The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, October 27, 2000, Page 2, Image 2
t:iie ©amtcock
Experts discuss uses of human genome
by Ann Marcellino
The Gamecock
i
Two experts came to USC Thurs
day and discussed recent breakthroughs
made concerning the human genome
and the medical applications and
ethical quandries they can bring.
Thomas Clasky, president of Co
gene Biotech Ventures, and Henry
Greely, law professor and director at
the Stanford University program of
Law, Science and Technology spoke
about these issues at the Strom Thrur
mond Auditorium.
Though it focused on the different
aspects of the human genome, the main
focus of the lecture was the different
uses of the genome.
Clasky was the first to speak, dis
cussing the medical applications of the
genome and the future hopes genome
studies and technology will bring.
The ongoing genome research pro
ject has made many breakthroughs,
such as discovering the linear order of
3 billion pairs of DNA, Clasky said.
The next step in the process is to
find out the the functions of the pairs,
which will enable scientists and doc
tors to treat diseases before they be
gin by recognizing a similar order of
the DNA.
Clasky also said the “race for the
ownership of the genome” is a very
important one, where the winner will
hold a lot of power in their hands.
Currently, America is in the lead
in the race for ownership, and, ac
cording to Clasky, this is what the na
tion wants. The reason there is so much
pressure on this issue is because who
ever has ownership of the genome in
formation will be able to control what
information will be made available to
the public or other countries.
Right now, there are a few coun
tries that have the gene sequence to
Hepatitis C, but America is unable
to receive any drugs to treat this dis
ease because countries that have the
gene sequence have patented it. In the
future, genome science will be re
sponsible for tracing diseases ranging
from obesity to osteoporosis.
Greely brought forth a moral and
ethical viewpoint of the genomes, along
with another medical one. He spoke
about how the impact of the human
genetics revolution will affect hu
manity. There are many consequences
that will come about from the new us
es of gene technology that are some
times overlooked by most people.
Greely brought up a hypothetical
situation where diseases that cause
physical deterioration are eliminated
-1
before diseases that cause mental de
terioration
“How is the country going to han
dle that?” he asked. “When we live in
& country where 47 million people do
not even have health insurance, and
we get these new drugs, who is going
to get them?”
Greely’s main point of discussion
focused on the power of DNA to pre
dict the future. Even now, there are
tests available for pregnant women to
find out if their baby is healthy or not.
In the future, when we will know more
about diseases, there will be a
greater chance doctors might suggest
termination of a pregnancy as the best
option if a certain disease is found,
Greely said. He went on to question
what kind of ethical drama that situ
ation would cause.
Adults’ own lives will also be af
fected by this new ability to predict
the future, Greely said, pointing out
that the situation already exists for
Huntington’s disease sufferers. Scien
tists know that if someone is found to
have a certain gene, that person is 100
percent likely to develop Huntington’s
Disease in later life.
This could bring problems with
health care, Greely said. If a person
were to find out he or she has a gene
that causes a deadly disease, there is a
chance the person could be discrimi
nated against when applying for health
insurance.
One of Greely’s last points was the
idea of parents being able to decide
specific characteristics their children
will have when they are bom. There
will never be a unanimous agreement
about whether or not it is right for us
to decide how tall our children will
be, Greely said.
Robin Wilson, who introduced
Greely, called the lecture “a great op
portunity for the campus. It gave the
School of Law good exposure for the
campus because both of these men are
at the top of their class in what they
do.”
Alfred Cleveland, a student who
attended the lecture, said he was un
decided on the issues that were dis
cussed.
“I am excited to see what advances
we can make in the medical field, but
there is also the ethical questions about
how far is too far,” Cleveland said.
The city/state desk can be reached at
gamecockcitydesk@hotmail.com.
South Carolina drought
shows no signs of ending
by Jeffrey Collins
Associated Press
COLUMBIA- Much of South Car
olina will remain in a moderate
drought for now, the experts whc
monitor such things decided Thurs
day, though they worry that a dry
winter could mean more problems,
“It took us three years to get
where we are, and it may take that
long to get out of the drought com
pletely,” said Natural Resources De
partment climatologist Milt Brown
Fanners report decent field con
ditions and utilities say most mu
nicipal reservoir levels are adequate
But the longer-term effects of
the three-year dry spell, like tapped
out wells in the Upstate and record
low river flows in western South
Carolina, have the state’s Drought
Response Committee worried.
Last month, officials said the rain
from tropical storms had eased the
most severe drought conditions. But
then it turned dry again.
As of Thursday, much of the
state had not seen measurable rain
for 31 days. That’s the longest dry
stretch in Greenville in nearly 100
years and is closing in on records in
Columbia of 40 days, Beaufort of
45 days and Charleston of 49 days.
Miller Drilling in Greenville has
seen a sharp increase in business
since the middle of the summer.
Lona Kimmel, a receptionist, said
many customers need new wells
drilled because the old ones have
dried up.
Nearly two dozen businessmen
who make their livings catering to
boaters and fishermen along Lakes
Moultrie and Marion came to the
meeting to say they were close to
losing everything. Lake levels have
dropped so low that some boat ramps
are out of the water and boat-jarring
stumps sit just a few feet from the
surface.
“Wfe’re looking at the beginning
of a debilitating season,” said Richard
Spera, speaking for business owners
along the lakes.
Many tourists are staying away
and those that do come have such a
bad experience they won’t come
again, Spera said.
Committee members promised
to seek Small Business Administra
tion disaster loans, but said the ef
fort will be tough because droughts,
unlike hurricanes or tornadoes,
develop slowly and the damage isn’t
as dramatic.
The only areas of the state not
in a moderate drought are nine coun
ties in the Pee Dee, along with
Charleston and Beaufort counties.
Students
from page 1
Director of Undergraduate Ad
missions Terry Davis said, too her
knowledge, the university didn’t plan
on trying to force the numbers by rais
ing requirements, which could reduce
the size of the incoming class. Instead,
she said, the university would focus
on recruiting top-notch students.
“The goal is to not cut out a lot of
students in the class but to attract more
in the upper ranges,” Davis said.
The university doesn’t use test
scores alone to select its students.
Instead, Davis said, the university fol
lows a “sliding scale” that takes both
grades and test scores into considera
tion when selecting students.
“We know that the combination
of high school grades and test scores
works better than either one alone,”
Davis said.
Davis also said the university
wouldn’t drastically want to change
the number of incoming students that
hail from South Carolina. In 1999,
more than three-quarters of incoming
freshmen were in-state students.
“Certainly we would never want
to be 60-40 or 50-50,” Davis said. “But
a few percentage points wouldn’t hurt.”
Board Chairman Mack Whittle
said, even with the new SAT goal, the
university would still make diversity
a priority.
“Diversity’s something we would
still strive to achieve,” Whittle said.
“We all do better with an improved
academic reputation.
He pointed to other schools that
have higher academic standards than
use.
“They’ve been able to maintain
an acceptable level of diversity,” he
said.
As for in-state students, Whittle
- said higher academic standards could
stop the “brain drain” caused by the
state’s better students leaving South
Carolina to attend other universities.
Higher test scores could also help in
crease the number applications by im
proving the school’s image, Whittle
said.
“There are a number of kids that
really want to go to a school that has
a higher academic reputation [than
USC],” Whittle said.
Any decisions about incoming class
size would be made when the board
develops a plan for raising the mean
SAT scores.
While Eaddy agreed the current
numbers are just a goal, she said
USC would have to raise the bar in or
der to become a top-notch universi
ty
“If we want to be...one of the
top five institutions in the South, we
have to raise our standards,” Eaddy
said.
The university desk can be reached
at
gamecockudesk@hotmail.com.
9oT5nn
\| If you are ready for a REAL Tailgate Party, then come on by! II /
' tie jVval Great GAMeCOCF^
^ Tailgate fart# °f 2000
. <^> October 28 (USC vs. TENNESSEE) 10:00 am -12:00 noon jJ \
featuring HAROLD BANKS from HOT 103-9 l/\ \ I
JJ Seawell's parking lot -1125 Rosewood Drive
// across the street from "the ROCKET' at the State Fairgrounds. /
fJ The best part is that it is all FREE: Music, Lots of Great Food, Drinks and Door Prizes. 1
/Souvenirs for the first 200 USC students in attendance. /
4 jj General parking is available at Seawell's for $7 per vehicle.
JJ FREE Bus Shuttle to the Tailgate Party and back to campus after the Game! \\/ /
J J 9:30 & 10:30 am: Pick ups at the Russell House, Columbia Hall & Bates House \X/J
// Actual time or event may change due to funding or programmatic decisions. For additional information, please call 111-1130. /AX
f ! Department of Student Life Division of Student & Alumni Services _ S \ \
Alliance to award
grants to innovators
■ NCIIA to award
$2 million in grants
to students, faculty
by Kristin von
Karowsky
The Gamecock
The National Collegiate Inventors
and Innovators Alliance has announced
it will award $2 million in grants to stu
dent and faculty innovators over the
next two years.
The NCIIA provides grant support
to colleges and universities for the cre
ation of student invention teams, pro
jects, courses, networking opportuni
ties and resources for students and
faculty. The oiganization funds the in
vention teams, called “E-Teams,” for
excellence and entrepreneurship, whose
work could lead to the licensing of new
technologies or products, or the start
up of entrepreneurial ventures.
NCIIA grants are also awarded by
the Lemelson Foundation, created in
1994 by Jerome and Dorothy Lemel
son to promote entrepreneurship and
invention among college students.
The program is designed to foster
a new generation of innovators who
will create new businesses and em
ployment opportunities in the United
States, program director Phil Weiler
stein said.
“The student inventors we are fund
ing are working on exciting projects,
and the number of projects and amount
of money we are awarding this year is
the highest ever,” Weilerstein said. “We
continue to search for undergraduate
and graduate innovators to support, and
look forward to receiving another group
of strong proposals in December.”
NCIIA public relations advisor
Kathleen Candy encourages USC stu
dents to apply.
“Go for it.” she said. “USC students
should look at the NCIIA website to
see what other students are doing across
the country.”
Candy said when students start their
businesses they keep most of the prof
its, with a small percentage going to
the academic institution and the NCI
IA.
Two types of NCIIA grants are of
fered, Advanced E-Team grants and
Course and Program Development
grants. Advanced E-Team grants of
up to $20,000 are awarded to student
innovators to provide support for the
development of new technologies and
products with commercial potential.
These grants may be used for stu
dent stipends up to $7,500, equipment,
travel expenses, prototyping and sup
plies, business planning and patent
searches and filing.
Course and Program Development
grants of up to $50,000 provide sup
port for the creation and operation of
E-Team classes and programs, includ
ing faculty stipends, equipment, trav
el expenses, materials and supplies,
technical services and speakers.
This month, NCIIA awarded
$340,384 to students and faculty at 26
colleges and universities nationwide.
Some of these projects include the
“Keyless Key,” a tiny wireless device
conceived by students at the Universi
ty of Pittsburgh that allows entry
through doors without the use of a key,
card or other hand-held device.
Also, there was a “Flexible Bolt”
designed by students at California Poly
technic University that can be used to
securely join misaligned parts.
Students at Marshall University de
signed a Web-based “Math Engine,” an
integrated software package that sup
ports higher order mathematics for on
line instruction, allowing hand-held de
vices to function as scientific calculators.
In addition, faculty from many
academic disciplines and academic
institutions received awards up to
$50,000 for courses and projects that
encourage students to develop applied
innovations with commercial poten
tial.
The NCIIA invites interested stu
dents and faculty to submit proposals
for the first two annual application dead
lines by Dec. 15 to fund student pro
jects and faculty courses and programs
in 2001 and 2002. A detailed descrip
tion of the grants program and an ap
plication packet can be obtained from
the NCIIA Web site at www.nciia.oig.
The NCIIA is funded by the Lemel
son Foundation through Five Colleges,
Inc., a non-profit educational organi
zation in Amherst, Massachusetts.
The city/state desk can be reached at
gamecockcitydesk@hotmail.com.
HALLOWEEN
L I • military uniforms • masks |
E I • vintage clothing • body partis
M I • whips and • assorted K
¥ hand cuffs wigs
ARMY/NAVY STORK
1621 MAIN ST. 252-1350
1 _MONDAY"-SATURDAY Q;00 - 6:00PM_
Throwing your ( y Establish
money away on *t V ‘ yourself
rent or dorm yj^U ^ by investing in
fees ??? your future.
Specializing in the sales of:
Condos & Townhomes in the USC & Downtown Areas
Properties araUsbie iai Park Circle * Plaza Centre * Senate Plaza
The • Finer on (hr Greene
Single Eudlf also available
ontfmark (803) 799-0859
1516 Richland Street
1^0 UWJ E-mail: lindmark@logicsouth.com
- Real Estate since 1983 www.realpages.cotn/landmarkr '