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FRIDAY, APRIL 13, 2001
Lung infection brought from spring
break spreads to 37 campuses
by Susan Fitz Gerald
Knight-Ridder Newspapers
April 11, 2001
Federal health officials are investi
gating more than 200 cases of stu
dents who developed an acute respi
ratory illness that they suspect is his
toplasmosis.
The students are from 37 colleges
and universities in 18 states, but
nearly all of them had one thing in
common -- they vacationed in
Acapulco during March and stayed at
or visited the Calinda Beach Hotel
there, according to the federal Cen
ters for Disease Control and Preven
tion.
The first outbreak was picked up
by an alert student health physician
late last month at Villanova, where 29
students got sick about two weeks
after returning home. Similar cases
have been identified from Massachu
setts to Missouri. Locally, some stu
dents at Rutgers University,
Muhlenberg College in Allentown
and Pennsylvania State University,
fell ill.
Histoplasmosis is a fungal disease
that primarily affects the lungs and
can be deadly in people with other
health problems. The fungal spores
involved thrive in dirt rich in bird and
bat droppings and can be breathed in
when soil is disturbed.
Racist flyer surfaces at UC Davis as
appeal over student election lingers
Campus police offers at the University of California, Davis are warning stu
dent government leaders to take precautions after racist literature decrying the
results of a recent student election turned up on campus.
The flyers, which claim to be the work of the Ku Klux Klan's Davis Knights,
allege that officials should overturn the results of the election because the win
ners include students who are African American and gay.
"Only pure white heterosexuals can really be expected to follow the rules
since they're the only ones capable of understanding them," states the flyer,
which claims that the minorities cheated in order to win their respective races.
Campus police spokesperson Paul Pfotenhauer said that they are looking for
the source of the flyers but added that no crime has been committed. The most
important factor right now, he said, is the safety of the students involved.
"We'll provide them with as much safety as we can," he said. "That's our
biggest concern right now."
Pfotenhauer said that flyers have been found near the library and a building
that houses programs covering ethnic studies, and that one student has reported
receiving a flyer near her apartment building
The election, which took place Feb. 20, is currently on appeal. Students on at
least 10 separate occasions have voiced complaints about the behavior of the
Leadership Empowerment Activism Determination party on the day of the elec
tion. Students allege, among other things, that LEAD party supporters were
campaigning near the polling place while students voted, a violation of election
rules.
The party swept the election, winning the presidential race and all six vacant
slots on the student senate.
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"There was some construction go
ing on around the hotel," said Dr.
Rana Hajjeh, a CDC epidemiologist
in Atlanta, who is heading the inves
tigation. But she said it would be pre
mature to conclude the hotel site was
the source of the infection because
"the hotel is not the only link that is
common."
She said there was also construc
tion near certain bars and nightclubs
the students tended to frequent.
Hajjeh said CDC officials are in
consultation with the Mexico Minis
try of Health, which is conducting its
own investigation. The Calinda Beach
Hotel has not been shut down, she
said.
While it suspects histoplasmosis,
the CDC so far has tentatively con
firmed only one of the more than 200
cases under investigation, Hajjeh said.
That was from a lung biopsy done on
a student at Washington University in
St. Louis.
Dr. Richard Pacropis, an internal
medicine specialist who directs stu
dent health at Villanova, set off a na
tional alert among college campuses
after he figured out what was likely
bringing so many students into his
infirmary.
On March 28, a student came in
with a high fever, muscle aches, chest
pain, dry coughing and weakness, and
she was soon followed by others with
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TMS Campus
April 10, 2001
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similar symptoms
"We had 29 students over a four
to five-day period," said Pacropis. Six
of them ended up at Bryn Mawr Hos
pital, where Pacropis is on staff. In
taking medical histories on the stu
dents, he learned that all of them had
spent the March 3-11 spring break in
Acapulco.
They didn't appear to have the
more predictable illnesses, such as flu
or mononucleosis. But chest X-rays
revealed a fungal infection of the
lungs. Because the infection has a 2-
to 21/2-week incubation period, the
students had felt fine when they first
came back to campus.
Carissa Giardino, 21, a Villanova
senior from Doylestown, Pa., said she
was among a group of 29 Villanova
women who spent about $B5O each
for a package deal that included air
fare and a week's stay at the Calinda
Beach Hotel.
After getting hack to classes, she
began to experience a high fever,
muscle aches, fatigue "and a lot of
soreness in the chest: it hurt to breathe
normally."
When she didn't get better after a
week and heard of a friend who had
a suspected case of histoplasmosis,
she went to the emergency room at
Bryn Mawr Hospital.
The sickness wiped her out.
didn't do anything but go to classes
[tuition")
for two weeks," Giardino said
Pacropis said the most seriously ill
students were given a 28-day course
of anti-fungal medicine. All 29 stu
dents are now recovered.
Pacropis reported the cases of sus
pected histoplasmosis to the Pennsyl
vania Health Department, which en
tered the investigation and in turn
alerted the CDC.
From his students, he learned the
names of other colleges with students
staying at the same hotel and took it
upon himself to alert their medical
directors. He said he has received
calls from around the country.
Ore Penn State student who stayed
at the Calinda Beach Hotel is now
being evaluated for histoplasmosis,
according to a university spokesper-
Sam Miranda, head of student
health at Muhlenberg, said his center
has identified seven possible cases
among students who spent spring
breal in Acapulco. All are back to
good health.
Ha ijeh, of the CDC, said histoplas
mosi is a disease that routinely pops
up ar3und the country, particularly in
areas such as the Ohio and Mississippi
River valleys, where the soil is rich
in the fungus.
"We've had a lot of outbreaks," she
said. "But this is the first one of such
mull -state magnitude."
Bush budget includes
slight increase in spending
for higher education
by Matthew McGuire
TMS Campus
April 10, 2001
While President George W. Bush's
recent budget proposal has focused
on slashing the federal budget over
the next 10 years, education pro
grams affecting colleges and univer
sities saw increases in funding, or at
the very least, went untouched.
The bulk of Bush's proposed in
creases in education spending will go
to elementary and secondary educa
tion programs, while college students
will benefit from increases in finan
cial aid and programs to promote suc
cess among disadvantaged students.
Under the new budget, Bush pro
poses spending an extra $1 billion on
Pell Grants to provide disadvantaged
students with financial assistance for
college. The increase would boost the
maximum award by $lOO to $3,850,
the higliestamount ever awarded.
Federal student loans also get a $37
billion increases through two pro
grams - the Federal Family Educa
tion Loan (FEEL) and the Federal
Direct Student Loan (FDSL).
While the House approved the
Bush plan unchanged, the Senate
voted last week to reduce his $1.6
trillion tax cut by more than one
quarter and add $250 billion to Pell
Grants and other education programs
over a 10-year period.
The American Council on Educa
tion was dissatisfied with the Bush's
recent budget proposal, but ap
plauded the Senate's budget proposal
with the additional funding
"We are disappointed by this bud
get proposal, particularly the fund
ing for need-based student aid," the
American Council on Education said
in a statement. "...As this process
moves forward, we will work to see
NCAA looks at easing eligibility requirements
by Matthew McGuire
TMS Campus
April 9, 2001
Following close behind NCAA
regulations that took place in Division
II athletics earlier this year, the NCAA
could loosen regulations that would
allow athletes to compete in college
sports after spending one year in the
pros.
The NCAA management council is
meeting April 9 and 10 to discuss a
controversial slate of changes.
If approved, the changes would al
low high school players to accept
prize money, sign contracts, compete
with professionals, earn money fol-
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that the final spending levels match
the Senate's budget resolution as
closely as possible."
Other post-secondary programs
that typically service students with
"demonstrated financial need" re
ceived no increase in funding.
The work study program, which
provides grants to pay wages of stu
dents to pay college costs, and the
Supplemental Educational Opportu
nity Grant (SEOG) program, which
provides grant assistance of up to
54,000 for students, will keep the
same amount of funding in Bush's
proposed budget.
The Perkins Loan, which provides
loans to.students with financial needs,
also received no additional funding
along with the Leveraging Educa
tional Assistance Partnership (LEAP)
program, which provides federal
funds for state grant programs and
provides community service pro
grams to help financially needy stu
dents pay for college.
Other financial aid programs, how
ever, were given a boost.
The proposal calls for an increase
in the amount of money the federal
government will forgive teachers em
ployed at high-poverty schools. Cur
rently teachers may have up to $5,000
of their federal loans forgiven after
teaching for five years, howver, un
der Bush's plan students who majored
in math and science and teach those
subjects in high-need schools could
have up to $17,500 forgiven.
Outreach and tutoring programs,
such as TRIO, which helps disadvan
taged individuals enter and complete
post-secondary education programs,
will get a $5O million increase. Bush's
plan also calls for a $l5 Million in
crease in aid to colleges and univer
sities that primarily serve black and
Hispanic populations.
lowing graduation and enter the draft,
while keeping their eligibility.
Students would only be able to par
ticipate in Division I athletics if they
spent one year or less playing for a pro
fessional team, and they would lose
one year of eligibility. Recent Division
II legislation allows an athlete to par
ticipate in athletics after three years
of professional play, with the athlete
losing one year of eligibility for each
year of pro participation.
If the NCAA management council
approves the legislation, the NCAA
board of directors must also approve
it before the management council fi
nalizes its vote in October.
Students grill GE
chairman on
money, employees
and more
Students at Fairfield University in Con
necticut pulled no punches during a ques
tion-and-answer session with General Elec
tric Chairman Jack Welch.
Students questioned everything from
Welch's religious beliefs to his $76 million
dollar salary last year, as well as company
policies on employee benefits and the envi
ronment.
Speaking before more than 500 students,
Welch, 65, defended his company, saying
that GE, which is based out of Fairfield, has
created more than 300,000 jobs and pro
duced more than 19,000 millionaires, mostly
through stock options.
Welch made no excuses about his salary,
$56 million of which was generated through
stock options. But when students questioned
the disparity between Welch's salary and the
poverty-level wages of workers in Mexico,
the chairman, who will step down this year
after serving for two decades, swiftly de
fended his company, claiming that "no one
came to GE with a gun to their head."
When asked why all employees weren't
entitled to stock options, Welch called such
an idea "the dumbest idea in the world" and
defended the system as one based on reward
rather than a basic employee right.
Welch, who earned the nickname "Neu
tron Jack" after he initiated a series of lay
offs upon taking the helm in 1981 as GE's
chairman, defended his practices Monday,
saying that firing people, while never easy,
is a part of running an efficient business.
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TMS Campus
April 10, 2001