LOCAL/STATE
The Michigan Daily - Thursday, September 11, 1997 -3A
Labor union will
picket at football
game Saturday
*The local American Federation of
,tate, County and Municipal
Sixployees plans to demonstrate out-
,fde Michigan Stadium before the
first football game Saturday.
-The AFSME Local 1583 and the
University have an ongoing contract
dispute.
The AFSCME plans to hold an
"informational picketing" starting
at 9 a.m. in front of Michigan
adium.
Earlier this week, members of the
same union picketed in front of
Rackham.
Bikers to ride in
ecological
education tour
*Those handy with a bike may want
to stop by Burns Park on Wells Street
on Oct. 4.
After a speech by state Senator
Alma Wheeler-Smith (D-Ann Arbor),
a 22-mile bicycle tour of Ann Arbor
opd Scio Township gets underway at
9:30 a.m.
Several guest speakers will talk
about Washtenaw County's develop-
ment patterns while bicyclers rest at
ccasional stops.
The fee for participation is $5-7. To
reserve a place in the "Tour de
Sprawl", call (313) 677-2517.
NSF research
fellowships
available
National Science Foundation
application materials are now avail-
able to graduate students seeking
fellowships for their research pro-
jects in science, mathematics or
engineering.
About Ie,000 Graduate Research
Fellowships will be awarded through-
opt the year. Applicants must be U.S.
citizens, national or permanent resi-
dent aliens.
The three-year fellowships provide
muchaas $15,000 per year. NSF
Fellows also receive $9,500 per year
for education fees.
>or application materials, call
(423) 241-4300 or e-mail
nfgrfp@orau.gov.
Experts to
discuss Chinese
policy issues
The Center for Chinese Studies is
sponsoring two lectures this month as
a part of its Brown Bag Lecture
Series.
Sun Xiaoming, associate profes-
sor at the Nanjing College for
Population Program Management,
will discuss Chinese AIDS educa-
tion on Sept. 23.
Ni Shixiong will lecture on Sino-
.S. relations on Sept. 30.
Both lectures will take place at the
liane Hall Commons Room at noon.
Contact Ena Schloff for more infor-
ration at 764-4189.
mthlete's foot
victims sought
>y researchers
The clinical pharmacology unit in
dermatology is looking for volunteers
who have athlete's foot. Researchers
in the department want to test new
research therapy for the itchy condi-
-tion.
Office visits and medication will be
provided free of charge for participants.
Patients must be 18 years old with ath-
ete's foot involving the area between
the toes, not the bottom of the feet.
For more information, call 936-
4070.
- Compiled by Daily Staff Reporter
David Bricker
UHS building
gets $7.5M for
renovations
Steps will be taken to
ensure renovations will
not bother patients
By Asheley Riley
For the Daily
Organizers at University Health
Services are putting the 58-year-old
building under the knife.
UHS, located at 207 Fletcher St.,
offers medical services to University
faculty and students. It is currently
undergoing a $7.5 million renovation
project.
Most students seem unfazed by the
construction. "Everywhere I looked (in
UHS) there was renovation, " said LSA
first-year student Rebecca Mall. "But it
doesn't really bother me."
UHS Director Caesar Briefer said he
will try to ensure the construction
efforts don't bother anyone. "Up until
recently the renovations weren't incon-
venient for patients," Briefer said.
Just what amenities are being
implemented to make a patient's visit
run more smoothly? Organizers are
planning a number of changes. For
one thing, UHS will begin placing
greeters at the entrance to the struc-
ture.
UHS officials also have placed clear-
ly marked signs throughout the build-
ing to guide an unfamiliar patient
through the halls. The new system of
directions has proved popular with at
least one visitor
"I really love those signs," said LSA
sophomore Alicia Knowles. "I was
kind of lost, but the gigantic arrows led
me to the right department with no
problem"
Even the old procedures of providing
medical care are getting an overhaul.
The new system will give patients
speedier access to clinicians, thus cut-
ting down the former three-step
process required before medical care.
New patient-care representatives will
serve as liaisons between visitors and
doctors.
The entire building will receive a
general overhaul as well.
"Since UHS was built in 1939,
there's a lot of space we're lacking,
JONATHAN SUMMER/Daily
University Health Services technician Dametta Woolard, pharmacists Mary Shue and Vivian Loh, and Director Cy Briefer stand
in the building's newly renovated pharmacy.
including greatly needed classrooms,"
Briefer said.
The renovations were budgeted one
year ago at $7.5 million. The funding
comes from University bonds.
Two-thirds of the money applies to
infrastructure renovations, such as
revamping plumbing systems and elec-
trical wiring. Completion of the project
is expected in February.
The remaining one-third will go to
additions to the south portion of the
building, including classrooms, meet-
ing rooms, a new clinical laboratory,
expanded physical therapy and clinic
space.
According to one visitor, the changes
don't go far enough.
"There needs to be parking spaces,
because I was wandering, and I got;
pissed," said UHS visitor Devinax
Sudjito.
But LSA sophomore Jae Kwon liked
the new face of U H S.
"I think it's pretty good," he said.
"If there's money, then they should
spend it."
k}Hig er education on top of
y mM agenda in congressional race
JONATHAN SUMMER/Daily
Post-doctorate research fellow Der-Chuen Lee operates a VG Plasma 54, a mass
spectrometer that allows researchers to determine the age of Mar's rocks.
'U' researchers break
ground in Mars study
By Jeffrey Kosseff
Daily Staff Reporter
Higher education tops the agenda
between two candidates running for the
Seventh District congressional seat next
year.
State Sen. Jim Berryman (D-Adrian),
recently announced his intent to chal-
lenge U.S. Rep. Nick Smith (R-Addison)
to represent the district, which encom-
passes part of Washtenaw County.
Both candidates had political and per-
sonal reasons for wanting to maintain
and expand the state and federal finan-
cial aid systems.
Berryman, a father of two sons who
attend college in Michigan, said his chil-
dren depend on the current student loan
program to stay in school.
"Michigan pays their senators enough
so they don't qualify for grants,"
Berryman said. "But we aren't paid
enough to afford a full college education.
Without the loan program, we just
couldn't afford it. It's extremely impor-
tant."
Smith, whose wife and daughter are
teachers, believes higher education is
crucial for the advancement of the coun-
try.
'If we are going to maintain a higher
standard of living, we must do a better
job with improving physical capital and
human capital" Smith said. "We must
encourage more education for every-
body"'
When Smith was in the state Senate,
he made a failed attempt to guarantee
two years of post-secondary education to
all Michigan residents. That program is
currently being proposed by many legis-
lators on the federal level.
Smith touted the recent balanced bud-
get bill's increase in Pell Grants - one
of the largest and most readily available
federal student aid programs.
"With the largest Pell Grant increase
in history, we have, for the first time,
given credit to people who want to get an
education:' Smith said.
Berryman said another initiative he
would push at the federal level is the
simplification of financial aid applica-
tions.
"Right now, it is very complex," he
said. "However, I am committed to keep-
ing the program in place. We just need to
simplify it."
In the Senate, Berryman is pushing to
eliminate the state sales tax on text
books.
"The amount that bookstores charge
just adds up to so much," Berryman said.
Smith said primary and secondary
education are also in need of funding.
"Improving K through 12 education is
also a very important goal"Smith said.
The election is 14 months away, and
neither candidate has begun campaign=
ing.
Berryman, who dropped out of the
gubernatorial race last month, quickly
announced his intentions to run for
Smith's seat.
"I really don't know why Sen.
Berryman made his announcement so
early" Smith said.
Sage Eastman, press secretary for
the Michigan Republican party, said
Smith currently holds a "strong
Republican seat:" but it may become a
close race.
"It will be one of the tighter races,"
Eastman said. "But there is no doubt
Congressman Smith wIll run hard:'
Michigan Democratic Party
spokesperson Steve Gools said the
Democratic primary for the seat is
expected to be "uncontested:"
Both Berryman and Smith said the
campaigning will begin next spring.
"Most people in my district think six
months is a long enough time to be iun-
dated with campaigns and mudsling-
ing, Smith said. "Right now, I have an
obligation in Washington to fulfill."
By Christine M. Paik
Daily Staff Reporter
While the NASA Pathfinder is bump-
ing into rocks and labeling them with car-
toon names like "Scooby' two researchers
are themselves feeling animated over their
work with the Mars minerals.
Geological sciences Prof. Alexander
Halliday said his lab used a ground-
breaking instrument for the first time.
"We're the first people in the world to
really move ahead with this, and we've
been doing most of the exciting work in
this area," Halliday said.
The revolutionary Multiple Collector
Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass
Spectrometer uses isotopic compositions
of elements to date and trace the evolution
of planets such as Mars, Halliday said.
Der-Chuen Lee, a post-doctoral
research fellow in geological sciences,
said old models did not allow
researchers to get accurate calculations.
The new mass spectrometer "is very
precise in its measurements," Lee said,
"Conventionally, the old type of mass
spectrometer could not measure precise-
ly enough. These old models had diffi-
culty analyzing the rocks."
Thomas Donahue, professor emeritus
of planetary science in the department of
atmospheric, oceanic and space sciences,
said the researchers' findings may
explain how Earth's geology forms.
"Any technique with a better precision
is always a step up and a big improve-
ment," Donahue said. "We can now
begin to understand how the planets in
the solar system evolved so that we can
compare processes with those on Earth."
Lee and Halliday obtained and stud-
ied rock samples from several interna-
tional collections.
"Mars formed very quickly," Halliday
said. "While the Earth took about 50
million years to 100 million years to be
built, it looks like Mars formed within a
maximum of 30 million years, and pos-
sibly as little as 10 million years.
"The second thing is that Mars
appears to have differentiated quickly,
that is it formed a core, probably devel-
oped a magma ocean early on," Halliday
added. "The Earth appears to have
undergone a much longer-lived history
of differentiation and it's caused things
to have formed quite a bit later."
While the Earth is still geologically
active, Halliday and Lee said the third
conclusion in their findings is that Mars
is virtually stagnant.
"The interior of Mars is quite different
from the interior of Earth," Halliday said.
"On Earth, we have a constant mixing
and churning of the interior, which is why
we have volcanoes and continental drift,
but on Mars ... the interior of the planet
has not changed since close to the begin-
ning of formation."
The research, which has already
appeared in such journals as "Science"
and "Nature," is funded by the University,
NASA, the National Science Foundation
and the Department of Energy.
While the project has two people now,
Lee said that the University may soon be
involved in a national space mission.
"At the moment, no one from the
University has been invited to work with
NASA, in terms of actually going to
Mars,' Lee said. "But I think as the Mars
project goes on, there's bound to be
someone from the University that will
join the team.
Evenings at the Rackham presents
"The Search for American Identity"
A lecture by Professor Lawrence W. Levine
Thursday, September 11
7:30 p.m.
University of Michigan Rackham Auditorium
(main floor)
Lawrence Levine, MacArthur Prize recipient and widely respected scholar of
American cultural history, will deliver a lecture based on his most recent
book, The Opening of the American Mind. This lecture is a must for anyone
who cares about higher education and contemporary culture.
-.-ii ' i$22p.
.
Correction:
In a story yesterday about cluster headaches, Ronald Chervin was incorrectly quoted as having doubts about his study's scientif-
ie value. The quote should have identified the alternative study group, rather than the entire study, as a possible source of bias.
GRU METIG
Spade," Illustrated lecture, spon-
sored by The Department of Near
Eastern Studies. Modern
ture, sponsored by The Hindu
Student Council, Friend's
Meeting House, 1420 Hill St., 7-
- I