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March 11, 1986 - Image 2

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The Michigan Daily, 1986-03-11

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4

Page 2 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, March 11, 1986

SCIENCE

_

Physicists search for

PASADENA, Calif. (UPI) - Not
long after Einstein published his
Theory of Relativity 71 years ago,
physicists began searching for
something they call TOE - or Theory
of Everything.
Now they think they are on the brink
of that discovery with a theory called
superstrings.
THE CONCEPT seeks to illustrate
the interrelationship among the four
basic forces of nature - gravity,
Savin
babies is
Support the
March of Dimes
BIRTH DEFECTS FOUNDATn

elecromagnetism, and the quantum
strong and weak forces. These forces
are responsible for all things in
nature.
Physicist John Schwarz of Caltech,
who developed superstring theory
with another theoretician in London,
has set the scientific community
astir with the concept.
Superstring theory grows out of the
notion that prior to the Big Bang - the
supposed catastrophic explosion that
created the cosmos - only one force
existed. According that idea, Schwarz
said, the single force then split into
four.
"SUPERSTIRING theory is a
proposed mathematical theory of
elementary particles which is based on
three new ideas," the physicist ex-
plained, that show how the forces of
nature are all intimately related.
Superstrings define the forces of
nature not as pointlike elementary
particles such as tiny gravitons that
transmit gravity or electromagnetic
photons that transmit light, but as in-
finitesimally small one-dimensional
loops and strings of energy.
These invisible loops and strings
also would include the atomic strong
force, responsible for holding together
protons and neutrons in an atom and

the weak force, which is the key in
radioactive decay.
THE LOOPS and strings, according
to Schwarz, are so intimately linked,
they indicate there was just one force
prior to the Big Bang.
He said the strings may be curled,
packed into tiny balls of energy and
occupy up to 10 dimensions, changing
current concepts of space and time.
Schwarz also theorizes that because
superstrings are not points but
oscillating, vibrating strings - one-
billionth of a trillionth of a trillionth of
a centimeter long - their rotation,
configuration and interaction would
determine the force they represent.
BUT PROVING the configurations
that the loops and strings create
requires development of a new branch
of mathematics.
"A proper description of super-
strings is not possible in the conven-
tional language used for describing
geometry now," he said.
"There are hints that we need to
develop a new type of geometry in
which strings, rather than points, play
a fundamental role. This hasn't been
done yet so the idea is still a little
vague.
"All over the world physicists and
string mathematicians are trying to

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TOE
develop the geometry, much in the
same way physicists required the
cooperation of mathematicians for all
of the important developments in
physics over the centuries."
Schwarz cited Einstein's need for
the development of differential
geometry to help explain the Theory
of Relativity in 1915.
"It seems to me if you are commit-
ted to working (in the area of)
elementary particles, this is the most
exciting place to be," he said. "This is
the branch of science that tries to an-
swer the most fundamental questions
about nature.
Parks talks
to. 600 at
BursleY Hal
(continued from Page i)
Recounting the bus boycott, Parks
said she had not planned to get
arrested, but that events in her life
had built up to her decision. One, she
said, was the arrest of a 15-year-old
black girl who refused to stand up to
give a white male student a seat on a
bus. "I was very, very upset, and
very concerned," she said.
"When they told me to move, I felt
that no matter what anyone thought
or did, I would never again ride in a
segregated public vehicle," she said.
Parks's arrest led to a year-long
boycott of Montgomery's buses, and
eventually to a Supreme Court ruling
that segregation is unlawful in inter-
state and intra-state transportation.
Parks said that involvement in the
movement is not limited to a single
incident such as her arrest. "It's a
life-long struggle," she said.
Parks also spoke about racism in
South Africa, saying it is "just as bad,
if not more so than we had. I remem-
ber reading about the situation there
in the 1940s and 1950s and being just as
concerned about apartheid as I am
now."
Speech
culminates
dorm's effort
(Continued from Page 1)
weapons, and then asked "Are you
drunk?"
The treatment of Parks spurred
area black leaders to organize the 381-
day Montgomery bus boycott.
Throughout 1956, therblacks of Mon-
tgomery walked, rode taxis, and
organized car pools. Their leader, a
26-year-old Baptist minister named
Martin Luther King Jr. earned
national reognition during the event.
So the boycott initiated King's non-
violent tactics which would eventually
land him the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize.
Park's simple refusal to move to the
back of the bus thus proved to be one
of the primary sparks in igniting the
Civil Rights movement.
"Mrs. Parks represents the extreme
power that rises out of an apparently

unimportant single individual," said
Prof. Lemuel Johnson of the Center
for Afro-American Studies. "Many
people were waiting for a movement
to begin, but one woman made the
decision andthe individual dignity of
that stand spurred larger develop-
ments."
Resident Advisor Andy Silverman,
the program coordinator, agreed.
"We brought Mrs. Parks to campus to
show students a real, living part of
history. Her story is one of real
significance and inspiration."
Parks, now a 72-year-old recep-
tionist living in Detroit, still con-
tributes to the future of the civil rights
movement, Johnson said. "She
reminds us that we are faced with the
need to confront struggles."
Correction
Michigan Student Assembly
President Paul Josephson said
yesterday he and Vice President Phil
Cole will run for the positions of LSA
. ..onn :..i : in th n-enmhl .

IN BRIEF
COMPILED FROM ASSOCIATED PRESS AND
UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL REPORTS
Shutde 'crew remains' studied
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.-Pathologists yesterday examined crew
remains recovered from Challenger's shattered cabin, sources reported,
while the ocean search continued for more body parts and debris such as
data tapes that might provide clues to the disaster.
Some remains and cabin wreckage were brought ashore secretly
Saturday night by the Navy salvage ship USS Preserver, which entered
port witlout running lights, said the sources, who spoke on condition of
anonymity.
In announcing Sunday that the cabin debris and remains had been
located, NASAS did not say whether anything had been recovered. The
agency said it would respect family wishes and not comment again until
the operation was completed.
NASA spokesman said nothing yesterday. The Navy, which is conduc-
ting the search, said the 213-foot Preserver was at the scene where the
cabin debris was found but declined to say whether divers were on the
ocean floor.
The condition of the bodies was not known by the sources, but they said
"we're talking about remains, not bodies."
Data tapes that were in the cabin could shed light on the cause of the
explosion, but it was not known how well they survived.
Aquino holds opponents funds
MANILA, Philippines-Corazon Aquino's government has frozen the
bank accounts of more than a dozen close associates of Ferdinand Marcos
to make sure the money stays in the Philippines, an official said yester-
day.
Aquino moved into offices in the presidential palace compound for the
first time since Marcos abandoned it and she became president.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, is on a commission
charged with recovering billions of dollars in assets allegedly plundered
by Marcos and his associates during the 20 years the former president
was in power.
About $50 million is in the frozen accounts, said the official, who refused
to identify their owners. Some belong to former members of the Marcos
government, the officials said.
Marcos, his family and entourage fled the country Feb. 26 and were
taken to Hawaii in U.S. Air Force planes.
Hazardous material transport
dangerous, new study says
WASHINGTON-Three-fourths of the nation's police and firefighters
are inadequately trained to respond to accidents involving transportation
of hazardous materials, a new congressional study says.
And even if a trained team reaches the scene of a ruptured tank truck,
an improper labeling of the vehicle's contents can produce a wrong,
dangerous response, the Office of Technology Assessment said in a study
released yesterday.
OTA quoted state officials as saying that from 25 percent to 50 percent
of the identification placards required on hazardous material shipments
are incorrect and that shipping documents "are sometimes incomplete or
inaccessible."
"Emergency crews must assess the risks of the hazardous material
and make decisions on how to respond based on information that may or
may-not be accurate," said OTA, a nonpartisan congressional agency.
"The wrong response to a hazardous material endangers both
emergency personnel and the neighboring communities," said the study,
which urged adoption of federal training and response standards to
replace a mishmash of state requirements.
French hostage may be dead
in Lebanon, photos show
BEIRUT, Lebanon-A Moslem fundamentalist group yesterday
produced photographs of what it identified as the corpse of one of eight
French hostages kidnapped in Beirut, and it threatened to kill again.
Three black-and-white photographs showing a person wrapped in a
blanket and a coffin with a cross next to .it were left at a Western news
agency office in Beirut.
An attached statement signed by the pro-Iranian Islamic Jihad, or Holy
War, identified the person in the picture as researcher Michel Seurat and
said it held three other French captives.
The group has demanded the release of two pro-Iranian Iraquis ex-
pelled by France and sent to Iraq, and five men jailed for an attempt on
the life of an Iranian former prime minister. It also has demanded an end
to French support for Iraq and the return of $1 billion the late shah of Iran
lent a French company.
S. African police kill 7 blacks
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa-Police killed seven blacks in the
remote tribal homeland of Lebowa north of Johannesburg, and nine
blacks died elsewhere in tribal faction fights, authorities said yesterday.
In the eastern Cape Province, at least three more blacks were killed in
the daily anti-apartheid rioting that has left more than 1,200 dead in the
past 18 months.
Meanwhile, thousands of miners at two major gold mines staged

strikes and go-slow action in new labor flare-ups.
In Cape Town, a delegation from CBS News met government officials to
appeal a decision to expel three CBS staff members because the network
aired footage of a funeral from which cameras were banned. No decision
emerged, and the two sides will meet again today.
An introduction to the funeral footage when it was broadcast in the
United States said it was filmed by an amateur and obtained outside
South Africa.
Vol. XCVI - No. 108
The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967 X) is published Monday through
Friday during the fall and winter terms. Subscription rates:, September
through April-$18 in Ann Arbor; $35 outside the city. One term-$10 in
town; $20 outside the city.
The Michigan Daily is a member of The Associated Press and subscribes
to United Press International, Pacific News Service, Los Angeles Times
Syndicate, and College Press Service.

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Editor in Chief...............ERIC MATTSON
Managing Editor ..........RACHEL GOTTLIEB
News Editor ................ JERRY MARKON
Features Editor.............CHRISTY RIEDEL
NEWS STAFF: Eve Becker, Melissa Birks, Laura
Bischoff, Rebecca Blumenstein, Marc Carrel, Dov
Cohen, Laura Coughlin, Tim Daly, Nancy
Driscoll, Rob Earle, Amy Goldstein, Susan Grant,
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Chris Jaklevic, Phillip Levy, Michael Lustig, Amy
Mindell, Caroline Muller, Kery Murakami, Jill
Oserowsky, Joe Pigott, Kurt Serbus, Martha Sevet-
son, Cheryl Wistrom, Jackie Young.
Opinion Page Editor ............KAREN KLEIN
Associate Opinion Page Editor... HENRY PARK
OPINION PAGE STAFF: Gayle Kirshenbaum,
Peter Ephross, David Lewis, Peter Mooney,
Susanne Skubik.
Arts Editor................NOELLE BROWER
Associate Arts Editor............BETH FERTIG
Books .................. REBECCA CHUNG
Film.....................SETH FLICKER

Sports Editor ................BARB McQUADE
Associate Sports Editors ...... DAVE ARETHA,
MARK BOROWSKY, RICK KAPLAN,
ADAM MARTIN, PHIL NUSSEL
SPORTS STAFF: Emily Bridgham, Debbie
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Steinert, Douglas Volan.
Business Manager .......DAWN WILLACKER
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Classified Manager .....GAYLA BROCKMAN
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Da ?iin

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