LOCAL/STATE
The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, December 10, 1997 - 9
Electric wheels
Grapefruit juice affects
absorption of drugs
Ford Motor Co.'s chair Alex Trotman drives the company's first production electric vehicle, the FordI
AP PHOTO
Ranger EV, off
the assembly line in Detroit yesterday.I
ADMISSIONS
Continued from Page 1.
9-12 would result in adding up to .4 to
an applicant's GPA.
The "unusual" factor bumps up an
applicant's GPA based on activities,
work experiences, awards, personal
essay and other information included in
the application.
The GPAs of students who give a
"contribution to a diverse class" are
boosted by .5. Such applicants include
those from the following categories:
N Students from federally recog-
nized underrepresented race or ethnici-
ty groups - including blacks,
Hispanics and Native Americans -
which are also underrepresented on the
University campus, and who are from a
school or community where a majority
*of students are of a different race from
the applicant.
Students who are economically,
socially or educationally disadvan-
taged.
Students of any race or back-
ground who are educated in a high
school serving a population that is pre-
dominantly socioeconomically disad-
vantaged, which is also underrepresent-
ed on the Ann Arbor campus.
' Students applying to a program
where their gender is underrepresented,
including males applying to the School
of Nursing and females applying to the
College of Engineering, get .2 added to
their GPA.
Harrison said race is used as one of
many factors in order to ensure a
diverse student body.
"It's certainly not as big a factor as
GPA," Harrison said. "It's not even
9c lose. '
Other non-academic factors, includ-
ing leadership and service awards and
personal achievements, can earn an
applicant a .1 or .2 addition to their
GPA.
An extraordinary essay can add .1 to
an applicant's GPA, while an extremely
poor essay can subtract .1 from the
GPA.
"The most important part of an essay
Qis what it teaches you about the person,"
Harrison said.
Out-of-state applicants from west-
ern states beyond Missouri, Iowa and
Minnesota, excluding California,
and southern states below Virginia
and Tennessee, except Florida and
Texas, also have their GPAs
increased by .1.
In addition to their in-state advan-
tage, applicants from northern
*Michigan, rural areas and small com-
munities that are separated from cultur-
ally more sophisticated areas have .1
added to their GPA.
In-state applicants whose grandpar-
ents, parents or siblings are University
alumni also are given an advantage,
with a .1 addition to their GPA. Out-of-
state applicants with alumni relations
are treated as in-state students. There is
a higher rate of acceptance among in-
state students than out-of-state stu-
dents.
Another section of the application,
which contains comments from high
school counselors, can indicate prob-
lems with a student that are not repre-
sented in grades.
Admissions counselors use different
grids with GPA listed on a vertical axis
and ACT and SAT scores listed on a
horizontal axis as one way to determine
whether students will be accepted, wait-
listed or denied. The grids are used as a
rough way to determine the fate of a
student's application, but are not the
sole predictors of admission, Harrison
said.
Admissions clerks do the prelimi-
nary calculations of the application, but
Admissions counselors ultimately
decide which students are admitted,
Harrison said.
Director of Admissions Theodore
Spencer said he could not comment on
the admissions process because of the
pending lawsuits against the University.
Other schools
When compared nationally with its
peer institutions, the University's
admissions procedures are highly intri-
cate.
Penn State University does not take
into account the quality of an appli-
cant's high school, have a required per-
sonal essay or take race into account
during the admissions process, said
Patrick Smith, assistant director of
communications for admissions at Penn
State.
"The majority of our evaluation is
based on academics," Smith said.
Smith said that without race-based
admissions, Penn State has been able to
maintain a student body that is 10 per-
cent minority students. By phoning and
recruiting minority applicants, Penn
State has achieved a diverse student
body, Smith said.
"Based on the way we do things here,
we have been relatively successful,"
Smith said. "We've come a long way,
but we could go further."
Michigan State University only uses
socioeconomic status as a factor in the
admissions process for students apply-
ing to the school's College
Achievement Admissions Program,
which is designed to give opportunities
to disadvantaged students, said Lisa
Chavis, MSU associate director of
admissions.
"In the past, we looked a little more
at ethnicity, but now we do it strictly
from socioeconomic background
because we feel that's the fairest way,"
Chavis said. "I think socioeconomic is
the way to go. It's really fair."
Neither Penn State or MSU use
alumni relations or geographical loca-
tion as a factor in the admissions
process.
Student opinions
While many University students say
they feel diversity is an important part
of the college experience, some said
they were surprised to find out how
much of a factor race and socioeco-
nomic status play in the admissions
process.
"That's a complete surprise to me,"
said LSA sophomore Brian Macias,
after finding out about the advantages
SCUGA gives to minorities.
Macias, who is Hispanic, said
minority advantages are useful, as
long as they don't allow unqualified
applicants to get accepted to the
University.
"If it's getting to the point where
they're taking whose underqualified
rather than someone who is qualified
based on race, then I think something
needs to be done."
Macias said it is important to look at
socioeconomic factors.
"If you have to work every day after
school, obviously your extra-curricular
activities are going to suffer," Macias
said. "Just because a person has more
opportunities, I don't think it makes
them more qualified to come to this
school."
Macias said he doesn't think appli-
cants with alumni relations should be
given preferences.
"It brings in money for the
University as if daddy's son accepted
here, they're probably willing to write a
fat check in their name," Macias said.
But LSA senior Jon Bauer said it is
reasonable to give alumni's relatives
advantages.
"Alumni are the ones that give back
to the school, so I guess the school feels
it should give back to their children;'
Bauer said.
Macias said it is unfair to give advan-
tages to applicants from underrepre-
sented geographical locations.
"That's ridiculous," Macias said. "As
far as a state issue, I don't think that
plays a role in whether you're quali-
fied."
By Heather Wiggin
Daily Staff Reporter
An apple a day may keep the doctor away, but recently, cer-
tain substances in grapefruits have been the target of exten-
sive research by University doctors.
The substances, called furanocoumarins, attach themselves
to enzymes in the small intestine and increase the absorption
of some drugs into the human body - an effect that can be
both positive and negative.
The furanocoumarins "essentially destroy a particular
metabolic pathway in the intestine,' said Medical Prof. Paul
Watkins, director of the General Clinical Research Center.
"Just a few drugs are affected by grapefruit juice;" Watkins
said. These drugs are also interact with erythromycin, a com-
mon antibiotic. Erythromycin "does the same thing as grape-
fruit juice, but is much more potent," Watkins said.
Watkins added various components of grapefruit juice to
cell cultures to determine which compounds were attaching
themselves to intestinal enzymes.
The major active ingredient of grapefruit juice is 6',7'-
dihydroxybergamottin (DHB). The second compound,
FC726 also destroys the enzyme like DHB, but seems to be
more selective in what it does, Watkins said.
"Right now we're investigating 15 different chemicals to
determine how specific their effects are," Watkins said.
There are "many implications for the discovery in pharma-
cy and medicinal chemistry - medications could be poten-
AMISTAD
Continued from Page 1
"It is wonderful, and I'm very
pleased," Boylan said. "Dr. Monts is a
very noted ethnomusicologist and has
conducted very extensive research on
African music. He is a well-respected
scholar and I'm amazed that he's found . Live Ins
the time to do this work, along with his
duties as an administrator and profes- understa
sor." to MCA7
Monts said he was satisfied with the approXin
way the story is portrayed on film and
with the way the music balanced it. Work. Ta
"It's important to recognize that . Full-Lei
Hollywood is now looking to scholars your timi
to verify authenticity and the fact that .
things can be done in a manner that With Coni
shows respect to the culture from . Succinc
which it emanates," Monts said. "The and inte
film is very powerful. It is a story in
our history that really needed to be focus UPC
told, and I am proud to have had a will exan
role in it."
"Amistad" is currently surrounded FIexIbI(
by controversy as Barbara Chase- Reinforc
Riboud, the author of a historical Exercise:
novel "Echo of Lions," claims the
movie plagiarized her work. She plus Pers
requested an injunction to delay the
opening of the film, which was
denied by a judge yesterday.
tially enhanced" said chemistry Prof. Rich Lawton.
After the compound selective for this small intestine
enzyme is identified, it must be purified, approved for clini-
cal trials and reviewed for approval by the Food and Drug
Administration before it is added to drugs, said University
researcher Michael Fitzsimmons.
One of the current AIDS-fighting drugs on the market is
often taken with grapefruit juice to increase drug absorption.
"It's actually suggested that patients take the drug with grape-
fruit juice;" Watkins said.
Because of differences between brands, however, drinking
raw juice is an unreliable method for administering the chem-
ical into the body.
"If you're used to taking medications with grapefruit juice,
there is no reason to stop," Watkins said.
But it could be dangerous to start drinking grapefruit juice
with medications without asking a physician about possible
interactions. One Michigan resident drank grapefruit juice
with his antihistamine, which "built up in his blood and the
gentleman died," Fitzsimmons said.
Future research may determine which furanocounarins
could be added to drugs to enhance their effects and reduce
the amount of drug. "It's hard to say where science is going,'
Fitzsimmons said.
"I think there will be a commercial market for this,cqm-
pound," Watkins said. "It seems to give a more reliable oral
delivery of drugs."
J BS!!!
Winter Term
Apply now at the
Law Library-
non-Law Students
" Law Students
* S.I. Students
Apply in person: Room 8-180 in
the Law Library's underground
addition, 8-noon and 1-5,
Monday through Friday.
AA/ FOE
NOTICE
MBA
DAYAND EVENING
CLASSES
BEGIN JAN 5
The University of Michigan
The Office of the Provost & Executive Vice President for
Academic Affairs and the University Library President
Ken Burns
Sharing the
American
Experience
Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, who produced,
co-wrote, directed and filmed the highly acclaimed
PBS series Lewis and Clark: The Journey of the
Corps of Discovery, Baseball, and The Cil War, will
share his views on the American experience as part of
the University of Michigan's Year of Humanities and
Arts (YoHA) celebration.
Burns has been making documentary films for more
fIEL I'IE mm01%