University of South Carolina Libraries
Car bombing blamed on al-Qaida militants f BY DONNA ABU-NASR THE ASSOCIATED I'RESS RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA - Saudis blamed al-Qaida militants Sunday for the suicide car bomb ing of a Riyadh housing complex, declaring it proof of the terror net work’s willingness to shed Muslim blood in its zeal to bring down the U.S.-linked Saudi monarchy. The attack late Saturday at an upscale compound for foreign workers — where mostly Arabs lived—killed 11 people and wound ed more than 120. The blast, not far from diplomatic quarters and the . king’s main palace, left piles of rub ble, hunks of twisted metal, broken glass and a large crater. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said he was “personally quite sure” al-Qaida was behind the Saturday night at tack “because this attack bears the hallmark of them.” - - Such attacks appear to be di rected “against the government of Saudi Arabia and the people of Saudi Arabia,” he said, adding that he expected more to follow. Gunmen — possibly disguised as police — shot their way into the 200-house compound, trading fire with security guards. The attack ers, believed to be in a police car, then drove into the compound and blew themselves up. Those killed were Lebanese, Egyptian, Sudanese and Saudi - four of them children. The Interior Ministry said most of the 122 in jured were Arabs as well. Most of the compound’s residents were Lebanese, but some Saudis, German, French and Italian fami lies also lived there. Four U.S. citizens were among the wounded, the ministry said. In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Amanda Batt said “some Americans were treated for minor injuries and released.” Led by Saudi-born dissident Osama bin Laden, al-Qaida has long opposed the Saudi royal family, ac cusing it of being insufficiently Islamic and too close to the West, particularly the United States. On Sunday in London, the Saudi ambassador to Britain, Prince Turki al-Faisal, condemned Saturday’s attack as the work of an “evil cult” whose “sole aim is the destruction of the kingdom. ” By targeting foreigners’ hous ing compounds, the attackers tar get the backbone of the Saudi economy. Saudi Arabia is home to 6 million expatriate workers, in cluding about 35,000 Americans and 30,000 Britons. Report cites untreated heart patients BY DANIEL Q. HANEY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ORLANDO, FLA. — Doctors have known for a decade that drugs called ACE! inhibitors are a cor nerstone of care for congestive heart failure, yet a nationwide sur vey released Sunday shows that nearly one-third of patients are sent home from the hospital with out this lifesaving treatment. The report documents what many see as a dangerous reality of modern medicine: Doctors of ten fail to offer, or simply don’t know about, the most basic ele ments of care for the many condi tions they see daily. Just why doctors do not give pa tients the treatments experts uni versally agree work best is not al ways clear, although those who study the situation say the reasons probably range from forgetfulness and haste to simple ignorance. In the latest study, Dr. Gregg Fonarow of the University of California, Los Angeles, looked at how often patients hospitalized with heart failure are discharged with four standard kinds of care. He found they are often missing, although this varies widely from “There are certain hospitals in the United States where 100 per cent of the patients get this,” he said. “There are others where pa tients had a better chance of win ning the lottery than getting the indicated care.” More than 1 million admissions are made each year to U.S. hospi tals for congestive heart failure, which is becoming even more common as better treatments that help people survive heart attacks leave them with damaged heart muscle. Large studies finished in the early 1990s convinced specialists that every heart failure patient — with a few clearly defined excep tions — should be on widely avail able drugs called angiotensin con verting, or ACE, inhibitors. The American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology included the drugs in their formal treatment guidelines in 1995, and the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations later agreed. The newest survey found that 31 percent of patients considered ideal candidates for ACE in hibitors are sent home without them. Even at elite teaching hos pitals affiliated with medical schools, more than one-quarter are not given them. The other findings: ♦ 72 percent are discharged without receiving a complete set of discharge instructions, as guidelines recommend. ♦ 69 percent of smokers with heart failure are never told to quit. ♦ 18 percent do not have the pumping power of their left ven tricles measured, a standard indi cator of heart failure. Fonarow noted that doctors can bill insurance companies for mea suring ventricle strength but not for writing prescriptions or ex horting patients to give up smok ing. “I don’t think the public under stands the huge degree of varia tion between hospitals,” he said. “People think if they go to a good hospital, they will get all the stan He based his findings on dis charge data on 54,639 heart failure patients at 260 hospitals between October 2001 and January 2003. The registry is sponsored by Johnson & Johnson’s Scios phar maceutical unit, which is devel oping new heart disease treat ments. Fonarow presented the re sults at the heart association’s an nual scientific meeting in Orlando. Dr. Richard Pasternak, head of preventive cardiology at Massachusetts General Hospital, said he believes doctors are actu ally more likely to follow standard procedures than they once were. “Things are getting better,” he said. “The question is why they aren’t getting better faster.” One approach is to set up sys tems in hospitals that routinely prompt doctors to offer all the standard kinds of care when they admit patients or discharge them. These are like the check lists airline pilots follow before taking off. The heart association recently introduced its “Get with the Guidelines” program to improve treatment of heart attacks by help ing hospitals establish these checklists. Dr. Kenneth LaBresh of MassPRO, the Massachusetts Medical Society’s healthcare qual ity organization, said the program has already paid off for the first 123 hospitals to join. He presented data at the meet ing showing doctors at these hos pitals are more likely to give such accepted treatments for heart at tacks as aspirin, beta blockers and cholesterol drugs. Among other reports at the meeting Sunday: ♦ A study of 3,203 adolescents in rural North Carolina found that 14 percent have at least three signs of the metabolic syndrome, which puts them at increased risk of dia betes and heart disease. These signs are high blood pressure, ele vated triglycerides, low levels of the good cholesterol HDL, high in sulin levels, high weight and mild ly elevated glucose levels in the blood. ▼ r\ i UU5 umvcian) aiuu^ compared four diet books - Atkins, the Zone, Ornish and the Weight Watchers cookbook - in 160 over weight volunteers and found that all reduced weight by 4 percent to 6 percent over one year. All but the Ornish plan significantly low ered the chance of heart trouble as measured by the widely used Framingham cardiac risk score. ♦ A study at the University of Athens found that people who fol low a Mediterranean diet, which emphasizes fish, fruit, vegetables, olive oil and little red meat, have significantly lower levels of C-re active protein, a sign of general in flammation in the bloodstream. Many researchers think inflam mation is a common cause of heart attacks. — Medical Editor Daniel Q. Haney is a special correspondent for The Associated Press. The Editor in Chief is responsible for ail operations of The Gamecock, USCs student newspaper that is published three days a week during the Spring semester. Duties include overseeing editorial content, recruiting and supervision of the editorial staff. Applications and job descriptions are available at the Office of the Director of Student Life, Russell House 115, or online at www.sa.sc.edu/studentmedia. DEADLINE for completed applications is Wednesday, November 12,2003 @ 4:00 p.m. Taking a break PHOTO BY MORGAN FORD/THE GAMECOCK USC students Michael Buzzard, with ball, and Bryan Stevens throw the football around on Davis Field Sunday afternoon. Hark CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 student, they would get in trou ble for the Web site,” Matthews said. Matthews is seeking recom mendations from the judicial board about her available ac tions against Hark’s Web site. “Private life or not, he was still standing buck naked on the horseshoe,” Matthews said. In regards to the proposed res olution, Hark said, “I appreciate the legislature and their efforts.” He added that the Web site dis traction prohibits RHA from reaching its potential and that he thinks the proposal “mirrors that sentiment.” As outlined in the RHA con stitution, the RHA president is “responsible for the representa tion of all campus residents,” and the constitution further states that “grounds for im peachment shall be for the fail ure to fulfill the duties of office as outlined.” The distinction that needs to be made in the upcoming senate meetings is whether a personal Web site falls underneath the umbrella of representing all campus residents. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecockudesk@hotmail.com Afghans condemn beauty queen THE ASSOCIATED PRESS MANILA, PHILIPPINES - Miss Afghanistan Vida Samadzai, condemned in her homeland for parading in a ,, bikini at the Miss Earth con-» test, won the pageant’s first “beauty for a cause” award on Sunday. The 23-year-old Samadzai, the first Afghan in three decades to take part in a beau ty contest, failed to make it to the contest’s semifinals. But judges announced that, for the first time, they were handing out a “beauty for a cause” prize. They awarded it to Samadzai for “symbolizing the newfound confidence, courage and spirit of today’s women ana "representing tne victory of women’s rights and various social, personal and re ligious struggles.” Samadzai could face prose cution if she returns to her na- * tive country because of her at- \ tire at the Manila pageant, a se nior Afghan justice official said Saturday. Fazel Ahmad Manawi, deputy head of Afghanistan’s Supreme Court, told The Associated Press that Samadzai, a college student in California, had betrayed Afghan culture by appearing at the Miss Earth contest in a bikini - and may have also bro ken the law. “I hope that this lady regrets her actions,” Manawi said. He added that Afghan prosecutors may open an investigation, but refused to say what charges or penalties Samadzai could face. Regardless of any legal ac tion, Samadzai’s parading 4 down a catwalk in a red bikini " during the contest’s qualifica tion last month was a radical departure from the tradition al image of Afghan women. so... psychology, huh? A Way to go buddy. You finally worked up the nerve to talk to that girl from Psych 101, but you still sounded like a doofus with nothing intelligent to say. That s where we come in. . r Visit our website and subscribe to the Email Edition. You ID get the latest campus news, college sports, and calendar events delivered right to your inbox. Filled with intelligent topics... Subscribe to the Email Edition todayl www.dailygamecock.com