Page 3 Doctors wait to evaluate success of brain surgery By LISA POLLAK While the state's first brain tissue transplant patient recovers at the University's Medical Center, doctors debate the operation's ability to alleviate the symptoms of Parkinson's disease. Her doctors won't know whether the unnamed De- troit-area woman has improved for three to five weeks, said Dr. Terry Hood, one of four University surgeons who conducted the four-hour operation last Friday. Hood said the patient, given a 50 percent chance of improving, understood that the last-resort procedure is a very experimental treatment for patients unresponsive' to medication. The nation's one million Parkinson's victims can- not secrete dopamine, a chemical in the brain that regulates neuromuscular functions. Symptoms include senility, loss of balance, respiratory problems, and limited movement. During the procedure, University surgeons grafted tissue from the patient's adrenal glands - which con- tain dopamine - onto her brain. The operation has been performed on 50 patients nationwide in the last year, with mixed success and unknown long-term ef- fects. "Just a reduction in the extremes of her symptoms is what she is hoping for," said University neurologist Dr. Harry Greenberg. Like most victims of this neurological disorder, the woman can't move during the most severe points in the sickness, Greenberg said. Some physicians view the surgery as too experi- mental for even the most severe Parkinson's victims. "Our feeling is at this moment, more animal exper- imentation is required before this should be brought to the realm of patient care," said Dr. James Ausman, chair of neurosurgery at Henry Ford Hospital in De- troit. But Hood said some patients improved dramatically after the surgery, and none have become worse. A spokesperson for the American Parkinson's Dis- ease Association, which condones the procedure, said two patients have died following the operation. "A fewv,. however, remarkably come around. Otherwise patients experience little or no change," said the spokesperson who requested anonymity. At a Parkinson's Disease symposium in New York last July, doctors lauded the procedure but were skepti- cal about its long-term effectiveness. Dr. George Allen, chair of neurosurgery at Vander- bilt University - where the surgery has been success- ful in nine out of 18 tries - told Time magazine: "This is still very much an experimental procedure. It is too early to tell if the improvement is due to the operation." Michigan joins Vanderbilt and New York Universi- ties in pioneering the use of the brain tissue transplant surgery. Five more patients will undergo the procedure this year at the University, Hood said. Daily Photo by ELLEN LEVY A job for Tide Phi Delta Theta fraternity members play a dirty game of football with Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity mem- bers during the annual Mud Bowl battle at South University and Washtenaw Streets. Chem. expansion on schedule I Cornerstone CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP By MICHAEL LUSTIG Construction on the $60 million addition to the chemistry building is about three months behind schedule, but contractors are working additional hours to reach the February 1989 completion date, an engineer said. The new four-story building is the first part of a three-step renovation of the department. The target date for completion is February 1989, and a delay could push the date back to May. If construction is finished on time, the chemistry department should be moved in by August 1989, said James Cather, LSA associate dean for facilities. An underground tunnel connecting the construction site and the existing building collapsed and had to be rebuilt, causing a four- week delay, said Georges Selim, a senior construction engineer with the University's Plant Extension division. And the construction has already been delayed by unstable soil. Builders had to shore up support beams because the soil base, largely sand, is not strong enough to hold the beams on its own, Selim said. The focal point of the building will be a central atrium, which will allow sunlight to reach to the basement. The main floor will house a 500-seat and a 120-seat lecture hall, classrooms, and computer facilities. The upper floors will be devoted to lab space. Lab areas "are been designed with safety factors in mind," Chemistry Chair M. David Curtis said. Most labs will have one exhaust hood per work station to remove toxic fumes. Chemicals will be stored in private hallways to minimize contact with students. Hiring new professors is also part of the internal renovation plan. In the past four years, seven new assistant professors of "outstanding quality" have been hired to replace retiring faculty, Curtis said. He added that he believes "the prospects of the new building have helped us recruit new faculty." The new staff members have been able to receive fellowships and grants quickly, Curtis said. The department has also requested that the LSA Executive Committee create seven new positions in the next several years. Curtis said most of the appointments will have to wait until after 1989 because "we really don't have any more room in this building for additional appointments." Even with all the planned improvements, Curtis said that the popularity of chemistry has been dropping nationally and that at the University, "even the number of people taking general chemistry has decreased in the past year." He estimated that 250 more students took introductory chemistry last year than this year. Curtis said the disinterest is connected to a national drop in medical school applicants. Introductory chemistry is a basic pre-med course. Even the number of students graduating with degrees in chemistry, nationally and at the University, has been dropping, Curtis said. To make a chemistry concentration more attractive, the curriculum will be revamped. One plan, Curtis said, will eliminate the need for general chemistry and allow students to go straight to organic chemistry, which is now the second course a student takes. This will free up the student's senior year for independent research, Curtis said. The second phase of the project is a $12 million renovation of the existing chemistry buildings. The complex, first built in 1908 and added to in 1948, will essentially be redone from top to bottom, Curtis said. Air conditioning will be installed as part of the renovation. The final phase of the renovation is the addition of an underground natural sciences and chemistry library. Students Dedicate Knowing and Communicating Jesus Christ! Committee says research policy allows for loose interpretation ADVERTISE IN THE MICHIGAN DAILY By MELISSA RAMSDELL Members of the Research Policies Committee said Friday that the University's new classified research policy risks being loosely interpreted because of "big political swings in the next decade." "I think it opens up the possibility of swings in what is decided to be permissible, which are related to the political mood of the society," committee member Tom Juster, an economics professor, said in the meeting with Vice President for Research Linda Wilson. The guidelines, adopted last April, say that the University will accept classified research grants unless the research is not "clearly in the public interest." Committee member Rebecca Eisenberg said this section of the policy allows the University's Board of Regents to make a political judgment about whether classified research is in the public interest. "I would rather not have a policy that requires a lot of judgment calls," Eisenberg said. For example, Juster said, if the country became more concerned about national security, military research could be interpreted as being in the public interest and "some faculty would feel they wanted to do more military research." The Research Policies Committee recommended last November that the regents adopt a more restrictive policy that banned classified research and contained more specific and defined time constraints for publishing research results. The regents rejected the proposal. The "end-use" clause, which forbade classified research that could have applications harmful to human life, was removed, and the responsibility for enforcing the guidelines was given to individual researchers, deans, department heads, and the vice president for research. Wilson said that of the 1,000 proposals passed since the policy's adoption, only one was classified. "Hopefully that's likely to be the way things will develop," Juster said. The new rules reduced the committee's status to an advisory role to the vice president. Under the previous guidelines, the committee had review power. LLI sMI Burnham. a4 Drastic Rent Reductions like never before on our last few Campus Apartments No added fees, Low Security Deposits Pastor Mke Caulk Diag Evangelist Tuesdays 7p.m. 2231 Angell Hall; 971-9150 Associates Immediate Occupancy S Aror Forest Albert Terrace Apartments 1 & 2 Bedroom Apartments Heat/Water Included Parking 1215 Hill, Ann Arbor I THE IST What's happening in Ann Arbor today Speakers Brothers Inc., 4:30 p.m. Kresge 1320. Liz Cramer - Domestic Violence Evolution and Human Behavior Program Project coordinator, "Domestic Violence - Brown bag lunch discussion; "The- in Our Community," 7 p.m. Ecumenical Evolution of Monogamy," noon 1521b Campus Center, 921 Church. Rackham. Suzanne Harris -"Bonding and Electron Computing Center Courses - 8:30 a.m. Counts in Heterometallic Thiocubane Microsoft Word, Part 2 3001 SEB; Clusters," 4 p.m. Room 1200, Dept. of 10:30 a.m. Microsoft Word: Style Sheets, 3001 SEB; 1 p.m. MS-DOS Frederick Denny - visiting professor of Basic Skills, 3001 SEB; 1 p.m. Basic religous thought, 8 p.m. MLB Aud.3. Concepts of Database Management David Schaafsma and Nicklaus Suino - Systems 4003 SEB; 1 p.m. Microsoft Guild House writers series, 8 p.m., Word, part 1 3001 SEB; 7 p.m. Monday Guild House. Programmers' Seminars. Call763-7630 for registration. Meetings Asian American Association - 7 p.m., Send announcements of up- Trotter House 1443 Washtenaw. coming events to "The List," c/o ASSISTANT EDITORS Gale Research Company, a major publisher of reference books for libraries worldwide, is seeking candidates for editorial positions to do research and writing for our books. Bachelor's degree in English, Language or Humanities is highly preferred; college course work and interest in literature of many peri- ods is required. These are entry level positions that offer advance- merit opportunities. Our benefit package includes flexible working hours; medical, dental, optical and prescription drug insurance; tuition assistance; and paid time off be- tween Christmas and New Year's. If interested, please send resume, college transcript (if available) along with a typewritten, nonretum- Where can you find a climate that supports individual achievement in the world of financial services? MERRILL LYNCH & CO. INC Will Be On Campus To Conduct Interviews for the FINANCE AND CORPORATE STRATEGY GROUP on November 5, 1987 Please contact the Placement Director of the Graduate School of Business Administration for an interview.