The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, October 12, 2005, Image 1
Concerns emerge as flu season nears
Health center expects
more vaccines this year
to battle possible problems
> Jason (Dyers
FOR THE GAMECOCK L
Ample supplies of flu vaccine
should be arriving at the Thomson
Student Health Center by the end of
October, and vaccinations will begin
soon after, health center officials said.
“We do not expect to have a
shortage of the flu vaccine this
season,” said Dr. Terry King, director
of Clinical Services at the Thomson
Student Health Center. “This year we
have ordered 2,000 vaccines. That’s a
slight increase from the number
ordered last year.”
According to the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, this
^ year four suppliers are expected to
^ deliver between 71 million and 97
million doses of flu vaccine to the
United States. South Carolina
administers about 1 million vaccines
each year.
Last year’s shortage developed when
the Chiron Corporation’s license to
manufacture the flu vaccine was
suspended by British regulators
because of poor manufacturing
practices and bacterial contamination.
Chiron was to make 46 million to 48
million doses of the vaccine for
distribution in the United States.
The loss of Chiron’s share of the
^ vaccine left the U.S. with
^ approximately hair its supply, .south
Carolina received around 619,018
vaccines, according to the South
Carolina Department of Health and
Environmental Control. USC
received only 500 of the 1,700 doses
ordered.
This year, Chiron has passed FDA
inspections at its Liverpool, England
facility. The company is shipping its
lots to various distribution centers,
but they cannot be distributed until
the FDA approves.
“As far as we know there is no issue,
but the lots are still on hold,” said Dr.
Shirley Jankelevich, medical
P epidemiologist for DHEC.
“According to Chiron, it is simply
paperwork that the FDA has to
complete.”
PLU • 6
NURSING
HEALTH KIT
COMPETITION
AIDS EVACUEES
Hristm Highley
FOR THE GAMECOCK
» USC’s Student Nurses’
Association recently held ‘ a
competition between the upper
division, lower division and faculty
of the nursing school.
The competition produced
supplies that went directly to the
American Red Cross hurricane relief
effort.
Nursing students and faculty were
notified in September of the
competition to see who could raise
the most health kits for Katrina
victims. Boxes were placed in the
dean’s office in the nursing building
to hold the collected health kits.
The kits, consisting of a hand
^ towel, washcloth, hair comb, nail
P file or clippers, soap, toothbrush,
toothpaste and six adhesive
bandages, were valued at $12.
Competitors were instructed to wrap
supplies in the hand towel and place
them in the boxes (one each for the
upper and lower divisions and the
faculty) in the dean’s office.
With 88 health kits collected, the
faculty won the contest. The lower
division came in second with 67
kits.
“Gloria Fowler collected money
(1ID«Z
Irwin Ferdiansyah I The Associated Press
A man feeds his rooster in Jakarta, Indonesia. The H5N1 strain of bird flu has
swept through poultry populations in many parts of Asia since 2003, killing at
least 62 people region wide and resulting in the deaths of tens of millions of birds.
USC student’s
boxing gym
keeps local kids
off streets,
out of trouble
Jess Dauis
STAFF WRITER
For one USC student, a masters
degree program is about more than
making the grade.
Mitchell Smith, pursuing a Master
of Social Work, opened a boxing gym
in Columbia in August, with the
twofold goal of getting kids off the
streets and instilling in them a love of
boxing.
The gym, called Total Package, is
located on Fairfield Road in what
Smith calls a “rougher” area of
Columbia, where children are more
likely to be in danger of joining gangs
or getting caught up in drug abuse.
He works with two age groups, one 8
to 18, which, through a combination
of boxing, mentoring and tutoring,
are learning to have hope for bigger
things in the future.
“These kids need another home,
positive role models or even big
brothers and big sisters who can take
them under their wing,” Smith said.
“If (the kids) don’t have that
nurturing at home, they’re going to
find it -— and for some kids that’s
what gangs are, that sense of being
wanted. At the gym, we want you
here, we need you here, but to be a
part you (have) to change your ways.”
Boxing was a natural idea for Smith
when he was thinking of what he
could do to help kids. Smith is a
boxer, though he did not grow up
with the sport. As a member of the
1992 U.S. Olympic bobsled team, he
had the chance to watch Olympic
boxers train and practice, and decided
to get involved with the sport. It
quickly became something Smith
loved.
When it was time for him to work
on a project for his degree, the idea
of starting a boxing gym sprang to
BOXMG • 6
Special to THE (fAMECOCK
USC law student Bakari Sellers is
seeking the Democratic nomination
to be District 90 representative.
INSIDE
Viewpoints
Steve Nuzum tackles one of the
most popular dichotomies in our
society; Steven Van Haren helps us
fine-tune our BS-O-meters in light
of recent natural disasters.
8
The Mix
Not your typical boat show
Multi-national ska-reggae band
Regatta 69 will perform tonight
at the New Brookland Tavern.
9
Sports
!m t tsm
Newtonian mechanics
Jack-of-all-trades Syvelle Newton
makes the switch to running back
against Vanderbilt next Saturday.
12
Scant virus details confuses, upsets N. C. poultry workers
The Rssociated Press
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — North
Carolina poultry workers say they’ve
been left in the dark as the world faces
the looming threat of a potentially
deadly bird flu hopscotching around
the globe.
Mariano Castro, 37, a quality
control worker at a huge Case Farms
poultry processing plant in
Morganton, wondered 'why the
company hadn’t held meetings to tell
its workers about the potential risks.
“It’s kind of terrifying,” said Leonel
Escobar, 29, who makes $7.75 an
hour to slice up to 25 chicken legs a
minute. “I want to know what the
company would do if the flu did come
here.”
. A deadly strain of avian flu has
killed at least 60 people in Asia, most
of them poultry workers. Authorities
in Turkey and Romania confirmed
their first cases of the disease over the
weekend and the European countries
began slaughtering thousands of
domestic fowl on Sunday to stop the
spread.
President Bush said last week he’s
growing more concerned about avian
flu possibly spreading to people. He
called on Congress to allow the
military to enforce mass human
POULTRY • 4
Jessica Egan /THE GAMECOCK
A young boxer trains at Total Package, a gym on Fairfield Road owned by a USC graduate student.
Law student seeking spot in state legislature
Prom staff reports
First-year USC law student Bakari
Sellers has announced he is seeking
the Democratic nomination for
representative of District 90 in the
2006 election for the S.C. House of
Representatives.
The 21-year-old Sellers would be
South Carolina’s youngest legislator
and would represent Bamberg,
Barnwell and Orangeburg counties.
In a news release, Sellers said District
90 has to overcome economic hurdles
such as higher unemployment and
underperforming schools.
“Economic success comes when
we fund public schools equitably. It
comes when we create an economic
infrastructure for industry and jobs.
It comes when we improve the
quality of healthcare within the
district.”
Sellers has worked for U.S.
Congressman James E. Clyburn, D
S.C., Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin
and the Rev. Charles White, the
Southeastern regional director of the
NAACP. He was also student
government president at Morehouse
College.
Comments on this story? E-mail
gamecocknews@gwm.sc. edu
RHA discusses dorm programming
Gina Uasselli
STAFF WRITER
RHA senators, not RAs, are now
responsible for bringing programs to
residence halls, a decision topping
the list of business at Tuesday night’s
Residence Hall Association meeting.
RHA President Terrill Wilkins, a
third-year history student, addressed
this issue in an e-mail he sent to
senators before the meeting and
used his executive report time to
answer questions about the policy.
RHA advisor Sean McGreevey
also addressed the issue in his report.
“We want the RAs to serve more
of a mentoring role now,” and leave
the programming to senators,
McGreevey said.
Guest speaker Adele Markowitz
from Sexual Health and Violence
Prevention also stressed the need for
senators to bring programs to
residence halls, specifically focusing
on programs her department offers.
“You can bring ice cream to these
things and call it sex and cream,”
Markowitz said. “All you have to do
is call the office and make and
appointment.”
Markowitz also talked about U.S.
RHfl • 4
i