LOCAL/STATE
The Michigan Daily - Thursday, November 12, 1998 - 3A
ESEARCH
Heart disease
more common
in black women
lack women are four times more
ly to die from heart disease or stroke
before the age of 60 than white women,
according to a University study present-
Od at Monday's meeting of the American
Heart Association in Dallas.
Lori Mosca, director of preventive
cardiology research and education in the
UJniversity Health System, led the study,
titled "The Women's Pooling Project."
e The research is a combination of
&ine studies conducted over 30 years,
ich included 16,018 white women,
5 black women and 1,219 Hispanic
women.
In addition to the racial disparity, the
researchers found that diabetics were
five times more likely to die early from
heart disease or stroke. Women who
were obese, smoked or had high cho-
lesterol were also twice more likely to
die early.
Because death from heart disease
J re age 60 is uncommon for
men, the large group was necessary
for the study to get meaningful results.
New surgery aids
heart patients
New research presented at Monday's
meeting of the American Heart
Association suggests a new surgical
procedure may lengthen and improve
the lives of people with severe conges-
heart failure.
niversity cardiac surgery Prof.
Steven Boiling led the study, which
ckamined the one-year and two-year
survival rates of patients who under-
went an operation surgically repairing a
heart valve.
~The'surgery could be an alternative
fdr a heart transplant in patients. The
one-year survival rate for patients after
t gsurgery was 80 percent, and 70 per-
J& of patients were still living two
years after the surgery.
Without the surgery, the one-year
survival rate of patients is 20 percent at
best. Patients afflicted with congestive
heart failure have their mitral valve
weakened, leading to improper pump-
ing of the blood.
Radiation hinders
e ancer remission
rain cancer patients treated with
radiation after surgery are less likely to
have remissions of the tumor, accord-
ing to research published in last week's
issbe of the Journal of the American
Medical Association.
'Roy Patchell, of the University of
Keitucky, and colleagues studied 95
pacents who underwent surgery to
remove a single brain tumor. About half
ie patients received radiation therapy
after the surgery, and the others did not.
,Those who received radiotherapy had
arr' 8 percent chance of recurrence of the
biAti tumor while those who did not had
a percent chance.
Life improves for
medicine takers
Patients receiving medication along
with diet management for non-insulin-
*ndent diabetes saw a greater
improvement in quality of life and
employment productivity than those
treag by diet management alone,
according to a report in last week's issue
of thy-Journal of the American Medical
Association.
Marcian lesta, of the Harvard
School of Public Health, and col-
leagues examined the 569 patients at
different places in the United States.
hose receiving the medication in
addition to diet management were
more likely to keep their jobs - 97
percent versus 85 percent. They also
were more productive - 99 percent
versus 87 percent.
- Compiled by Daily Staff Reporter
Gerard Cohen-Vrignaud.
MSA bans personal
computers for elections
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By Jennifer Yachnin
Daily Staff Reporter
It's a clear sign that when the walls of Angell Hall become
more colorful than leaves covering the ground outside,
Michigan Student Assembly election season has begun.
Changes to the assembly's election code, which governs
elections practices in campaigning and voting, include the
banning of personal computers for use as online polling sites.
"Online voting is where most of the voting will be now and
in the future," MSA elections director Alex Hovan said.
"We've realized that it's impossible for us to control every
computing site on campus."
This year, three paper polling sites will be used for elec-
tions - a smaller number than in previous years, Hovan said.
"It wouldn't surprise me if all the paper sites are phased out
in the next one to two years," Hovan said.
MSA began online voting during the winter '97 elections.
Hovan said paper polling sites are useful because they remind
people to vote. Polling sites will be in the Michigan Union
basement, Pierpont Commons and Angell Hall Fishbowl area.
MSA took into consideration an election rule prohibiting
candidates from being within 50 feet of a polling site when
prohibiting the use of personal computers as polling sites,
said Andrew Serowik, elections board member.
"If someone has a computer in their dorm room or house,
people can be accused of being within 50 feet of a polling site
and not even know it," Serowik said.
Unlike previous years, candidates are not restricted on
campaign spending.
"Last year it was decided (the elections board) had to rely
on people being honest," Hovan said.
Candidates were not required to submit expense reports to
"Online voting is where
most of the voting will be
now and in the future."
- Alex Hovan
MSA elections director
the board, Hovan said. A few of last year's candidates may
have violated the spending limitations, he added.
"There was empirical evidence that some people spent a lot
of money and didn't get elected," Hovan said.
Spending traditionally has not been a big problem on
MSA, said Olga Savic, an MSA Rackham representative.
"A lot of it really depends on how much you're relying on
money to get you elected and how much you're relying on
grass roots campaigning" she said.
In addition to the candidates registered for the election by
the Students' Party, Defend Affirmative Action Party and
New Frontier Party, eight independent candidates also appear
on the ballot for various seats.
Although the number of candidates is slightly lower than in
past elections, "it's still three to one" competition for a seat as
an LSA representative, Serowik said.
"Part of that you can (attribute) to parties that have run in
the past not running this semester" Serowik said.
The Michigan Party, formerly a strong contender in MSA
elections, did not register as a formal party for the fall election.
The fall election traditionally is smaller than the spring
MSA election, when presidential and vice presidential tickets
campaign for office.
Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox
The president allows troops into New York City to control terrorism In the
movie, 'The Siege.' The movie's portrayal of the Islamic community angers
some University students.
ThneSeg'angers
some O-,Islamic
studeCLnts at 'U'
WI
AP PHOTO
Waves pound upper harbor breakwater in Marquette, Mich., yesterday. Severe weather yesterday created chaos across the
state, blowing down trees and causing power outages.
St~ormOy weather caues
power outages statewide
By Lauren Gibbs
Daily Staff Reporter
Evervone knows the premise to a
typical action movie. There are the
good guys and the bad guys. The bad
guys do something really horrible, and
then the good guys save the general
population from the evils that are
thrust upon them. Viewers go home
with the feeling that good has pre-
vailed, along with images of several
shoot-outs, car chases and heroic feats.
But the movie "The Siege" has left
some members of the University's
Islamic community angry.
"A lot of movies make Muslims
look like the bad guys. This is an
extreme. It makes all Muslims look
bad," said LSA senior Diba Rab, vice
president of the Muslim Students
Association. "The stereotype is dis-
gusting, like there is a Muslim army
out to get the U.S."
In the movie, starring Denzel
Washington and Bruce Willis, a pub-
lic bus is blown up in Brooklyn, and
the entire city is held hostage by an
Islamic terrorist group.
LSA junior Aiman Mackie said he
saw some strong correlations in the
beginning of the movie between ter-
rorism and the Muslim faith.
"The scene where old people are
killed on the bus got me pretty
angry'" Mackie said. "The link
between Islam and terrorism at that
point was pretty clear."
Muslim students said they are con-
cerned about the way members of
their faith are stereotyped in general,
and are upset by this movie in partic-
ular because of the way that it per-
petuates that stereotype.
"It is more extreme in this movie,
because it is emphasized strongly at
the beginning that Islam is a syn-
onym for terrorism," Mackie said.
"Between altering the images of peo-
ple praying and bombs exploding,
this link is clearly exemplified."
While some of these generaliza-
tions are clarified in the end, Mackie
said, the movie still portrays Muslims
in the wrong light.
"If I got up and left in the movie
during the beginning or towards the
middle, I would' have very negative
feelings towards Muslims," he said.
"It seems that it is Muslims, regard-
less of nationality, who are simply
these people who want to kill anyone
that is American.
"However, as the movie continues,
the character that Denzel Washington
plays tries to teach us that it's not
Muslims everywhere who are terror-
ists," Mackie said. This group of peo-
ple just happen to be terrorists, he said.
Not all viewers say the movie por-
trays a negative image of Muslims.
"I actually feel that the final mes-
sage of the movie is that you can't
make a generalization saying that all
Muslims are terrorist, and just
because one specific group happens
to be terrorist it cannot be linked to
the entire faith," Engineering junior
Christopher Johnson said.
But this generalization goes far
beyond this movie, Mackie said.
Our generation, he said, is
entrenched with stereotypes - and
perhaps hatred - toward Muslims,
who represent one in every four indi-
viduals in the world.
The Muslims Students
Associations, which is in the middle
of celebrating Islamic Awareness
Week, is trying to get the message
across to students that Muslims are
not opposed to the western world and
their religion does not condone vio-
lence, Rab said.
Political science Prof. Raymond
Tanter agreed that the religion is a
peaceful one.
"Anyone who portrays Islam as part
of terrorist enterprise is mistaken,"
Tanter said. "Tim McVeigh, who was
involved in the bombing of the feder-
al building in Oklahoma City, was
part of a Christian militia group, but
no one calls him a Christian.
Similarly, if Osama bin Laden is
involved in terrorist enterprise he
should not be identified according to
his faith."
Mackie said he has no tolerance
for the terrorist acts portrayed in
the movie or played out in the real
world.
"As a Muslim myself, I have to
admit that I am truly disgusted in
all the groups and individuals who
commit acts against humanity and
then use the Islamic faith and
beliefs as justification for it"
Mackie said.
The Associated Press
Utility crews from as far away as
Virginia were hard at work yesterday to
restore power to a half million homes
and businesses blacked out by a wave of
storms that swept over Michigan. Some
Michigan residents won't get power
restored until Saturday, utility officials
said.
Tuesday's storms packing winds of
up to 95 mph were blamed for one
death and considered a possible factor
in a second. The high winds blew the
roofs off stores and businesses and
forced numerous school closings
statewide.
A group gathering aid for victims of
Hurricane Mitch had no power this
morning at its office in Spring Arbor.
"Because our telephones are also
connected to the electrical system, we
only had a few phones to take calls and
place calls,' said International Aid Inc.
spokesperson Jerry Kitchel.
International Aid is in the midst of
collecting 33 shipments of aid for vic-
tims of Hurricane Mitch, which killed
more than 10,000 people and left more
than a million homeless in Central
America. Kitchel said the Michigan
storm's inconvenience was a faint
reminder of the suffering of Mitch's
victims.
On Mackinac Island, a wind gust of
95 mph was reported Tuesday.
Sustained winds on the island were 82
mph, said National Weather Service
meteorologist Jeff Boyne.
Winds had slowed by 4 p.m. yester-
day but still were gusting to 44 mph at
Hancock, 40 mph and Pelston and 36 at
Battle Creek, the weather service said.
The storm was blamed for the death
of a Muskegon County sheriff's
deputy. John Flynn, of Montague,
died after a tree snapped in high
winds and fell on top of his car about
6 p.m. Tuesday.
Flynn and his wife Rosemary had
driven to a park in White River
Township to watch the storms over
Lake Michigan, sheriff's Lt. Dave
Harken said.
In Mason County, Amy Curtin of
Ludington died after her car went out of
control on a rain-and-windswept high-
way Tuesday and struck a power pole.
Undersheriff Bruce Finch said investi-
gators were unsure on what role the
weather played in the 7:56 a.m. crash.
The high winds caused a six-foot
drop in the water level on Saginaw Bay'
leaving some duck hunters grounded
off of Sebewaing, said Coast Guard
Petty Officer Philip Myers.
High winds kept a Coast Guard heli-
copter grounded until yesterday morn-
ing, when it pulled one hunter from the
pontoon boat, Myers said. Another
hunter waded through the muck to the
shore, he said.
By mid-afternoon yesterday, more
than 191,000 homes and businesses
remained without electrical service, the
state's largest utilities said.
Corrections:
The Michiganensian was misspelled in yesterday's Daily.
The Biood Battle will be at the Michigan Union from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Pierpont Commons from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m
today, Mary Markley Residence Hall from l to 7 p.m. tomorrow, South Quad on Sunday from 12 to 6 p.m., the Michigan
Union next Monday through Thursday from 1 to 7 p.m. and in the Union from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. This was incorrectly report-
ed in yesterday's Daily.
IRLE
LILNL)LAL
EVENTS
U "Blood Battle," Sponsored b
Drives United, Pierpont Co
1-7 p.m., Michigan Uni
- a.m.-4 p.m.
J "Etoki: The Role of Images
Proselytization of Bud(
C.J L--4 hit ln .a .
What's happening in Ann Arbor today
U "Islamic Art Fair," Sponsored by Roor
Muslim Students Association,
y Blood Pierpont Commons. SRE
mmond Q "Islamic Awareness Week," $ERV1C
mon, 0Sponsored by Muslim Students
on ssociation, Tent on the Diag, 10 a Campu
a.m.-5 p.m. I NFO
d Ism "Islamic Jeopardy," Sponsored bywo
nntinnnf Muslim Students Association, m- no
m 3330, 2 p.m.
ES
istnformation Centers, 763-
s, info@umich.edu, and
W.umich.edu/-info on the
'id Wide Web
winter Conmmence~men~t
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