Assumption High School - Assumption Yearbook (Davenport, IA)

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Baby Fae Makes History Medical history was made at Loma Linda Medical Center as an anonymous infant known only as Baby Fae became the t hum°n to live more than a week with on animal-heart transplant. Baby Fae was born three weeks premature Oct. 12. She was soon discovered to have hypoplastic heart syndrome, a detect that is almost always fo- ra Her parents agreed to the radical idea of saving the in- fant s life with a transplant from a baboon The operation had very few problems, and Baby Fae lived the life of a normal in- fant for about two weeks. Mid- way through the second week her body began to reject the organ. Her health diminished quickly, and despite the best efforts of the loma Linda staff just 21 days after the trans- plant, Baby Fae died. Much controversy was stirred up by Baby Fae. Animal rights activists picketted the hospital carrying signs with messages such as Ghoulish tinkering is hot Science. They also op- posed the operation on the oasis that no person had ever Wed more than three days with an animal transplant Despite the protests, howev- in the rnedlCQl profession the operation was tentatively la- belled a success'- and future operations are being consid- ered. USA gold ,••••. • ' • • • •• v ••••• The Summer Olympics came to Los Angeles in 1984 and despite the Soviet-led boycott, were ac- knowledged to be a resounding success. The Americdn team easily domi- nated the competition, winning a total of 173 medals, a new Olym- pic record. Carl Lewis was expect- ed by all to match Jesse Owens' record for gold. He did, but was jeered at and booed by the crowd when he declined his opportunity to break the world record for the long jump. Gymnast Mary Lou Ret- ton captured the hearts of Ameri- cans with a perfect 10 on the vault to win the all-around, the first American woman to do so. The U.S.A. basketball team, coached by the B»g Ten's Bobby Knight and George Raveling, was no surprise, as it rolled over all its competition on its way to the gold. Nither was diver Greg Louganis who compiled more 9's and 10's than all the other male divers combined. Or Edwin Moses, who won the gold as a hur- dler. But Americans weren't the only ones in the news. England's Daley Thompson became only the sec- ond man in history to win two de- cathlons. Zola Budd of South Africa certainly caused the most contro- versy. American runner. Mary Decker, fell as she was passed by Budd. putting Decker out of the race she had been leading. Budd eventually placed a distant sev- enth, and was nearly disqualified Despite the pre-Olympics worry about smog and traffic problems, the games came off without a hitch. Indian Leader Assassinated In early November. India and he world were shocked to earn Indian Prime Shandi had been shot and vtwooirrrv- ;ng Moslems and Hindus to per- secute Sikhs oil over the COTnneossasslnat,on took place only one day after Ghandi ha -SSTSSS-- life goes in service of the na t,on. It idie today, evew dropo my piood will invigorate the no ti0£s Ghandi walked from her bungalow to her off.ce the next Sg. Beant Singh, a trusted member of her bodyguard. lulled a revolver and sho i£Snes. Another Sikh guard leatby used his sten gun to spray her with bullets. he assassination was m re- Jation for Sikh lives 10 wheh Ghandi sent the army-tc J out armed separatists holed up In the Golden Temple of Amnt sar, the Sikhs holiest shrine. 23

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Photos courtesy of Quod City Times. 2,500 killed Rea gan wins landslide in 9°n '?°n°ld Re' challenger Waiter JL VGr Dern°cra n° 1 Gtectoroi vote m nd°le with a «• notion Wot,erZPO'9n'ng ,or Senator Jofy, G)e° ®r ond to be the closest comtZ 6xpec,ed 9ave te°a ry Hart M Za tn6 R6V Jesse Jo k Tro' rea(, 0 e o come WQS n£ bfen. ooa Waiter M 0'10' nor beFerraro b'C.c, ,he » t woman e n 00 evce-p - rrP: In what was the worst in- dustrial accident in history, over 2,500 people in Bhopal, India, died when a cloud of poison gas leaked from a Union Carbide plant on the outskirts of the city In addi- tion to the 2.500 killed, up to 100.000 were maimed when they came into contact with methyl isocyinate, a chemi- cal used in making pesti- cides. No explanation has been given by Union Carbide offi- cials as to the cause of the leak. For unknown reasons, pressure started to build up in one of the tanks holding MIC A scrubber' used to neutralize noxious gas failed to operate, and within min- utes the gas was pouring out into the atmosphere Victims of the gas exper- ienced severe chest pains and loss of vision This was usually followed by death Even days afterward, medi- cal supplies were limited or non-existent Since many doctors were also killed, or injured, most of the staff of the relief centers consisted of volunteers and medical students. Operations at the Bhopal plant have been shut down indefinitely. Union Carbide officials also halted produc- tion at a similar plant in Insti- tute. West Virginia. Although Union Carbide provided funds for emergency relief, the amount and nature of the compensation are still In litigation. Famine Hits Africa As a result of two vast belts of drought that swept across the continent, countries in Afri- ca faced their worst famine in history. Nearly 30 countries were officially listed as hungry, ond in Ethiopia and Mozam- bique over half a million people died. Forecasters predicted that over a million would die Early warnings of the coming famine were issued over two years ago. but were largely ig- nored. not only by Western governments and media, but even by the Ethiopian govern- ment itself It took a British Broadcasting Corp film re- leased in October, to show the world the tragedy underway in Africa. It wasn't until mid-No- vember that food began to be shipped Soon after. Ethiopia had more food than it could handle efficiently Relief efforts were hampered by a lack of good airfields and trucks to transport the food. In the United States people were shaken enough to re- spond with a flood of generos- ity Red Cross donations that normally average $15 were averaging $58 during Novem- ber One grain company in Dan- ville, III was honored for provid- ing the equivalent of one million meals to Ethiopia Experts warned, however, that food assistance was not enough Land development as- sistance must go along with food assistance if Africa will ever be made self-sufficient Without agricultural develop- ment, the disaster may never end 22

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