.anMiiiiiniv: 1 !'-/!
Wit
DBBHnUBnm
ish can
^regenerate
pinal cords
'hat can goldfish do that we hu-
s can’t?
ell, they can live underwater,
ggs and regenerate a new spinal
if theirs is severed.
The mystery of why fish, amphi-
and lower animals can do this
hile mammals can not is being
;udied at Texas A&M University’s
liege of Medicine.
Anatomy researcher John Gel-
terr 3erd is looking at this phenomenon
in hopes that his basic research may
;ural : one day help humans who have
arm been paralyzed by spinal cord in-
s AtftBfs.
trd (fBpelderd says finding out why the
, a, goldfish have this characteristic may
caiise|el him why mammals don’t. That
)ad; information could lead to methods
of returning nerve function to
tin paralyzed humans,
lid a file also wants to learn if this re-
neailgeheration power is restricted to
be specific areas of the brain or is gen
eral to all brain cells,
int^Bn the study, fish with transected
ly s , spinal cords have regenerated cut
aers^axlns that lead from the brain
Hhin 30 to 45 days and have a full
e eos|jre|urn of function. Observers may
id t have difficulty telling the research
indi^subject from his tankmates, Gelderd
ton, said
ipmeilfi 6 ! medium-sized sharks that he
studied in Florida don’t seem to
This trip the best, students say
THE BATTALION
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 7, 1978
Page 9
Tour leaves children spellbound
m soi
bale the recuperative ability.
Goldfish and other animals can regenerate a severed spinal
cord, but mammals cannot. Texas A&M medical researcher
John Gelderd is using his/fish to try to find out why. He hopes
to benefit paralyzed humans through his studies.
ie
Sousing law could influence
Upgrading of urban dwellings
United Press International
GREELEY, Colo. — “There’s
nothing here to frighten you in any
way,” the undertaker told the chil
dren.
It was a sunny spring morning
and the sixth and seventh graders of
Chappelow Middle School were in
the Adamson Mortuary on a field
trip.
They filed into the wooden pews
of the mortuary’s chapel: fidgeting,
chewing gum and whispering
among themselves.
Tm a licensed funeral director,
Bob Hansberry was saying at the
podium. “The casket is placed on
this bier between the lamps. The
rustling continued in the pews, and
a girl in the second row fooled with
her hair.
Hansberry was explaining the
practical details of death: “The. hos
pital calls us, gives us the ward and
floor — we immediately send a man
to pick up the body. It’s brought
back here and embalmed.
“Embalming is a process of disin
fection, preservation and restora
tion,” Hansberry said. “Decomposi
tion starts immediately after death.
In restoration, we try to make the
body as lifelike as possible. We try
to give the family — in an old
mortuary term — a good memory
picture.
“ Any questions?’ he asked. Very
few at this point.
Off they went to the mortuary’s
business office for some talk of death
ertificates and burial permits.
“There’s quite a bit of govern
ment paperwork involved, the un
dertaker said. Still no questions
from the kids.
Up a flight of stairs, and the kids
were at the door of the casket dis
play room. “If there’s anybody who
doesn’t want to go in there, that’s
fine,’ said Hansberry. Not a sound
from the students. “There are basi
cally four types of caskets: cloth-
covered wood, hardwood, and the
sealing and non-sealing metals,’ the
mortician said amidst the coffins.
The kids spread out among the
coffins like adults in a used car lot.
Hansberry kept talking: “The
prices you see on the caskets are not
just for the casket. They include all
service charges.” The questions
came quickly now:
“Why do you put pillows and
blankets in here?” asked one small
boy.
“Humm, nobody ever asked that
before,” said Hansberry. “They’re
made to look similar to a bed.
“Do they make caskets for
babies?” said a tiny voice from the
group.
“Yes, they’re upstairs,” answered
Hansberry. “Would you like to see
them?”
“Yeah, came the collective re
sponse, the first sign of intense
interest.
“What is this about?” said an
adult in the crowd.
“Well, a lot of them have little
brothers and sisters,” said Gary Col
ley, a health teacher who coordi-
rod
A federal housing law passed last
imal ear could have a sweeping influ-
Foret n ce in gutting the squalor of urban
dinS jpusing through use of modular or
lift a i lohile housing.
(host Uts effect on American housing
to l roblems will be dramatic, if build-
provi 'g codes can be changed and dec-
fuesdaiffis °f stigmas, as attached to living
dthatja mobile home can be lifted, a
xirtet, iexas A&M University researcher
e gnu pd.
lere i In 1949, Congress passed a bill
1 Gal tl0wn as ^e Housing Act. The law
depart©jmsed a d ecen t home for every
d Gj Jncrican family.”
roecrIP 1 Alice Stubbs, who heads the
[S 12i exas Consumer Research Center at
t 0 [: exas A&M, observes that not until
•■e offi? was one of the most sweeping
fies of legislation in recent years
clear Congress.
he legislation is the Housing and
mmunity Development Act of
J7 and, among its provisions, it
Bes the loan limit for FHA in-
ed mobile homes.
Before 1977, it -was not possible
„j S ,ll_ buyers to receive long-term
s for a mobile home. A mobile
ble”(«F ne ’ n the P as t was set U P much
an auto installment loan.
Mhe new law raised the loan rate
( l t| flowing for larger homes that
'Dailies with children often need
more time to pay the note,
obile homes are considered one
the most economically effective
using alternatives in the market
|ay for the lower middle income
sumer, Stubbs said. Rapid infla-
ion has in effect moved conven-
al homes right out of the reach
any people,
Walter L. Benning, president of
Manufactured Housing Institute
in Virginia, indicates the av-
;e retail for a mobile home was
,750 in 1976. That same year the
rage sales price for a residential
e was $44,200. The gap is in
using.
Also, most of the new mobile
well off .
“While modules are currently
used to some degree, the full poten
tial of the production and speed pos
sible with modular construction will
not be realized until local building
codes and union restrictions are
modified to recognize its inevitabil
ity,” the MHI spokesman said.
With the 1949 Housing Act, and
later the Housing and Urban De
velopment Act of 1968, a goal was
set to construct or rehabilitate 26
million housing units. Six million of
which would provide housing or low
and moderate income families,
Stubbs said. Still the shelter prob
lem has never reversed itself.
When earlier solutions were
posed, it was presumed they would
provide not only adequate housing,
but a solution to social problems,”
said Stubbs, who has been involved
in consumer research since gradua
tion from the University of Texas in
1938.
“They wanted answers for better
health, a more stable family struc
ture, improved self concept, higher
achievement, greater job security
and even greater life satisfaction,”
she said.
It just didn’t turn out that way.
“The solutions to the problems of
low income housing have centered
on the symptoms rather than the
causes of the condition,” Stubbs
said.
nates the school’s field trips.
Up another flight of stairs, the
kids squeezed into a small room
filled with tiny, white, cloth-
covered coffins.
“We stock baby caskets from two
feet to three feet,” Hansberry said.
“And we have one SVa feet long.”
“Follow me downstairs to the
embalming room,” Hansberry said.
“Tm not going in there,” said a
boy with glasses.
“Chicken,” said his friend.
In front of another door,
Hansberry again offered the kids a
chance to sit it out. No takers.
“This is our preparation room,”
he said. “We can embalm two
bodies at the same time. The tables
are stainless steel. This is our em
balming machine; it’s a stainless
steel tank and a pump. The blocks
are for holding the head in position.
After death, there is no muscle
tone. The body is limp, and it has to
be held in position.”
The kids stared, and several girls
clutched their large plastic combs
with both hands. Someone acci
dently kicked a trash container, and
the children started.
Hansberry held up a brown plas
tic container.
“This is 15 percent formaldehyde.
We dilute it with eight ounces to a
gallon of water. That makes it IV2
percent formaldehyde solution. We
use the same circulation system the
body normally uses.
He pointed to his neck. “We in
ject into the carrotid the embalming
wmwm.
fluid. This goes around the body and
comes out the jugular vein. There
are six points where we shoot into
the body. A good embalmer hopes
he won’t have to shoot more than
one point, but sometimes you do.”
A blonde girl, Tammy Warehime,
14, noticed a block and tackle affixed
to the ceiling. “What’s that for?” she
asked.
“That’s for very heavy bodies,
answered Hansberry.
“What if somebody got cut up real
bad in a car accident?” asked a boy.
Hansberry reached in a cabinet
for a tin of fleshcolored, soft wax.
“We can build ears, noses — in
mortuary school we had to build
complete faces,” he said.
In time, he led them through a
door opening into the garage, where
parked was a hearse of unexpected
brightness, a strange mixture of
gleaming tan and gold.
“I thought they were black, said
one child.
“The trouble with black is they’re
hard to keep clean,” said the under
taker.
“Why do they drive slow?” asked
a girl in a green sweater.
“It’s a matter of respect,
Hansberry said. “Years ago, when
they used horse-drawn coaches, the
family would walk behind, and
that’s where it started.”
At the door, one small boy looked
back at the hearse. “I thought they
used black because they were sad,
he said to his friend.
a/rf
CULPEPPER
PLAZA
Have your ears
/
pierced with
24k gold-plated
studs
by CORD
ovincej
Mines are sold fully equipped, in-
tlieir ,1
. lading major appliances, furniture,
1111 Iraperies and carpeting. It aids
. those who cannot afford the added
> 1 ? v j Mst initially.,
^jlThe capability exists for fixed site
rs iir ) townhouses, rowhouses and
Juplexes—even highrise buildings-
to be built from manufactured units
S4 3r modules, Benning said. “But
elites da\
Benning said.
iys of the mobile units being a part
of the urban housing system
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807 TEXAS AVE.
846-3380
WALTON
STAINED GLASS
STUDIO
Announces new classes beginning
week of June 5th
Classes last 6 weeks, 3 hours/week
Morning classes 10-1
Afternoon classes 2-5
Evening classes 7-10
Class Fee $20
$5 discount to Aggies
Formerly Bolton Stained Glass
Call for classes 846-4156 3810 Texas Ave. Bryan
NEW FOR SUMMER — YOUTH CLASSES
Ages 12 - 18 years old • One week sessions
Cost $30 for class fee & supplies (excluding glass.)
One Week Sessions
«! WALTON
June 12-16
19-23
26-30
July 10-14
17-21
24-28
August 7-11
14-18
Commission
work done
upon request
•5 Has It All!
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RATES ON
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Paints
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DRAFTING
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LAMAR ST
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Summer Hours: Mon.-Fri. 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Sat. 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
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1412 TEXAS AVE.
Redmond Terrace Mall - College Station
693-9553