LOCAL/STATE
The Michigan Daily - Thursday, March 12, 1998 -5A
Students to run for
leukemia charity
Online resource
chronicles 19th-
Century America
University runners to
participate in Anchorage
Marathon in June
By Melanie Sampson
Daily Staff Reporter
Several University students will
be striding across the Alaskan out-
doors to raise money for cancer
research this June.
LSA senior Carrie Rubenstein
received a pamphlet through the
mail about the Anchorage
Marathon and decided it was defi-
nitely something she wanted to
pursue. Rubenstein then recruited.
several of her housemates to par-
ticipate with her.
The Leukemia Society of
America sponsors a variety of
events nationwide to raise money
for the disease.
Team in Training, one program
organized by the society, prepares
people to participate in a marathon
or in a cycling event.
In the months before the trip,
participants will have two goals in
mind - preparing for the
marathon and raising $4,200 for
the cause.
"I'm very interested in raising
money for cancer," Rubenstein
said. "I think it's really an impor-
tant thing."
She said she feels sentimental
toward the program because she
knows first-hand where her con-
tributions will be going.
"I've been penpaling with this
girl from (C S. Mott Children's
Hospital) this year," Rubenstein
said. "I'm actually running this
race in her honor."
The cause also holds personal
significance for LSA senior
Angela Milarch, who is walking in
the race.
"My mom is struggling with
cancer right now, and I hope peo-
ple are supportive," Milarch said.
To prepare for the race, runners
practice in groups, running five
times per week with longer runs
on Saturdays.
The distances of their runs
steadily increase until they reach a
peak in May, running 40 miles a
week.
"I run a lot," Rubenstein said, "but
I don't run marathon distances."
Getting in shape for the 23.2-
mile run takes a tremendous
amount of preparation, the runners
said.
"I find the hardest thing is find-
ing the time" to practice, Milarch
said.
The large amount of money the
runners need to raise has proven to
be one of the largest difficulties
for the runners.
"The fundraising is going kind
of slow," Milarch said. "We hope
to get some support."
The cost of the trip is included
in the $4,200, and the rest of the
money goes toward the Leukemia
Society of America.
"My family has been contribut-
ing. I feel like they're paying for
my trip part of it. My family has
really been generous," Milarch
said.
Rubenstein said local support is
necessary for her and other partic-
ipants to reach their goals.
By Sam Stavis
Daily Staff Reporter
Expert historians and amateur
scholars alike now have access to a
powerful new tool for learning about
U.S. history - the University's
Making of America online resource.
The Making of America project is a
digital library containing 1,600 books
and 50,000 journal articles published
between 1850 and 1877. Its purpose
is to preserve aging historical docu-
ments and to provide people with his-
torical information they could not
otherwise find.
MOA is unique for a number of rea-
sons, said John Price-Wilkin, head of
Digital Library Production Services,
the company that created MOA.
"There are essentially no historical
resources of this kind on the Internet,"
Price-Wilkin said. "I don't think there's
anything that's close to this."
MOA provides users with a unique
view of United States history by dis-
playing digitized images of actual
documents from the 19th Century.
Users can find specific information
by typing in keywords or searching
subject-related pages. These searches
usually will produce the original
texts, although some sources have
been converted to electronic text for
easier viewing.
This process gives MOA users the
opportunity to view documents as
they were originally published -
complete with illustrations and foot-
notes.
It took Digital Library Production
Services about one year to scan or
reproduce the documents contained in
the MOA archives. Price-Wilkin said
this form of data storage ensures that
the information will survive indefi-
nitely.
"We call this approach
durable-documents format," Price-
Wilkin said. "This stuff is good for
the long term."
University librarians sifted
through many documents that were
published between 1850-1877 and
chose to focus on sources that
stressed social history.
The selected texts "seemed some-
how to reflect American life in that
period," said Judith Avery,
University senior associate librarian.
Many of the sources contain aboli-
tionist and anti-abolitionist senti-
ments from the pre-Civil War and
Civil War eras. Women's rights and
Darwinism also receive attention.
Another theme among MOA texts
is "bringing science into the home,"
said Jean Loup, a University librari-
an.
"Self-education, self-improve-
ment,' Loup said. "People were really
interested in self-improvement."
The MOA project, a joint venture
between the University and Cornell
University, was funded by a preserva-
tion grant from the Andrew W.
Mellon Foundation.
Organizations within the
University that participated in its cre-
ation include the Digital Library
Initiative, the School of Information,
the University Library and the
Information Technology Division.
MOA can be accessed at
http://www.umdl.unich.edu/rnoa/.
ADRIANA YUGOVICH/Daily
Students will participate in a marathon sponsored by the Leukemia Society of
America this June in Anchorage to raise money for leukemia research.
"Moe's Sports Shop is donating
a $100 jacket," Rubenstein said,
adding she intends to raffle it off
to help with the fundraising.
Rubenstein added that with
graduation approaching, she is
asking for any gifts from family
members to be in the form of
donations.
The overall physical demands of
a marathon may seem daunting to
many but SNRE senior Maija
Schommer said this is part of why
she is participating.
've always wanted to run a
marathon," Schommer said,
adding that she was excited about
the "physical challenge - the
mental challenge as well."
Schommer said this also is one
of the last activities she will par-
ticipate in with her Ann Arbor
companions as they all begin life
after college.
The event "is one last hurrah
with my friends," she said.
She said the preparation is
worth the physical effort.
"It's a challenge and a good
feeling," Schommer said.
Medical experts look
at book's implications
SUICIDE
Continued from Page IA
a survey stating that 75 percent of
doctors polled in 1997 said they felt
they received inadequate training on
how to control patients' pain.
"The question facing us now is, 'is it
sufficient to provide Euthanasia in the
pre-1900s sense or should we be
expected to provide it in the modern
sense - essentially killing the patient
according to the patient or the patient's
family's request?"' Nuland said.
University family physician John
Severin said the debate over whether
doctors should help terminally ill
patients die always has been a difficult
one and should not be decided hastily.
"Jumping to physician-assisted sui-
cide is premature in our societal devel-
opment," Severin said.
Medical fourth-year student Pranac
Kothari said that while he appreciated
the opportunity to hear this issue dis-
cussed from the perspective of both a
doctor and an author, he felt that many
of Nuland's views were unrealistic.
"It's nice that he thinks everyone has to
be educated throughout society (about
death and dying), but that's really a
utopia and too ideal to actually happen,"
Kothari said. "Our state couldn't even
wait because we are legislating already."
Sone audience members said they
are glad that the University sponsored
an open forum on this sensitive issue.
"I think it's really good that Dr. Nuland
came to campus because this is really a
hot issue in Michigan right now" said
Medical fourth-year student Lara
Villanueva. "If you listen to National
Public Radio, the topic of Dr. Kevorkian
makes the news all the time."
The lecture was followed by a recep-
tion and a book-signing.
"For Dr. Nuland and his millions of
readers around the world, life is a miracle
that demands our contemplation and
reflection," said pediatric physician
Howard Markel, who introduced the
speaker.
"Reclaiming the Soul in Academic Life"
--A conversation among Faculty and Students
In the competitive academic world, we sometimes
lose touch with our souls. You are invited to a
conversation with eight faculty members who have
found ways to deepen their experience of the soul
without sacrificing their academic careers.
Four Thursday Nights in Lent
at Canterbury House
721 East Huron St., Ann Arbor
March 12, 19, 26, and April 2, 8:00 p.m.
Literary
Magazine
Reception
The Michigan Daily
and
Cava Java
would like to invite the public
to hear the winners of
The Daily's Literary Magazine
writing contest
read from their winning entries.
Friday, March 13 * 6-9 p.m.
Cava Java
(at the corner of S. University and E. University)
50 Best Ways to Compliment a Woman
Free book on our website:
www.pickupgirls.com
Free catalog via snailmail:
Symphony Press, Inc.
P.O. Box 608
Tenafly, NJ 07670
tel 800/631-2560
Think beyond
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