The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Monday, October 25, 2010 - 3A
NEWS BRIEFS
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich
CMU offers a class
on the Apple iPad
A pilot course was created at
Central Michigan University to
teach students how to maximize
the use of the Apple iPad.
Professor Patricia Janes of Rec-
reation, Parks and Leisure Ser-
vices asked Mike Reuter, director
of technology operations, to teach
her parks and recreation students
tobe "dangerous" with the higher-
level technology that is desired
and expected by today's employ-
ers.
"The class I co-teach is RPL
400 N, digital media in recreation,
parks and tourism," Reuter said.
"The class is designed to give our
students the tools they need to go
out and compete better in the cor-
porate world or wherever they end
up after they graduate."
The course, which is taught by
Reuter and Dan Bracken, associate
director for the Faculty Center for
Innovative Teaching, teaches the
business uses for social network-
ing, and how to use the applica-
tions found on the iPad.
WASHINGTON D.C.
Drug lab found in
Georgetown dorm
Police have arrested three men
suspected of creating a drug lab ina
freshmen dormitory at prestigious
Georgetown University in Wash-
ington.
D.C. Police spokesman Officer
Hugh Carew says investigators
found a DMT lab where chemicals
could create a hallucinogenic drug.
DMT stands for dimethyltrypt-
amine. Officials thought it was a
methamphetamine lab earlier Sat-
urday.
Emergency crews responded
about 6:15 a.m. after a strange odor
was reported. About 400 students
were evacuated from Harbin Hall.
Seven people were exposed to nox-
ious chemicals, including three stu-
dents.
Georgetown spokeswoman Julie
Green Bataille says no one was
injured and the rest of the campus
is operating normally.
MULTAN, Pakistan
Bomb kills 5 people
at Sufi shrine
A bomb planted on a motorcycle
exploded at the gate of a famous
Sufi shrine in central Pakistan dur-
ing morning prayers today, killing
at least five people, said officials.
The bombing at the Farid Sha-
kar Ganj shrine in Punjab province
was the latest in a string of attacks
targeting Sufi shrines in Pakistan.
Islamist militants often target
Sufis, whose mystical practices
clash with their hardline interpre-
tations of Islam.
IThe dead from today's attack
included at least one woman, said
Maher Aslam Hayat, a senior gov-
ernment official in Pak Pattan dis-
tcit where the shrine is located.
At least 13 others were wounded by
the explosion, he said.
The blast damaged several shops
outside the shrine, said Hayat. But
the shrine itself, which is dedicated
to a 12th century Sufi saint, was
largely unscathed, he said.
Pakistan is 95 percent Muslim,
and the majority practice Sufi-
influenced Islam.
JERUSALEM
Israel says talks are
the only option
* A Israel's prime minister yes-
terday urged the Palestinians to
avoid unilateral action and resume
peace talks, a reflection of grow-
ing concern that the Palestinian
leadership may be inching toward
a "Plan B" in which they seek
international recognition of an
fndependent state without Israeli
agreement.
Talks have stalled, just weeks
after their launch, following Isra-
el's decision to resume full-fledged
settlement building in the West
Bank after a 10-month period of
restrictions. The Palestinians
have said they cannot negotiate
with Israel unless the curbs are
renewed, and one senior Palestin-
ian official yesterday insisted on a
* total halt to construction.
As the stalemate drags on, the
Palestinians have said they are
considering sidestepping Israel
by seeking U.N. Security Council
recognition of a Palestinian state
in the West Bank, Gaza and east
* Jerusalem - territories the Jewish
state captured in the 1967 Mideast
war.
- Compiled from
Daily wire reports.
At rally, group
lobbies for rights
of animals in'U'
research labs
TOREHAN SHARMAN/Daily
University of Michigan-Dearborn student Cardi DeMonaco spoke to a snall audience about higher education at a Lansing rally.
CLASSES GO
In ight of funding cuts, students rally in
Lansing for increased state appropriations
By K.C. WASSMAN
For the Daily
LANSING - A group of about
30 students and government
officials rallied on the steps of
the state Capitol on Friday in an
effort to convince officials to pri-
oritize higher education when it
comes to the state's budget. The
rally comes in light of recent cuts
in state appropriations to Michi-
gan's public universities.
The rally was hosted by the
Associated Students of Michigan
State University and the Student
Association of Michigan - a stu-
dent group comprised of repre-
sentatives from each of the 15
public universities in Michigan.
Students, along with members
of the state government, spoke
at the Capitol in Lansing to raise
their concerns about the shrink-
ing amount of state financial
appropriations for higher educa-
tion. Several students held signs
asking politicians, "Where'd my
classes go?"
In the 201i fiscal year budget,
higher education appropriations
will be cut by 2.8 percent. The
University of Michigan alone will
experience a $9-million loss in
funding.
Though the 2.8-percent cut
was less than lawmakers original-
ly planned, and representatives
voted to increase financial aid
funding by 10 percent, students
at the protest said more could be
done to ease the financial burden
of tuition costs.
According to Michael Lip-
phardt, ASMSU director of Uni-
versity Budgets and Education
Policy, Michigan is ranked 49 out
of the 50 U.S. states in the amount
of funding it provides for higher
education, and the state currently
spends $183 million less on higher
education than it did in 2002.
In a speech at the event, Lip-
phardt warned politicians that
if they do not follow through on
their promises to make higher
education a priority, students
would vote them out of office.
He also urged students to
elect politicians that would fol-
low through on their promises to
reduce budget cuts to higher edu-
cation.
"Make every candidate here,
and into the future, earn your
vote," Lipphardt said. "Make
them promise to make Michigan
a leader in education investment,
and make them promise never
again to forget about the power of
the student vote."
Cardi DeMonaco Jr., presi-
dent of the Student Association
of Michigan and a fifth-year stu-
dent at the University of Michi-
gan-Dearborn, said the state of
Michigan allocates more money
for people in jail than in the
classroom. According to DeMo-
naco, the state spends about
$42,000 on each prison inmate,
but only about $5,500 on each
student.
"That sounds to me like failure
- a failure to recognize what is
truly important in this state, our
future," DeMonaco said.
State Rep. Joan Bauer (D-Lan-
sing), chair of the House Higher
Education Appropriations Com-
mittee, spoke at the event and
informed the audience that there
may be more cuts in next year's
higher education budget.
In an interview after her
speech, Bauer said there is
already a $1.5-billion hole in the
$7-billion general fund budget for
2011.
"My biggest fear is that if we do
not come up with more revenue in
the budget, that higher education
will face major cuts," Bauer said.
"I wish I had better news."
Brenda Lawrence, Democratic
candidate for Michigan lieuten-
ant governor, told the audience
that funding higher education is
tied to the overall success of the
state. Lawrence added that she
worries about students leaving
the state after they graduate from
college.
"The commitment to Michigan
is strong. The desire to stay in
Michigan is real, but if we don't
continue to invest in this econo-
my through supporting and mak-
ing sure we fund education, you
will get your wonderful education
and leave this great state," Law-
rence said, addressing the group
of students.
Animal rights
watchdog ranked
'U' as the 10th worst
primate lab in U.S.
By ADAM RUBENFIRE
For the Daily
A small group of University stu-
dents held a protest at the inter-
section of Ann and Zina Pitcher
Place Streets Friday, condemning
the University's use of primates in
medical research.
Members of the Michigan Ani-
mal Rights Society protested in
response to a report released by
national research watchdog group
Stop Animal Exploitation NOW!,
which named the University's pri-
mate lab as the 10th "worst lab" in
the country.
According to a SAEN press
release, United States Department
of Agriculture reports show the
University performed experiments
on 82 primates, none of whom
received pain relievers during the
tests. The University of Michigan
Health System website states that
researchers use primates to con-
duct artificial joint replacement,
coronary bypass surgery and
organ transplants.
However, less than 1 percent of
animals used in research are pri-
mates, according to the UMHS
website. The website states that
primates are only used "when
there is no acceptable alternative."
School of Public Policy senior
Joseph Varilone, a MARS member,
organized the protest. Varilone
said he opposes research that is
conducted on primates as well as
the internment of animals.
"I don't think it's right that
we hold animals," Varilone said.
"Imagine if you were in a cage for
all your life. You would go crazy."
The protesters gathered on the
corner and held signs that read,
"It's not the animals who need
their heads examined." The pro-
test even prompted a University
bus driver to stop her bus on Ann
Street to encourage the protest-
ers to continue their demonstra-
tion.
Varilone said MARS, a Univer-
sity-recognized student organiza-
tion, was formed in,1997 in order
to raise awareness about campus
issues concerning animal exploita-
tion.
In addition to Friday's pro-
test, MARS is currently lobbying
UMHS to stop using animals in the
training for their Survival Flight
program. In September the animal
rights group People for the Ethi-
cal Treatment of Animals filed a
formal complaint with the USDA
about the Survival Flight program,
which uses cats and pigs to train
nurses to perform some medical
procedures.
Sonya Molina, a graduate stu-
dent in the School of Social Work,
participated in Friday's protest.
"I came out to support the cause
that people need to become aware
of what's going on in their own
community, especially at the Uni-
versity of Michigan's hospital,"
Molina said.
According to Molina, Michigan
State University has banned pri-
mate testing in its research labo-
ratories. She said the University
of Michigan should follow its lead
and do the same.
Dr. Howard Rush, associate
professor and director of the Unit
for Laboratory Animal Medicine
in the Medical School, is respon-
sible for the care of animals used
in University research labs, In an
interview Rush said that UMHS's
policies are "formed by the law and
standards pertaining to the use of
animals in research."
"We do not have any citations
from the Department of Agricul-
ture on our use of primates," he
said.
Rush said primates are mainly
used to test treatments for drug
addiction or vascular disease and
involve a limited number of ani-
mals.
Rush, who attended the pro-
test, said the allegations by SAEN
Executive Director Michael Bud-
kie concerning the mistreatment
of primates are based on Budkie's
personal opinion.
"I find it hard to believe that the
Department of Agriculture, that
is responsible for inspecting our
facilities, has missed all the things
Mr. Budkie claims are occurring
here," Rush said.
Cholera outbreak threatens
1.3M survivors at Haiti camp
Disease sickens
3,000 Haitians,
leaves 250 dead
A cholera outbreak that already
has left 250 people dead and more
than 3,000 sickened is at the
doorstep of an enormous poten-
tial breeding ground: the squalid
camps in Port-au-Prince where
1.3 million earthquake survivors
live. Health authorities and aid
workers are scrambling to keep
the tragedies from merging and
the deaths from multiplying.
Five cholera patients have
been reported in Haiti's capi-
tal, heightening worries that the
disease could reach the sprawl-
ing tent slums where abysmal
hygiene, poor sanitation, and
widespread poverty could rap-
idly spread it. But government
officials said Sunday that all five
apparently got cholera outside
Port-au-Prince, and they voiced
hope that the deadly bacterial
disease could be confined to the
rural areas where the outbreak
originated last week.
"It's not difficult to prevent the
spread to Port-au-Prince. We can
prevent it," said Health Ministry
director Gabriel Timothee. He
said tightly limiting movement of
patients and careful disposal of
bodies can stave off a major medi-
cal disaster.
If efforts to keep cholera out
of the camps fail, "The worst
case would be that we have hun-
dreds of thousands of people get-
ting sick at the same time," said
Claude Surena, president of the
Haiti Medical Association. Chol-
era can cause vomiting and diar-
rhea so severe it can kill from
dehydration in hours.
Doctors Without Borders
issued a statement saying that
some Port-au-Prince residents
were suffering from watery diar-
rhea and were being treated at
facilities in the capital city. Chol-
era infection among the patients
had not been confirmed, howev-
er, and aid workers stressed that
diarrhea has not been uncommon
in Port-au-Prince since the earth-
quake.
"Medical teams have treat-
ed many people with watery
diarrhea over the last several
months," Doctors Without Bor-
ders said.
Aid workers in the impover-
ished nation say the risk is magni-
fied by the extreme poverty faced
by people displaced by the Jan. 12
earthquake, which killed as many
as 300,000 people and destroyed
much of the capital city. Haitians
living in the camps risk disease
by failing to wash their hands, or
scooping up standing water and
then proceeding to wash fruits
and vegetables.
"There are limited ways you can
wash your hands and keep your
hands washed with water in slums
like we have here," said Michel
Thieren, an official with the Pan-
American Health Organization in
Haiti. "The conditions for trans-
mission are much higher."
Aid workers are coachingthou-
sands of impoverished families
how best to avoid cholera. Vari-
ous aid groups are providing soap
and water purification tablets
and educating people in Port-au-
Prince's camps about the impor-
tance of washing their hands.
Aid groups also began train-
ing more staff about cholera
and where to direct people with
symptoms. The disease had not
been seen in Haiti for decades,
and many people don't know
about it.
Members of one grassroots
Haitian organization traveled
around Port-au-Prince's camps
booming warnings about chol-
era from speakers in the bed of a
pickup truck.
"Many people have become
sick," announced Etant Dupain,
in front of the Champs de Mars
camp by Haiti's broken national
palace. "If you have a family
member that has diarrhea, bring
them to the hospital immediately.
Have them use separate latrines."
In a promising development,
aid group Partners in Health
said hospital management was
improving in the city at the cen-
ter of the initial outbreak, St.
Marc, which is about a 60-mile
(95-kilometer) drive northwest of
Haiti. Just 300 patients were hos-
pitalized on Saturday, a number
that has decreased by the end of
each day.
A cholera treatment center
in St. Marc is expected to be
functional within the week, and
efforts were ongoing to make
clean water available in rural
communities, especially those
where rivers were the only source
of water.
Some health experts were
hopeful that they will be able to
control the outbreak of cholera in
impoverished Haiti.
"In a way, it couldn't have hap-
pened at a better moment than
now because everyone is on the
field - lots of (non-governmental
organizations), lots of money. We
haven't had any hurricanes so far
this fall but people are here, and
people are prepared," said Marc
Paquette, Haiti director for the
Canadian branch of Medecins du
Monde.
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