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Thursday
March 2, 1995
One hundred four years of editorial freedom
.'U' researcher: Fruit pectin may stop prostate cancer
By visa Ponis
For the Daily
Two researchers, including one from the
University, have discovered that citrus pectin
has the potential to arrest the spread of pros-
tate cancer, the most commonly diagnosed
cancer among American men.
9 Their study was published yesterday in the
ournal of the National Cancer Institute.
University researcher Dr. Kenneth J. Pienta
and Avraham Raz of the Michigan Cancer
Foundation found that a modified form of
citrus pectin prevented the spread of prostate
cancer, when administered to rats that had
been inoculated with infected cells. Results
showed a 50-percent reduction in the occur-
rence of the spread of lung cancer, as com-
pared to a control group.
Citrus pectin is a natural substance com-
monly used in preserves and jams. It is de-
rived from the plant fibers of citrus fruits.
Pienta, an oncologist at the University of
Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center and
scientific director of the Michigan Prostate
Center, said a fragmented form of the pectin
"basically coats the cancer cells and blocks
their ability to bind in other areas of the
body." Secondary cancerous growths form
when the cancerous cells are able to latch onto
other cells.
Bruce Schweers, spokesman for the Michi-
gan Cancer Foundation, further explained the
effect of the treatment. "The citrus pectin
binds to the cancer cells and acts as an anti-
adhesive."
Pienta also said that if cancer cells can be
confined to the primary tumor, the patient's
chances of recovery are greatly increased.
Once prostate cancer has spread it is generally
considered incurable. The primary tumor can
later be removed through surgery or radia-
tion.
"We're very hopeful because it's a non-
toxic, abundant substance with no known side
effects," Schweers said.
However, Schweers emphasized that this
research will not necessarily result in a cure
for prostrate cancer, but will work toward a
way to prevent its spread. Citrus pectin has no
effect on the primary tumor.
Prostate cancer is the most commonly
diagnosed cancer among American men and
the second-leading cause of male cancer death.
Lung cancer is the No. i cause of cancer
deaths in men.
"We really hope that we can stop cancer
from spreading so that we can cure them,"
Pienta said.
Raz is the director of the tumor progres-
sion and metastasis program at the Michigan
Cancer Foundation.
The study was funded by the National
Cancer Institute, the CaPCURE Foundation
and the Paul Zuckerman Support Foundation
for Cancer Research.
SNRE dean
to vacate post
this summer
Through
the
looking
glass
Maya Agarwal,
an Engineering
senior, makes
herself at home
in the Graduate
library stacks.
Midterm exams
have confined
many students
to University
libraries for long
hours of hitting
the books.
STEPHANIE GRACE UM/Daily
GOP hunts for balanced-budget vote
WASHINGTON (AP)- Delay-
,ng a showdown once again, Republi-
ans labored yesterday to find the
single, elusive vote needed to rescue
the balanced-budget amendment.
Majority Leader Bob Dole said he
might revive the issue at the height of
the 1996 election season if it fails this
time around.
"This is no time for retreat," Dole (R-
Kan.) said as the GOP bargained pri-
vately with a small group of wavering
)emocrats who were demanding pro-
tection for Social Security trust funds.
Sen. Mark Hatfield of Oregon re-
mained the sole GOP holdout despite
calls from close relatives, Oregon leg-
islative leaders and party activists as
well as a visit from Haley Barbour,
his party's national chairman.
"He said a balanced budget amend-
ment is a must piece of legislation for
Jhe Republican Party," said Hatfield,
ho chairs the Senate Appropriations
Committee, the panel that would have
to make the budget cuts if the amend-
ment becomes part of the Constitution.
The amendment is the core of the
Republican drive to rein in govern-
ment. The House approved a similar
amendment, 300-132, late in January,
the first victory of the GOP's conserva-
tive"ContractWith America."The mea-
*ure will require a balanced budget by
2002, and demand a three-fifths vote of
both houses to permit deficit spending.
Republicans say it will impose the
discipline necessary to stop the run-up in
the federal debt, now approaching $5
trillion. Some Democrats say it will lead
to devastating cuts in social programs,
while others, more sympathetic to the
proposal, want a change that would keep
Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) gestures during a Capitol Hill news conference
yesterday. Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) looks on.
Social Security
at heart of
budget fight
WASHINGTON (AP) - Social
Security is never far from the storm
center.
Republicans who want to keep So-
cial Security in the balanced-budget
mix understand that removing its huge
trust fund surpluses from the debate
would make the task of eliminating the
federal deficit immensely harder.
They are keenly aware that if they
agree to remove the fund from the defi-
cit-reduction wars, then the balanced-
budget amendment would likely be
approved. But then how would they
stanch the flow of federal red ink?
Lawmakers would have to find an
extra $558 billion worth of reduc-
tions over the next seven years, be-
yond the astronomical $1.2 trillion
already said to be required.
That is the dilemma that Senate
Majority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kansas)
and other amendment supporters face
as they desperately search for the deci-
sive 67th vote to pass the proposal.
There are two reasons that Social
Security, with its overflowing trust
fund, is often yanked into the budget
battle: Its mammoth annual surpluses
help make the federal shortfall look
smaller than it really is, and politi-
cians love to warn that their oppo-
nents are plotting to use the popular
program for deficit reduction.
See SECURITY, Page 2
By Ronnie Glassberg
Daily Staf Reporter
The dean of the School of Natural
Resources and Environment will re-
sign from his post at the end of August
- nearly two years before the end of
his appointment.
Garry D. Brewer, who came to the
school in 1991 from Yale University,
plans to stay at the University as a
faculty member. He said he will work
on the Corporate Environmental Man-
agement Program, which connects
education in his school and the School
of Business Administration.
"Basically. when I came here four
Y ears ago, I wrote a list of what were
feasible goals. It occurred to me this
year that I had done my job and I
pointed that out to the provost,"
Brewer said. "I've done everything
that I said I would do and I exceeded
everything."
Brewer gave a letter to the school's
faculty members yesterday telling
them of his decision.
Provost and Executive Vice Presi-
dent for Academic Affairs Gilbert R.
Whitaker Jr. said Brewer hadtold him
a few months ago that he was thinking
of stepping down.
"I urged him not to because I think
he is doing a really good job,"
Whitaker said. "I'm sorry he's doing
it, but I'm glad he's staying at the
University."
Brewer's decision makes his post
the fifth open dean seat at the Univer-
sity. Rackham, Public Health, Phar-
macy and Engineering have open dean
seats, and Whitaker, the University's
chief academic officer, will step down
in August.
Brewer said that when he leaves the
dean's office, he will focus on CEMP,
the program he started in March 1992,
in which students take classes in both
SNRE and the Business School.
"Here's something I care a lot
about personally and it's in a very
fragile stage in its development,"
Brewer said. "You can't do some-
thing like that and be dean. I'm not
leaving Michigan and I'm not mad
about anything."
Business Dean B. Joseph White,
who was active in recruiting Brewer,
said Brewer has done a good job as
dean.
"He has been a major contributor
of CEMP in the post and I'm pleased
that he will be able to do even more
for us in the future," White said. "The
premise of CEMP is that partnership
is going to be more valuablein resolv-
ing environmental problems than
adversarial relationships."
Brewer said he will apply to be
chair of the program, a new position
that he found funding for, although a
national search will be conducted. "If
I'm lucky enough to get it, I'll take
it," he said.
Regent Rebecca McGowan (D-
Ann Arbor) said she is not surprised
Brewer is leaving to work on CEMP.
"It is a particularly difficult time
in that relationship given the politics
of today," she said. "It's a real trying
time in that area. Things were moving
forward and all of a sudden we had an
election."
During Brewer's first year as dean,
the school received a three-year $4.8
million grant from the Environmental
Protection Agency to create the Envi-
ronmental Education and Training
Program, which disseminates train-
ing materials on the environment for
See DEAN, Page 2
Brewer
Inside
The battle for ratification at the
state level may be an even
tougher fight.
See story, Page 2.
the Social Security trust funds from be-
ing used to reduce the deficit.
The amendment also is a symbol of
the struggle between the two parties.
Republicans are positioned as advocates
of less spending while Democrats are
depicted as defenders of Social Security.
House Speaker Newt Gingrich said
yesterday, "We're prepared to guar-
antee Social Security's not going to
be touched, period."
But the offers being made to waver-
ing Senate Democrats would, instead,
gradually protect Social Security from
budget cuts over the next several years
to a decade, lawmakers said.'
"Republicans are indeed counting
on the use of Social Security trust
fund dollars to buy down the debt
over 10 years," Senate Democratic
leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota
told a news conference.
Two wavering Democrats being
courted by the Republicans - North
Dakotans Kent Conrad and Byron
Dorgan - objected to such a plan.
"It is just fundamentally wrong to
take Social Security trust fund mon-
ies to balance the budget," said
Conrad. Added Dorgan: "This is about
whether we will be honest and true to
our word about creating a trust fund
for future generations."
'al date set for April in Jake Baker case
By Josh White
them," Chadwell
Mullkoff said the court is "pre-
side of the detention appeal, Chadwell
Daly Staff Reporter si astiming Mr. lBaker Qulrv nbeore a iied a nci ast week in wmen nle Im . kmaumsum ..