Thursday, March 2,2® DELUNI, SCIENCE8TECHNOLOGY \)b RioHT AFW H P Thursday, March 2. 2000 THE BATTALION Page 5 Clogging the Internet Universities restrict access to audio/video sites IVIusic: down loaders use the IVIP3 format: to compress digital music t BARRET] finny Utah BYSCOTTJENKINS The Battalion Texas A&M is bucking a nationwide trend among universities to restrict access to Websites that allow users to download music and videos. For now. Increasing numbers of universities across the country, including the University of Texas, are using filtering programs to block Websites that store and provide music aud video online, such as Napster and iMesh. Although there are copyright issues re lated to downloading music and video from the Internet, the more pressing concern for universities is the network traffic generated by the downloading. Computer officials at Oregon State, the University of Chicago and other universi ties, said that downloading music and videos creates a disproportionate amount of network traffic since MP3 and other relat ed files require a good deal of digital space. For example, at the University of Illinois atUrbana-Champaign, Napster has at times accounted for 60 percent of the school's in ternet traffic, according to a Feb. 26 article in The Dallas Morning Meows. Thomas Putnam, director of A&M Computing and Information Services (CIS), said that A&M has not had that kind ofaproblem yet, but it may need to be dealt with in the future. “We’re watching it very closely,” Put nam said. “We are also looking at how oth er universities are handling this.” According to Putnam, A&M provides the network primarily for use in education. Although taxpayers could probably tol erate students using it for entertainment on a limited basis, there is a problem when en tertainment starts to infringe on the educa tional mission of the University, he said. “The question of who's in trouble in these cases is one that is unanswered in the law right now." — Don Tomlinson A&M journalism professor Still, CIS has no plans to use filtering programs to restrict access to Websites, Put nam said. If network traffic becomes a bigger dif ficulty, the University' could use other meth ods to keep the electronic peace. A university can approach the problem by either increasing the capacity of the net work or employing a bandwidth allocation scheme, where a limit would be placed on the amount of bandwidth, or data space for in- fonnation transfer, that each user is allowed. To increase the network capacity, Put nam said, “the question becomes, who is going to pay for it.” CIS is watching the University of South ern California carefully to observe the results of a bandwidth allocation program there. Theoretically, a scheme where network users pay more individually for heavier traffic is conceivable, but practical prob lems of accounting and theft of bandwidth space make it very tough to enforce, Put nam said. Issues of copyright infringement are also being addressed in the world of music downloading. One of the “pertinent legal questions for universities,” according to A&M journal ism professor and media law expert Don Tomlinson, is whether a university is liable if its network is used for illegal copying and distributing of downloaded software, mu sic or videos. “The question of who’s in trouble in these cases is one that is unanswered in the law right now,” Tomlinson said. But with an increasing number of ac tivity in this area and number of lawsuits, that question may be answered in the near future. Analog sound wave pattern O !e **— O CO

1 O01 lOO OOin nooi •’NJ Same analog pattern converted to a digital signal The digital information on a CD requires 32 megabytes for a three minute song. The MP3 format compression can reduce the same song to about three megabytes. 010100010010111010110 110100100111001001010 100100101010010010010 ROBERT HYNECEK/Thk Battaui>N Gene therapy boosts blood clotting ?r own style ofmusit ; into classic country and felt! opropri ate to be here where th ’here are things that l do mis like my band.” is currently touring solo,bit ve a band with whom she plat isits Los Angeles, d that right now she is ink stages, and is playing at bars, slow process, but l am gett* .id. “I can see people respond- my music.” said she writes her ownmiS e wants to make sure thatsk she feels. usic is about my life andk sxperience because that is l can write the best about d. s concert begins at lOp.m® t The Crooked Path. (AP)—Amid controversy over the risks of gene therapy, scientists reported that an experimental gene-replacement procedure appears to improve blood clotting in hemophiliacs without triggering complications. Researchers at Children’s Hospital*of Philadel phia and Stanford University cautioned that.their success in treating hemophilia B. a relatively rare fonn of the illness, was encouraging but preliminary. Just three patients participated in the experi ment, in which researchers injected patients with a healthy gene to stimulate production of a blood clotting protein. An expanded trial with more patients and high er doses is under way. If the method continues to work, it would be one of the few successful genetic treatments of any disease since the approach was introduced a decade ago. The new gene’s effect is “modest, but measur able,’’said Stanford geneticist Mark A. Kay, who led the study. “It changes from severe disease to mod erate, which really increases the quality of life for the individual.” The hemophilia study appears in the March is sue of Nature Genetics amid a public backlash against gene therapy. The outcry was prompted by the death last September of a Phoenix teen-ager who had volunteered for a different gene experiment. Jesse Gelsinger, 18, was the first person believed to die as a direct result of a genetic experiment. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania had infused his liver with a gene therapy aimed at reversing a rare metabolic disease. The procedure triggered an extreme immune- system reaction that caused multiple-organ failure. In recent weeks, several leading scientists, in cluding Caltech president and Nobel laureate David Baltimore, have questioned whether gene therapy is too risky. And the National Institutes of Health, which hinds gene therapy research, is evaluating 400 trials ,CPQduc|gd with mope than 4,00.0 patients. “There is a lot of uncer tainty in the field now. It's reassuring to see some positive studies" — Arthur Beaudet Baylor College of Medicine geneticist Other geneticists said the hemophilia B study in Nature Genetics, while not conclusive, is a confi dence-builder. “What 1 like is that it was a very low-risk study,” said Baylor College of Medicine geneticist Arthur Beaudet. “There is a lot of uncertainty in the field now. It’s reassuring to see some positive studies.” About 5,000 Americans suffer from hemophilia B. They produce insufficient levels of a clotting pro tein known as Factor IX. As a result, blood leaks into their joints. Many patients are disabled by age 30. Researchers believe hemophilia B is suitable for gene therapy because the factor IX gene is small and a healthy copy can be easily substituted. FDA to inspect saline breast implants GAITHERSBURG, Md. (AP) — Federal regulators opened scientific hearings Wednes day to determine if saline-filled breast implants are safe enough for thousands of women to continue getting — or if they break open and deflate too often. Some 9.2 percent of saline-lilled implants given to breast cancer patients ruptured and de flated within three years of implantation, man ufacturer Mentor Corp. told a Food and Drug Administration meeting. That risk was three times greater for breast cancer patients than for women who had their breasts enlarged cosmetically, the study of 1,680 implant recipients found. In addition, 40 percent of cancer patients who received saline implants needed some re peat surgery within three years, and 24 percent of these implant recipients suffered breast hardening from scar tissue, a complication that can be very painful. For cancer patients whose first implant de flated, Mentor said the chance a second im plant would break was 22 percent, the compa ny said. Data on the risks of saline-filled breast im plants has long been awaited. About 130,000 American women received saline implants last year, even though the FDA never has declared them safe. Saline implants currently are sold because of a government loophole: They hit the mar ket before the FDA began regulating medical devices. These implants are the only option for most women seeking breast reconstruction or cos metic breast enlargement. In 1992, the FDA banned silicone gel-filled implants except for a small number of women in strict clinical trials. The FDA now is reviewing saline implants to decide if they are safe enough to continue selling and, if so, how to make sure women un derstand that — despite what many plastic sur geons now claim — their implants are not guaranteed to last a lifetime. About a dozen women, some angry and some tearful, urged the FDA to declare the im plants dangerous and defective. Some held up implants removed from their bodies that were blackened with fungus, and blamed them for causing infections, excruci ating breast pain or repeated surgeries. The implants may have a higher failure rate than any other medical device FDA lets sell, said Dr. Norman Anderson of Johns Hopkins University. “Only fools will call these risks accept able,” said Patricia Faussett of Henderson, Nev., who said her illnesses disappeared once her implants were removed. But some breast cancer patients happy with saline implants called them vital to emotional recovery after a mastectomy. “It has given me back my self-esteem and sexuality,” said Jen nifer Gardner of Washington. Tens of thousands of women in the 1990s claimed implants gave them serious diseases, from arthritis to cancer. But after repeated scientific studies, the prestigious Institute of Medicine last year declared that breast implants, whether sili cone gel- or saline-filled, do not cause ma jor diseases. - The FDA always has considered saline im plants less risky simply because if they break, they release salt water into the body, not a for eign substance. But officials are concerned about how of ten the implants break or cause local compli cations. In addition, University of Maryland radiol ogist Dr. Wendie Berg told the FDA it is -sig nificantly harder for mammograms to detect breast cancer when the X-rays have to pene trate breast implants. “We provide a safe and effective option iijf women,” responded Mentor vice presidehi Bobby Purkait. Mentor cited studies that found no oape§- diagnosis problems, and contended Jrraity women have repeat surgeries because; they want bigger implants or are upset that orjp breast turned out larger than the other. . * Implants were riskier for cancer pa.fiefits because they already were in poor health, prone to infections and undergo repeated k>fea$t exams and treatments that could stress tl)e im plant, company officials said. In contrast, 3.3 percent of the implants psejd in cosmetic breast enlargement broke aijd de flated within three years, Mentor said. ’ »t f Some 6.9 percent of the cosmetic patfenfs had hardened breast tissue and 1.7 percent in fections. 1 D IS U D E N SI intation at g about id. jr questions ation FOUND AXIOJM COME SHOW YOUR SUPPORT! Aggie Baseball vs. Baylor Friday, March 3rd Enjoy Bevo BBQ before the game Olsen Pavilion 3:00 - 6:00 p.m. Student Foundation Members eat FREE Friends eat for only $ 5 TRACK TEAM SOCIAL Thursday, March 2nd Come meet the track team and have fun! Gattiland 7:00 p.m. Cost $ 6 The Texas A&M University Student Media Board is accepting applications for The Battalion — Including radio and online editions — Summer 2000 (The summer editor will serve May 22 through Aug. 11, 2000.) Fall 2000 (The fall editor will serve Aug. 14 through Dec. 15, 2000.) Qualifications for editor in chief of The Battalion are: • Be a Texas A&M student in good standing with the University and enrolled in at least six credit hours (4 if a graduate student) during the term of office (unless fewer credits are required to graduate); • Have at least a 2.00 cumulative grade point ratio (3.00 if a graduate student) and at least a 2.00 grade point ratio (3.00 if a graduate student) in the semester immediately prior to the appointment, the semester of appointment and semester during the term of office. In order for this provision to be met, at least six hours (4 if a graduate student) must have been taken for that semester; • Have completed JOUR 301 (Mass Communication, Law and Society), or equivalent; • Have at least one year experience in a responsible editorial position on The Battalion or comparable daily college newspaper, -OR- Have at least one year editorial experience on a commercial newspaper, -OR- Have completed at least 12 hours journalism, including JOUR 203 and 303 (Media Writing I and II); and JOUR 304 (Editing for the Mass Media), or equivalent. Application forms should be picked up and returned to Francia Cagle in the Student Media office, room 014A Reed McDonald Building. Deadline for submitting application: noon Wednesday, March 22, 2000. Applicants will be interviewed during the Student Media Board Meeting beginning at 6:15 p.m. Tuesday, March 28, in room 221F Reed McDonald. An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer Committed to Diversity. The Texas A&M University Student Media Board T is accepting applications for Aggieland 2001 Qualifications for editor in chief of the Aggieland yearbook are: • Be a Texas A&M student in good standing with the University and enrolled in at least six credit.*.*' hours (4 if a graduate student) during the term of office (unless fewer credits are required to graduate); • „ • Have at least a 2.00 cumulative grade point ratio (3.00 if a graduate student) and at least d * <<' 2.00 grade point ratio (3.00 if a graduate student) in the semester immediately prior to the ■ appointment, the semester of appointment and semester during the term of office. In order for • C this provision to be met, at least six hours (4 if a graduate student) must have been taken for . ■ that semester; • Have completed JOUR 210 (Graphics) and JOUR 301 (Mass Communication, Law and Society), or equivalent; • Have demonstrated ability in writing through university coursework or equivalent experience; • Have at least one year experience in a responsible position on the Aggieland or comparable ' - college yearbook. . " Application forms should be picked up and returned to Francia Cagle in the Student Media ; office, room 014A Reed McDonald Building. Deadline for submitting application: noor*' • Wednesday, March 22, 2000. Applicants will be interviewed during the Student Medici -' Board Meeting beginning at 6:15 p.m. Tuesday, March 28, in room 221F Reed McDonald.- ’ ■ An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer Committed to Diversity. u ** ii