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NEWS
Wednesday, July 15, 2015
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Professors analyze Pope’s Latin American tour
Nontraditional topics
including LGBTQ
rights among issues
discussed
By EMMA KINERY
Daily Staff Reporter
Pope Francis finished his eight-
day tour of the Latin American
countries of Ecuador, Bolivia and
Paraguay on Sunday.
Although Latin America
contains the largest Catho-
lic population in the world — near-
ly half of the world’s believers live
there — Pope Francis has only vis-
ited once before when he attended
Brazil’s World Youth Day in July
of 2013.
Daniel Ramirez, assistant pro-
fessor of History and American
Culture at the University and an
expert on Latin American reli-
gious history and culture, said
the number of Catholics in Latin
America has been decreasing in
recent years.
“In general, the Americas repre-
sent the global bulwark for Roman
Catholicism, and this bulwark
is showing signs of serious slip-
page,” Ramirez said. “What the
national figures do not show is the
most serious trend: the indigenous
Americas are slipping away at a
higher rate, mostly to Evangélico
and other non-Catholic groups.”
Pope Francis came to Latin
America to address a wide range of
issues — many of which are seem-
ingly not related to religion.
“As
peripheral
countries,
(Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay)
represent this pope’s advocacy for
the economically disenfranchised
and vulnerable,” Ramirez said.
During his tour, the Pope
emphasized the corruption of cap-
italism and encouraged grassroots
organizations to combat economic
inequalities. He also apologized
for the horrific acts committed
on the indigenous peoples in the
name of Catholicism during colo-
nialism.
Pope Francis is widely regard-
ed as one of the most popular
popes in recent history and has
distinguished himself from his
predecessors with his simplistic
approach.
“With his prophetic encycli-
cals, pastoral style, administrative
reforms and downscale lifestyle,
he has earned a hearing from sec-
tors who previously would have
disdained an outreach from his
predecessor(s),” Ramirez said.
Brian Porter-Szücs, professor
of history at the University and
expert in Roman Catholicism, dis-
tinguished Pope Francis from his
predecessor, Pope Benedict.
“Benedict was concerned about
clarity– having a message that was
unambiguous and rigorous even if
that meant the church was small-
er. He was a theologian,” Porter-
Szücs said. “Francis is the pastoral
pope.
See POPE, Page 10
‘U’ alum donates to Ross School
Sam Zell gifts $60
million to be invested
in student ventures
By LEA GIOTTO
Summer News Editor
A drug initially designed to
treat arthritis may now be the
biggest development in the last
two decades in treating diabet-
ic kidney disease, according to
recent University research.
Last week, University Medical
School researchers and their col-
leagues presented results from a
randomized, controlled study of
the experimental drug baricitinib
in patients with diabetic kidney
disease.
The results of the study showed
that, after six months, baricitinib
substantially reduced a measure
of kidney dysfunction called uri-
nary albumin/creatinine ratio,
or UACR. They also showed that
baricitinib reduced blood and
urine levels of IP-10 and sTNFR2,
two compounds that indicate
inflammation in the kidneys.
Findings also indicted the
only significant side effect of the
drug was the onset of mild ane-
mia among the treatment group
with the highest dose, which was
predicted based on previous find-
ings.
Frank Brosius, professor of
internal medicine and a co-leader
of the multi-institutional clinical
trial, said his team’s new findings
are significant because kidney
disease is a large problem among
diabetic patients and will only
worsen in the future.
“Once diabetic patients get
kidney disease, it leads to a host
of other problems, so anything
that we can do to prevent, fore-
stall or treat diabetic kidney
disease is extremely important,”
Brosius said.
Nearly 40 percent of diabetic
patients eventually develop kid-
ney disease. Because diabetes
incidence rates are currently ris-
ing, especially in countries such
as China, where half of all adults
are now pre-diabetic, the results
of this trial have implications on
a global health scale, said Brosius.
Matthias Kretzler, professor of
internal medicine and co-leader
of the study, said the new find-
ings are a product of decades
worth of research.
experiences, the Art Fair oper-
ates as one event. Each fair is set
to run from Wednesday to Satur-
day. During the week the fair will
be open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., and
on Saturday the fair will close at 6
p.m.
This year, the Art Fair will
introduce the Art Go ‘Round, a free
bus shuttle service that will trans-
port visitors between the four fairs
throughout the day.
For the enormous event to run
smoothly, Art Fair requires com-
munication between city officials,
Art Fair coordinators and Univer-
sity representatives alike.
Jim Kosteva, University direc-
tor of community relations, said
Art Fair takes a lot of planning on
the University’s end.
“Primarily, our activities revolve
around trying to coordinate with
affairs with the city on the street
closures to make sure we can still
conduct as close to business as nor-
mal as we need to and accommo-
date during the art fairs,” Kosteva
said, citing the University’s need
to accommodate summer stu-
dents with disabilities who require
handicap parking, as well as food
and trash collection services that
are restricted by the Art Fair.
Kosteva also said this year’s
Art Fair organizers had to work
around the University’s construc-
tion along Ingalls Mall off of North
University.
Along with University represen-
tatives, the City of Ann Arbor is
also heavily involved in the prepa-
ration process for Art Fair.
“The arts and culture are very
important to Ann Arbor residents,
so we provide a welcoming loca-
tion for vendors and visitors alike,”
Ann Arbor Mayor Christopher
FAIR
From Page 1
See ROSS, Page 10
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