The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Monday, November 2, 2009 - 3A NEWS BRIEFS EAST LANSING, Mich. U' researchers unearth Michigan St mulls booia lc idn 600n staff cuts bilgcld kfn ig EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Michigan State University expects to eliminate nearly 600 positions over two years and may close two depart- ments and as many as 30 academic programs in budget cuts. The university's Board of Trustees reviewed the proposed cuts at its Fri- day meeting. The administration has proposed closing the Geological Sciences and the CommunicativeSciences andDis- orders departments. It also may close as many as 30 majors, specializations and other academic programs. Those cuts must later be approved by the board. Students enrolled in eliminated programs would be allowed to complete their studies. The university says nearly 600 positions likely will be affected by cuts in the next two years, with 19 percent coming from layoffs. CAMDEN, NJ Obama says NJgov. iskeyto his own agenda In a finalcampaignswingon behalf of the only governor seeking re-elec- tion this fall, President Barack Obama on Sunday pitched Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine's bid as a key component forthe White Houseto make good on its political promises. "He's one of the best partners I have in the White House. We work together,"Obamasaid. "Weknowour work is far from over." Obama drew 6,500 people at a rally in Camden and another 11,000 later in Newark, according to White House estimates. He urged supporters to work hard to give Corzine another term in office so he can work with Washington to help repair a brittle economy. A Corzine loss would be seen as a political embarrassment for the White House. Obama tagged Republican lead- ership and lax regulations for the economic crisis and dismissed GOP candidate Chris Christie's criticism of Corzine. Their race is seen as a tossup, and a Monmouth University/Gan- nett New Jersey Poll released Sunday found Christie backed by 43 percent oflikely voters and Corzine by 42 per- cent. SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico 'Guantanamo Bay prisoners to receive H1Nivaccinebefore American civilians Terrorism suspects held at the Guantanamo Bay naval base will soon pget swine flu vaccines, despite tom- plaints that American civilians should have priority, a military spokesman said yesterday. Army Maj. James Crabtree, a spokesman for the U.S. jail facility in southeast Cuba, said the doses should start arriving this month, with guards and then inmates scheduled for inoc- ulations. He acknowledged there may be an "emotional response" from critics who argue that terror suspects should not be allocated swine-flu medica- tions while members of the U.S. pub- lic are still waiting due to a vaccine shortage. But he said U.S. military officials are "responsible for the health and care of the detainee population." SYDNEY, Australia Boat sinks off Australian coast, 17 survivors saved An urgent search and rescue mis- sion was under way Monday for about ;two dozen people missing after their 'bat sank in open seas far off Austra- Merchant vessels that responded to a distress call managed to pluck 17 srvivors from the Indian Ocean late fISmday and were searching for oth- 4s, Australia's Home Affairs Minis- r Brendan O'Connor said. *About 40 people were believed to 9 aboard the boat when it went down igar the Cocos Islands, sparsely pop- elated atolls about 1,500 miles (2,400 'ilometers) northwest of the Austra- lian coast and about 800 miles (1,300 * Vlometers) south of Indonesia. O'Connor said it was too early to day whether those on board were asy- m seekers trying to reach Australia, gh aspects of the emergency - ch as an unseaworthy boat carrying many people in waters sometimes ed by humantraffickers - signaled Smnay be the case. -Compiled from Daily wire reports Finding could have "We took a lot of the data about what the signal was, and parts of serious implications in the signal and tried to put it all together to find what the daily dealing'with circadian code for timekeeping was," Forg- rhythm disorders er said. "(Our findings) were not only counterintuitive but hardly believable." By BETHANY BIRON According to Forger, the previ- Daily StaffReporter ously accepted model for circa- dian rhythms held that neurons A team of University research- communicated with each other ers, in collaboration with British by sending short electrical puls- scientists, recently unearthed es from the SNC and that these a new finding about the human pulses were sent at a higher rate biological clock that could have during the day and a slower rate serious repercussions for how at night. people combat jet lag, insomnia After studying the neurons, and other circadian rhythm dis- however, Forger and Diekman orders. found something different. The biological clock is respon- "We found that these pulses sible for regulating circadian were only being sent out at dawn rhythms, or "24-hour oscillations and at dusk," Forger said. "At the of all kinds of biological process- middle of the day the cell would es," said Casey Diekman, a gradu- go to this very excited state ate student at the University and so that it wouldn't give off the collaborator on the study. impulses." "These rhythms are present Forger and Diekman, however, in all kinds of organisms, plants, soon came across an opportunity animals and of course humans. for collaboration that would lead The most obvious one is the to a better understanding of their sleep/wake cycle and this rhythm discoveries about the biological is controlled by a clock within the clock. body." After attending a conference The human biological clock is for the Society for Research on located in a region in the central Biological Rhythms in May 2008, brain - called the suprachiasmat- Diekman attended a post-con- ic nuclei, or SCN - and up until ference party where he met Dr. now researchers had thought the Hugh Piggins, a British scientist rate at which SCN cells emit elec- also studying biological clock trical pulses is what controls the processes. time-keeping mechanism in the When Diekman discussed his body. findings with the British scien- But the team of researchers tist, Piggins said he had a way to found that that model is, quite test these theories and an inter- simply, wrong. national research collaboration The University research team was born. was led by Daniel Forger, associ- According to Forger, Piggins ate professor of mathematics and claimed he "could identify the research assistant professor of cells in this region that did have a the University's Center for Com- clock in them and that those cells putational Medicine and Bioin- did seem to behave very differ- formatics. ently." Together, Forger and Diekman "Almost immediately I decided used mathematical models to dis- one of us had to go to England to cover properties of the signals sent visit these guys," Forger said. "I from the brain to the body to regu- handed the keys of my (Toyota) late time and circadian rhythms. Prius to Casey to take across the Canadian border to Toronto to get a flight and go to Manchester, England, and thus began the col- laboration." Diekmansaid that the research revealed some of the most impor- tant mechanisms of the internal clock. "Now we know that during the day, certain cells that are actually responsible for the clock mecha- nism are in a silent state, where as previously we thought they were firing really fast," Diekman said. "And so this is going to change how people are going to need to design experiments and how people are going to have to think about treating circadian rhythm disorders," he said. Piggins' colleague, Dr. Mino Belle, who was also part of the team, recorded information from 400 cells at all times of the day during the research process. Belle said the study holds major significance in the study of sleep cycles. "It gives us an angle to under- stand how the body clock - the master clock - works," he said. Belle also said that with this new information, researchers will be able to better tackle prob- lems associated with sleep disor- ders in the future. "The molecules that keep time now give us sort of a window into ways of understanding the clock better," he said, "and in the future to be able to manipu- late these cells in real organisms including ourselves, to combat all the disease-related aspects of the clock." Ultimately, their discoveries could lead to vast improvements in the medical world in fighting disorders directly related to the biological clock which includes anything from such as jetlag and obesity to depression and mood disorders. "I think it's goingto change the way a lot of people think about how the clock sends signals to the rest of the body," Diekman said. Mourners tather for the funeral at imminLsman Ameen Abdullah at the Muslim Centet Masque it Dettoit Satutday. lea'der's funeral draws hundreds FBI: Abdullah fatally shot after firing at agents, resisting arrest DETROIT (AP) - Hundreds of people offered hushed prayers Saturday at the funeral for a slain Detroit mosque leader while authorities across the border in Canada made the final two arrests in a criminal case that is stirring some anger in the Mus- lim community. Luqman Ameen Abdullah was remembered as a caring man who followed the tenets of his Islam faith as an imam, or prayer leader, of a small mosque north of down- town. Fellow imams said.he was generous and a good brother, and no one mentioned the FBI's claim that he had a violent, anti-govern- ment ideology. The FBI says Abdullah, 53, was fatally shot inside a suburban warehouse Wednesday after fir- ing at agents and resisting arrest. Agents wanted him on charges of weapons violations and conspiracy to sell stolen goods, one of 11 people named in a criminal complaint. "We ask Allah to reward him with the promised reward of those who are martyred," Imam Talib Abdur-Rashid of New York told mourners at the Muslim Center in Detroit. As is custom, men sat on the floor, shoulder to shoulder, during the service, with women watch- ing and listening in the rear of the large room. Prayers were given in Arabic and English during the 30-minute service. Some speakers demanded an independent investigation of Abdullah's death, saying the fatal shooting seemed excessive. Imam Abdullah El-Amin asked people to decline to speak to reporters and avoid news cameras outside. No terrorism charges have been filed against Abdullah, formerly known as Christopher Thomas, or the 10 others accused in the complaint. According to the FBI, Abdullah was a leader of a national radical Sunni group that wants to create an Islamic state within the U.S. Most mem- bers are black. WRITE FOR THE DAILY'S NEWS SECTION. Send an e-mail to smilovitz@michigandaily.com NINETEENTH ANNUAL UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN SENATE'S DAVIS, MARKERT, NICKERSON LECTURE ON ACADEMIC AND INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM .i p V -' # f Maurice ande hilda sFriedman Professor of Law Columbia University School of Law Monday, November 9, 2009 40 p 4- 7 P-, t~It~~J/-sl H,1-1,AND Tf T, I GBM f a E t U dis T ORi' ~i UM E " ia3~i .ae i ze{r r;rii.c,.re 'ria ' " _:fee s a r nt - v o Ii s 4#ace t ro m £e a pur 11 73.740303 w wu iheu ~ff rsq-tit:llljuu - orZF C.V. ..r.r Sj U rD Ki Ul An inter isciplinary rna r a the Still undecided about a major? Starting to think about what to take in the winter term? You are invited to attend: Introduction to Informatics Wednesday, November 4 6:00-7:00 PM Undergraduate Science Building (USB), Room 1250 Learn about Informatics and the four tracks of study: Computational Informatics Data Mining & Information Analysis Life Science Informatics Social Computing RSVPs to informatics@umich.edu helpful but not required.