Section A·Page 6
The University Daily Kansan
Monday. November 16, 1998
Scientists investigate woodchucks
KU professor to study their sleeping patterns
By Jamie Knodel Special to the Kansan
There are other questions about wood-chucks besides how much wood they can chuck.
Three scientists, one of them from the University of Kansas, are working to discover how woodchucks, a member of the marmot family, can survive their solitary hibernation.
Ken Armitage, KU professor emeritus of biological sciences, has been researching marmots for more than 35 years. The woodchuck is different from most other marmots, a family including ground hogs, because woodchucks do not lead social lives. Armitage said.
"Because they do not live in groups, they do not hibernate in groups like other marmots." Armitage said.
By hibernating in groups, most marmots conserve energy during the winter. Hudding together, the animals do not lose a lot of heat, and they burn less fat to maintain their body temperatures.
"Social animals are more physiologically efficient." Armitage said.
If woodchucks are not as efficient and need to burn more fat than other marmots, how do they manage to survive hibernation?
The research team thinks that size and length of hibernation give woodchucks the advantage they need to survive solitary hibernation.
Armitage, along with former KU graduate student Carmen Salsbury, from Albright College in Reading, Penn., and Stan Zervanos, from Pennsylvania State University-Berks, is monitoring woodchucks during this year's hibernation period to find out their body temperature fluctuations.
"This is the first time that this type of research has been conducted both in the natural habitat and in the lab," Armitage said.
Salsbury said that she and Zervanos would be evaluating the body and burrow temperatures of 10 woodchucks in the wild in Reading, Penn. Armitage will be monitoring five lab woodchucks taken from Reading, which are now on the KU campus. He will watch the animals' body temperatures and the oxygen consumption levels. The lab will be kept at a constant temperature of $44.6\mathrm{F}$.
"By using animals from the same local population, we will be able to isolate the differences seen in the results,"
Last week, radio transmitters were placed in the KU woodchucks' abdominal cavity. The transmitters will record their body temperatures.
Armitage said.
This research will be conducted from early November through March, the woodchuck's natural hibernation period.
The woodchuck is among the largest of the marmots. Therefore, they have higher levels of body fat than most marmots. The hibernation period for the woodchuck typically extends over a three-and-a-half to four-and-a-half month period. This is among the shortest hibernating time for marmots. Some sleep as long as nine months, but the length depends on the species.
Armitage said that this research combined both climatic and physiological testing. The research team hopes to determine exactly what type of temperature conditions woodchucks select for hibernation.
By monitoring the Pennsylvania burrow temperatures, the researchers hope to be able to determine whether woodchucks choose mild climates for hibernation. Armitage said.
If lab temperatures prove to be too severe and the animals' stored-fat levels drop to much, Armitage said that they would be fed and not allowed to die.
Arafat comments called 'declaration of war'
The Associated Press
JERUSALEM — Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat yesterday hinted at armed conflict with Israel, warning darkly that "our rifle is ready," and repeating that he will declare statehood next year.
A senior adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a Arafat's comments were a "declaration of war on the peace process." David Bar-Ilan told The Associated Press that Netanyahu "views such statements with the utmost severity," and would bring them up when his Cabinet meets later this week.
The escalation of rhetoric
came as U.S. envoy Dennis Ross sought to jump-start the latest Middle East peace accord.
Soldiers and protesters clashed when a group of Palestinians tried to prevent a bulldozer from beginning work on a bypass road for Jewish settlers. The road will require the confiscation of 40 acres of Arab land in al-Khader, near Bethlehem.
About 30 soldiers beat back 20 protesters, who responded with a hall of stones. Soldiers shot rubber bullets and tear gas canisters into the crowd.
Ross met with Israeli officials and with negotiators from both sides. Palestinian officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the three-way meeting produced a loose timetable for implementation this week.
Committees dealing with economics, a Palestinian safepassage route and seaport are to begin meeting Monday and Tuesday. On Wednesday, the sides open critical final status talks. Thursday, the Palestinians will be shown Israel's withdrawal maps, and by Friday's end, Israel will have pulled its troops from an initial 2 percent of land.
Israeli Foreign Minister Ariel Sharon said Arafat's comments made it "difficult to conduct negotiations" and reiterated that Israel would annex the areas of the West
Bank it holds if Arafat declares a Palestinian state.
Palestinian officials indicated Arafat's strong language came in response to Israeli annexation threats and as a result of the delay in implementing the withdrawal agreement. The first pullback had been slated for Monday, but Israel said it would be delayed for several days.
Speaking to members of his Fatah faction in the West Bank town of Ramalah, Arafat said, "We will declare our state on the 4th of May next year. This is our right."
Netanyahu said that Arafat's comments cast a "very dark shadow" over the peace process.
Medical schools welcome students of varied majors
By Sue Franke
Kansan staff writer
Students may think they need to major in biology or chemistry to make it into medical school, but that is not the case.
"There is no such thing as a typical undergraduate major," said Paul Crosby, pre-health professions adviser in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. "I have worked with students who were accepted by a medical school with architecture, business, journalism, education and fine arts degrees."
The Association of American Medical Colleges reported that 53 percent of students who majored in philosophy entered medical school in 1997.
Crosby said he advised premedical students to remain open initially about their major. He said the key, regardless of the major, was to build a foundation of the required courses, including biology, chemistry and physics.
Gregory Andrews, physician, lawyer and author of "Achieving the Doctor Dream: The Complete Guide to Premedical Success," also said a science major was not crucial.
"If someone is an English pre-medical major, as long as he or she does well in the basic core courses, that person can compete and study just as hard as biology majors," Andrews said.
Jason McKinney, Olathe junior and pre-medical student, said that although it was true that medical schools accept students with a variety of majors, science was important.
"Students who have a strong foundation in science would be able to absorb more in medical school and would be better doctors." he said.
Both Crosby and Andrews said students also need interpersonal skills for relating to patients as medical students and eventually physicians.
"The art of medicine is knowing how to talk to a patient and how to be compassionate and empathetic," Andrews said.
Once the core classes have been taken,premedical students face competition for acceptance into medical
PREMEDICAL STUDENT RESOURCES
KU Premed Club Web site, where students can register their e-mail addresses:
www.ukans.edu/~kupremed/register.ht ml
Web site providing resources for premed students:
www.premed411.com.
"Get Into Medical School," a book by Kenneth Ierson, physician, available at Anschutz Science Library.
"Achieving the Doctor Dream: The Complete Guide to Premedical Success," a book by Gregory Andrews, available at the University Book Shop.
school. However, students in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences fared well last year.
Ninety-four out of 186 students who applied to medical school in 1997 listing the University of Kansas as their primary undergraduate institution were accepted — a 51 percent acceptance rate, Crosby said. The national average for acceptance is 40 percent.
Crosby said state residency increases students' chances for acceptance into medical school. Of the 165 students who listed the University as their primary undergraduate school when applying to the University of Kansas Medical School in 1997, 77 were accepted, and 65 actually enrolled that fall.
In addition, KU premedical students are bucking a national trend in a decreasing number of students applying to medical school.
In the fall of 1997, 769 students in the college were enrolled as pre-medical students. The number increased to 893 students this fall. Crosby attributed the increase to KU students having more interest in attending medical school.
He said the number of students applying to medical school nationally has decreased in the last two years and attributed that partly to the managed health-care systems that are now commonplace.
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