"19 Page 4--Wednesday, November 16, 1977-The Michigan Daily :45 ILIat Eighty-Eight Years of Editorial Freedom 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Vol. LXXXVILI, No. 60 News Phone: 764-0552 Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan ['he, Sen ate 'race free-for-all Heal Service D ILL MILLIKEN pulled out of the state's U.S. Senate race Monday, setting the stage for one of the hottest political races Michigan has seen in a long time. Political hopefuls from Mar- quette to Monroe were waiting on pins and needles for Milliken to indicate whether he would run for governor again or make a bid for Robert Griffin's soon-to-be-vacant seat in Washington, ;and the tension eased Monday like hot lair rushing from a punctured balloon. The tension relieved by Milliken's nnouncement will give way to only a ifferent sort of tension - a long wait to ee whom the state's parties nominate but the atmosphere, no doubt, will frn soon into a busting-at-the-seams r ree-for-all. i With Milliken out, the race must give ay to a group of political aspirants un- tried in the statewide arena. With the 'exception of George Romney, (and don't rule him out,) the governor is the only politician who has proven he can win Michigan votes consistently. Unless Romney jumps in, voters can expect] long months of listening to very am- bitious plans from very ambitious, people whom they know very . little about. What is important is that this is a crucial time for both of the state's par-! ties. With Phil Hart gone, they Democrats are depending on the hazy; figure of Don Riegle to carry the ban-l ner. With Griffin retiring, the state GOP's tradition of moderation looks like it may be fading; only Milliken remains to stave off the neanderthal Robert Huber wing of the party. The race looks exciting indeed, but it is important that voters weigh and watch the newcomers with particular caution. Without reputa- tions to run on, candidates will be push- ing images above all else. Fresh blood is more than welcome, but there is much at stake in this Senate race; keep cool and watch closely. By SYLVIA HACKER and NANCY PALCHIK QUESTION: What exactly is a narcotic? ANSWER: Narcotic or narcotic analgesics as they are technically called, are a type of drug which produces several effects - the primary being the relief of pain (or analgesia). Narcotics are the most effective drugs available for the relief of pain during the conscious state. Other effects in- clude narcosis or a state of stupor or sleep, and addiction. Although the precise mode of action of the narcotic drugs is not clear, they seem to act on thercentral ner- vous system rather than upon peripheral pain receptors. Narcotics may be classified as natural, semisynthetic or syn- thetic. Opium, prepared from the juice of unripe seed pods of the opium poppy, is the source of natural narcotics. The pharma- cologically active components of opium are members of a class of chemical compounds known as alkaloids. Although numerous alkaloids are present in opium (including codeine), morphine is the most important. First isolated in 1803, it was regarded as the "new wonder drug pain killer." It is predominantly re- sponsible for the pharmacologi- cal properties of opium and re- mains the standard against which new analgesic narcotics are measured. Since opium is the source of these natural alkaloids, other narcotics with actions similar to those of morphine are also sometimes called opiates. SEMISYNTHETIC narcotics are obtained by relatively simple structural modifications of mor- phine or codeine molecules. Heroin, for example, is morphine heated in the presence of acetic acid (found in vinegar). Fully synthetic narcotics (e.g. methadone and meperidine or Demerol) have a structural resemblance to the whole or part of the morphine molecule. The opiates were probably used to relieve pain as far back as 5000 B.C. The Greek poet, Homer, called it "that potential destroyer. of grief" and attributed its dis- covery to the Egyptians who may have learned of its use from the inhabitants of Asia Minor where the opium poppy was first culti- vated. In the United States opium was sold legally throughout the 19th century when doctors referred to it as "God's Own Medicine." Addiction to opium was first re- corded in 300 B.C. by the Greek physician, Erasistratus, who cau- tioned against its addictive na- ture. When heroin was derived in 1898 it was hoped that it would serve as a remedy for morphine addiction. However, although heroin proved an even better pain killer than morphine, it also tur- ned out to be even more addic- tive. In turn, although each of the synthetic narcotics was de- veloped to provide an anal- gesic without addicting proper- ties, all of them are capable of producing physical dependence. QUESTION: Everyone keeps saying to eat a good breakfast. What is a good breakfast any- way? I.book ANSWER: Recent studies seem to show that a "good break- fast" is one which is high in protein - one which includes eggs, ham, cheese or fish, for example, rather than a popular one which consists of such items as coffee, cereal, bread and juice (high in carbohydrate). It has been found that reducing, although not eliminating, the in- take of carbohydrates and in- creasing protein hasbeen significant in decreasing fatique and fluid retention. Keep in mind that following the night fast, the digestive tract has been at rest and the blood sugar is low. Eating will stimulate digestion and raise the blood sugar, and a number of studies demonstrate that produc- tivity in the late morning hours is greater for those who eat a good breakfast than for those who skip it or only eat a snack on their cof- fee break. Please send all health related questions to: Health Educators Univ. Health Service Div. of the Office of Student Services 207 Fletcher Ann Arbor, MI 48109 I Letters to. I mind and muscle To The Daily: This letter is in rebuttal to a let- ter published recently in the Daily (Nov. 7th), which asked U of M football fans to forgive foot- ball players for their mistakes. This article also stated that foot- ball fans should idolize these 6' 2" 200-pound "human beings." I would like to make a few com- ments about this article. First, there are much more im- portant things to write about or plead for than asking U of M fans to worship the men in blue. There are many good causes to work for or to write about. Yet, some peo- ple close themselves off to the rest of the world and instead spend (or should I say waste) their time worshipping the foot- ball players. Second, these "worshippers" fail to notice (or they may not The Daily want to notice) that many of their stars are ignorant, egotistical, and inconsiderate. In sum, rotten human beings. It is hard for me to worship these players when they hardly go to classes .and when they do, its usually to the Frieze building. Many football players destroy the dorms which they live in. These players are babied enough by Bo and his staff, there is no need for us to baby them. I like football and I go to all the games. I do not worship these players but I do respect them for their athletic ability (for some of them that's all they care about). Yet I stop there. The University of Michigan is an excellent educational institution but its a shame to see people accepted to the U of M who had-lower qualifi- cations butgotinto the college be- cause they had muscles. - Bobby Morrton :: : : :: : : :::::::.. : :::. :::::::::. :::. :::::::::::: Editorials which appear u : sensus opinion of the Daily's e as well as cartoons, are the o mit them. in defe By BARRY PETERSEN When Charles Darwin in the late 1850's first (proposed his theories on the evolution of spe- kcies, opposition to the ideas he expounded was (stiff. The concepts that species evolved over along periods of time under pressure from their et, and that species, given time, pt to new environments, were simply 1 to be readily accepted. As for the thought that man was simply another creature subject to the same processes of development gas "lower" creatures, this was really too ab- surd to be believed. After all, was not man a (special creation of God, made in the very himage of the Creator Himself? Why of course he was, the people of the time answered. Thus, ;Darwin was absurdly denounced by the "es- Ttablishment" of his day as an anti-Christian theretic who was trying to prove that men had ,descended from monkeys.' " As time went by, however, and evidence in favor of Darwin's theories grew, the tirades against his work began to look ever more ridic- ulous. To be sure, the anti-evolutionists, not 'quickly convinced of the correctness of Dar- in's ideas, raised havoc well into the 20th cen- gtury. Laws banning the discussion of evolu- tionary theory in Tennessee public school classes, for example, were on the books as late as 1925, as a man by the name of John Scopes* ppainfully discovered. Nevertheless, Darwin's utheories gradually came to be accepted as the only rational explanation for diversity among species, and today's modern biological science races many of its principles back to Darwin's work. PRESENTLY, a new set of revolutionary sci- entific theories are struggling for acceptance in the world. Coming under the general heading of "sociobiology," these theories have arisen out of attempts to fill in weak spots in Darwin's work. .When Darwin discussed evolution, he based his explanations on the premise that natural conditions selected for or against indi- vidual organisms. Yet this premise led to theo- retical problems, for if it were true, why would an organism be willing to sacrifice itself for the good of another organism of the same species? Such altruistic behavior could be observed in almost all species, yet Darwin had no explana- tion for it, as his theories would have forced im to declare that altruists would gradually die out of any population. Later scientific work, begun by Austrian monk Gregor Mendel, led'to the discovery of enes, small pieces of organic material which transmit the characteristics of an organism to its offspring. From the new field of genetics,