PCC Courier, December 09, 2004

Serving PCC and the Pasadena community since 1915 Dec. 9, 2004 pcc-courieronline.com Vol. 90, Issue 13 Din о s Decay Pages JPL Shuttle Van Careens Off Highway ■ An early morning commute turns deadly; its cause is still under investigation. Dean Lee Staff Writer Three people were killed yester¬ day when a van carrying commuters on Highway 2 from the Antelope Valley to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory plunged down a 200-foot cliff. The seven other victims were airlifted to hospitals, according to the Associated Press. Several lab employees reported that they heard there was a substitute driver operating the van, because the regular driver called in sick. Fog may have been a contributing factor, according to the CHP. One passenger from the van who suffered a broken foot was able to climb to the top of the cliff and wave down help. “That’s always been a dangerous road with twists and turns,” said Dr. Bruce Carter, dean of the natural sci¬ ences division. “My sympathy goes out to those involved.” A second commuter van was trav¬ eling behind the one that drove over the cliff. The driver of that vehicle went on down the mountain to sum¬ mon help because no cell phone service was available near the acci¬ dent site. “I worked with one of the victims killed in the crash,” said Annie Carone, a PCC student who works at JPL. “I talked to her yesterday, and it seems so strange that she is gone today.” Carone said that people who work in the different sections at JPL are all like family, so it’s really sad when something like this happens. PCC astronomy instructor John Stantzos said, “I don’t know the details, but it’s a sad day for the JPL community.” Students at the California Institute of Technology were shocked at the news. Caltech has a close working relationship with JPL. “I’m very concerned about the people involved," said Caltech stu¬ dent Lisa Cowan. “I have several friends who work at JPL.” Leona Kershaw, secretary for the physics lab at Caltech, said, “My hope is that the people survived. I’ve been on Highway 2 and it’s dangerous.” “My first concern was who was in the van,” said Sue Perry, who works at the United States Geological Survey earthquake center. "I know and care about many people at JPL." £ 'nurtcsy of Associated Press Medevac helicopters transport survivors from the crash site in Angeles National Forest to area hospitals. Egg Donors at Risk EGG DONORS NEEDED Earn $5000? Ml i m .. №«ch № 4 $ge you may qualify &$CeQ0> 732-189' Illustration by William Hallstrom / Courier Ads like this don’t alert potential egg donors to the dangers of the procedure. Jessica Pirkl Managing Editor Looking at the glamorous airbrushed pictures it would be easy to confuse these sites with dating services. You can pick a blonde, brunette, red¬ head, whatever age, eye color, and ethnicity suits your desire. But the attached medical profiles, family genealogies and the females’ educational back¬ ground are a far cry from a dating site. Egg donors are a fast growing population among young women searching for a quick buck while continuing their education. Consequently, one of the criteria for most, if not all, of these egg factories is that the egg donor be currently enrolled in and attending school. EggDonor.com calls for the donor to have an SAT score of at least 1275 while hold¬ ing a 3.5 GPA or higher. The criteria also call for the donor to be practically impervious to illness or ,in one com¬ pany’s terms, to “not have any family history of birth defects or hereditary diseases.” A poten¬ tial donor must also answer questionnaires that can run more than 50 pages in length. It seems as if the questions about their hobbies, likes and dislikes are thrown in for good measure between the in-depth medical and educational history questions. Age qualifications are also in place with the common age requirements being that the female be between the ages of 20 and 30, which is the standard cut-off age. Luring young women to donate their eggs is an easy task, especially when the starting standard price for a “cycle” of follicles (the common medical term used for a batch of harvest¬ ed eggs) is around $3,500. Many egg-donor ads are run in college publications, where there are many women in need of an opportunity to make a little extra money. But what is not so widely publicized is the effects and the numerous tolls that the manda¬ tory drugs may possibly take on the donor’s body. Tolls that can include severe swelling, hor¬ mone imbalance, depression and the possibility of infertility. The risks of each of these side effects increase with each “cycle” a donor makes, which is often coun¬ teracted with the lure of more money. With each successful “cycle,” a donor can increase her price or market value after she has proven to be fruitful for harvesting. CreatingFamilies.com even states that they “will not provide information or advice on the legal, medical, genetic or psychological risks of egg donation.” What is also not stated during an initial call to one such organization is the use of needles for daily injections of the vari¬ ous hormones that are needed to stimulate the ovaries, so that they will produce an abun¬ dance of eggs. The process calls for ingesting tablets, taking nasal sprays, daily injections with various size needles, blood tests, ulta- sounds, psychological testing and in the end invasive surgery. If an invasive procedure that has such seri¬ ous possible side effects is occurring daily, it leaves the lingering question of exactly how these companies are being regulated. Seven-car Crash Update Annie Carone Staff Writer After the seven-car pile-up that occurred Tuesday, Nov. 30 in the parking structure, many students were left wondering how one car could possibly do so much damage to six others. According to Sgt. Steven Lester, the incident occurred when Samuel Juwono, while talking on his cell phone, was turn¬ ing left into the first row of the second level and he failed to clear the vehicle that was stopped at the stop sign waiting to make a right hand turn. Juwono clipped the left side of the front bumper and then proceed¬ ed to step on the gas rather than the brake, Lester said. Juwono’s Hyundai Elantra then rico¬ cheted into the parked car, a Honda Accord, on his left-hand side with such force, the parked vehicle shifted a full 90 degrees. This impact caused the Accord to swing over and barrel into its neighboring car, a Toyota Tercel. Lester said from that point, Juwono’s Elantra plowed into the blue Honda Civic, which was two cars away from the Tercel (an empty space was between them). The Civic smashed into the Volkswagen Bug on it’s left. The Bug did the same to the vehi¬ cle on its other side, a silver Honda Civic. The last three cars where sandwiched together so closely a tow truck had to pull them apart. The blue Civic sustained so much damage, it had to sit in the structure until authorities could find a way for it to be towed out. Ramon Rodriguez, owner of the 1955 Bug that was in between the two Civics, confirmed that his car was a restored model and the accident caused over $2,000 in damage. “I thought someone had broken , into my car,” Rodriquez said. “I was shocked.” He now has to find rides to school. Rodriguez also said that Juwono’s insur¬ ance company had yet to contact him. While Lester said that Juwono has been very cooperative, the police let the separate parties work out the insurance procedures themselves. “We just handled this as a nor¬ mal traffic accident,” Lester said. The sergeant added that Juwono was very calm after the incident and was aware of what happened. The investigation indi¬ cates that the suspect was not speeding, but rather appears to have failed to make a wide-enough turn. Juwono was cited for reckless driving. Millions in Paid Internships Available Micah Flores Staff Writer The National Institutes of Health has set aside a staggering $60 million for American students, ages 16 and up, to receive paid sci¬ ence-related internships. As the largest funder of bio-medical research in the world and with an annual budget of $27.4 billion, the NIH is serious about getting students paid internships. Prospective paid internships include jobs in science, technology, engineering and mathematics at places such as medical agencies, colleges, companies, faith-based organizations, hospitals, laboratories or universities. While these jobs are science-related, they are not limited to science majors. These internships are available for anyone who is willing to show up on time and work. Dr. Joe Conner, associate professor of natural science, made an appearance at the Dec. 6 Academic Senate meeting where he told the senate about a plan to get students interested in the available paid internships. “I created a program called “Project 257” and the goal is to help get 257 stu¬ dents bio-medical jobs in all 50 states,” said Conner. “We want to make PCC the premier institution across the country where people will know about paid internships^’ Besides the money, Conner also said that the students would benefit through experience, contacts and clarification of what their personal goals would be. Students can learn more at www.crisp.cit.nih.gov. By logging on to this user-friendly website, prospective stu¬ dents wanting to find paid internships will be on their way to tapping into a valuable job resource. Conner can be contacted at jwconrier@pasadena.edu to answer ques¬ tions or direct prospective workers in the right direction. Find Some Stress Relief During Finals Week Stephen Folan News Editor Free breakfast at the Shatford Library, courtesy of the PCC Associated Students, will help ease the stress of finals this week and next week. Students who arrive before the library opens will find a free breakfast. Associated Students representatives will be handing out muffins, coffee, and hot chocolate, paid for out of the AS budget. The service will be available for an hour every morning as part of the library’s finals week services. “In the morning, you always see a lot of students waiting for the library to actually open,” explained AS president David Kong, who pushed the new services as part of his campaign promises. “That’s why we decided to open the rotunda to offer students some¬ thing to eat while they wait.” In addition, Kong worked with Mary Ann Laun, assistant dean of the library, to develop a new schedule that extends the library’s hours until 11 p.m for finals week. The schedule is already in effect and will last until Dec. 15. The library will be open from 7:30 a.m to 11 p.m from Dec. 6 through Dec. 9, as well as Dec. 13 through Dec. 15. “This is something I promised in my cam¬ paign,” Kong said. “You always hear about university libraries being open 24/7, and I wanted to do something to improve that here. The library is a great asset for research, and we should have it open as long as we can.” The problem is that extending the hours is expensive. According to Kong, the library is paying for its own extended hours. If student demand is high enough, they may continue to offer this extension in future semesters. On Monday, 25 students stayed until the extend¬ ed closing time on the first night in the serv¬ ice was offered. The AS is also paying to provide an escort service for students worried about going back to their cars alone after the library closes. The campus police cadets normally leave at 10 p.m, but arrangements have been made for them to stay on campus an hour longer and escort students to their cars if requested. Concerned students can reach the service at (626) 585-7484. For those who want a break from study¬ ing, the AS will also be paying for profession¬ al massage therapists in the library and the CC lounge from Dec. 14 to Dec. 16 as part of relaxation week. I* Photo illustration by William Hallstrom /Courier Finals got you down? The Associated Students will provide free breakfast every morning starting at 7 a.m. during finals week.