LOCAL/S TATE
The Michigan Daily - Thursday, March 15 - 3A
ESEARCH
rS
Diversity key to
problem solving
f he smartest individuals may not
- be the best problem solvers, according
oi a new study by University
researcher Scott Page.
Page, together with Lu Hong, a
"Loyola University researcher, discov-
.fred that a group of randomly selected
Pei)ple worked more ellEctively than a
- group of the brightest individuals in
problem-solving settings because they
oiler more diverse approaches.
:,According to their study, titled
Diversity and Optimality, diversity
helps resolve contradictions between
ocopes' limited ability to solve prob-
tems. Through the use of computers
and mathematical models, randomly
selected groups out performed the
group of the best individual problem
' 40tvers because of each person's dif
lerent perspective.
'Quality of state's
lakes to be tested
The U.S. Environmental Protection
1 g .cncy will fund a $6 million research
project based on diatoms at the School
; Natural Resources and Environment.
The test, directed by the Natural
Resources Research Institute at the
' University of Minnesota, will test
cvironmental indicators on the
coastal regions of the Great Lakes to
identify and evaluate the lakes' health,
including water quality and diatoms,
fish, wetland vegetation, birds and
Ochem ical contaminants.
NSRE Prof. Eugene Stoermer will
focus on diatoms, a group of algae in
"-;aquatic systems, which adapt to dif-
,erpnt environments and form the base
,ofynany aquatic food chains.
Car crash warning
'System in works
To help decrease the number of-
rear-end car crashers each year, Uni-
versity researchers are working on a
forward collision warning system,
which would set off an alarm when
the driver is in a potentially danger-
'"-Researchers worry chat if the sys-
"ic u doesn't warn drivers fast enough
the driver won't react in time to pre-
went the accident, but if the alarm
, ounds at every remote chance of a
fcollision, the driver could ignore the
-warnings or turn off the system com-
plctely. More than 1.8 million rear-
,.nd crashes occur each year in the
'United States, causing 2,000 deaths
itd 800,000 injuries.
David LeBlanc, an assistant
research scientist at the Transporta-
Vto Research Institute, presented his
irGSults of various systems tests at the
.eciety of Automotive Engineers
2) 1 World Congress.
Using 108 random drivers,
LoBlane, with the Ford-GM Crash
Avoidance Metrics Partnership, tested
drivers' reaction times with different
fyreaking patterns while approaching
-arrogate targets. This allowed
researchers to develop an ideal break
time for the crash alert systems.
Test drivers rated the alarm time as
just right," and 104 of 108 drivers
j sponded in time to avoid a crash.
; omputers aid in
-gene predictions
Penn State University researchers
have discovered a computational
method to predict the number and
locations of genetic crossing-over,
rither than using DNA shuffling to
*improve enzymes, vaccines and thera-
.ynitic proteins.
Shuflling, which uses related genes
ron various species with related func-
twin, cuts and reassembles genes.
esearchers added recombined genes
to Escherichia coli to find which genes
expressed interesting proteins until the
j esired qualities appear.
A computer program designed by
chemical engineering Prof. Costas
; Maranas and his team uses a mathe-
*4tical model, which accounts for
environmental factors that affect
": .crossing-over, including temperature,
sequence identity and the number of
shuffled parent sequences.
""Details on the program appear in
the March 13 issue of the Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences.
- Compiled by Daily Staff Reporter
Lisa Hoflnan.
Colleges to elect new representatives
Who's who in the student government elections
President:
Rachel Tronstein
Vice president:
Adam Damarow
Representatives:
Natalie Raaber
Dani Gatewood
Robin Goeman
Matt Huang
Jill Barkley
Mike Panetta
Andreas Penna
. Gwen Arnold
Steve Sharpe
- --- ---- - .-. - ----.--- --..- ._ ._ ...
Michigan Party
Representatives:
Christina Chi
Joe Martinez
Emily Lempe
John Cooper
Marrna Lofgren
Jen Chen
U-erns.
Representatives:
Jeremy Peters
Christopher Miller
Carrie Rheingans
Amy Jaick
Jon ValantI
Mike Kaplan
Kari Dilley
Oscar Rodriguez
Jeremy Wilkins
Independents
Representatives:
Dara Washman
Matthew Heckler
Engineering Council:
President:
Kristin Witt
Vice President:
Nataphone Subsin
Secretary/Treasurer:
Erin $alenski
By Shannon Pettypiece
Daily Staff Reporter
In less than two weeks University stu-
dents will have the opportunity to vote
for LSA representatives and College of
Engineering officers who will help
shape the academic life for students in
those colleges.
"I decided to run for LSA-SG
because it doesn't seem to be doing
much, there is a lot of talking but no
doing," said University Democratic
Party candidate Carrie R heingans, an
LSA freshman.
The LSA-Student Government and
Engineering Council have developed
strong platforms around issues they feel
are important to improving students'
University experiences.
"I want input from people, I don't just
want to be giving out info. ... It goes
both ways,"said Rheingans.
Several LSA-SG candidates for the
University Democrats, such as Rhein-
gans and LSA freshman Jon Valant, said
they hope to increase student involve-
ment in the selection of graduate student
instructors, expand academic minors
and work with professors to put
coursepacks online.
Other party candidates hope to
strengthen communication between
LSA-SG and University student groups.
"I plan to increase communication
between the government and the hving-
learning communities. These groups
have specific needs that LSA-SG has
not been able to address very effectively
simply because we're not aware of
them," said current LSA-SGi Academic
Relations Officer and Blue Party candi-
date Gwen Arnold.
Arnold, a junior, has been involved in
LSA-SG since her first semester at the
University and feels that her past
accomplishments should encourage stu-
dents to re-elect her.
"I have increased the visibility and
strength of the Ethnic Studies programs
through work with administrators in
American culture, CAAS, and academic
advising, and through work with ethnic
American student groups on campus,"
Arnold said.
Michigan Party candidate Christina
Chi said she also plans to enhance inter-
action with students, but on a more per-
sonal level. "I would like to increase
communication between the students
and representatives - I want them to be
able to come talk to me. One way we
could do this is just by asking questions
or by going to the Diag sometime and
telling people who we are," she said.
Chi also said she would like to change
other aspects of student life_- including
improving the lighting in Palmer Field
and working with the Career Planning
and Placement Center to increase the
number of out of state internships.
In addition, there are also two inde-
pendent candidates, Dara Wachsman
and Matthew Heckler who are running
far LSA-SG.
In the race for College of Engineering
2002 Senior Class President, candidate
Kristin Witt, who is running unopposed,
feels her experience is her main qualifi-
cation for the office. "Through my expe-
riences in various campus organizations,
such as the Society of Women Engi-
neers and the Institute of Industrial
Engineers, I have gained valuable lead-
ership skills,"said Witt.
Engineering junior Nataphone Subsin
and Engineering junior Eric Salenski are
also running unopposed for Engineering
College positions.
There are twenty-nine candidates run-
ning for the LSA-SG and College of
Engineering elections, which will be
held on March 21 and 22.
L
Granholm restricts use of
By Whitney Elliott
Daily Sta Reporter
Known as the abortion pill and mifepristone,
RU-486 has been under wide scrutiny since it was
approved by the FDA last September. Call it what
you like, but Michigan Attorney General Jennifer
Granholm still calls it abortion.
Granholm issued her opinion Tuesday in
response to Michigan Department of Community
health Director James Hlaveman's question of
whether RU-486 constitutes as abortion.
Granholm, a Democrat, cited the Social Welfare
Act, the Parental Rights Restoration Act and the
Public health Code in determining that "the inten-
tional use of mifepristone to terminate a woman's
pregnancy for a purpose other than to increase the
probability of a live birth, to preserve the life or
health of the child after live birth, or to remove a
dead fetus, and not as a contraceptive, constitutes
an 'abortion."'
As regulated by the state, women under the
age of 18 who wish to have an abortion must
have permission of one guardian or a judge, and
they must receive information designed by the
state, including pictures of fetal development, at
least 24 hours before the abortion.
Medicaid will not cover RU-486 in its policy, as
they do not cover surgical abortion procedures.
The Ann Arbor Planned Parenthood clinic will
begin offering RU-486 sometime within the next
few weeks.
Mary Long, Director of Development for Mid-
Michigan Planned Parenthood Clinics, said
Granholm's opinion does not change the services
that Planned Parenthood will provide.
"It doesn't really change anything about provid-
ing service for our patients. All of the things we
would have normally done, we would be doing
anyway," Long said.
RU-486 pill
Students for Life President Andrew Shirvell said
he is pleased with Granholm's opinion. "We view
this as a positive change that Michigan views (RU-
486) as a form of abortion. Her ruling is correct -
it should be regulated under the same rules as a
surgical abortion,"he said. "It's very different from
other forms of contraception. The job of the pill is
to expel the fetus from the uterus"
Students for Choice President Jennifer
Anderson said Granholm's recent opinion puts
more restrictions on women and this is a curi-
ous stance for a pro-choice attorney general.
She speculated that it may have been a politi-
cal decision considering the state's Republican
governor and Legislature.
"A lot of the restrictions placed on the surgical
procedure have been put on it to restrict access,"
Anderson said. He added that her group is con-
cerned that women who live in areas in Michigan
that are not close to abortion clinics will require
in Michigan
RU-486 to be available to their private physicians
and this will limit the range of options for women.
"We're in favor of (RU-486) largely because-it
provides more options for women," Anderson said.
RU-486 blocks the hormone progesterone,
which is needed for a pregnancy to continue, and
when mifepristone is taken along with a medicine
called misoprostol, the pregnancy will end when
taken 49 days or less after the final day of a men-
strual period.
To give patients RU-486, doctors must be able to
date pregnancies, diagnose tubal pregnancies and
provide arrangements for any necessary surgery.
Long said although women obtaining RU-486
from clinics will be concretely under the same
guidelines as those who will have the surgical abor-
tion procedure, some women still see an advantage
to taking RU-486.
"Some women like the idea that they can take
the drug and then go home," Long said.
Director, actor talks
about experences
in Hollywood, TV
At the car wash
By Tovin Lapan
Daily Stall-Reporter
University alum John Rich, the award
winning director and producer of the
1970s television show "All in the Fami-
ly" said in an informal lecture yesterday
that he got his start in media as a radio
announcer for Michigan basketball.
Rich, who graduated from the Uni-
versity with a degree in English and
speech in 1948, earned $1 an hour for
his work. "My early inspiration for get-
ting into television was the need to eat
on a regular basis," he joked.
Employing his strengths from years
of experience in the television industry,
Rich turned his
speech into a "TV is hors
improvised ques-
tion and answer The influci
session with the
audience. Most of networks,
the questions
were related to and advert
Rich's involve-
ment with "All In filtered ou
The Family" and 77
the controversial Shows."
issues it tackled.
The show was
famous for its
pioneering treat-
ment of sensitive racial and ethnic
issues.
"I was never nervous because I was
convinced it would never get on the air,"
Rich said about the CBS show.
He said at the time many people
didn't understand what the show was
trying to do - create a comical and yet
critical view of how white people acted
behind closed doors.
The New York Times criticized it, but
the black press saw it for what it was, he
explained. "'All in the Family' revolu-
tionized TV as a genre in the 1970s. It
tackled issues others were afraid to
touch," said Baruk Spencer, a senior
film and video studies major.
Rich said he believes a show such as
"All In The Family" would not make it
on the air today because of advertising
influence and a fear of being controver-
sial.
"TV is horrible today. The influence
of networks, studios and advertising has
filtered out quality shows," he said.
Rich also said he believes the quality
of television programming has been
compromised by advances in technolo-
gy. In the 1970s shows were taped live
after days of rehearsal without any edit-
ing. This method allowed actors, writ-
ers, and directors to improve on scripts.
Today, editing has made rehearsals
rible today.
nce of
studios
I!..pt..
superfluous, and
deprived actors
and directors of
the opportunity to
improvise and
alter scripts, Rich
said.
Ryan Deschaw, an employee at Classy Chassis on Packard Road, cleans the rear bumper of a Cadillac SUV yesterday.
t
t
Tifln nas After working
on "All In The
quaity Family" from
1971 to 1975,
Rich went on to
-- John Rich work on several
other projects
Director and actor including "The
Twilight Zone,"
"Gilligan's Island," "Macciyver" and
"Benson" Rich recently introduced act-
ing to his resume, with recent roles in
"NY PD Blue" and "Law and Order."
Rich has been active in University
programs, and has endowed the John
Rich Professorship, which provides the
opportunity for a faculty member to
pursue a yearlong fellowship with the
Institute for the Humanities which
offers fellowships to faculty, graduate
students, and visiting scholars to work
on interdisciplinary projects. In addi-
tion to his question and answer session,
Rich will be meeting with film and
video students this week.
Uc
graphi
design .
majors
it
S
time
Are you interested in making ads
that will be seen in print as a way
to make money, gain experience,
and build a portfolio??!
Call 764.0556 ask for Susan or
. Dana for details -- or stop by the
'4i <
Correction:
University General Counsel Marvin
Krislov was misidentified on Page 7 of yesterday's Daily.
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Student
Publications
Building
and get an application from
the Production Department:
Now hiring for Fall/Winter
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