LOCAL/STATE

The Michigan Daily - Thursday, February 1, 2001- 3A

Students study literature in New England

Study finds sleep
improves memory
Sleeping may have more benefits.
than just health: It may actually
improve students' grades.
A new study by a Massachusetts
hstitute of Technology professor pub-
lislied last week in the journal Neuron
suggests that sleeping rats exhibit
brain activity that may resemble
human dreams. This discovery may
s'ied light on the link in humans
between dreams and memory.
. Although scientific studies in the
past have shown a link between
dream-filled sleep and memory for-
mation, this is the first time scientists
ave caught a living brain in the act of
eviewing the day's events.
Scientists say this study is the first
step in the quest to find out why peo-
ple dream and how important sleep is
for the formation of stable memories.
"One of the possibilities is that in
these sleep and dream states, we are
reeyaluating past experience" said
MIT Associate Professor of Brain and
Cbgnitive Sciences Matthew Wilson,
Who was the lead author of the study.
Grant to curb
Native American
substance abuse
University of New Mexico student
Lawrence Shorty was awarded $75,000
to encourage American Indians to stop
smoking outside of ceremonies and to
explain the differences between tradi-
ional and manufactured tobacco.
Shorty will receive $25,000 per year
fof'three years from the Developing
Leadership in Reducing Substance
Abuse program to curb substance abuse
'among American Indians, who he said
have the highest tobacco use rates of all
major ethnic groups.
Shorty will go to the University of
N6rth Carolina for a tobacco-training
*program sponsored by the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention. He
"will use some of the $75,000 to create
anti-tobacco industry commercials for
American Indians.
"My messages are primarily focused
on identifying that, one, tobacco manu-
fActurers are not our friends, and two,
tha the products that they make are not
traditional tobacco, and three, they can
make you sick," he said.
*Scientists develop
male fertility test
A team of U.S. and Japanese experts
in reproductive medicine has made a
major advance in testing for male infer-
tility that could prevent women seeking
fertility treatment from taking unneces-
-aiy tests or having unnecessary treat-
thrpnts.
 The scientists have developed a
method that could make diagnosis
more accurate and lead to a correct
diggnosis in cases where doctors can
find no apparent cause for a couple's
inability to conceive.
The method, called sperm-ubiquitin
tai immunoassay (SUTI) is based on
a small protein called ubiquitin.
Ubiquitination is a process by which
the body breaks down and recycles
obsolete cellular proteins. The accumu-
lation of ubiquitin in the sperm cells is
eykdence of damage or defect, indicat-
ig a man's potential infertility.
World's smallest
robot developed
What may be the world's smallest
robot is being developed by

researchers at the Department of Ener-
g's Sandia National Laboratories.
At one quarter of a cubic inch and
weighing less than an ounce, it is pos-
sibly the smallest autonomous unteth-
ered robot ever created.
Powered by three watch batteries, it
rides on track wheels and consists of an
8K ROM processor, temperature sensor,
,aid two motors that drive the wheels.
Enhancements being considered
include a miniature camera, micro-
phone, communication device and
chemical micro-sensor.
" I'ts creators built it for its ability to
scramble through pipes or prowl
around buildings looking for chemical
plumes or human movement.
The robots may be capable of relay-
ing information to a human-manned
station and communicating with each
other.
-From staff and wire reports.

By Tovin Lapan
For the Daily
In the spring of 1974, two University English
professors took 18 students to New Hampshire to
spend the spring semester studying local writers.
The trip, called the New England Literature Pro-
ject, was centered on taking students out of the
classroom to learn.
The program was the brainchild of Prof.Walter
Clark, who had a summer home in New Hamp-
shire. Clark has since retired, but his colleague,
Alan Howes, still makes guest lectures each
spring.
Clark had the idea that "studying authors
in th& area where they wrote would add
something to the study of literature," Howes
said.
Twenty-seven years later the program has
doubled in size and NELP has become a popu-
lar summer alternative for many University stu-
dents.

"We accept 40 students every year, and we typ-
ically get double that amount in applications,"
NELP director Jackie Livesay said.
"NELPers" spend the spring term in a camp on
Lake Winnipesankee in northern New Hamp-
shire, reading, writing, swimming, hiking, camp-
ing, and engaging in creative and educational
activities. NELP participants earn eight credits
while taking three English classes: Topics in
American Literature, Literature and Culture, and
Creative Writing.
The learning environment is flexible and
molds to the desires and needs of the students.
Using the idea of a former student, NELP
works on a nine-day week. In one NELP week
students typically take five or six required
classes, and meet with a small journal group
twice a week.
Livesay; who has been with the program 13
years, said it is popular because it integrates aca-
demic, creative, nature, and emotional learning
opportunities together. "Students read Robert

Frost and get to see where Frost lived and hiked,"
she said.
NELPers participate in elective classes at least
three times a week that include art, poetry,
drama, canoeing, rock climbing and other work-
shops. Over the years NELP has also incorporat-
ed members of the local community into the
program, inviting representatives of the Abenaki
Indian Tribe of New England to tell stories and
offer wilderness training.
"I loved it, NELP was amazing," said LSA
sophomore Maggie Baldwin, a biology major
who participated in NELP last spring. Baldwin
said at first she was intimidated by her lack of
experience studying literature but the communal
setting and informal class structure improved the
learning experience.
"Another goal of NELP was to take students
into a remote location where they would form
small groups and learn a lot from each other,"
Howes said.
Students in NELP have an important voice in

how the program is run each year. Activities and
classes are planned according to group interests'
and skills.
NELPers are not limited to their immediate
surroundings. Regular trips are planned to,.
nearby areas of interest in New England.,
NELP students hike and hold classes in Aca-
dia National Park in Maine. Chris McVety, a
University law student, said the trip to Aca-
dia and climbing Mt. Cadillac stood out in
his mind. McVety participated in NELP in
the spring of 1997 but has thought of going,
back as an instructor.
"NELP introduced me to e.e. cummings, a
writer who I really liked." McVety said.
All University students are eligible to apply to,
NELP, including international students and stu-
dents from other colleges. Financial aid is avail t
able, as well as some separate NELP scholarships
that are offered to students in need. NELP runs
from April 30 to June 15, and applications were
due last month.


Born to ride

Art School helps
businesses mare

By Stephanie Schonholz
Daily Staff Reporter
The School of Art and Design
has joined forces with Ameritech to
create "Design in Biz," a locally
run program intended to help small
businesses enhance the marketing
of their products.
The new initiative works primari-
ly through website interaction. The
website, www.designinbiz. com, is
"a four-way communication
between the design faculty at
Michigan, local businesses, profes-
sional designers,
and School of Art
and Design stu- "The nee
dents," said Jack
Williamson, pro- design ed
ject director and
University profes- immense
sor of, design
studies. counry.
The website
"a ceo m mod ate s
people who don't "Design in Biz
know much about
d e s i g n ,"
Williamson said. It provides a
space where small businesses can
interact with one another, critique
each other's marketing and design
ideas and engage with professional
design specialists and design facul-
ty from the University.
Businesses can display ideas that
may not have worked well in the
past and obtain guidance from
knowledgeable professionals on
how to improve their marketing

TI

SAM HOLLENSHEAD/Daily
Kinesiology sophomore Niklaus Pleisch rides his bicycle through the Diag yesterday afternoon.

Doug Hesseltine, the project.>
manager and a lecturer in the
School of Art and Design, said the,
program is "a forum to learn abou,
the benefits of good design."
Hyun-Jhin Lee, an interactive
design researcher and Art ands
Design graduate student, brings tQ..
the project five years of experience
with Korean interactive design.
Lee said her primary goal for the
website is to enhance its accessibil-
ity to the public.
The website also will soon fea-
ture a tutorial for members of the
community who
want to start their
forown e-business
but have no prior
cication j5 knowledge.
Within the next
in this month, Lee plans to
provide step-by-step
instructions on how
to create an online,
- Doug Hesseltine business venture.
project manager Hesseltine said
there was a great
need for the web-
site not only in Ann Arbor but also:
throughout the country.
"The need for design education is
immense in this country," he said.
Another major component of the
website is to show entrepreneurs;.
the effect that creative advertising,"
mixed with promotion and sales
communication, can have in the
future.
Williamson said the project even-
tually will help students gain employ-
ment by allowing them to post theiii
portfolios online but that this aspect
of the'project is still under advise-
ment.

Ford toLgive otb
DETROIT (AP) -- Ford Motor Co. will bankroll a Unit- tration counted 52
ed Way giveaway of a half million booster seats to the automobile crashe
nation's low-income families and offer coupons through while 110 were w(
dealerships for 500,000 more. seven were in som
The initiative, expected to cost the automaker $30 million With Boost An
and be launched this spring, is part of Ford's drive to put I what we expect wi
million of the vehicle booster seats in use this year, Boost sure older children
America! spokeswoman Cathy Gillen said yesterday. booster seat," Jac
"It's a pretty massive undertaking, but we think it will executive, said ina
greatly raise awareness and educate people," she said. Dimon McFer
Booster seats are for children weighing 40 to 80 pounds credited Ford wit
who are too big for car seats but too small to wear adult seat booster seats to t
belts, a demographic that auto safety experts calls "forgotten "United Way is
children." effort to keep Am
Booster seats position lap belts around a child's hips Applicants det
and shoulder belts across the chest instead of leaving away's participatir
them up around the neck. When riding without a booster high-back or back
seat, the lap belt rides up too high. That places children where they will be
at risk of liver, spleen, intestinal and spinal cord injuries In December, F
during a crash. , seats in 18 states
In 1998, the National Highway Traffic Safety Adminis- automaker said ar
Arson attempted at
Planned Parenthood

)ster seats
27 children between 4 and 8 who died in
es. Of that group, 281 were unrestrained,
vearing seat belts without a booster. Only
e kind of safety seat.
rerica!, "we're determined to jump start
ill be a fast-moving national trend to make
n ride in the best available protection - a
:ques Nasser, Ford's president and chief
a statement.
son, the United Way's board chairman,
th "taking such an active role in getting
hose families who need them most."
s proud to be working with Ford in this
erica's children safe," McFerson said.
emed eligible for the seats by the give-
ng United Way agencies will either receive
kless versions, then be directed to a site
e trained on proper use of the seats.
Ford said it would donate 15,000 booster
s to American Indian children, who the
e at great risk of crash-related deaths.

devices.
Ameritech provides the funding
for the fledgling project, which
began a little over two years ago.

ROSES ARE RED, VIOLETS ARE BLUE,
CALL 76-DAILY, WE WANT YOU,
N4.


® The Kalamazoo center
was previously destroyed
by arson in 1986
KALAMAZOO (AP) - Federal
authorities have joined an investiga-
tion into an attempted arson fire at a
Planned Parenthood center, the sec-
ond failed arson attempt since an
arsonist destrpyed the center in
1986.
No arrests had been made in con-
nection with the latest attempt, said
Mark Hady, resident agent in
charge of the Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco and Firearms office in
Grand Rapids.
"We're just trying to put together
what evidence we have and trying
to follow up with any leads that
come up," Hady said yesterday.
Federal agents become involved
in investigations whenever a fire is
set or attempted to be set at a facili-
ty that performs abortions, he said.
The ATF and the Kalamazoo Police
Department are working together
on the case.

Abortions account for a small
amount of the center's activities,
said the Rev. Mark Pawlowski, the
center's executive director and chief
executive officer.
He told the Kalamazoo Gazette
for a story'Monday that about 1,500
out of 26,000 visits to the clinic
last year were for abortions.
About 4 a.m. Sunday, someone
broke the center's front glass door
and poured a flammable liquid on
the carpet and vinyl floor, according
to police reports and Pawlowski.
The liquid never was ignited,
possibly because an alarm went off
and the intruder felt pressured to
leave, Pawlowski said.
Police estimated the damage at
$500.
The center was destroyed by an
unknown arsonist in a pre-dawn
fire on Dec. 1, 1986.
After it was rebuilt, a firebomb
exploded near an outside wall in
September 1989, causing some
exterior charring but no interior
damage. That crime also remains
unsolved.

THE CALENDAR
What's happening in Ann Arbor today

VENTS
"Orders of Time, Visions

In the Study of Gender and
the Life Course," Roberta
Sigel will speak, 4:00

Women's Forum, 7:00
p.m., Hillel
Reginald McKnight Fiction

SERVICES
Campus Information

'r