Wednesday, May 28, 1997 - The Michigan Daily - 3
' professor
y Peter Meyers
aily Staff Reporter
Hmmm, that's a nasty cut you've got there, son.
'd better glue that shut for you.
Bizarre as it may sound, doctors in the near future
vill be using adhesives to heal the cuts that are now
reated with stitches.
Clinical Assistant Medical School Prof. James
Quinn has announced the development of a new
adhesive that may replace stitches as the stan-
lard treatment for moderate lacerations. Trips to the
tmergency room may never be the same.
"It's basically like a flexible plastic that holds the
wound together," Quinn said. He said the glue was
from "the same family as crazy glue or super glue,"
and is much like the hundreds of other adhesives
already on the market.
Application of the glue is much easier than sutur-
creates glue that may replace stitches
ing and takes only one-third of the time. Also, unlike ed in the experiment, half received the glue treat-
stitches, no removal of the glue is necessary. Human ment.
skin is shed naturally every seven to 10 days; the Overall, the glue was highly successful. It aided
glue comes off with the healing as quickly as stitches
skin beneath. and left a scar of approxi-
The only side effect Half of the mately the same magnitude.
appears to be a mild burn- Dr. Peter Johns of the
ing sensation. peo le a said Ottawa General Hospital
"It gives offa little heat," was one of the emergency-
said Quinn, but noted that they had no sense room doctors who partici-
the reaction didn't happen of pated in the study.
to everyone. "Half the peo- of iscomflort "For those lacerations that
ple in the study said they - James Quinn came together very nicely and
had no sense of discomfort A . were not that large, it was very
at all" Assistant Medical Professor painless," Johns said. With
A field study of the glue that sort of neat laceration
was performed in Canada on patients who had cuts where no cleaning of the wound is necessary, doctors
of the appropriate nature. Of those who participat- can forgo anesthetic as well as sutures. Needles can
be entirely avoided, Johns said.
When doctors apply the glue, they hold the cut
together with their fingers while painting the glue
on top with a special applicator. The glue is origi-
nally purplish in color, but dries transparent.
"The key thing about using the tissue adhesive is
that it's applied to the skin," said Johns. "You don't
want to get any between the edges"
Johns said most doctors assume that the glue is
applied like normal household glue - that the lacer-
ation is squeezed shut with the glue inside. Quinn and
Johns both warned that if this is done, the glue will
not only fail to seal the wound but also will become
an obstacle that the body will try to heal around.
Quinn's version will be marketed under the
name Dermabond, and will appear in emergency
rooms everywhere as soon as it receives final FDA
approval.
MEMORIAL
Continued from Page 1
we give them free lots (at the cemetery)
and today we're having the fire depart-
ment put flags on veterans' gravesites.
"We still don't think we're doing
enough,' Clark said. "Next year we'll
have marching bands, a speaker from
the Veteran's Administration and a 21-
gun salute."
The Memorial Day tradition dates
back to more than a century ago.
Gen. John Logan, president of the
Grand Army of the Republic, estab-
lished the holiday following the Civil
War.
He designated May 30, 1868 "for
the purpose of strewing with flowers
or otherwise decorating the graves of
comrades who died in defense of
their country during the late rebel-
lion."
After World War I, the day was
extended to honor the dead of all
American wars, and in 1971 the date
was changed to the last Monday in each
May.
Memorial Day, along with honoring
veterans, also serves as the traditional
opening day for beaches, pools and
other popular summer destinations
aroutd the country.
However, the weather was just a little
too cold for people to venture poolside,
said Amy Murrow, lifeguard at Ann
Arbor's Buhr Park public pool.
"The first couple of weeks are usual-
ly pretty slow," said Murrow. "Today,
there's only three people in the pool and
three others on the deck."
LSA junior Rob Schmitz was also
disappointed with the weather.
"I would like to be waterskiing, but
it's too cold outside," said Schmitz.
"Instead I'm going to be studying eco-
nomics and psychology."
Nevertheless, people still were able
to have fun in the sun, said Jim
Lapointe, manager of Gallup Park
Canoe Livery.
"There's a lot of people in the park
walking, biking and rollerblading," said
Lapointe. "People seem excited to be
out here."
JOE WESTRATE/Daity
LSA senior James White concentrates on juggling as he enjoys one of the first warm days of spring. White is staying in
Ann Arbor for the spring semester to participate in Research Experience for Undergrads.
Reps. pass sexual assault act
I ..
By Katie Piona
1 News Editor
Michigan universities may be facing
new pressure from the state that will reg-
ulate how the schools structure their
campus sexual-assault policies.
The Sexual Assault Information Act, a
legislative package of 12 individual bills,
was passed in the Michigan House of
Representatives yesterday. The act, if
approved in the Michigan State Senate,
will disqualify universities that do not
c ply with the requirements from
ying for some forms of state finan-
cial aid.
The act states that all Michigan uni-
versities must have a written campus
sexual-assault policy, which is already
mandated by federal law. Furthermore,
the act requires the complete and thor-
ough reporting and investigating of any
campus sexual-assault crimes.
"This legislation encourages col-
" es to do everything they can to pro-
students on campus and provide
victims of sexual assault with the
information they need to seek counsel-
ing and protect themselves," said Rep.
Laura Baird (D-Okemos) in a state-
ment released yesterday.
Although Baird is the act's lead spon-
sor, 10 other representatives voiced their
support by individually sponsoring parts
of the legislation.
Brian 0' Connell, legislative aide to
Rep. Jim McBryde (R-Mount Pleasant),
said the House-passed act will go to a
Senate committee for consideration.
However, the Senate has seen the act
at least once before, when it sat in com-
mittee without being debated on the
Senate floor, he said.
John Truscott, Gov. John Engler's
media spokesperson, said the governor's
office is taking a neutral position
towards the Sexual Assault Information
Act until they have more information.
"This is such a serious issue,'Truscott
said. "We want to make sure it's
addressed appropriately.'
He said they do not know what kind of
programs are implemented at each
Michigan university, so they cannot
judge whether enforcing further campus
sexual-assault policy legislation is nec-
essary.
"To mandate may not be the right
course at this point," Truscott said. "We
just don't know."
Vice President of University Relations
Lisa Baker said the legislation should
not affect the University's sexual-assault
policies.
"The University is obviously in com-
pliance with all laws and beyond that, we
have a comprehensive set of policies and
programs," Baker said. "The legislation
is unnecessary (for the University).
O'Connell said the act's passage
would give universities another outlet to
aid students.
"It allows the universities another
remedy outside the court system,"
O'Connell said.
Joyce Wright, interim director of the
Student Assault Prevention and
Awareness Center said SAPAC offers
many services to students.
"We do a lot of advocacy on the behalf
of survivors - medically, academically,
as well as legally,"Wright said.
Wright said that, aside from Michigan
State University, she does not know of
any other schools in Michigan that have
centers like SAPAC, which are run
entirely separate of other University
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