LOCAL/STATE The Michigan Daily - Thursday, February 25, 1999 - 3A .RESEARCH Study: Ethic hurts women's self-esteem The Protestant ethic of hard work and self-reliance may be to blame for the negative view overweight women have of themselves, according to University research. In a study to be published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Diane Quinn, a psycholo- gy doctoral candidate, and psychology Prof. Jennifer Crocker found that over- weight women felt worse about them- selves if they endorsed the values of hard work, self-discipline and personal *responsibility. Belief in the Protestant ethic was associated with anxiety, depession and low self-esteem in overweight women. The study found women who did not consider themselves overweight were not affected by the Protestant ethic. In another study, the researchers found that exposure to conservative ideology, such as the debate over wel- fare, was detrimental to the mental *health of overweight women. PSU cracks the eggshell problem A Penn State University researcher has cracked an important problem. A new process developed by Penn State Prof. Joseph MacNeil is able to separate the membrane of an egg from the eggshell itself, reported the Daily Collegian, Penn State's student news- *paper. The new technology solves a serious food waste problem. Eggshell waste, MacNeil said, accounts for 120,000 tons of waste per year and most landfills do not accept the remains because of the horrible stench given off by rotting eggs. The Environmental Protection Agency named eggshell disposal one of the worst ecological problems facing the food industry, according to MacNeil. "That membrane is a tough cookie," MacNeil said. "We ground it and put it through hammer mills - any kind of machine I could think of- because we wanted to break that attachment." U. of Florida unveils robotic lawnmower After seven years of dedicated research, University of Florida researchers unveiled their latest marvel Tuesday morning at a Florida golf course, reported the Independent Florida Alligator, University of Florida's student newspaper. Named the Kawasaki Mule, the proto- type tractor is a highly evolved robot that can mow lawns without a driver. A small crowd gathered around the machine as it mowed the grass at the golf course. "We've been funded by the govern- ment to build these systems and to look at commercial applications" said Carl Crane, a University of Florida mechan- ical engineering professor. Costing about $300,000 to make, the Mule will not be the answer for teenagers seeking to shirk their household chores. But University of Florida engineers say the Mule could now be built for a mere $50,000 in just four months as compared to the two-and-a-half years it took to assemble the original Mule. The federal government provides University of Florida engineers with $200,000 a year to build the advanced tractors. Operation shown on the Internet * Doctors at Ohio State University broadcast a surgical operation over a newly-developed part of the Internet yesterday, reported The Lantern, Ohio State's student daily newspaper. With an increase in the Internet's use in recent years, the system has become bogged down with slow download times. New Internet connections being created by Ohio State and others allowed Ohio State doctors to show laparoscopic surgery performed at the Ohio State Jniversity Medical Center to members of Congress in Washington. The surgery involved the insertion of tiny cameras into a patient's body so doctors could see what they were doing with their tools. - Compiled by Daily Staff Reporter Gerard Cohen-Vrignaud. College Bowl team looks for championship By Adam Corndorf For the Daily Spring is nearing and with it the Wolverines move into the post-season to defend last year's national championship victory. This year the com- petition will be stiffer, the pressure thicker and the questions tougher. But this isn't a Michigan sports team. Forget about the Rose Bowl victory and the NCAA Hockey Championship - the University College Bowl team is the one to beat this spring. An open University Activities Center organiza- tion, the Michigan Academic Competitions squad provides an opportunity for students to participate in academic competition. LSA sophomore Michael Davidson is a returning member from last year's national championship team. "It was pretty exciting to win last year," Davidson said. "We surprised a lot of people - including ourselves." The format of the competition is similar to that of college or quiz bowl, LSA junior and MAC member Craig Barker said, with each team fielding four participants. The team has alternates as well as a second and third team to compensate for the strenuous schedule that includes competitions nearly every weekend. As one of more than 70 circuit teams that participate on a regular basis, the University team competes nationally in various circuits. Individual institutions also set up meets, as the University team did in mid-January of this year when it held an invitational over the Martin Luther King Jr. weekend. Barker said the University has, as of late, been one of the most successful teams in the country - and the world. The 1996 team brought home the College Bowl, Inc. National Championship from Arizona State University and proceeded to defeat Imperial College of London at the international Championship in Manchester, England. Imperial College was the winner of the British equivalent of College Bowl. The British national television station BBC2 covered the match - a competition which resulted in a 265-125 victory for the University team on New Year's Day. Barker has a history of success in academic competitions - in 1997, he was the winner of the College Jeopardy tournament. "It was different being one man versus a team,' Barker said, comparing the experience of win- ning alone on Jeopardy versus the College Bowl championship in 1996. "But I equally prize win- ning Jeopardy and winning the national champi- onship." This year's team seems to be following the illus- trious path set forth by its predecessors. In November. the team won a meet at the University of Illinois that involved all of the Big Ten teams. They were also victorious last April at the NAQT Mideast Sectional competition at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Penn Last weekend, the team won the College Bowl, Inc. Region 7 Championship at Michigan State University. Now they are gearing up for this year's National Championship meet at the University of Florida the weekend of April 16 to 18. Rackham sixth-year student and team member Rory Molinari said he is cautiously optimistic about the upcoming championship. "We have an honest chance at winning again." Molinari said. "But it will be tough to win again. We will have to play well:' P I rof.: optimism can be beneficial to health' ay Asa Rafe" Daily Staff Reporter Wearing a broad grin, psychology Prof. Chris Peterson addressed, from a research perspective, the virtues of smiling upon the world at a luncheon yesterday at the Michigan Union. Peterson spoke on "Health and Optimism" at the event, attended by more than 80 University students, staff and faculty. Peterson's years of research on the topic have drawn nationwide attention, with The Oprah Winfrey Show and the National Enquirer among those who called him curi- ous for more information regarding his work. "It's a very timely topic - our society has become disenchanted with. traditional medical care," Peterson said. But interest may sometimes wan when people learn that Peterson's study doesn't find any "magic button" to press to become happier and healthier. Optimistic people just behave dif- ferently, Peterson said, taking an active role in their health. "If you think you can do some- thing, you're going to behave in ways that make it happen," he said. "That's where optimism becomes "If you think you can do something, you're going to behave in ways that make it happen" - Chris Peterson Psychology professor powerful - when it's self-fulfill- ing." Various studies report a multi- tude of benefits for people who approach life feeling they can max- imize the best and minimize the worst. Optimists, Peterson said, are three times less likely than pes- simists to report illnesses, visit doc- tors and miss school for illness. Pessimists, meanwhile, suffer from their self-fulfilling negativity. They are victims of more accidents than optimists, Peterson said, some studies have found pessimism to be twice as hazardous to an individ- ual's health as smoking. A cheery outlook can even translate into better grades and increased athlet- ic performance, Peterson said. University researchers, he said, have found a brief questionnaire evaluating optimism to be a better predictor of grades than the Scholastic Aptitude Test. One study discovered that more optimistic swimmers were more likely to win Olympic gold medals than their pessimistic counterparts. The luncheon was part of a lec- ture series co-sponsored by the Michigan Union Program Board and the University's Mortar Board chapter. LSA senior Courtney Dwight, Mortar Board vice-presi- dent, said the organizations chose professors for the series who have consistently received excellent stu- dent evaluations. "It gives students a chance to hear professors they normally wouldn't get to hear, and is a good way to honor professors," Dwight said. The lecture series, which is new this year, holds lunches once a month. The final speech will be given by University President Lee Bollinger on April 24 CHRIS CAMPERNEL/Daily Psychology Prof. Chris Peterson lectures on optimism to lift students out of their midterms blues yesterday. Legislat rs continue to push f Ob- LANSING (AP) - Armed with a new study indicating gender pay inequities cost Michigan women $9 billion a year, equal pay advocates in the state Legislature hope that a 20-year struggle ends with a raise. Despite the reality that equal pay has- n't surfaced as a priority of the Republican-run Legislature, two Democratic lawmakers said yesterday that proposing the legislation again can't hurt. "It's important we keep the issue of pay inequity alive," said Sen. Alma Wheeler Smith (D-Salem Twp.). Rep. Lynne Martinez (D-Lansing) said women have made slow and steady progress. Michigan women, on average, make 70 cents for every dollar a man makes in comparable jobs, according to the study. Nationally, that number rises to 74 cents on the dollar. "What we're fighting for is not so women can have an extra hairdo a year," Martinez said. "This is about access to food, clothing and shelter . for women who are not being fairly compensated." Similar bills were introduced by both lawmakers last session. Martinez's bill was narrowly adopted in the then Democratic-run House. It died in the Senate. The Michigan State AFL-CIO issued the study conducted by its national orga- nization, estimating that unequal pay has cost Michigan working women $9 billion each year. The average woman, they said, loses $420,000 during her lifetime because she isn't paid what she's worth. The study analyzed recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. "With more and more two income families, pay equity is a men's issue and a family issue," said Michigan State AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Bertha Louise Poe. Poe said that raising women's wages would help push more single mothers out of poverty because it would give them an average of near- ly $6,000 more a year. House Speaker Chuck Perricone (R- Kalamazoo Township) said he supports equal pay for equal work, but said fed- eral and state laws should be adequate to stop such discrimination on the basis of gender. "If there's racism or discrimina- tion in the workplace, you don't throw more laws at it. You prosecute with the laws already there," Perricone said. Business groups such as the Small Business Association of Michigan and the Michigan Manufacturers Association have opposed similar bills in the past. They have argued that the wage gap between men and women is closing, albeit slowly, WITH LITTLE JIMMY SCOTT IkIJ QkLLW [2Ak What's happening in Ann Arbor today i° EVENTS U "Annual Alternative Spring Break Institute for Research on Women and Gender, West Hall, Room 232D, 12 p.m.-1:30 p.m. Weekdays 11 a.m.-4 p.m U Safewalk, 936-1000, Shapiro Library Lobby, 8 p.m.-2:30 a.m. ,I . 14415 UBIIIM~V ,)EISIiatimmlwf'f rp. 'A11a-r,. tA i!*EIM[iut5r