1994_02 Insight February 1994

              February 16,1994
ITST FOCUS
Page 3
Bryan Chan/Special toINSIGKT
A California Highway Patrol investigator records the position of crashed vehicles.
Dense fog challenges commuters
Continued from Page 1
"Il suns off bad when 1 have to
inch my way down thc driveway. But
I think if people back Easi have to
drive in snowstorms, thc fog couldn't
be that bad," she said.
A 1989 study found lhai nearly 70
percenl of FSU studcnLs drive or
carpool to school. Almost half commute at least 20 minutes, said Bill
Stock, a Testing Office administrator
who conducted thc study.
"Fresno State is what's called a
regional school. It serves thc Central
Valley. Studenls as far as Merced
have been known to make thc commute," Stock said. "But students will
endure what they have to to get here."
Angcb Benson commutes from
Visalia daily. Sometimes hazardous
driving conditions keep hcr in Fresno
overnight
"I would rather be safe than lost in
iL I've thought about moving to another school, but it only gels bad for
aboul one month off and on," said
Benson,a junior liberal studies major.
Fog in the Valley may come with
lhc geography, bul how docs it get
here? Because of its location between
two mountain chains, Valley dues arc
enveloped in fog when the temperature
dips.
"All it is is just a cloud that forms on
the ground," said Scoit Birch, a meteorologist wilh the National Weather Scr-
"Drivers need to be
aware at all times
of the traffic they
may not see."
- Laurie Johnson,
CHP
vice. "Fog forms when the temperature
and thc dew point arc equal or near
equal to one another." When thechillcd
air becomes saturated, water vapor -
fog - is thc result.
Cold air is trapped at thc surface
while warm air rises, creating a thick
pocket of fog. Only later, when thc sun
heats up docs the fog bum off, said
Birch. The fog may take hours to bum
off. Driving during lhc morning hours
when the fog is at its worst requires
extreme caution.
Thc California Highway Patrol urges
drivers to reduce speed if visibility is
less than 1,000 fecL
"Drivers need to be aware at all
times of the traffic they may not see.
Turn down radios, heaters and have thc
windows cracked," said Laurie Johnson, a CHP spokesperson. "Citations
arc issued if driving without headlights
turned on."
Classes
Continued from Page 1
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Milk might not do
body good
Frustrated and unsure about lhc future, Hamilton gloomily glanced at his
schedule:
An upper-division nursing class is
full and 30 other students arc vying for
a spot.
Balding forscaiscntails further pain.
Students must endure an add-drop line
that reaches half way to the Speech-
Arts Building.
In thc add-drop line, students' conversation resembles a script worthy of
Shakespeare.
Anger, fear, joy and sadness emanate from ihe facial movements and
body language of thc students.
"It'sinfuriating. Ican'tcvcnaddonc
class justso lhat I can pay my fees," said
JocSalcedo, a senior speech communications studenL
Salcedo said the teachers are sympathetic, but there is nothing they can do.
Sophomore Brooke Nultall, wearing an oversized flannel shirt and a
sweater tied to hcr waist, is trying to add
four units.
Nultall can't find classes that do not
conflict with her waitressing schedule.
Without securing hcr required
classes, semesters and fees pile up.
Dr. Max Futrcll, chair of thc
criminolgy dcpartmenL gives an example of why students arc finding it
hard to add.
Futrcll said criminology majors increased in number requiring the department to unbalance thc ratio of upper-
division courses to general education
courses.
Although the student population
slays Constant there arc fewer general
By Tom McGarry
StaffWriler
Milk, says ihe Dairy Council,"docs
a body good."
Some groups find the slogan hard to
swallow after thc Food and Drug
Administration's Feb. 3 approval of a
new drug to help increase milk production in dairy cows.
Bovine Growth Hormone (BG H) or
major gene-based biotechnology to be
approved for agricultural use.
A naturally occurring hormone in
cattle, BST is only effective when administered through injection.
It travels to thc pituitary gland, a
small oval gland located at the base of
thc skull that stimulates appetite.
It allows fanners to, as former Animal Sciences Professor Dr. Washburn
would say, "roll the groceries" to animals that otherwise would not cat as
much, giving them more nutrients, protein and necessary ingredients for milk
production.
Taken orally, BST is broken down
to amino acids in the digestive tract.
Amino acids combine, making proteins which are either flushed from our
bodies, or utilized by them.
Consumer groups, led by Jeremy
Rifkin have been fighting the use of
this drug since its inception.
Fearful of harmful effects, consumers demonstrated, pouring milk into
gutters while denouncing the dairy industry for poisoning our children.
"Anytime there is a new technology, you have to expect questions,"
said Lisa Watson of Monsanto Corp.
St. Louis, Miss, office.
Monsanto's Animal Sciences division was the first to be given permission for sales of thc drug under the
name "Ppsilac."
Watson continued, saying that BST
has been one of the most widely researched dmgs ever.
Studies done throughout thc United
Stales and Europe by governmental, as
well as private institutions, have supported BST as a safe tool in production.
Watson also cited a statement by
formcrU.S. Surgeon General C. Everett
Kcop which denounced those groups
for use of "scare tactics."
In a written statement Koop also
ctroccfri  llv cofolv nf millr  nmrtlir/vt
through BST while lauding dairy products as an important source of nutrition.
Hc condemned attacks on the dairy
ind ustryas"bascless,manipulative and
completely irresponsible." He blasted
opponents for attempting to use school
children as "pawns in their opposition
to BST."
With all of this action, some dairy
farmers arc understandably worried.
Locally, the Foster Farms Dairy
tersely said they would not be using the
drug in their animals.
Also worried is Gary Connovcr of
the Western United Dairymen's Association.
Connovcr said from his Modesto
office lhat thc 1,400 member organization had adopted a resolution urging
members to abstain from use of thc
dmg until more is known about consumer acceptance, bul lhat the decision
was stricdy between dairymenand their
processors.
Watson said lhat Monsanto has not
noticed a horrific decline in the anticipated sales of the drig, and expects
sales to increase as consumers become
educated and the furor dies down.
A survey published by thc Grocery
Manufactcrers of America showed 97
percent of more than 1,000 people
polled expected their milk consumption to either stabilize or increase.
Consumers expressed acceptance of
the new technology by rating milk produced through BST an 8.03 on a scale
of one to 10. higher than orange juice
(7.69) and tap water (6.1).
Thc survey included a choice of 15
information sources and asked con-
cnnrwrslnranlr tlvm inorrWfrom most
trusted to least trusted.
Heading the list were the American
Medical Association, National Institutes of Health, Food and Drug Admin -
istration and the American Dietetics
Association.
Industry, Farmers and Media were
ai the bottom.
While BST's safety is unquestioned
among experts, some in thc industry
are worried about effects on animals.
Thc lactation period is stressful, and
some wonder about the hazards of increasing production.
Producers fear that the increased
stress will lead to an increase in mastitis,
an infection in thc cow's udder which
can cause loss of use in one of the
quarters of thc udder.
Mastitis is treatable with antibiotics,
but some dairymen arc afraid that antibiotic levels in milk will rise, causing it
to be condemned at the processors.
Other concerns within the industry
focus on the small vs. big dairy syndrome.
Small dairymen, some of whom arc
hard pressed, think large dairies will
use BST to push ihem oul of business.
Watson andConnover both disputed
this claim stating that BST is "size
neutral technology."
Size won't matter, it will be management that makes the difference.
education 'classes resulting in larger
amounts of students trying lo add.
Professors arc forced into difficult
positions.
Some professors barred studcnLs
from entering if they were trying to
add.
Business professor James WiLson
told students to add through the star
system.
Engineering professor Dr.
Chandra Brahma is taking 20 percent
more sludents then allowed.
Dr. Smith had enough students to
fill an additional agriculture economics class.
"It'ssadsomcof ihesc fullclasscs
will be half empty in three weeks,"
said Biology professor Dr. Stephen
Ervin.
StudcnLs who could not add will
soon sec open seaLs because iastruc-
tors are not enforcing the drop period, Ervin said.
"Thc whole process needs io be
revamped," he added.
Associate Provost Dr. Helen
Gigliotti said every school is fighting
to make do.
Gigliotti wcarsapairof light brown
oval glasses and siLs at a desk covered
with paperwork.
"There'snot enough to go around,"
said Gigliotti. "Everybody is bending backward to handle Ihc situa-
"Ncxt year will be the same." shc
said, "but ihcre is some hope it's
going to get better."
Ken Koller/INSIGHT
With Fresno State being the latest stop on his
nationwide tour of college campuses, Brother
Tom spent last Wednesday preaching the word
of God to FSU students oblivious to his presence.
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