NEWS The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, November 23, 2004 - 3 ON CAMPUS 'U' Musical Society hosts Canadian soprano The University Musical Society will be hosting a performance by Measha Brueggergosman as part of its Ninth Annual Song Series. Brueggergosman is an award-winning concert soprano originally from Canada. The event will be at the Lydia Men- delssohn Theater, and tickets are $25 to $35. The performance will begin at 8 p.m. Art program holds craft activities for upcoming holidays The University Unions Arts & Programs will hold Artbreaks in cel- ebration of Thanksgiving and Christ- mas. Supplies will be provided and admission is free. Participants will make Native American felt pouches in celebration of Thanksgiving in the lobby of Bursley Hall from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. today. Students can also make Christmas crafts in the Michigan Union tonight from 7 to 11 p.m. Materials to make Christmas ornaments will be provided. Billiards room in Union will hold poker tournament A Texas Hold 'Em Tournament will be held in the Billiards Room of the Michigan Union tonight at 6 p.m. The first 100 players to arrive will be allowed to play. Admission is free. CRIME NOTES Swearing box- wearers leave before DPS arrives The Department of Public Safety sent an officer to investigate reports that three individuals were screaming profanities at pedestrians on the Diag Sunday evening. The shouting people were alleg- edly wearing boxes. DPS was unable to locate any problem. Items stolen through broken car window A CD player and other items were stolen from a vehicle parked in the parking structure on Church Street Sunday morning, according to the DPS crime log. The thief or thieves broke a car window to gain entrance into the vehicle. DPS currently has no suspects. Backpack robbery leads to police call A caller informed DPS on Sunday afternoon that her bag was stolen from the gallery area of the Pierpont Com- mons after she left the bag unattended. DPS has no suspects or witnesses. THIS DAY In Daily History Controversial rabbi addresses students November 23, 1982 - Amid contro- versy and death threats for his support- ers, Rabbi Meir Kahane spoke to a group of students at the Michigan League. The rabbi's lecture, calling out Jewish leaders for being chosen for their money and not their piety, and the dangerous sit- uation surrounding it, caused the Univer- sity Activities Center to cancel the event and to move to the League. Kahane expressed disappointment w that his lecture had been cancelled, Robots By Karl Stampfl Daily Staff Reporter Sushi-making robots, playmate rob wombs, sex robots and babysitting r are either already on the market or b oped in Japan. "Robots have become incorporated it to an unprecedented degree in Japan," a Prof. Jennifer Robertson said in a speec at the School of Social Work. Robertsor Japan and the country is the focus of he The lecture, titled "Robots and Re The Eugenics of Japanese Modernit with a PowerPoint slide of a human golden robotic hand. Robertson de advancement of robotic technology in also pointed out social implications. "Robots are expected to be in the2 what automobiles were in the 20th cen ertson said. Other countries, including the Un are also researching robots at places li 1in integrated in sachusetts Institute of Technology. In most coun- tries where robots are manufactured and designed, human-like models are not considered particularly ots, robotic efficient, Robertson said. obots - all Japanese robots - which make up more than eing devel- 50 percent of the world's share of robots - are different. Japanese robot models tend to resemble nto daily life humans in their design. nthropology "The Japanese think: Why build an electrical ch yesterday factory to accommodate wheeled robots when you n grew up in can make a humanoid robot?" Robertson said. r research. In the United States, the military is involved in production: robotics, while in Japan, private enterprises such ty," opened as Sony and Honda lead the way, with the help of shaking a government money. scribed the Robertson said the Japanese look at robots as a Japan, but way of thrusting themselves into the international business scene. The Japanese economy is looking 21st century to robots to fill the gaps of a depleted labor force atury," Rob- and overall population shortage. "They're trying to come up with something that ited States, will propel Japan onto the world stage in the 21st ke the Mas- century," she said. 1 to Japanes4 Robots are not seen as a threat to society in Japan, Robertson said. Japanese manufacturers maintain that they're not scared of spread of robots in their society, while in the United States the entertainment industry portrays robots as evil and intent on tak- ing over the world in movies such as "I, Robot," Roberston said. The Japanese have been interested in robots since the 18th century, when they invented Kara- kuri, a mechanical wind-up man who carried tea to tables, Robertson said. "Robots are often perceived in the West as evil, zombie-like," Robertson said. "But robots in Japan are perceived as living things because they think of nature differently there. The concept of playing God is not considered." Robertson cited Tamagotchi, the keychain toy released in 1996, as an example of human-robot- ic interaction. The toy, which gained widespread popularity in Japan and the United States, required users to constantly care for their Tamagotchis, or they would die. e daily life "Robots in Japan are perceived as living things because they think of nature differently there." - Anthropology Prof. Jennifer Robertson Currently, Japanese companies are marketing robots in the entertainment realm. Sony has gotten positive feedback about its robotic dog. Users2ike it because they don't have to take it out, it doesn't eat and they can turn it off when they want to, Rob- ertson said. "(Robot research) can be looked at as posi- tive," said LSA sophomore James Sobczak,. Who attended the event. "But people who can develop this technology need to be very cautious of social implications. You need to put it in a historical perspective." Airports push for healthier options ROMULUS (AP) - For many who travel for the holidays, the eating begins at the airport. It's always been easy to find high- calorie, fat-filled and fried food. But at Detroit Metropolitan Airport and a growing number of airports nationwide, more options for the health-conscious are on the menu. It was a pilot's complaint that helped launch the improvement in Detroit. Now "Heart Smart" options marked with a red logo are on many menus iiVWhen I'n - and a recent survey shows the airport, tt airport continues to make strides in thing I w healthy offerings. "When I'm at cheesebui an airport, the last thing I want is a- cheeseburger," said - Ani Anthony Struzzie- I ro, who grabbed a chicken breast sandwich during a recent layover. He decided to eat at Mediterra- nean Grill after spotting healthy options on its menu. Struzziero, 18, of Portland, Maine, was on his way to Phoenix to visit a friend and said healthy options like those at Mediterranean Grill are some- thing he's seeing more often at other airports too. "A lot more have sandwich shops and healthy food places," he said. "I think a lot of places are trying to get away from fast food." Last year a pilot looking for healthy food stopped in to see the Detroit air- port's chief executive Lester Robinson, who has made improving food options a top priority. Soon after, the airport formed a part- nership with a Detroit-based network of hospitals and clinics, the Henry Ford Health System. The network's experts evaluated the menus of 13 restaurants at its McNamara Terminal, one of North- west Airlines' nationwide hubs. Besides making "Heart Smart" desig- nations, the health experts worked with n1 hl ai q1 restaurants on improving their food. Now more of the estimated 50 airport restaurants are getting items certified as heart-healthy. Mediterranean Grill's list of healthy offerings include tabbouleh, vegetar- ian grape leaves and chicken stir fry. Administrative manager Ric Frievalt said one of his changes was to bake falafel instead of deep-frying it so it would qualify as "Heart Smart." "It's something that travelers at many airports haven't seen," Frievalt said at an of the program. .e last "We think about it only for nt is a travelers, but you also have people ger. who work there," said Darlene Zim- merman, a regis- tony Struzziero tered dietitian at irline passenger Henry Ford. Recently, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, which promotes vegetarian diets, cited Detroit's airport as No. 2 in offering healthy vegetarian fare among 12 of the busiest airports. The group said 83 percent of restaurants offer such food. Claiming the top spot was Miami International Airport with 85 percent of restaurants offering food low in fat, choles- terol-free and high in fiber. Trulie Anker- berg-Nobis, clinical research coordinator for the Physicians Committee, said the rankings come as airline passengers look for more carry-on food options. "More restaurants are stepping up to the plate ... because fewer people are getting that on board," Ankerberg- Nobis said. "They have to take it from home or they are going to buy it from the airport themselves." The rankings are based on the per- centage of restaurants offering at least one entree that fits the requirements. Although airport food is getting health- ier, the Physicians Committee said 36 percent of airport restaurants surveyed still don't offer one qualifying entree. MARTIN VLOET/University of Michigan Photo Services Bill and Dee Brehm donated $44 million to the University of Michigan Health System yesterday for research that focuses on Type 1 diabetes. Bill Brehm Is a University alum and former assistance secretary of defense, and Dee Brehm was treated as a patient at the University Hospital. The gift is the largest ever given to UMHS. DONATION Continued from page 1 The gift is one of several donations the University has received for medical research recently. "We think that we're getting this support because we have a wonderful environment to conduct science," said Allen Lichter, dean of the Medical School. "We have a critical mass of outstanding faculty, great students and top-flight facilities to make advances. Donors and others who support us feel confident in our ability to make a difference." In addition to the construction of a new research center, the money will be used to create eight new faculty positions devoted to Type l research. Current faculty at the University and people from outside the school will be employed. The new lab will focus on using multidisciplinary techniques and collaboration between different types of scientiststo research for a cure. "There will not just be endocrinologists working there, but also neurologists, cardiologists, information scientists and others," Bill Brehm said. "All of these are important because it is such a broad disease. This kind of science is vital to collaboration and sharing information from person to person and institution to institution." The use of information science is one especially unique aspect .about the new program. Information science uses computer systems to pass information back and forth between scientists and organizations. "So if someone in a lab at Michigan suddenly discovers something, they can share that immediately. It can go around the world, and someone who is working in a similar area can get it and accelerate their search," Bill Brehm said. New visa program allows hiring more foreign workers THIS IS A PAID ADVERTISEMENT ISRAE IS TH CANARY IN THE MINE The war between Arabs and Jews is not the cause of the war on terror as apologists for Muslim radicals claim; it is the war on terror. Twenty-five years ago, there were two non-Islamic democracies in the Arab Middle East, Israel and Lebanon. This was too much for Islamic radicals and Syrian: irredentists and Palestinians who joined forces to destroy Lebanon and make it a bash for terror. The goal of the post-Oslo Intifada is not to establish a Palestinian state alongside a. Jewish state. Its goal is an Islamic umma extending "from the Jordan to the sea." That is why Oslo was rejected by Arafat even though Barak and Clinton offered him an: independent state on virtually all of the land Palestinians claimed in the West Bank of the Jordan. That is why the very birth of Israel is referred to by all the present Palestinian leadership as the "Nagba" - the "catastrophe." To Islamic radicals at war with the West, the very creation of Israel is a catastrophe. American apologists for Arab aggression are also apologists for Islamic aggression. In their eyes, Islamic terror in the Middle East has a root cause in the policies of Israel, whom terrorists refer to as the "little Satan." For apologists of the Islamic terror of 9/11 and the Zarqawi terror in Iraq, jihad is not a self-generating creed but has a "root cause" in the policies of "the Great Satan,' which is us. Peace in the Middle East and peace in the war with al-Qaeda and Zarqawi will come only when the terrorists surrender or are defeated. n -* 1 T T* WASHINGTON (AP) - Congress is letting employers hire another 20,000 foreign high-tech workers under a special visa program after businesses reached the annual ceiling on the first day of the government's fiscal year. Businesses are limited to hiring no more than 65,000 workers annually through the HI-B visa program. They reached that figure in one day, Oct. 1, and immediately began complaining they would lose talented university graduates and potential employees to competitors overseas. In response, as part of the $388 bil- lion spending bill passed over the weekend and awaiting President Bush's signature, Congress is exempting from the limit 20,000 foreign students with masters and above degrees from U.S. universities. "This is a critical talent pool that American taxpayers have helped to educate," said Sandra Boyd, who chairs the Compete America coalition that lobbied for the exemptions. "It's coun- terproductive to educate these students and then force them abroad to compete against us." The coalition includes companies such as Microsoft, Texas Instruments, Hewlett Packard and Motorola. For example, of the 424 students who earned master's degrees in engineering at the University of Texas at Austin last year, 228 were foreign students; of the 135 who earned doctorates in engineer- ing, 81 were foreigners, Boyd said. Dan Kane, a spokesman for the Homeland Security Department's Citi- zenship and Immigration Service, said the exemptions for foreign students will be applicable this year. Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) and Sen. Saxby Cham- bliss (R-Ga.) led the effort to include them in the spending bill. Kane said his agency will release details on how employers can apply for visas made available after Bush signs the bill, he said. The popular H1-B visas are granted to foreigners in specialty professions such as architecture, engineering, medi- cine, biotechnology and computer pro- gramming.