LOCAL/STATE
The Michigan Daily - Thursday, April 5, 2001
Out to lunch
Tax Policy panel debate
I
researchersfind
more protein,
less carbs lead
9!o healthy body
A diet consisting of more protein
and less carbohydrates than recom-
mended by the U.S. Department of
,Agriculture may aid people in
,keping a desirable body weight
.ad overall feeling of good health,
according to researchers at the Uni-
versity of Illinois.
_ Americans continue to consume
more calories and the number of
.cardiacdeaths among people under
34 are rising, according to nutri-
tional sciences Prof. Donald Lay-
man and the Centers for Disease
Control.
e They also announced that only 25
percent of Americans over age 18
:passed the basic physical activity
s fetommendations in the last
f ,.decade.
d ,.An his research, Layman exam-
ined the relationship between exer-
cise and nutrition patterns, which
e -balance food to help keep muscle
d mass and efficiently expend ener-
a ,,gy.
The study lasted for 10 weeks
.,,and focused on 24 middle-aged
-',, women above ideal weight who ate
it 1,700 calories per a day.
",,,r,One group of women ate 55 per-
,.nt carbs, 15 percent protein and
0 fat, as recommended by the
-,;.USDA Food Guide Pyramid.
Another ate 40 percent carbs, 30
percent protein and 30 percent fat.
- {,At the end of 10 weeks, the aver-
s ;ge weight loss for each group was
st equal, but the women who ate more
In protein lost only half the muscle
o °rmss of the group who ate accord-
- to the food pyramid.
n9
Penn State study
shows Vitamin D
-helps multiple
sclerosis patients
I h Researchers at Penn State Uni-
if versity recently conducted a study
to show that a daily dose of Vitamin
D can change the chemistry of the
e a ,lood to help multiple sclerosis
,patients.
,The dosage, which is 2.5 times
l-rger than the normal adult intake,
creates an increase in transforming
growth factor beta-1, which helps
control immune responses that pro-
duce symptoms in MS patients.
Multiple sclerosis, an autoim-
mune disease causing the person's
immune system to attack the spinal
gord and brain, affects approxi-
mately 350,000 people in the Unit-
,ed States.
-,,Factors involved in the disease
include the amount of sunlight a
'f,,person receives, which catalyzes
yitamin D production.
,,Over time, researchers hope to
1,,ee progress in clinical symptoms
,,,,of the disease because of Vitamin
U. Illinois creates
control algorithm
to help Cosmos 1
complete mission
As Cosmos 1, the Planetary Soci-
*ety's solar-sailing craft, prepares
for its first launch, researchers at
the University of Illinois have
developed a control strategy to help
hemission.
As its name implies, the craft
runs off of the power of the sun and
requires no onboard propellant for
its sails.
To maximize the sail force in its
desired direction, researchers creat-
d a control algorithm, which will
* continuously turn the sail in three
dimensions to get maximum force
from the sun.
-uThe sails, composed of light-
weight, aluminized mylar, are
divided into 8 triangle blades,
which will be tested this month in a
"ort flight.
The first official launch of the
solar-sail craft is set for this fall.
- Compiled by Daily Staff
Reporter Lisa Hoffman
Bush's proposed tax cut
By Chis White
For the Daily
DAVID KATZ/Daily
Visiting sociology professor Markku Kivinen and second year Law student Jeff
Kahn enjoy the sun at Dominick's restaurant yesterday afternoon.
web sites CriticiZed
One of the most controversial aspects of President Bush's
short time in office has been his tax proposal. The effects of
this proposal, a $1.6 trillion tax cut, were discussed yesterday at
a public forum sponsored by the University Office of Tax Poli-
cy Research.
The event was part of OTPR's "y2e" series, which is
focusing on the economic effects of last November's
presidential election, specifically the proposed tax reduc-
tion.
University Business and economics Prof. Joel Slemrod said
the "original tax plan was not designed for short-term stimu-
lus" of the economy.
Slemrod said it was a "tax cut for all reasons," citing the fact
that Bush proposed the cut in December 1999 when the econo-
my was booming.
However, both Slemrod and Business Prof. James Hines
agreed that a cut in the marginal tax rates would be the best
choice for the economy.
"The effective way to fight recession is through monetary
policy," Hines said. "The most efficient tax cut is one that low-
ers marginal rates."
Doron Levin, a Detroit Free Press columnist who also took
part in the forum, added that the situation is mainly political.
"The Republican idea is to flatten tax rates altogether," Levin
said.
"Bush wants a smaller government," Hines said.
Also arising in the discussion was the question of fair taxes.
The Bush plan gives the same proportional amount of money
back to all taxpayers, regardless of income.
The panel agreed that the idea seemed fair. Hines said the
"It's pretty even across the
board. The lower brackets ge
the bigger break."'
-Tim G
LSA
it
r
s
top 6 percent of the population pays 50 percent of the taxes.
The tax plan is a "shrinking of the tax burden," Slenijd
said, adding that progressive taxes are mainly a political iic
and not an economic one.
"We are overtaxed," Hines said.
Slemrod indicated that the issue was unclear. He said be
plan depends on what services citizens were getting in return
Should the plan be passed, the panel members agredi
effects would be felt far into the future.
"There are going to be ramifications over time," Slemnid
said, indicating that programs such as Social Security4 1"i
Medicare may be in jeopardy.
Although the tax cut may stimulate the economy in the sIrt
run, it "doesn't mean that you'll get as much revenue as; >u
lose," Hines said.
Students in the audience stood on both sides of the issued
"It's pretty even across the board," said LSA senior Tim (4v-
gotis. "The lower brackets get a bigger break."
"I'm for the tax cut," Grygotis said. :r
But other students were not as convinced. "I'm still a lile
bit weary," said LSA senior Rick Bush. He also added that '
forum raised "more questions" for him regarding the pote al
tax break.
ygctfIs
serrio:'
I
"' ' 4N
By Jen Fish
Daily Staff Reporter
A critic of Nike asked the Federal
Trade Commission yesterday to investi-
gate websites maintained by the Univer-
sity of Michigan, ESPN, Nike and the
University of Oregon.
Jeff Ballinger, director of Press for
Change Inc., claims the sites are in viola-
tion of federal statutes which require that
clothing labels display what fabrics are
used in the clothing and the name of the
country in which the clothing was manu-
factured.
The University site listed in
Ballinger's complaint to the,FTC is M-
Den, the "official on-campus retailer,"
said Director of Trademark Licensing
Kristen Ablauf.
While M-Den does have a store inside
Michigan Stadium, Ablauf said the com-
pany is a separate entity from the Uni-
versity. "They maintain the site. All
transactions and updates would go
through M-Den," she said.
University spokeswoman Julie Peter-
son and General Counsel Marvin
Krislov said Ballinger's complaint would
be fully investigated.
"The University is very serious about
disclosure," Peterson said. She added
that every University licensee, including
Nike, is obligated to fully disclose facto-
ry names and locations where University
'Mad cow
apparel is manufactured.
Ballinger admitted that the regulations
- the Textile Fiber Products Identifica-
tion Act and the Wool Products Labeling
Act - he cited in his letter to the FTC
are not very well known but compliance
with them would be fairly simple.
To comply, he said, the websites
would simply have to list whether each
product displayed is "made in the USA;'
"imported" or both.
But more importantly, Ballinger said,
compliance with this act could be the
start of providing more information to
consumers. "Consumers have less infor-
mation about how clothing is produced
and how it's made," he said. "We ought
to reverse this trend.
Ballinger also said he believed Nike
was willfully disobeying the law in this
matter. "They should know the regula-
tions," he said, adding that Nike has 95
staff members for corporate responsi-
bility whose jobs it is to know these
kinds of laws.
Members of Students Organizing for
Labor and Economic Equality agreed
with Ballinger and said they hope the
University will take immediate steps to
comply with the federal statutes.
"This is about empowering consumers
and not taking away their right to know
where products are made," said SOLE
member Peter Romer-Friedman, an RC
senior.
doesn't
ig ! 1 Tii !II , i(U0 TI I i ~1~universityj
S itim 1 "aS10p~rStBteu
$10 Rush Tickets on sale 10 am - 6 pm the day of the performance or the Friday
before a weekend event at the UMS Box Office located in the Power Center, 121
Fletcher Street.
50% Rush Tickets on sale beginning 90 minutes before the event
at the Performance Hall Box Office.
4W 'v
p
a
764.2538 , .
A valid student ID is required. Lin-it two tickets per student, per-
event. Rush Tickets are not offered if an event is sold out and
seating is subject to availability and box office discretion.
I
concern students
-f
By Kelly Trahan
Daily Staff Reporter
LSA freshman Amy Lifshitz isn't con-
cerned about the "comeback" of mad
cow disease,'the potentially fatal brain
infection that can be transferred from
livestock to humans.
"I never worry about those diseases.
To be honest, I don't even really know
what it is," Lifshitz said.
Like Lifshitz, Business School senior
Mark Worth feels comfortable eating
meat products. "We don't need to worry
about that here in the United States.
Most of the cases seem to be confined to
Europe,' he said.
The disease has been reported recent-
ly throughout Europe and warning signs
are surfacing in the United States and
public concern is growing. "We have had
an enormous amount of questions about
mad cow disease lately," said Sarah Lins-
meir, a spokeswoman for the Michigan
Department of Agriculture.
Mad cow is one of a group of fatal
brain diseases that poke holes in the
brain so it resembles a sponge. The dis-
ease was first discovered in sheep, but
now cows, people, elk, deer, mink, rats,
mice, hamsters and possibly monkeys
can contract various types of the disease.
"Michigan has 225 livestock feed
manufacturers, Linsmeir said.
"We have inspected all of them at
least once, many two or three times, and
we continue to do so," she said. "We are
confident that if we adhere to all of these
strategies United States and Michigan
cattle will remain free of mad cow dis-
ease.
Scientists have evidence people can
get Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease from eating
mad cows, a brain disorder which leads
to a quick and gruesome death and has
symptoms similar to Alzheimers Disease.
The disease is contracted when cows
are given feed containing cattle by-prod-
ucts not suitable for consumption by
humans. Until a few years ago, the prac-
tice was standard procedure in the Unit-
ed States. The feed caused a mad cow
disease epidemic about a decade ago in
Great Britain, where more than 80 peo-
ple died from tainted meat.
In late January, this feeding procedure
occurred in a Texas feeding mill. More
than 12,000 cows were fed parts of
slaughtered cattle and were in danger of
transmitting the disease. Upon intense
investigation, the FDA determined that
the cows could have only consumed a
negligible amount of cow byproducts,
posing very little threat to the American
public. Purina Mills Inc., the owner of
the mill, voluntarily bought all of the cat-
tle that ate the infected feed and removed
them from the human food chain.
a
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