Research Notes
Conference to focus on gender censorship
The University's Institute for Research on Women and Gender is sponsoring a three-day conference titled "Towards a Definition of Gender-Based Censorship" beginning tomorrow. The conference, to be held at the Rackham Amphitheatre will address the censorship against which women struggle in redefined terms: Censorship of women's ideas not only by the state, but also by economics, education, culture and technology will be explored, along with discussion about the ways in which women censor themselves to meet society's demands.
The conference, highlighting the research of scholars from around the nation, will include remarks by University President Lee Bollinger and sessions with a range of topics including women in prison, sexual harassment and child pornography.
A special event of the conference will be the showing of "Naturally Native," a film by Dawn Jackson of Red Horse Native Productions, at Michigan Theatre on Sunday at 7 p.m.
The Institute's Gender-Based Censorship Project organized the conference.
Study: police use misconduct against gay men
A study released yesterday by the Triangle Foundation, the Lesbian Gay Foundation of Michigan, detailed several instances of police misconduct against gay men throughout the state of Michigan. Rudy Serra, an attorney and member of the Triangle Foundation board of trustees, headed the study, titled "Bag a Fag: Police Misconduct, Entrapment and Crimes Against Gay Men in Michigan." Investigators claim the phrase "Bag a Fag" is a code term used by some police agencies in Michigan for operations to arrest gay men.
The investigation, which included some decoy operations, reports several instances of civil rights violations, illegal entrapment and systematic targeting of gay men for harassment, intimidation and arrest.
Cherries found to relieve pain
A bowl of sour cherries could relieve pain better than aspirin or ibuprofen, according to researchers at Michigan State University. A study published in the February issue of the Journal of Natural Products concluded that the natural chemicals that give the fruit its red color can reduce pain related to inflammation, arthritis and gout. The research, headed by MSU chemistry Prof. Muralee Nair, also showed that cherries could help prevent artherosclerosis, the hardening of arteries, which often leads to heart attack.
About 10 to 20 sour cherries a day give the same effect as aspirin, researchers found. Because eating 10-20 sour cherries a day may not be pleasant for everyone, MSU is negotiating for a patent to make cherry pills. The non-toxicity of the natural remedy makes it especially beneficial. The investigators are still studying whether sweet cherries have the same effect as sour ones.
Music may aid in learning process
While simply listening to music doesn't make a person smarter, University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh child studies Prof. Frances Rauscher has found that learning to play music does.
The researcher conducted studies in the laboratory and in the classroom, concluding that learning to play music increases reading comprehension, spatial and cognitive ability. Spatial reasoning plays an important role in the development of abstract reasoning used in problems of math and engineering.
Laboratory rats exposed to a Mozart sonata completed a maze more rapidly and with fewer errors than those not exposed to the music. Rauscher began further research on the topic last year in an elementary school district in Wisconsin.
-Compiled by Daily Staff Reporter
Asma Rafeeq.
02-04-99
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