The Courier-News from Bridgewater, New Jersey • Page 1

Lifestyle: Summer concert series, Sports: Bulls dump Knicks, C-l Union, Middlesex Edition Gannett newspaper serving Central Jersey Bridgewater, Wednesday, May 15, 1996 (908) 722-8800 IMHSDflY Voters dissolve regional school district the status quo. The total vote was 10,274 for dissolution and 8,531 against. A simple majority vote and a majority in four of the six communities was required for dissolution. Thomas Long, spokesman for the district, said just under 50 percent of eligible voters cast ballots. The move will result in six K-12 districts.

High schools would remain in Berkeley Heights (Governor Livingston), Clark (Arthur L. Johnson) and Springfield (Jonathan Dayton), while David Brearley High School would reopen in Kenilworth. The district shut Brearley in 1992 as a cost-cutting measure. Garwood and Mountainside high school students would go to another district. The dissolution was vehemently opposed by Garwood, the smallest of the six municipalities.

Officials there feared property taxes could rise as much as 20 percent to pay for out-of-district high schooling. "VOTE NO!" signs appeared all over the borough Tuesday, and people were apparently doing just that. Only 42 Garwood residents voted for the split, while 1,697 voted no. Clark also voted no, 4,033 to 536. Garwood played a leading role in founding the district 57 years ago when it was a bustling industrial community.

Now, due to suburbanization, it is the least affluent of the participating municipalities. Barbara Hill of Berkeley Heights By VINCENT PATERNO Courier-News Staff Writer Voters in six Union County municipalities voted Tuesday to dissolve the Union County Regional High School District ending a heated battle over the district's future. Voters in Berkeley Heights, Kenil-worth, Mountainside and Springfield approved the measure, while Clark and Garwood voted heavily to retain Tuberculosis fights foacEt oaG task f. v-. Restructuring now likely to result in elimination of 6,000 jobs.

By LUTHER TURMELLE Courier-News Business Writer BERNARDS To use a popular corporate euphemism, officials once again downsized the company's own downsizing Tuesday, revising layoff projections as they relate to New Jersey. The restructuring of the company is now expected to result in the elimination of 6,000 jobs in New Jersey with between 1,000 and 1,100 people put out of work, said Jeannette Gal-vanek, an vice president for human resources. When the restructuring was originally detailed in January, company officials said that 8,000 jobs would be eliminated in the state and as many as 7,000 New Jer-seyans could find themselves collecting unemployment. has succeeded in placing two out of every three employees whose jobs have been targeted for elimination into new jobs within the company, Galvanek said. But she was unable to say what percentage of those new jobs might have been at a lower wage and benefit levels.

"When somebody moves from one job to another, we have provisions to protect people's wage and benefits for up to year," Galvanek said. "I think we are creating higher level jobs than ones they replaced." Another reason for revising the job cuts is because has seen between 8 and 10 percent of its work force leave without severance packages, Galvanek said. Courier-News photo by Ed Murray Linda Duckenfield, a technical specialist in microbiology at Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center, displays a processed concentrated sample in a biohazard cabinet Tuesday in Plainfield. The concentrate is later tested for tuberculosis. Gooden hurls 1st no-hitter Dwight Gooden, his career considered over after a drug ban last year and a rough start this season, pitched a no-hitter Tuesday night as the New York Yankees defeated the Seattle Mariners 2-0.

Gooden (2-3), who returned to the major leagues after being banned for the final six weeks of the 1994 season and for all of 1995 after testing positive for cocaine, pitched the first no-hitter of his big league career. Mixing his fastball and curve, Gooden kept the Mariners off balance. The crowd was on its feet during the entire ninth, when Gooden zoomed in on the feat. Seattle's Paul Sorrento popped out on a 2-1 pitch to end the game. Even before the ball landed in the glove of shortstop Derek Jeter, Gooden raised both arms in the air in triumph.

Story in Sports, C-l. TO? Gf HIE 13173 400 DIE IN TORNADO A tornado on Tuesday flattened 80 villages, buried children beneath their school and killed more than 400 people in Rampur, Bangladesh. A-3. DUKE SETTLEMENT NEAR Parties in the bitter legal battle over the late Doris Duke's $1.5 billion estate have reached an agreement that a Manhattan surrogate judge is expected to approve. A-2.

SCHOOL TO HOST FEST The Wardlaw-Hartridge school in Plainfield has offered to host the city's annual outdoor arts festival. B-l. IIATiOIl CRASH CLEANUP Working Tuesday in the Florida Everglades, officials from numerous agencies, including the Navy and Air Force, worked to recover pieces of the passenger jet that crashed Saturday. The main fuselage is in a crater of an undetermined depth. A-3.

WEATHER Increasing clouds, rain in afternoon. High: 59-64. Low: 45-50. Full weather report, A-3. Strain of the curable disease resists some multidrug therapies said she voted yes "so that we can improve the school.

Our school's going downhill." Berkeley Heights voted yes by a margin. Comparable ratios were reported in Kenilworth and Mountainside. Springfield, seen as the swing district, voted for the measure, 2,371 to 1,683. The referendum became possible after special legislation was passed in 1993 to allow for dissolution of limited-purpose regional school districts. The BREAKUP Such attrition is not unusual for a company of size, said Ann Challenger, vice president of Challenger, Gray Christmas, a Chicago-based outplacement consulting firm.

But Challenger remains unconvinced that projections are accurate. "If you'd been called a corporate killer, you'd be running out and trying to figure out any way you could to make yourself look better," Challenger said. Tuesday's revisions were the second time the company has recalculated its layoffs estimates since making them in January. latest revisions are necessary because the company underestimated "how fast the market is shifting on us," Galvanek said. "It sounds like January was just a minute ago, but at that time, we didn't anticipate the growth of World Net," she said, referring to new Internet service.

"We didn't know that at Wireless, business would be just booming. A lot has happened; we didn't foresee it happening as quickly as it has." Wireless has 10,000 employees nationwide and expects to double that number over the next four years, spokeswoman Deb DeFago said. Statewide, Wireless' job growth over the same period will be significantly lower, with only about 120 new jobs added, DeFago said. ing. "Ultimately we expect this will be decided by a higher court and that's where we will be heading," Singer said as he left the courtroom.

Mrs. Mars-Vogel's attorneys, a team of four, patted each other on the back as Judge Ross announced his decision. Hank Vogel is past president of Vogel Boots, a New York bootmaking company that specializes in equestrian boots. He and the heiress wed in 1985, one day after signing a mutual pact in which they agreed to make no claims on each others' money if the marriage failed. When Mrs.

Mars-Vogel sued for divorce in 1993, Mr. Vogel promptly See MARS on Page A-6 Hot Topic Question: Should tests for fatal diseases be available for home use? Do you think that a new set of problems will begin when infected people learn the news over the phone, Instead of face-to-face with a doctor? You can respond to the Hot Topic via e-mail at You must still Include your full name, town and a daytime phone number for verification. Responses cannot be published without this Information. Or call: (908) 707-3262 To express your view, please call the number above to leave your message 24 hours a day. Deadline is 10 a.m.Thursday.

Give your full name (spell your last name), town and phone number for verification. Health newsA-10 Snorers are more likely to gain weight than silent sleepers. Tuberculosis Tuberculosis cases per 100,000 people for 1986, 1990, 1994 and 1995. '86 O'90 B'94 0'95 Hunterdon Er3f7' Middlesex 5.7 TJ9.2 Somerset ZIZJ6.2 Is- Union 13.8 11.7 1ll.7 I 112-7 Source: N.J. Department of Health Ruling keeps husband from Mars fortune TODAY'S TOPIC More about tuberculosisA-6 level of drug-resistant TB." Of the 848 cases reported in New Jersey last year, 2.7 percent were considered drug-resistant, Spurr said.

For comparison, 13 percent of U.S. cases in 1991 were discovered to be resistant to four front-line drugs. In the 1970s, only 3 to 5 percent were resistant to two or more drugs. Spurr credits New Jersey's low numbers to an aggressive community outreach programs. Drug-resistant strains are created when a tuberculosis patient fails to go through the entire treatment regimen which may take six months leaving some bacteria to fester in the body and learn to outsmart the drugs.

"The problem with treating TB is you start to feel better relatively quickly, and who wants to take a lot of pills when you feel OK," said Dr. Janet Lin, an infectious disease specialist at Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center in Plainfield. The therapy involves taking as many as four different kinds of antibiotics in a daily dose of six pills, often more. The World Health Organization points to drug-resistant strains as one By PAUL H.B. SHIN Courier-News Staff Writer It is the number one killer of adults in the world today, mainly in developing countries.

But tuberculosis also crops up right here in Central Jersey. The illness is generating attention anew as Piscataway school district officials report that a Piscataway High School student fell victim to the highly contagious lung disease, sending school officials scurrying to determine whether it had spread to other students and staff. About 175 students who had "prolonged contact" defined as one hour a day, five days a week with the student will be tested Friday. Parents will learn more about the illness and its prevention tonight. The good news is that, with the aid of modern medicine, tuberculosis is nearly 100 percent treatable and rarely fatal in the United States.

The bad news is that a deadly new strain of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis is threatening to make those very miracle drugs impotent. "The problem itself is very serious," said Barry Spurr, a tuberculosis specialist at the state Department of Health. "Fortunately in New Jersey, we have been able to reduce the Associated Press photo Confide will sell for about $40, with some proceeds going to AIDS support programs. 'T Feds approve 1st HIV at-home test By ANNA FARNESKI Courier-News Staff Writer A prenuptial agreement between Bedminster billionaire Jacqueline Mars-Vogel and her estranged husband is valid, a state Superior Court judge ruled Tuesday. The ruling leaves Hank Vogel with nothing aside from what he brought into the marriage not a share of the candy company heiress' fortune, nor legal fees in the ongoing 3-year-old divorce.

Not even a candy bar. Neither of the couple were present in state Superior Court in Somerville as Judge Graham T. Ross read his decision in the protracted prenuptial dispute. But Vogel's attorney, Richard Singer, vowed to appeal Ross' rul- just how distraught someone is." Beginning next month Confide will be available in pharmacies, college health centers and clinics in Texas. It also will be available to residents of Texas and Florida who can order the collection kit by phone.

The service is expected to be available nationwide in early 1997. Direct Access is limiting the distribution initially to gauge the demand for counselors, Nasshorn said. "Our goal is to have a caller talk to a counselor within 10 seconds," she said. "We need to gauge the volume of calls and the length of the calls." HIV is the virus that causes AIDS. Wallington Hankerson project coordinator at the Hyacinth Project in See TEST on Page A-6 C-N graphic by Andre Malok of the causes for a global resurgence of tuberculosis in recent years.

"In a high school student this should not be a problem," Lin said. Only 5 percent to 10 percent of people infected with tuberculosis actually fall sick. "Most of the time, people with intact immune systems will be able to fight it off," Lin said. The disease can attack any part of the body, but is found most often in the lungs. And only people with active pulmonary tuberculosis can infect others, by coughing out airborne bacteria, Lin said.

shorn, Direct Access vice president of marketing. Seven days after mailing their blood sample, clients can dial a toll-free number and key in a 14-digit personal identification number to get their results anonymously. If the results were negative, the caller will hear a recorded message. If the results are positive or inconclusive, the caller will speak to a counselor who can refer the caller to medical treatment and other support services. "The big unknown at this point is how successful or effective the counseling will be," said Riki Jacobs, executive director of the New Bruns-wick-based Hyacinth AIDS Foundation.

"Our fear is someone will not be able to pick up on the telephone Ann Landers B-9 Lifestyle B-6 Bridge B-9 Local B-1 Business A-8 Movies B-10 Classified C-6 Obituaries B-3 Comics B-9 People B-7 Crossword C-12 Scoreboard C-4 Cryptoquote C-12 Sports C-1 Editorials A-9 Stocks A-8 Legal Ads C-6 Television B-7 By MARILYN OSTERMILLER Courier-News Business Editor BRIDGEWATER The first at-home test for HIV was approved by the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday despite concerns by some health professionals that a telephone call is not a wise way to let people know they have contracted the deadly disease. The Confide HIV test will enable clients to take their blood sample at home, send it to a laboratory and then receive the results by telephone. It was developed by Direct Access Diagnostics, a division of New Brunswick-based Johnson Johnson. Testing will be handled by Lab Corp. in Raritan Borough, said Patricia Nas- FCHDEELMERY EY A.M.: CALL (800) 675-8645 TaiiYACUiilSEDJi: CALL (800) 675-7519.