Saguaro High School - Sentinel Yearbook (Scottsdale, AZ)

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The Amendments Poisoning Scares Country by Lissa Staples Something about the bottle, about the bright red cap, the white cotton showing through the translucent plastic, and the la- bel with the large reassuring lettering of EXTRA STRENGTH. The whole shape of the bottle was comforting like an old- fashioned milk bottle. Something about the rows, all the neat chunky boxes, one after the other, facing forward like a drill team on the shelf. The Tylenol case was not quite like any other murder. There was some- thing about the will involved, plucking the particular little pill box. The trouble with poison was that you took it yourself. It was the victim who did the actual killing. Seven Chicago-area resi- dents died from capsules of Extra Strength Tylenol laced with cyanide, a poison so deadly that it kills within minutes. Tylen- ol's manufacturer, Johnson and Johnson, a subsidiary of McNeil Consumer Products Co. recalled two orders of the medication, 264,000 bottles nationwide. Drug stores coast to coast pulled Tylenol off their shelves. The consumer alter was sadly ironic, giv- en Tylenol's remarkable commercial suc- cess as a 'safe' aspirin substitute, that would not cause stomach upset. In just 9 years Tylenol had captured 37 percent of the pain reliever market. Investigators in Chicago labeled the deaths homicides, all but ruling out the pos- sibility that the capsules had been contami- nated at manufacturing plants. In each case the red half of the contaminated cap- sule was discolored and slightly swollen when opened. The capsules emitted the tell- tale almond odor of cyanide, the poison was present in quantities thousands of times the usual fatal dose. Apparently a very so- phisticated and very malicious person is at large who had to spend a lol of time and a lot of effort on this terrible plan, said an Illinois police chief. The killer has yet to be caught. The per- son might be insane, but either way, they are a coldly calculating planner. Said an investigator, He is probably sitting back admiring his awful handiwork, savoring our frustration. The obvious fear is that U' we don't catch him quickly, he will do this again, maybe with another product. At first hearing the story, it seemed out- rageous and confounding. Do you actually mean to say that some maniac has been filling Tylenol capsules with cyanide? Alarmed, the mind skates hurriedly to the if: If Tylenol, why not aspirin? If drugs, why not food? October is the month for Halloween after all. The razor blade in the apple? The lamb chop, the soup, the Pep- sis? We already had an eye drops scare. Hasn't the water tasted funny lately? The frightening truth was that there really was no way to protect the public from people who did such things. This famous pill bottle brought terror into the lives of American citizens when someone poisoned Tylenol capsules with cyanide. Seven chicago residents died from taking contaminated medicine. PHOTO BY SPATGEN Tylenol Poisoning 1 19

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The Amendments Communist President Dies by Lissa Staples Communist Party chief Leonid I. Brezhnev died on November 10, 1982 of a heart at- tack. He was 75. Brezhnev had led the Soviet Union for 18 years after he followed Nikita Khrushchev to office in October, 1964. As Communist Party chief and Presi- dent, Brezhnev led the Soviet Union to achieve its aim of becoming a true global power. At the time of his death the Soviet econo- my was at a stand still. Also under his rule the Soviet Union lost ground in terms of human freedoms. Brezhnev worked to im- prove relations with Western countries. But at the same time he supervised his country,s military buildup, and made the USSR the military equal of the United States. The death of Soviet President Leonid I. Brezhnev in 1982 caused power in Russia to shift to Yuri Andro- pov. 1 18 Brezhnev During his years in power, the United States and the Soviet Union worked on two major treaties, SALT I and SALT II. SALT stands for Strategic Arms Limita- tions Treaty. The treaties called for limit- ing the growth of nuclear missle systems. SALT I was signed in 1972, and SALT Il in 1979. However SALT II was never for- mally ratified by the US Senate. A decline in the US-Soviet relations had begun when the Soviet Union sent troops into Afghani- stan in December, 1979. At the time of Brezhnev's death, rela- tions between the US and the USSR were at one of their lowest points. Each side ac- cused the other of striving for military supe- riority and attempting to dominate the world. Brezhnev's funeral was held on Monday November 15th in Red Square. According to tradition his body lay in state in the down town House of Soviets for 3 days. The former KGB chief Yuri Andropov was chosen to replace Brezhnev as the Par- ty leader, the most important post in the Soviet Union.

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The Amendments Frosh Learn Study Skills by Lissa Staples Each year hundreds of apprehensive fresh- man become a part of this campus. Howev- er a newly designed orientation program had begun in an attempt to help new stu- dents feel more comfortable. Initially first-time high school students were encouraged to bring their parents on the first day of school. This would allow the parents to become familiar with the expec- tations of each teacher and school policies. There was some controversy as to the suc- cess of this aspect of the program. The parent turnout was 60 percent, yet many teachers were disappointed. The parents that came were the kind who would support the school anyway. There should have been more of an effort for them to come, said Mrs. Jan Peterson, English teacher. Many faculty members spent hours orga- nizing the initial program. This program was the first of its kind to deal with the mental and physical performance problems of incoming freshmen. Students and parents were surely im- pressed with the thoughtfulness and caring that has gone into this program. A message emu. i w W HEYCHEQKOUT we f m I 5 -I F FPxESl'll'lHNU How DO you ,, Q- ue'savnsmn,ioN9w WV n f ff- -Th j if V 14 M ill 55' ' l f X iff M vf ie A - . - 1 T- .3, ., - X l . , :.,.. Q 5 - V ' J R052 its .' , A Incoming freshmen are cleverly drawn by junior Tom Racine. of expectations is being conveyed by the entire school, remarked Dr. Thresa McDade, assistant superintendent. Motivation in Motion, a speech-commu- nication team also helped with the first phase of the program. They educated the freshmen in areas of attitude, risks, respon- sibilities and goals. The faculty has also incorporated into this a new study skills program. This was designed to teach freshman skills that will better their overall academic performance. The skills classes themselves were taught in small classes and reinforced periodically by teachers throughout the year. Time and mind management, notetaking, efficient use of the textbook, test taking, and atti- tude were among the skills perfected. Evidence showed that the program was successful. During the first quarter of the school year freshman absentee rate had di- minished to 1.4 percent, down from 2.2 per- cent the previous year. Also in the past years the time-out room has devoted 50 per- cent of its time working with freshman stu- dents. That has decreased to 30 percent. All indications have been positive as to the ef- fectiveness of these programs. Parents were a main supporting factor and helped to de- termine the success of the program. BN fwowttits my at RNUTI-E 'ag Nm- my Ronan 1 Schtkebfwuat ir mbfgfm umm mm! ASTGUCL as THEQQE Q SUWSZESS-xgxigsoeaji S ZGH-Effl 9 SEWXR N935 097 TQ 6' V , 3 ' fi 3 -e i 4 , t i li tl' . ' tw e- I 1 . I QQ . . writ ' rex , ' aux Teena '12 ' f 5. 120 study skins