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. ,£ 1 t 0 t .' L Student Publications Building and get an application from the Production Department: Now hiring for Fall/Winter T THE CALENDAR i WhaIIt'c kannnning in Ann Arbor tod~zav WV uuca to i AIPPR71111jE *I 11 PSIII PSIOJUlLU3A) 1