igh-tech ed school roject y Lisa A. Cencula Teaching methods in the Medical and ursing Schools are about to be revolu- ionized. After ten years of work, the edical School's Visible Human Project s almost ready to enter its production hase. The project - in conjunction with he Schools of Nursing, Education and nformation, the College of Engineer- ng, the Office of the University's Chief Information Officer, and the Pitts- gh Supercomputing Center - is a omprehensive software program that tllows viewers to see highly detailed 3- 0 images of the male and female body from the inside out. Made possible by aking CAT scans and MRI's of two Medical School Assi adavers, and by the meticulous task of shows off some the sectioning the bodies in one-millimeter intervals, the Visible Human will the closest thing medical soecialists will have to seeing the internal composition of a y without physically entering it. Medical School Assistant Prof. Brian Athey, the project's director, emphasized the importance of the project. "By having a physical human data set available and model- ing and simulation software, you can actually practice surger- ies over and over again before you have to do it," he said. "That's important because we know there's a lot of errors in medicine:" Aside from helping to cut down on surgical mishaps, Athey sees the project having far-reaching capabilities in the future. He said plans to anatomically label the Visible Human in as many languages are in the works. Native speakers of a given Vuge would enter the labels via the Internet, and then that information would be deposited back into the main database for public use. It is also feasible that the Visible Human could be in chil- dren's classrooms in the near future, because, Athey said, "There is no reason why the kids can't learn. You know, we could makea game out of it, and they'd love it." The Michigan Daily - Monday, May 14, 2001-- 3 [ S tudents take a break to study abroad, work By Man WaiSze Daily Staff Reporter After taking more than a decade of classes, some students choose to delay their transition into the "real world" after graduation even further by taking some time off before entering graduate school or going to work. Lynne Sebille-White, assistant direc- tor of Career Planning and Placement, said there are many reasons for deferrals. Sometimes a lack of financial support makes attending graduate school imme- diately impossible. Sebille-White said other students need a mental break. "Some need to be away from the academics," she said. The time when students choose to begin their job search also influences post-graduate decisions. The time cho- sen often depends on the economy, Sebille-White said. "When the economy is strong, students feel more safe to wait;' she explained. "There is not nec- essarily a perfect time to job search. You need to start when you are ready" Some pre-med students take classes in different medical programs to raise their grades in order to get into their desired medical schools, Sebille-White added. Students who either did not get into their first choice school or any medical school at all typically make this choiceihe said. Many students decide to take a break from their undergraduate studies in Ann Arbor. One favorite is a study abroad program, which may include internships in a career field (most unpaid), short term work abroad, volunteer work that provides services to under-privileged people and teaching English. The University's study abroad pro- gram is highly popular with students. "We are probably the number one (study abroad program) in the entire country," said Bill Nolting, director of the Office of Overseas Opportunities. According to a 1999-2000 survey he conducted, the University had 51 stu- dents - more than any other American university - studying abroad through the British Universities North America Club. The University had the highest number of study abroad participants through International Association of Stu- dents in Economics and Business and International Co-operative Education, among others. Tied with Harvard, the University also had the highest number of U.S. State Department interns in the country serving overseas. Nolting said there are several benefits of going abroad. "It's a different culture that they are in," he said. "There is a dif- ferent pace of work, value of work, dif- ferent ideas about class and gender" Nolting said working abroad provides educational benefits different from coursework and that overseas experi- ences sets applicants apart when apply- ing for graduate school. Not everyone chooses to take time off. LSA senior Erica Nuechterlein, chose to not break up her college years. "I want to get done with my coursework as soon as possible" she said. "I feel that it is just the norm," she said,. "And if I take a break I probably wouldn't come back. I'll get a job and stick with it." Walter Stoerkel, a Texas A&M Uni- versity alum visiting Ann Arbor, spent four and a half years consecutively in school while he was an engineering stu- dent in college. "(I did it) so that I can get out in four and a half years. As soon as you get out to the real world you start making money" he said. Istant Prof. Brian Athey, director of the Visual Human Project, project's features. The Visible Human needed a system that would be able to handle the vast amount of output it generates, and the Internet2 provided the solution, Athey said. All of this information would be difficult to obtain by the standard speeds of today's Internet, but that's about to change, Athey said. The Next Generation Internet, or Inter- net2, can download images faster than anything previously known. The Intemet2 team has performed tests wherein the movie "The Matrix" was downloaded over a basic phone line, a digital line (DSL) and a Tl line, which most compa- nies use. For a frame of reference, it took over 170 hours to download the movie through a basic phone line, and over 6 hours with the Tl line. The Internet2 connection performed the task in 30 seconds. The current system contains over 5,000 color images for the female model and nearly 2,000 for the male model. "Downloading the Visible Human, we figured - the male, back in 1991 - was going to take us about 27 days or some- thing, And now, you know, we could do it in a matter of two or three minutes due to our experimental network, Internet2," Athey said. Mime Marceau dazzles Hill audience Elizabeth Kassab Daily News Editor Never was a lion tamed with so little noise at Hill Auditorium as on Saturday evening. World-renowned mime Marcel Marceau brought a packed audience to its feet in a per- formance before accepting the sixth annual 2001 University Musical Society Distinguished Artist Award. Bits of music, laughter and Splause periodically interrupted the silence as Marceau's alter-ego Bip took center stage for part of the performance, using facial expres- sions and body language to silently convey his efforts to coerce a lion through a hoop and to show his dis- may when the animal refused to comply. Bip assumed several other personalities throughout the vening, and Marceau performed pantomimes of style as himself. "It was incredible, especially when you try to figure out what he's mim- ing" said Chris Doinidis of Northville, who attended the performance. The performance marked Marceau's 30th under UMS auspices in as many years. What was unique this time around was that Marceau was presented with the UMS Dis- tinguished Artist Award in recogni- tion of his efforts as a performing artist and a hump- itarian. Marceau did not step out of character to speak directly to Marceau the audience, but he did express his grati- tude in a taped statement. In presenting the award, UMS Presi- dent Emeritus Gail Rector said, "Giv- ing tribute to Marcel Marceau is a natural thing to do." UMS President Kenneth Fischer, who hosted the performance, noted Marceau's successful attempts to keep the Nazis from taking children to concentration camps during World War II. Marceau disguised the ages on some identification papers, making the children younger than they were. He also posed as a Boy Scout leader to shepherd children through the Alps into neutral Switzerland. Since World War II, Marceau has gained international recognition as a mime. John Rintamaki, group vice presi- dent and chief of staff of Ford Motor Company, also presented the award. "We want to thank you for your dedication to art and educa- tion," he said to Marceau, who kissed the award and then mimed staggering under its weight after accepting it. The performance rounded out Marceau's two-week residency at the University. He gave the annual Raoul Wallenberg Lecture last month and managed two one-week workshops, one on mime and one on dance. f's a Stepxt . 229e NxtStep. call for information; 2u-229-5462 72 Fifth Avenue New York, N.Y. loon 045