The Lumberjack, November 2, 1989.

              3322Vs ! 300 EAST
SALT LAKE C I T i# X THE
L u iv it f L K IA C K Northern Arizona University ♦ Flagstaff, Arizona
Volume 84, Issue 25 ©COPYRIGHT 1989 Thursday, November 2,1989
Nation’s young adults new high-risk group for AIDS
By Karen Weber
The Lumberjack
Young adults, including college students,are the nation’s newest high-risk
gTou p for con trac ting the HIV virus which causes AIDS, and th is n ew
trend could be emerging in Flagstaff.
Though still prominent in the homosexual and intravenous drug user
populations, an increasing num ber of young adults are becoming
infected, the Federal Centers for Disease Control reported.
More college students also are testing positive with the I IIVvirusat the
Coconino County Health Department, said Bee Valvo, AIDS program
manager for the county- However, she attributed the increase to more
students being tested for the Aquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.
There has not been a change in the number of HIV-infected students
diagnosed at Fronske Health Center, though, said center Director Le­onard
Wright.
Federal Centers for Disease Control reported that the infection rate
among some teenage groups is higher than for adults. In addition, the
virus now is being transmitted through heterosexual intercourse, and
an equal number of males and females are affected in the young adult
population. .
Twenty percent of males and 25 percent of females affected with AIDS
are in their 20s, which means they contracted the virusin their teensand
early 20s. It takes eight to 10 years before symptoms start to appear.
Even in sections of the country where AIDS is rare, the infection rate
among 16-year-olds was higher than the national rate and 21-year-olds
are infected 2- to-3 times as often as 16-year-olds.
The virus is more likely to spread quickly amon^young adults because
they lend to have multiple sexual partners and few use condoms,
according to the center.
Young ad u Its are sex ually active, bu t w h e n th evdo not see many peopLe
their age with AIDS they tend to deny that they can get the d isease them­selves,
the center reported.
“Maybe sex is safer in Flagstaff than it is in M iami or New York, but we
do know that there are HIV-positive people on campus," Wright said.
The threat of AIDS is affecting the behavior of some students, as the
dangers of AIDS are being recognized even in Flagstaff.
A junior criminal justice major said he tested negative about seven
See AIDS, Page 3
W aste in th e cla ssro o m
Toxic chemicals create
possible health hazard
Tammy VilesJThe Lumberjack
Dietics major Pia Moore works with one of 20 to 25chemicals used in campus
chemistry labs. Many of the chemicals which students work with are
flammable.
By Adam Rogers and Christopher Woodward
The Lumberjack
University science classes produce hundreds of bar­rels
of hazardous waste each semester, which are stored
in buildings that may violate safety regulations.
Though planshave been made to constructabuilding
designed to hold hazardous waste, the university con­tinues
to allow the materials lo be stored below classes
in rooms that are only “marginaly fire safe," said chem­istry
professor Gerry Caple.
The storage facility in the chemistry department is a
20-foot by 20-foot cell adjoined to Room 121 o f the
Physical Sciences Building.
The room, like the rest of the building, has no sprin-kJersystem
to extinguish fires. Administrators confirmed
the room is only “reasonably” fireproof, as it is con­structed
predominately of steel and concrete.
Records slate the university generates about 400 gal­lons,
or about 3,000 pounds, of hazardous waste mate­rial
each semester.
And the assistant chairman of the Biology Depart­ment
said some chemicals may be disposed improperly.
“Th is will alarm some people, but most of the liquid
waste goes down the drain," said assistant chairman
Frederick Funk.
Eighty percent of the toxic waste comes from the
colleges of chemistry', biology and health professions..
Chemistry laboratory personnel, for example, said
they use hazardous chemicals such as mercury, lead and
acids in experiments.
The university has recognized a need for a separate
storage facility whore hazardous waste can be stored
until it is moved to disposal sites and incinerators in
Phoenix, Caple said.
I Iowc\cr, he said the plan has been indefinitely shelved
See TOXIC, Page 3
C a m p u s radiation in creases risks
By Christopher Woodward
The Lumberjack
Students and campus researchers may be serving as labora­tory
test animals in a dangerous game involving radioactivity.
Exposure to campus radioactive materials can cause the
probability of contracting cancer to rise by 50 percent, said
Frederick Funk, assistant chairman of the Biology Depart­m
ent
Funk said that biology personnel are concerned because
radioactive material, even in small dosages, can destroy
human cells.
“It is difficult to decide what is safe, because there is no way
of knowing how much wlLI harm you,” he said.
To lower the risk of undetected exposure, the Arizona Ra­diation
Regulation Agency requires those using “radio-iso­topes"
to wear monitors to measure radioactivity.
The devices record how much radiation the body receives
and is the only method to determine if a person is exposed to
radiation, as the levels of campus radiation are relatively low
and do nol produce obvious symptoms.
But it can take up to one m onth for results from monitor
testing to be returned. ARRA records also state that NAU has
been issued citations for out-dated monitoring equipment.
Funk, however, downplayed the significance of campus
radiation.
“Large doses of radiation kill you. Medium doses make you
sick, and small doses could increase your risk of cancer,” he
said.
Tammy VileslThe Lumberjack
Some personnel in the Biology Department are voicing
concern about radiation on campus. Radioactive materials,
such as those pictured above, may be endangering the
health of some students and staff.
Investigation continues
into campus ‘date rape’
By Phil Sampaio
The Lumberjack
NAU police are investigating areported aquaintance sexual assault that occurred
on campus early this week.
The assault allegedly took place late in the evening of Oct. 27 or in the early
morning hours of Oct. 28.
A female student contacted NAUPD last week from Scottsdale and reportedly
told a police dispatcher she had been sexually assaulted by a male student on the
campus.
Police officials said the woman was emotionally distraught when she called at
about 2:30 p.m. Attempts to recontact the victim after her original call were
unsuccessful until Tuesday evening.
The alleged assault was an aquaintance sexual assault, said Lisa Nelson of
U niversity News and Publications. It is classified as an assault where the victim kn ows
the alleged attacker.
Police have questioned the male suspect, who was identified by the victim.
NAUPD is continuing their investigation, and further details of the incident
were unavailable at presstime.
“The information is very limited at this point,” said NAUPD Lt. Manuel Juarez.
Butjuarez said the department always will investigate possible assaults, even if
little evidence exists.
“We arc not going to ignore the call,” Juarez said. “We will pursue the case
investigative ly, to see if it’s factual or unfounded."
Growing bicycle theft trend
victimizes stunned cyclists
By Phil Sampaio
The Lumberjack
It’s a common sight to see students
carrying their bicycle seats around cam­pus.
And with the current bicycle theft
trend, one has to wonder if the seats are
all that is left of their bikes.
“It’s one of the biggest crimes we have
here on campus," said NAU Crime Pre­vention
Officer Chuck Milam.“Twenty-four
hours a day, bikes are being sto­len.”
See related story, Page 3
The department averages five to 10
stolen bicycles a week, and Milam said
weekend thefts often are between 10
and 15.
Students could decrease the number
of thefts if they learned to properly se­cure
bikes and register them with local
police departments, he said.
Milam said students also need to real­ize
that there is “no such thing asa theft-proof
lock."
Afterjoe Myers heard a noise outside
his bedroom window in Bury Hall this
summer, he found out that any bike is a
potential target.
When he looked outside shortly after
2 a.m., he saw two men by a bicycle rack.
“I thought it was kind of strange that
these guys were going to ride bikes at
two in the morning,* he said.
“I got a really bad feeling that! should
go outside and check my bicycle," he
said.
But when Myers wen tou tside to check,
his bicycle was gone.
Myers became a statistic.
But there was a difTerent side to
Myer’s story. His bike was recovered
three days after the theft.
Myers has another bike now. He
keeps it in his room.
Catching a bike thief is extremely
rare, Milam said.
“O ur recovery rate is really low, and
that’s because we don’thave enough the
proper (bicycle) identification to do so,"
he said.
Milam saidd istinguishing theives from
students also can be a problem.
“If its a certain time of day and stu­dents
are all around a bike rack, we won’t
question a person,” he said.
Milam said recovering bicycles is a
problem because most of them are
taken out of the city.
“I think most of our bicycle thiefs arc
not students,” he said.
“When you catch bike thieves, you’re
really lucky.*’
As for most stolen bikes, he said, “1
wonder where they go?"
Tom my Johnston also will keep his bi­cycle
in his room. At least he will when he
buys a new one.
Johnston’s $500 mountain bike was
stolen last week near Ardrey Auditorium.
“I know I’ll never see it again, and I
don’t know if they {police) can do any­thing
about it," he said.
ButJohnston said he is not intimidated
by the fact that he lost his bicycle
“I’ll buyanother bike," he said. "I’lljust
keep in my room from now on."
Corbin lifts retirement policy
By Kelly Kramer
The Lumberjack
Arizona Attorney General Bob Corbin
has removed the mandatory retirement age
for state university professors, giving them
the right to continue teaching past age 70.
As a result of the decision, faculty mem­bers
can retain tenure until they decide to
retire, Corbin said.
However, the change will have a minimal
effect on NAU, as university faculty always
have had the option of teaching past the set
retirement age.
"Working past 70 hasahvays been allowed
as long as wc have board approval," said
Marilyn Scumptcwa, Department of Hu­man
Resources.
Teachers need only submit a written
request in order to continue teaching past
70, she said.
T hey (faculty requests) have always been
approved" Seumptewa said.
The dismissal of the mandatory retire­ment
age “recognizes that faculty members
are individuals whose teaching talents are
not in any way linked with their age,” said
Theodore Downing, president of the Ameri­can
Association of University Professors.
Students seem to agree.
“It doesn’t have to do with age, it has to do
with ability/said n ursirvgmajor Pa ula Prince.
“1 think there are 20-year-olds that should n ’ t
be teaching on this campus."
Anthropology major Ben Jam s also said
the decision is fine, as long as the teachers
are competenL
“I’m payi n g enough money for my edu ca­tion
and 1 don’t want to be taught by some­one
who is going to ramble on about what
they had for lunch last Tuesday,"Jarvis said.
Regents approve employee pay increase
By Adam Rogers
The Lumbetjrck
University employees will receive a
merit payincrease of slightly more than
onepercent, less than the amount many
had hoped for.
Ninety-one percent of the employ­ees
will receive a 1.25 percent increase,
and about one percent, or 15 of the
1,727 employees, were denied a raise
due to unsatisfactory performance
evaluations.
The raises were given to employees
ranging from custodians to faculty ad*
ministraton who were hired prior to
April 1,1989. More than 140 university
employees were ineligible because they
were hired after this date.
Eligibility was based on evaluations
by peers and supervisors, with ratings
above satisfactory meriting a salary
increase.
Because of “privacy protection’ the
names of those declared to be unsatis­factory
cannot be made public. How­ever,
two are administrators, four are
faculty members and seven include sec­retaries,
custodians and maintainence
staff.
In addition to the merit payincrease,
the regen tsallocated an increase of one
quarter of onepercent for “equityand
market adjustments.*
NAU Vice President for Business Af-fai
rs Norm Hintz said the money wil I go
into a pool, which will be used to fi­nance
additional salary increases as
needed.
He said some of the money already
has gone to finance promotions.
While several faculty members, who
asked not to be identified, questioned
the low amount o f the increase, Hintz
said the problem does not lie with the
university.
He said the Arizona legislature has
ultimate responsibility for allocating
university funds.
Hintz said a budget request for 1991
has been filed, and asks fora 5 percent
annual increase during the next three
years.
The request now has to go to the
governor and the state legislature.