— The Daily Collegian Wednesday, Nov. 11, 1998 BOTH supports biracial students By MIA ROHART Collegian Staff Writer For many Penn State students, the section on an application con cerning race is not a problem. But for the members of Blends of Traditional Heritages, it is not so - If there is not an 'other' box. I make one myself, and if that doesn't work. 1 check both cate gories.- 1301 . H member Tameka Kee freshman-advertising and public relations[ said Nee, ‘‘ hose mother is black and father is Puerto Rican, finds the "other" box useful in categorizing her biracial identity l'he members of BO I'll hold Smoking causes impotence, study says By JOSEPH B. VERRENGIA S: e - ce -te 7e you willing to give up 'out e for For years. scientists have been warning that smoking can con tribute to impotence as well as fer tility problems in men. Now anti smoking forces have seized on that finding as a potentially powerful new way to get people to kick the habit aliforma. a 5221 million cam micn launched in June includes a ki,)rrimercial showing a cigarette drooping limply. The message: `Cigarettes. Still Think They're In Thailand. the health ministry ordered the nation's tobacco monopoly to print a new warning on cigarette packs: "Cigarette smoking causes sexual impotence.- varying opinions about the "other" box as well as other issues. However, they do share the unique experience of being biracial. "The group is currently being considered for student organiza tion recognition," Diane Farnsworth, BOTH co-facilitator, said. "As an organization, (our) goals will include promoting awareness of the existence and concerns of biracial (and) multi cultural students on campus and to gain recognition of biracial individuals as a unique group at the university and elsewhere." BOTH will sponsor lectures, guest speakers and forum discus sions to further these goals. In England, public health activists are lobbying for a similar warning label. The impotence risk = and strate gy are attracting media atten tion, too. Last Sunday, CBS's "60 Minutes" devoted a segment to the subject. Activists are hoping the message will get through to people who weren't deterred by the genera tions of warnings about slow-devel oping threats such as cancer, emphysema and heart disease, which altogether kill 400,000 smok ers in the United States annually. "What a terrible problem for the man because he is so physically addicted," said Elizabeth Whelan, director of the American Council on Science and Health, which opposes tobacco companies. "It will he interesting to see if this moti vates men especially young men BOTH was established in 1992 by Penn State's Multicultural Resource Center and Counseling and Psychological Services. The group, which meets twice a month, is primarily a discussion group. At meetings, members read and discuss articles, books and documentaries that deal with biracial topics. The group members also dis cuss more personal issues about their experiences with dating, discrimination and family rela tions, Farnsworth said. Jummy Bullock (junior-adver tising and marketing), whose mother is Korean and whose father is black, is a member of BOTH. to disassociate themselves from that image of impotence." Statistician Steven J. Milloy, who regularly contradicts what he regards as "junk science" and fre quently sides with the tobacco industry, said anti-smoking forces are distorting a 1994 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that concluded that smokers are twice as likely as non smokers to be impotent. Milloy adjusted the CDC data to consider blood vessel disease, hor mone imbalances and other risk factors. As a result, he said, the link between smoking and impo tence became statistically insignif icant. The impotence-and-smoking message has been boosted, in part, by the runaway popularity of Via gra. Pfizer Inc. reported that three of AMA supports ancient Chinese remedy By LAURAN NEERGAARD AP Medical Writer WASHINGTON, D.C. It's an ancient Chinese remedy that many U.S. doctors will find bizarre: heat ing the herb mugwort next to the little toe of a pregnant woman to help turn her baby out of the risky breech position just before birth. But when thousands of doctors this week open the Journal of the American Medical Association, they'll find a scientific study that says the Chinese therapy really works and Western women should try it. In one of the first attempts to rigorously scrutinize the alterna tive medicine therapies that an estimated four in 10 Americans now try, the journal judged alter native remedies that were subject ed to strict scientific study and found that just like in conventional medicine, some work and some don't. Chinese herbs helped irritable bowel disease, a painful problem for thousands of Americans that Western medicine doesn't always 40 40 41 41 40 41 40 • 40 40 40 40 0 0 4P 0 40 0 0 41 40 40 0 4, 41 41 0 Nittany Wrestling Federation Campus Chaos Nov. 14, 1998 Bell Time 7:oopm White Building Main Event: Penn State vs Rutgers University Card subject to change. This event is free of charge to all cooccoccoxoctininoccoxemxp 1 itMiiir 1 liothimisarl 111 1 1 Num mmi Nom mum min am me A day without dliil;Collegian is unbearable "I choose to mark both of my races regardless if they tell me to choose one," Bullock said. "I find the 'other' box offensive because I'm not an other I'm a person." Although they have different ways of expressing their biracial identities, both Bullock and Kee said it is important they are accepted as biracial and not forced to choose one race or her itage over the other. "I feel like the group has helped me because I can connect with people who've gone through some of the same things I have, like certain experiences and feel ings that only a biracial person can have," Kee said. four men who participated in its clinical trials for Viagra were smokers. And, Pfizer found, 21 per cent of men with erectile dysfunc tion have underlying conditions such as high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes all of which can be caused or complicated by smoking. Urologists say smoking can diminish erections by reducing blood flow in the penis, just as it can clog blood vessels to the heart. In studies published since 1989, between 39 percent and 82 percent of the men suffering from vascular impotence were smokers. Smoking can reduce fertility in men, too. Chemical compounds in cigarette smoke can change levels of hormones and enzymes that affect the number, shape and mobility of sperm all important factors in conception. relieve. But chiropractic spinal manipulation didn't help tension headaches. Yoga might help fight carpal tunnel syndrome, but acupuncture failed to relieve nerve pain in HIV sufferers. And saw palmetto seems to shrink an enlarged prostate, but the herb Garcinia carnbogia, sold in over a dozen herbal weight-loss products, didn't help the over weight shed pounds. About 83 million Americans try alternative therapies, everything from unregulated herbal mixtures and megadose vitamins to massage therapy and acupuncture, one study found. That's 25 percent more people trying alternative remedies than in 1990. So scientists have an obligation to separate the effective therapies from the quackery, Dr. George Lundberg, JAMA's editor, said yes terday. "There is no `alternative' medi cine. Treatments either work or don't," he said. "We are opening the door to what we hope is an important flow of information between different cultures in sub- Presents I selo, • 2e7 1 ; ON ALL CLOTHING PURCHASES ; . $5O. OR GREATER-- EXPIRES 11/22/98 N ~. .. 3. METRO , 4, i , , 1 - , 32417MTNIWRIEM I ML 8 ag IN MI MI NO IN so No mu IN um IN um IN IN me NI EN a I I I Epilepsy research looks for causes to help students By MEREDITH O'DONNELL Collegian Staff Writer Epilepsy can affect people at any stage of life, and many times, its causes are unknown. Epilepsy, a seizure disorder, is one of the most common develop mental disabilities, second only to mental retardation. However, very little research has been completed on it, said Dona Dmitrovic, chil dren and family services coordina tor for the Epilepsy Foundation of Central Pennsylvania. In order to increase interest and research on epilepsy, November has been des ignated National Epilepsy Month. According to the Epilepsy Foun dation of Central Pennsylvania, 2.5 million Americans have or will suf fer a seizure at some point. Seven ty percent of the time, a seizure's cause is unknown. During an epileptic seizure, an electric connection in the brain shorts, which can occur unexpect edly to people who have never experienced one before, Dmitrovic said. Epilepsy usually develops during a person's youth or older years, she added. However, "anyone can be at risk," Dmitrovic said. During a seizure, the brain expe riences increased activity and the person may become unconscious, said Dr. Yvonne Patterson of Uni versity Health Services. The person is unaware of what is happening or how he or she is act ing during the seizure, Patterson jects that matter to people." Take that Chinese remedy for feet-first breech births, called moxibustion. "It is bizarre.... Peo ple will wonder how on earth this got into JAMA," Lundberg acknowledged. But "the data for this trial is really very good." As birth nears, fetuses are sup posed to turn over so they are born head first. When they don't, doc tors sometimes turn the baby by vigorously kneading the woman's abdomen, or women get a Caesare an section. In the Chinese practice, the herb Artemisia, better known here as mugroot, is rolled into a cigar shape and set on fire. The smolder ing herb is held close to the preg nant woman's little toe. The heat, practitioners claimed, stimulates an acupuncture point on that toe that increases fetal movement, helping the baby move out of breech position. Dr. Francesco Cardini, an Italian obstetrician and acupuncturist, divided 130 women with breech fetuses in two Chinese hospitals into two groups: One got moxibus rVIUST CLIP COUPON THIS IS YOUR COLLEGE NEWSPAPER ... READ 1T... SHARE IT .... RECYCLE IT Join the National School and Community Corps. 1-N ../... 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While the person having a seizure may not realize it, other people may recognize that a seizure is happening, she said. While some seizures occur unex pectedly, people can sometimes sense they are approaching, Patter son said. "They can't put their finger on it. but they know it's coming," she added. Because of the increased brain activity during a seizure, the brain shuts itself down for a period of rest afterwards, Patterson said. "Most times when people have seizures ... afterwards they may feel really tired," Patterson said. There are 20 to 25 different types of seizures, Dmitrovic said. Some seizures may cause convul sions, during which people may fall to the ground and injure them selves. A person suffering from epilepsy should see a clinician at least twice a year to have medications and his or her condition monitored, Patter son said. Medications can greatly improve someone's condition, stop ping seizures for several years at a time, she added. Epilepsy can pose special prob lems for an estimated 65,000 Penn sylvania women, Dmitrovic said, because the medications used to treat epilepsy create a low risk of birth defects in children of preg nant women with epilepsy. "If a woman is having seizures while she is pregnant ... (she) would run the risk of harming the baby," Dmitrovic said. tion for 30 minutes a day in late pregnancy, the other got no treat ment. After two weeks, ultrasound tests showed 75 percent of moxi bustion-treated women's babies had shifted out of breech position, vs. 48 percent of the "control" babies. Cardini can offer no biological explanation for why it works. Heat, not smelling the herb, seems to be the key but the heat is not enough to burn the mother, he stressed. There are no side effects so it wouldn't hurt and would be cheap for U.S. women to try, said Dr. John Pan, a George Wash ington University obstetrician who heads the school's Center for Inte grative Medicine. The only drawback is that the burning herb smells like marijua na, noted Pan, who plans a study of moxibustion on Washington, D.C., women. Many doctors are skeptical of any alternative therapy. As one doctor wrote in JAMA, a colleague at Harvard recently asked why sci entists don't just study astrology, too.
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