The Michigan Daily - Monday, March 22, 1993 - Page 3
Robot lets
students
apply
by Michelle Fricke
Daily Staff Reporter
People who thought they saw a
robot gliding through the Fishbowl
last Friday afternoon weren't
hallucinating.
CARMEL - the University's
Artificial Intelligence (AI) Lab's
robot - was on display in an effort
to heighten student interest in the
LSA computer science program.
"We wanted to show people that
they could get involved in very in-
teresting projects if they're willing,"
, said Bill Rounds, a computer science
professor. "The University gives you
the chance to get involved in pro-
jects with real-life applications."
CARMEL - an acronym mean-
ing Computer-Aided Robotics for
Maintenance, Emergency and Life-
Support - beat 12 robots from uni-
versities and corporations to take
first place in a national robotics
competition last July. The competi-
tion was sponsored by the American
Association for Artificial Intell-
igence and was .the premiere.
performance for CARMEL.
The competition's three stages
tested the robots' capacities for ob-
ject identification, object avoidance
and position correction. CARMEL
distinguished itself among the com-
petitors by locating all the objects in
the field in less than half the allotted
time. In addition, the robot will
avoid any human who steps in its
path. It even plays "The Victors."
The project was planned by 25
undergraduate and graduate students
in LSA and the School of
Engineering, with the assistance of
faculty advisor Terry Weymuth.
Students said they developed an ap-
'U' to host Latina author
Renowned writerCisnerosto read slicesfrom herworks
by Cara Solomon
Widely recognized as crafting
rich portraits of Latino culture, rife
with vivid imagery and a shrewd
sense of humor, author Sandra
Cisneros will display her talents on
campus today.
Cisneros - a Latina feminist and
author of two books, "House On
Mango Street" and "Woman
Hollering Creek" - will be reading
from her work today at Rackham
Auditorium at 4 p.m.
Her books are compilations of
both poetry and short stories.
Of her writing, the author said, "I
think I'm more outrageous now than
I've ever been. I'm less afraid about
saying things. In fact, I look to say
things that are outrageous."
Communicating a voice for her-
self and the Latino community is
important to Cisneros. "I always had
kind of a split personality - I was
real funny at home, but quiet at
school," said Cisneros, describing
her childhood. "The teachers make
you feel like you don't have any-
thing to say. They think we (Latinos)
don't know how to talk, let alone
write. You don't feel as if the lan-
guage is yours. You always feel as if
the voice you have is not the one you
ought to use on paper."
As she grew older and felt more
secure in her identity as a Latina
woman, Cisneros used her "white
bread" education as a springboard
for her own writing.
"When I was in graduate school,
I would read something my class-
mates would write and do the oppo-
site," she said.
Cisneros is very much interested
in empowering Latina women, giv-
ing them a sense of familiarity in her
work.
She imagined her audience by
saying, "For me, in my head, I'm
talking across the kitchen table or
I'm talking to my Saturday soup
group of women and we're telling
each other the stuff that we laugh
about and cry about. Then everyone
else is sort of allowed to eavesdrop. I
try to write so that those who do
eavesdrop can understand most of
what's being talked about."
Being a Latina woman has had
much to do with Cisneros' evolution
as a writer, constituting her main in-
spiration to write.
"I think that being a woman has
been like my absolute Trojan horse.
It's made me invisible. Because I
was the only woman in my family,
publicly I was left to my own de-
vices. My brothers were more the
mountain climbers, the really physi-
cal ones," she said.
The author described herself in
contrast to her siblings, "I could be
in the house for 20 years and be fine.
I like to just think. I think it's some-
thing in my temperament and the
fact that I was the observer as op-
posed to being a participant that hadst
everything to do with training me as
a writer. Being a woman allowed me
to be a fly on the wall, get past
many, many guards and listen and
watch people."
Cisneros cited humor as the de-
vice which brought her voice and, in
effect, her identity to the surface:
She said, "I became empowered
through humor. We as a people have
used humor through all of our his=
tory as a way to survive."
Cisneros sees humor as another
one of her "Trojan horses." She uses
its subtlety to infiltrate the minds of
others, and change their perceptions
enlighten them in some way.
"I think when you're funny,
people don't get quite as alarmed,
when you come out and say some-
thing you don't come across as stri-
dent or offensive," she said. "So
they're more willing to listen to you
and then you can say something very
important."
Cisneros is continually growing
in her identity as a Latina feminist
author.
"In the past, I thought I was just a
writer if I sat down and put pen to
paper. Now I leave myself open to
everything. It's all a possibility for it
to be in the art. I realize now that
everything is teaching me in my life.
It's not just the writing, it's the life
lessons, it's the people that come
into my life."
MOJLLY STEVELIN
CARMEL, a University robot, glided past students in the Fishbowl Friday.
preciation for the human mind's in-
telligence after spending about six
months programming the robot to
locate just one object.
"Trying to develop robots that
can move around and see things tells
us a lot about how complex we are
as human beings," said Arun
Hampapur, a graduate student in
computer science and engineering.
CARMEL's Cybermotion base
was developed about five years ago
by two University professors.
Engineering students in the Mobile
Robot Lab helped to improve the
base for the competition.
People involved in the project
stressed the importance of applying
classroom theories to hands-on
experiments.
"Building robots is important be-
cause trying theories in the real
world is essential to any project,"~
said Clint Bidlack, a rescarch engi-
neer at the AI Lab. "Theory and ex-
periment go hand in hand."
Larry Page, an Engineering ju-
nior, agreed, "It's a really good ex-
perience to produce an actual pro-
ject. It's not something you learn in
everyday curriculum."
Festival reveals Korean culture
Organizers call on minorities
for bone marrow registration
by Sarah Kiino
Daily Staff Reporter
Two striking forms of elegance.
- dance and martial arts - con-'
verged during yesterday's Korean
Cultural Arts Festival in the
Michigan Union.
The festival, presented by the
Korean Students Association (KSA),
gave a comprehensive view of dif-
ferent aspects of Korean cultural life
to people of Korean descent as well
as non-Koreans.
"We're trying to increase the
(Korean) cultural awareness of the
students in the University with the
festival." said Lena Kim, Art School
senior and co-editor of KSA's
monthly publication.
The festival began with a poetry
reading and art exhibit.
Every seat in the Pendleton room
was taken as Sayhyon Park, head of
the University's Korean language
program, spoke about the history of
Korean literature and poetry, using
Korean poems and English transla-
tions to exemplify his points.
Dr. Chonggi Mah, a prize-win-
ning Korean poet and radiologist at
Toledo Hospital, spoke after Park.
Attendees were encouraged to
browse through an exhibit of Korean
students' art and watch a calligraphy
demonstration.
"I was just curious about what
the KSA did at (the University) ... I
was glad to get the exposure to
Korean poetry," said Cathy Hong, a
student at Seaholm High School.
From the art exhibit, many people
proceeded to a dinner of traditional
Korean food.
The festival culminated in a show
that highlighted several aspects of
Korean and Korean American life.
A Taekwondo demonstration by
Ann Arbor instructor Han Won Lee
and his students dazzled all in
attendance.
Traditional Korean dances, song
and a wedding ceremony were per-
formed. A stand-up routine by
Margaret Cho, the well-known MTV
comedian, rounded out the evening
of art and culture.
Kim said KSA, which has clos
to 100 members, had been planning
the festival since last summer.
by Scot Woods
The Black Law Students'
Alliance (BLSA) at the University is
asking for a few drops of blood in
order to save lives.
BLSA is organizing a bone mar-
row registry drive today and tomor-
row from noon to 4:00 p.m. at the
Lawyer's Club Lounge, on the first
floor in the Law Quad.
The American Red Cross is
covering the expenses and providing
nurses to administer the tests.
Organizers said they are targeting
minority students in particular, but
all volunteers are welcome.
"People of color are significantly
underrepresented (on the National
Bone Marrow Registry)," said
Michelle Worden, a second-year law
student and BLSA member.
She added, "Since antigens are
hereditary and genetically deter-
mined, there is a greater chance that
HLA (Human Leukocyte Antigen)
types will match within a race."
The donor's HLA type must
match the recipient's or the body
will reject the marrow.
The National Bone Marrow
Registry is a non-profit organization
that matches donors with patients -
usually aplastic anemia or leukemia
victims.
Potential donors will be asked to
fill out a brief medical history
survey and give about two
tablespoons of blood for testing.
"It's not like donating blood,"
said Giselle DeChabert, a BLSA
member and event organizer. "You
aren't tired or dizzy afterward."
The blood is sent to a lab and
checked for HLA type. If a patient
who matches the HLA type is ever
found, further testing will be done to
determine a certain bone marrow
match. Participation in the first stage
of testing does not obligate a poten-
tial donor to further testing.
Organizers stressed the impor-
tance of registering minorities.
"We're doing this because of the
importance the lack of minority par-
ticipants on the bone marrow reg-
istry has on minority patients who
are in desperate need of donors,"
DeChabert said.
Worden said underrepresented
groups include Native Americans
and people of African, Asian, and
Hispanic descent.
Organizers attribute this under-
represenation to a lack of publicity.
"Perhaps it's because they haven't
been targeted before," Worden said.
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Student groups
Q Environmental Action Coali-
tion, meeting, School of Natural
Resources, Room 1040, 7 p.m.
Q Habitat for Humanity, informa-
tionmeeting, Art& Architechture
Building, Room 2216,7-8 p.m.
Q Indian American Students As-
sociation, weekly board meet-
ing, Michigan League, Room A,
7 p.m.
Q Jewish Feminist Group, exhibit,
Michigan Union Art Lounge
Q Michigan Student Assembly,
temporary meetings to discuss
Diagpolicy, MichiganUnion, 3rd
Floor, 7 p.m.
Q Newman Catholic Student Fel-
lowship Association, RCIA, 7
p.m.; Bible Study, 7:30 p.m.; St.
Mary Student Parish, 331 Th-
ompson St.
Q Rainforest Action Movement,
meeting, Dana Building, Room
1046, 7 p.m.
Q Shorin-Ryu Karate-Do Club,
practice, beginners welcome,
CCRB, Martial ArtsRoom, 8:30-
9:30 p.m.
Q Society for Creative Anachro-
nism,medieval recreationgroup,
workshop: fundraising, 7 p.m.;
7:30-9 p.m.
Events
Q Aversion/Perversion/Diversion,
Women's Studies Brown Bag
Lecture Series, West Engineer-
ing Building, Women's Studies
Lounge, Room 232 D, 12 p.m.
Q Blood Drive, Michigan Union,
Pendelton Room, 1-6:30 p.m.
Q Carillon Auditions, for spring/
summer/fall study, Burton
Tower, Room 900, 764-2539,
12:30-2 p.m.
Q Community Based Long Term
Care in Japan, Michigan
League, Koessler Room, 4-5:30
p.m.
Q Harpsichord Studio Recital,
School of Music, Blanche Ander-
son Moore Hall, 8 p.m.
Q Interviewing, Student Activities
Building, Room 3200, Career
Planning & Placement Program
Room, 12:10-1 p.m.
Q Latin American Film Series,
"Romero," and "A Question of
Conscience," Rackham
Amphitheatre, 8 p.m.
Q Metallacrowns, a New Class of
Metal 'Cluster,' inorganic semi-
nar, Chemistry Building, Room
!Aw ! ! "
Building, Arena Theatre, 5 p.m.
Q U-M Euphonium and Tuba En-
semble, concert, School of Mu-
sic, McIntosh Theater, 8 p.m.
Q Writing a Law School Personal
Statement, Student Activities
Building, Room 3200, Career
Planning & Placement Program
Room, 4:10-5 p.m.
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Student services
Q The Adoptee Gathering, drop in
todiscuss specific issuesthatcon-
cern adult adoptees, Catholic
Social Services Building,117N.
Division St., 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Q Bone Marrow Testing Drive,
Lawyer's Club, 12-4 p.m.
Q ECB Student Writing Center,
Angell Hall, Computing Center,
7-11 p.m.
Q Northwalk Nighttime Safety
Walking Service, Bursley Hall,
763-9255, 8 p.m.-1:30 a.m.
Q Peer Counseling, U-M Counsel-
ing Services, 7 p.m.-8 a.m., call
764-8433
Q Psychology Undergraduate Peer
Advising, sponsored by Depart-
ment or ' vchology, WestQuad,
Room K2h, x'a.m.-4 p.m.
Ncatioi hafHonoif Society
e.
r.
S- -
0fr
General Meeting
March 22, 1993
7 p.m.
Wolverine Room
Michigan Union