LOCAL/STATE

The Michigan Daily - Monday, November 10, 1997 - 3A

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Food additive may cause allergic reactions

ROTC cadets to
hold ceremony
for Veterans Day
Army, Navy and Air Force Reserve
Officer Training Corps units on cam-
pus plan to honor military veterans in
a celebration and remembrance cere-
mony tomorrow.
The Veterans Day service will
include a colors ceremony and two
keynote speakers, followed by open
microphone session for veterans. The
ceremony is scheduled to begin at 8
a.m. in North Hall and will continue at
Rackham Auditonium.
'U' grad named a
'Hero of Medicine'
Dr. Keith Black, a 1981 University
graduate, has been named one of
Time magazine's 12 "Heroes of
Medicine."
Since the completion of his resi-
dency at the University Medical
Center, Black has worked at the
UCLA Medical Center and serves as
director of the Neurological Institute
at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
Black is an accomplished surgeon,
removing more than 200 brain tumors
each year. He has published several
articles and has helped to develop
new medical technology.
Dutch poet to
deliver lecture
Dutch poet Leo Vroman is sched-
uled to present the DeVries-
VanderKooy Memorial Lecture
tomorrow at Rackham Assembly
Hall.
The talk, titled "Common Grounds:
Science, Arts and Poetry," relates
Vroman's experiences in zoology,
physiology, writing and cartooning.
The free presentation is sponsored
by various University departments
and begins at 8 p.m.
School of Info.
receives $1.7M
The School of Information Alumni
Society's Campaign for Scholarships
raised three times the amount of
money the school had hoped to
*eceive for scholarships to the
University.
The $1.7 million in funds will go to
several existing endowments, as well
as to set up additional scholarships
including the Alumni Society
Scholarship Endowment.
Job market looks
up for chemistry
Ooncentrators
Because of its success, the Alumni
Society may extend the fundraising
campaign through the year 2000.
The demand for chemists in the work
force is expected to reach a 10-year high
in 1998, according to a recent issue of
Chemical and Engineering News.
The increasingly available positions
exist in an array of fields, including
pharmaceutical companies, academia,
anarketing and policy-making.
The need is especially high for
chemists with graduate and doctoral
degrees, as well as for those with
practical and internship experience.
Some experts attribute the growing
i demand to a societal emphasis on tech-
nology and use of science in business.
Entrepreneurs to

ereceive money
from WVF
The Wolverine Venture Fund pro-
vides an initial investment in companies
started by a student, faculty member or
recent graduate of the School of
Business and Administration.
The WVF will begin selecting pro-
jects on Friday.
These investments are chosen by
their possibility of success and long-
Oerm profitability, involvement of
University personnel in management
and commitment by other investors.
- Compiled by Daily Staff Reporter
Marla Hackett.

By Heather Wiggin
Daily Staff Reporter
Carmine dye, a common food additive derived
from insects, can cause severe allergic reactions
ranging from hives to asthma to shock, says one
University allergist.
The dye produces various shades of red, purple,
orange and yellow and is commonly found in
"candy, juice drinks, yogurt, liquors, popsicles, ice
cream" and more, said allergist and Medical
School Prof. James Baldwin.
The Food and Drug Administration does not
require carmine dye to be listed as an ingredient on
food packaging. "According to FDA regulations,
colors that are not synthetic don't need to be list-
ed," Baldwin said. Instead, the dye is one of many

"natural additives" that are not specified because
they are not man-made.
Although the allergy is not prevalent, the sever-
ity of reactions can be life threatening.
"We're not suggesting carmine dye is harmful
for most people," Baldwin said. "But because of
reactions, we believe it should be listed (with the
ingredients). I think it really needs to be on
labels."
Carmine dye, also known as cochineal extract,
is made from insects called cochineal bugs.
"These bugs have been used for centuries. Just
before maturity they are brushed off and processed
into dye and sold from plantations around the
world," Baldwin said.
No one is certain why the dye is causing these

reactions, but "we think the bug has a different
kind of protein," said Alice Chou, a former
University allergist currently employed at the
Allergy and Asthma Center in Eugene, Ore.
Baldwin first became aware of the allergy
about 18 months ago when he treated a woman
with "life threatening shock, hives and asthma,"
he said.
"This lady had some hives and swelling after
she ate a popsicle ... this popsicle was a red color,"
Chou said.
The popsicle was evaluated with a skin test,
which screens the blood for allergic antibodies.
Baldwin confirmed that the carmine dye was caus-
ing the woman's allergy.
Now that it is confirmed that the dye can cause

these reactions, 'there are a number of things
we're trying to figure out," Baldwin said. IeI said
he hopes to find the component of the dxc that
causes allergic reactions. "It's going to be slow
until we have a fair number of people allergic to
it," Baldwin said.
"So far we have seen three people from
Michigan" who exhibited the allergy to carmine
dye, Chou said. There have been only five known
cases of this allergic reaction nationwide.
Chou said she wants both allergists and their
patients to "be aware that carmine can cause prob-
lems"
"This is something that can cause severe allergic
reactions," Baldwin said. "How common it is, I do
not know."


Rituals unite
Muslim students

JOY JACOBS/Daiy
Nurse Debbie Sise, otherwise known as "Mom," takes blood yesterday from LSA sophomore Steve Waterbrook at East
Quad. Waterbrook said he plans to go to medical school and knows the value of donating blood.
Annualboodrve begns

® Daily prayers,
pilgrimage to Mecca two
of Islam's Five Pillars
By Hong Lin
For the Day.
As the bells of Burton Tower toll at
noon, many students rush to class or
head for a quick bite to eat. But for
Muslim students on campus, the hour
calls them to a different type of daily
ritual.
For students such as LSA first-year
student Khuram Siddiqi the coming of
noon means it is almost time for one of
his five daily prayers.
Siddiqi, a devout Muslim, has been
participating in these prayers ever since
he was 9 years old.
"Our religion requires that we per-
form these prayers five times a day,
every day of the year, with very few
exceptions" Siddiqi said.
Indeed, Muslim students work to bal-
ance the rigors of academic life with the
responsibilities of their religion, includ-
ing daily prayers and religious pilgrim-
ages.
Daily prayer is one part of the
Five Pillars of Islam, which also
include a pilgrimage to Mecca, fast-
ing during the holy month of
Ramadan, giving alms to the poor
and believing in one God.
Many Muslims regard the pilgrimage
as one of life's high points.
"As Muslims, we are also to
embark on a pilgrimage to Mecca
along with performing the five daily
prayers, as is ordained by our reli-
gion," said Public Health graduate
student Saadia Mian.
LSA senior Umbrin Ateequi said the
pilgrimage is an integral part of the
lives of most Muslims.
"There are two kinds of pilgrim-
ages to Mecca - the Hajj and
Umrah," Mian said. "The Umrah can
be done any time during the year,
whereas the time for the Hajj had
already been set. The Hajj symbol-

izes peace with God, people and
even animals around us."
Ateequi said her pilgrimage experi-
ence was beyond description.
"Mecca had always been a holy site
to me," Ateequi said. "There are just not
descriptions for the peaceful and tran-
quil feeling that I had once I was
around the Kaaba, the holiest mosque
in the world."
Siddiqi said his trip to Mecca was the
culmination of his religious life.
"What I knew about Mecca was not
enough to prepare me for what I saw
once I got there," said Siddiqi. "I never
expected to see so many people pray at
midnight."
Mian said rituals such as the prayers
and the pilgrimage helpunite Muslims
around the world.
"It is a very spiritual journey in
which connections to the material
aspect of life are abandoned," Mian
said. "It is very rewarding to see people
from all over the world come together
with no distinctions between different
races."
The times of monthly prayers vary
from month to month, according to
Muslim tradition. Students said prayer
times are adaptable enough that balanc-
ing classes and religious responsibili-
ties is not difficult.
"The times and places for these
prayers are actually quite flexible. The
prophet of our religion had told us that
nothing in this religion should become
a burden to any one of us," said Law
student Nizam Arain. "As long as one
prays around that set time, it will be
okay."
Arain said he even prays on the
Liberty Street sidewalk to ensure he is
able to pray at the correct daily times.
When performing a prayer, Muslims
must be facing in the direction of
Mecca.
"It is divinely ordained that we
face Mecca," Mian said. "It serves
as a unifying factor for us all to be
facing the same direction when we
pray"

By Carly Southworth
For the Daily
Michigan is out for blood.
During the next two weeks, a team
of enthusiastic nurses and volunteers
will be traveling around campus in
search of blood. The team is taking it
one pint at a time, in hopes of victory
in the annual Blood Battle.
For the past 16 years, the University
of Michigan and the Ohio State
University face off every fall in a two-
week blood drive competition. The
victor is the school that donates the
most pints of blood, with the Blood
Drop trophy as a prize.
The University of Michigan, whose
efforts are sponsored by the American
Red Cross and the service fraternity
Alpha Phi Omega, is trailing Ohio
State, eight victories to seven. OSU
has held the trophy, which is given
away during halftime of the Michigan-
Ohio State football game, since 1992.
The drive kicked off yesterday in
East Quad's Greene Lounge. The
lounge was quickly converted into a
donation center, as cots were brought in
and tables were turned into nurse sta-
tions. Couches and coffee tables cov-
ered with magazines served as a wait-
ing room. Coolers containing juicebox-
es, cookies and fruit were set out for
donors. Nurses and volunteers waited

anxiously with empty blood bags,
Harriet Bright, a registered nurse
and Red Cross team coordinator for
the event, said the drive has been very
successful in the past.
Since the first drive in 1982, a total
of 141,109 pints of blood have been
donated by the two universities. Each
pint can save up to three lives.
"This has been wonderful. We get so
much blood from this," Bright said.
Part of the success is due to the help of
APO and its members, she said. "The
students from APO are so dedicated."
Robb Smylie, an Engineering
senior, is one of the APO coordinators
of the Blood Battle. The APO volun-
teers' main responsibilities for the
event are coordinating volunteers and
publicity, reserving rooms on campus
and making donation appointments.
"This is the biggest collection point
in Michigan for the Red Cross,"
Smylie said. The drive supplies
Southeastern Michigan with most of
its blood reserves, collecting about
2,000 pints in the drive's two weeks.
Smylie's co-coordinator, Leonard
Cassady, said the drive brings out a lot
of students because of its publicity
across campus. Cassady, an
Engineering junior, said he hopes this
year's publicity also has made students
aware of a blood shortage in


Southeastern Michigan.
LSA first-year student Leah Torres,
who donated a pint of blood yesterday,
said the drive encourages students to
donate for both competitive and
humanitarian reasons.


Leaders debate funding

LANSING (AP) -- Key details
needed to wrap up a court settlement
repaying schools for special education
are expected to keep state lawmakers
busy this week as they try to leave by
Thursday for a two-week break.
Rep. Bob Emerson (D-Flint) a main
architect of the school funding solution,
said last week that negotiators will be
working on the final details in three
separate conference committees that
begin meeting Wednesday.
The compromise was to be worked
out in those committees, made up of

House and Senate members. Bills that
come out of conference cannot be
amended by members on the floor, and
must be voted on as is.
"If we don't do it then, we ain't going
on break," Emerson said last week.
Emerson said details left in the com-
plex plan to pay off school districts
shortchanged on special education and
transportation funds include how the
state plans to issue bonds.
Sen. Dan DeGrow (R-Port Huron)
said there isn't much the conference
committee has to fix for final version.

________________________________________________________________________________________________ I
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GRouP MEETINGS

Q Coalition to Defend Affirmative
Action By Any Means Necessary,
332-1188, Michigan Union, Tap
Room, 7:30 p.m.
U Orthodox ChristIan Fellowship, 997-

Viewpoint Lectures, Michigan
Union Ballroom, 7 p.m.
0 "From Islamic Spain to Muslims in
America," Sponsored by The
Muslim Students Association,
Michigan League, Henderson
Room, 7-8:30 p.m.

SERVICES

U Campus Information Centers, 763-
INFO, info@umich.edu, and
www.umich.edu/-info on the
World Wide Web
Q Northwalk, 763-WALK, Bursley

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