Basketball: The Jayhawks defeat the Cincinnati Bearcats 72-65. Page 1B
Play: Neil Simon's Lost in Yonkers starts Friday at community theater. Page 8B
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
NEWS 864-4810
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5.1996
ADVERTISING 864-4358
SECTION A VOL.103.NO.71
(USPS 650-640)
Throat strain leaves Clinton speechless
WASHINGTON — Doctors yesterday performed a fiber optic examination of President Clinton's strained vocal cords and confirmed an earlier recommendation from the White House doctor that he stop talking for several days.
The exam took about 25 minutes and was performed in the White House residence, representative Mike McCurry said. The doctors found no other symptoms or complicating factors and recommended he not speak for three or four days.
"The doctors say, 'No more yak,'"
McCurry said.
Asked for a layman's description of the problem, McCurry said, "The president has lost his voice. It is missing in action."
Today's examination was performed by James Suen, an ear, nose and throat specialist, with assistance from Capt. David Thompson of the Bethesda Naval Medical Center, McCurry said. Besides asking that he not use his voice, the doctors said he should continue taking throat lozenges and drinking hot tea.
At a brief — and barely audible — Oval Office appearance on Tuesday, Clinton confessed to being a little hoarse, then handed the speaking role to Vice President Al Gore after croaking out a couple of short sentences.
WASHINGTON — A newspaper reporter said she had been shoved, kicked and pushed out of a school by a group of students and their principal — the third recent attack against the news media at schools in the nation's capital.
Students, principal attack reporter
Susan Ferrechio, an education reporter for The Washington Times, said she was attacked at the Marcus Gareve Public Charter School after she refused to surrender notes of a conversation she had with a student.
She said she was at the school Tuesday afternoon working on a story on charter schools.
Anigo, students and some staff members later struggled with police officers who were investigating the incident, the paper said.
Ten people hit Ferrechio repeatedly, and principal Mary A.T. Anigbo shoved Ferrechio and demanded that she leave the school, the Times reported yesterday.
On Nov. 14, a radio reporter was beaten outside McKinley High School in northeast Washington while working on a story about two stabbings at the school.
Earlier in the month, a cameraman was shoved at McKinley while filming another story about a stabbing.
NASA begins mission to explore Mars' surface
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A six-wheeled buggy no bigger than a child's wagon sped toward Mars yesterday on a 310-million-mile odyssey to explore the planet*s rocky, red surface.
NASA hopes Pathfinder, the second of 10 spacecraft to be launched to Mars during the next decade, will live up to its name by paving the way for future robotic explorers and proving that cheap little spacecraft can work.
It is the first time a mobile craft has been sent to explore another planet.
The Mars Pathfinder, the spacecraft carrying the rover, is scheduled to land on the planet on July 4, 1997, its 30-mph landing cushioned by large air bags that will inflate at the last moment. Then the remote-control rover, named Soliune, will search for rocks.
Pathfinder was built in three years for $196 million, a bargain by NASA's standards.
The Associated Press
Advance case of flu hits area
Watkins offers shot for virus
By Ashleigh Roberts
Kansan staff writer
Students who didn't get a flu shot may be in for a rough flu season based on the unusually high number of influenza patients at Watkins Memorial Health Center.
"During the past 10 years, we've had only two incidents before Dec. 15," said Charles Yockey, chief of staff at Watkins. "It's not unheard of, but it is rare."
Vockey said it wasn't an epidemic, but Watkins had seen an average of
three cases a day before Thanksgiving, and the number had increased since.
The virus usually peaks between Jan. 15 and March 15. Fifteen other states also reported two or more flu diagnoses before the break.
Elaine Houston, immunization coordinator at the Lawrence Health Department, said influenza started early this year.
"The virus was first reported by the Center for Disease Control on the West Coast during September," she said. "Within two months we get whatever they have, so it isn't surprising the virus is springing up."
Houston said it was hard to know how the virus began, but the center did perform global studies to investigate the origin and most common strain of the virus.
"Predicting the influenza virus is like predicting the weather," she said. "You can kind of see these things, but it's just like the early snow storm. We couldn't tell that either."
Yockey said students could be sure the virus would get worse before it got better. Many students traveling during Thanksgiving inevitably would encounter areas where the virus was active already and bring it back to Lawrence, he said.
"We will see larger numbers, especially with finals approaching," Yockey said. "It is not too late to get a flu shot. We have not treated anyone who got the flu shot for the
influenzavirus."
Watkins charges $5 per flu shot and does not require appointments. Yockey said recipients had not suffered any ill afflictions from the actual shot, but students had to remember it took 10 days to produce enough antibodies that would protect against the virus.
The virus has a three- to five-day incubation period. Yockey said students needed to see a physician during the first two days of noticing symptoms.
"Time is very important because you only have 48 hours to benefit from antibiotics," he said. "If you get the medicine during that time, it cuts the duration and severity in half."
The flu lasts for about five days
Signs of influenza
It is important to recognize influenza symptoms early because the virus can be treated only by antibiotics during the 48 hours following onset.
Abrupt onset
Severe headaches
Muscle aches
High fever
Sore throat
Yockey said students who got the flu would be incapacitated.
with the antibiotics and approximately 10 days without them.
"You'll be out of class for a week," he said. "You can hardly even get out of bed."
Celebration at sundown
Molly Ackerman, Minnetonka, Minn., junior, demonstrates the lighting of the Menorah for the first night of Hanukkah. Hanukkah is an eight-day commemoration
Pam Dishman / KANSAN
Not tonight honey, I have a headache
of the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem by the Maccabees after their defeat of the Syrians. The festival begins tonight at sundown.
By Megan Jordan Kansan staff writer
Believe it or not, college students don't always feel like having sex. Although it is not a large problem among young students, some do complain of a low sex drive. This can result from a combination of psychological and biological factors.
"There are many medications that may have an effect on sex drive," said Randall Rock, chief of staff at Watkins Memorial Health Center. "Alcohol is the best example in terms of reducing inhibitions, but also acting as a depressant and limiting performance."
Prescribed drugs such as blood pressure medicine can cause trouble for some individuals, Rock said. Certain types of birth control pills also may alter a woman's hormones enough to reduce sex drive.
General well-being is another factor affecting sex drive. Rock said.
"You can't take sex drive out of context as far as what is going on with the rest of a person's body," he said.
Stress, anxiety, depression and exhaustion all contribute to repressing arousal.
Richard Homburger, Lawrence senior, agreed that stress reduced sex drive.
"I think the most powerful sex organ we have is our brain," he said.
When thinking about sex drive, however, the mental aspects are even more significant than these physical factors, Rock said.
Jim Kreider, clinical social
worker at Counseling and Psychological Services, agreed that emotional issues within relationships, such as a lack of trust, could interfere with sexual response.
"If somebody is having a lot of conflicting emotions about the person they are involved with sexually, those feelings could crowd out sexual feelings," Kreider said.
Sex drive often is higher early in a romantic relationship, Kreider said. If attraction decreases, sex drive also will decrease.
Seasons may be yet another factor affecting sexual desire. Seasonal Affective Disorder is a common problem in which students become depressed because of lack of sunlight. People suffering from this typically complain of a low sex drive, Kreider said.
Kreider suggested that seasons may play another role in sex drive as well.
"We joke about the birds and the bees of spring, but a lot of folks do find themselves more sexually aroused in spring," he said.
Both Rock and Kreider said that if students experienced a lack of sex drive, they should not immediately seek medication to remedy the problem. Instead, it may be a sign of another health-related issue.
"Sex is a very complicated thing, and it's not just in the body but in the brain, too." Kreider said.
Homburger assented that while low sex drive may trouble some students, it is not a problem at the University.
"Most of the men on campus are probably in the middle of their prime," he said.
Drunken-driving deaths rising
Drunken-driving fatalities
Each year, motor vehicle fatalities are tracked by MADD and state transportaion departments. Although in Kansas the number of alcohol-related fatalities fluctuates, nationally the percentage of alcohol-related fatalities is about 50 percent.
KU police, MADD educate students
Noah Musser/KANSAN
By Andrea Albright Kansan staff writer
This week the KU police department will have displays and information tables with red ribbons and pamphlets at Watkins Memorial Health Center, the Kansas Union and Daisy Hill residence halls.
The number of alcohol-related traffic accidents is down in Kansas for the 10th consecutive year. Mothers Against Drunk Driving and the KU police are determined to help keep it that way.
KU police officer Gayle Reece said this was the sixth year that KU police had cooperated with MADD to educate students about driving drunk.
"We usually have the displays around the holidays because people party more with alcohol," Reece said. "The ribbons help remind people to designate drivers and use Saferide."
Max Sutherland, state administrator for MADD, said his organization was established to combat drunken driving and to assist victims who are in crisis.
Since 1986, the number of alcohol-related automobile accidents has declined steadily, Sutherland said, but the number of fatalities has increased.
"Each accident is counted as one incident regardless of the number of vehicles or victims that are involved," Sutherland said. "In 1994 and 1995, we saw an increase in the numbers of teen-agers from 14 to 19 years old who were riding with drunken drivers."
Sutherland also said that the violence of crashes had increased in the past two years. He said the increase might be linked to higher speed limits.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the financial cost to society from lost wages, medical expenses and insurance payments was $797,000 per death and $19,200 for each injured person.
Sutherland said that about 30 percent of a victim's first-year medical
Drunken-driving stats
About two in every five Kansas will be involved in an alcohol-related crash at some time in
will be involved in an alcoholrelated crash at some time in their lives.
One of every three people killed in alcohol-related crashes is not the drinking driver.
About nine people are injured daily in Kansas as a result of an alcohol-related crash.
More than 20,000 drivers were arrested in Kansas for DUI during 1994. About 1,800 were younger than 21.
costs were paid by taxpayers.
Sources:
Kansas Department of Transportation
Kansas Bureau of Investigation
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
See DRUNKEN. Page 2A
MADD has worked with legislators for the past 10 years to increase the
"Those numbers don't include future costs that may come up later in life," Sutherland said. "It also doesn't figure in the quality of life."
INDEX
TODAY
Television ...2A
Opinion ...4A
World News ...7A
Scoreboard ...2B
Horoscopes ...6B
Classifieds ...7B
Entertainment ...8B
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Weather: Page 2A
The University Daily Kansan is the student newspaper of the University of Kansas. The first copy is paid through the student activity fee. Additional copies of the Kansan are 25 cents.