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Ann Arbor, Michigan
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
michigandaily.com
NETWORKING CONNECTIONS
UNIVERSITY RESEARCH
Prof's stem
cell trial gets
FDA's OK
CHRIS DZOMBAK/Daily
About 6,000 students and recruiters from 181 companies mingle in the Duderstadt Center during the Engineering Career Fair on Monday and TuesdayH
EATING 0 N CAMPUS
HillDiningC's crowd problem
Landmark research
will test new
Lou Gehrig's
Disease treatment
By VALIANT LOWITZ
Daily StaffReporter
In a major victory for propo-
nents of stem cell research, the
U.S. Food and Drug Administra-
tion approvedthe first-ever human
clinical trial of a stem cell treat-
ment for Lou Gehrig's Disease last
Friday. The study will be lead by a
University of Michigan expert in
the field.
Dr. Eva Feldman, the director
of both the U-M Amyotrophic Lat-
eral Sclerosis (ALS) Clinic and the
Program for Neurology Research
and Discovery, helped develop the
treatment and will act as principal
investigator for the landmark trial.
Feldman worked with a team
of neurologists to develop the new
protocol for injecting stem cells
into the spinal chord of patients.
This system, researchers hope, will
reconnect severed lines of com-
munication between the cells of
paralyzed ALS patients and delay
or reverse some of the disease's
effects.
In an interview yesterday, Feld-
man discussed the study and what
lies ahead for her team of research-
ers.
ALS, commonly known as Lou
Gehrig's Disease, is a progressive
neural degenerative disorder that
affects roughly 30,000 Americans,
according to the ALS Association.
About 5,600 people in this coun-
try are diagnosed with the disease
every year - or 15 new cases every
day.
The disease affects nerve cells
in the brain leading to the degen-
eration of motor neurons in the
spinal chord. The patient eventu-
ally loses control of all voluntary
muscle movement. Cognitive func-
tions are usually left undamaged.
Notable figures suffering from
ALS include renowned physicist
Stephen Hawking and musician
Jason Becker.
"Currently ALS is a fatal neuro-
degenerative disease," said Feld-
man. "The only available treatment
is medication given by mouth."
Though these medications
slow the progression of the dis-
ease, Feldman said, they may only
increase survival by around three
to five months.
The clinical treatment injects
stem cells directly into the spinal
cord, protecting at-risk motor neu-
rons and potentially rebuilding
severed connections.
See STEM CELLS, Page 7A
700 seats meant to
accomodate more
than 3,000 residents
By VERONICA MENALDI
Daily Staff Reporter
Waiting to get food at the Hill
Dining Center in Mosher-Jordan
Hall can be a long process.
During prime dining hours -
from 12-1 p.m. and 5-6 p.m. - the
line to enter the dining center can
extend up the stairs that lead to
the dining hall. And once inside,
students say finding a seat can be
an even more demanding task.
For example, LSA sophomore
Emily Bozeksaid she triesto avoid
the cafeteria's peak hours because
the food lines can be a pretty big
hassle.
"When I see a long line I usu-
ally just don't go in it," she said.
"It really affects what I eat. When
I see a line for the regular food
that's going out the door I just
go and make myself a sandwich
because I don't have time."
The cause of the bottleneck?
The obvious answer is the sheer
number of students living near
the dining center, which, after the
University stopped serving meals
in the Couzens and Alice Lloyd
Residence Halls, is one of the only
cafeterias left in that area.
Peter Logan, director of Hous-
ing Communications, said the
dining center was built to accom-
modate about 640 people in the
larger dining area and an addi-
tional 70 people can find seating
in the dining area upstairs around
the Victors plaza - so room for
See DINING CENTER, Page 3A
LGHTS OUT
Squirrel starts power outage
MICHIGAN STUDENT ASSEMBLY
MSA considers health care help
Many campus
buildings left in dark
yesterday evening
By MATT AARONSON
Daily News Editor
A power outage that swept cam-
pus yesterday evening was brought
on by an unlikely culprit.
Most University buildings on
the Central and Medical Campuses
were left in the dark just after 6 p.m.
yesterday when a squirrel shorted
a transformer at the University's
Central Power Plant, according
o Department of Public Safety
Spokeswoman Diane Brown.
Throughout yesterday night,
the Daily received reports of out-
ages in the following buildings:
Shapiro Library, Hatcher Graduate
Library, the University of Michi-
gan Museum of Art, Michigan
Union, C.C. Little, South Quad,
West Quad, Angell Hall, the LSA
Building, Tisch Hall, the School
of Education, the School of Social
Work, the Ross School of Business
and the Dennison Building.
The outages lasted anywhere
from a few minutes to hours,
Brown said.
"Often when electricity is lost,
depending on how the circuits
are impacted, it can sometimes ...
reboot easily and in other cases it
may affect a fuse or something,"
she said.
Aslate as9:30p.m.lastnight,some
buildings were still without power,
including the School of Education
Building, accordingtoBrown.
LSA sophomore Kendra Furry
said she was in an English class
on the ground floor of Angell Hall
when the power went out.
"Wewere allsortofweirdedout,"
she said. "The teacher went to look
for another classroom we could go
in but the lights were all out."
Furry said the class was moved
outside, but had to be ended early
since the teacher needed a chalk-
board.
Naomi Makofsky, president of
Michigan Advertisement and Mar-
keting, was leading a mass meeting at
the Union when the lightswentoff.
"We continued in the dark," she
said. "Everyone stayed."
She said power in the Union
came on after about 15 or 20
minutes.
Assembly also
addresses budget
woes, homecoming
By JENNA SKOLLER
Daily News Editor
A resolution was presented to
the assembly last night to support
U.S. Senate legislation that would
provide health care assistance to
students.
The legislation, drafted by the
Senate Committee on Health Edu-
cation Labor and Pensions, would
allow individu-
als to remain on NOTEBOOK
their parents'
health care plans until the age 26.
If the resolution passes, MSA
willeducate the studentbody about
the legislation during an MSA Diag
Day and will provide students with
resources to write their represen-
tatives in Congress.
"(The legislation is) impor-
tant for students in this economy
because it's hard to find a job,
especially one that provides health
care," said LSA Rep. Chris Arm-
strong, who authored the reso-
lution with Business Reps. Alex
Serwer and Jason Raymond.
The resolution stated that indi-
viduals from ages 19 to 29 make
up the largest group of uninsured
individuals in the country, which
the authors said makes the legisla-
tion a significant issue for college
See MSA, Page 3A
STICKS AND STONES
BAR FIGHT
Altercation at Charley's leaves one
in emergency, another man injail
With knife drawn,
man misses target,
stabs bystander
By JACOB SMILOVITZ
ManagingNews Editor
Just before 1:15 a.m. early yes-
terday morning, a fight broke out
at Good Time Charley's that ended
with one bystander being sent to
the hospital with "superficial" stab
Uwounds and another man in police
custody.
The fight began between two
men who were standing inside the
popular bar located on South Uni-
versity Avenue, according to Lieu-
tenant Myron Blackwell of the Ann
Arbor Police Department.
As the two people fought, a knife
was pulled at some point which
didn't appear to scare the other
person in the fight who was "obvi-
ously not afraid of the guy with the
knife," Blackwell said.
After the knife was drawn, the
second person said something
along the lines of "get that knife out
of here," Blackwell said.
The first person then made a
move with the knife that, as Black-
well describes, apparently missed
the second person, but struck a
third person in the chest causing
"very superficial wounds."
Thethirdperson,whowas"total-
ly not related to anything" accord-
ing to Blackwell, is not believed to
have played any role in the original
fight. That person is expected to be
treated and released from the hos-
See CRIME, Page 7A
Members of the Groove percussion group including Kinesiology freshman Eric Harbour (left), Engineering senior Patricia
Schuster (center) and LSA freshman Griffin Working (right) practice last night in the Regents' Plaza.
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