Tuesday, November 28, 2000 The University Daily Kansan Section A · Page 5 Program aids those with mental illnesses writer@kansan.com Kansan staff writer By Jennifer Valadez A program in the KU School of Social Welfare is teaching individuals who live with mental illnesses to help others who lead similar lives. The program, Consumers As Providers, was started a year and a half ago at the University of Kansas to teach those who experience severe and persistent mental illnesses to become providers themselves. Participants in the program have jobs helping others with mental illnesses. Diane McDiarmid, project direc tor and instructor, said in Kansas, 35 percent of people with psychiatric illnesses had jobs. "We had 22 graduates from our program last semester, and 14 out of those 22 are involved in work situations," she said. "We're almost doubling the statewide percent of people who are dealing with their disabilities and working." McDairmid, who designed the program and developed its curriculum, said participants, who are not KU students, learned the basics in human services such as communication skills and ethics, goal making, gauging and building relationships with consumers, and boundaries in human services. Participants in the program meet twice a week in the Kansas Union to learn the fundamentals of the human service field and to discuss individual internship progress. Participants complete a 15-week internship at one of the following clinics that work with the program each semester: Franklin, Wyandotte and Johnson County Mental Health clinics as well as the Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center, 200 Maine St. "The internship is taking theoretical and putting it into practice in the field by working with other clients," McDiarmid said. Anna Speckman, supported education liaison, said a requirement of the program was that participants had a diagnosed severe and persistent mental illness. She said most who applied were accepted unless there was a problem that wouldn't allow them to succeed. "We don't want to set anyone up for failure," she said. Speckman said she had seen vast improvements in the 28 people who were in the program this semester. "I've seen an incredible amount of progress in the students," she said. "They've been each other's support, and they're a lot more direct, assertive and confident in themselves and their abilities, too." Bob Beebe, Lawrence resident, said CAP had been beneficial to him. He said it was a chance for him to give back to the community and to help others who lived with mental illness. Beebe had an internship with the Bert Nash center where he also is a patient. He said he wanted to be an example of the competence the mentally ill have in the work force. "I know what it's like and what they try to put you through," he said. "No one will give the mentalily ill a chance, and I want to get out there and show them how much we can work." Edited by Amy Randolph Volunteers ingest water pollutant in experiment The Associated Press SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — Volunteers in a drinking-water study are being paid $1,000 each to take pills containing an industrial pollutant found in rocket fuel. The experiment, designed to determine if a pollutant called perchlorate interferes with thyroid glands, will develop data that could influence the setting of national and state drinking water standards, the Los Angeles Times rep. yesterday. Perchlorate is frequently found in drinking water But the experiment at Loma Linda Medical Center, funded by Lockheed Martin, also has raised questions about whether scientists should allow people to ingest chemicals or pesticides to help researchers learn about the dangers of environmental contaminants. It is believed to be the first large-scale study to use human volunteers to test a water pollutant. "These tests are inherently unethical," said Richard Wiles, research director of the Environmental Working Group, an environmental group that opposes such studies on humans. Those who perform tests on humans compare them to clinical trials for drugs. But critics say clinical trials are done to help find treatments for sick people, while consuming a pollutant has no medical benefits. Of the 100 volunteers involved in the six-month experiment, which began in August, half of them ingest the pollutant, and the others get a placebo. Scientists in the Loma Linda study argue that perchlorate is not just a pollutant but a drug used to treat hyperthyroidism. At high doses, perchlorate can inhibit production of thyroid hormones, research shows. Normal thyroid function is critical for regulating the growth of fetuses and young children and the metabolism of adults. Those taking the perchlorate are swallowing 83 times more than a person would get from drinking water containing the amount allowed by California's Department of Health Services, according to the Los Angeles Times. A study published this year shows that infants in the Lake Mead area of Arizona — where water contains perchlorate — are born with altered thyroid function. But other studies, in perchlorate-contaminated areas of Las Vegas and Chile, have shown no such effects. The Loma Linda volunteers are undergoing monthly medical examinations to ensure that they face no health threats while participating in the study, researchers say. There is currently no government agency that regulates human experiments. But every institution has a review board that must approve every study. The boards of three medical institutions approved Loma Linda's perchlorate tests, said Anthony Firek, who is directing the study. In addition to Loma Linda, Boston University approved the study — which employs one of the researchers — and the Jerry L. Pettis Memorial VA Medical Center, where some of the tests are being done, the Los Angeles Times reported. The Associated Press Microsoft lashes out at federal judge WASHINGTON — Seeking to keep its business intact, Microsoft filed legal briefs yesterday that allege the federal judge who ordered the company's breakup compromised the "appearance of impartiality." In its first filing with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, which now has custody of the landmark case, Microsoft lambasted U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson as a biased judge who thrust himself into the dispute rather than resolve it impartially. "By repeatedly commenting on the merits of the case in the press," the company's brief argued, "the district judge has cast himself in the public's eye as a participant in the controversy, thereby compromising the appearance of impartiality, if not demonstrating actual bias against Microsoft." A representative for Jackson said the judge had no comment on Microsoft's statements. "Believe me, I have no grudge against Microsoft," Jackson said in an interview with The Washington Post just days after his June ruling. But in the interview, which was rare for a federal judge, Jackson said he had little choice but to accept the government's breakup proposal. And in a speech to an antitrust conference in New York in late September, Jackson said his order was a last resort forced by the company's unwillingness to make changes voluntarily. Microsoft asked the appellate court yesterday to overturn Jackson's order that the company be broken into two parts. If the higher court calls for a new trial, Microsoft wants someone other than Jackson to preside. Yesterday's brief was the latest volley in a long-running battle that could result in the largest government-ordered restructuring since the AT&T breakup in 1984. "The case went awry from the outset, and our appeal provides a comprehensive picture of why Microsoft should win this case," said Vivek Varma, company representative. Microsoft's brief asked the federal appeals court to find that Jackson was wrong in concluding that the software giant was an unfair monopoly and reverse his breakup order. Justice Department representative Gina Talamona said, "The judgment is well supported by the evidence offered during a 78-day trial, including thousands of pages of Microsoft's own documents. We are confident in our case and look forward to presenting it to the Court of Appeals." Microsoft said its "competitive response" to the takeoff of widespread Internet use and Web browser-rival Netscape "produced enormous consumer benefits" and did not illegally conquer its market, as the government charged. "The District Court branded Microsoft's conduct anticompetitive, even though it recognized that Microsoft did not foreclose Netscape from the marketplace," it said. Netscape Corp.'s Navigator software was the standard Internet browser until Microsoft's Internet Explorer took over. The government has maintained that when Microsoft integrated its Windows operating system with Internet Explorer, it pushed competitors like Netscape out of the market. The government is due to file its brief Jan. 12 with the appeals court. Microsoft will have a chance to reply by the end of January, and oral arguments in the case are set for late February. Jackson's ruling came in early June. The Justice Department, suing Microsoft along with several state attorneys general, had wanted the case to be passed directly to the Supreme Court, citing a long-standing law that allows such high-profile cases special consideration, but the high court refused. Meanwhile, the Association for Competitive Technology (ACT) filed a "friend of the court" brief for Microsoft. ACT, founded in 1998 when the federal government's effort against Microsoft was escalating, has frequently defended the Redmond, Wash-based firm. ACT argued that Microsoft improved its products by fusing them together, rather than trying to shut out competitors, as the court concluded. The group also said splitting the company in two — one part managing with the Windows operating system and another comprising everything else the company controls — would hurt the market by eroding the industry standard. Windows runs on more than 90 percent of the world's personal computers. New Jersey police linked to racial profiling The Associated Press TRENTON, N.J. — Nearly 100,000 pages of documents made public yesterday show that New Jersey state troopers stopped overwhelmingly disproportionate numbers of minorities in searches for drugs, the state's attorney general said. However, no evidence has been found that New Jersey worked to hide evidence that troopers searched minority motorists based solely on the color of their skin, he said. The records were made available yesterday at a reading room in the state's Hughes Justice Complex. New Jersey is committed to ending racial profiling, Gov. Christie Whitman said in a statement yesterday. "While racial profiling did not begin in this state or under this administration, history will show that the end of racial profiling in America did indeed begin in New Jersey and under this administration." Whitman said. The documents were expected to show that for more than a decade, state leaders knew about the large numbers of minorities being searched and tried to balance that knowledge against legal drug-busting strategies — some of which received the blessing of the White House. In an April 1999 report, former Attorney General Peter Verniero admitted minorities were targeted. That came a year after gunshots from two troopers wounded three minority men during a traffic stop on the New Jersey Turnpike and sparked a furor about racial profiling. But according to the new documents, Verniero and his predecessors were aware for more than 10 years that minority drivers on the turnpike were being stopped and searched more than Caucasions. The U.S. Supreme Court has said police can use race as a factor in motor vehicle stops, said Attorney General John J. Farmer Jr. The Justice Department included race in profiles of traffickers said to be using the turnpike as a drug pipeline, he said. "What you'll see is an agency and a department struggling with these uncertainties," he said. "There was no overarching conspiracy to cover this up. There was an attempt to understand it. There was an attempt to put it into context. "My hope is by getting all of this out, the people will understand, will see the whole picture." The attorney general announced in September his decision to release the records after months of fighting in court to block their release. Defense attorneys claimed the records would prove biased troopers tainted hundreds of arrests. Farmer said at the time he wanted to make the files available outside the context of litigation. State police memos from 1900 will show that former Attorney General Robert Del Tufo and then-state police superintendent Col. Justin Dintino saw reports showing overwhelming numbers of minorities were targeted, Farmer said. An order to the troopers from Dintino demanded a halt to that, another record being made public shows. Farmer said "They were tremendously ahead of their time." Farmer said. After an internal investigation, four troopers were indicted, and 20 others were fired. he said. This month, federal prosecutors agreed to pursue possible criminal charges against the two troopers involved in the 1998 turnpike shooting. That followed dismissal of charges against the troopers by a state judge, whose ruling accused prosecutors of misconduct and a former state attorney general of bowing to political pressure. 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