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Vol. XXIII, Issue 8 "The University Commnitv's Feature Paper " February 8. 2002 Infat les In::::::::::::::'::·;::k::::i:i-WStony oko ospt MsaM14::::'::~i:~ii #:i~if~i:#8~::~~~~:3.:3#::'::::........l:~:iij:g~j::::::::::~::::::::::I·"x~jii~ii~i~............iiii·--·:··:·:.·;·; ~:.::.::.:·..........-·; ........ ....................·· :·:::j::~~.. ........::i::::~:::·:~i :·::::::::::ii·::::::·:a:~:x:,i··:·:: i·· ......... ........................................... ........ ................................. .... :~lri~;:::::·.~:;l-i-·:...........:::::·:~lix:::::::::;li~i~::i~~............·..........................................::::.:....·..........··....................................................................................................................................I.......................................................... ..........';· ·;'''···r,··,···:::............. i:~:~~;:~i~:3:I~i :i::·2:;: ::::: .... .... :· i:7':: :::::·:::!:j-:::::-~g::-· ···-·· ::~ii:::·:::........................... i:gl: ::::: i~~~ii~iii By JonathanJonron: Gelling Ef After te Powr's gone Last Wednesday I had an interesting expe- mostly through the use of illegal rience at the campus bookstore. The security people accounting tricks. It wasn't until just there believed they noticed some kid trying to steal last November that the extent of their a textbook, and as they were asking him about it he fraud became apparent; it was then that broke out in a dash for the door. Obviously, he did- Enron was forced to admit that they n't want to face the consequences of what he had had earned $600 million less since 1997 done. As it turns out he didn't have to, since even than they had previously reported. though he was practically skipping his way out of The man that will perhaps be there it was easy for him to get away from the out- held most responsible for this $60 bil- of-shape guards in the store. Now, besides this being lion corporate collapse is Enron's for- a good lesson for anyone that wants to shoplift from mer Chairman and CEO, Kenneth Lay Wallace's, it reminded me a lot about what hap- (who was only very recently dismissed pened at Enron. The top executives there made a long after his failures became appar- similar dash for the door, and it may be they'll get ent). Earning over $100 million a year at away just as easily before it's all said and done. his peak, about 3500 times what the The story of the Enroft Corporation is a les- average American might make in a son about greed and corruption in high places. A year, he oversaw the transition of the greed that reached outward from the energy giant's company from energy producer to headquarters in Houston, to the halls of government energy broker. Literally, Enron became in Washington D.C., and the seat of economic power the equivalent of a day trader in the in New York. It is also yet another example of the energy business, buying and selling hysterical frenzy that swept Wall Street into madness energy like dot-com stocks and hoping t- n--, k ,, n - la ,.ff.f h-.- i. AT;,...i• 1 between 1998 and 2000, when even conservative, LuJ IlltadC: lU Luey o tUAUIe 1i.pre wngsL,. 11iLy Lalu Lnron's case, the Board members paid themselves well-established companies like Enron, which has a out handsome gifts of money to friends in govern- obscene amounts of money while they were running history dating back to 1985, jumped head first into ment, the media and academia. They paid $100 mil- the company into the ground. The cash they took the new dot-com culture. In the process of doing so lion for Enron Field in Houston. Over the last four may very well be untouchable by any efforts to Enron changed its character from a traditional pro- years, Enron donated $2.3 million to the national recover money for the victims of Enron's collapse, ducer and distributor of energy to a company that Republicans and $700,000 to national Democrats. the company's own employees. Those 20,000 people made its money speculating on future energy prices. Arthur Andersen over that same period gave that worked for Enron lost not only their jobs, but Enron made bad bets, structured bad part- $413,000 to Republicans and just $27,000 to over $1.3 billion from their retirement accounts, and nerships (many in the Cayman islands to shelter Democrats, which may turn out to be a poor invest- this was made worse by the fact that many of them them from taxes) and then tried to hide everything ment for the company. No amount of political bribes were prevented from selling the company stock as it after the fact by misleading the investing public with could save the company from ultimately collapsing, plummeted, even as the Board members unloaded falsified numbers. Along the way, their friends in but it certainly helped them go on a lot longer than their own holdings. Washington helped them by blocking all attempts at they might have otherwise.. So, as a lesson to all (especially to my friend regulating their business, with the result that The fall of Enron brings to a head a lot of from the book store), if you're going to steal, be sure investors learned very little about Enron's specula- issues that have been brewing for some time. to do it wearing a suit. You'll always be able to get tive activities. Many also believe that Arthur Everyone has heard the proverb that the rich get away with more that way, and it'll take a lot longer Andersen shielded the company by signing off on richer, but shouldn't there be limits to what corpo- for people to chase after you. financial statements that exaggerated their profits, rate executives are allowed to pay themselves? In Ovperdnosp Ca sIp Of Infant DHast A SB nomita By Thomas Osborne and Beverly Bryan I SAnna Vargas and her husband cases." the American Medical Association 1999) Giovanni, who was an iron-worker recently According to the Vargas' legal council; Potassium chloride can either be- taken laid off from the World Trade Center site, knew Mr. David Raimondo esq, the hospital said that intravenously, as in Gianni Vargas's case, or it that their baby had a heart valve problem it was a "disaster of major proportions" for can be ingested orally, in medications such as K while she was still pregnant. But the doctors at them, and that they have acknowledged that DUR, KLOTRIX and KLOR-CON. Potassium the Stony Brook University Hospital assured they made a mistake. But Raimondo's law chloride is used in carrying out a death sen- them, that the child would be all right. officewill be filing a notice of claim on Friday, tence by lethal injection, and has also been When their son was born on January February 8, on behalf of the parents. used by Dr. Kevorkian to euthanize many of 30, he weighed around eight pounds, and Raimondo said that the dosage was "so his patients. (http://www.hospicepatients.org/ques- except for the heart defect, was otherwise outrageous that any reasonably prudent person tionable-death.html). It is a powerful and dan- healthy. They named him Gianni and the doc- in their position would know it was too high." gerous drug at high concentrations, and in the tors opted to wait until February 3, to operate. Raimondo said that while it is known how this recent years has not been stored on patient The fairly commonplace heart procedure was has happened it is not known why. The family floors of many hospitals unless diluted, or in successful and Gianni was going to be fine. doesn't know who is responsible for the child's emergency or intensive care areas. In the early morning hours on Tuesday, death or why they failed to notice their mistake "In 1991, after 40 or 50 deaths had been February 5, hospital staff mistakenly adminis- in time to avert tragedy. Potassium is essential attributed to concentrated potassium chloride, tered a fatal dosage of Potassium Chloride for the body to maintain a normal heart the federal Food and Drug Administration //f. ' l~'\ *' -.-_ -- _..... ... 1-- i--.. ,,,,,,- A kC•'_i) intravenously to requireu Gianni due to a decimal distinctive black tops point error and he died a and inner closures on all few hours later. He had potassium chloride vials. apparently received ten Both the top and the times the recommended inner closure carry a dosage of Potassium 'must be diluted' warn- Chloride (KC1). The dosage ing label in white let- would have been high for an ters." (http://www.iatro- adult. The prescribed dosage genic.org/fatalerr.html) was 3.5mm but the decimal But it is a fairly com- point was overlooked and 35 mon place procedure for mm were administered. heart surgery patients to Gianni Vargas died even receive Potassium though Stony Brook Chloride, both pre and University Hospital has a post-op as it is used to system of safeguards and treat Hypokalemia, crosschecks to.prevent disas- which has been linked to ters like this. Despite the fact heart arrhythmia and that medicine changes hands death. Hypokalemia several times at the hospital means low serum potas- before it reaches a patient all sium (low blood levels of those crosschecks failed. infants are especially at According to the Journal of the tary and involuntary muscles. It is also respon- risk for death from hypokalemia. American Medical Association, which pub- sible for the conduction of nerve impulses and The University Hospital was unavail- lished a study on June 16, 1999, "Investigators muscle contraction. able for comment. Sources within Stony Brook concluded that screening and replenishing a The ratio of potassium outside the cell Hospital say that members of the hospital patient's serum potassium is a low-risk, low- to that inside the cell maintains polarity, allow- administration met with Shirley Strum-Kenny cost intervention that should be considered on ing an electrical charge to conduct along a row about the child's death.

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