a 2A - Wednesday, October 13, 2010 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com MONDAY: In Other Ivory Towers TUESDAY: WEDNESDAY: Michigan Myths Professor Profiles THURSDAY: Campus Clubs FRIDAY: Photos of the Week Sharing his way to Molecular, Cellular and Devel- opmental Biology Prof. Robert Bender doesn't consider himself a teacher. Instead, he views his work in the classroom and laboratory as "shared learning." "We're notan institution of high- er teaching. We're an institution of higher learning," Bender said. "The fun thing that I like to do is learn, and then let mystudents come along with me and see how I learn and share my ability to learn." Bender's interest in shared learning influenced his decision to become a high school teacher after graduating from the Massachu- setts Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Science in life sciences in 1968. "When I left college I was the right age, but very young. I was terrified of the aggressiveness of molecular biology. I thought, 'I can't hack this, but I love this.' I loved sharing the learning process so I went off and taughthigh school," he said. "I thought that teaching high school would keep me forever, but after a few years my fingers itched and then it was off to graduate school." Bender returned to MIT and earned his Ph.D. in Microbiol- ogy in 1976. His decision to pursue research and teach at the University was the result of the University's honesty during the interview pro- cess. "(The University of) Michigan didn't promise anything it couldn't confirm in writing," he said. Shortly after taking the position, the National Institutes of Health approached Bender with an idea. He began working on a study of the Nitrogen Assimilation Control pro- tein in 1979 and has since continued to research the NAC in his laborato- ry in the Natural Sciences Building. learningE Bender credits his success in receiving grants to continue study- ing the NAC proteins for 30 years to his writing abilities.k "I've gone 30 years without ever" havingto resubmit a grant," he said. "Each time I've sent it in it was funded. Part of that is because of my English training." When it came down to decid- ing on his major as an undergradu- ate, Bender said he was deciding between comparative literature and life sciences. "People still had a much broader view of intellectual activity. And now because science is so much bigger and there is so much of it and the educational system has changed so much, people are much more tracked and much less broadly exposed - and that's kind of tragic," he said. "But hey, the world Chang-" COURTESY OF ROBERT BENDEF en." Biology professor Robert Bender has been researching nitro- -HILLARYBOKgen assimilation control at the University since 1979. 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1327 www.michigandaily.com JACOB SMILOVITZ KATIE JOZWIAK Editor in Chief Business Manager 734-418-415eat. 1252 734-418-4115 ext. 1241 smilovitz@michigandailyceom nmdbninena@naiteaom CONTACT INFORMATION Newsroom officehours:Sun.-Thurs.n a.m..-2a.m. 734-418-411s opt.3 News Tips news@michigandaily.com Corrections corrections@michigandaily.com letterstothe Editor tothedaily@michigandaily.com Photography Department photo@michigandaily.com Arts Section artspage@michigandaily.com Editorial Page opiinon@michigandaily.com SportsSection sports@michigandaily.com Display Sales Classified Sales Online Sales Finance display@michigandailyion, classified@michigandaily.com onlineads@michigandaily.com, ,finance@michigandailycom CRIME NOTES CAMPUS EVENTS & NOTES Green and white Donations stolen International Copyright talk *' .*. sidewalk WHERE: Between Keech and Pauline Streets WHEN: Monday at about 10 a.m. WHAT: The sidewalk and a fire hydrant were defaced with green and white paint some- time on Friday, University Police reported. The cleaning cost is estimated at $1,000. Fluid leak WHERE: The 2300 block of Stone St. WHEN: Monday at about 4 p.m. WHAT: A University bus leaked fluids into the street, University Police reported. Clean up assistance was pro- vided for the chemical spill. WHERE: The Matthaei Botanical Gardens WHEN: Monday at about 8:30 a.m. WHAT: An unknown subject broke into a donation box in, the Children's Garden some- time over the weekend, Uni- versity Police reported. The box usually contains about $100 in donations. Lock stolen WHERE: Angell Hall WHEN: Tuesday at about 1 a.m. WHAT: A lock's core was removed from a door in Angell Hall, University Polite report- ed. Building services told University Police the damage seemed intentional. service meeting WHAT: In honor of the 50th anniversary of the Peace Corps, a conference will be held on the future of international service. WHO: The Brook- ings Institution WHEN: Today from 8:30 am. to 5:30 p.m. WHERE: Ross School of Business, Blau Aditorium Lecture on sexuality WHAT: The lecture will be led by Ann Holder, associate professor of his- tory at the Pratt Institute. She will discuss history, race, gender and sex. WHO: Institute for Research on Women and Gender WHEN: Today from 4 to 6 p.m. WHERE: Lane Hall, Room 2239 WHAT: Neal Netanel, a professor at the University of California Los Angeles will give a lecture on the history of Jewish copyright laws. WHO: The Frankel Cen- ter for Judaic Studies WHEN: Today at 12:30 p.m. WHERE: 202 South Thayer St., Room 2022 Peace Corps speaker WHAT: Novelist Paul Ther- oux will talk about hisexpe- rience with the Peace Corps and how it changed his life. WHO: UM Center for Ethics in Public Life WHEN: Tonight at 7 p.m. WHERE: Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library, Room 100 CORRECTIONS " Please report any error in the Daily to corrections@michi- gandaily.com. Surgeons at the Shepard Center in Atlanta, Georgia injected stem cells into a patientwith aspinal chord inju- ry, USA Today reported. This is the first federally approved experiment involving the injec- tion of human embryonic stem cells. Tim Tebow was estimated to be worth $2.5 million a year to the University of Florida as a quarterback. Yet his scholarship was only $13,000. The pay-for-pay debate lives on. FORMORE,SEETHESTATEMENT,PAGE4B A transgender teenager in Texas unsuccesfully ran for Homecoming Queen, FoxNews.com reported. The high school senior, Andy More- no, says she identifies herself as female though she was raised male. According to FoxNews. com, she believes the results of the voting for Homecoming Court reflect discrimination. 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Winter term(January throughAprilis$11syearlong (September through Apri)lis $19.University affiiatesare subject toa reducedsubscriptionrate. Oncampussbscriptinsforfalltermare$3.Subnciptonsmotbeprpaid.TheMichiganDaiy isamemberofnThe Assoiatedresnd ed soc~iatdCollegiate Press MORE ONLINE Love Crime Notes? Get more online at michigandaily.com/blogs/The Wire Peace council members Two more suspects charged in Afghanistan request peace gesture from U.S. in NYC anti-gay beatings a Members of council ask for release of prisoners in Guantanamo Bay KABUL, Afghanistan (AP). - Releasing Taliban figures detained at Guantanamo Bay and scratching scores of others off the U.N. sanctions list would jump- start peace talks aimed at ending the 9-year-old war, members of Afghanistan's new peace council said yesterday. The council members, who hold their first business meeting yesterday, said goodwill gestures from the U.S. and international community could spur reconcili- ation talks - perhaps at a neutral location in Saudi Arabia, Turk- menistan, Egypt or Turkey. The momentum for a political solution has been slowly build- ing in Afghanistan as public sup- port for the war has waned in the West. The renewed push for peace comes as the last of 30,000 U.S. reinforcements have arrived in Afghanistan, pushing deeper into areas long held by insurgents. Many top military and diplo- matic leaders have publicly sup- ported peace efforts, though they remain skeptical that insurgents are ready to lay down their arms, embrace the Afghan constitution and sever ties with al-Qaida and other terrorist networks. Ethnic minorities and women, who were repressed under the Taliban, have expressed concerns about what any deal with the mili- tants would bring. Most members of the Taliban are Pashtuns, the largest ethnic group in Afghani- stan. The minority Tajiks, Uzbeks and Hazaras are not likely to sit quietly on the sidelines if Karzai, a Pashtun, makes a deal with insur- gents. But Staffan de Mistura, the top U.N. envoy in Afghanistan, said all parties including the Taliban know there is no military solu- tion to the conflict. He predicted the next several months will be particularly violent because both the Taliban and international forces will be applying maximum pressure on each other to position themselves for possible negotia- tion. In hopes of finding a peace- ful resolution, Afghan President Hamid Karzai recently set up the 68-member council to guide for- mal talks with the armed opposi- tion. Karzai said this week that his government has been talking with the Taliban "countryman to coun- tryman" for "quite some time." He characterized the talks as unof- ficial personal contacts - not official contact with the Taliban leadership. "That hasn't happened yet and we hope we can begin that as soon as possible," Karzai said. Arsala Rahmani, a member of the peace council who served as deputy education minister in the former Taliban regime, said yesterday that discussions were under way for the United States or United Nations to guarantee safe passage for representatives of mil- itant groups to meet somewhere outside of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran to discuss ways to recon- cile with the Afghan government. Rahmani, who insisted he was not speaking on behalf of the entire council, said neutral meeting sites under discussion were in Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Egypt. Rahmani said trust must be established between the Taliban and the U.S. and other Western players. Release of four or five top Taliban prisoners from the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay and the de-listingof about150 individuals linked to the Taliban from the U.N. sanctions list are the key stumbling blocks to nego- tiating peace, he said. A second member of the peace council, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensi- tivity of the issue, said the Taliban will show more flexibility if such measures are taken. "When that trust can be estab- lished, the political process can move forward," Rahmani said. Publicly, the Taliban have rejected the peace council, calling it an "American initiative to delay the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan." In Washington, State Depart- ment spokesman P.J. Crowley said the U.S. was considering modifi- cations to the U.N. sanctions list, but that the matter of releasing prisoners from Guantanamo Bay was unrelated to the Afghan peace process. "On an ongoing basis we are evaluating modifications to the individuals on the sanctions list at the U.N.," Crowley said yesterday. "We've made some adjustments during the course of this year. And as we work through issues and, you know, in collaboration with the U.N. and other members of the U.N. Security Council, that is certainly possible." Rahmani and the other mem- ber of the peace council also said Pakistan should release or give Afghanistan custody of its Afghan prisoners, including the Afghan Taliban's No. 2 leader, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar. Baradar was arrested in Febru- ary in a joint raid with the CIA - a move some analysts believe was driven by Pakistan's desire to guarantee itself a seat at the negotiating table. Rahmani said Baradar was one of 31 Afghan Taliban figures being held in Pakistan because they were will- ing to talk peace. "We don't know where they are, whether in prison in Pakistan, or maybe living comfortable in guest houses," he said. Pakistani Prime Minister You- suf Raza Gilani tried to dispel concerns about his country's role when asked about Taliban peace talks Tuesday, but also reminded observers of the leverage Pakistan has in the process. "Look, nothing can happen without us because we are part of the solution. We are not part of the problem," Gilani paid. Ten suspects total arraigned on hate-crime charges NEW YORK (AP) - Two addi- tional suspects were charged yes- terday in several brutal attacks that authoritiesnbelieve weretouched off because gang members thought one of their recruits was gay. A tenthsuspect, 22-year-old Jose Dominguez, surrendered to detec- tives yesterday and was arraigned in the Bronx Criminal Court on charges of gang assault, sexual abuse and unlawful imprisonment as hate crimes. It wasn't clear if he had an attorney. No one answered the phone at an address provided by police. A suspect who was arrested Monday, Ruddy Vargas-Perez, was arraigned yesterday on charges including robbery, gang assault and unlawful imprisonment as hate crimes. Benjamin Heinrich, an attorney for Vargas-Perez, said his client was innocent and denied that he was even present at the attacks. He described Vargas-Perez as a hardworking carpenter and fam- ily man. Police say Dominguez and Var- gas-Perez participated in at least one of the attacks on two teens and two men on Oct. 3. Members of a street gang who called themselves the Latin King Goonies targeted a 30-year-old gay man after he apparently had a sexual encounter with one of their recruits, authorities said. The 17-year-old was beaten and sodomized with the handle of a plunger until he confessed to his involvement with the older man, authoritiessaid. The mob later went after the 30-year-old, luring him to an abandoned apartment they used for partying, where they tied him to a chair and assaulted him, police said. Another 17-year-old was also attacked because it was believed he too had an encounter with the 30-year-old man, and the older man's brother was also attacked after gang members went to their shared apartment and robbed the place of cash and a TV, police said. Initially, authorities said nine people participated in the attacks, but later concluded there were 10. Police say Dominguez has been accused of hitting the first victim with a pipe. I 6 I SA R AH - LA WR E NCE - C OL LEGOE WRITI NG+ SLC + NYC! SERIOUSLY INTERESTED IN SE RIOUSLY INTONWYORK? Achieve your full potential as a writer by enrolling in Sarah Lawrence College's Spring Writing Semester in New York! 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