Wednesday, June 28,21
draft
ry Krause, and Chicagov,;
vith three first-roundpitt
ree consecutive picks erf
)S. 32-34).
of options with trades®
aid luesday. "We're lister
t getting started. TheN1
ite-night party. We'vebet
d I'm sure we'll be herels
rs met with the medialue
t them had heard thenwlt
re of the talk about a k
nd him to Orlando, althou:
See Draft on Page
Wednesday, June 28,2000
_ scienc
TECHN
Page 3
THE BATTALION
Sensing
Traffic lab fights roadway congestion
Hun
University of Texas
luoneke
University of Texar
s Flier
Iowa State Universiti
el Nurse
Iowa State Universiti
Dooling
University of Missou
md Mason
lahoma State Univensii
lo Najera
Oklahoma Umverisli
dYoung
Texas Tech Umverisli
r Walls
University of Colorailt
JNA AND JP BEATO/Thk BattaU 1
?rfor NR
ash. Now spectators)#|
sports broadcastipgrf
r Night Football wasoncd
ward to playing infroW
rsing their abilities.Now,i
itch unless their favorite
een killing the ratingsof
Football"? Professional
id the show in the ratings
has lost its appeal with Si
ration.
iw bad are "Monday Nif
atings? In 1994, with the
k Gifford, Dan Dierdorl
aels, the Nielson ratings
;t season, the ratings
a record low for the she*
ilier beat out for the job?
n talk show host Rush
Tiller is clearly a better
i political demigod,sob
or passing on Limbaugh
? in the field of sports jouf
d have been a betterdioitf
it Tom Jackson, who has
! 's "NFL Countdown"fa
ing Sharpe would have
it job as well. If ABC waft
uld try outspoken sports
ome from Fox Sports. At
See Miller on Paf
Stuart Hutson
The Battalion
Urban communities around the country have a growing prob
lem — traffic.
"It used to be that in order to solve traffic-congestion problems,
a dty would just build more or expand tine roads they have," said
Robert Brydia, assistant researcher at the Texas Transportation In
stitute's (TTI) Translink Research Center. "Now, it has just become
too costly and, in some situations, just impossible to do that. So, a
way of efficiently using the roads they have is now a necessity. That
is our task here (at the Translink Research Center)."
The center, stationed in the TTI building on Texas A&M's West
Campus, is researching methods to better chart and control traffic in
urban and rural areas.
"All of College Station is really a testing ground," Brydia said.
"We have sensor test patches set up in strategic locations so that
we can test how different methods of detecting traffic work in
real-world situations."
The sensor test patches (set up along Highway 6 and Wellborn
Road, among other locations) consist of different arrays of sensors
(including radar, acoustic, induction-loop and microwave) along
with video cameras.
The radar and microwave sensors work in a way comparable
with the radar gun used by police.
The sensor sends out a radio wave that bounces off a car and
returps to the sensor. The change in frequency of the wave is then
measured and the speed of the vehicle is determined.
"The problem with the microwave sensor is that every time it
rains, each raindrop is read as a moving vehicle, so software has
Satelite
Control
Center
to be written to allow
for bad-weather condi
tions," Brydia said.
The acoustic sensor
listens to the noise made
by passing vehicles. Dif
ferent noises mean dif
ferent speeds. Higher
pitches generally mean
faster speeds, while
lower pitches mean
slower speeds.
Induction loop sen
sors are loops of wires buried under concrete that carry an elec
trical current.
When a large metallic object passes over one of these loops,
it alters the current, indicating the presence of a vehicle.
These sensors are beneath the squares in the road commonly
seen at intersections.
The center is developing ways of using these sensors to identify
problem situations on city roads.
"One system we are working on is a delay of tire green light at
an intersection if a large truck is approaching. The sensor determines
how far away the truck is and how fast it is going, and allows the
light to stay green until the tmck passes through," said Brydia. "This
saves wear and tear on the road and trucks, while saving money on
gas that would be expended while the truck was slowing down,
waiting and then re-accelerating."
The center is also developing ways to communicate information
Driver GPS
or
Onboard
Computer
iber optic or Cable Modem
RUBEN DELUNA/The Battalion
obtained from the sensors to emergency response teams and per
sonal vehicles with onboard computers.
"We can receive signals from the sensors via cable modems and
fiber optics," Brydia said. "If we could then send that information to
cars, it would allow them to avoid congestion and find the quickest
route to their destination. We are also working with EMS and fire
personnel to use the information to reroute them through the fastest
path if an obstacle, such as a train, is in their path."
Systems for regulating traffic similar to ones under development
at the center are already in use in major metropolitan areas like Dal
las and San Antonio.
Brydia said the center's research is not designed to be used by
law enforcement, but only to help regulate traffic congestion.
"A lot of people see that they are being watched and have flash
backs to Orwell's 2984," he said. "But this isn't Big Brother. This is
technology designed to help make people's lives easier and safer."
Snails aid in nerve cell research
LOW
fudent
Irfares
jrope • Africa
• South Americs
More Than
)eparture Cities'
iurailpasses
Bus Passes
tudy Abroad
A student a
d* universe
•com
>UR WORLD. EXPLORf I* I
sntUniverse.con 1
00-272-9676
Patrice Pages
The Battalion
The human body contains miles of nerve
cells, called neurons, that help the body to
breathe, move, learn and think. But how these
neurons carry out their process of transferring
data within and outside the brain remains one
of the most mysterious and complex processes
of the human anatomy.
Understanding this process can aid in deter
mining how learning and memory work, and it
can also lead to important medical advances.
University of Calgary neurologist Andrew
Bulloch said possible applications are the im
provement of nerve cell repair in the body's
nervous system after an accident, and a better
understanding of why neurons in the brain do
not repair themselves. Studies on growing neu
rons might also enable replacement of neurons
lost or damaged by degenerative diseases.
"If this idea of therapy to correct
Alzheimer's or Parkinson's or Huntington's
goes forward, or if one can figure out how to
get new connections in the spinal cord to alle
viate traumas resulting from, say, falling off a
horse,That will be a gigantic breakthrough,"
said Ken Lukowiak, one of Bulloch's col
leagues at the University of Calgary.
Neuron cells can relay and store electrical
messages by receiving an electrical or chemical
connection from another neuron through pro
jections called dendrites.
The cell then Carries the message through its
body and releases the message through projec
tions, called, axons at its other end.
The
Dendrites
*/\
junctions
between the
dendrites
and axons
are called
synapses.
Synapses
contain
chemicals
called neu
rotransmit
ters that
convey the electric or chemi
cal messages from cell to cell.
A question arises, howev
er, when one asks, "How
does one neuron decide
which cell to talk to?"
This issue is currently be
ing addressed by two Texas
A&M neurobiologists, asso
ciate professor Dr. Mark Zoran and Ph.D. stu
dent Theresa Szabo, both from the Department
of Biology.
Zoran has been studying connections be
tween neurons and muscles in the Helisoma
snail for more than 20 years.
"Snail neurons have many advantages with
respect to mammalian neurons," he said.
"They are 10 times larger in size,
and, as there are less neurons in
the snail, it is much easier to iden
tify different types of neurons.
Snail neurons are also easy to use
in dish cultures."
Studying how a synapse forms
between a neuron and its target in
a snail helps clarify how a synapse
can form in
a human
being.
"Though
complexity
increases,
there are not
many more
basic cellular
or molecular
mecha-
RUBEN DELUNA/Thk Battalion n i smS ' Zo
ran said. "There are many more neurons added
to the network, so the computational capabili
ties of the network become more complex, and
emergent properties arise. But the simple func
tions of the nervous system are probably the
same."
Zoran showed that neurons could have total
ly different ways to connect to their muscle tar
gets. In one case, they connect only to very spe
cific muscle fibers. In another case, they connect
to almost any target, and later break off those com-
mumcations when they are no longer needed.
These "selective" and "promiscuous" be
haviors have been observed in neurons found
in the mouth of the snail, labeled neurons 19
and 5 respectively.
"These neurons can be compared to a post
man having to deliver mail," Zoran said. "Neu
ron 19 will only go to the house having the
right address, while neuron 5 will knock on al
most any door on the block."
Neuron 19 arrives at the right target because
certain signaling molecules direct it where to go.
"It is like the story of Hansel and Gretel,
where bread crumbs are markers guiding them
on the right way," Zoran said.
Szabo is studying how neurons behave
when clusters of neurons, called ganglia, are in
jured. She discovered that during formation or
regeneration of ganglia, neurons will often
communicate via an electrical connection.
After a series of electrical connections are es
tablished, the connection between neurons will
become a more permanent chemical transfer.
Scientists
work on
genome
(AP)—With the announcement
that the entire human genetic code
has been assembled, scientists now
have a thrilling "to do" list for the
21st century. But it will take years
before such dreams become reality.
"It's the end of the beginning,"
Human Genome Project director
Francis Collins said Monday at a
White House briefing. "Together we
must develop the advances in medi
cine that are the real reason for doing
this work."
The genes have not actually been
decoded but entered, letter by letter,
into an enormous computer data
base. The public effort headed by
Collins has mapped 97 percent of the
human genome and thoroughly cov
ered, or sequenced, 85 percent. A for-
profit rival, Celera Genomics of
Rockville, Md., announced Monday
that it has completed 99 percent of the
genetic sequence.
In the near term, the new infor
mation is expected to revolutionize
drug development, making it much
easier for pharmaceutical companies
to target their products at the actual
causes of disease. Today, most drugs
are developed by a trial-and-error
method that simply throws thou
sands of compounds at a biochemical
problem until one fixes it.
But most of the benefits of the
human genome are further down
the road. In the coming years, re
searchers hope to determine:
• Which genes do what. Genes
code for proteins, which do the actu
al work of the body by building tis
sues and catalyzing biological reac
tions. In many cases, a gene will be
valuable only when scientists under
stand what protein it synthesizes and
what that protein does.
• The role of "junk" DNA. Only
about 3 percent of the genetic infor
mation actually encodes proteins.
Another small percentage regulates
genetic activity, turning other genes
on and off. The remainder may con
sist of typographic errors that have
arisen in the genetic code over bil
lions of years, strings of "spacers"
that increase the reliability of the
gene copying process or something
completely unexpected.
• Where and when genes are acti
vated. Any given cell only uses a frac
tion of all the human genes, and
which ones are turned on determines
what type of cell it is. A heart cell, for
example, uses a set of genes that al
low it to contract in response to elec
trical signals. A cancer cell turns on
genes that allow it to reproduce un
controllably.
2000 o\
Summer Semester Slam
Thursday June 29th
Win. $600 Worth of Travel
Airfare, Cruise, Whatever You Want
Just Bring: Your Suitcase and Traveling Clothes
And Tell Us Why You Should Win
Thursday
Quarter Back Night
w .75 cent Bar Brinks
.75 cent Long necks and Pints
$1.50 Call Drinks and Crown
ALL NIGHT LONG !!!!
Wednesday Buck Night
$1.00 U-Call It single Liquor Drinks
$1.00 Loagnecks, And Pints
$1.00 Cover All Night
Rodeo 2000 1600B S. College Bryan Tx 823-6111
FUN FRCM DAY ONE!
Tritadre jcutself to the votferfiil wxQd cf diving!
End acteifaLias begin the irarube jcu start learning to di\e!
IE jcur vedc is just too fall to berrfle a sate class ttm try our vedgrl
course, tacgabed at these vho crily haue vederfe free to relax. The
course starts cn a Ericfey nichfc and emtirues on Saturrfey and Surety.
The next class starts JUly 14, 15, ard 16th.
Other cnirae parfaeps ate awrilffcJe. Qall fix - infatitBt.iai.
2404 S. Ifexas Ae., C.S.
696-DIVE
Cdbfa SMtM
MUSCLE - TECH
Wholesale Health & Sports Nutrition
FATBURNERS * ENERGY & PROTEIN DRINKS
CLOTHING
10-40% LESS THAN RETAIL
* Carrying EAS, BIOTEST, American Body Building, Advocare
* Also MUSCLETECH, Optimum, and TwinLab
1705 Texas Ave.
(Culpepper Plaza, next to Bagel Station)
696-3474
M-F 10 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Sat. 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
TONIGHT
Wednesday, June 28th
pre|4j1M|
'^1HOUSE PARTY
50C Bar Drinks & Draft Beer 8-10 p.m
. $1 Grape Nehi Slots
all nkj± atthe Shot Shack
Dresi for Ffie Beach