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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 23, 1998)
The Battalion Frontiers Monday • February 23,1) Science Briefs Scientists find source of hunger BOSTON (AP) — Texas scientists have found the brain’s hunger hor mone, the stuff that triggers the over whelming urge to say, “Another help ing of mashed potatoes, please. And lots of gravy!” The discovery is likely to start a stampede of research intended to find medicines that can rein in this sub stance and help people say no to food. The researchers were led by Dr. Masashi Yanagisawa of Howard Hughes Medical Institute at the Uni versity of Texas Southwestern Med ical Center. They reported the finding in Friday’s issue of the journal Cell. The scientists called their discov ery “orexin,” a play on “orexis,” the Greek word for hunger. Female physicians report harassment CHICAGO (AP) — More than one- third of female doctors say they have been sexually harassed, according to a survey that suggests the problem isn’t disappearing from the medical profession. Overall, 47.7 percent reported having been targets of gender-based harassment, and 36.9 percent re ported having been sexually ha rassed, researchers said in Monday’s issue of the Archives of Internal Med icine, released Sunday. The 1993-94 nationwide survey did not ask women to specify what behavior they thought constituted ha rassment, only whether they believed it had occurred. Younger physicians reported high er rates of sexual harassment than older ones, and medical schools were the most common site, said re searchers led by Dr. Erica Frank of Emory University in Atlanta. Study: war between sexes begins early NEW YORK (AP) — Two genes lock in a tug-of-war to determine whether a mammal embryo will become a boy or a girl, a new study suggests. One of the genes, called Sry, has long been known as the master switch that makes an embryo become male. The new work suggests that a second gene, Daxl, tries to block its effect. It almost always fails. So embryos with one Y chromosome, which carries the Sry gene, and one X chromosome, which carries Daxl, normally develop as males. In rare cases, the new study sug gests, such embryos get an extra copy of the Daxl gene. And when two Daxl genes gang up on the single ,Sry gene, the competition goes the other way, and the embryo becomes a female. Correction On Page 2 of Friday’s Battalion, there was an error in a headline. The headline should have read, “Grad student in dicted in sexual assault case.” American Association for the Advancement of Science 1998 New learning style raises questions By Lisa Brown Special to The Battalion A chemistry student asked her professor to tell her what was wrong with her experiment, but the professor instead asked her questions to guide her to the con clusion. The student became an gry and upset, turning the profes sor in to the dean. Alexandra Hilosky, a professor at Harcum College, shared this exam ple of inquiry-based laboratory in struction at the American Associa tion for the Advancement of Science annual meeting on Feb. 14. Hilosky, Joseph S. Schmuckler, a professor at Temple University, and William McComas, a profes sor at University of Southern Cali fornia, said that most American high school and college teachers lecture students and then have them do cookbook science labs. However, the National Acade my of Sciences, AAAS and the Na tional Science Foundation en courage more inquiry-based science instruction in their 1996 National Science Education Stan dards. Schmuckler said, “The poten tial has not been fully realized to include inquiry and lab.” Hilosky, Schmuckler and Frank X. Sutman, a professor at Temple University, compared American and German college chemistry classrooms in their study pub lished in the January 1998 Journal of Chemical Education. Hilosky said that the German classrooms were student-con- trolled, lab-driven and low tech nology with a pleasant laboratory environment. McComas surveyed professors and students in Western, Mid western and East Coast colleges to compare their desires for changes in laboratory instruction. He found that students and instruc tors want the same changes, in cluding more team laboratory work, more evaluation and practi cal laboratory experience. However, McComas said that students did not want more long term labs, challenge questions or indirect questioning, but profes sors did. Morrisville, Pa. middle/high school teachers William and Holly Priestly said that science teachers enrolled in Temple University’s science education classes prac ticed more inquiry-based science instruction in their classrooms af ter they completed the courses. Robert K. James, director of the Texas Alliance for Science, Tech nology and Mathematics Educa tion and a Texas A&M professor, said that the University has similar programs, including coursework, workshops, Internet projects and research internships. “The lab is central to science teaching,” James said. “Over the course of the high school year, the lab should grow in emphasis, but the teacher should teach the stu dents how to do lab and how to deal with the inquiry environment first." Cathleen Loving, a Texas A&M assistant professor, echoed James’ caution. “Inquiry-based instruction can be tricky,” Loving said. “If the ac tivities are too unstructured, the students flounder. Teachers pro vide more structure when they provide the problem and students find the best solution.” Loving said that the best form of inquiry-based instruction deals with the students’ conception of how the world works and leads them to better explanations. Skin cancer may not be deterred by sunscreen Different types of ultraviolet light cause burns, canca By Tiffany Inbody Editor in Chief PHILADELPHIA-Using sunscreen every day may not keep the deadly melanomas away. Since the mid ’70s people have been advised to wear sunscreen as a form of protection against the sun’s damaging ultraviolet light. Dr. Marianne Berwick, an epidemi ologist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, said this advice is mis leading based on recent population- based studies. "We can conclude from these stud ies that it is not safe to rely on sun screen to protect you from skin can cer,” she said. A panel of experts addressed progress in the understanding of sunscreen and skin can cer at the American Associ ation for the Advance ment of Science annual meeting in Philadelphia Tuesday. There are two main types of ultraviolet light that affect the skin. One is UVB and the other is UVA. UVB is responsible for sunburns. When used properly, most sunscreens protect the skin from UVB. Sunscreens absorb the energy from the sun’s ul traviolet light, preventing UVB from burning the skin, Dr. John Knowland, from the University of Oxford, said. “It is important to re member that they (sunscreens) cannot destroy that energy,” he said. Dr. Richard Setlow, senior biophysicist and as sociate director for life sciences at the Brookhaven For greatest protection, look spectrum National Laboratories, said exposure to UVAda not cause sunburns, but it is a strong factoi; ^ melanoma development. “Our research shows that about 90 perceni: sunlight’s melanoma-causing effect maycois from UVA and only 10 percent from UVB,”hesE People have the misconception that bywearq ^ sunscreen, they can stay ou( in the sun forh. without harm, Setlow said. “Most of the presently-useds screens, which protect againstlM do not protect against UVA/’hesaii By using fish as a research mode Setlow found that even thoughsu: screen is applied, the likelihoods getting a melanoma is k creased by multiple hours! 11 exposure. The effects of dr depleting ozone o human health l« been a concern ft: many years. How Setlow said that ozone does not I out UVA andtherefi has little effect melanoma skin cant For for broad sunscreen which contains Avobenzone OR one of the benzophenones various sons, some p use tanning beds! an alternative totb Source: UC Berkeley sun. There is ra more UVA in a I ning bed than in nat ural sunlight, Setlt said. Berwick said,*11 death rate f melanoma cancer is much more dramai than for nonmelanoma skin cancer.” It is estimated that over 7,000 people will diet year from melanoma skin cancer in the Wed States, according to the American Cancer Society DNA databases handcuff criminals to crime scene Researchers say that use of genetic records should only be for identification purposes, not researcl By Andrea Pool Special to The Battalion PHILADELPHIA — DNA databases are becoming a key to solving crimes. The United Kingdom has a national DNA database and legislation exists in 47 states in the United States to have such databanks. David Werrett, director of Research and DNA services for the Forensic Science Ser vice in the UK, said their databank was es tablished in 1995 because 20 percent of of fenders commit 80 percent of crimes. When a crime is committed, two tissue samples are taken from the criminal, and members of the community volunteer to give their samples. Police then use the databank as a start ing point to their investigation. So far, said Werrett, the total number of samples for suspects and convicts is 260,931. There have been 16,754 matches reported. Werrett is serving on a subcommittee of the Forensic Science Review Board in New York, which makes recommenda tions for the forensic labs. Barry Scheck, a professor at the Benjamin N. Car- dozo School of Law and known by many as one of O.J. Simpson’s de fense lawyers, helped draft the legislation estab lishing the review board and the subcommittee on which Werrett serves. Scheck is also involved in a national commission estab lished by Attorney General Janet Reno to plan the future of DNA testing. Their first report is due this year. In the databanks in the United States, Scheck said, are DNA profiles of inmates, usually restricted to certain violent felonies and sex offenders; new cases, solved and unsolved, suspects in old un solved cases and blood sample of inmates. The ben efits of hav ing such a databank, he said, in clude gen erating sus pects in “Unless we clean up the statutory language in terms of law enforcement purposes, I think that we’re going to have some problems.” Barry Scheck Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law new cases, solving old unsolved cases and exonerating those wrongly accused. Scheck expressed some concerns about privacy, however. New York’s data bank is to be used for identification pw poses only. “In virtually every other state, when you look at the operative language forthf DNA databank, they talk about‘lawen- forcement purposes,”’ Scheck said. “Andl think that is, frankly, dangerous.” Scheck likened the phrase law enforce ment to national security. “National security was used by ourgov ernment over the course of time fordoing a whole lot of things which maybe had nothing to do with national security atal but just to prevent embarrassment to the government,” Scheck said. Scheck predicted that scientists wil want access to databanks or blood sain pies of criminals for genetic researchoa pedophiles in the future unless the lan guage for these databanks is changed. “Unless we clean up the statutory lan guage in terms of law enforcement put poses, I think that we’re going to havt some problems,” Scheck said. 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