LOCAL/STATE
The Michigan Daily - Thursday, November 29, 2001- 3A
RESEARCH
Material lessens
sweat of athletes
Athletic clothes may feel drier after
working out because of new fiber
within the fabric and a new film-cov-
ering, according to researchers at
Clemson University.
The Capillary Channel Film and
Fiber Technology, which was donated
to the school by Proctor and Gamble,
uses new micro-capillary grooves
within the clothing material for better
sweat absorption.
The grooves may also be applied to
other products like those used for
feminine hygiene, adult incontinence
and baby diapers.
Researchers said the grooves may
also trap foreign particles within air-
filtration systems and may be helpful
in the delivery of antibiotics through
bandages on wounds.
Emotional section
of brain makes
rational decisions
Though emotional times do not
always lend themselves to rational
decisions, a researcher at the Univer-
sity of Washington said it is the emo-
tional section of the brain that makes
these types of choices.
Each time a person makes a deci-
sion, he or she needs to feel the possi-
ble emotional outcomes of each
choice, according to a recent press
release. The person will eventually
chose the path that yields the most
positive feeling.
Dean Shibata, assistant professor of
radiology at Washington, originally
conducted the study at the University
of Rochester.
Shibata examined the neurological
response of 11 people to a series of per-
sonal and impersonal questions using
functional magnetic resonance imag-
ing. He found that the answers to the
two different types of questions were
elicited from two completely different
areas of the brain, both linked to emo-
tion.
Internal elections held for MSA
committee, commission chairs
By Kara Wenzel
Daily Staff Reporter
The Michigan Student Assembly held
internal elections for committee and com-
mission chairs of the new assembly at
Tuesday night's meeting. These positions,
MSA Vice President Jessica Cash said, "do
the things that make up the real work of the
assembly."
The groups have responsibilities ranging
from funding student groups and lobbying
administrators to working on fall break and
Wolverine Access issues. Any student is
eligible to join an MSA committee or com-
mission. But only elected MSA representa-
tives are eligible to become committee
chairs.
During the committee and commission
elections, candidates were required to
explain their qualifications for the chair
and goals for the upcoming semester.
"I want to establish more of a student
presence lobbying in Lansing and play
more of a role in city of Ann Arbor issues,"
said LSA Rep. Zach Slates, External Rela-
tions Committee chair.
The Budget Priorities Committee has the
responsibility of reviewing applications for
student group funding and allocating those
funds to student groups.
"We can change BPC and make funding
more efficient - rolling funding, either
weekly, monthly or twice a semester is
something I've been looking into and want
to work on," BPC Chair David Goldman
said.
Some candidates expressed concern that
other representatives were choosing com-
mission chairs for political reasons over
the candidates' levels of experience.
"I lost to a guy who's not on our e-mail
list and who's never been to a meeting,"
said former Student Rights Co-Chair Rob
Goodspeed, who lost his position to Chris
Sheehan. "I haven't done anything espe-
cially controversial, so I have an idea it
has something to do with party politics."
Some assembly members said they
thought the Peace and Justice Commission
chairmanship was similarly awarded.
"Agnes (Aleobua) and I are massively
overqualified for this position," said Rack-
ham Rep. Jessica Curtin. a Peace and Jus-
tice co-chair candidate.
"People should vote for the people who
will actually do something for student
activists ... and not hold meetings at 2:30
a.m. on Fridays behind Rick's," co-candi-
date Aleobua said, referring to Peace and
Justice Co-Chair TJ Wharry's joking
announcement during a previous meeting
that he held a committee meeting in an
alley behind a bar.
Cash and MSA President Matt Nolan
agree that MSA representatives should
leave party politics behind them when they
walk through the door to MSA.
"I emphasized looking for the best per-
son for the job ... and I think the assembly
did a good job choosing experienced and
competent people," Cash said.
"I've heard rumors of reps forming
coalitions to stand together against other
factions of MSA - and that's ridiculous,"
Nolan said. "MSA should examine things
issue by issue, not by who's bringing the
issue to the table."
Ribbon campaign condemns
violent acts against women
By Karen Schwartz
Daily Staff Reporter
Today marks the start of the third
annual White Ribbon Campaign on
campus, a week of events designed to
raise awareness about and discourage
violence against women.
Men will be handing out white rib-
bons on the Diag throughout the week
as well, and a vigil is planned for next
Wednesday night.
Featured events also include a teach-
in on sexual assault, sponsored by the
University's Sexual Assault Prevention
and Awareness Center, and a film that
looks at the role of violence in today's
media.
"Wearing a white ribbon is a simple
way to take a stand and tell other men
around you that you don't support vio-
lent behavior or violence towards
women," said Rackham student Gary
Brouhard.
As a member of Men Against Vio-
lence Against Women, the student
group that sponsors the local White
Ribbon Campaign, Brouhard said he
recognizes the need for change and
improvement in society as far as vio-
lence towards women is concerned.
"Men are going to have to come out
and stand up and say that this is not
something we tolerate,' he said. "If we
want to get those men who are the vast
majority of perpetrators of violence
against women to stop or have a society
in which these men are prevented in
being violent, it's going to take other
men working on that problem as well."
He added that men have a vested
interest in getting involved. "Every man
has a women in his life that he wants to
be safe. ... If you want the world to be
safe for her you have to work to make
the world safe for women everywhere,
because as long as some women are
potential victims, all women are,"
Brouhard said. "Every man has a
woman out there he should be taking up
this cause for."
Rackham student Joe Mikels said he's
involved in the campaign because he
recognizes the pressing need to address
the issue. He said that after having
female friends share incidents from their
pasts with him he realized how common
of an occurrence violence is and how
many people it really affects.
"If I want to be a good friend to these
women then I need to take a stance on
the issue and fight for them, and consid-
"Every man has a
woman in his life he
wants to be safe.."
- Gary Brouhard
Rackham student
er how in my own actions and behavior
things need to change; he said.
Mikels also said he'd like to see more
men getting involved in addition to a
raised awareness in the community and
in the minds of men about the issue.
He added that Men Against Violence
Against Women sponsors workshops
and talks designed to raise awareness
year round, and that he hopes this week
will serve as a springboard to get more
people involved.
"This issue needs to be addressed and
it needs to be addressed this week," he
said.
The White Ribbon Campaign is an
international organization that has been
spreading the initiative around the world
since 1991, using the white ribbon to
signal opposition to violence against
women.
Device warns of
poor air quality
A new bracelet-sized device created
by engineers at Washington Universi-
ty in St. Louis may warn people of
poor air quality surrounding them.
The device, called the Nanometer
Differential Mobility Analyzer, was
designed by mechanical engineer Da-
Ran Chen, who recently received a
U.S. patent on a larger devise with the
same purpose.
Rather than just recording larger air
contaminants, Chen's device also picks
up smaller air particle, or aerosols,
which are only nanometers in size.
These seem to be the most dangerous
to the health of people because they are
invisible to the naked eye, according to
a recent press release.
To increase the effectiveness of his
device, Chen created a machine that
charges each of the nanoparticles.
This device charges 40 percent of par-
ticles in the 3 nanomater range and
100 percent of those in the seven
meter range.
Study finds sleep
apnea is more
common in males
The causes of sleep apnea, a com-
mon disorder, may be highly affected
by gender hormones, according to
researchers at the University of Wis-
consin-Madison's School of Veteri-
nary Medicine.
Sleep apnea affects 18 million
Americans, mainly middle-aged men,
and is typically characterized by the
tongue blocking the airway during
sleep. This causes the supply of oxy-
gen to the body to decrease, a situa-
tion also known as hypoxia.
By monitoring the response of rats
of both sexes to oxygen deprivation,
research scientists found that the
responses of each gender greatly dif-
fered.
In a previous study, younger gener-
ations of male rats increased the depth
and frequency of their breaths in
response to hypoxia, whereas older
males didn't compensate as much.
Older female rats also compensated
for the oxygen depravation to protect
themselves.
- Compiled by Daily Staff Reporter
Lisa Hoffman.
Exchange student Tom Zhuwau speaks yesterday to a group of students about
the AIDS epidemic in South Africa.
Lecture: Ignorance,
poverty help AIDS
spr*te-ad in S Africa
By Jeremy Berkowitz
Daily Staff Reporter
In an effort to draw attention to the
effects AIDS has on blacks, the Center
for Afro-American Studies sponsored
a lecture yesterday titled, "The Crisis
of HIV/AIDS in South Africa and the
United States."
"Among people of color, it has been
such a devastating topic, people can't
ignore it. CAAS wants to be at the
forefront, keeping them aware and
safe," said CAAS Program Manager
Elizabeth Ann James.
Tom Zhuwau, an exchange student
from the University of Natal in
South Africa who has done field-
based research on HIV in Africa,
talked about the rampant sickness
and death in Africa due to HIV, most
notably in the southern part of the
continent.
Every country in southern Africa
has more than 20 percent of their pop-
ulation infected with HIV, Zhuwau
said, noting tests done in Francistown,
Botswana, last year where it was dis-
covered that approximately one out of
every two women in that town was
infected with HIV
Zhuwau said he believes the biggest
reason that so many people are getting
sick is that when one person gets
infected, they do not often see symp-
toms for as long as five to 10 years. As
a result, no precautions are taken and
they continue to spread the disease,
never having been tested.
"HIV is a silent epidemic," said
Zhuwau.
In South Africa, Zhuwau said, when
the HIV epidemic began to grow
rapidly in the early 1990s, it was
ignored by most people who were
more concerned with the dismantling
of Apartheid and the creation of a
democratic government.
He added that the HIV epidemic is
exacerbated by the poverty and vio-
lence that goes on in South Africa.
"Sex is not an expression of love. It
is an expression of empowering the
woman. This enhances HIV," Zhuwau
said.
He said he believes the best way to
combat AIDS is to make more people
aware of the fact that thousands of
people are dying in Africa from the
disease.
Public Health student Leseliey
Welch, who has worked at the
HIV/AIDS Resource Center in Ypsi-
lanti as well as volunteered her time at
the King Edward's Hospital in South
Africa, talked about the problems of
HIV in the United States, primarily
among blacks.
Blacks make up 12 to 13 percent of
the U.S. population, yet account for
approximately 30 percent of HIV
cases each year. But, Welch said there
has been some resistance, especially in
Michigan, to such prevention pro-
grams as condom distribution and nee-
dle exchange centers.
Welch said that when she visited a
middle school she wasn't allowed to
talk to students about some topics.
"I was not allowed to open a con-
dom, or talk to them about certain
things," she recalled.
Welch said that since the schools
have been reluctant to give the type of
HIV education she feels is necessary,
a grassroots campaign is needed
among the community in order to
make people aware that while some
prevention practices are controversial,
they are necessary to fighting HIV
THE CALENDAR
What's happening in Ann Arbor today
EVENTS
"Five Stories of the
Muroji Pagoda"; Spon-
sored by the University
First Presbyterian
Church social hall, 1432
Washtenaw
"Multi-Media Discourse:
The Ideas of a Fourth
Wnv Crhnn ""7.f-n - R-o
sored by the University
School of Art and Design,
5:30 - 7:30 p.m., Art and
Architecture Robbins
Center, 2000 Sonisteel,
Nnrr~vkf.,imi
SERVICES
Campus Information
Centers, 764-INFO,
info@umich. edu, or
www. umich.edu/'-info
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