The Griffin: volume 72, issue 14 - Feb. 15, 2002

              "There is a battle raging in this country," Dees said, and we can either do nothing, or become a leader, like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dees spoke of racism, DAN FALKNER Morris Dees delivers a powerful lecture before a full house at the Cultural Center. After Sept. 11, America was especially united in celebrating the lives of those who were on the "flight of heroes," the airplane which crashed in Pennsylvania. Dees told of two courageous men who had heard of the prior acts of terrorism in New York by phone, and realized their fate if they didn't take matters into their own hands. One man, who was an expert in Karate, and Entering to a standing ovation, Dees promptly began discussing the impact of Sept. 11 on civil rights. He advised all Americans to make an effort in extending the concept of freedom and shared the first of many stories that would be included throughout his speech "There is an ill wind blowing across this country," civil rights attorney Morris Dees said, during his speech Tuesday night at the Montante Cultural Center. Dees came to Canisius with the message of "celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. and those who worked with him on the civil rights movement." homophobia, discrimination and prejudices as the divides in our nation. "When bridges are built across the divides in our nation, they'll be built on friendship, understanding and love." King didn't give up on our nation; he expressed his faith in all of us, explains Dees. When asked what individuals can do to promote civil rights, Dees responded, "It is important for people to understand what they can do at a family level, a community level. They need to make up their mind how to accomplish things, they need a framework. America has a long way to go in sharing power." Dees told another story, this one of a case he worked on in Oregon. A poor Arab family sent their son to study in the United States. The boy left his family, saying he would make them Since the time of Dr. King, America has taken three steps forward and two steps back, he explained. "We need to accept people who are different then we are and appreciate what each of us brings to the table." another man who was a rugby player in college, rushed the cockpit and saved many liv«s. As Americans united over this tragedy, even those who may have been racist, decimator and Professor conducts study in biology When she began her research in the early 1980s, Dehn worked with fish but ran into two problems: cost and uncontrollable variables that arise with animal subjects. In the mid-1980s, Dehn was part of the movement toward an in vitro system for investigation—one which does on sediment work extracts that are under review for publication in In Vitro Cell and Developmental Biology, a scientific journal. "We're looking for a model that will bridge the gap between people who are just interested in fish and For the future, Dehn has set a • number of goals, although she # recognizes her research is a slow • process. Dehn wishes to publish her • findings and have her in vitro # systems accepted into the regulation and monitoring of toxicants. She would like "to force a dialogue between the human health toxicologists and the...fish and wildlife people because these two groups don't normally communicate." Dr. Paula Dehn's does extensive research on aquatic environments with the aid of student collaborators. Dehn is the chair of the biology department and professor at Canisius. She leads a student research team in an ongoing # investigation of toxins and • their impact on aquatic • • • • • environments, especially Lake Erie. « birds, and people who are interested just in people," Dehn said. "It's walking an interesting, fine line between the ecology-types and the human health-types." She collaborates with the Center of Wildlife Studies in Hull, Quebec and Dr. Jim Olsen at SUNY Buffalo who provides information on different aspects of the human liver model. Together with five student co-authors, Dehn has eight papers By Meghann Fitzgerald and Sarah Huntley Copy Editors INSIDE *  The Synchro team wins again at Capital Invitational and will travel to Canton, OH to compete this weekend. See the full spiel on page 13. So how did your Valentine's date go? Hot 'n' heavy or snoozeworthy? Find out how "Jack" and "Jill's" rendezvous went on page 8. Find that run-of-the-mill? Read Meghann Fitzgerald's spicy restaurant review on page 11. Still trying to figure out what those poles with flashy blue lights on top are? You're not alone. Luckily, you can turn to page 5 to learn all about them, including how they could save your life. The Griffin editorials respond to the front page Buffalo News articles that ran earlier this week, and the commercials on Valentine's Day. Check out page 6 to find out what we had to say. ttje * See Attorney page 3 See Biology Research page 3 Volume LXXII, Number 14 Friday. February 15. 2002 Canisius College, Buffalo. NY Civil Rights speakers bring racial issues into focus Dees asks: 'Whose America is this?" Shuttlesworth remembers past, looks to future By Lauren Rozanski News Reporter homophobic, Dees asked if they would have acted differently is they had known that one of two men was Jewish and the other man was gay. Many may not have realized they were celebrating those who they discriminated against. beating that he gave firsthand accounts of late in the lecture. Shuttlesworth's lecture consisted of a recollection of his experiences, his expression of the importance of God, and advice to the future generation of leaders. Preceding the lecture, actual The lecture was aptly titled "Surviving 'Bombingham' Alabamain the 1960's". Born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama, Shuttlesworth was a steadfast leader in the fight for desegregation and justice in America. He suffered through beating, bombings, jailing, and still prevailed. Professor Bruce Dierenfield of the history department introduced Shuttlesworth as "one of the most active and heroic figures of the [Civil Right's] movement." On February 13 Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth addressed Canisius students, faculty, and community members in the Montante Cultural Center. Shuttlesworth is considered one of the prominent leaders of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950's and 60's. Canisius is honored to welcome him as a representative for Black History Month footing from the PBS movie "Eye on the Prize" highlighted the events Shuttlesworth participated in. It also showed the devastation and destruction he faced through bombings and By Jennelle Heyer News Reporter See 'Bombingham' page 3 DAN I Al KNt I) Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth advises the future generation. Reiearcfc on Catopus not require the use of whole organisms. One area of her current research tries to develop a way to test for chemicals using cultured cells instead of animals for aquatic monitoring. With this technique, Dehn hopes to limit the use of animals in testing. "You'll [always] have animals," Dehn said. "[But] there are lots of stages in the monitoring process and product development of pesticides for • example, where you can very effectively use non-animal models." Dehn does research with fresh water environments, many of which are contaminated. She felt it was a natural progression to begin to look at how toxicants affect the ecosystem. Toxicants are naturally occurring or manmade chemical compounds found at abnormally high levels and have deleterious effects on the environment. Organic pesticides and metals used in the 1970s left toxins that were once thought inaccessible to organisms because found in high concentrations in zebra mussels and other animals. they were buried in the sediment layer. Now, these compounds are The chemicals disrupting the ecosystem in Lake Erie are complex mixtures, not single compounds. Dehn is first trying to determine the composition of the mixture and second, observe its effects on cancerous human liver cells. The liver cells are an easy to use example of human physiology, so the adverse impact of chemicals on humans is readily recognizable. This aspect encompasses animals and humans, making her research relevant to human health. After using this test to determine whether a system is being adversely impacted by a toxicant, one can then use animal models when they are really needed, instead of throughout the whole process. Another aspect of toxicity testing concerning Dehn's research is developing biochemical indicators of stress that show when a system is perturbed. On a cellular level, this research examines the effect ol chemical stress on the organism's MEGHANN FITZGERALD Dr. Dehn doing lab work with two members of her student research team, Aimee Wertmann and Erik Diringer. m t MOM 6 m & m s {POM 13