Monday, December 9, 1968
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
5
Mice are key to gene study at KU Chartered flight to Miami still has room. phone AEPi
By FRED PARRIS Kansan Staff Writer
An understanding of genes, and the mysterious ways they control our lives, is the goal of a small group of University of Kansas scientists.
By studying the genetic patterns of lower animals, scientists at the Mammalian Genetics Laboratory are attempting to unravel the intricacies of human heredity.
Located behind Snow Hall, the genetics lab functions as a part of KU's Division of Natural Sciences. Headed by John A. Weir, professor of zoology, it is staffed by some 20 persons.
A major tool in genetic research is a plentiful supply of test animals. In KU's case, this is no problem. Campus geneticists have approximately 50,000 special research mice from which to draw. Of these, half are housed in the genetics laboratory and the rest are kept beneath the east side of the football stadium.
Many of these mice are used by local biologists, but other varieties are sent to researchers around the nation through a National Institute of Health contract.
NU investigates report of cheating on psych exam
OMAHA, Neb. (UPI)—An investigation has been launched at the University of Nebraska at Omaha into a report that 90 students cheated on a psychology exam, school officials said yesterday.
Assistant psychology Prof. Gordon Hansen said the alleged cheating occurred Monday and Tuesday in a test given to a Psychology 101 class, a course taught by closed-circuit television. He said some students apparently went into the classroom where the test was being given, studied the forms, then returned to take the exam later.
Most of the students involved were freshmen, school officials said. About 900 students are registered for the course.
If the report of cheating is found true, it would be the largest case of cheating discovered at the Omaha school.
University officials have not indicated that disciplinary action might be taken against any students found to have cheated on the test. However, Dr. Robert D. Harper, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, said the school would not view such cheating "indifferently."
Hansen said the alleged cheating came to light when a teaching assistant found a number of copies of the test missing Monday morning. He also reported the early classes were larger than usual.
The test will not be counted toward the final grade of the students, Hansen said.
All mice in the genetics laboratory belong to special strains, Weir said. A strain, he explained, is any group of mice having inherited properties that are of interest to the investigator.
To be recognized as an inbred strain, a group of mice must be mated brother by sister for twenty generations, or about six years. Some of the strains now at KU, says Weir, have pedigrees tracing back more than fifty years.
Constant care must be taken to protect the mice from infection. One careless moment can destroy decades of work. This is especially true of some strains here at KU, the only ones of their kind in the world.
"If you are unfortunate enough to lose that strain you hold alone," says Weir, "well, that's the end."
To prevent this, meticulous records and scrupulous sanitary standards are maintained throughout the laboratory. These include controlled light cycles, carefully regulated temperature, and a strict "no visitors" policy for the casually curious.
A special line connects the genetics lab with the power plant, Weir said. Any malfunction in environmental control will be monitored by a red light on a panel.
The use of mice for genetical research, says Weir, represents a compromise. Fruit flies are inoffensive, inexpensive and would allow multi-generation experiments to be carried out more swiftly. However, they are too low on the life scale to offer much insight into human physiological genetics.
Course listings released Thurs.
No preliminary schedule of classes will be published for spring semester, Registrar William L. Kelly said Friday.
Kelly said enrollment information will instead be provided by a preliminary course offerings listing, released Thursday, and the regular official schedule of classes, to be released Jan. 13.
The preliminary course offerings listing was introduced for the spring semester "to give the students a decent amount of time to contemplate what they will take," Kelly said. The 9 inch by 12 inch booklet was released a month earlier than the normal preliminary schedule would have been, he said.
Kelly said the course offerings list was limited to course names, numbers and credit hours because it was not known how long it would have taken to publish a larger booklet. "Granted, there are missing in our first effort things students would like to have. In the future we would like to find the capabilities to add things to the list," he said.
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Monkeys and chimpanzees, also used in research, present the opposite problem. While they are more closely related to human beings, they breed too slowly and are too expensive for genetics studies.
One exciting new genetic tool which KU geneticists are planning to use involves experimental fusion of fertilized eggs from different parents to form a single zygote. This technique results in a mouse which has four parents instead of two.
Mules have big role
"This technique will enable us to investigate a wide variety of problems in development," Weir said. "For one thing, it will permit making transplants without concern for the problem of rejection."
HOLLYWOOD (UPI) — Don Siegel will direct "Two Mules for Sister Sara" starring Clint Eastwood for Universal.
President needs time
What happens when a person takes on the presidency of a large national association?
T. Howard Walker, director of University of Kansas Extension, recently completed a year as president of the National University Extension Association. He estimates that he travelled more than 32,000 miles in the year, and telephone calls and trips charged to the NUEA amounted to more than $3,800.
Students who have purchased tickets to the Orange Bowl and have not made transportation or lodging arrangements should contact the Alpha Epsilon Pi (AEP) fraternity.
A chartered flight leaving Kansas City at 11 a.m. Dec. 29 and arriving in Miami at 2:30 p.m. has been arranged by the fraternity. The trip includes six days and five nights. The flight will return Jan. 3 at 6 p.m. and arrive in Kansas City at 7:30 p.m.
The price, including hotel, flight and transportation between the airport and the hotel, is $189.50.
Tickets for the flight will be offered on a first come, first
december 10, 11, 12, 13 (8:20 PM)
15 (2:30 PM) CALL UN4_3982
serve basis with the possibility of a second flight if enough students apply.