- number of reasons.
od
"BECAUSE enrollment has in
creased roughly by 1,000 students,"
said Frye, "there are too many stu-
e dents in classes - causing student
- overload."
t Demographic trends which £point to
- future enrollment declines present
another pressure, Frye added. To put it
e simply, there-are less prospective stu-
e dents coming out of high school, and the
University is having a harder time re-
cruiting the qualified ones.
"Should we go lower into the pool to
See LSA, Page 9
Daily Photo by BRAD BENJAM
Wet but warm
Ah, yes. Amy Cole and Bill Poster managed to find a snuggly solution to yeste
day's dreariness. Despite Bill's predatory look, Amy maintains they're just "go
friends."
PARTISAN STRIFE DELAYS DECISION
r
Council stalls on tenants' booklet
By RICHARD BERKE
For the second time this year, City
Council last night tabled a resolution to
approve a revised tenants rights and
duties handbook.
Instead, debate continued between
Democratic council members suppor-
ting the handbook and local landlords,
and council Republicans opposing it.
CITY LANDLORDS complained that
the proposed updated version of the
booklet-which they are required to
give tenants-has too harsh a tone and
misplaced priorities. They claimed the
handbook put too much emphasis on
tenants solving problems through legal
action.
"The booklet starts' right off with
reference to legal aid," said Vern Hut-
ton, a local landlord. "We, need a
booklet that establishes good tenant-
landlord relations -... legal aid should
be the last resort after an independent
third party is consulted," he said.
"It looks like a handbook written for
guerrilla warfare," charged landlord
Dan Kaplan. He called references to
legal advice "machinery" and said the
tone of the handbook put landlords in an
unsavory light.
"THE TONE says 'boy, my God,
these people (landlords) are going to
rip me off'," he asserted.
But University law student Connie
LaClair, who wrote the revised han-
dbook, said legal references are
necessary. "The original ordinance
provides for a tenants' rights handbook
and not a landlords' rights handbook,"
Underdog Browne eyes upset
over Young in today's election,
By KEITH RICHBURG
The press may be 'against him, the
unions may be against him, his finan-
cial backing may be crumbling
around him - but Detroit mayoral
candidate Ernie Browne still hopes to
oust reigning Mayor Coleman Young
from office in today's election.
. t * . f-
she said. "It's time tenants start stan-
ding up for their rights-and the better
educated tenants and landlords are
about current laws, the smoother the
system Will work."
After the landlords spoke, council
members spent 30 minutes debating the
time-worn issue of what the handbook
should contain. They then tabled the
resolution for consideration in two
weeks.
"THE WHOLE spirit of the handbook
is wrong," said Councilman Wendell
Allen (R-1st Ward). "It's very slanted
and I don't like slanted booklets going
out to the public from the city," he said.
Allen called for a compromise booklet
written by both landlord and tenant in-
terests.
Mayor Albert Wheeler said it isn't his
intent to make the handbook "'punitive"~
to the average landlord. "Some lan-
dlords are legally not doing what they
are supposed to be doing, and it is only
those that would be affected," he said.
He said he wouldn't let the booklet be
watered down by Republicans and tur-
ned into "a lot of vacuous words."
Allen said he can understand why
student tenants would look upon the
nrnnonsd handhnnk favnrah1v hut still
Daiy rhoto by BRAD BENJAMIN
Toking up at last April's Hash' Bash, this pair takes advantage of Ann
Arbor's lenient marijuana ordinance, which puts pot possession on a par
with double parking.
$5 pot law: How
well is it'
By MARGARET JOHNSON
and MARTY LeVINE
Yes, people are fined for poss
sion of marijuana in Ann Arbor-
.The Ann Arbor Police Departme
has issued an average of 165 tick(
for possession of marijuana for ea
of the past two years. 1977 figur
working?
members first passed the $5 fine on
June 6, 1972. But when James Ste-
phenson swept into the mayor's of-
es- fice in April 1973, he and fellow
Republicans repealed the lenient pot
nt ordinance.
ets
ch
res
HOWEVER, backers of the $5 fine
persisted, gathering enough signa-
h....- to mat+1o~~ l - -_ +k- t%-]]