1995_05 Insight May 1995

              GE8 JLllrfcl J   J JL   JLJE MAY 17,1
Don't drink the water!
Physicians recommend travelers take
precautions before heading overseas
By Alison Whittaker
Staff Writer
As students lake off this summer
for traveling adventures, those
heading to international locations
should lake health precautions.
The United Stales Public Health
Service recommends three key
ways travelers need to prepare for
their trips.
First, they should prepare at
leasi one month in advance in order    to    have ^^^^^^^^^
"I'm going to be backpacking
throughout Europe with my
roommate and want to come
home healthy." Pfeifle said.
"My doctor is also having me
lake an oral vaccination to prevent typhoid fever." she said.
Most people who acquire bacterial, viral and parasitic infections while traveling abroad see
symptoms of their illness within
six weeks after returning from
  their
>ugh lime I
and letters
about any personal and spe-
"I'm going to be
backpacking
throughout Europe
with my roommate and
want to come home
healthy."
Shelli Pfeifle
cases as sen-
will be visiting. Places such as
Europe. Canada. Japan. Australia
and New Zealand have both
health problems and solutions
similar to those in the United
States. It's in places like Africa.
South and Central America and
Ihe Middle and Far East that travelers will be taking bigger health
risks. Students planning on traveling to these areas should discuss plans with iheii
Finally, experts say studenl
need to familiarize ihemsclvc
with their present health plan'
benefits.     They
need lo find oul if
iheir coverage extends to international, non-plan
facilities. Mosl travel agents are
knowledgeable about temporary
health insurance plans available
to international travelers.
Other traveling lips include:
* Take an extra pair of eyeglasses or contact lenses and
carry a prescription along for either pair.
* Take a small first aid kit lo
(real minor discomforts. Included
in the kit should be antacid and
laxative medications, aspirin, insect repellent, antibiotic ointment, adhesive bandages, antihistamine medications and iodine
crystals (for water sterilization)
* Know what types of food lo
avoid when traveling.
* Drink only bottled water and
remember that ice cubes are typically made from thc local water
supply.
By following these basic tips
and others provided by a physician, students can say hon voyage
to Fresno and enjoy the culture,
knowledge and memories they
will experience on their eventful
journeys.
gelling hepatiiis. tetanus and polio shots lo be extra careful this
summer." said graduating CSUF
senior Shelli Pfeifle.
symptoms for
as long as six
year after the
:ler   re-
Summer movies:
•f Big name stars will
steam the movie screen
By Jeannette Baeza
StaffWriler
This summer's movie lineup is
filled with adventure and romance, beginning with the debut
of "Die Hard: Wilh A Vengeance"
opening up Memorial Day weekend.
This is the third Die Hard movie
starring Bruce Willis as John
McClane. a New York detective.
The movie brings him back to New
York and teams him with Samuel
L. Jackson to pursue an arsonist
played by Jeremy Irons. Irons
leaves a trail of deadly bombs
throughout the Big Apple. The
movie is directed by John
McTicrnan and produced by
Michael Tadross.
The series has grossed more than
$198.6 million in the United States
and Canada.
Millionaire Bruce Wayne is back
in "Batman Forever." The "Caped
Crusader" is played by Val Kilmer,
and this time Batman is teamed up
with Chris O'Donnell as Robin. The
dynamic duo go head-to-head with
demented criminals such as a
former district attorney, who, after
a terrible accident, turned into a
deformed killer known as "Two-
Face" played by Tommy Lee Jones,
and "The Riddler" played by Jim
Carey. Batman's love interest is a
criminal psychologist specializing
in split personalities portrayed by
Nicole Kidman. The film was directed by Joel Schumacher and produced by Tim Burton and Peter
MacGregor-Scott. It is expected to
open June 16.
"Pocahontas" is the latest Disney
cartoon. The animated musical is
based on the story of Pocahontas,
thc daughter of a Powhatan chief,
who falls in love with the English
settler John Smith. The story is told
from the point of vie w of the American Indian. The speaking parts are
played by Mel Gibson as Captain
John Smith, Irene Bedard as
Pocahontas and Russell Means as
Chief Powhatan. The film also features Academy Award-winning
composer Alan Menken. He teams
up with lyricist Stephen Schwartz
to provide the score. It is directed
by Michael Gabriel and Eric
Goldberg, and produced by James
Pentecost. The expected opening
date is June 16.
"Congo." based on the best-selling novel by Michael Crichton, is
about a group of explorers trying
to find a diamond-rich lost city.
Instead they find themselves
trapped in trie jungle by an unknown and dangerous breed of gorillas. The gorillas are intelligent
animals who turn man into a endangered species. The film stars
Dylan Walsh. Laura Liriney. Ernie
Hudson and Tim Curry. It is directed by Frank Marshall and produced by Kathleen Kennedy and
Sam Mercer. "Congo" is scheduled to open June 9.
The latest Sylvester Stallone
movie, "Judge Dredd," is based on
the thc comic "2000 A.D.: Judge
Dredd." The movie is set in the
22nd century, and is about a one-
man police force, judge, jury and
executioner. Mega City One is
filled with homeless, unemployed
people forced to migrate here after the surrounding towns had
been destroyed. The overcrowded
city is cramped with hoplessness.
so the people begin to lash out at
one another. The movie is scheduled to open June 30.
Allergies and exercise affect
athletes on and off the field
♦ Asthma bouts inhibit collegiates
from performing at their best
By Robbie Miner
Staff Writer
He won a Western Athletic Conference title and
advanced to nationals in jusl his freshman year.
Entering Ihe WAC Championships his sophomore year, he was the clear-cut favorite to win
Until his biggest fear became a reality.
As Nick Zinkin took the mat in the 7.000 fool-
plus elevation of the Air Force Academy in
Colorado's Rocky Mountains, he took one last puff
from his inhaler and dove inlo competition in ihe
midst of an asthma attack.
Zinkin didn't win thai match and was forced lo
watch the NCAAs from the sidelines. It wasn't
thc first lime Ihe disease had disabled him and he
knows it won't be the last.
When Zinkin goes for his ^^^^^^^^^"
second WAC championship
next year he will likely be the
favorite again. If there's one
thing he's learned. howe\
"Having an
asthma attack is
thing he's learned, however. .
it's that nothing can be laken the WOrSt feeling
for granted.
"It was so bad last year lhai   VOU are
I could hardly breathe." said _,..-e—;__„ £.n~ _;_
thc youngesi of three Zinkin grasPlng rOl air
brothers to wrestle at Fresno --J *L     more vo„
Slate. "Having the WAC dllu lIlc I11UIC Juu
Championships in Fresno fight it. the WOrSe
next year means everything >   <-> '
The altitude at the Air Force ft ggtS
Uura
Townsend
"By ihe time I walked inside the door I was seeing spots, my fingers and hands were tingling and
my chest felt like a crushed soda can — I was
gasping for every breath," she said.
Like (hc majority of athletes inflicted with the
disease at Fresno State. Townsend's attacks can
be both allergy and exercise-induced. Townsend's
asthma is brought on more by outside conditions
than exercise, however. As Fresno Stale trainer
Ed Fcrreira says, Townsend's case is similar lo
many athletes' who come to Fresno.
"Kids lhat come into ihe Valley are more susceptible because they haven't developed an immune system to fight newly introduced pollens
and molds," he said.
Townsend and Ann Papi have more in common
ihan just being teammates on the tennis court.
Papi's asthma is mostly allergy-cnduccd. She was
never diagnosed with Ihe disease until she got lo
Fresno Slate, and with the help of medication she's
  learned to control it. Papi
always carries her inhaler
and takes two pills a day.
Thai's usually enough to
keep her attacks under eon-
(rol.
killed
Zinkin is one of several athletes at Fresno Slate that has
asthma. Not all suffer to lhc	
extent of Zinkin, but some
have cases that are even more severe. From Laura
Townsend. a freshman (ennis player who had never
had an asthma attack until she came to Fresno, to
Monique Orum. a junior forward on the basketball leam who never goes anywhere without her
inhalers, the reaction to asthraii is the same. It's
not a mental sickness but a disease that affects
every athlete that has it.
"People don't understand how hig an obstacle it
really is. They connect the disease with lack of
conditioning,"Townsend said. "Having an asthma
attack is the worst feeling — you are grasping for
air and thc more you fight it, ihc worse it gets."
Before arriving at Fresno Slate. Townsend had
never experienced a serious aiiack. Then, in her
first semester last fall, she collapsed at the door of
the training room after reluming from practice.
Cross country runner Devon Moaics rel ies on a much
wider array of medication.
"1 have four different kinds
of inhalers, some for short
relief and some for long relief, and I take two kinds of
pills." shc said.
When Orum feels an attack
coming on. she can come out
of the game. When asthma
hits Papi and Townsend.
they can rest until their attack has seized. Moatcs does
noi have thc same luxury.
"If I bowed out of a race every time I had an
asthma attack 1 would never finish a race."
Moates said. "That's probably bad. but realistically, as a track athlete. I can't use thai as an
excuse to slop."
Obviously, since Moales is still running, her
runner's stubbornness hasn't permanently harmed
her — yet. Ask Ferrcira about the risks Moates
lakes when she runs through an attack and hc will
tell you she's been as lucky as she has been courageous.
'Trying to push through an asthma attack can
be fatal," hc said. "It becomes an educational process along with thc aihleie understanding their
limits."
How bad could an attack feel though if an athlete is able to just run through it?
Moales said. "Ii feels like someone is jumping on
your chest and ripping your lungs oul."
Zinkin describes il as "having your mouth laped and
breathing through a straw."
Josh Kaitfors. an outfielder for the baseball team,
said his asthma is so bad he couldn't survive without
his inhalers.
"It is like my gun in a holster." he said of his inhaler. "Thc minute 1 start running, my lungs start to
lighten up."
Kaitfors' counterpart in the outfield. Ryan Wood,
has an equally severe case of asthma. Whereas most
asthmatic athletes at Fresno Slate are learning to belter adapt to Ihe condition. Wood says that his case
just keeps gelling worse.
"Hopefully ii will table off sometime." he said. "I
used to take about two puffs a day. Now. during the
baseball season. I have to take eight to nine puffs on
the average."
If any athlete al Fresno State can tell you aboul the
burdens of asthma it's Orum. The junior college transfer has had the disease since she was nine months
old. When Orum was seven she had to be hooked up
to an incubator to aid her breathing. When she was
13 she had pneumonia and emphysema at thc same
time — twice.
"Eight years ago I was constantly in the hospital."
Orum said. "Luckily, my mom was a nurse."
Through her childhood years Orum learned ways
lo control her asthma. She visited several hospitals
and asthma clinics for advice on treatment. She still
suffers from attacks: last year shc passed out in lhc
South Gym after a conditioning practice and had to
be hospitalized. But thc fear of having an attack is
not as great as it once was.
"The difference between now and when 1 was
younger is that I know how to take care of myself
now," Orum said.
One thing Orum's learned is that exercise is the
best source of training lo keep asthma under control. Moates, who works in a hospital during the
summer, says she's seen asthmatics who can't walk
two feet without heaving because they gel no exercise.
"People with asthma can't use it as an excuse to be
inactive," Moates said. "It's the other way around.
Without exercise, it will only gets worse."
Depending on the seriousness of the individual's
case, asthma can be as crippling as any injury. These
athletes at Fresno State who suffer from asthma are
quick to educate people on the misconceptions of their
■disease. Furthermore, the precautions they take to control their asthma are as extensive as these taken for
most injuries.
But they haven't gotten to where they are in sports
by making excuses.
As the stubborn track runner says, "Everyone has
some kind of problem ... Mine is asthma."
Congratulations Kim Darling on your new baby girl!
Morgan Brianne was born May 12,1995,7 lbs, 15 oz.
 From  the Insight St<