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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
VOL.103,NO.154
KANSAS STATE
HISTORICAL SOCIETY
TOPEKA KS 66612
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22, 1994
ADVERTISING:864-4358
(USPS 650-640)
NEWS:864-4810
Tobacco company spikes nicotine levels
Cigarette executives misled investigators drug official charges
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — A major company secretly developed tobacco with double the usual nicotine, pumped it into "light" cigarettes last year and then misled federal investigators about it, the government charged yesterday.
Food and Drug Commissioner David Kessler stopped short of using the word "lie" but said that Williamson Tobacco Co. denied breeding any such tobacco until Friday, when it learned that the FDA had
uncovered its genetically altered tobacco plant called Y-1.
B & Walso pulled its U.S. patent application for Y-1 and removed its seeds from the National Seed Storage Laboratory after the FDA announced its investigation, Kessler told the Energy and Commerce health subcommittee.
B & W representative Tom Fitzgerald insisted the Louisville, Ky., company never hid Y-1. But he couldn't explain why FDA records show B & W told the agency in May that higher-nicotine tobacco breeding was not "feasible."
On Friday, the company told the FDA that high-nicotine tobacco would "maintain" nicotine levels in low-tar cigarettes. Lowering tar can also lower nicotine.
Kessler said Y-1 shows cigarette makers manipulate nicotine levels in their products,
one item the FDA must prove before deciding if it can legally regulate tobacco as a drug. Such a decision would force the FDA to ban most products that contain nicotine. The health subcommittee is considering requiring the FDA to regulate tobacco without banning it.
In April, the chiefs of seven tobacco companies testified before the subcommittee that they do not manipulate nicotine.
"This raises the serious question of whether tobacco executives deliberately and intentionally misled the Congress," said Rep. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.
Tobacco companies also used ammonia to raise nicotine levels. Kessler said.
Companies insist ammonia and other chemicals merely add flavor or preserve cigarettes. But Kessler detailed industry documents that
call ammonia an "impact booster," a chemical that frees nicotine inside tobacco so nearly twice the usual amount inhaled gets into a smoker's bloodstream.
The FDA discovered Y-1 in Brazil, where B&W grew and patented the plant. B&W developed the super leaf with seeds from a 1970s U.S. Department of Agriculture experiment that cross-bred tobacco to produce slightly higher nicotine. USDA abandoned that plant because it didn't grow well.
B&W took those seeds, made genetic alterations and produced a tobacco plant with the highest-known nicotine yield yet — 6.2 percent, well over the 2.5 percent to 3 percent found naturally in flue-cured tobacco, Kessler said.
Last year the company used the new leaf in five I.V. cigarette brands: Viceroy King Size.
Viceroy Lights King Size, Richland King Size,
Richland Lights King Size and Raleigh Lights
King Size.
Kessler didn't analyze those cigarettes before and after addition of the new leaf, but Rep. Alex McMillan asked why adding different tobacco mattered when a cigarette always has less nicotine than raw tobacco.
"What we're getting here is speculation," said McMillan, R-N.C.
He asked what Kessler ultimately hopes to do — ban cigarettes or set a limit on their nicotine content?
"Prohibition doesn't work," Kessler responded.
Lower nicotine levels might prevent people from getting hooked when they first experiment with smoking, but the FDA doesn't know at what level addiction begins, he said.
KU construction heats up
Renovation crews work to complete summer projects
By Angle Dasbach and Matt Hydeman
Kansan staff writers
Along with the heat and humidity of summer comes another headache for many KU students: construction.
Approximately 80 projects are under bid or under construction for the University, said Douglas Riat, associate director for design and construction management for the Office of Facilities Planning.
att Erickson of Lawrence Ready Mix grates Memorial Drive. Erickson said the construction probably would be completed by the end of the week.
One of the more visible projects at KU is the construction work on Memorial Drive. The road will be getting new curbs and gutters along with a new asphalt surface for the actual driving area. The project's completion is expected by Aug. 12.
Another construction project readily visible to students is the installation of a storm sewer system under parking Lot 72 in front of the Burge Union. Riat estimated that it would be completed by Aug. 12.
Jay Thornton/KANSAN
Another large summer project is a $1.2 million addition to Allen Field House, which will bring the sports facility into compliance with state fire codes, Riat said.
A major part of that addition will be a new sprinkler system and emergency exits at the four corners of the building, he said.
"There are lots of little things," he said.
"You won't see anything big being done."
"We're under a tight time frame with Allen Field House," said Riat. "We need to get it done before basketball season starts."
Riat said he hoped that the additions to the field house would be completed before the fall semester began.
Riat said that the office worked with the department of facilities operations at times, such as with the Memorial Drive construction. It was the department that had removed all of the wheel bumper from parking spaces along Memorial Drive, he said.
Mike Richardson, director of facilities operations, said that the summer was a busy time for construction at the University.
"It's heavv all over campus." he said.
Richardson said that facilities operations was busy upgrading equipment, reroofing and remodeling buildings all over campus in
conjunction with some of the work performed by the Office of Facilities Planning
The department of facilities operations is also helping to prepare the Military Science annex, which is behind the Military Science building, to become the new home of KU's Multicultural Center this fall.
The former occupants of the annex, Supportive Educational Services, will be moving to new offices in Strong Hall.
Richardson said construction projects were based on the amount of traffic that an area gets. If a proposed construction site wasn't a high-traffic area, the project could be put aside behind projects that were in need of urgent repair or renovation, he said.
Many projects were put on the back burner until adequate funding was available or until the project became urgent enough to warrant immediate repair, he said.
"In the end, it all comes down to money." Richardson said.
James Wilcox / KANSAN
An employee of RMT Construction Co. Inc. worked around scaffolding while replacing the bricks on the front of Gertrude Sellards Pearson-Corin Hall yesterday afternoon.
Sun workers, worshippers overexposed
Bv Angle Dasbach
By Angle Dasbach Kansan staff writer
Despite extremely hot and humid weather, some people are still brave enough to catch the rays of the scorching sun.
Each summer many people increase the risk of getting skin cancer by spending a lot of time in the sun without any protection such as sunscreen or protective clothing.
While some do it to achieve a golden tan, others endure the threatening sun because it's a part of their job.
Jack Wallisch, owner of Wallisch and Sons Construction Co., said that he had spent all of his life in the sun and that he didn't use anything besides a hat, a short-sleeved shirt and jeans to protect himself. He said that he didn't require his employees to protect themselves from the sun.
"I've been out in the sun since I was a little boy," he said. "I'm not afraid of getting skin cancer."
Wallisch, 61, said that he had lived on a farm all his life and that he hadn't had any skin problems because he never burns and usually tans.
Randall Rock, senior student health physician at Watkins Memorial Health Center, said that people who claim that they "always tan" were at the same risk of getting skin cancer as those whose skin tended to burn from sun exposure.
Rock said that ultraviolet light was the cause of damage to skin. He said that as few as three sunburns could increase a person's risk of getting skin cancer. He also said that fair-skinned people were frequently hurt by the sun's UV rays because less melanin is present in their skin.
Rock said the best protection against skin damage from the sun was to avoid exposure. He said to stay out of the sun during the hours of 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. because the sun was strongest during those hours.
Rock said that people who have to be in the sun should use sunscreen. He recommended using sunscreen with a high sun protection factor, or SPF. Also, loose cotton clothing and long-sleeved shirts should be worn, he said.
"Definitely limit your exposure," he said. "And stay out of the sun during periods of high intensity."
Andrew Poggio, a lifeguard at Alvamar Tennis and Swim Club, said he had made a serious mistake when he spent five hours in the sun without a shirt or using sunscreen.
Poggio said that he spent a day mowing several lawns without a shirt. Later that evening he tried to take off the shirt he had been wearing while umpiring a little league game.
"The shirt stuck," he said. "My back was blistered. For the next week I was in bed, flat on my stomach.
"It was not worth trying to have a nice tan. I paid for it. Take it from me."
Soccer to me
Students are getting a kick out of the World Cup playoffs, held in stadiums throughout the country.
Former KU chancellor dies in California
Page 11.
By Alicia Hein
Former KU Chancellor Franklin D. Murphy died Thursday at the University of California-Los Angeles Medical Center. He was 78 years old.
Kansan Staff Writer
Murphy, who also served as chancellor at UCLA and was the former chief executive officer for the Times-Mirror $ \mathrm{C}_{0} $ ,was diagnosed with lung cancer in February.
Murphy served as chancellor at KU from 1951 to 1960. Prior to his appointment as chancellor, he served as dean of the School of Medicine from 1948 to 1951.
He graduated from KU earning an undergraduate degree in 1938 before going on to earn his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania.
"He was one of the giants of KU's history," Chancellor Gene Budig said Thursday in a written statement.
"This institution remained close to his heart throughout his life," Budig said. "He has left a lasting mark on KU."
Murphy had a long history with the University. His father, Franklin Murphy, attended KU and brought him to campus when he was a child.
In a 1990 oral history interview, Murphy talked about his memories of the University, including one with today's students can still identify.
"I loved the University," he said. "It has always been very much a part of my life. I remember the beauty of the campus and wandering all over it when I was a kid.
"Later, of course, I'd climb that 14th Street hill back and forth every day for four years."
Murphy was born Jan. 29, 1916, in Kansas City, Mo. After earning his medical degree, he served in the Army and earned the rank of captain. While in the Army, he worked as
a researcher of tropical diseases.
Murphy stayed at KU for 14 years before leaving to become chancellor at UCLA.
In 1946, he left the Army to join the University of Kansas medical school staff. At the age of 35, he became chancellor...
Clarke Wescoe, Murphy's successor, said in an interview with the Lawrence Journal-World that Murphy might not have left KU if he had not come under fire from Gov. George Docking.
Murphy also was a lifelong supporter of
"There was a running feud almost like the Hatfields and the McCoys," he said. "Franklin's last days as chancellor were real unhappy ones."
Murphy stayed at UCLA for eight years before accepting the position at the Times-Mirror. He held his position there until 1986 and continued to serve as a director emeritus.
He helped found the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, served as head of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and was head of the Samuel H. Kress Foundation in New York, an institution for art preservation and conservation education.
the arts.
KU's Murphy Hall was named in his honor, as was the Franklin D. Murphy Sculpture Garden at UCLA.
He was a recipient of the Army's Outstanding Civilian Service Award and the Andrew W. Mellon medal from the National Gallery of Art.
Murphy is survived by his wife, Judith; three daughters, Joyce Dickey, Martha Crockwell and Carolyn Speer; and a son, Franklin L. Murphy.
The Associated Press contributed information to this story.