The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Thursday, February 12, 2009 - 5A Study: Money can help people quit smoking General Electric Co. but he said those included too few people or the financial incentives paid workers up to were too tiny, some as low as $10. The $750 was "a good incen- $750 to quit tive," said Dan Anzalone, a study participant who quit smoking cold Dangling enough dollars in front turkey three years ago next month of smokers who want to quit helps - after a 35-year habit. many more succeed, an experi- "I was getting rewarded for ment with hundreds of General something that I should be doing Electric Co. workers indicates. anyway," said Anzalone, 54. Among those paid up to $750 to "You'd be surprised at what that quit and stay off cigarettes, 15 per- little incentive does." cent were still tobacco-free about AlogisticsspecialistataGE plant a year later. That may not sound in Schenectady, N.Y., Anzalone like much, but it's three times the tried quittingwith antidepressants successrate ofacomparisongroup about seven years ago but couldn't. that got no such bonuses. He tried quitting on New Year's GE was so impressed it plans Day most years, but generally only to offer an incentive program lasted a couple days. nationwide next year, aiming to So he signed up for Penn's fed- save some of the company's esti- erally funded study, unaware that mated $50 million annually in hewouldbe paid. Halfthe878 par- extra health and other costs for ticipants, at about 85 U.S. GE sites, smoking employees. were put in the financial rewards "This kind of reward system group; the other half were just provides them with direct, posi- encouraged to join quit-smoking tive feedback in the present," not programs and use the company's just delayed, intangible health health coverage for doctor visits benefits, said Dr. Kevin Volpp, the and anti-smoking drugs. lead researcher of the study. Results of the study, which Volpp, who oversees the health began in 2005, were reported in incentives center at the University Thursday's New England Journal of Pennsylvania, called the study of Medicine. the largest ever of employer incen- The incentive group got tives to stop smoking. Several past increasingly higher payments the studies failed to find higher quit longer they stayed off tobacco, up rates linked to financial bonuses, to a total of $750 after 12 months. losing, that's definitely feasible," PUBLICATIONS Bugli said. From Page lA DailyEditorinChiefGaryGraca said that improving the website, To prevent further withdrawals of which includes a complete rede- these funds, the board is crafting sign, is a top priority for the paper. a series of cuts it hopes will total The Daily is also planning on add- $64,302.97. While this number ing entertainment and restaurant will be a substantial relief for the guides, as well as a listing of avail- budget, it is not a guaranteed fix. able student housing and a crime Chip Peterson, board co-chair, map, Graca said. As the website said the board hopes to avoid tap- develops into a resource for more ping the endowment again, but than just news, he said web traffic that might not be possible. should increase, and with it, the "Our goal is to not have to do costs paid by advertisers. that," Peterson said. "However, Graca said that while the situ- with where the numbers are com- ation isn't easy, it forces the staff ing in right now, it's looking like to operate more efficiently and we might have to." allows the current staff to leave While the newspaper industry their mark on the paper. has consistently suffered across "It'sagoodopportunitytolookat the board, the situation for Stu- whatyou're doingand look atwhere dent Publications has escalated you want to go in the next10 years," over the course of the past year. A Graca said, "to look at the future of struggling economy, lackluster ad our publication in the national con- sales and high building and main- text of how other newspapers are tenance expenses have all put sig- changing and in the context of bad nificant strain on the budget. economic times." When the financial circum- In addition to efforts to increase stances of Student Publications revenue through the website, were beginning to cause concern Student Publications is making about a year ago, then-Daily Edi- cuts where possible. The Daily is tor in Chief Andrew Grossman eliminating some phone lines and presented a proposal to the Board office supplies, and the editorial about a year ago to save money staff is expected to take a 10 per- through a website overhaul. The cent pay cut. The Gargoyle and the Daily dropped its former web Michiganensian are both look- host, College Publisher, in part ing at how they can cut down on because the company took a cut printing costs. Most notably, the of the Daily's online ad revenue. board decided to make a reduc- The board then decided to invest tion in force of one professional $100,000 to switch web hosts in staff position. order to generate more revenue Peterson said the board is con- for the Daily, which in turn would fident that Student Publications benefit Student Publications as a will be able to continue to main- whole. Since then, officials at the tain the Daily, the Gargoyle and Daily say that online ad revenue the Michiganensian through the has increased over 200 percent. cuts and increased focus on online Online advertisements cost less and other revenue development. than print ads, though, and can- Peterson said that in contrast not entirely make up for the empty to many publications, the Daily spots in the print edition of the benefits from a consistent read- newspaper. According to Elaina ership and the ability to address Bugli, the Daily's business man- that target audience in a way that ager, the fall semester was slow no one else can. and January was one of the worst "It's very likely that the Daily, months for advertisements in being what it is and the role that years. But Bugli said ad rates are up it serves to the students and to substantially for February, and the advertisers, can be insulated from business staff has already reached the overall market that's on a fair- 75 percent of their monthly goal ly sizable decline overall," Peter- for advertising, as of last Friday. son said. Bugli also said that while it may be years before online ads become - Because of his central role as financially viable as print ads, in the decision-making reported they can compensate for the gaps. in this article, Editor in Chief "We can make up what we're Gary Graca did not edit it. Congrats! January 18th-March 28th U-M placed 6th in overall TIP: Print double-sided to reduce paper waste! total tonnage of recyclables! But 61st overall for the recycling percentage! $O COME ON, MICHIGAN! INCREA$E YOUR RECYCLING! University of Michigan Waste Management Services www.recycle.umich.edu New treatment could solve lung troubles for cystic fibrosis patients Nanoemulsion that was developed at 'U' kills bacteria that cause lung problems By STEPHANIE STEINBERG Daily StaffReporter Thanks to anew treatment devel- oped at the University, the 30,000 adults and children in the United States suffering from cystic fibro- sis may soon have a way to curb the fatal lung infections that are often associated with the disease. John LiPuma, professor of pedi- atrics and communicable diseases at the Medical School, and James Baker, director of the Michigan Nanotechnology Institute for Medicine and Biological Sciences, headed the group of scientists that discovered a new technique to kill resistant bacteria that colonize the lungs of people with cystic fibrosis. "For unknown reasons, (the lungs of those with cystic fibrosis) get colonized with bacteria spe- cies that are very difficult to treat," ART ABROAD From Page 1A versity student will swap places with an international student from a foreign institution, bringing that student to the University. Schmidt said the exchange program will benefit both University students going abroad and the School of Art & Design. "It will also enrich the environ- ment here by their very presence," Schmidt said. "It works both ways." Schmidt added that both the University student and the exchange student will be able to keep their financial aid awards in most cases. Trumpey said that along with the study abroad requirement there will also be an increase in available financial aid so that it is possible for every student to participate in an affordable international expe- rience. This increase in financial aid will come from alumni donors, Trumpey said. "Dean Rogers has stated that this is kind of our No. 1 fundrais- ing goal - trying to come up with appropriate funding so that all of our students can come up with an experience without having a finan- cial reason for not being able to par- ticipate," Trumpey said. Art & Design freshman Samara Harte said thatwhile she thinks the requirement will benefit students by giving them the chance to inter- act with art in another cultural set- ting, it may also be restrictive for students who don't want to study abroad during college. "I think that it's a good idea because it introduces other cultures and how it pertains to art, so I think it's good for students to be required to experience that," Harte said. "But on the other hand, I feel like it's kind of harsh to force someone to go. What if they wanted to travel said Paul Makidon, a lab specialist who participated in the research as a Ph.D. student. "Once they get infected, these patients will develop second pathologies in their lungs, and these organisms are often pan- resistant to antibiotics." The researchers discovered a way to use a nanoemulsion - a solu- tion of two high-energy liquids that do not mix, like oil and water - to treat lung infections. "It's not entirely clear how this works to kill bacteria and other microorganisms, but the belief is that these very small droplets, which now pack a lot of energy, somehow fuse with and disrupt the membranes that hold microorgan- isms together," LiPuma said. "It basically just blows microorgan- isms up." In the study, researchers tested nanoemulsion on 150 bacterial strains that harm those with cystic fibrosis. The results proved suc- cessful, as the treatment killed all of the strains, including one-third of those resistant to multiple anti- biotics. Baker said the drug they devel- oped is unlike any other antibi- otic because it physically interacts with the bacteria to disrupt its membrane. This kills the bacteria, eliminating the problem of bacteria resistance. LiPuma said the leading cause of death in people with cystic fibrosis is lung failure. "Ninety-five percent of people with CF die from respiratory fail- ure, and that respiratory failure results from chronic and recur- rent lung infections that eventually destroy their lungs," he said. The majority of lung infections cannot be treated with antibiotics currently on the market because bacteria in the lungs have become highly resistant to standard antibi- otics. "There's a need for novel anti- biotics," LiPuma said. "This nano- emulsion, at least in the test tube, is very effective against the types of bacteria people with CF get." The goal of the research, LiPuma said, is to make the nanoemulsion into an antibiotic that can be used in an inhaler. Baker said nanoemulsion has been used in clinical trials for treat- ing skin infections like cold sores, but it has never been used to treat lung infections. Makidon helped evaluate the safety of using nanoemulsion inside organisms. His work included mea- suring the effects of nanoemulsion in test tubes and looking at how it could affect a living organism like an animal or person. "I was involved in looking at how effective nanoemulsion is at killing the pan-resistant bacteria organ- isms and optimizing the platform itself while at the same time trying not to compromise the safety char- acteristics of the material," Maki- don said. He said the new treatment "potentially could have an extraor- dinary impact on the well-being of patients with cystic fibrosis." The researchers have been devel- oping the antibiotic over the past two years, and hope to make it pub- licly available within the next two to five years. "Drug discovery takes a very, very long time and there are many hurdles to overcome and lots of obstacles in terms of getting a new drug from the bench, as we say, into patients," LiPuma said. cHANEL VON HABSBURG-LOTH RINGEN/Daly A student walks through the School of Art & Design yesterday. Starting in thefall of 2010, administrators will make study abroad a requirement for all incoming students. later on in life? I just think it puts a big strain on the student." Art & Design freshman Jenny Forrest, who is planning to study abroad in Italy during her time as a student, said the requirement will provide the opportunity for every- one to get involved in an interna- tional experience. "They want you to experience art in a different country, and by going abroad it will be a bet- ter experience than just stay- ing another semester in the Art School," she said. Forrest, who is studying graphic design and computer art, also said that going abroad will give students important skills to help them in the job market. "By learning it in a different country you get more experience and more education under your belt, so when you come back here you're more prepared because you have that experience, especially if you're looking into an international job," she said. Trumpey said the experience will help students succeed in an increasingly interconnected world. "We live in a globalized world," Trumpey said. "Students will learn a lot about home by getting away from home. Gaining new perspectives are really an impor- tant part of the college experience and this is really a meaningful way to do it." Detroit Opera House . 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