1996_09 Insight September 1996

              SEPTEMBER 25, 1996 I
Pavilion, Courtyard debut Oct. 7
Rainy
being
Insight photo by Ryan McKe«
weather and the delay of construction materials is
blamed for holding back the grand opening.
by Tena Shook
Staff Writer
The wait is not over.
Fresno State students and faculty
are still waiting for the opening of
the Pavilion and Courtyard.
For more than a year thc Pavilion
has been in the making. Construction began in June 1995. Due to rain
delays and the late arrival of materials, thc opening date continues to
be pushed back.
The anticipated opening date, according to University Student Union
Director Joel Zarr, is now Oct. 7.
The USU and the construction
companies have agreed to a liquidated damage contract which gives
the USU the option of receiving
$2,000 per day because the Pavilion is behind the original completion date of Aug. 5.
USU coordinators arc wailing for
the finishing touches of column covers, floors to be polished and tile
work. A final cleaning will complete
the project.
The Pavilion will consist of five
commercial spaces. Three arc measured at 250 square feet and two at
500 square feet. The USU has rented
the five spaces to Tower Records.
Council Travel Agency. GoldenOnc
Credit Union. Dean of Comics and.
opening in January, a US Post Office.
Each vendor bid for a spot and
more than 20 proposals were sub
mitted. A committee of six chose the
final five. Among thc applicants
were a gift shop, a convenience
store, a bike shop and a chiropractic
office.
Vendors said a college campus is
great for business.
"With the right product, the right
service and thc right price, all ofthe
shops should do well,"%arr said.
The UStkwill take in approxi-y
mately $367)00 a year in rents. Everything the vendors take in is based
on what thc students chose to buy.
Venders were chosen based on
surveys given to students lo see
which stores they thought would be
thc most beneficial.
Thc stores will be open year
round, from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.. with
an exception at Christmas break.
Keeping thc travel agency open during that time is likely.
Students believe thc Pavilion will
be an asset to their daily needs and
also benefit the campus as a whole.
"We finally can take care of the
things we always had to leave cam
pus
odd.
"We can make a bank deposit,
mail a letter and even buy a gift for
a friend." said English major Steve
Leonard. f
"There has always been a great
support of on-campus vendors who
sell out of carts in front ofthe bookstore. This is a step up thai will benefit all." said business graduate
Dawn Madsen.
RAD: from page 1
class across the nation at no expense.
Sgt. Gaines said that in order to get
the program underway in Fresno, a
small fee will likely be charged to
those who enroll.
A small fee to pay for such valu- .
able information. The confidence that
women gain from these types of
classes is invaluable in the eyes of 18-
year-old Rendi Costa.
Costa took a self-defense class in
her hometown of Oakdale, Calif, originally at the insistence of her father.
Once she had completed her training,
though, she felt a sense of self-
achievement.
"I took the class, because my dad
made me at first." said Costa. "I came
out of the class not feeling like I could
really hurt someone, but definitely like
I could hurt them enough to get away.
It made me realize that I don't always
need a man around to protect me."
With a program such as RAD in the
works, the police unit hopes to lower
the already low number of reported sex
offenses. Information on this program
can be obtained at the campus police
department.
TESTING: Another way for students to make money, from page 1
Any kind of research lhat presents a risk factor, even taking
blood.
Despite the negative effects, unethical actions and certain disadvantages involved with human
medical testing, there have also
been breakthrough discoveries in
new drags and techniques that have
been proven to save lives.
In the next few months, researchers will begin injecting
simple DNA into healthy volunteers. The trial, involving a potential AIDS vaccine, will be
conducted by researchers at the
University of Pennsylvania in
Philadelphia.
The FDA approved the trial on
uninfected volunteers after cancer
and HIV positive patients already
injected with the DNA reported no
major side effects after several
months.
Researchers at the National Institutes of Health (N1H). part of thc
Department of Health and Human
Services, conduct about 1.000 tri
als per year, involving healthy volunteers and ill patients.
"You can only do so much with
animal results." said Joan Mallen. the
director of the Clinical Research Volunteer Program at NIH. "People
helping people is what it's all about.
People who have friends wiih illnesses say. 'Gee, look at me. I'm
healthy. I can help out.' The money
• is not the incentive."
Not all medical testing is conducted with the primary goal of developing research to help ill patients.
Pharmaceutical companies, such as
Pharmaco International Inc. Austin.
Texas, want to gel approved medicines on to pharmacy shelves.
Pharmaco's newspaper and radio
advertisements, directed primarily at
college students, focus on ihe money
that can be obtained through participating in clinical trials.
To draw students in. Pharmaco.
one of the world's largest testers of
medicines, offers anywhere from
$600 to $3,000 to subjects for a variety of tests ranging from a few days
to several weeks of controlled confinement.
One former volunteer subject,
film director Robert Rodriguez,
used the mone> lie made in
Pharmaco experiments to produce
the low-budget hit "El Mariachi,"
which made enough money to finance " Desperado."
All subjects must sign a consent
form listing thc drag's potential side
effects and they must submit to a
brief physical examination before
testing can begin.
And what if the drug causes severe effects years after the trial?
"II*you find out your nose falls
off five years later from some
asthma medication you took... Well,
that's too bad." said Sowby. "You
signed lhat form."
But as long as (here is disease,
there will always be a need for human volunteers.
"We're driven by what people
want and people want to be
healthy." Sowby said. "Drugs have
to be tested. In order to be safe, we
must use humans."
ATTEND
CAREER DAY!
Next Wednesday!
October 2,1996
9:30 AM-1230 PM
Student Union Balcony
REPRESENTATIVES FROM DOZENS OF ORGANIZATONS
WILL BE ON HAND TO PROVIDE GENERAL INFORMATION
ON
CAREER OPPORTUNITIES
(INCLUDING PART TIME*SUMMER, AND COOPERATIVE EDUCATION)
Sponsored by Career Development & Employment Services
Joyal Administration, Room 256, Phone 278-2381
Rohypnol: from page 1
confusion, loss of inhibitions and
impaired motor skills.
They will look and act drunk only
without thc smell of alcohol.
Incapacitated by the drag, they
are vulnerable to attack.
When taken in conjunction with
alcohol, the effects of Rohypnol are
intensified. Rohypnol can also also
cause memory loss. It is sometimes
referred to as "the forget pili."
According to Stan Vegar. public
information officer for the San
Francjsco Field Division of the
Drag Enforcement Agency.
Rohypnol can cause blackouts that
last from eight to 24 hours.
Many victims have reported
"losing" several hours and awakening in a strange place.
Since January, the Fresno Police
Department's Sexual Assault Unit
has documented more than half-a-
dozen cases of sexual crimes they
believe involved Rohypnol.
McFadden said the side effect of
memory loss has made prosecution
difficult in the Fresno cases.
All of thc Fresno victims except
one were women. One of the
women was in a local club at the
time she was allegedly dragged.
The other victims were all at private
residences.
"I suspect there are a lot more
that haven't been reported." said
McFadden.
Rohypnol is detectable by blood
and urine tests but the Sexual
Assault Unit has had difficulty
proving the victims were dragged
with Rohypnol because they do not
have the laboratory facilities to ran
the tests.
Rohypnol is only detectable in
urine by a gas chromaiography/
mass spectrometry test.
McFadden said they are making
arrangements with a state laboratory
to ran the tests there. No charges
have been filed in any of the sexual
assault cases involving Rohypnol in
The first documented case of
sexual assault involving Rohypnol
was reported in 1993 in Broward
County. Florida, just north of
Miami.
By May 1996. Florida prosecutors had investigated more than 600
cascs.Mark Perez of Fort Lauderdale was one of the first defendants
in a case of sexual assault involving
Rohypnol. He pleaded no contest to
sexual battery of an incapacitated
person and is serving an eight-year
sentence in Broward County.
Florida and Texas have been the
sites of repeated reports of
Rohypnol abuse since 1993. But the
problem has spread to more than 24
As of February there had been
1.000 reported cases of sexual
assault involving Rohypnol in
Texas. 660 in Florida. 150 in
Louisiana. 86 in Arizona and 52 in
Oklahoma.
Law enforcement officers in most
states are assuming the number of
actual cases is much higher.
In May, three members of the
Zcta Beta Tau fraternity at the
University of California in Los
Angeles were arrested after a
woman reported she had been
dragged and raped during a party at
a Palm Springs hotel.
Facilitation of sexual assault is
not the only abuse of Rohypnol.
Other abuse patterns have been .
documented.
According to the Haight-Ashbury
Free Clinics. Inc.. Rohypnol is often
taken with alcohol to extend and
intensify the "buzz." or alone as a
primary intoxicant.Thcy also report
heroin and cocaine addicts take
Rohypnol to help ease "coming
down" from a binge.
Rohypnol is the brand name of
the drag flunitrazepam. It belongs
to the benzodiazepine family of
drags, the same family as Valium
(diazepinc) and Xanax
(alprazolam).
It is manufactured by the Swiss-
based pharmaceutical company,
Hoffman-La Roche. It is a depressant that affects thc central nervous
system.
Like other benzodiazepines, an
overdose of Rohypnol is unlikely to
cause death. Bul when it is taken
with alcohol it is more likely to be
lethal.
Though it is not approved for use
in the United States, Rohypnol is
available by prescription in more
than 60 countries, including
Mexico, to treat sleep disorders and
convulsive seizures and as a preanesthetic.
The DEA believes that one of the
reasons Rohypnol is so popular is
because of its appearance. When the
drag is smuggled into thc United
States it is still in ils original bubble
packaging and each pill is stamped
"Roche." It looks legitimate and
threrfore is considered safe.
In 1995 the DEA seized 134.600
dosage units of Rohypnol. Vegar
said the DEA is trying to have the
drag reclassified into schedule I of
the Controlled Substances Act.
Schedule I drags have no accepted medical use in the United
States. Also, the penalties for
possession or use of a schedule I
drag arc more severe than for
schedule IV Rohypnol is currently
classified as schedule IV.Some other
drugs classified as Schedule I are
LSD. heroin, and the methamphet-
aminc Quaalude.
In March. Sen. Joseph Biden of
Delaware introduced similar
legislation.
Senate bill S. 1609 calls for the
reclassification of Rohypnol to
schedule I ofthe Controlled
Substances Act.
The bill has been referred to the
Senate Committee on the Judiciary.
Testifying al a Senate Subcommittee hearing in July, Biden said. "It is
clear that the current controls on
Rohypnol do not reflect the dangers
this drug poses to our society,
particular!) to our young people, and
LONDON SEMESTER  9,
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^All meetings are held in Old Music IH4y
For more information contact Carla Millar. London Semester Office.
V^ CSU Fresno. Music Bldg.. Rm 1S6. or call (209) 27S-3056. J
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