Penn State University - La Vie Yearbook (University Park, PA)

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Milk Myth Destroyed By drinking milk your serum choles- terol level ought to drop. So it appears from the findings of three food scien- tists who say that cholesterol synthesis is inhibited by a milk compound called orotic acid. For years, nutritionalists warned adults of the dangers of milk drinking and its contribution to high cholester- ol. Baloney , say food scientists Dr. Robert D. McCarthy and senior re- search aide Gerald A. Porter. Studies of African Masai tribesmen by other re- searchers, Penn State rat feeding ex- periments, and Vanderbilt University experiments with Americans, all show serum cholesterol levels dropping as more milk was consumed. McCarthy, Porter, and Libyan gradu- ate student Ahmed A. Ahmed, who did much of the Penn State research, en- listed an army of analytical techniques to isolate and identify orotic acid as the cholesterol blocking agent. McCarthy says this acid was first re- ported in milk in 1904, but not fully isolated and identified until Porter and Ahmed's research efforts. In the future, McCarthy would like to explore orotic acid's effect on liver tissue, examining metabolism of com- pounds other than cholesterol. Perhaps in a year or two, we'll have more answers, concludes McCarthy. a.- ; v Catching Rays Costly A few years ago, many people felt we could clean up pollution while re- taining economic growth, says econo- mist Gary A. Shute. Now we're not sure. One of the uncertainties is the apparent collision course between energy and environment. Another is expense. In the position paper Energy and the Environment: Can We Afford Them Both? Shute says, If we contin- ue to strive for a high level of environ- mental quality, the price will be paid in terms of escalated inflation, unemployment, energy short-falls, etc. Solar space heating also has eco- nomic drawbacks. Supplemental solar hot water heat is only marginally eco- nomical in Pennsylvania, unless finan- cial incentives are legislated. If your house is heated by oil, unsubsidized solar heating probably won't pay for itself. In one of those paradoxes that seem to dominate the energy scene, it ap- pears that the pocketbook must be hit even harder before free sun energy is worthwhile. The reason, of course, is that solar heat is not free. The cost of solar equipment, installation, and maintenance is still too high to com- pete with that of present fuels. a 1x G vi f x t f A oimm': w Wm V'gdv mil fr W New Graphics The Applied Research Laboartory, in conjunction with the University's Com' putation Center and the acoustics graduate program, is exploring the ef- fectiveness of computer graphics as a research tool, as well as applying it to specific problems in several fields. A tremendous boom in computer use is predicted, with graphics por- traying everything from weather pat- terns to automobile designs to games and entertainment. Most information that can be shown in a visual, graphic form may end up stored in computers. If so, learning methods developed by ARL's graphics groups .will become in- creasingly important-and not just to scientists and other technical people, but to the general public as well. ReviewIResearch 23

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Want to Get Healthy? Exercise can give you the aerobic capacity of a non-active person ten, maybe even fifteen years younger than yourself, says Dr. James L. Hodgson, an applied physiologist at the Human Performance Laboratory. And if you don't exercise from ages twenty through fifty, you'll probably lose ae- robic capacity faster than active people. Hodgson has studied the effects of long-term, regular exercise on people of all ages, focusing on middle-aged men. He and Dr. Elsworth R. Buskirk, director of the laboratory, summarize their research and that of others in the paper Physical Fitness and Age, with Emphasis on Cardiovascular Functions in the Elderly. Aerobic capacity is the ability of the lungs to take up oxygen, the heart to deliver it, and the muscles to use the Iife-giving gas. Aerobic capacity reflects performance of the cardiovascular sys- tem. In this era of a million heart at- tacks a year, it is nothing to ignore 22 ReviewXResearch For the approximately 20 million overweight people in the United States, being fat is no laughing matter. It's a problem that may not be solved by simply eating less. Researchers in the University's Laboratory for Human Performance Research, directed by Dr. Elsworth R. Buskirk are trying to find safe, permanent weight loss methods. Many of the problems of the obese begin during childhood. Buskirk and others believe that physical training in youth may carry through to adulthood and substantially decrease chances of becoming overweight. In the exercise groups of Dr. Karl G. Stoedefalke and former graduate stu- dent Barry Franklin, exercise was found to be beneficial psychologically as well as physiologically. StoedefaIke's and Franklin's programs banish the depres- sion so often attributed to diet-only plans. The researchers have discovered that people are especially spirited and optimistic in group exercise programs. UIIVSIMIOGNIII'MV 3 q9ducatlonal i J 1t QyDoduleslor E :3 ,. Li, QDaterlala i :t i $clence and 51 ognglneerlng ' N i D , , ,7 , , i E. Textbooks Out- Modules In Textbooks are obsolete. They're go- ing out of style in materials science and engineering, and in many other scientific and technical fields, as well, says Dr. Rustum Roy. Roy heads the Materials Research Laboratory tMRLt, and is project director of EMMSEeEducational Modules for Ma- terials Science and Engineering, a fresh approach to university teaching. EMMSE's principle component is the print module, a twenty-five to thirty- five-page booklet treating one defined topic, much like a chapter in a text. Over the next three years Roy expects EMMSE to produce 150 to 200 modules which draw on expertise and current research of materials scientists and en- gineers throughout the world. A typical module features an outline of the subject to be covered, a list of available audiovisual aids, prerequisites for easy understanding, authors, and other pertinent facts. A statement of objectives follows, then the text, and finaIIy a set of review exercises. In a field where knowledge is in rapid acceleration-so rapid that it regularly outstrips texts of a general nature-modules may be the books of the future.

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review7campus Human Development East Building Nurses Have New Home The New Human Development East Nursing Building was completed and opened to the public in October of 1979. The building will serve as labora- tory, classroom center and career re- source center for the 550 under- graduates presently enrolled in the School of Nursing. The Department of Health, Educa- tion, and Welfare provided two-thirds of the funding needed, and the Uni- versity supplied one-third, after the ini- tial plans were okayed in January of 1977. Services of the nursing consultation center will be open to the community as well as University students, faculty, and staff. The People's Choice Hal Shaffer t10th-Political Sciencei and Vicki Sandoe t9th-Political Sci- encel were elected president and vice- president of the 1979-80 Under- graduate Student Government. Out of a 26 percent studenUvoter turnout, Shaffer-Sandoe received about 38 per- cent of the vote with a total of 2,431 votes. Tom Feeney and his running mate AI McKenna were Shaffer's clos- est competitors, receiving 1,442 votes; Bonnie Northrup and Vic Dupuis were third with 1,241 votes; Jeff Barrett and Henry Gorczycki were in fourth place with 457 votes; and the Tony Filip- pello-Mike DiPiano ticket was fifth with 382 votes. 24 Review7Campus Test of Endurance After spending up to 34 hours wait- ing in line for a space in the dorms last year, students were more than ready for a new dorm contract submission procedure. But the administration's suggestion for a lottery assignment sys- tem wasn't exactly what they had in mind. The problems began last spring when Housing Services announced a first-come7first-served system for con- tract submission. Fearing they might lose their dorm rooms, some students began lining up early. They spent the night in the cold, filing into union buildings in the morning once the doors opened. As students amused themselves amid the swarm of bodies snaking in and out of numerous rooms, petitions were circulated pro- testing the line-up system. Finally, when Housing decided to accept con- tracts a day early, the lines began to move. Realizing a more efficient system was needed, administrators and repre- sentatives from Housing and Residen- tial Life came up with a proposed Iot- tery assignment for dorm rooms. Under this system, students submitting con- tracts would be assigned as their cards were pulled in the lottery. Student opposition to the lottery came in the form of letters to the Collegian, organized rallies, and an As- sociation of Residence Hall Students poll showing that 71 per cent of those surveyed were against the lottery. Stu- dents said they would have no control in the lottery, that it would split up friends and destroy house unity. In the end, dorm dwellers preferred standing in line to submitting to the luck of the draw. Last fall, ARHS submitted a revised first-come7first-served plan to Univer- sity President John Oswald who later approved it. The proposal required stu- dents to turn in a $45 contract deposit to the bursar in February and to submit contracts spring term in one of ten equal lines outside dorm union build- ings. Up in Smoke Vandalism became a more serious problem for the University this year than it had been in the past. Aside from the usual damages, the University was faced with $26,000 worth of dam- age resulting from an elevator fire in Pinchot Hall. A two-month investigation of the in- cident led to the arrest of a suspect in this and a host of other unrelated criminal activities. The male arrested in connection with the elevator fire is a former resident of Pinchot Hall. He was also charged with 19 counts of arson and vandalism for this and sev- eral other incidents. Pinchot Hall residents were quite concerned that the arsonist be found and several residents helped the police in finding and charging the suspect. If the arsonist had not been found and held responsible for the damages, each of the 311 residents of the dormi- tory in East Halls would have been required to pay approximately $32 to- ward the replacement cost of the elevator. Strong 8t Vital In response to budget tightening and the threat of declining enrollment dur- ing the 1980's, the Penn State plan for the new decade will emphasize re- structure within the University, and pro- gram selectivity in its policy proposals. The plan, with its work divided into four task forces and headed by a steer- ing committee, will attempt to provide specific recommendations for the Uni- versity's goals and priorities this com- ing decade. Senior Vice-president for Adminis- tration Stanley 0. lkenberry said the commitment of the University is to achieve a stronger and more vital Penn State in the 80's than there is at the present time. Also included in the Plan for the 80's are the roles of research and the en- rollment problems at the Com- monwealth campuses. A 31 percent decline in enrollment is forecasted for the Commonwealth campuses in the 80's.