Scientists
Lean Toward
Caution in
Debate Over
Microbe
Linked to Fish
By Joby Warrick and David
Brown=(c) 1997, The Washington
Post
WASHINGTON _ This much is
well documented: When humans
have close encounters with the
toxic microbe Pfiesteria piscicida,
strange things seem to happen.
Some people complain of nausea
and memory loss. Others develop
sores. One North Carolina
biologist, after working with
pfiesteria in a laboratory, lost all
feeling in his legs and had to crawl
from the room.
But was it pfiesteria, hysteria or
something else? That's the question
being debated by scientists after the
microbe has sickened and killed fish
in Chesapeake Bay tributaries.
Although scientific studies have
documented the microbe's lethal
ways with fish, researchers are
barely beginning to understand how
it affects humans.
Opposing opinions have led to
sharply different policies in
Maryland and Virginia. Maryland
has been cautious, closing
waterways and reporting Wednesday
that pfiesteria exposure can cause
people to develop chronic memory
problems. Virginia has gone the
opposite way, leaving open the
Crisis
Intensifies
Over Israeli
Settlers'
Takeover
By Rebecca Trounson=(c) 1997,
Los Angeles Times
JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on
Wednesday failed to defuse a crisis
sparked by the takeover of two East
Jerusalem buildings by Jewish
settlers, and Palestinian leader
Yasser Arafat warned of a "very
negative reaction" if the settlers are
not removed soon.
Underlining the potential for
violence, scuffles broke out late
Wednesday between heavily armed
police and scores of angry
Palestinians just yards from the
settlers' barricaded compound. Five
Palestinians were reported hurt and
four others arrested, along with two
right-wing Israelis.
The growing crisis has split
Netanyahu's governing coalition,
with some members urging him to
order the settlers forcibly removed
from the Palestinian neighborhood
of Ras al Amud and others all but
threatening to bolt the government
if he does. Aides say the politically
explosive situation with the
Palestinians will not allow him to
leave the three families of settlers
where they are.
"We would like to avoid a
confrontation that would result in
their eviction by force," said David
Bar-Illan, a spokesman for
Netanyahu. "But they are not going
to be allowed to stay as tenants in
that place. That's clear."
VM I officials
say
women
expressing
interest in
attending
By Dan Eggenit(c) 1997, The
Washington Post
The number of women expressing
interest in enrolling at the Virginia
Military Institute has risen
dramsuically, which VMI officials
cited Monday as a sign they were
Rappahannock River after sick fish
were found there.
It may be months or even years
before scientists can say who is
right. But a consensus is beginning
to emerge among scientists about
what should be done in the
meantime: When dealing with an
organism as unpredictable as
pfiesteria, they say, it's best to err
on the side of caution.
"I think Maryland's being
smart," said Don Anderson, a
scientist at Woods Hole
Oceanographic Institution in
Massachusetts and the director of
the newly formed National Office
for Marine Biotoxins and Harmful
Algae.
"You're very likely to get people
alarmed when you take a step like
this, and that is a big drawback,
he said. "But you need to bite the
bullet and do it if there's some
genuine risk ... To do nothing
would be irresponsible."
That view, however, is not
universal. And even those who
advocate caution don't always agree
on what the term means. To some
North Carolina scientists who have
been tracking pfiesteria (pronounced
fis-TEER-ee-ya) attacks for years, it
means closing waterways only
when fish are dying or sick in large
numbers.
"If you have a few fish with
lesions, there's probably not
enough pfiesteria around to cause a
problem," said B.J. Copeland, a
marine ecologist at North Carolina
State University. He added, "That's
what we call a SWAG _ a scientific
wild-assed guess."
His approach is only somewhat
more interventionist than that of
Virginia, which has left the
Rappahannock open even after
samples in which one-half to three
quarters of fish had pfiesteria-like
lesions.
Others, particularly those
personally acquainted with
pfiesteria's toxic effects, believe the
Backed by dozens of conservative
supporters, the 11 settlers so far
have refused to leave. Their
American landlord, Miami
millionaire Irving Moskowitz,
asked the Israeli Supreme Court on
Wednesday to bar police from
evicting therthe court is
expected to rule on the request
Thursday.
The crisis has left Netanyahu
squeezed between competing
pressures. Within hours of the
settlers' Sunday night arrival, the
prime minister denounced their
move. But their continuing
presence in Ras al Amud, along
with reports in the Israeli media
that Netanyahu knew of their
intentions before they moved
in, have fueled Palestinian outrage
and suspicions.
Bar-than confirmed Wednesday
that Internal Security Minister
Avigdor Kahalani told a Sept. 5
Cabinet meeting that Jewish
settlers might try to move into
buildings in Ras al Amud. The
meeting was held the day after a
three bombers killed themselves and
five Israelis in downtown
Jerusalem, and hours after a
failed commando raid left 12 Israeli
soldiers dead in southern Lebanon.
Bar-Illan said Netanyahu "was
not aware" of the political and
security implications of the Ras al
Amud report.
Many Palestinians say they fear
that the new settlement _
established in homes that
Moskowitz purchased
from Arabs _ is intended to pre
empt any chance of Palestinians
establishing a future capital in
traditionally Arab East Jerusalem.
"The only solution for this
obvious provocation is to evacuate
all the settlers immediately," said
Ahmed Tibi, a close adviser to
Arafat. "This is a serious violation
of the peace agreements and a clear
signal of the intentions of Mr.
succeeding at assimilatingwomen
into the Corps of Cadets.
In an 11-page report filed in U.S.
District Court in Roanoke, VMI
detailed the changes made to its
campus and programs to
accommodate its first coeducational
class this year, such as modifying
barracks for privacy. VMI also
offered highlights of the start of the
school year, including the
competitive debut Saturday of the
school's first women's sports team,
across-country squad.
VMI officials said that 3,219
women have asked for information
about enrolling in fall 1998, up
from the 1,688 women who
expressed an interest in the school
more
are
line should be drawn much sooner
Howard Glasgow is one of three
N.C. State scientists who became
ill in 1992 after working with a
large batch of pfiesteria's toxic
secretions.
"I personally don't care if it's
pfiesteria or some acid that
someone dumped in the water. If
you have fish that are literally
dissolving away, you can
extrapolate that you don't want be
swimming there," Glasgow said.
Glasgow said his exposure left
him virtually disabled for months.
Like many others who were
exposed, he suffered a wide range of
physical and neurological
symptoms, including dizziness and
memory loss.
In a strict scientific sense,
however, neither those cases _ nor
the far less certain ones reported by
a handful of North Carolina and
Maryland watermen exposed
outdoors _ can be tied to pfiesteria.
To do that, scientists will have to
isolate the toxin (or toxins) and
identify it in water or air. Although
purifying pfiesteria toxin, and
developing a lab test for it, are the
objects of intensive research,
neither has been accomplished to
date.
In a study done at Duke
University Medical Center, rats
injected with whole pfiesteria cells
showed mild impairment in their
ability to learn a new skill. It did
not have discernible effects on
memory, although the toxicologist
who did the research, Edward D.
Levin, did not rule out the
possibility the organism
could have such effects in people.
Pfiesteria produces two classes of
toxins. One is water soluble and
appears to be responsible for the
nervous system effects. The other is
soluble in fat and is responsible for
causing the skin ulcerations
seen on fish. It is possible that
several variants of each type of
toxin exist. Neither class has been
Netanyahu and his government not
to continue with the peace process."
In the Gaza Strip, Arafat warned
of potential violence. "We hope
that this will be solved very
quickly," the Palestinian Authority
president told reporters outside his
headquarters. "Otherwise, there will
be a very negative reaction."
Moskowitz also has plans to
build a Jewish housing complex in
Ras al Amud, a densely populated
neighborhood between Jerusalem's
Old City and the Jewish cemetery
on the Mount of Olives. The
retired physician and developer has
given millions of dollars to support
Jewish settlement on the West
Bank and East Jerusalem.
Citing security and political
concerns, Netanyahu has vowed to
block the new construction. But
Moskowitz showed no signs of
backing down, either on his plans
for the neighborhood or in the latest
crisis. "We have come back to our
home," he said in an interview with
a conservative Israeli radio station.
Bar-Illan said no compromise
proposals had yet been offered to
the settlers, but several were
discussed in government meetings
Wednesday, including requiring the
families to evacuate the buildings
but allowing them to leave behind a
"token Jewish presence" of security
guards and maintenance officials.
Palestinian officials immediately
rejected the idea.
for this year. VMrs first
rminr • clonal class now includes
398 men and 26 women.
"That definitely indicates In
increase in interest," a VMI
spokesman, Col. Michael Strickler,
said of the increase in inquiries.
"We're putting in place what we
said we were going to do, and it's
having an impact."
But civil rights activists criticized
the report for a lack of detail on
how the female students were
faring, including the failure to
a mention an Aug. 29 altercation that
led to the suspension of Angelica
Garza, 18, of Fort Bel voir, for
punching an upperclassman.
Garza, previously had complained
that she was being unduly hantssed
on the Rat Line. VMrs ritualized
abuse of freshmen. but both VMI
officials and her parents later said
her sex played no role in the
confrontation.
"I am disappointed that the report
didn't deal with that incident," said
Marcia Greenberger, co-president of
the National Women's Law Center.
"They should give assurance to the
court that it was handled fairly and
without regard to gender."
isolated in enough quantity to allow
scientists to determine its chemical
structure
' After the 1992 episode,
Glasgow's lab was shut down for
more than a year. It eventually was
reopened as a high-security
"biohazard" facility where workers
wear respirators and protective
suits.
Glasgow and his boss, aquatic
botanist JoAnn Burkholder,
pioneered much of the early
scientific research on pfiesteria.
They documented the microbe's
bizarre 24-stage life cycle, which
enables it to change within hours
from a harmless blob of amoeba to
a lethal whip-tailed microorganism.
In its killer stage, pfiesteria attacks
fish with an arsenal of powerful
toxins that disrupt the nervous
system and cause the skin to slough
off.
Later laboratory tests confirmed
that pfiesteria's toxins can cause
neurological problems in rats. But
while pfiesteria's human "victims"
have reported similar symptoms,
finding hard evidence in the lab
has been problematic.
A controversial study this year by
East Carolina Unversity found no
conclusive evidence that pfiesteria
was causing any of the illnesses
reported by fishermen and others
who work in pfiesteria-infested
waters. Some state officials
suggested that the symptoms were
caused by other pathogens or that a
kind of mass hysteria was at work.
Some of the state's marine
scientists have even questioned
whether pfiesteria is responsible for
the state's massive fish kills in
recent years.
Burkholder dismisses those
questions, citing a sizable body of
laboratory studies documenting
pfiesteria's rapid lethality with
dozens of species of fish and
shellfish. Throughout the scientific
community, prominent scientists
who know Burkholder's work say
she makes a com llin case.
Clinton Wants
Congress to
Attack Teen
Smoking
By Myron Levin=(c) 1997,
Los Angeles Times
WASHINGTON _ President
Clinton Wednesday urged Congress
to attack teen smoking through
comprehensive legislation along the
lines of the giant tobacco peace
accord _ but with stiffer industry
payments to raise cigarette prices,
and unfettered authority for the
Food and Drug Administration to
regulate nicotine levels in
cigarettes.
Although Clinton refused to
embrace the $368.5 billion tobacco
deal, he warmly praised the state
attorneys general whose mega
lawsuits brought the industry to the
bargaining table and led to the
agreement announced June 20. And
in a ceremony in the Oval Office as
several attorneys general and
prominent anti-smoking leaders
looking on, Clinton outlined
principles to be embodied in
legislation that largely tracked
provisions of the deal.
But there were significant
differences as well. Clinton called
for industry payments and penalties
sufficient to raise cigarette prices
over the next decade by up to $1.50
per pack _ roughly twice the
increase that would result from the
proposed settlement. Aimed to
discourage smoking by
price-conscious teens, such an
increase would would bring prices
more in line with other western
countries where cigarette taxes often
range between $2 and $4.
"This is not primarily about
money," Clinton said. "This is
about changing ... the behavior of
the tobacco companies, the
behavior of the American people,
the future behavior of our children."
Dr. David Kessler, former head of
the FDA and a leading critic of the
tobacco deal, hailed Clinton's
statement as a victory for public
health in one of many impromptu
news conferences that broke out
near the White House after the
event.
"Saying he's willing to go up to
$1.50, if necessary, is exactly the
right approach," Kessler said.
In his long-awaited statement,
Thursday. September 18 - The Behrend College Collegian - page
"It's something out of Stephen
King novel," said Sandra
Shumway, a shellfish biologist at
Long Island University's
Southampton, N.Y., College, who
became a believer after witnessing .
pfiesteria attack on shellfish tissue
in her lab. "Pfiesteria is an
organism that should be taken very,
very seriously."
But in sorting out the truth about
pfiesteria's affects on humans,
scientists are hampered by a dearth
of data. To date, the clearest
description of what appears to be
poisoning by pfiesteria toxin comes
from the report of the three N.C.
State people who became ill while
working with samples of the
organism in a research laboratory.
The exposure came both from
direct skin contact with water in
which pfiesteria wasgrowing and
from breathing air that apparently
contained the toxin. The water
contained pfiesteria in greatly
varying concentrations, and in all
three cases, there was repeated
exposure to the organism.
Among the numerous symptoms
were numbness and tingling of the
hands and feet, disorientation,
problems with memory and
thinking, mood changes, difficultie -
breathing and skin sores.
A crucial step in evaluating a
poison is determining how little of
it is necessary to cause sickness or,
put another way, how much of it is
safe. This will not be known for
pfiesteria until the toxin is isolated.
At the moment, scientists also do
not know what concentration of the
organism in the water is hazardous.
PENNSTATE
G I Erie
Clinton did not say if he would
accept the liability protections that
had been the cigarette makers'
whole reason for negotiating the
tobacco deal. Bruce Reed, Clinton's
domestic policy adviser, said later
that administration officials "had
some concerns" about certain of the
immunity provisions, but he did
not elaborate.
Industry response was critical, if
a bit subdued. "We agree with his
(Clinton's) stated goal of reducing
underage use of tobacco products,"
Philip Morris, R.J. Reynolds and
two other firms said in a joint
statement. But they said the deal
announced June 20 "still represents
the most achievable balance."
"We have agreed to pay a total of
$368.5 billion over a 25-year
period," which is "an unprecedented
amount of money," said J. Philip
Carlton, an industry lawyer. "It
would certainly be unacceptable to
try to raise the financial terms of
this agreement."
Congressional response was
predictably mixed, with many
Democrats praising Clinton's stance
although some, including Sen.
Tom Harkin, D-lowa, said the
$1.50 increase might not be
effective if phased in over 10 years.
Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J.,
announced that he will seek a $1.50
per pack cigarette tax increase
independent of any comprehensive
bill.
Republicans also criticized
Clinton for taking three months to
weigh in with a general statement
rather than a specific legislative
blueprint.
"I don't think he really helped
advance the ball," said Senate
Assistant Majority Leader Don
Nickles, R-Okla.
Administration officials said they
believed it would be more effective
to outline general principles and
negotiate terms with Congress,
rather than send up a specific
package and let critics pick at the
details.
They said meetings between
White House staff and
congressional leaders should begin
soon.
Since announcement of the
tobacco deal June 20, Congress has
been largely in a holding pattern
while awaiting Clinton's verdict.
Some attorneys general who had
negotiated with the industry _ and
had been encouraged by the White
House to do so _ privately had
voiced resentment that the deal was
languishing and was being attacked
as a sellout to Big Tobacco.
Clinton
'Happy
and sad'
about
Chelsea
WASHINGTON, Sept. 17 (UPI)
President Clinton says he is both
"happy and sad" about his only
daughter Chelsea leaving home this
week to start college.
Clinton took the afternoon off
today to spend time with Chelsea.
The president and his wife, Hillary
Rodham Clinton, take her to
Stanford University in Palo Alto,
Calif., Thursday.
The first family will join other
parents and students at Parents Day
orientation proceedings on the
sprawling 8,100-acre campus Frida)
and will get 17-year-old Chelsea
settled in her coed dormitory.
Classes begin Sept. 24.
In the Oval Office to discuss the
multibillion dollar tobacco deal,
Clinton said he began the day doing
more important things, like
looking at boxes to "make sure we
had all the right things in the right
boxes."
He paused at the question of
whether he was ready for his
daughter to leave home, stating
somewhat
ruefully that "that's what you raise
them for." Clinton said, "I'm
happy and sad at the same time." -
"We're pretty excited today about
what the president has done," said
Mississippi Attorney General
Mike Moore, who filed the first
state anti-tobacco lawsuit and was
lead negotiator in settlement talks.
"He (Clinton) thinks we ought
to build and toughen up the
settlement," Moore said. "For 90
days, we were trying to get the
president to support this thing, and
finally he did."
However, all parties have
conceded that it is too late to move
a major tobacco deal through
Congress before it adjourns in late
October or early November. That
means Congress will not take up
the measure in earnest until early
next year.
Tobacco foes have spoken
hopefully of a new mood in
Congress that could lead to passal
of anti-smoking legislation witho
legal protections or other
concessions being given to the
industry. But most observers thin
the cigarette makers will have to
involved for significant legislatioi
to succeed.
"Twelve senators from tobacco
states _ working together, calling
in lOUs _ can stop anything," sail
Richard Scruggs, a Mississippi
lawyer working for attorneys
general from several states.
"Anyone who thinks you can
just impose anything you want or
tobacco is smoking something
other than tobacco."
The tobacco deal would give the
industry permanent relief from
lawsuits by the states and private
class action lawyers. Although
claims by individual smokers woul
still be allowed, punitive damages
would not.
In return, the industry was to
reimburse states for smoking relate
health care costs and fund public
health programs _ with the money
being raised through cigarette price
increases of about 60 to 70 cents
per pack.
In addition, the industry had
agreed to an array of anti-smoking
measures, including protections
against second hand smoke, a ban
on tobacco billboards and other
marketing restrictions, and industry
financed anti-smoking ad campaign ,
and stop smoking programs costing
$2 billion per year.
Clinton generally endorsed these
measures Wednesday. Industry
lawyers and attorneys general had
argued that such anti-smoking
programs could not be secured
through court action, even if states
were successful in their suits.
But critics of the deal and,
ultimately, Clinton's advisers
concluded that the price hikes and
other measures could not achieye
the deal's stated goals of reducing
teen smoking by 30 percent within
five years and 60 percent in 10.