ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, February 23, 1996 TAG: 9602230066
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
U.S. school enrollment to set record
WASHINGTON - Second-generation baby boomers and immigrants will pack America's schools in record numbers this fall, surpassing the surge of postwar babies that filled U.S. classrooms in the 1970s.
The estimated 51.7 million young people in public and private elementary and secondary schools this fall will eclipse the 51.3 million baby boomers in class in 1971. U.S. school enrollment is expected to keep climbing - to 55.9 million by the year 2005.
``It's a rather dramatic increase in enrollment that we see coming. Some of it is immigration. Some of it is the baby boom echo - the children of baby boomers,'' Education Secretary Richard Riley said Thursday.
- Associated Press
Machine to filter blood wins approval
WASHINGTON - A machine that cleans artery-clogging cholesterol out of people by filtering all the blood in their bodies was approved by the Food and Drug Administration on Thursday.
The Liposorber is only for people with severely high cholesterol who aren't helped by a low-fat diet or medicine, the FDA warned. This condition, called severe hypercholesterolemia, affects about 4,000 Americans.
It's not a pleasant treatment, but could be a lifesaver for certain patients, said Dr. Evan Stein of the Cholesterol Treatment Center in Cincinnati.
``There's not much else you can do for them,'' he explained.
- Associated Press
FAA to hire 600 air traffic controllers
WASHINGTON - The Federal Aviation Administration said Thursday it will hire 100 air traffic controllers this year and up to 500 next year.
The FAA said it expects many of the new hires will be experienced former members of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization - 11,000 of whom were fired by President Reagan in 1981 after they went on strike.
Reagan had banned the FAA from rehiring them, but President Clinton lifted the ban in August 1993. Last year, the FAA hired about 40 of them in New York, Honolulu and Oakland, Calif.
FAA Administrator David Hinson said the additions will boost staff at key facilities, fill open positions and help develop a pipeline to replace controllers who retire.
- Associated Press
LENGTH: Medium: 52 linesby CNB