SOUWTH AFRICA" TEAC H-IN See Editorial Page Ltc augi VILE See Today for details 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 Local pharmacists seem completely aware of the dangers involved in the diet - yet few, if any, of them have withdrawn the diet products from their shelves.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%-]]