The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Friday, October 5, 2012 - 3

The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Friday, October 5, 2012 - 3

NEWS BRIEFS
YPSILANTI, Mch.
Factory worker
killed over review
Authorities in Washtenaw
County say a man got in a dispute
with a co-worker over his job
performance at a metal plating
factory, then shot him to death.
Ypsilanti police Sgt. Thomas
Eberts tells AnnArbor.com that
the shooting happened about 4
4 p.m. Wednesday near the Marsh
Plating Corp. factory.
Eberts says the two argued
about "an issue of job perfor-
mance." He says they decided
to settle the dispute nearby, and
a 34-year-old resident of Ypsi-
lanti Township repeatedly shot
29-year-old Superior Township
resident Bhagavan Allen with a
.45-caliber handgun.
HOUSTON
American charged
with selling secrets
A naturalized U.S. citizen
accused of illicitly obtaining
military cutting-edge microelec-
tronics for Russia formally heard
the charges against him Thurs-
day in a case reminiscent of the
Cold War era.
Alexander Fishenko and six
others made their initial appear-
ance Thursday in Houston feder-
al court. They did not enter pleas.
An eighth defendant appeared in
court Wednesday.
An indictment unsealed
Wednesday accuses Fishenko of
schemingtopurposelyevadestrict
export controls for cutting-edge
microelectronics. It also charges
Fishenko with money laundering
and operating inside the United
States as an unregistered agent of
the Russian government.
CIUDAD ACUNA, Mexico
Soldiers deployed
after politician's
newphew killed
The Mexican government dis-
patched troops, federal police and
* criminal investigators to a vio-
lence-torn state on the U.S. border
on Thursday after the assassina-
tion of the governor's nephew sent
tremors through one of Coahuila's
most powerful political families.
Jose Eduardo Moreira, a
25-year-old state employee, was
found shot to death Wednesday
night on a rural road outside the
town of Ciudad Acuna, across the
border from Del Rio, Texas. The
victim's father, Humberto, was
the state's previous governor and
also served as head of the party
that won this year's presidential
elections, though he was forced
out last year amid accusations of
mismanaging Coahuila's finances.
Coahuila has been hit by waves
of drug cartel-related violence,
some of which has targeted state
and local officials. The state has
been dominated by the ultra-vio-
lent, paramilitary Zetas cartel,

but the powerful Sinaloa criminal
organization is trying to wrest
control of key smuggling routes in
some areas.
BAGHDAD, Iraq
American jailed for
aiding al-Qaida
An Iraqi court has sentenced an
American citizen to life in prison
on charges of assisting al-Qaida
and financing terrorist activities
in Iraq, according to a government
statement released Thursday.
The Interior Ministry said
Omar Rashad Khalil, 53, was
recruited by al-Qaida in Iraq in
2005. Khalil, an architectural
engineer, is of Palestinian descent
and entered the country in 2001,
the ministry statement said.
The ministry released excerpts
from a confession it said Khalil
made in which he allegedly admit-
ted to receiving money from a
Syrian man in the United Arab
Emirates to pay for terror attacks.
Khalil, who the ministry said
was also known as Abu Moham-
med, was sentenced by Baghdad's
central criminalcourtonWednes-
day. Iraqi government officials
could not immediately be reached
for more details.
-Compiled from
Daily wire reports

FIRST GEN
From Page 1
- said the club provides her
with a support network of stu-
dents experiencing the same
uneasiness she felt when she first
arrived at the University.
"We're from schools where a
lot of our students don't usually
come to universities like this,"
Johnson said. "When I first came
I didn't even identify as a first
gen, so this group has been really
helpful."
She said her parents and older
sister encouraged her to pursue
a college education, and she rose
to the challenge, graduating as
valedictorian of her high school
class.
"My parents really pushed me
and my sisters to go to college,"
she said."School was everything."
Johnson said it can be difficult
for first-generation students to
interact in a university setting,
since they aren't accustomed to
the system.
"Financial aid is a hassle
sometimes because no one in
our family has done it before,"
she said. "I know my roommate's
like, 'Yeah my parents edited my
paper for me,' and I'm like 'My
parents would have no idea how
to do that."'
Carson Phillips, an LSA junior
and president of First Gens, said
the club abides by "Three Rs" -
raise awareness, resolve and rec-
ognize.
"We just try to present our
group as a resource for other
students, and support and help
them," Phillips said. "I think one
of the biggest struggles for most
of the first gens is the lack of a
support network."
He said one of the organi-
zation's biggest challenges is
SLIPPERY ROCK
From Page 1
1979 against Shippensburg in
front of a crowd of a Division-
II record 61,143 fans and again
in 1981 against Wayne State.
More recently, Michigan hon-
ored members of the Slippery
Rock football team and ath-
letic department during a game
against Wisconsin in 2010.
The announcement of Slip-
pery Rock scores had long been
a tradition in Michigan Stadium
dating back to 1959 when fans
cheered the school with the
funny-sounding name. The tra-
dition spread to other schools,
and Slippery Rock has played

garnering membership from stu-
dents concerned about a stigma,
noting that of the 1,500 first-
generation undergraduates, only
about 15 regularly come to meet-
ings.
"The University focuses a lot
on diversity on the racial level
and on sexuality and a lot of
different areas," he said. "But I
think that social class and stuff
like that isn't discussed at this
University."
Phillips said the club would
like the University to recognize
that diversity transcends more
than just race or sexual orienta-
tion, and is largely embedded in
socioeconomic status.
Greg Merritt, a senior associate
director for University Housing,
encouraged a first-generation stu-
dent to form the club in 2007. As
a first-generation student himself,
Merrit recalled experiencing the
same problems first-generation
students dotoday.
"I felt it important ... that I
could and should give back to
current first gen students and
hoped that I could offer an expe-
rience that could resonate," Mer-
ritt said.
Elise Harper, the student ser-
vices manager for undergraduate
and graduate programs in the
Political Science department and
a group mentor, said she became
interested in how first gen stu-
dents identify themselves during
her graduate studies at Eastern
Michigan University.
"I've heard many students
say that having First Gens as
a place to go, even if only to lis-
ten, made a difference in their
Michigan experience," Harper
said. "Sometimes (the club) even
helped them make the decision
to stay enrolled when they con-
sidered transferring or leaving
school."
games at places including Fen-
way Park, in 1937, and the Rose
Bowl in 1964. Michigan Athletic
Director revived the tradition
of announcing Slippery Rock's
scores at home games in 2010.
The Michigan men's basket-
ball team will open its regu-
lar-season schedule this year
against Slippery Rock on Nov. 9.
SlipperyRockPresidentCher-
yl Norton said in an interview
that a potential game at Michi-
gan Stadium would ensure that
football is a "bridge between the
two institutions."
"I think it would be a won-
derful exchange between the
schools that started 35 years ago
and hopefully will continue,"
Norton said.

PATRICK BARRON/Daily
Panelists speak at a Q&A panel at the Sex and Justice Conference in Rackham Auditorium on Thursday.

From Page 1A
that a person's multiple identities
are not mutually exclusive and
cannot be examined separately
from each other.
Leading academics, legal
experts and activists invested
in the causes will give presenta-
tions and lectures. Topics range
from "The Right to Know: Public
Documents and How to Access
Them," to "Controlling Deviant
Sex," to "How Criminalization
Affects People Living With HIV
in Ontario."
The conference will also fea-
ture smaller workshops and
panel discussions between lec-
tures. On Saturday, there will be
a catered brunch and film screen-
ing of "HIV is Not a Crime," a
film that investigates laws that
treat HIV-positive individuals
unfairly.
Robert Suttle - a conference

speaker and member of the Sero
Project, a not-for-profit human
rights group working to end the
stigma attached to HIV - said
learning from the presenters
who study other topics has been a
highlightof the conference so far.
"To have other people come
and speak about other issues
that are somehow related, yet
we don't really focus on, is a big
help," Suttle said. "A lot of times
you think you're the only one ...
talking about certain issues."
He said the conference seeks
to unite scholars who focus on
sex issues with those who study
justice issues, which provides a
rare opportunity to learn about
the topics in a new context.
Public Health student Tori
Adams, who works in the Uni-
versity's Sexuality and Health
Lab, said she attended Thurs-
day's lectures because of her
work with sex, social justice and
non-profit organizations.

"Hearing about the political
climate in a bunch of different
areas, I'm disconnected with
what's happening," Adams said.
"I don't really know a lot about
the specific state laws ... but I've
been learning a lot, I've been tak-
ing a lot of notes."
LSA junior Audrey Armit-
age said she came because she is
interested in social justice issues,
as well as sex-positivity, a move-
ment that promotes the accep-
tance of all sexualities. She said
she was particularly inspired
by the "Who's Family?" work-
shop she attended Thursday
which discussed how the 1980s,
the drug wars and HIV shaped
homophobia in the black com-
munity.
"It was just a really, really
good conversation," Armitage
said. "It's good to talk about the
intersectionality of all of these
issues ... about how they all fit
together."

Meningitis outbreak widens,
thousands of patients at risk

RANKINGS The University ranked 12th
on the list of institutions with
From Page 1 the best world reputations.
reputation, which measures a - Daily Staff Reporter Molly
university's global brand. Block contributed to this report.

HARVEST FEST
From Page 1
den on campus.
UMSFP oversees a number
of other sustainable food initia-
tives, and it utilizes the Student
Campus Farm as its master's
project. Rackham student Lind-
sey MacDonald, program man-
ager of UMSFP, said the idea for
a campus farm spurred from the
Campus Sustainability Integrat-
ed Assessment, an organization
where students report and make
recommendations on a number
of sustainability issues.
University administrators
initially dismissed the idea of a
student farm due to the amount
of work it would entail, but Mac-
Donald said their persistence
eventually led to the establish-
ment of a farm that educates
students and provides food for
campus dininghalls.
LSA senior Lauren Bariont, a
participant in the class project
that initiated the farm's develop-
ment, worked with MacDonald
to write a grant proposal for the
Planet Blue Student Innovation
Fund, which resulted in $42,000
to open the farm. The money was
contingent on receiving addi-
tional funding for a full-time
farm manager, according to Mac-
Donald.
If the grant money comes
through, it will cover costs like
a hoophouse, equipment and
sheds, butUMSFP is still looking
for a farm manager to begin by

next spring.
UMSFP has also reached out
out to University departments
and faculty members who might
be willing to integrate food sys-
tem education into their classes,
like Joe Trumpey, an associate
professor of natural resources,
who is teaching a class this
semester on sustainable food
design through the Penny W.
Stamps School of Art & Design.
MacDonald said the energy
she and her peers experiences
inspired her to collaborate with
existing food groups on campus.
"The second someone learns
about what is happening with
sustainable food on campus they
are excited about it and they
want to get involved," Macdon-
ald said. "But so many people still
haven't heard."
MacDonald added it's impor-
tant to emphasize the difference
between"hippies" andthose par-
ticipating in farming and envi-
ronmental work.
"Everybody makes decisions
about what they eat every day,"
MacDonald said. "I think it's
a social thing too. I'm trying
to figure out how to get people
engaged that aren't engaged just
based on their interest in dirt."
LSAjuniorClaire Jaffe attend-
ed the event said she is in sup-
portive of a UMSFP's efforts.
"This campus farm is a really
important addition to our Uni-
versity," Jaffe said. "I think it's
a long time coming, I think it
should have happened a long
time ago.

Thirty five people
in six states have
contracted the
infection
NEW YORK (AP) - The
potential scope of the menin-
gitis outbreak that has killed at
least five people widened dra-
matically Thursday as health
officials warned that hundreds,
perhaps thousands, of patients
who got steroid back injections
in 23 states could be at risk.
Clinics and medical centers
rushed to contact patients who
may have received the appar-
ently fungus-contaminated
shots. And the Food and Drug
Administration urged doctors
not to use any products at all
from the Massachusetts phar-
macy that supplied the suspect
steroid solution.
It is not clear how many
patients received tainted injec-
tions, oreven whether everyone
who got one will get sick.
So far, 35 people in six states
- Tennessee, Virginia, Mary-
land, Florida, North Carolina
and Indiana - have contracted
fungal meningitis, and five of
them have died, according to
the Centers for Disease Con-
trol and Prevention. All had
received steroid shots for back
pain, a highly common treat-
ment.
In an alarming indication the
outbreak could get a lot bigger,
Massachusetts health officials
said the pharmacy involved,
the New England Compound-
ing Center of Framingham,
Mass., has recalled three lots
consisting of a total of 17,676
single-dose vials of the steroid,
preservative-free methylpred-
nisolone acetate.
An unknown number of
those vials reached 75 clin-
ics and other facilities in 23
states between July and Sep-
tember, federal health officials
said. Several hundred of the
vials, maybe more, have been
returned unused, one Massa-

chusetts official said.
But many other vials were
used. At one clinic in Evansville,
Ind., more than 500 patients got
shots from the suspect lots, offi-
cials said. At two clinics in Ten-
nessee, more than 900 patients
- perhaps many more - did.
The investigation began
about two weeks ago after a
case was diagnosed in Tennes-
see. The time from infection to
onset of symptoms is anywhere
from a few days to a month, so
the number of people stricken
could rise.
Investigators this week
found contamination in a sealed
vial of the steroid at the New
England company, according to
FDA officials. Tests are under
way to determine if it is the
same fungus blamed in the out-
break.
The company has shut down
operations and said it is work-
ing with regulators to identify
the source of the infection.
"Out of an abundance of cau-
tion, we advise all health care
practitioners not to use any
product" from the company,
said Ilisa Bernstein, director of
compliance for the FDA's Cen-
ter for Drug Evaluation and
Research.
Tennessee has by far the
most cases with 25, including
three deaths. Deaths have also
been reported in Virginia and
Maryland.
Meningitis is an inflamma-
tion of the lining of the brain
and spinal cord. Symptoms
include severe headache, nau-
sea, dizziness and fever.
The type of fungal meningi-
tis involved is not contagious
like the more common forms.
It is caused by a fungus often
found in leaf mold and is treated
with high-dose antifungal med-
ications, usually given intrave-
nously in a hospital.
Robert Cherry, 71, a patient
who received a steroid shot at
a clinic in Berlin, Md., about a
month ago, went back Thursday
morning after hearing it had
received some of the tainted
medicine.

"So far, I haven't had any
symptoms ... but I just wanted
to double check with them,"
Cherry said. "They told me to
check my temperature and if
I have any symptoms, I should
report straight to the emergen-
cy room, and that's what I'll do."
The New England company
is what is known as a com-
pounding pharmacy. These
pharmacies custom-mix solu-
tions, creams and other medica-
tions in doses or in forms that
generally aren't commercially
available.
Other compounding pharma-
cies have been blamed in recent
years for serious and sometimes
deadly outbreaks caused by
contaminated medicines.
Two people were blinded
in Washington, D.C., in 2005.
Three died in Virginia in 2006
and three more in Oregon the
following year. Twenty-one
polo horses died in Florida in
2009. Earlier this year, 33 peo-
ple in seven states developed
fungal eye infections.
Compounding pharmacies
are not regulated as closely as
drug manufacturers, and their
products are not subject to FDA
approval.
A national shortage of many
drugs has forced doctors to seek
custom-made alternatives from
compounding pharmacies. The
steroid suspected in the out-
break has been in short supply.
The New England company
at the center of the outbreak
makes dozens of other medical
products, state officials said.
But neither the company nor
health officials would identify
them.
The company said in a state-
ment Thursday that despite the
FDA warning, "there is no indi-
cation of any potential issues
with other products." It called
the deaths and illnesses tragic
and added: "The thoughts and
prayers of everyone employed
by NECC are with those who
have been affected."
A 2011 state inspection of the
Framingham facility gave the
business a clean bill of health.

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