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The Red and Black • Thursday, August 2, 1990 • 3
Did you ever wish upon a star. . .
Best nights for star gazing are in August
CATHY FERRIS
Staff Writer
Starlight, star bright, August
11 will be the night — the night
stargazers can join naturalist
Pete Schrantz at the Sandy
Creek Nature Center to view the
Perseides Meteor Shower.
Schrantz described the Per
seides as a heavy cluster of space
debris, commonly known as
shooting stars.
“Every vear in August the
orbit of the Perseides Meteor
crosses the orbit of the Earth,
creating a visible shower,” said
Maurice Snook, president of the
Athens Astronomical Society.
“During the best years and under
the best conditions, one shooting
star can be seen every minute.”
This year stargazers facing the
northeast will probably see al
most a dozen shooting stars at
the Sandy Creek starwatch,
Snook said.
Schrantz said, “shooting star”
is a nickname for meteorites hit
ting the atmosphere.
“Shooting stars can be seen
throughout the year, but there is
a higher number per hour during
this week of August,” he said.
The meteors will be visible Au
gust 9 through August 16,
peaking August 11, he said.
The Athens Astronomical So
ciety will provide telescopes for
the event.
‘There will be a wide, open
area so people should be able to
get a good view of the cluster,”
Schrantz said.
August 11 will be a good time
to look at the stars because the
view will be at its peak some time
after midnight that evening,
according to Schrantz.
Schrantz will be available to
answer questions about the
shower during Sandy Creek’s
free starwatch, taking place from
9:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. outside the
Visitor’s Center.
But officer,
By DOUGLAS S. WOOD
Staff Writer
“I can’t drive 55,” sang rocker
Sammy Hagar. Many Georgians
feel the same way, but create
better excuses, according to our
men and women in blue.
Captain Ben Bridges of the
Georgia State Patrol has compiled
a long list of unusual and just plain
weird defenses people have con
cocted to get out of speeding tickets
in northeast Georgia.
Pets, amazingly, figure heavily
into these excuses.
One driver claimed she was
rushing her sick dog to the veteri
narian, Bridges said. She demon
strated by sticking her finger down
the dog’s throat to induce vomiting.
Another woman gave a similar
explanation to a state trooper. The
officer observed a rather frisky
cocker spaniel in the back seat and
asked what was the matter with
I can’t drive 55 mph
the canine.
She replied that the dog had a
golf ball up his rectum.
When a state trooper told one of
fender that a pilot’s license was
needed to go that fast, the driver
grinned and pulled out an Federal
Aviation Administration-approved
pilot’s license.
One man claimed his wife had
run off with a state trooper. When
he saw those flashing blue lights,
he said, he thought it was the
trooper bringing his wife back to
him.
In our fair city of Athens, ex
cuses also get a bit ludicrous. Of
ficer Allan Johnson of the Athens
Police Department said one man
told him he didn’t think his car
could go 65 miles per hour.
“But they are mostly the same
excuses,” Officer Johnson said.
Having to go to the hospital or
being late for work are common ex
cuses, he said.
University students are also in
ventive speeders.
Keith Lewis, a 20-year-old junior
advertising major, was pulled over
for speeding on his way to Green
ville, S.C. He talked his way out of
a ticket by asking the officer for di
rections so many times that the of
ficer gave up.
A man claimed he inherited it
from his father. When the trooper
asked what “it” was, the man re
sponded by saying, “Yes, my father
had a big foot, too.”
The dumbest excuse has to be a
driver claimed he had put over
sized tires on his car and didn’t re
alize it would make such a big
difference in his speedometer.
The one likely story the state pa
trol has heard most often must be:
“Who me? You must have checked
someone else and got me by mis
take.”
Excuses, excuses.
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FINAL WEEK OF OUR SUMMER SALE!
New vet school technology saves puppy’s life
Guardian angel: Dr. Dennis Crowe with Angel after her life
saving surgery at the vet school
pouring an X-ray-visible, harmless
dye down Angel’s esophagus. The
doctors then watched the dye
travel unrestricted down Angel’s
healthy esophagus.
‘This was the first time, we
think, that this procedure has been
used in the Southeast,” he said.
Angel’s operation was a success,
but only a few other dogs will ben
efit from the technology. “We
would like to be able to do more but
the equipment isn’t currently
available, Crowe said.
The balloon used in the surgery
cost the vet school $150, and the
manufacturer recommends dis
carding it after six uses. A larger,
more expensive balloon is required
to operate on large dogs, but the
vet school hasn’t been able to pur
chase one yet.
‘This was definitely a team ef
fort,” Crowe said. ‘There were a lot
of people behind the scenes in
volved in the care of this puppy.”
“Now she plays and eats vith all
the other dogs,” Thurmond said
about Angel’s health after the oper
ation! “I’m just tickled to death.”
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By JEFF RUTHERFORD
Staff Writer
A Pomeranian puppy named
Angel can count her blessings
thanks to the College of Veterinary
Medicine.
Dr. Dennis Crowe, an associate
professor in the vet school, oper
ated on Angel in June, performing
an innovative surgery technique
for the first time in the Southeast.
Despite Angel’s successful oper
ation, a lack of funds prevents the
widespread use of the surgery.
On April 8, the three-month-old
Angel was admitted to the Browns
Bridge Animal Hospital in Gaines
ville suffering from a virus which
left her too weak to swallow, said
Georgia Thurmond of Maysville,
Angel’s owner.
“She was at the vet for eight
days, and a lot of that time she was
unconscious,” Thurmond said.
Because of Angel’s inability to
swallow, stomach acid burned her
esophagus. The bums healed but
left behind scar tissue.
After X-rays revealed scar tissue
blockage, Dr. Sam Smiley, Angel’s
veterinarian, contacted Crowe and
arranged the operation for the first
week in June.
The usual procedure for scar
tissue removal involves opening
the chest of the animal.
But, instead of the usual proce
dure, Crowe — assisted by Dr.
Laura Smallwood and Dr. Gil Ro-
bello of the vet school — inserted a
small balloon down Angel’s blocked
esophagus. Fluid was forced into
the balloon, causing it to expand
and break down the blockage.
The doctors kept Angel anesthe
tized throughout the operation be
cause of the severe pain caused by
the balloon, Crowe said.
“Medicine was administered
which will prevent the scar tissue
from getting tight again,” Crowe
said.
On June 15, the procedure was
repeated to ensure the blockage re
mained clear.
Two weeks after the second op
eration, the doctors performed a
barium-swallow fluoroscopy on
Angel. This procedure involved
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