2A - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, March 9, 2000

NATION/WORLD


Smokers more likely to get
blood infections, meningitis

The Associated Press
Smokers are four times more likely than nonsmokers to
get life-threatening blood infections or meningitis from a
bacteria that usually causes pneumonia, a study found.
"We're used to thinking of smoking as causing terrible
results long in the future. But smokers in this study had a
much higher risk of this immediate infection," said Anne
Schuchat ofthe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
And the more cigarettes a person smokes, the higher the
risk of an infection.
The researchers aren't sure why this is so, but noted,
among other things, that cigarette smoke makes it harder
for the lungs to expel foreign material and easier for bac-
teria to stick.
The CDC and researchers in Atlanta, Baltimore and
Toronto looked at 228 patients with invasive pneumococ-
cal disease - Streptococcus pneumoniae infections --
and at 301 people without the disease.
Such infections are most likely in elderly people, chil-
dren and people with immune problems. The study in
today's New England Journal of Medicine looked only at

patients 18 through 64 with healthy immune systems.
The researchers found that smokers were 4.1 times
more likely than nonsmokers to get the infections, and
nonsmokers who were often exposed to cigarette smoke
were 2 1/2 times more likely than people who did not
have such exposure.
People who smoked up to 14 cigarettes a day were 2.3
times more likely than nonsmokers to get the infections,
and those who smoked at least 25 a day were 5.5 times
more likely.
"It is a significant addition to the list of bad effects of
smoking," said Robert Rogers, a professor of pulmonary
and critical care medicine at the University of Pittsburgh
Medical Center.
"People sort of have the idea that, 'Well, when I start to
feel symptoms, I'll stop smoking.' 'My father smoked
until he was 60, and I'll wait until I'm 55.' Here's a good
reason to stop now, because here are young people who
have a very serious infection."
The study noted that former smokers appeared to have
an increased risk of the infection for at least 10 years after
they quit.

0 11 m mom

PUJA
Continued from Page 1A
paralleled to Christian communion.
The service ended with the prasad,
eating of a bread-like pastry.
"I came (tonight) because it's a
Shiva puja and basically because I
can't get this at school normally
because there is no temple around
here. Also, I came to get away from
the monotony of school work and to
think and reflect," LSA junior
Kamal Badhey said.
Along with the Mahashivratri
puja, the HSC also sponsors a Sun-
day Dharshan and an upcoming
Holifest, or spring celebration,
which will be held on April 9.
GORE
Continued from Page 1A
Gore swept this week's Super Tues-
day virtually eliminating his rival, for-
mer New Jersey Sen. Bill Bradley.
Although Bradley is expected to drop
out of the race today, Gore did not
speak of Bradley's pending withdrawal
from the race, focusing on attracting
votes for himself instead.
"I would like to respectively ask for
your support in these caucuses," Gore
said.
At the start of the evening, Gore
promised those at the meeting he
would not leave until all the questions
had been asked, and he kept that
promise, speaking to the crowd long
after time ran out.
When people finally began to vacate
the gym, Gore invited the attendees to
discuss their concerns with him after
the meeting was dismissed.
Two members of the audience,
Wayne State Student Council member
Nicole Adam and Student Council
President Kristen Shymanovitz, who
both said they were undecided and did
not wish to reveal their party affilia-
tion, said they came to the meeting to
learn about the candidate and hope
they will get the opportunity to learn
about the others as well.
"I'd like to see if (the school) can
get George Bush too," Shymanvitz
said.
LENT
Continued from Page 1A
Palms are blessed on Palm Sunday,
the week before Easter.
Lent tradition dictates that believers
give up something valuable to them
for the 40 days.
Burkitt said she will stay away from
sweets, and Mooney said computer
games are off-limits for him until after
Easter.
These small sacrifices are a way of
remembering that Jesus sacrificed his
life for the eternal life of all people,
Engineering junior Jeremy Meuser
said.
In addition to an individual sacri-
fice, Catholics give up meat on Fri-
days, but other Christians do not,
Burkitt said.
The First United Methodist Church
emphasizes doing good deeds for oth-
ers rather than giving something up,
said a volunteer who asked not to be
identified by name.
Lent started as an effort to "reincor-
porate Christians who had given up
faith due to Roman persecution," Fire-
stone said. Today the emphasis has
shifted to bringing new members into
the church, he said.
Firestone, in a deep purple robe,
spoke to his parishioners after mass
yesterday. Purple is the traditional
color of Lent because it signifies royal-

ty, he said, and Jesus was mockingly
called the "king of the Jews" when he
was crucified.

from 1990 to 1997.
Defects prompt
$210M Ford fix-up
Ford Motor Co. will spend at least
$210 tnillion to pacify owners of+
700,000 sedans and minivans suspect-
ed of having defective V6 engines+
after a wave if complaints from con-+
sumers.
Affected vehicles include Ford Tau-
rus, Mercury Sable and Lincoln Con-
tinental sedans manufactured for
model years 1994 and 1995. Also
included is the 1995 Ford Windstar l
minivan.1
There have been no reports of
deaths or injuries stemming from the
defect, which the government does
not regard as a threat to personal safe-
ty, or to the environment.
Thus, Ford's action is not a recall.
"Recall" is a legal term reserved for
auto defects that threaten life, limb,
water, air or soil. Vehicle recalls are
handled by the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration and the
Environmental Protection Agency.
Ford officials call their effort a
"warranty extension program," similar

to what other automakers call a "con-
sumer satisfaction program" - both
of which many consumer groups con-
demn as "silent recalls."
Such vehicle repair programs are
common and usually are undertaken
in the face of mounting consum
complaints, as happened in the FoW
case.
LAPD chief charges
15 with corruption
LOS ANGELES - Los Angeles
Police Department Chief Bernard
Parks is charging at least 15 officers
swept up in the department's corrup-
tion scandal with misconduct, for
which many could be fired, sourco
said yesterday.
Parks has launched a massive
administrative effort to punish officers
implicated in the corruption.
Most of the officers now being
brought up on departmental charges
are considered minor players in the
unfolding scandal, which includes
allegations that officers were involved
in bad shootings, beatings, evidence
planting and perjury. 9

ACROSS THE NATION T
Women march for justice, equal paychecks
LOS ANGELES - Across the nation and in 60 countries, women yes-
terday observed the 25th International Women's Day by demanding justice
- in the workplace, in the home and for past crimes committed against
them in faraway places.
In. Los Angeles, hundreds of janitors and their supporters blocked traf-
fic for an hour at a noon rally that culminated in the arrests of 34 wome
including state Assemblywoman Gloria Romero.
The protest, which drew about 1,500 people, was part street-theater,
with giant papier mache puppets that rose about four feet above the
crowd.
"Half of the janitors are women," said Blanca Gallegos, spokeswoman
for the Service Employees International Union. "Many are single mothers,
they work nights, and they may have to take on additional jobs because of
the low wages."
In South-Central, scores of females, ranging from grade-school pupils
to long-retired grandmothers, chanted, "Don't Iron While the Strike Is
Hot! Stop the World and Change It Instead," to tout that they were part of
the first Global Women's Strike. The strike effort was initiated by t
National Women's Council of Ireland, where a woman served as preside

AROUND THE WORLD

Application deadline April 1

MASTERS IN CONSERVATION BIOLOGY

CO UM61

NIVERSII

Mozambique flood
releases landmines
MAPUTO, Mozambique - The
landmines have begun to surface,
flushed from the earth and scattered
along the Mozambican countryside
or merely floating aimlessly across
farms where peasants have begun to
return.
The relief efforts here this week
have focused on providing food, water
and medicine to the nearly I million
people who were forced from their
homes by the worst floods in southern
Africa in perhaps a century. But Presi-
dent Joaquim Chissano said yesterday
that the flood's most vexing and
enduring curse may just be beginning
to rise from the falling floodwaters:
landmines.
Eight years after a ruinous 16-year
civil war ended, Mozambique remains
one of the most heavily mined coun-
try's on earth. Government soldiers
and rebels planted mines so casually
during the conflict that no one knows
for sure how many there are, although

estimates usually range between
400,000 to 5 million.
Memory and maps had provided
government officials with a good
idea of where the explosives we
buried, enabling them to remoo
thousands and merely steer the pop-
ulation away from many more while
this impoverished country tried to
recover.
'Baby slot' collects
unwanted infants
BERLIN - This is a story G4
mans don't want to see repeated: A
28-year-old mother was convicted of
manslaughter yesterday for killing
three infants shortly after their birth
because she was too overwhelmed to
care for them.
A Hamburg group is trying to prevent
a repeat of the tragedy by introducing a
"baby slot" where mothers can safely -
and anonymously - leave unwanted
infants without fear of prosecution.
- Compiled from Daily wire reports.

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