Monday, June 1, 1998
Community Briefs
COMMUNITY BRIEFS:
Students fill Stanford quad for housing rally
STANFORD, Calif. — More than 1,000 graduate students,
representing a wide range of university departments, attended a
rally in the Quad last night to raise support for more graduate
student housing.
Students covered their tents with signs reading, "Look Mom, no
housing," and "Rent plus Ramen equals stipend." Organizers of the
rally provided free food, as well as extra sleeping bags and
pads.
The rally was the culmination of student anger over the current
housing situation.
With rising prices in the local housing market and the excessive
demand for on-campus housing provided for graduate students, many
students have found themselves with little university assistance
and are unable to afford housing anywhere in the area.
Frustration grew more heated with last week’s release of a
report on graduate student housing by the the Graduate Student
Council and the Graduate Housing Advisory Committee. The report,
based on the recent graduate housing survey conducted on the World
Wide Web, outlined the dire problems graduate students perceive in
regard to housing, parking, quality of life and lack of university
support.
Toxic protein discovery sheds light on disease
EVANSTON, Ill. — A research team led by a Northwestern
professor has discovered new highly toxic proteins which disrupt
brain mechanisms for learning and memory, and may trigger
Alzheimer’s disease.
The new study identified globular-shaped proteins called amyloid
beta-derived diffusible ligands (ADDLs).
ADDLs are a new form of the protein known for years to
accumulate as enormous spaghetti-like fibers in brains of
Alzheimer’s patients.
Researchers had long believed that these fibers attack nerve
cells and cause Alzheimer’s.
The team discovered that ADDLs – tiny clumps of amyloid beta
only a fraction the size of a fiber – may be more important to the
progression of the disease, rather than merely causing it.
The experiments on laboratory specimens found that ADDLs
interfere with nerve cell processes essential to learning and
memory.
This dysfunction occurred well in advance of the cellular
degeneration considered by many researchers to cause
Alzheimer’s.
Scholarships help
OSU single mothers
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Not all Ohio State students are concerned with
partying – some are raising children on their own.
OSU’s Critical Difference for Women organization provides
scholarships to non-traditional female students who want to go to
college. A non-traditional student is more than 25 years old and
works to support a family.
Rani Collins, a single parent and an OSU graduate strived to get
good grades while raising her children. Collins, one of 70
scholarship recipients, completed her bachelor’s degree in
sociology in 1997.
Collins first attended a community college in 1988, but she was
unable to continue because of lack of financial support. She soon
entered a repetitive cycle that had plagued poverty stricken family
members before her. Then in 1991, Collins had a baby girl.
The scholarship allowed Collins to concentrate on her academics
and spend time with her daughter instead of worrying about
money.
Due to her successful undergraduate performance, she able to
continue her education by entering the College of Medicine.
Funding for this program is supported by the Coca-Cola
Foundation and grant money from the Longenberger Foundation. As of
this year, $750,000 has been donated to help women take advantage
of educational opportunities.
Compiled from Daily Bruin wire reports.