'he Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Friday, December 2, 2011 - 3A
NEWS BRIEFS
NIVERSITY CENTER, Mich.
nyder criticizes
Michigan colleges
Gov. Rick Snyder says Michi-
gan's community colleges, uni-
yersities and trade schools should
focus on areas that are in demand
4nd stop "overproducing" gradu-
tes in areas where the state
oesn't need workers.
He made the comment yes-
erday in an appearance at Delta
College in University Center, near
aginaw.
Snyder doesn't say which edu-
ation programs are producing
more graduates than required.
He does say that a current
Sbalance "creates a population
f young talent that cannot find
work in Michigan, is saddled with
debt and is ultimately forced to
ave the state."
ETROIT
Mayor Bing: Move
for state takeover
is premature
Detroit Mayor Dave Bing
yesterday sharply criticized an
1xpected 30-day state review
of the city's troubled finances,
which is a first step toward a pos-
4ible state takeover.
Bing told an evening news con-
rence that Detroit is making
progress on its expected $150 mil-
lion budget deficit and cash flow
iroblems on its own. A spokes-
* an for Bing's office said earlier
,aat a state review could begin as
4arly as Friday.
"We are opposed to the gover-
4or beginning this process," Bing
4aid, with United Auto Workers
Onion President Bob King and
ther labor and political officials
by his side. "We're opposed to an
6mergency manager and we're
making progress and moving
loser than ever to (solving) this
#scal crisis."
IiARRISBURG, Pa.
Iershey school
*ejects~fI- .
ositive teenager
A private boarding school con-
cted with the Hershey choco-
Ste company says it was trying
4p protect other students when it
* enied admission to a Philadel-
4hia-area teenager because he is
IV-positive.
The AIDS Law Project of Penn-
gylvania filed a lawsuit on behalf
4f the unidentified boy in U.S.
]district Court in Philadelphia on
ednesday, claiming the Milton
)tershey School for disadvan-
Sged students violated the Amer-
' ans with Disabilities Act.
School officials acknowledged
at the 13-year-old boy was
4enied admission because of his
iedical condition. They said they
believed it was necessary to pro-
t ct the health and safety of the
,850 others enrolled in the resi-
4ential institution, which serves
* hildren in pre-kindergarten to
2th grade and where students
lve in homes with 10 to 12 others.
ISLAMABAD
A1-Qaida claims it
* has a U.S. hostage
Al-Qaida claimed responsibil-
i4y yesterdays for the kidnapping
cf a 70-year-old American aid
worker in Pakistan in August,
4nd issued a series of demands
for his release.
In a video message posted on
Miilitant websites, al-Qaida lead-
4c Ayman al-Zawahri said War-
sien Weinstein would be released
if the United States stopped
airstrikes in Afghanistan, Paki-
tan, Somalia and Yemen. He
4lso demanded the release of all
41-Qaida and Taliban suspects
4round the world.
"Just as the Americans detain
411 whom they suspect of links to
a1-Qaida and the Taliban, even
remotely, we detained this man
'ho is neck-deep in American
did to Pakistan since the 1970s,"
41-Zawahri said, according to a
anslation provided by the SITE
Antelligence Group, which moni-
Msrs militant messages.
-Compiled from
Daily wire reports
j~he Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Friday, December 2, 2D11 - 3A
'U' study shows specialized
face-learning ability in wasps
Researchers
shocked by insects'
recognization of
wasp faces
By ANDREW SCHULMAN
Daily StaffReporter
Wasps and humans don't have
much in common, but a Univer-
sity study published yesterday
in the journal Science ties them
together in an unexpected bio-
logical way.
The study, authored by Rack-
ham student Michael Sheehan
and Elizabeth Tibbetts, assistant
professor of ecology and evolu-
tionary biology, links the evolu-
tion of specialized face-learning
mechanisms of humans and
wasps. The paper suggests paper
wasps - a species also called
umbrella wasps - learn the faces
of fellow wasps with mecha-
nisms different from those used
to identify other objects. This
is the first study to show such a
high level of specialized facial-
recognition in insects, Sheehan
said.
Sheehan and Tibbetts began
the study in 2008 when they
developed a new method for
training wasps. The technique
was the basis for their study,
in which they attached vary-
ing image pairs to the fork of
a T-shaped maze. The images
included different paper wasp
faces, caterpillar faces, shapes
and computer-altered wasp
faces.
In each trial, Sheehan and Tib-
betts arbitrarily selected which
of the two images would be the
"correct" choice and applied a
mild shock when a wasp touched
the "incorrect" image. Sheehan
and Tibbetts trained 12 wasps
for each pair of images, and each
wasp participated in 40 con-
secutive trials for the same set of
images.
The results indicated that
the wasps chose the "correct"
image of an unaltered wasp face
about three-fourths of the time
- significantly more often than
between two images of geomet-
ric shapes, caterpillar faces and
computer-altered paper wasp
faces.
The team said the results
surprised them, even though
they published a study in 2008
in which they found that paper
wasps have good memories and
base their relations with other
wasps off of past interactions.
"We figured that they would
be able to learn faces," Sheehan
said. "We didn't have a clear
expectation that they would be
so good at it. That was surpris-
ing."
Tibbetts said the wasps' abil-
ity to learn faces was so shocking
that they conducted the experi-
ment additional times after see-
ing the initial results.
Tibbetts said she was sur-
prised to find that the wasps had
significantly more trouble learn-
ing computer-altered wasp faces,
which had their antennas taken
out, than they did learning the
unaltered faces. She hypothe-
sized that it might suggest paper
wasps use antennas to identify
other wasps in the same way that
humans use eyes as identifiers.
According to Sheehan, the
study's significance was further
realized when the experiment
was repeated with a different
wasp species. This separate spe-
cies was unable to distinguish
between the images and seemed
to select them at random. Shee-
han said he believes the paper
wasp developed the capabil-
ity - while the other species did
not - because paper wasps have
multiple queens per nest and
must recognize faces to distin-
guish hierarchy.
"What's cool about this is that
we show that humans and wasps,
they have very similar mecha-
nisms," Sheehan said. "But when
you compare these two species
of wasps that are really similar
- more similar in their lifestyles
than humans and chimpanzees
are - they are totally different
in the way they're able to learn
Evolution has shaped not just
that they're better or worse at
learning visual things but that
they're better at learning faces.
It's kind of bizarrely specific."
Sheehan said the study could
be the starting point for fur-
ther exploration of evolutionary
facial recognition development
in humans.
"It sets up an interesting
system of studying cognition,"
he said. "It might tell us what
aspects of specialization in
humans are specific to humans."
Sheehan added that he did not
know how or, biologically speak-
ing,whythe wasps developed the
specialized cognition. Sheehan
said this question might be an
area for future research.
Tibbetts added that another
possibility could be to further
study the nature of the special-
ized mechanism for face learning
and the differences between the
two wasp species.
strong anti-bullying policies in
place or not.
"The school districts that are
serious about addressing bully-
ing will continue to be serious
about addressing bullying, and
th school dstxjctS xthat ae not..
serious about addressing bul-
lying will, because of this new
law, be able to easily check off a
box that they made a policy, and
they'll continue to not give it
the attention it deserves," Irwin
said.
The Ann Arbor public school
system has an anti-bullying poli-
cy that outlines the definitions of
bullying and harassment and the
punishments for those actions,
Ann Arbor Public Schools Super-
intendent Patricia Green said in
an interview last month. The
policy includes enumerations
such as race, color, nationality,
sexual orientation, gender iden-
tity and "any other distinguish-
ing characteristics."
Liz Margolis, spokeswoman
for the district, said she believes
the policy effectively shields stu-
dents from all forms of bullying.
"I think we need to have some
kind of a list to start out, but it
also allows us to have an opening
in case other things come up,"
Margolis said.
If the bill becomes law, she
added, the district will exam-
ine its policy in a few months to
ensure it is up tostate standards.
Margolis predicted the law
would not significantly affect
the district's policy because it is
already so inclusive.
"It's nice to see that the state
has come through and sup-
ported an anti-bullying policy
for schools," Margolis said. "We
have felt the need for that for a
long time."
UMMA
From Page 1
at UMMA, said the museum will
work with more faculty, guest
curators and students.
"We are going to bring in
exhibitions curated by faculty
and guest curators who are
scholars and artists as well as
working with young people on
campus in various stages of their
career and assisting them to
become future museum profes-
sionals," Slavin said.
UMMA already collaborates
with students in teaching and
learning activities, Slavin said.
The museum has a student pro-
gramming board and serves
approximately 15,000 students
a year in various programs,
according to Slavin.
"We strive to be even more
deeply integrated into the
teaching and learning mission
of Michigan, and this grant is a
huge aid tos to help us accom-
plish our goals," Slavin said.
In March 2009, UMMA com-
pleted a $41.9 million renova-
tion and expansion that added
the 53,000 square-foot Max-
ine and Stuart Frankel and the
Frankel Family Wing to the
museum.
Rosa said UMMA aims to
make art more accessible and
relatable to a wider audience
with the funding from the
grant.
"Our mission is to take our
collection and produce shows
from it, bring in shows and look
at the creative side of it," Rosa
said. "It makes art part of every
day existence. It is seeing art
through a new lens - not just
what one assumes what art must
be - making it a part of every
daylife."
AIDS
From Page 1
2 million people die of AIDS
every year according to a United
Nations report.
Hajj, a graduate student in
the Ford School of Public Policy,
said the virus and disease are
not openly discussed in China,
so she had to spend nearly two
years building rapport within
the community before people
would speak with her about
them.
"The girls really appreciated
it afterwards," Hajj said. "They
couldn't believe that somebody
was so open to talk about it."
Rackham student Elizabeth
Renckens said she encountered
a similar stigma toward discuss-
ing the disease in the western
African nation of Togo, where
she was stationed from 2006 to
2008. While people were open to
talking about HIV and AIDS as
a general problem, she said there
is a stigma in Togo concerning
individuals who are affected by
it. As a result, people with HIV
don't seek the treatment they
need.
"Coming out and saying that
you have HIV is extremely
uncommon, which also means
getting treatment for it becomes,
-extremely difficult," .Renckens
said. "And this also perpetuates
the disease because then people
don't take the precautions they
need to be taking to have safer
sexual relationships."
Spreading information about
HIV and AIDS in Togo was
another problem the volunteers
faced. To educate people, Renck-
ens participated in AIDS Ride,
in which volunteers rode bikes
to rural and remote villages over
a five-day period. During this
time, the volunteers led educa-
tion sessions about HIV by per-
forming skits and lectures for
residents.
Like Hajj, Rackham stu-
dent Scott Burgess, a Univer-
sity Peace Corps coordinator,
worked with schools to increase
HIV and AIDS education. Dur-
ing his service in Paraguay from
2007 to 2009, Burgess traveled
the country with a group of 40
high school students and spoke
on radio shows about health and
sex education.
Burgess said in an interview
at yesterday's event that schools
in Paraguay don't teach students
to have safe sex. Through his
project, he integrated sex educa-
tion into the curriculum.
"They didn't have any sex ed
in the middle schools or high
schools whatsoever," Burgess
said. "If kids got any sort of talk
like that it was informal or in the
family."
The purpose of Burgess's
project was to start a dialogue
among the high school stu-
dents to promote HIV and AIDS
awareness.
"Students really learn a lot
better from other students,"
Burgess said. "It's really hard to
hear that from people like teach-
ers or talking with family."
School of Public Health stu-
dent Theresa Dreyer said she
went to yesterday's presentation
because she is interested in vol-
unteering for the Peace Corps
and working internationally in
the health field. A position in
the Peace Corps maybe easier to
-obtain than a job-in health care,
she added.
"Any entry-level position that
you have is going to have 200
applicants for the same position;
it's highly competitive," Dreyer
said. "Peace Corps will take you
without five to 10 years of work
experience, which most people
ask for."
Also in attendance at yes-
terday's event, School of Public
Health student Linda Schultz
said she has worked in Japan,
but would like to apply her expe-
rience working in health clinics
in a developingcountry.
"I'd be willing to go any-
where," Schultz said. "You
should be taking your skills and
applying itto where it's needed."
implement policies to shield
them from bullying.
From Page 1 "That was my goal - to make
sure that we give a Christmas
"false argument" because they present to the children of Michi-
have traditionally been hedged gan and pass a bill that ensures
by thelanguage,"including, but that their school will have a pol-y
not limited to." She criticized icy," he said.
an earlier bill Jones introduced Unlike Adler and other state
on Feb. 10 for excluding enu- Republicans, Jones said he was
merations and requirements for not opposed to enumerations
schools to report their progress or provisions that would have
to the state. required school districts to sub-
Warren and other state leg- mit reports to the state. Howev-
islators vehemently denounced er, including the measures in the
Jones's Senate bill, passed in the bill could have made itpolitically
chamber Nov. 2, for a clause that unviable.
prohibited schools from punish- "The process has already
ing "a statement of a sincerely stalled at least five years," Jones
held religious belief or moral said. "In the meantime, we've
conviction of a school employee, had students commit suicide
schoolvolunteer, pupil or a pupil's who were bullied, and we've had
parent or guardian" as bullying. students leave school who were
In an interview on Nov. 8, bullied. It's our job to compro-
Jones said he was open to remov- mise and get a policy in place."
ing the clause, which a caucus The chance to pass any anti-
attorney added at the last min- bullying legislation after 10
ute for the sake of compromise. years of political impasse even
The House rejected Jones's convinced some critics, like
Senate bill and began working state Rep. Jeff Irwin (D-Ann
on a replacement on Nov. 9 that Arbor), to vote for a bill they said
would resolve differences of would be ineffective. Though he
opinion between Democrats and voted for the bill, Irwin called it
Republicans, Adler said. "vastly weaker" than he would
The House passed the rewrit- have liked because the absence
ten bill excluding the enumera- of enumerations will deprive
tions Nov. 10, just before the schools of the tools they need to
two-week legislative recess that prevent bullying.
ended Monday. The bill passed "It's a baby step, and I'm not
in the Senate Tuesday without goingto vote against a baby step,
amendments. but I'm a little bit frustrated that
On Wednesday, Adler and we didn't take the step that we
Jones praised the bill for finding should have taken and the pub-
compromise between Democrat- lic was calling for," Irwin said.
it and Republican viewpoints "They really failed at what the
and ending more than a decade whole effort was trying to do in
of struggle over the legislation. the first place."
Jones said it was important to Irwin predicted that the bill
pass the bill so students under- will not affect school districts,
stand their schools must now whether they already have
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GORDON
From Page 1
Gordon represents former
Michigan Student Assembly
President Chris Armstrong,
who Shirvell claimed was pro-
moting a "radical homosexual
agenda" as leader of the stu-
dent government.
Gordon said in an interview
yesterday that Shirvell's "accu-
sation" of Gordon's interfer-
ence, which was filed on Oct.
27, is "truly absurd." Shirvell
also filed a motion on Nov. 17
to have her removed from the
case. Gordon's motion claims
Shirvell is trying to prevent her
from representing Armstrong
because Shirvell knows he is
"no match for Gordon in the
Armstrong litigation."
Gordon said she is confi-
dent the court will dismiss
Shirvell's counts, including
his claim that she unfairly
influenced special investiga-
tor Mike Ondejko during his
investigation of Shirvell for
"job-related impropriety."
"I can't predict what any
judge or court is going to do,
but it seems to me like a really
clear cut situation," Gordon
said. "This count of the com-
plaint should definitely be dis-
missed."
According to the court state-
ment, Shirvell's complaint does
not explain how Gordon influ-
enced Ondejko and notes that
Shirvell was at a hearing in
which Ondejko testified that
Gordon did not contact him
prior to the completion of his
investigation.
Gordon's motion states that
in his case against Armstrong
Shirvell offered a different
explanation for his termination
than he did in his complaint
against Gordon.
"Notably, this assertion
poses an entirely different
explanation for Shirvell's ter-
mination than he takes in this
case, i.e., laying the blame on
Christopher Armstrong where-
as here he blames Gordon," the
motion states.
Gordon said Shirvell's accu-
sation of defamation is unwar-
ranted and will also likely be
dismissed.
"He claims that every-
thing I've said about him to
the media is defamation, but
he claims everything he said
about Chris Armstrong is not
defamation," she said. "But
me saying he's irresponsible is
defamation?"
In the event the court does
not dismiss the complaint, Gor-
don said there will be other
opportunities for her to ask the
court to reverse the claims.
"The kind of motion I have
filed is a very early motion, and
there'll be other chances if the
court does not dismiss it at this
time (and) other opportunities
through the course of the case
for me to file a motion asking
for the court to dismiss it," she
said.