Prostate study may influence treatment

It is better to treat prostate cancer in elderly people aggressively rather than wait and watch for signs of progression as is commonly done, according to a new study that might change the care for many patients.

Surgery or radiation therapy in elderly men increases survival by at least 30 percent, raising median survival times from 10 years to more than 13 years, researchers reported Saturday at a conference in San Francisco.

The finding in nearly 50,000 men "challenges long-held beliefs about prostate-cancer treatment," said Dr. Paul Lange of the University of Washington, by suggesting treatment is better than so-called watchful waiting. Lange did not participate in the study.

Prostate cancer is the most common type of cancer among U.S. men, the American Cancer Society said. It is primarily a disease of the elderly, with about two-thirds of victims older than 65.

Teacher's bond set

in student-sex case

A former fifth-grade teacher accused of having sex with her 11-year-old student was ordered held on $100,000 bail Saturday.

Prosecutors had wanted Wendie A. Schweikert, 36, jailed without bail, saying she was a danger to the community and a flight risk.

Schweikert was arrested Friday on two counts of criminal sexual conduct with a minor after the boy's mother accused the teacher of having sex with him at school at least twice, Laurens Police Chief Robin Morse said.

The former teacher admitted in a statement to having sex with the boy, Morse said.

Schweikert, who resigned from her job at E.B. Morse Elementary School on Friday, did not speak during the hearing and did not have an attorney.

Reiner steps down

from commission

Director Rob Reiner stepped down temporarily as chairman of a California education commission amid questions about the potential misuse of taxpayer funds for a June ballot initiative he is spearheading.

In a letter Friday to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Reiner said his leave from the First 5 California Children and Families Commission will end June 7, the day after voters cast ballots on Proposition 82. That bill would establish a state constitutional right to preschool for 4-year-olds.

Reiner helped create the Children and Families commission, a state agency that uses tobacco taxes for early childhood development programs. State law prohibits the use of public funds for campaign activities.

But a Los Angeles Times story last week detailed how the commission spent $23 million on ads that promoted the benefits of preschool.

No Brown U. assets

to have Sudan link

Brown University said Saturday it will stop investing in companies that do business in Sudan because the country has been accused of genocide.

The decision by Brown Corp., which oversees the university's assets, follows similar moves by Harvard, Stanford, Dartmouth, Amherst and Yale.

The United States and other nations say genocide has occurred in Sudan's Darfur region. An estimated 180,000 people have died since early 2003, when decades of tribal clashes over land and water erupted into large-scale violence. Two million others have been displaced.

A Brown spokeswoman said it was not clear how much money will be divested, but it will be "substantial." Brown has an endowment of more than $1.6 billion.

Also

Toby Young, a prison volunteer, and John Manard, the murderer she allegedly helped escape from prison in Lansing, Kan., were nabbed late Friday in a Tennessee mall parking lot.

Compiled from The Associated

Press and Los Angeles Times