LOCAL/STATE The Michigan Daily - Thursday, February 8, 2001- 3A Senate investigates airport management Help for bipolar patients in sight Relief to more than 2.3 million Americans suffering from bipolar dis- order may be in sight, thanks to a ,study at the National Institute of Men- OtalHealth. The $22 million dollar federal research study, titled "The Systematic Treatment Enhancement Program for Bipolar Disorder," boasts 5,000 par- ticipants who will help find ways to raise the standard of care for individu- als with the disease. The study, centered at the Massa- 6husetts General Hospital in Boston, Will focus on improvements in med- tica'ions and therapies for treating both 'depression and manic episodes and ways to prevent relapses. Participants in the study will receive attention for a maximum of fie years, including evaluations and ,treatment plans to help them cope with their disease. Improved system *to take prints from crime scenes The University of Pennsylvania and ,the U.S. Secret Service have teamed "pto find a new, less expensive, tech- nique to take fingerprints at crime scenes. The technique will cause less dam- ,age to crime scene evidence and involves a group of chemicals known as indanediones, a highly sensitive, *easy to use group, which recently received a U.S. patent. A European company also received a non-exclusive license to the new technique, which resulted from an unannounced visit of federal agents to chemistry Prof. Madeleine Joullie's Abat the University of Pennsylvania. Together, the group found indane- diones the best selection to pick up the'information in a fingerprint, which normally equals one millionth of a gram of amino acids, glycerides, fatty acids, urea and salts. Study: Amygdala Initiates memory storage in brain The area of the brain known as the amygdala stores more than just ainful and emotional memories, ccording to researchers at the Uni- vetsity of Illinois - it also initiates 'memory storage in other regions of the brain. The research, shown in the Jan. I issue of the Journal of Neuroscience, shows that the amygdala plays a role Jn initiating memory storage in other bran locations. Located in the temporal lobe, the rmygdala receives electrical signals to .e sent to the thalamus. The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, is co-authored by Any Poremba of the National Insti- tute of Mental Health. It involves ,hooting neurons into different regions of the brain of 26 male rab- ,bit, disabling the amygdala. Rabbits who' underwent the treatment experi- enced a decrease in the ability to remember learned traits. Researchers are also examining the -fOects of firing neurons into the audi- 'toy cortex. Radiofrequency to treat fecal control Researchers at Universijty Health ;System continue to look at ways to treat fecal incontinence, which is the Wability to control the movement of steol and bowel gas through the anus. The study, done in conjunction with °uriiversities, including Stanford Uni- versity, Mayo Clinic and the Universi- ty of Southern California, uses radiofrequency energy to treat fecal incontinence. The treatment applies radiofrequen- cy-energy to the muscle of the anorec- tal junction, which reduces its flexibility. Current treatments include modifi- cations to the diet, medication, exer- cise and surgery. Without treatment, people can experience a decrease in social activity and confidence, celiba- cy, depression and damage to their job and relationships. Compiled by Daily Staff Reporter Lisa Hoffman. By Louie Melzlish DAy Stff Reporter The Michigan Senate is holding investigations to find out whether corruption has played a part in the way Wayne County manages the Detroit Metropol- itan Airport, the airport that serves most travelers in southeastern Michigan. "Being rated as an airport along the lines of Bangladesh or Mexico City is certainly a concern," said Brandon Stewart, a spokesman for state Sen. Glenn Steil (R-Grand Rapids), chairman of the new committee. The purpose of the Detroit Metropolitan Airport Review Committee, Stewart said, is to figure out why the airport is plagued with so many problems. The work of the former Joint Legislative Select Committee on Wayne County Metropolitan Air- port, which expired at the end of the last legislative session in December, was transferred to Steil 's Sen- ate committee. "The committee has hired its own private inves- tigator to assist us into looking into suspicions dig- ging into what I would call favoritism at the airport," said Sen. Leon Stille (R-Spring Lake), the committee's vice-chairman. A state report on air- port operations accused WCMA management of attempting to stall the investigation. "The Office of the Auditor General's efforts to obtain records and testimony necessary to respond to the Joint Legislative Select Committee's requests for preliminary reviews of various Airport opera- tions have been chronicled with a variety of Air- port delaying tactics, which we believe are designed to stall and derail auditors assigned to the Airport project," Auditor General Thomas McTavish wrote in a letter last month to Senate Majority Leader Dan DeGrow (R-Port Huron). Among tactics that McTavish cited were "pro- tracted delays in providing records, "withholding entire files" and an airport practice of having an "airport observer present at any interviews the committee conducted with airport employees or when investigators reviewed airport files. "I do not consider (these practices) to be consistent with 'unrestricted access,"' McTavish wrote to Wayne County Director of Airports Lester Robinson. Robinson responded with a written statement in which he said the ongoing investigation was not impartial. "The preliminary reviews conducted thus far have created much innuendo and left too many loose ends dangling," he said. "None of these reports have been professional audits according to government auditing standards." The committee, on which Republicans hold a 3- 2 seat majority, was chastised by Michigan Democ- ratic Party spokesman Dennis Denno. "There is a lot of partisan politics going on," Denno said, adding that "the reports they are filing have so many vague accusations." Denno said that the previous committee "used local newspapers for fact finding." He added that Republicans were going out of their way to "attack two very successful and popu- lar Democrats," specifically Wayne County Execu- tive Ed McNamara and Michigan Attorney General Jennifer Granholm, who is a potential can- didate for the governor's office in 2002. Granholm previously represented the county as corporation counsel. Stille denied those allegations. "Let's face it. Jennifer Granholm is no longer associated over there," Stille said. "I don't see a linkage." He added that the Senate might consider granting the new committee power to subpoena airport offi- cials if "stalling continues." Granting such power would require a simple majority vote in the Senate. He also added that a state takeover of the airport, although "not imminent," was not out of the ques- tion, but added that he would not speculate on what the investigation would lead to. "We don't know how profound the mismanagement is," Stille said. Tie game Road Scholars to tour M1ch1gan ti By Stephanie Schonholz Daily Staff Reporter The third annual Michigan Road Scholars Tour will begin this spring, bringing University faculty to various parts of Michigan to learn about aspects of the state such as the economy, educational systems and health and social issues. The five-day trip, which includes staff from all three University campuses, will begin in Ann Arbor on April 30 and finish May 4. The tour will include 15 cities and stops at a variety of sites, ranging from the Muskegon Correctional Facility to Monitor Sugar Co. in Bay City. Faculty members will "get out of the classroom and see a different perspective of the state" and "open up areas of interest they may or may not get to" staying in Ann Arbor, said project director David Lossing. Thirty-two faculty members will be traveling with the tour, one of whom is surgical medicine prof. Steven Rudich. Rudich said he will take the opportunity not only to learn but also to talk to people about organ dona- tion, an issue about which he feels stongly. 1is spring English Prof. Eric Rabkin, an alumni of the 2000 tour, said he found the program informative and socially stimulating. "Every stop I learned something new," Rabkin said. In regard to meeting faculty from different departments, he said, "I think that teachers have an obligation to try to understand the people with whom they work, it's not easy to have a good, rich feeling working with the same people" every day. On a similar note, Math Prof. Charles Doering said, "it is very hard to interact outside of our depart- ments and with faculty from other universities." For Doering, the tour will be "an interesting opportunity with a bunch of colleagues" to visit previously unseen areas and people in Michigan. Rabkin said the University was very good in setting up the program to foster new relationships between the faculty, a major criterion for the cre- ation of the program two years ago. An orientation will be held Feb. 15, in which faculty members can meet the colleagues with whom they will be traveling and begin the process of "expanding what they know of the state and its people outside of Ann Arbor prop- er," said Lossing. DAVID KATZ/Daily Eastern Michigan University freshman John Wilkinson and Washtenaw Community College freshman Skip Colton look at clothes yesterday at Van Boven men's clothing store in Nickels Arcade. OSEH keeps 'U' free of hazardous waste, radiation 'I I IF.ster'Thxefuni By Karen Schwartz Daily Staff Reporter They are the people who check for lead in the walls and monitor radioac- tive materials so nobody leaves class glowing with anything other than hap- piness. The University's Occupational Safety and Environmental Health department is responsible for addressing the health, safety and environmental interactions on cam- pus. The department monitors the disposal of hazardous materials and promotes the sharing of safety edu- cation and information in the Uni- versity community. OSEH Director Terrance Alexan- der said the organization exists pri- marily to make sure the University is in compliance with national Occupa- tional Safety and Health Administra- tion and environmental regulations but that working within the commu- nity is also an important part of the job. "We're doing a lot of programs that really move beyond regulatory compliance and try to be proactive and make things better," Alexander said. "We have a lot of educational programs that we run, we do training in radiation, biology and chemistry safety for labs," Alexander also addressed OSEH's willingness to work with student groups and answer questions anytime, saying OSEH would be more than happy to get involved if a group is interested in learning more. "We're here to provide the programs and help people do what they do safe- ly, but it's also everybody's responsi- bility to work safely," he said. "We're there to help but everybody has to take some responsibility for it." OSEH oversees many campus pro- grams, including radiation safety ser- vices to deal with radioactive materials and their disposal, an industrial hygiene program that works with the housing department on living quarters issues, sanitation programs that inspect food service facilities and environ- mental programs that analyze samples to ensure air, water and general living cleanliness. Students have the opportunity to contribute on campus as well. They can get involved in OSEH's diverse projects and gain hands-on work expe- rience. "We have students using all the equipment they'd be using in the work force," Alexander said. "We had an engineering student working for us.... He walked right into a nice job at an environmental consulting firm and he went in with experience." Being prepared to handle everything from biohazards to radioactive hazards definitely takes experience and train- ing, said Laurie MacDonald, an OSEH representative. MacDonald oversees the handling of chemical waste for the chemistry department. "If there were ever a chemical spill, we could deal with it," MacDonald said. "But we really don't get that many large spills to be concerned about." Patricia Watt, manager of OSEH's Industrial Hygiene and Safety pro- gram, addresses problems like ergonomic difficulties in the work- place and pollution. Watt said teaching people how to use chemicals and gen- erally follow safe practices is impor- tant to improving the academic environment. "We're basically charged to pro- vide guidance and education to all University departments on health safety and environmental issues," Watt said. "So we're here to look at the challenges we might have in those areas and partner with Univer- sity departments to find solutions that work for everyone." FE r 1 ol) Tell himi you love him Tell1 her that you think she 's hot Tellhim id's over Tell her you're sorry that you fought Sa~y t all with a THE CALENDAR What's happening in Ann Arbor today EVENTS Teugels will speak, 4 Scales: Examples from SERVICES p.m., Salinger Resource the Pacific Northwest," '41AClub Poetry Slam, Fea- Center, 3040 Frieze Sponsored by the Ecosys- Campus Information tuning Khary Kimani Turn- Building, 763-9047. tem Management Initia- Centers,764-INFO, ~Cupid Gramn th Ue Michian Daily (1atsified!