The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, October 31, 1989 - Page 5
Michigan study on Agent
Orange gets large response
LANSING (AP) - About a
fourth of Michigan veterans who
served in countries outside of South-
east Asia responded to a survey that
will help gauge the health effects of
Agent Orange, state officials said
yesterday.
Jeffrey Taylor, director of the
Center for Health Promotion, said
the 60,000 veterans who responded
was more than double what was ex-
pected.
"There really is a very strong
bond between those who were in
Vietnam and those who were out.
They're really doing this to help
their brothers. That's what it came
down to, trying to help their bud-
dies," he said.
The Department of Public Health
had expected only about 22,000 of
the 241,000 Michigan veterans who
served outside of Southeast Asia be-
tween 1960 and 1973 would respond,
but Taylor said television ads and ef-
forts of veterans' groups helped
boost the response.
Information gleaned from those
veterans will be compared with then
responses of veterans who served in
the Southeast Asian combat zone in
a series of three-year studies starting
in January.
An estimated 52,000 of the
161,000 Michigan veterans who
served in Southeast Asia responded
to a previous survey in 1987, Taylor
said.
"We're going to be looking at
things like cancer incidence, overall
mortality, fertility, how their chil-
dren are doing in school," he said,
adding the results could help veterans
press their claims for compensation
for exposure to the chemical defo-
liant Agent Orange.
American forces sprayed 12 mil-
lion gallons of the chemical over
South Vietnam and parts of Laos and
Cambodia in the decade before 1972
to destroy vegetation that served as a
cover for Viet Cong guerillas.
Vietnam veterans claim the defo-
liant is responsible for a number of
health problems, including cancer,
nervous system disorders and birth
defects, but so far, Taylor said, the
Veterans Administration has agreed
to compensate only a few veterans
suffering from an acne-like skin dis-
order.
Michigan's Agent Orange study
will be the largest done by a state
and its size will help force the VA to
recognize veterans' claims, said Ge-
orge Claxton, national chairman of
the Vietnam Veterans of America
Agent Orange Committee.
Previous studies, such as ones in
Massachusetts and New Jersey, in-
volved only a few thousand veterans,
he said.
"With other studies, the U.S.
government has said the numbers are
so small it doesn't mean anything.
These numbers will mean some-
thing. I have no doubt the Centers
for Disease Control has no love for
the Michigan Agent Orange study,"
he said.
Claxton, who helped press a class
action lawsuit against the VA over
Agent Orange, said time is running
out for many veterans who are suf-
fering the effects of Agent Orange
exposure.
AP PHOTO
Confrontation
Demonstrators, still holding candles, reject a riot police officer's demand to disperse after a peaceful
candlelight vigil at KGB headquarters protesting Stalin's crimes. The vigil turned into massive protest march
through Moscow streets.
Soviets arrive for
'aviation conference
II
WE WANT YOU!!!
by Karen Akerlof
Daily Staff Writer
In a small room in the Modern
Languages Building yesterday after-
noon a few students met informally
over cookies with the chief test pilot
of the Soviet MiG, the designer of
the MiG-29, the Soviet Minister of
Aviation Industry, and the Manager
of the Central Aero/Hydromatics In-
stitute - the USSR's equivalent of
our National Space and Aeronautics
Administration.
At the reception were second year
Russian students Liz Hartzell and
Amy Wesley, who heard about it
from their Russian professors. They
laid they were surprised to meet such
high Soviet aviation representatives
they had expected much lower bu-
reaucrats. "They encouraged us to
study Russian more," said Hartzell
and Wesley.
The aviation specialists are in
Ann Arbor for a university-spon-
sored aerospace engineering confer-
ence, "Aeronautical Design Centen-
nial: The Lessons Learned" which
r runs from Wednesday through Fri-
day.
Charles Kauffman, professor of
aerospace. engineering, said he ex-
pects the conference to be attended
by approximately 150 engineers
from not only the USSR, but
Poland, Italy, and the United King-
dom. The conference is part of the
celebration of the aerospace engineer-
ing department's 75th anniversary.
Students received buttons of the
Antonov 225, the "Mriia." from
Peter Balabuyev, of the Antonov
Design Bureau, designer of some of
the world's largest aircraft, primarily
military carriers. The Mriia has 32
wheels and is the largest plane in the
world.
Balabuyev said he did not feel
hindered in his discussions with
other military aircraft designers by
military security concerns because,
"In a short event like this you can-
not go deep into these issues."
Richard Ward, a General Dynam-
ics engineer, has studied Soviet air-
craft, in particular the MiG, for
many years. Last spring Ward pub-
lished a "postulation" of what the
MiG would look like by year 2000.
Rostislav Belyakov, the designer of
the MiG-29, contacted Ward as soon
as he read the article. This initial
meeting of Belyakov and Ward was
one of the first steps towards bring-
ing Belyakov to speak about the
plane he designed.
Ward said aerospace engineers
from the United States and the
USSR have been meeting for years
to discuss planes, usually in third
nations such as France. Lately the
Soviets have brought military air-
craft to the shows. In Paris last year
they brought an unprecedented four
planes.
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THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
November/December Events
TOMORROW, Nov... Alumnus-in-Residence Program, "Our Schools and
Children in Crisis: Will Choice Make a Diference?" Dr. David Donovan,
Assistant Superintendent, Office of Technical Assistance-and Evaluation.
Michigan Department of Education, keynote speaker. Responses by Dr. Kenneth
S. Burnley, Superintendent, Colorado Springs District 11; Dr. Anne R. Mulder,
President, Lake Michigan College; Ms. Ellen Stevens, Deputy Superintendent,
Detroit Public Schools; and Ms. Mary Christian, Vice President, Michigan
Education Association. Dr. Clarence Stone, chair; Dr. Foster Gibbs, moderator;
and Mr. Eldon Martin, closing remarks; 8 to 10 a.m., Schorling Auditorium,
1202 SEB. Reception following in 1211 SEB.
FRIDAY, Nov. 3. Parents' Weekend Open House. Faculty and staff will meet
with Education parents and students for informal exchanges. Refreshments in
1211 SEB, 3:30 to 5 p.m.
For information, call (313) 763-4880.
SATURDAY, Nov. 4. School of Education Alumni Society Fall Gathering.
Program includes the Board of Governors meeting, 9 a.m., general alumni
meeting, 10:30 a.m., with remarks by Dean Cecil Miskel on "Preparing
Educational Professionals: Emerging Perspectives for the School of Education,"
followed by lunch at 11:15 a.m. and the Michigan-Purdue football game at
1 p.m. Ann Arbor Pioneer High School, 601 W. Stadium Blvd. Open to all
alumni. Reservations and payment required for lunch and game.
For information, call (313) 763-4880.
MONDAY, Nov. 6. Elementary Teaching Information meeting. School of
Education faculty and staff will meet with students interested in careers in
elementary education. 4 p.m., Tribute Room, 1322 SEB.
For information, call the Office of Academic Services, 1033 SEB,
(313) 764-8406.
THURSDAY-FRIDAY, Nov. 9-10. Community College Consortium 1989
Faculty Development Institute, "Teaching and Learning-Obligations and
Opportunities." The University of Toledo, SeaGate Centre Campus, Toledo,
Ohio. Registration fee.
For information, call (313) 764-9499.
FRIDAY, Nov. 10. Dr. Elizabeth Sulzby will be the guest speaker at the
monthly bi-weekly colloquium series, Meeting on Researching Education,
1211 SEB (Dean's Conference Room), 3 p.m. The topic will be "Research in
Emergent Literacy." Sponsored by Curriculum, Teaching and Psychological
Studies.
MONDAY, Nov, 13. Secondary Teaching Information meeting. School of
Education faculty and staff will meet with students interested in careers in
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