2A - Wednesday, January 12, 2011 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com I 2A - Wednesday, January12, 2011 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom MONDAY: TUESDAY: * * THURSDAY: FRIDAY: MONDAY: TUESDAY: WEDNESDAY: THURSDAY: FRIDAY: In Other Ivory Towers Questions on Campus Professor Profiles Campus Clubs Photos of the Week ASKING FOR ACCOMODATIONS The accidental sociologist Sociology lecturer PJ McGann became involved in her field on a whim. "I took this intro sociology class just for the hell of it. The professor was boring, but the material was intriguing," she said. Arriving at the University in 2001, McGann has taught sever- al topics ranging from sexuality and gender to deviance. "At first I was a little nervous to teach a 100-level course - I hadn't done that since '95, but then I realized that first-year students have so much growth in them and are so engaged. It's a very rewarding experience," she said. Like her classes, McGann's research projects also span many topics within the field. Working with Rackham student David Hutson, she is currently in the final stages of completing a book about the sociology of medical diagnoses. "The book about the sociol- ogy of diagnosis is a brand new book for a brand new field," McGann said. "What we hope to do is set the initial terms of the debate." McGann is also working on the Ponytails Project, a study with the University of Southern California regarding the image and gender norms of female student-athletes. Addition- ally, she's writing a book about tomboys titled, "The Ballfields of Our Hearts: Tomboys, Femi- ninity, and the Gendered Body," which is an original topic in the area of study. McGann said she hopes her research will have a lasting impact on the field of sociology and that The Ponytails Project can have an impact on athletic policies concerning gender. Concentrating in emergency medical care and athletic train- ing, McGann received a bach- elor's degree and a master's degree from Minnesota State University. ShOe completed her Ph.D. at Brandeis University. McGann said her passion for teaching stems from many inspirations, including her edu- cation. "On a personal level, college transformed me, and I love to lea-n, so to me, loving teaching is an extension of loving learn- ing," McGann said. "On a more social level, I truly believe that education can be a force for good in society. It is so reward- ing to help a student reach that 'a ha' moment when they finally understand a concept." -JENNIFER DOMINGUE 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1327 www.michigandaily.com STEPHANIE STEINBERG BRAD WILEY Editer in Chief Business Manager 734-418-4115 et. 1251 734-418-4115 ext. 1241 steinberg@michigandaily.com tmdbusiness@gmait.com CONTACT INFORMATION Newsroom office hours: Sun.-Thur.11,.a. 2 am. 734-418-4115 apt.3 News Tips news@michigandaily.com Cotrrectiascorrections@michigandaily.om Letterstothe Editor tothedaily@michigandaily.com Photography Department photo@michigandaily.com Arts Section artspage@michigandaily.com Editorial Page opinion@michigandaily.com Sports Section sports@mihigandaily.com Display Sales display@mihigandaily.com Classified Sales classifed@michigandaily.com Online Sales onlineads@michigandaily.con Finance finance@michigandaily.com EDITORIAL STAFF Kyle Swanson Managing Editor swanson@michigandaily.com Nicole Aber Managing News Editor aber@michigandaily.com SENIOR NEWS EDITORS: Bethany Biron, Dylan Cinti, Caitlin Huston, Joseph Lichterman, DevonThorsby AsSIST EWS EDORSRahBusarCroscicki,Suzanne Jacobs,Mike MrarMichleNo, BriennPrusak,aitlitnillias Michelle DeWittland opinioneditors@nichigandaily.com Emily Orley EditorialPage Editor SEIORDTORALPAGEEDOSAidAliA s hey ,4iesha'nnHasnhPdandrang Tin Rohan and sportseditors@michigandaily.com Nick Spar Managing Sports Editor SENIORSPORTS EDITORS:MarkBurns,MichaelFlorek,ChantelJennings,RyanKartie, Stephen J. 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AdditionaicopiesmaybepickedupattheDaly'sofficefor$2.Subscriptionsforfallterm,startingin September,via USmailare $110. Winter term(anuary through Apri is$115,yearlong(September through Apri) is $19. University affililates are subject to areduced subscription rate. On-campus subscriptionsfor falitermare$35. Subscriptions must be prepaid. The MichiganDaily is amembe ofTheAssociatedPressandTheAssociatedCollegiatePress. CRIME NOTES CAMPUS EVENTS & NOTES Peeper gets a No ink trail for IFC mass peak, gets away missing toner meeting WHERE: Northwood I WHERE: Medical Science WHAT: Universit WHEN: Monday at about Unit II dents interested in 10:30 a.m. WHEN: Monday at about 9 an fraternity withi WHAT: A female University a.m. Interfraternity Coi student called police after WHAT: Two toner cartridges invited to meet stu observing a man staring in last seen on January 7 were IFC chapters and I her window, University Police reported missing by a staff the recruitment pr reported. Police searched the member over the weekend, WHO: Office of Gr area but were not able to locate University Police reported. WHEN: Today at7 the man. WHERE: Ballroon y stu- joining in in the uncil are dents from earn about ocess. reek Life 7:00 p.m. m, Failure to stop a Door to the head . crashing success WHERE: North Quad WHEN: Sunday at about 11:30 p.m. WHAT: A male student was taken to MWorks for treatment after being hit in the head by a door, Univer- sity Police reported. It is not known whether the student was hurt in the incident. WHERE: Lot NW-10, 2153 Hubbard WHEN: Monday at about 9:30 a.m. WHAT: A driver was cited for failure to stop after causing a minor traffic accident in which nobody was injured, Univer- sity Police reported. Michigan Union Fundraiser for Haiti WHAT: Members of the NSBE will be collecting funds on North Campus for Haitan earthquake victims to commemorate the first anniversary of the disaster. WHO: National Society of Black Engineers WHEN: Today from 9 a.m. to 5 a.m. WHERE: North Campus Jazz performance WHAT: Trombonist Vincent Chandler, an 'U' Alum, will be performing in a quartet that includes three 'U' Jazz department students. WHO: Museum of Art WHEN: Today at 8 p.m. WHERE: Forum, Museum of Art Chillin' on the Diag WHAT: Students are invited to kick off the water- themed semester with an ice percussion concert. WHO: LSA WHEN: Today at 12 p.m. WHERE: The Diag CORRECTIONS " Please report any error in the Daily to corrections@michi- gandaily.com. According to research conducted by Citigroup, the rate of decline of the amount of smokers in the Unit- ed Kingdom could result in the disppearance of the habit by 2050, The Telegraph reported. Smoking has been shown to be on the decline since the 1960s. Today, the Michigan men's basketball team is looking to avenge last sea- son's buzzer-beater loss to the Buckeyes at 6:30p.m. at Crisler Arena. It will be the Wolver- ines' second straight contest against a top-5 opponent. >FOR MORE, SEE PAGE 8A Despite the use of elec- tronic sales tracking sys- tems and buying limits in drug stores, the metham- phetamine epidemic has not slowed, the Associated Press reported. The increased track- ing is believed to have brought. more people into the trade. Religious crackdown results inI P arrest of 70Christians inIran Grass-roots 'hard- liners' targeted by authorities DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - Iran has arrested about 70 Christians since Christmas in a crackdown that demonstrates the limits of religious tolerance by Islamic leaders who often boast they provide room for other faiths. The latest raids have targeted grass-roots Christian groups Iran describes as "hard-liners" who pose a threat to the Islamic state. Authorities increasingly view them with suspicions that range from trying to convert Muslims to being possible footholds for for- eign influence. Christian activists claim their Iranian brethren are being per- secuted simply for worshipping outside officially sanctioned main- stream churches. Caught in the middle is the small community of Iranian Christians who get together for prayer and Bible readings in private residenc- es and out of sight of authorities. They are part of a wider "house church" movement that has taken root in other places with tight con- trols on Christian activities such as China and Indonesia. Iran's constitution gives pro- tected status to Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians, but many reli- gious minorities sense growing pressures from the Islamic state as hard-edged forces such as the powerful Revolutionary Guard exert more influence. There are few social barriers separat- ing Muslims and Iran's religious minorities such as separate neigh- borhoods or universities. But they are effectively blocked from high government and military posts. Iran has claimed as a point of pride that it makes space for other religions. It reserves parliament seats for Jewish and Christian lawmakers and permits church- es - Roman Catholic, Armenian Orthodox and others - as well as synagogues and Zoroastrian tem- ples that are under sporadic watch by authorities. Religious celebra- tions are allowed, but no political messages or overtones are toler- ated. In past years, authorities have staged arrests on Christians and other religious minorities, but the latest sweeps appears to be among the biggest and most coordinated. In the West, the followers are drawn to house churches because of the intimate sense of religious fellowship and as an alternative to established denominations. In places such as Iran, however, there also is the effort to avoid monitor- ing of sanctioned churches from Islamic authorities - who have kept closer watch on religious minorities since the chaos after hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's disputed election in 2009. Groups monitoring Christian affairs in the Islamic world say Iranian authorities see the unreg- ulated Christian gatherings as both a potential breeding ground for political opposition and sus- pect they may try to convert Mus- lim in violation of Iran's strict apostasy laws - which are com- mon throughout the Muslim world and have at times fed extremist violence against Christians and others. Tehran Governor Morteza Tamadon described the Christians as "hard-line" missionaries who have "inserted themselves into Islam like a parasite," according to the official Islamic Republic News Agency. He also suggested that the Christians could have links to Britain - an accusation within Iran that refers to political oppo- sition groups Tehran claims are backed by the West. The crackdown by Iran reso- nates forcefully across the Middle East at a time when other Chris- tian communities feel under siege following deadly attacks against churches in Egypt and Iraq - bloodshed that was noted Monday by Pope Benedict XVI in an appeal for protection of religious minori- ties. The suicide blast in Egypt's Mediterranean port of Alexandria on Jan. 1, which killed 21 Coptic Christian worshippers, followed threats by al-Qaida in Iraq over claims that Coptic leaders forced two women who converted to Islam to return to Christianity - allegations that church leaders deny. "It's the nature of the house churches tha worries Iran. It's all about possible converts," said Fleur Brading, a researcher for Middle East and North Africa at Christian Solidarity Worldwide, a British-based group the follows Christian rights issues around the world. "It's a very specific and pin- point strike by Iran." Iran's religious minorities rep- resent about 2 percent of the pop- ulation and include communities with deep connections to their faiths. Iran's ethnic Armenian minority dates back to early Chris- tianity, and the Jewish celebration of Purim is built around the story of the Persian-born Esther. Even Iran's Islamic Revolution could not stamp out the influence of the pre-Muslim Zoroastrian faith, including its new year's holi- day Norooz in March. The wave of arrests began Christmas morning and since then, opposition websites have reported 70 Christians arrested, including those regarded as pas- tors in the house church move- ment. Many were later released, but the reports say more than a dozen remain in detention and officials have hinted more raids are possible. It's still unclear what charges could be brought against the jailed Christians. But allegations of try- ing to convert Muslims could bring a death sentence. Brading, however, expects Ira- nian authorities could opt for political charges rather than reli- gious-linked allegations to soften a possible international outcry. Iran is already struggling against a campaign opposing the death- by-stoning for an Iranian woman convicted of adultery as well as international pressure over its nuclear program. "The use of the word mission- aries instead of evangelicals is an intentional move by the govern- ment," she said. "As evangelicals, they are a group entitled to their faith. As missionaries, they are enemies of the state seeking to corrupt its people." In recent months, some mem- bers of Iran's Armenian commu- nity also have been detained on unspecified allegations of working to undermine the state, the Irani- an Christian News Agency report- ed. Iranian officials have not given details of the reported detentions. A local resident walks past a flooded building as the Brisbane river burst its banks to cause widespread flooding in Brisbane, Australia, yesterday. Eastern Australia has been hit by weeks-long flooding that has left farmland and small towns devastated. 20 killed, over 90 missing in deadly Australian flash floods Flooding has devastated the country since Nov. BRISBANE, Australia (AP) - For weeks, the flooding in eastern Australia has been a slow-motion disaster, with drenching rain dev- astating wide swaths of farmland and small towns. Now, rivers are' rising in Brisbane, the country's third-largest city, forcing people to flee both suburbs and skyscrap- ers. Flooding that has unfolded since late November across the waterlogged state of Queensland turned suddenly violent Monday, with a cloudburst sending a rag- ing torrent down the Lockyer Val- ley west of Brisbane. Hundreds had to be rescued by helicopter yesterday. Greg Kowald was driving through the center of the town of Toowoomba when the terrifying wall of water roared through the streets, carrying away cars and people. "The water was literally leaping, six or 10 feet into the air, through creeks and over bridges and into parks," Kowald, 53, told The Asso- ciated Press yesterday. "There was nowhere to escape, even if there had been warnings. There was just a sea of water about a kilometer (a half-mile) wide." The flash flood killed 10 people and left more than 90 missing, Quensland Premier Anna Bligh said today. That raised to 20 the number of confirmed dead in all the previous weeks from high water. Helicopters and other emer- gency vehicles were moving into the worst-hit towns in the valley today, and Bligh warned that the death toll would likely rise. Windows exploded, cars bobbed in the churning brown water and people desperately clung to power poles to survive in Toowoomba. Queensland Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson described it as "an inland instant tsunami." "What we saw in Toowoom- ba was the water rise at light- ning speed. Mother Nature has unleashed something shocking out of the Toowoomba region and we've seen it move very quickly down the range," Bligh said. In Brisbane, 80 miles (130 kilometers) east of Toowoomba, Mayor Campbell Newman said almost 20,000 homes in low-' lying areas of the city of about 2 million were expected to be swamped by tomorrow, when the river system is expected to crest near the levels of a devastating 1974 flood. "This is a truly dire set of cir- cumstances," Prime Minister Julia Gillard told Australian Broadcast- ing Corp. television. The Brisbane River broke its banks yesterday and was continu- ing its rise today - partly con- trolled by a huge dam upstream that has had its floodgates opened because it is brimming after weeks of rain across the state. Some streets and riverside parks were covered with water, though no major flooding was reported early today. The city of Ipswich, home to about 15,000 people, was being hit by the water heading Bris- bane's way. Floodwaters reached the awnings of stores in the town, where some 3,000 properties were expected to be swamped, Mayor Paul Pisasale said. To the west, a deluge of up to 6 inches (150 millimeters) in a half-hour fell over a concentrated area Monday, sending a 26-foot (eight-meter), fast-moving torrent crashing through Toowoomba and smaller towns. The flash flood dropped as quickly as it came, leaving debris and cars piled together. "There was water coming down everywhere in biblical propor- tions," Toowoomba council mem- ber Joe Ramia told the AP. When the flood struck, he parked his car and ran for higher ground while watching the car- nage below: cars turned into scrap metal and flung into a railway line; giant metal industrial bins tossed about as if made of paper; a man clinging desperately to a power pole as the relentless tide surged around him. A rescuer pushed through the churning water and yanked the man to safety as Ramia watched. Others, including five children, were swept to their deaths.