LOCAL/S TATE
The Michigan Daily - Thursday, January 20, 2000 - 3A
?tESEARCH
U astronomers
find 3 massive
black holes
*A team of astronomers announced at
the American Astronomical Society
Meeting this week that they have discov-
ered three supermassive black holes.
The black holes, located in galaxies
NGC 4473 and NGC 4697 in the con-
stellation Virgo and NGC 821 in the
bonstellation Aries, increases the total
iumber of supermassive black holes
identified to 20.
The team, led by University astrono-
Prof. Douglas Richardson, has also
tncluded that the formation and evolu-
flon of galaxies are closely related to the
presence of a central massive black hole.
By using a computer model to detect
abrupt changes in star velocity patterns,
the team was able to support its findings.
The team found support for its find
because most, if not all, galaxies with
bulges in their star spirals seem to have
massive black holes.
Secondly, they were able to deter-
mine that quasars, extremely powerful
'bright objects capable of generating the
lumninosity equal to one trillion suns,
were developed before most star for-
imation in galaxies.
The team was also able to estimate the
mass of the black holes based on the size
of the galaxy and the velocity pattern of
the stars at the core of the galaxy. The
newly discovered black holes were esti-
Mated to have a mass ranging from 50
*lion to 100 million suns.
The computer model gets its input
frdm the Hubbel Space Telescope
observations and ground-based spec-
troscopic data obtained at MDM
Observatory. The observatory is oper-
atpd by the University of Michigan,
Dartmouth College, Columbia
,}University and Ohio State University.
4U receives grant
'om Dell Corp
The Dell Computer Corporation
awarded the University $125,000 for
six research initiatives that encourage
innovation in education with the use of
information technology.
The funds, part of a new program
c~ld Dell STAR - Strategic
Technology and Research - are award-
ed to faculty at specific universities
*ough a submission process that recog-
nes projects the encourage innovation
igducation and the application of infor-
mation technology within a university or
business environment.
The other universities involved in the
STAR program are Duke University,
Ff6-rida A&M University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
Texas A&M University and the
kiversity of North Carolina.
his year, the program will fund the
development of a course in applied port-
fglio management to give students real-
.world business skills, the Dell science
project in urban schools that will add a
scientific visualization tool to analyze
(ata, and the intelligent synthetic charac-
,ter for computer games project, which
,atempts to develop human-like syntjiet-
ic 6.haractcrs for video games.
The program will also fund the
ernet market games for e-commerce
cation project that teaches students
by placing them in a simulated com-
merce activity, the Linux Scalability
project that attempts to improve the
scalability and robustness of the Linux
gerating system, and the launch ready
°"lternet start-ups course that will allow
.,,tudents interested in entrepreneurship
tlaunch actual start-up companies.
linois stops live
animal testing
Administrators at the University of
Illinois cancelled live animal experi-
ments that first year students in the
Zo'llege of Veterinary Medicine were
sheduled to conduct this semester in
an effort to avoid killing animals for the
sake of education.
Included in the administrators' plans
for alternative teaching methods are
monstrations of live animal experi-
ments for students to watch.
Although the school never forced vet-
einary students to participate in live ani-
ma l experiments, students were not
offered alternatives to experimenting
with live animals. More than 25 veteri-
nary students chose not to conduct exper-
iments on live animals last semester
The university has been in the devel-
'ment stage of altering its experi-
nts since last fall.
- Compiled by Daily Staff'Reporter
Lindsey Alpert.
eents to take tour of Meical ampus
By Jeannie Baumann
Daily2Staf R7)c ri i
The University Board of Regents will delay
thir monthlymeeting today by a few hours to tour
theKrege uildings on the Medical Campus.
'fh prposof this tour will be to famil-
iarize the regents with various buildings,
focus'ing first on the Kresge laboratories of the
Medical School," University Secretary Lisa
Tedesco said in a written statement.
Medical School Dean Allen Richter said he
hopes the tour will make the regents aware of the
building's dilapidated state.
"The building ha:; long lived past its usefulness
and needs to be replaced," Richter said. "It has
insufficient capability of supporting modern bio-
medical research"
Regent Olivia Maynard (D-Goodrich) said the
regents are always interested in taking a hands-on
lTD officials, MSA reps to
present reports at meeting
approach toi the campus, but a full agenda often
puts a time constraint on such possibilities.
"We can't do it at every meeting," she said. "But
it's a good idea. It gives us an opportunity to talk
to people who are actually functioning in those
buildings. You always learn more when you're on
the site."
The meeting is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m.
today in the Regents Room of the Fleming
Administration Building.
Chief Information Officer Jose-Marie
Griffiths, executive director of the
Information Technology Division, is sched-
uled to give a presentation about the success of
the University's Y2K preparations.
She said the presentation will include whether
the extensive Y2K preparations were worth the
effort and speculation about the future. Griffiths
said the University spent about two years prepar-
ing for the year 2000 rollover.
"There were some minor issues, but they
were not necessarily Y2K related," Griffiths
said.
Representatives from the Michigan Student
Assembly are also scheduled to make a presen-
tation supporting the Worker Rights
Consortium, a group working to counter sweat-
shop labor.
The assembly unanimously passed a resolution
last semester that endorsed the WRC.
"Basically, we want to let them know why MSA
thinks the University should join the WRC, MSA's
understanding of the situation and that the assem-
bly recognizes all of the progress that the
University and students have made," MSA
President Brain Elias said.
Elias said that unlike Students Organizing fpr
Labor and Economic Equality, the assembly is not
pushing for the University to sign the WRC by the
Feb. 2 deadline.
"We're trying to stay out of that," Elias said.
"We want the University to sign onto the WRC
as expediently and intelligently as possible."
Ready, aim, fire
'
student wins computer,
cash in online sweepstakes
By Josie Gingrich
Daily Staff Reporter
Rodger Devine had never put much faith in contests
until he was notified by VarsityBooks.com that there was
$1,000 and a brand new iMac computer heading his way.
Devine, an LSA junior, was notified Tuesday that he was a
winner in the "Open Doors" sweepstakes sponsored by the
online retailer.
"I'm really shocked," Devine said. "I've never won any-
thing before."
Devine received an e-mail from a friend notifying him
of the contest that was offered exclusively online.
"I went to the Website and no purchase was required,"
Devine explained.
"I just registered and put in the names of five friends to
increase my odds," he said.
When he checked the site yesterday, Devine saw his name
listed as a winner of the $1,000 and a new computer. He later
received an e-mail verifying his prizes.
"It's a major relief," said Devine, who plans to pay for
books and pay off credit card debts with the money.
Devine's prizes are part of a month-long contest spon-
sored by VarsityBooks in which $1,000 in cash and a new
computer will be awarded to a registered student every
day.
"It's the kickoff to a year of scholarship programs with
a million dollars worth of prizes," said Tara May, commu-
nications director of VarsityBooks,
"I'm eallyr shocked, I've
never won anything before."
- Rodger Devine
LSA junior
"It's also to entice people who haven't gotten on the
site," May said.
May said the goal of the contest, according to Meav,
is to make higher education more affordable to college
students. There is no purchase required to register for
the contest, she said, but the company hopes to gain
exposure to students who have not considered buying
books online.
Recently, VarsityBooks has come under fire by the
National Association of Campus Stores for alleged mis-
leading advertising.
May said the case "is pending and hasn't been present-
ed before a judge.:
"We of course believe the allegations are without merit,"
she added.
Other online textbook retailers use contests to lure stu-
dents to their sites.
BigWords.com recently launched a campaign called
Rise Revolution that promises to give away Ford
Explorers, airline tickets and free textbooks.
DANNY KALICK/Daily
LSA first-year student Matt Groff takes aim to throw a snowball yesterday
at LSA sophomore CJ. Hayes in a West Quad Residence Hall courtyard.
Sfacu
olpanel debate
j,,uman rgt
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II -t
Voice Your Vote Task
Force reaches out to
students to become
more politically active
By Jon Zemke
D~aily Staff Reporter
In an ot to register students to
vote and become more politically
active. the Democracy Project held a
debate on human rights in front of more
than 60 students in the Michigan Union
yesterday.
1 l ,e Demoracy Project is a part of
MSA's Voice Your Vote Task Force. The
project is a series of debates intended to
increase student political awareness and
participation in the upcoming
Novmibcr elections.
"The Democracy Project is not
only concerned about getting stu-
dents interested in the issues, but
also to get them to take action for
them" said Voice Your Vote Task
Fore chair Shari Katz.
The debate was the latter half of a
Voic Your Vot Task Force voter regis-
tration drive sponsored by the Michigan
Student Assembly.
The tak force was able to register
50 students yesterday and registered
10 more during the debate.
"They are very important and very
p political science Prof.
I roldiacobon, a speaker on the
pItan. allows people to think for
th mseivcs and see different points
of view -' e said.
Jacobson was one of four speakers
on a panel, debating human rights and
what action the nation should take.
The panel specifically debated
whether sanctions should be employed
on nations suspected of human rights
violations.
The panel also consisted of
Libertarian Charles Goodmanna
Rackham student, Students
Organizing for Labor and Economic
Equality organizer Peter Romer-
Friedman and Residential College
Prof. Ian Robinson.
Debate moderator Ganesh
Muthappan, an LSA sophomore and
member of Amnesty International,
brought up issues including how
sanctions have worked with South
Africa and how they have not with
Cuba. But a majority of the time was
spent discussing whether the United
States should place sanctions on
China. "The major issue is not to
fight World War III with them,"
Jacobson added.
"China is the rising power in the
world. They will be able to exceed
us in GDP (Gross Domestic
Product) and machinery produc-
tion," he said.
Questions from the audience were
taken at the end and included topics
ranging from whether the "neo-lib-
eral model" middle class could be
supported by the environment in
nations with higher populations
such as China and India to whether
the United States should impose
sanctions on Russia because of the
war in Chechlnva.
"I believe the neo-liberal model
works because Americans don't have
problems of an elbow-to-elbow soci-
ety," said Engineering graduate stu-
dent Tara Javidi. "Infinite density is
not possible no matter how good it
sounds."
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