LOCAL/STATE
The Michigan Daily - Thursday, March 25, 1999 - 3A
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MRI technology
uses xenon to
view heart, lung
Doctors have long used magnetic res-
onance imaging in many clinical appli-
*tions. But now University scientists
have put a new twist on the technology
which currently polarizes water mol-
ecules in a patient's body with a power-
lful magnetic field - by substituting
xenon gas for water.
The implications of using xenon
instead of water include many exciting
possibilities, researchers said. Because
xenon is a non-reactive gas that dis-
.solves in the bloodstream, it allows sci-
ntists to simultaneously measure venti-
ion, the exchange of air from the
atmosphere and the lungs, and perfu-
sion, the exchange of gases between the
lungs and the bloodstream.
A xenon MRI could help physicians
-locate a pulmonary embolism or diag-
nose chronic obstructive pulmonary dis-
,eases such as emphysema and bronchi-
tis.
University physics Prof. Timothy
hupp and assistant research scientist
cott Swanson co-directed the study.
Researchers find
chicken leg gene
Using gene injections, scientists at
Harvard University mutated chicken
embryos' forelimbs into hindlimbs.
The project to create four-legged
,chickens, which identified the function
,of the Pitx 1 gene, could help biologists
* tter understand the processes involved
human genetic diseases.
The transformed chicken limbs had
claws, leg muscles and no feathers.
,Harvard biologists Macolm Logan and
Clifford Tabin characterized the Pitx 1
-gene as directing wing development.
Other genes important for limb develop-
- ment are the Tbx4 gene and the Tbx5
gene.
A mutation of the Tbx5 gene is linked
Holt-Oram syndrome, the rare human
genetic disorder in which affected indi-
viduals have malformed thumbs and
upper limbs.
Study: health
care givers not
all physicians
While the landscape of medical care
changing to include more nurse prac-
oners and physicians' assistants, the
exact role of NPs and PAs remains under
debate.
In a study published in the new issue
of the journal Inquiry, University
researchers found that the larger an insti-
tution's managed care population, the
greater the scope of the NPs' and PAs'
practice and autonomy.
.. NPs, who receive years of formal
'nical training beyond the basic
quirements for nursing licensure, and
PAs, who train with physicians along-
side medical students, perform duties
such as physical exams and minor surgi-
cal treatment such as mole removals.
NPs and PAs in the study said they
spend more time with patients than
physicians and focus more on holistic
.well-being.
Pensioned women
ore likely to leave
Marriages are more than twice as
jikely to end for older women with pen-
ions than for those without pensions,
according to a study from the Institute of
social Research.'
The paper, "Til Death Do Us Part or I
Get My Pension," is one of the first to
analyze the effects of pension, rather
than income, on a woman's marriage.
Assistant researcher Hiromi Ono said
one plausible reason marriages of
women with pensions end early is that
,these women are more likely to struggle
-with conflicts between career and mar-
rage commitment.
Ono, who authored the paper with
University economist Frank Stafford,
plans to present the results of the study
today at an annual meeting of the
Population Association of America in
New York City.
*-Compiled by Daily Staff Reporter
Asma Rafeeq
Awareness program for athletes created
By Jaimie Winkler
Daily Staff Reporter
Student athletes involved in Michigan Peer
Advisors Creating Trust announced yesterday
morning their new plans for an alcohol awareness
initiative encompassing all Michigan sports
teams.
University Athletic Director Tom Goss said he
was extremely proud of the students involved in M-
PACT and their enthusiasm for presenting responsi-
ble actions regarding alcohol at the University.
"These are the students coming to the coaches
and administrators saying 'this is how we want to
do things,"' Goss said.
M-PACT is a peer advising program comprised
of and for student athletes. Since its founding in
1995, M-PACT has included 105 student-athlete
representatives from 21 of 23 Michigan sports.
Kinesiology senior Beth Amelkovich, a mem-
ber of the Michigan women's gymnastics team,
said M-PACT strives to create an atmosphere
where serious campus issues can be addressed.
"We are a group committed to helping our fel-
low student athletes," Amelkovich said.
The newest step taken by M-PACT includes an
alcohol initiative that anticipates including one
member from each of the University's athletic
teams. The initiative requires each team to develop
guidelines on responsible alcohol consumption.
"We've chosen to take a stand," Kinesiology
senior Vanessa Lewis said. "Student athletes do
more than just win and party."
Lewis, a member of the women's soccer team,
said this initiative - conceptualized several weeks
ago - is still evolving.
The idea is meant to educate student-athletes
about the dangers of drinking irresponsibly, Lewis
said.
M-PACT leaders said they recognized that
there are many problems on campus and the lead-
ers felt they could successfully start solving prob-
lems through the medium they know best - stu-
dent athletes.
"We cannot stop people from drinking but we
can assist those with problems," Lewis said. "We
took a step, the initiative was made, and changes
will be made."
Lewis said M-PACT's long-term goals will be
to institute team guidelines and work the initiative
into BALANCE - an orientation program where
students learn about six different campus issues,
including safety, sex, drugs and alcohol, during
their first week at the University.
LSA senior Chris Bunt, a member of the cross
country and track teams, said BALANCE prepares
first-year students for challenges they will face
during their years at the University.
BALANCE helps students find out "what you
are going to come across (at the University) and
how to respond,' Bunt said.
BALANCE has never focused on responsible
drinking before, but with the new alcohol initiative
it will become a larger part of the program, Lewis
said.
M-PACT's tiew focus on alcohol includes
heightened attention to its annual Sober Sensation
- a volleyball and basketball tournament open to
all University students - and speakers such as
Joel Goldman, known for his multi-media presen-
tations and non-preachy style, who will deliver the
lecture "Sex Under the Influence," challenging the
stereotypical college views on sex and alcohol.
Knittin' mittens
MIT study finds gender
discrimination in sciences
By Sarah Lewis
Daily Staff Reporter
The fields of math and science, his-
torically male dominated, have also
been marked by another flaw - gender
discrimination.
Now the results of a five-year study
by the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology on the intersection of these
two areas are prompting administrators
to re-examine causes and possible solu-
tions regarding discrimination against
female faculty members.
The report, whose final results are
posted on the Internet at
http://web.mit.edu/fnl/women/women.ht
ml, shows discrepancies between the
male and female faculty who teach in
MIT's School of Science in areas
including salary, space allocation,
teaching assignments, awards and
inclusion in committees and assign-
ments within departments.
Leigh Royden, who teaches geo-
physics at MIT and was a member of the
study's first research committee, said
the university's science departments are
autonomous and that much important
business - including hiring, promotion
and graduate admissions - are done by
people assigned to committees.
"If women aren't on these committees,
they're locked out of important deci-
sions," Royden said, adding that society
views men as stronger intellectual leaders
then women. "Then they have no say in
the future of these departments."
In addition, informal inter-faculty mix-
ing and discussions may often exclude
women, she said, leading to a lower
awareness factor when making decisions.
The study also included interviews
with women professors - who make
up 31 of the 266 instructors in the
School of Science - and their respons-
es displayed feelings of "invisibility"
and "marginalization," especially as
they progressed to senior, tenured fac-
ulty member positions.
"There's a reluctance to put women
in positions of power," Royden said,
explaining that senior faculty members
said they felt equal with men when they
began teaching but found less support
after being tenured.
Neither MIT nor the University of
Michigan has had a female department
head in science-related departments.
"Men are usually more comfortable
in the position of providing guidance;'
said University Prof. Lynn Walter, a
senior faculty member in geological
sciences. "It's like a puppy. Who does-
n't want to help?"
When senior female professors begin
'to challenge male colleagues, Walter
said, they may view it as direct compe-
tition. It comes down to who makes the
decisions, she added.
The MIT report maintains that the
underlying basis for the discrepancies
and attitudes is gender discrimination
of the most subtle and unconscious
nature.
"They thought they were doing
okay," she said.
Carolina Lithgow-Bertelloni, an
assistant professor in geo-physics at the
University, said that because much dis-
crimination is no longer as obvious,
many men may think it no longer exists,
but it is a "matter of perception." She
said she has "experienced comments"
and has been ignored at scientific meet-
ings when speaking.
"It's much more common than peo-
ple think," Bertelloni said. "These days
it's just not as conscious or malicious"
One aspect of the study many have
found most striking is MIT's response
to its findings. While the committee has
no power to make changes, Royden
said, "making it a big issue" and "keep-
ing it on the front burner" are important
steps in bettering the situation.
"The dean of (the School of) Science
responded immediately to undo some of
the inequities," said Lotte Bailyn, who is
the chair of faculty at MIT. She said she
met with MIT officials and faculty
members yesterday to begin exploring
ways to implement change. .
Nancy Hopkins, a biology professor'at
MIT and chair of the first committee,
said the university was "convinced by the
data and got to work to fix it right away"
She also said that she hopes other
schools within MIT, as well other univer-
sities, will be able to use their study as a
model and "maintain a monitoring
process so things won't slide.
But while Hopkins admitted that "it's
hard to change something that's uncon-
scious," the key is putting the preven-
tion factor into the system.
"You change the system and people's
hearts and minds will follow" she said.
DHANI JONES/Daily
Mill Creek Middle School student Colleen Castle knits mittens last night at the
Michigan Union for underprivileged people during a Nit Wits group event.
Fine:P~ublicfeelings
onafirative action
may affect its futureqC
By Alan Kahn
Daily Staff Reporter
If the University loses the affirma-
tive action . lawsuits against the
University's College of Literature,
Science, and the Arts, and the Law
School, it and institutions with similar
policies may be legally bared from
actively attempting to enroll racially
diverse student bodies.
Last night, Prof. Michelle Fine of the
City University of New York spoke to
this issue in a speech she titled, "Before
the Bleach Gets Us All: Our National
Retreat from Affirmative Action."
Fine, who has been an expert wit-
ness in lawsuits involving equity in
education and done research across the
nation, addressed what she distin-
guished as three categories of public
sentiment nationwide: hostility, neu-
trality and productivity.
In her speech, Fine said the claim of
neutrality is dangerous. "No-one is
neutral, remaining neutral simply
reproduces what currently is," she said.
Fine said, "There is a growing cate-
gory of people to be seen as entitled
and a growing category of those to be
seen as discardable."
Fine, referring specifically to univer-
sities and other schools, noted after her
speech, "If a resource is valuable only
because it is withheld from someone,
that is something that worries me."
Rackham Graduate School Dean
Earl Lewis, commenting on when he
first felt the affects of being a minority,
said after the talk, "This speech should
encourage students to think about the
lives they live, and the structures that
shape their lives."
Lewis, who is also Chair of the
Dialogues on Diversity Institute for
Research on Women and Gender -
which hosted the speech - said he
challenged students to, "question what
it means to be neutral," and to wonder,
"if it is an illusion that makes us com-
fortable."
Fine stressed the need for educators
to involve themselves, pointing to the
danger of the status quo.
f Fine said the negative image applied
to many of those who support affirma-
tive action programs is a problem.
"It is not dangerous to have no affir-
mative action?' she said, referring to
those who chose to remain apolitical.
"It is dangerous to declare the need for
affirmative action."
Fine told a story of an encounter
between three students at high school
in Montclair, N.J., a story she said dis-
plays the troubles faced by growing up
in America today.
During a discussion in a ninth grade
English class in the high school, a
black female student said she some-
times wished she was white - not
because she likes the skin color, but
because she wanted to have two nice
cars and a nice house. In response, a
white male student in the class said that
if she worked hard, she could have
what he had. And in response to this, a
Latino student said that he worked hard
every day, and he did not have what the
other student had.
Students at the speech said their
views on affirmative action were only
bolstered by Fine's speech.
"I'm a minority, and I see affirma-
tive action as necessary," said Zohra
Cherif, a local high school student who
attended Fine's speech.
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Correction:
The tobacco divestment symposium hosted by the Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs has been
rescheduled for the fall. This was incorrectly reported in yesterday's Daily.
* LSA junior Rodolfo Palma Lulion was misidentified in yesterday's Daily.
get
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