Date-rape drug an e-mail hfeix
■ Horse sterilization pill
that does not exist is said
to have been used as date
rape drug on campuses.
College Heights Herald
Western Kentucky University
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (U
WIRE) - Women on college cam
puses across the nation have been
receiving alarming e-mails warning
them about a new drug that date
rapists are using.
The new drug, Progesterex,
simultaneously sterilizes and knocks
out women so they may be raped and
not become pregnant.
The e-mail is a hoax.
“It’s an urban myth,” said
Theresa Edmundson, assistant
health educator at Student Health
Services at Western Kentucky
University.
Comments and secondhand tes
timonials have been sent through e
mail to women across the country.
The e-mail claims that a horse steril
ization pill called Progesterex has
been used to rape .women on college
campuses across the nation.
The e-mail claims the drug is
administered by mixing it with alco
hol or soda. It sterilizes women so
that the woman cannot become preg
nant, according to the e-mail.
The U.S. Food and Drug
Administration and the American
m
It sounded real. It made me worry about
my friends who go to parties all of the
timer
Laura Ressler
Western Kentucky University freshman
Veterinary Medical Association say
the drug does not exist. Experts say
the only drug that is similar to the
stated purpose of Progesterex is a
drug called Estrus, which is used to
temporarily prevent mares from
coming into heat
The fake e-mail also says
Progesterex usage has been reported
at fraternity parties at Columbia
University.
Spokespeople for Columbia
University confirmed there has been
no reported use of such a drug at the
university.
Columbia University spokespeo
ple also checked with other universi
ties and drug education organiza
tions. None of the groups had heard
of Progesterex or its alleged use.
“It sounded real,” said freshman
Laura Ressler. Ressler received the
e-mail from a friend and forwarded
it to other female friends. “It made
me worry about my friends who go
to parties all of the time.”
Although Progesterex is not a
real drug, there are several other
drugs that are often used in date
rapes. One of those drugs is called
Rohypnol. Rohypnol is used med
ically as an anesthetic or sleeping
pill. It has recently become known as
“the date-rape drug.”
It is used by rapists to sedate
their victims. Roofies, as they are
commonly called, are dropped into
drinks at bars and parties.
The drug leaves the victim weak
and causes him or her to lose memo
ries of what happened after the drug
was taken.
Detection of Rohypnol, now ille
gal, may become easier.
The manufacturers of the drug
recently reformulated the drug. If
added to light-colored drinks, the
drink would turn bright blue. In a
dark drink, the liquid will appear
cloudy.
Another rape drug is called
Gamma Hydroxybutyrate, common
ly called GHB. When taken at high
dosages, it has a sedating effect.
www.dailyneb.com
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scientists
grow human
corneas
WASHINGTON (AP) -
Scientists for the. first time have
grown human corneas m a laborato
ry, a major step that could help
replace controversial chemical test
ing on animals’ eyes and perhaps one
day even develop a supply of artifi
cial corneas for patients who need
eye surgery.
“They show the same function as
a real human cornea” in laboratory
tests, said lead researcher May
Griffith of the University of Ottawa,
who reported her discovery in today’s
edition of the journal Science.
“This is a fundamentally new
approach,” added toxicologist
Rosemarie Osborne of manufactur
ing giant Procter & Gamble, which
helped fund Griffith’s work. “If we
had had these sorts of tissues avail
able years ago, there would have
never been a need for animal tests.”
The delicate cornea acts as a win
dow into the eye, a transparent cover
ing that protects the iris and pupil and
also focuses light to the proper spot
for vision.
Some 40,000 corneal transplants
are performed every year thanks to
corneas donated at death, enabling
people whose corneas became dam
aged or clouded to see again. But
there are barely enough donations to
fulfill that need, leaving little for
researchers to use in studying eye
diseases.
Congratulations
Collin Johnson
Collin Johnson is a graduating senior in Agricultural Business and has chosen a career at
Archer Daniels Midland Company in commodities trading.
ADM is one of the largest graiij and food processing companies in the
world. Based in Decatur, Illinois, ADM is continually expanding
throughout the United States a& weH as in China, Europe, Mexico, and
South America.
Collin found out about ADM’s career opportunities from career services 0 r k e t .
on campus and scheduled an interview with ADM. After completing a < ^ °
two-stage interview process, Collin was offered a position as a <? * a %
commodities trader. In January, he will begin a 4-6 months hands-on J* »
training program that will expose him to all aspects of ADM and QQv ADM
commodities trading. o*
ADM is looking forward to having Collin join our team. <J\>
Job market open
in computer fields
The Daily Free Press
Boston University
BOSTON (U-WIRE) - Graduate
student Jeff Considine is a man in
demand - a major corporation is
offering him a starting salary of
$63,000.
But he is not sure if he wants the
job. To Considine, who will graduate
with a computer science degree, the
$63,000 offer from Compaq is a run
of-the-mill starting salary in the
computer field. Compaq is one of
many companies courting Considine.
Mitre, another computer company,
may pay him up to $52,000 a year to
design software.
Facing a variety of offers, he
expects to have his pick of jobs upon
graduation but hasn’t made a deci
sion yet.
And he is not alone.
According to a recent University
of Michigan survey, Considine is one
of many students facing a rich job
market, where starting salaries are up
3 to 5 percent. The study also found
that the college labor market is
expected to expand 10 to 15 percent
in the coming year.
in general, salaries are up, said
Boston University Career Services
Director Richard Leger.
The job market is especially hot
for graduates with computer science
degrees, since recent surges in tech
nical innovations have made comput
er experts highly prized by employ
ers, Leger said.
Scott Savarese, another GRS stu
dent, has an offer pending with
General Dynamics, a high-tech cor
poration. But he is not sure if he will
take the job because he may wait for
an offer from a start-up company,
which could hold more immediate
benefits.
“If I were to work for Compaq, I’d
have safety and benefits,” Savarese
said. “But with a start-up company,
you can earn a lot more money in a
shorter amount of time.”
While a number of high-tech
companies are offering Savarese the
chance for a large salary, the benefits
to work in a computer-related field
. extend beyond money.
In addition to the $800 a week he
earned as a software developer,
66
My guess is
technology is...going
to command top
dollar and be
competitive.”
Richard Leger
Boston University Career
Services director
Savarese’s employer, Compaq,
offered him a variety of extra bene
fits, including flexible hours, the use
of a health club and the option to
work at home.
Through the combination of extra
benefits and high salaries, Leger
said, corporations hope to lure top
candidates, especially Internet opera
tors, designers and security program
mers.
“Anything that clicks into the Net
seems to be doing very well right
now,” Leger said. “My guess is tech
nology is ... going to command top
dollar and be competitive.”
Leger says two factors typically
determine a starting salary - geo
graphic location and job type.
According to the Electronic
Engineering Times, engineers work
ing in Northern California make
more money than anywhere else in
the nation.
To have a shot at earning some of
these high wages, Leger said, an,
increasingly large number of gradu
ates are exploring alternate ways to
get a job, such as working as tempo
rary employees.
“There are lots and lots of folks*
around who are hiring students on a
temp basis,” he said.
Leger urges students to begin
their job search as early as their
freshman years to familiarize them
selves with job search resources
available on campus.
“Get an idea about what you like |
doing,” Leger said. “Ultimately,
you’re going to be good at what you
do because you like it.”
Former officer implicated
in death of Notorious B.I.G.
LOS ANGELES (AP) -
Detectives are investigating whether
an ex-policeman in prison for bank
robbery played a role in the slaying of
rapper Notorious B.I.G., the Los
Angeles Times reported Thursday.
Investigators are looking into the
possibility that former officer David
Mack arranged for a friend to carry
out the shooting outside the Petersen
Automotive Museum in 1997, the
newspaper said. There have been no
arrests or charges in the rapper’s death.
Some investigators believe the
killing of Notorious B.I.G., whose real
name was Christopher Wallace,
involved a feud between Los Angeles
based Death Row Records and New
York rivals, the paper said.
Detectives who searched Mack’s
house in connection with the bank
robbery found what a police source
called a “shrine” to Tupac Shakur, the
Deadi Row star gunned down in Las
Vegas six months before Wallace was
killed.
Police wouldn’t discuss the news
paper report, which was based on con
fidential police documents and used a
former detective assigned to the case
as one of the sources.
“It sounds absolutely ridiculous to
me,” said Mack’s lawyer, Donald M.
Re.
Investigators are trying to deter
mine whether Mack hired longtime
friend Amir Muhammad to kill
Wallace at the behest of Death Row
founder Marion “Suge” Knight, the
Times reported
Detectives previously have identi
fied Knight as a suspect in the
Notorious B.I.G. killing, alleging he
may have ordered it while in jail on a
parole violation. He is serving nine
years for a 1992 attack on two rappers
in a recording studio.
Knight’s attorney, Robin Yanes,
said Thursday that his client doesn’t
know Mack. “He’s not a friend, not a
business associate, nothing.”
“A year ago it came up, and now
they’re recycling it to cover their butts.
They have nowhere to go. They are at
a standstill,” Yanes said. “They went
up to the prison and tried to get people
to snitch out Suge, and they got noth
ing.”
Mack is serving 14 years for a
1997 bank robbery fiat netted a still
missing $722,000.
He is a former partner of Rafael
Perez, the jailed ex-officer at the col
ter of a Los Angeles Police
Department corruption probe involv
ing falsified reports, evidence planti
ng and a shooting that paralyzed a
man.
