MARKER'S FUMES SICKEN 13 BUENA PARK STUDENTS

Schools: Suspension or expulsion may await some of the youths,who were
rushed to hospitals from their math class.

Buena Park-Thirteen students were taken to area hospitals Monday and
some could face expulsion because they sniffed a toxic marker during
math class.

About 25 firefighters and four ambulances took the Bueana Park Junior
High School students to hospitals in La Palma and Anaheim about noon
to be examined for shortness of breath, nausea and headaches, said
Dennis Shell, spokesman for the Orange County Fire Authority. They
were all later released to their parents or school officials.

Fumes smelling of chemicals wafted throughout a third-period classroom
when a seventh-grade boy took a Magnum 44 marker out of his pocket to
show a girl, said Principal Nancy Rios.

The eight-grade girl waved the thick marker in the air, then colored a
circle on a piece of paper and passed the paper around the classroom
for others to sniff, Rois said.

Magnum 44 markers are intended for industrial use and can cause
serious illness, Shell said.

"It was a dumb stunt to do and fortunately, no students went into
cardiac arrest today," he said. "It's going to make them sick as a
dog. It's not a bright thing to do."

Students involved in handling the marker will be suspended for five
days, Rios said, and some could be recommended for expulsion. Names of
the students were not released because they are minors.

"This is like sniffing glue, sniffing paint," Rios said. "This was
definitely beyond the scope of what was allowed at our school."

Checked-by: Rich O'Grady