March 20-2008-News

Salmonella Contaminates Alamosa Water Supply

Eden Youngblood
South Coloradan

The City of Alamosa has issued a bottled water advisory in accordance with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment order due to an outbreak of salmonella in the city. The advisory calls for any one residing in or visiting Alamosa to stop the use of tap water for drinking and cooking until further notice. If bottled water cannot be obtained it is suggested by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to bring to a rolling boil all needed water for ingestion for 15 minutes.

“To date, 33 cases of salmonella have been confirmed and linked to the outbreak, and another 46 reported cases of salmonella are being investigated by health officials,” according to the CDPHE. To end the small epidemic the public works, as a precaution to the potential source, will begin the chlorine flush procedure on March 20 and will last for five to ten days. The contamination was confirmed when one out of ten tests came up positive. The public works will continue to thoroughly examine all evidence and hopes to have the problem resolved within two weeks.

Upriver in Del Norte last Friday a fire at the local reservoirs damaged a pump and is believed to be the cause of that city’s similar bottled water advisory. The pump station delivers and treats the water for Del Norte citizens. A meeting concerning the tainted water was held on Wednesday of this week. Three ASC students on the track team have come in contact with salmonella within the last five days. They have all received medical attention and are recovering at this time. “Salmonellosis is an infection with a bacteria called Salmonella. Most persons infected with Salmonella develop diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps 12 to 72 hours after infection. The illness usually lasts 4 to 7 days, and most persons recover without treatment. However, in some persons the diarrhea may be so severe that the patient needs to be hospitalized. In these patients, the Salmonella infection may spread from the intestines to the blood stream, and then to other body sites and can cause death unless the person is treated promptly with antibiotics. The elderly, infants, and those with impaired immune systems are more likely to have a severe illness,” according to the CDC.

Some local supermarkets ran out of bottled water shortly after the initial advisory was issued yesterday. Panic should not ensue due to the multiple shipments that will be coming in on schedule.
You can find more information about salmonella at the COHELP line 1-877-462-2911.

 

Missionaries Accused of Vandalizing Catholic Shrine

Antony Guerrero

Recently, pictures were discovered missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints allegedly mocking and possibly vandalizing a Roman Catholic Shrine in the small community of San Luis, Colorado. On Thursday, March 6 a member of the Sangre de Cristo Parish in San Luis discovered the photos on the popular photo sharing website known as photobucket.com. The pictures have since been removed from the website. However, an email circulates in the San Luis Valley with the photos as attachments. There are a total of five photos related to the incident and in four of them missionaries are shown allegedly mocking the Roman Catholic faith.

Each photo carries a different caption describing the actions of the missionaries at the shrine and inside the chapel itself. One photo shows a man behind the altar of the chapel. He is holding a Book of Mormon, pretending that he is preaching. The caption reads, “Preaching the Book of Mormon at Mass.” The second photo shows someone holding a severed head of a statue that honors the Mexican Martyrs. The caption to this photo says, “Hanneman broke off the head of a saint.” A third photo shows two missionarMormon Missionaries Accused of Vandalizing Catholic Shrineies posing in a way which appears to be a sacrifice. One of the missionaries is lying on top of an altar that lies along the memorial path, while another holds a rock above his head. One of remaining pictures shows two missionaries in front of a statue of the Virgin Mary. The other depicts a missionary that is kneeling in mocking form to the Virgin Mary, while holding the Book of Mormon in his hands.
The caption states, “Huge Shrine to the Virgin Mary.” The last photo is simply a picture of one of the statues of Jesus carrying the cross that is part of the well known memorial Stations of the Cross. The caption reads, “Jesus falls for the Forty-Seventh time.”

This incident has outraged much of the community of San Luis. The area is predominantly Catholic, with many visitors to the shrine and Stations of the Cross each year. On Friday evening after the photos were discovered a community meeting was assembled to discuss what was to be done about the photos. There were about eighty people in attendance, many who were non-Catholic. On Monday, March 10 the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints issued a statement concerning the issue. “Leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were dismayed this weekend to learn of the insensitivity and disrespect shown to religious artifacts of the Sangre de Cristo Church in San Luis, Colorado, and the Latter-day Saint missionaries were evidently responsible during the missionary service in 2006. Their actions do not represent the high standard of behavior for which our missionaries are known all over the world.” The church officials also declared that the missionaries in question all faced disciplinary action in accordance to church policy. One of the missionaries was still serving on his mission and has been terminated.

The statement continues, “The church expresses its profound regret and sincere apologies to the members of the Roman Catholic faith, to the members of the Sangre de Cristo Catholic church and to the townspeople of San Luis, for this senseless act. We have also arranged for a meeting with Catholic leaders to offer our apologies.” There are current plans to build an LDS sanctuary in the town of San Luis. As a result of the deeds committed by the missionaries citizens expressed a deep desire for the missionaries not to be allowed to build a sanctuary in the same town. It was suggested that the LDS church donate the building back to the community to be used as a community center. There was also a deep expression of not welcoming the missionaries in the community any longer, and a statement for the LDS church to leave the area. It is unknown whether any criminal charges have been pressed against the missionaries. The Costilla County Sheriff Department is currently investigating the matter.

Presidential Primary Process Grinds on Toward June Finale

Rebecca Vickers
South Coloradan

The election year is still in full swing as November comes increasingly closer. The Democrats and Republicans are finishing up their primaries and caucuses, and assigning delegates. The Democrats have ten more primaries and caucuses to run and will finish up on June 3; the Republicans will finish shortly after on June 12 after their last eleven. At this point in the race, the New York Times is estimating that Barack Obama has 1,620 delegates, Hilary Clinton has 1,471.5, John McCain has 1,152, and Mike Huckabee has 225. So the race is essentially decided on the Republican side with McCain already having 96.7 percent of the 1,191 delegates needed to win the republican race. The democrat nomination still has the potential to fall either way; to win the democratic nomination a candidate needs 2,025 delegates, currently Obama has 80.0 percent and Clinton has 72.7 percent.

The entire system is somewhat confusing, because the popular vote is not the determining factor; instead it is the Electoral College. The states pick delegates who are obligated to cast a vote for the candidate that their state chooses; however, there are also unpledged delegates who are free to vote as they choose. The manner of choosing delegates is left up to the states, so each state will apportion their votes differently, the most common methods are the “winner takes all,” or a division of delegates based on the percentage each candidate receives of the popular vote. The number of delegates assigned to each state varies, and can change from year to year; each state receives two votes, for the two members of the senates, and then an additional delegate for each member in the House of Representatives, which is based on the states population.

The variance from state to state, and the fact that states aren’t required to pledge their delegates until a later date makes the elections hard to predict, and can result in a president being elected that does not win the popular vote. There are pros and cons to the Electoral College system. Some of the arguments against the Electoral College: a president can win without a majority of the popular vote, it does not properly reflect the popular will, there is a risk of “faithless” delegates, and it lowers the voter turnout because the voter does not see the direct effect of their vote. The arguments for the Electoral College are as follows: It supports the cohesion of the country because there has to be a good distribution of popular support for any candidate to win, it helps in minority interests, it encourages a two-party system, and it maintains the current system of government and representation. The Electoral College is also historically based, and although the original premise for the system no longer relevant, the original purpose was effective. It is assumed that the forefathers of our country based thesystem off of the Centurial Assembly of the Roman Republic.

In Rome, their assembly was divided into Centuries (groups of 100), based on wealth, that were able to cast one vote each, although the current system is not based on wealth the idea is similar. There were four main reasons for this original design; the original thirteen states were all jealous of their own rights and suspicious of the central national government, distance and lack of communication made campaigning difficult so people were likely to vote for the “favorite son” from their home region, campaigning was frowned upon because the belief was that the office should choose the person, not vice versa, and finally it was thought that political parties were evil. The system enabled those who were most educated and informed from each state to vote, and discounted
those of the public. The entire system is outlined in the 12th amendment to the constitution. Although today communication and campaigning is not difficult, and the population is much more informed, we hold to the old system. It is sometimes confusing and discourages some from voting, but it also supports the current two-party, government and representation system.

Genocide Devastates Darfur with 100 Deaths a Day

Ashley Grover

Olympics threatened; U.N. unable to deliver relief, prepares to shut down flights History continues to repeat itself as another case of genocide is currently oppressing the people of Darfur, Sudan. The Darfur region of Sudan is made up of racially mixed tribes who identify as African, and nomadic herders, who identify as Arab. The majority of people in both groups are Muslim. The Janjaweed, a government supported militia recruited from local Arab tribes, is responsible for the ongoing genocide. African farmers and others in Darfur are being systematically displaced and murdered at the hands of the Janjaweed. The genocide has claimed 400,000 lives and displaced over 2,500,000 people. Five thousand people die every month and more than one hundred people continue
to die each day. The Sudanese government in Khartoum and the government sponsored Janjaweed militia has used rape, displacement, organized starvation, threats against aid workers and mass murder since February of 2003.

In February of 2003, poverty and neglect from the government frustrated the people of Darfur and left them voiceless. It was then that two Darfurian rebel groups launched an uprising
against the Khartoum government. The government responded by enlisting the help of a militia of Arab nomadic tribes against the innocent civilians of Darfur. Displacement, disease, and violence continue to kill thousands of Darfurians every month. There is still much action needing to take place to end this genocide. The U.S. government has been proactive in speaking out in support of the people of Darfur. China has also been criticized internationally for its lack of intervention in Sudan. Some legally sold to Sudan’s government,” Guijin said. He noted that American weapons in Iraq had ended up in the hands of insurgents. Guijin said China is actively working to be resolved the U.N. agency says it costs $6.2 million per month to keep its airplanes and helicopters running in Darfur. More than 8,000 aid workers are transported every month by these photos courtesy of savedarfur.orgbelieve China, Sudan’s largest trading partner, has not used enough of its leverage over the Sudanese government to resolve the conflict. China’s role as an arms supplier and oil patron has caused advocacy groups to blame Beijing for protecting Khartoum’s interests. This controversy is causing threats to the Olympics, which are supposed to be held in Beijing in August. The event has even been referred to as the “Genocide Olympics.” Liu Guijin, China’s special envoy to Darfur, offered a detailed defense of China’s role in Darfur and says it should not be linked to the Olympics. Beijing has been pushed to take a more public, and active, role in resolving the Darfur conflict.
Guijin said China was one of several countries that sold weapons to Sudan and “is by no means the biggest exporter.” China says it abides by a United Nations embargo on sending weapons directly to Darfur, but a panel of United Nations experts found that Chinese weapons were making their way to Darfur.

“China cannot control what happens to weapons that are lays in establishing an international peacekeeping force. Insecurities in Darfur are also causing cuts in food aid deliveries by the U.N. The World Food Program said that bandits have hijacked 45 U.N.-contracted trucks in Darfur so far this year. It says 23 drivers are unaccounted for and 37 trucks remain missing. The hijackings have made it difficult for the U.N. to recruit new truck drivers. Consequently, the food aid deliveries in Darfur have fallen to half the normal levels for this time of the year. The WFP has also warned it may shut down aid flights in Darfur by the end of the month because of a lack of funding for its air operation. The WFP’s representative in Sudan noted that the aid flights may be suspended when they are needed most because of banditry on the roads.to help with healthcare, water, sanitation and food relief. As if the world’s failure to end the killing in Darfur is not bad enough, it may be compounded by renewed fighting in southern Sudan. The new threat centers on the oil-rich region of Abyei. Recent clashes between a large group of Arab nomads, the Misseriya, and South Sudan’s armed forces have killed several hundred people. The Misseriya are armed and encouraged by the Khartoum, just like the Janjaweed militias that unleashed Darfur’s horrors. Before the Bush administration brokered a peace deal in 2005, more than 2 million people died in a 20-year civil war. The goal was to create a unified democratic state but Sudan’s president, Omar al-Bashir has shied away from everything that might make that work. He rejected a plan for governing Abyei, setting its boundaries and sharing oil wealth. This means the international community is obligated to find more effective ways to pressure Khartoum and prevent further genocide. Some think China, Sudan’s major oil client has not done nearly enough. Others believe Beijing and Russia must suspend
arms sales and that major players should make it clear that Khartoum will pay a stiff price if it attacks the south. Thousands of innocent civilians continue to die from murder, disease, and starvation every month. Today, millions of displaced civilians living in refugee camps are in dire need of international support as the violence continues.

Adams State Observes National Eating Disorder Awareness Week

Kaitlyn Horton
South Coloradan

The Adams State Counseling and Career Center has arranged a variety of events this week in honor of National Eating Disorder Awareness Week, or NEDAW. The key message for the 2008 body image awareness week is “Be comfortable in your genes. Wear jeans that fit the TRUE you.” According to the National Eating Disorders Association website, NEDAW highlights the fact that body size and shape are strongly influenced by biological factors, such as genetics, and that fighting your natural size and shape can lead to unhealthy dieting practices, poor body image and sometimes eating disorders. The ASC campus has hosted an assortment of events throughout the week to help raise awareness about the importance of positive body image among students. Today is the last day to visit the NEDAW table in the student union building that contains printed information on eating disorders and body image along with videos from U-Tube depicting the abundance of photo manipulation in today’s society.

This booth also provides the opportunity to cast your vote on advertisements that best honor and dishonor the human body. The company that created the winning and losing advertisement will be contacted to inform them of the message that they are sending to Adams State students. Look on Portal this afternoon to see which advertisement will be placed in the hall of fame and the hall of shame. Two campaigns, Eggzactly Me and Mirror/Mirror, can be found lurking around the campus in unexpected places. Easter eggs containing candy and jean pockets inscribed with positive body image affirmations such as “Today I get 24 hours to make a fantastic me!” are hidden throughout campus along with the over 300 eggs that have been given away at the NEDAW table. “You are beautiful” and other affirmations have been written on mirrors across campus in 11 different languages as part of the Mirror/Mirror campaign.

“The Brief Life of Catherine,” a docudrama movie about a young woman’s struggles with anorexia, was shown in Student Union Building A129 on Tuesday night. A local registered dietitian, Belinda Chambers, visited the same room last night to give her “Healthy Habits Habitually Here” speech on how to make healthy eating a habit. To wrap up body image awareness week, there will be jean pockets for students to write their own affirmations on at the NEDAW booth today. These pockets will be posted anonymously around the college so people can see what they like about themselves and why. The grand finale of body image awareness week, the HBO documentary “Thin,” which dramatically shows the lives of four women who are literally dying to be thin at a Florida treatment center, will be shown tonight at six.

The coordinator of all these events, Su Major, is a graduate assistant at the Counseling and Career Center with a prevention area in body image and awareness. Majors stated that there has been a really good turn out at the NEDAW booth during the day and she feels that this event has helped raise awareness about body image. “We have reached a lot of people with positive affirmations and a lot of people have voted,” she said. According to Major, the goal of these activities is to make people aware that there are many different body images and that just because they are different doesn’t mean they are good or bad. “What we’re really shooting for is healthy,” said Major.

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