LOCAL/STATE
The Michigan Daily - Thursday, February 19, 1998 - 3A
*RESEARCH
Workings of
Ebola virus
determined
The Ebola virus has evaded every
*ttempt made by the medical com-
munity to learn how it kills - until
now.
A University research team, led
by Gary Nabel, a professor of inter-
nal medicine and biological chem-
istry at the University Health
System, has determined how the
Ebola virus uses a glycoprotein to
attack specific cells in the human
body.
. Nabel's research shows that one
orm of the glycoprotein interferes
with the cellular response to virus
invasion, while another form causes
hemorrhaging in cells associated
with Ebola.
This glycoprotein was discovered
by researchers at the Center for
Disease Control 20 years ago, but
its effects were unknown at the
time.
The team is continuing its work to
determine how this new knowledge
can help fight the virus.
Researchers are looking for ways to
activate the inflammatory defense
system to prevent the bleeding and
circulatory collapse caused by the
Ebola glycoprotein.
The new findings also might be
useful to fight other diseases that
attack the human body on a cellular
level, such as cancer and some heart
diseases. The Ebola glycoprotein
some day might be used to deliver
therapeutic genes to diseased cells.
Digital signatures
deleted for 'U'
student ID cards
The University's database of dig-
itized signatures for identification
*ards is being deleted, to the relief
of many.
The signatures were digitized and
stored in the database to simplify the
process of replacing lost or stolen iden-
tification cards. But the digital images
only were being used for IDs and were
difficult to reproduce legibly, so offi-
cials decided to discontinue their use.
The risks associated with a data-
base of digitized signatures are
emendous, according to the
niversity's Information
Technology Division.
Since a digitized signature can be
reproduced exactly, the potential
for fraud is extremely high, and the
security measures required to pro-
tect such a database are extensive.
Giving up the use of these digitized
signatures also eliminates the collect-
ing and storing process, which speeds
p the production of IDs.
Students with IDs that have digitized
signatures on the back will not have to
replace their cards, as the signature is
just a hard copy, and is no more of a
threat than any signed card.
Native American,
modern design
merge for campus
Students in the College of
Architecture and Urban Planning are
merging the traditions of the Lakota
''Native American tribe with modern
architecture designs to engineer a
new university campus in Antelope,
S.D.
-The group's goal is to construct
living quarters to relieve the hous-
ing shortage on the Rosebud
eservation and the Sinte Gleska
niversity campus, while retaining
traditional Lakota values and prac-
tices.
Traditional methods and locally
available materials, such as earth,
timbers and straw will be used in the
construction.
The students have traveled to
South Dakota to gain a further
understanding of the terrain and
Lakota culture before they start
4eir project.
- Compiled by Daily Staff Reporter
Sam Stavis.
Female regents
discuss women's
issues, concerns
By Carly Southworth
Daily Staff Reporter
Olivia Maynard (D-Goodrich) and
Rebecca McGowan (D-Ann Arbor),
two of four female members of the
University's Board of Regents, met
with members of the University com-
munity yesterday atthesRackham
Amphitheatre to address issues con-
cerning women on campus.
Sponsored by several campus
women's groups, the forum focused
on gender equity and attitudes
toward women on campus. Both
Maynard and McGowan discussed
their role as regents in making
changes to benefit women.
"I feel like this is an incredibly dif-
ferent place today then when I came to
the board. Is that climate?" McGowan
asked, in response to a question about
the change in gender climate on cam-
pus. "I think so."
Although regents cannot make
final budgetary decisions, both
Maynard and McGowan said it is
their responsibility as regents to
raise questions and present issues to
their colleagues on the board.
Maynard said the regents want to be
included in what the public is talk-
ing and thinking about.
"Let us know when you are pleased,"
Maynard said. "If you are pissed at us,
let us know, but be kind."
McGowan also said she is interested
in what students have to say as well as
being to open to receiving input from
University staff and other members of
the campus community.
University President Lee Bollinger's
plans concerning gender equity were
also a topic of discussion.
"What I am concerned about is that
there was some really positive energy
going on with (former University
DALJP INflJNL Ui
University regents Olivia Maynard (D-Goodrich) and Rebecca McGowan (D-Ann Arbor) discuss issues that affect women at a
forum held yesterday at the Rackham Amphitheater.
President James Duderstadt). Is that
going to deteriorate?" asked Nursing
Prof. Connie Greene, who was in the
audience.
Carol Hollenshead, director of the
campus' Center for Education of Women,
said Bollinger's main concerns at the
moment are assembling his executive
team and dealing with the two lawsuits
challenging the use of race as a factor in
admissions processes of the College of
Literature, Science and the Arts and the
Law School. But issues of gender equity
have not been forgotten, she said.
"The bottom line is that there will be
more heard in the future and we are try-
ing to keep the pot boiling,"
Hollenshead said.
Maynard said the University is com-
mitted to educating a diverse student
body regardless of the outcome of the
lawsuits.
But McGowan said she is fully confi-
dent that the University will win the
suits.
"We don't intend to lose the law-
suits. Every single energy at the
moment is being put into winning
the two lawsuits," McGowan said. "I
don't think you will find anybody
who will answer your question dif-
ferently."
The regents also addressed the issue
of whether minorities on campus feel
equal to their white counterparts.
"The glass ceiling is there for both
women of color and women that are
white," Maynard said. "It is breaking,
but very, very slowly."
Early use of alcohol linked
to increased dependency
® A new study finds that people who
begin drinking at an early age are more
likely to become alcoholics.
By Nika Schutte
Daily Staff Reporter
Although many college students ignore the legal
drinking age, a recent study gives students another rea-
son to think twice about drinking alcohol before their
21st birthday.
According to a study published last month by the National
Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, people who
began drinking before age 15 are four times more likely to
become dependent on alcohol than those who begin drinking
at the legal age of21.
"This will definitely be in the back of my mind now," said
Sam Ellis, an SNRE first-year student.
Bridget Grant, the principle investigator of the study, said
the findings should be a warning to college students.
Not only does the study bring the future effects and threat
of possible dependence on alcohol to students' attention, but
it also can be a reason to examine alcohol's short-term con-
sequences.
"Alcohol increases the risk for injuries and death due to
auto accidents, risky sexual behavior and depression," said
Grant, a psychiatric epidemiologist at NIAAA .
The study can serve as an important alarm to college
students, said Marsha Benz, an alcohol and other drug
education coordinator at University Health Service,
adding that it will be difficult to fully utilize the study's
findings.
"The problem is people feel invincible at this age and
think (dependence) will happen to someone else," Benz
said.
Benz said that it is difficult to identify alcohol dependency
problems in college students because many people believe
excessive drinking is just a phase.
"There is a large percentage (of students) drinking to
excess who will become dependent, but there are those who
will grow out of it," Benz said.
Students' reactions to the survey have been mixed. Some
said the findings may guide their attitude toward alcohol use
in the future.
Ellis said he was shocked to learn that 25 percent of
the study's participants who began drinking at 17 - the
same age as when he started - were now classified as
dependent on alcohol.
"My friends and I started drinking at 17, too. The fact
that one in four of us could become dependent is scary,"
he said.
Other students did not think the study would affect their
future behavior or their attitudes about alcohol.
Kinesiology sophomore Peggie Birks said that although
she started drinking when she was 16 years old, she is not
worried that she is more likely to become dependent.
"There are other factors to becoming dependent,"
Birks said. "Besides, I drink a lot less now than when I
started."
EMILY NATHAN/Daily
Asian Pacific American Law Students Association representative Marita
Etcubanez speaks on the steps of the Michigan Union yesterday.
Women's groups
p rt U) inu
suppo n suit
By Erin Holmes
Daily Staff Reporter
In the wake of two lawsuits that
target the use of race as a factor in the
University's admissions processes,
determined female students braved
the cold yesterday to promote equal
rights for women and minorities.
Representatives from several
campus women 's organizations
gathered on the steps of the Union
to speak out against anti-affirmative
action movements that have recent-
ly developed at the University.
Jessica Curtin, a member of the
Coalition to Defend Affirmative
Action By Any Means Necessary
and the National Women's Rights
Organizing Coalition, said the press
conference was sparked by the
recent suggestion that white women
are not the beneficiaries of affirma-
tive action. Curtin said white
women have been wrongly pitted
against minorities in the affirmative
action debate.
"Too many people think white
women do not benefit from affir-
mative action," said Curtin, an LSA
senior. "We want to make it clear
that women are and should be
behind affirmative action"
The message that there is still
inequality within the University and
the nation was the key idea of the
press conference.
"The idea of divide and conquer is
incorrect,' said Jodi Masley, a first-
year Law student and co-president of
the Women Law Student
Association. "White women need to
unite with other minorities and orga-
nizations and stand up for this uni-
versity."
The press conference featured
statements from six women affiliat-
ed with the University who made it
clear that affirmative action is nec-
essary to maintain the community's
diversity.
"We need to show the nation that
this University will not support any
attempts to segregate higher educa-
tion," said Carla Pfeffer, an LSA
junior and co-founder of the
Undergraduate University Women
Studies Association.
Many participants agreed that the
recent lawsuits, which target the
College of Literature, Science and
Arts and the Law School, have
brought the issue of affirmative
action into the spotlight.
"The issue of affirmative action
has always been there;' said Winnie
Kao, a Law first-year student.
"Now, with the lawsuits, there is
something to frame our debate."
Kao said the event aimed to
prove to everyone that women of
all colors benefit from affirma-
tive action and to dispel the myth
that affirmative action is just a
racial issue.
Month's worth of rain falls in day
DETROIT (AP) - Roads flooded
and rivers rose as the metropolitan
region got socked with a sudden
drenching - enduring more rain in one
day than normally falls during the entire
month of February..
Blame it on El Nino, the quirky
weather pattern that's been savaging
California with storms.
On Tuesday, 2.24 inches of rain fell at
Detroit Metropolitan Airport, said
National Weather Service forecaster
Bill Deedler.
"That's a pretty good rain for a sum-
mer month. For a winter month, that's
extraordinary," he said yesterday.
February is Michigan's driest month,
typically getting a month long total of
1.76 inches of rain.
The storm wrought by El Nino was
weakening yesterday, as its center
stalled over Ohio.
"The intense development of the storm
was spawned by the strong jet stream
from the Pacific, through California, into
the Gulf of Mexico. From there, it drifted
north," Deedler said.
"When you have these strong winds
coming off the Pacific, it almost acts like
a wall to keep the Arctic jet stream out."
Had temperatures been cold enough
for snow, rather than rain, the region
would have seen about 2 feet of snow,
the forecaster said.
But it wasn't cold enough - and
Deedler said that's also a product of El
Nino. Michigan is on track for the sec-
ond-warmest February on record.
That record, with average tempera-
tures of 39.5 degrees, was set in 1882.
The state's normal February average
temperature is 25.4.
"We're running about 10 degrees
above normal," Deedler said.
And that's not the only possible
weather record looming for Detroit. The
area hasn't had a flake of snow all
month, he said. If that continues to
March, this month will go on the
records books as the first time the area
got no snow in February, Deedler said.
Meanwhile, drizzle from the storm
continued yesterday.
"We've had considerable standing
water," Deedler said. Flood warnings
were in effort for the Huron River at
Blissfield and for the Rouge River and
tributaries in Inskter and Dearborn.
Police blamed a smattering on
traffic wrecks on cars hydroplaning
on wet roads. Some roads were
closed yesterday morning by deep
water.
GROUP MEETINGS
U Circle K, 763.1755, Michigan Union,
Anderson Room, 7 p.m.
U Graduate and Professional Mlshneh
Torah Chug, 769-0500, Hillel,
1429 Hill St., 9-10:30 a.m.
U Intervarsity Christian Fellowship,
647-6857. East Hall. Room 1360.
Session," Sponsored Hillel, Hillel,
1429 Hill St., 7:30 p.m.
U "Rally and March: Don't Bomb
Iraq'," Sponsored by
Prevent@umich.edu, Diag, 12
p.m.
U "Rock Concert Featuring Bambu,"
Sponsored by Michigan League
Programming, Michigan League,
Un rairomn.8 nm.
Exam Seminar," Sponsored by
Kaplan Educational Center,
Medical School (Taubman
Building), South Lecture Hall, 12-
1 p.m.
SERVICES
U Campus information Centers, 763-
SM.-
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