LOCAL/STATE

The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, February 12, 2002 - 3

RRIE
Phone calls lead
to physical fight
There was a civil dispute at the
Taubman Health Care Center Friday
morning, Department of Public Safety
reports state. The dispute was regard-
ing phone threats between a woman
and the girlfriend of her ex-husband.
Officer attacked
after giving MIP
A female was arrested for a minor in
possession of alcohol offense Sunday
morning, according to DPS Reports.
While officers were processing her at
Campus Safety Services, the subject
assaulted one of the officers. The subject
was taken to the Juvenile Detention Cen-
ter
Northwood resident
breaks toilet top
A "resident of the Northwood Apart-
ments reported Sunday morning that
they dropped and broke the top to their
toilet bowl, DPS reports state.
Person backs into
vehicle, calls DPS
A person called in to DPS Saturday
night reporting that she had backed
into another vehicle in the University
Hospital parking structure on Saturday,
according to DPS reports. She did not
realize it caused damage to her vehicle
until she got home. She stated that she
looked at her vehicle and noticed a few
scratches on her bumper and then left
because she was in a hurry. She said
she did not remember what kind of
vehicle she had backed into.
Beam injures man
after hitting head
A person was struck in the head with
a steel construction beam at the Palmer
Drive Development Friday morning,
DPS reports state. The victim later stat-
ed he was fitting a beam and it fell on
his head. Although he did not lose con-
sciousness, he was transported to the
University Hospital Emergency Room.
He was treated for cuts to the forehead
above the left eye.
Sword sighting in
Angell Hall scares
facility patrons
A caller reported that there was a
male in the computing site of Angell
Hall with a samurai sword Friday after-
noon, DPS reports state. The caller said
that no threats were made against any-
body. The owner of the sword later
claimed to have been carrying it to use
as a teaching aid in his Spanish class.
Markley handicap
sign stolen; thief
charged, arrested
A person was observed by a DPS offi-
cer early Saturday running with a stolen
handicap parking sign and pole from
Mary Markley Residence Hall, accord-
ing to DPS reports. The person was
arrested for the stolen property and a
minor in possession of alcohol offense.
Fireworks heard
near Couzens, no

suspect located
A caller reported hearing the sound
of fireworks somewhere in Couzens
Residence Hall Saturday morning, DPS
reports state. The suspects were not
located, although fireworks residue was.
Unknown driver
hit car in October
A caller reported Thursday after-
noon that her vehicle was struck by an
unknown vehicle some time in Oct.
2001, according to DPS Reports.
Weed confiscated
by officer in Lloyd
An officer found a person smoking
marijuana in Alice Lloyd Residence Hall
near the 6500 corridor of Palmer house
Sunday night, DPS reports state. The
officer seized the marijuana and ques-
tioned the offender.
-Compiled by Daily Staff Reporter
Jeremy Berkowitz.


Urich gives
winnings to

'

cancer

Patrick Brown, manager of the College Shoe Repair and Hockey Equipment on East William Street, sharpens an ice skate yesterday.
Former U.S. ambassador to
China speaks Of improvements

fa ciiie
By Mica Doctoroff
For the Daily
In an appearance on last evening's episode of the popu-
lar television show, "Who Wants to be a Millionaire," actor
Robert Urich won $125,000, all of which he plans to
donate to the University Comprehensive Cancer Center's
sarcoma fund.
Urich, ahsarcoma cancer survivor,
fowes his health to the treatment he
received at the University Hospital
more than two years ago.
Upon recovery,sUrich and his wife
founded the Heather and Robert Urich
Fund for Sarcoma Research, a sector of
the already established University Can-
cer Center.
"My vision is a world where the
word 'cancer' is a battle we have won,"
Urich said in a written statement.
Urich's appearance on the show helped to bring aware-
ness and support to a disease which many people know lit-
tle about.
"Urich is an avid spokesperson for people with Sarco-
ma," said Laurence Baker, co-director of the University's
Connective Tissue Oncology Program.
The reputation of the center, including its state of the art
treatment and research facilities, factored into Urich's ini-
tial decision to seek help in Ann Arbor.
"Basically, you find the best place and go to it and (the
University) is one of the best," said Kara Gavin, University
Medical Health System media spokesperson.
Sarcoma is an extremely rare form of cancer that consti-
tutes close to 30 different diseases that affect connective
tissues such as muscle, bone, cartilage and fat. "Out of
every 100,000 people in the U.S., 5,000 of them have can-
cer and of these 5,000 people only two or three have sarco-
ma," Gavin said.
The University has built up a team of specialists in vari-
ous medical disciplines who are committed to finding a
cure for cancer, while simultaneously helping relieve
patients who are suffering already.
Baker said the money Urich is donating "is earmarked
for furthering our knowledge of sarcoma and specifical-
ly how to make the lives of people with sarcoma bet-
ter."
Unlike many cancers, sarcoma threatens the lives of
children and newborns as well as adults.
Every year, more than 5,000 people die from sarcoma
while more than 11,000 cases are discovered.
"I don't really know why he wanted to donate the
money," Baker said of Urich, "but I am delighted he did."

By Soojung Chang
and Daniel Kim
Daily Staff Reporters

Admiral Joseph Prueher spent most of his
naval military years "trying to figure out the
most efficient way of blowing things up"
before he became the U.S. ambassador to
China in '99. Last night, he came to the Busi-
ness School to offer solutions to a better rela-
tionship between the U.S. and China.
In a lecture, titled "Easy With It: U.S. -
China Relations in the New Millennium,"
Prueher argued for "a high level and regular
dialogues ... between the high level officials
of the two countries" because better commu-
nication would lead to better understanding.
"China has had a government that tries to
protect the core of the government from the
masses of people," Prueher said. "On the other
hand, the U.S. is made up of immigrants and
people who fled persecutions to protect individ-
uals from the intrusion of the government."

Both nations must overcome these differ-
ences and search for common interest instead.
Prueher said an average American and an
ordinary Chinese citizen share many similari-
ties - "sense of humor, respect for authority
and love for family"- and government lead-
ers too can find common interests and goals,
when they achieve "a high level of trust."
The three major categories of common
interest that he has found in his career as a
diplomat are regional security of Far East
and South East Asia, global concern such
as sea pollution and transnational terror-
ism, and world institutions, including the
United Nations and The World Health
Organization.
Prueher said China, which has had the
"greatest sustaining (economic) growth for
the last 20 years," faces an internal conflict
between its communist ideologies that has
shaped much of the nation since 1978 and its
current effort to open up economically to the
rest of the world.

China's leaders are trying to figure out how
to have "tight political control while opening
up its economy," he added.
Political Science prof. Kenneth Lieberthal
said the admiral gave a convincing argument
"that the U.S. and China are at a stage where,
first, they need to communicate more effec-
tively, to seek more understanding, and to
seek more mutual trust."
Before working as the U.S. ambassador to
China from 1999 to 2001, Prueher had a 35-
year military career in the US Navy. His
duties included commander-in-chief of the
U.S Pacific Command and commander of the
U.S. Mediterranean Sixth Fleet.
Sponsored by the Department of Asian
Languages and Cultures, Prueher's inau-
gural lecture was part of the Philip
Thomas Lincoln, Jr. Memorial Lecture
which recognizes University alum Philip
Lincoln who worked as a U.S. diplomat
for over 30 years in Far East Asia before
he died in 1996.


New website aims to
inform customers on
drug complications

By Kay Bhagat
Daily Staff Reporter

Pharmacist Michael Witt said he
approached the College of Pharma-
cy 18 months ago to organize a bet-
ter system to inform patients about
the possible complications with
their prescriptions. As president of
the vCure Company, Witt created a
website with reliable information on
specific drugs and diseases.
The urgency for such a website
increased when patients started
using the internet to receive unveri-
fiable and not particularly correct
information about their prescrip-
tions, he said.
Witt said the University was cho-
sen as the main source of informa-
tion for the website,
www.vCure.com - due to its excep-
tional research and medical reputa-
tion.
"The University's clinical phar-
macy program is superb, very high
quality, talented people and experts
on common drugs," he said.
Pharmacy Prof. Sally Guthrie said
she was asked to contribute to the
site more than a year ago, and was
able to incorporate her own area of
expertise and what she teaches in
her classes into the site.
"People do not get as much infor-
mation from their physicians as they
like to have, depending on the
amount of time they have to spend.
vCure is meant to act as a supple-

ment," Guthrie said.
The vCure website pertains
specifically to patients who are self-
motivated to learn more about their
diseases and medications, said Phar-
macy Prof. Jim Stevenson.
"It is a niche for additional infor-
mation. The target audience is edu-
cated consumers," he said. "I think
that the faculty feels good that this
is a positive effort, trying to recreate
high quality for patients."
As more specialists collaborate to
enrich the website, vCure.com
founders view this project is contin-
uing to grow and to develop.
Witt said the project took about
one year to create its first 15,000
pages of drug and disease informa-
tion.
"It already has 400 medicines,
and we will soon add another hun-
dred. We are updating regularly as
drugs improve and change," Witt
said.
Since the launching of this web-
site, about 20,000 patients a month
visit vCure from over 40 different
countries, due to its profound use of
drug information, Witt added.
This particular website greatly
contrasts from other medical drug
and diseases sources.
"It is unique in its quality. Most
of the other medical websites will
use brief or way too technical writ-
ings. This, is tailored to most
patients' basic understanding," Witt
said.

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