Piige 4-?Hedrn'esdali, y 6;,981= fie' chig'c i doily Honored prof talks of genetics By JOHN ADAM More than 175 students and faculty members packed the Rackham am- phitheater Monday afternoon to honor and hear a lecture by one of the world's foremost researchers in human genetics who will retire this summer as chairman of the University's depar- tment of Human Genetics. Prof. James Neel, a pioneer in the field of human genetics, explored the effects of mutation in human populations during his lecture. He said the dangers of radiation exposure and its effects on genetic mutation have been exaggerated by the federal gover- nment. NEEL, CITING HIS estimate that humans are less sensitive than mice to the effects of radiation by a factor of at least four, said, "the genetic risks of radiation, while real, have been over- stated by most of the (congressional) select committees considering the question." Neel also dismissed common concer- ns that industrial societies, by virtue of their constant exposure to high- technology, are more prone to genetic mutations. Instead, Neel said that more primitive societies may actually have a greater mutation rate. "WITH ALL DUE caution, we suggest that mutation rates might be higher in primitive people than in civilized types," Neel said. Neel, who says that his retirement from the University does not signal an end to his long career in research, has been named the recipient of the prestigious third annual Distinguished Faculty Lectureship. He has also recently been elected as president of the Sixth International Congress of Human Genetics. Neel's career has spanned from the study of the genetic effects of atomic radiation on the survivors of the 1945 atomic bomb blasts in Japan to the monitoring of primitive tribes in the South American jungle. This summer, Neel will step down from the chairman- ship of the University department that he founded nearly 25 years ago. Since those early beginnings, Neel has led the Department of Human Genetics as it grew into the largest and one of the foremost in the country. Neel was honored at Monday's gathering by his colleagues, who awar- ded him both the Distinguished Faculty Lectureship and a $500 honorarium. THE AWARD WAS GIVEN to Neel for his research over the past five years in analyzing recent trends of mutations in human populations and individuals. "It is particularly noteworthy that Dr. Neel, on the eve of his retirement, is being honored for distinctive, new research," said Dr. James Cather, chairman of the Biomedical Research Council. Cather hailed Neel as one of the most distinguished scientists on the Univer- sity's campus and "the single most in- fluential person in human genetics today." Neel's latest research uses "2-D gel" electrophoresis and automatic image analysis to assess genetic damage. "This technique," states Neel, "has the potential of raising our ability to study genetic changes to a level of magnitude not obtainable before." "Whereas now we can look at proteins one at a time, in the future we may, be able to look at them 100 at a time," he said. This will, of course, tremendously increase our ability to detect genetic damage, Neel said. In Brief Compiled from Associated Press and United Presss International reports Mormon president speaks out against proposed missile system SALT LAKE CITY-Saying that Mormon pioneers came West to spread "the gospel of peace," Mormon Church President Spencer Kimball issued an unusual plea to President Reagan yesterday not to put the MX mobile missile system in Utah and Nevada. The 86-year-old Kimball, considered a prophet by the 4.7 million members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, urged that an alternative be found to concentrating the missiles in any one area of the nation. The White House and the Pentagon had no immediate comment. The Air Force wants to spread 4,600 bomb-proof missile bunkers over millions of acres of land in eastern Nevada and western Utah. Two hundred MX missiles, each carrying 10 nuclear warheads, as well as several hundred look-alike dummy rockets, would be shuttled among the bunkers on heavy- duty roads in what has been described as an elaborate "shell game" to con- fuse the Soviet Union. Reagan is scheduled to make a decision on how to deploy the MX late this summer, after he gets a report from a private review panel studying alter- natives. The system must be funded by Congress, and the General Accoun- ting Office estimates it will cost $56 billion. Exhumations planned in hospital death investigations RIVERSIDE, Calif.-Investigators probing 27 suspicious deaths at two Southern California hospitals decided yesterday to exhume at least 11 bodies to examine the tissues and vital organs for a drug found in three other vic- tims. The decision to dig up the remains-some buried two months ago-followed news reports that a nurse who worked at both hospitals had been suspended and that some elderly victims had received abnormally large doses of a local anesthetic. Officials refused to say whether they had any suspects in the case of multiple deaths and described as "premature" a broadcast report that a nurse who worked at both hospitals was suspected of killing several patients. Thomas Hollenhorst, Riverside County assistant district attorney, iden- tified the hospitals as Community Hospital of the Valley in Perris, and San Gorgonio Hospital in Banning. He said last week that at least six of the 24 suspicious deaths in Perris were due to causes other than those given by the hospital. On Monday, he said three similar deaths were unovered at the Banning hospital. State approves measures to implement Proposal A LANSING (UPI)-The Senate gave final legislative approval yesterday to measures needed to implement the 1.5 percentage point sales and use tax in- creases contained in Proposal A. A separate House-passed bill implementing the proposal's property tax reductions was approved by the Senate and returned to the House with minor modifications. The tax reform plan, appearing on a May 19 special election ballot, was at- tacked by the state's small'landlords, and the Senate Democratic leader conceded it is in trouble. Proposal A would cut local property and income levies in half in return for a 1.5 percentage point increase in the state sales tax. The added revenue would help the state cover the cost of reimbursing local governments for their losses. Water restored to leper colony after four days KALAUPAPA, Hawaii-The 125 victims of leprosy living in an isolated colony on a Hawaiian island got their water turned on again yesterday after four days of strict rationing. After a landside caused by heavy rains last Thursday destroyed a reser- voir dam serving the Kalaupapa Leprosy Settlement, residents were restric- ted to five hours of water service a day. One dialysis patient at the Kalaupapa hospital was airlifted to Honolulu, but officials said no one was in danger. Many residents bathed in the sea and hauled salt water for household needs. But the patients in the settlement, which is vulnerable to the quirks of nature, are accustomed to losing their water and sometimes their elec- tricity. A March earthquake cut off the settlement's water service for three days, and in April a helicopter severed its electric wires. A 13-man crew worked since Friday, often waist-deep in mud, to connect water pipes linking the colony with a freshwater stream in a nearby valley. I I I I BEIT MIDROS11 (Jewish Studies Classes) SPRING TERM May 12-June 11 BaSIC )UDAISM 4 hrs. per week (including basic Hebrew) TUES. 7:00-9:00 P.M. THURS. 7:00-9:00 P.M. TALMUD STUDY GROUP Time TBA Interested parties contact Rabbi Rod Glogower at Hillel 0 Foundation 0 FOR MORE INFO: Stop by HILLEL 1429 Hill St. OR CALL 663-3336