1985_02 The Daily Collegian February 1985

              4 The Daily Collegian
Science
Consumers may not need vitamins
Americans are on a vitamin binge! We
spend over S1.2 billion a year for vitamins
and the amount is growing about 10 per¬
cent annually. Are they necessary?
"Super nutrition," magical powers, and
lack of faith in our food chain seem to be
some of the motivating factors behind this
phenomenon.
Although essential, vitamins are sub¬
stances that our bodies need only in
minute amounts to regulate body pro¬
cesses. They are found naturally in foods
in varying amounts along with proteins,
fats, carbohydrates and minerals.
Vitamin and mineral pills can't make up
for a poor diet due to the fact that they
have only 3 to 20 of the nearly 50nutrients
the body needs for good health. These
nutrients work in partnership with other
nutrients in the process of digestion and
absorption. Whole, unprocessed foods
are the best sources of vitamins as well as
the other nutrients the body needs for this
absorption process.
In recent years, it has become fashion¬
able to take very large or "mega" doses of
certain vitamins to cure or prevent an ail¬
ment. For example, vitamin C taken in
doses 50-100 times larger than the RDA is
Health
mistakenly thought to prevent colds and
flu. In this massive amount, the vitamin is
not serving a nutrient purpose, but is now
considered a drug. As with other drugs,
there is a toxic effect at some level, but the
level of toxicity varies with each individ¬
ual and is not an exact science.
Megavitamin therapy is not based on
medically accepted, well-documented
scientific evidence. It is usually promoted
by a few self-proclaimed experts with a
book or product to sell.
The safest dose of a vitamin a unc
which is close to or less than the Recom¬
mended Daily Allowance of the Food and
Nutrition Board of the National Research
Council for your age group.
If you must buy vitamin or mineral
pills, you might as well buy the cheapest,
all other things being equal. Competition
among the vitamin sellers is intense and
many use large advertising campaigns to
convince consumers that their products
are superior and worth the higher price.
But are there really differences? It is not
likely because 60-70 percent of all vitam¬
ins sold in the U.S. are manufactured by
one company—Hoffman-Leroche, a Swiss-
controlled pharmaceutical firm.
In the entire free world there are fewer
than 30 vitamin manufacturers. No one
company makes every vitamin and each
major vitamin is made by only a few com¬
panies. As a result, vitamins are usually
purchased in bulk from manufacturer!
and repackaged under many labels.
The lesson here is obvious. Read the
label to select the dosage you want, then
buy the least expensive. Price is nor the
a for v
ahty.
Dont be misled by the advertisers.
There is no practical difference between
natural and synthetic vitamins. Each
vitamin is a specific chemical compound
having a certain molecular structure. The
body cannot tell the difference between
synthetic vitamins and those that come
from food extracts.
The purchase and use of vitamin and
mineral pills is questionable at best. By
being an informed consumer you can bel¬
ter determine what is best for your health.
Breast milk lead researched
If the researcher is fortunate enough, a
re-directed endeavor may result in signifi¬
cant scientific findings.
Facing the aforementioned scientific
scenario is Marie Dunford, a lecturer in
the CSUF Department of Enology. Food
Science and Nutrition.
In 1982, Dunford developed her mas¬
ter's thesis to show a correlation between
nursing mothers' environments and the
levels of lead found in breast milk.
Dunford further hypothesized that a
greater number of nursing mothers in
urban areas would have higher lead levels
in breast milk than those living in rural
With the help of Dr. Fred Schreiber, a
toxicologist and professor of biology and
plant science at CSUF, Dunford moni¬
tored a cross-section of 37 nursing moth¬
ers for the experiment, 19 of whom resided
in Kingsburg while 18 lived in the Los
Dunford and Schreiber found no dif¬
ference in the lead levels between the two
control groups, but the experiment did
bring forth some interesting findings.
According to Schreiber, a possible cor¬
relation between lead presence in breast,
milk and conditions of anemia
ognized, which has lead to a new research
Schreiber thinks these findings form a
viable hypothesis which would, if proven,
be considered of worldwide significance
by the scientific academy.
What Dunford and Schreiber will
attempt to prove is that the main source of
high lead levels is from food and not
automobile exhaust, and that lead may be
nuetralized with an adequate iron intake.
The pair also contend that anemia may
result  in higher lead consumption in
"Lead is a hot topic," said Schreiber,
adding that there is no known biological
function for lead in humans and that
present-day levels are "abnormally high."
"Scientific evidence indicates that 'sub¬
clinical lead poisoning' causes learning
problems, loss of intelligence, and behav¬
ior problems in school children." said
Schreiber.
What makes this type of lead consump¬
tion potentially dangerous is that it is not
1 easily detected, according to Schreiber.
"It causes no symptoms that make you
go into the doctor's office," he said.
Schreiber and Dunforth are in the pro¬
cess of applying for research funds from
CSUF that would enablethem to confirm
their theorized correlation does indeed
It is in this phase that a concrete
hypothesis will be devised which may
enable the pair to receive a $100,000 to
$250,000 federal research grant.
Schreiber feels that the experimenta¬
tion may begin this summer with the aid of
local expectant mothers and their physi-
"The basis for the study could read
•What's MomGivingto Her Kids Without
Even Knowing It'," said Schreiber.
Dunford does admit to being a little
disappointed at the disproval of her origi-
nal hypothesis: "It is very common. Basi¬
cally a hypothesis is a guess...and some-
King
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Continued from Page I
November.
Some 30 students gathered ii
Cafeteria 200 to observe Martin Luther
King, Jr. Day. They heard Fair condemn
racial vandalism as "a cowardly act" at'
quote from  King's  famous "I  have
dream" speech.
The table named after the civil righu
martyr is located at the west end of the
Free Speech Area in front of the Bucket.
Raymond Odunlami, African Student
Union president, said a bigger ceremony
outdoors wit) take place Feb. 12 from 9
o ' P-m.	
Part Time or
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'Science
February 6, 1985 5
Fusion could solve fuel crfsis
It sounds like science fiction: trans¬
forming a glass of water into enough elec¬
tricity to light a whole city. But it may be
true by the year 2025, as scientists slowly
unravel the secrets of the reaction that
:s the <
After decades of trying to recreate and
control such power on Earth, modern
technology is finally bringing the dream
within reach. Fusion power seems too
good to be true; only minimal amounts of
radioactivity will be produced, and no
hazardous chemicals which could pollute
our environment will be formed. What's
more, fusion can produce potentially
more energy per gram of fuel than any
other source of power imaginable.
•Vou've got what seems tp be an inex-
h;iustable source of energy," said Dr.
David L. Zellmer, a CSUF chemistry pro¬
fessor. "You can take readily available
isotopes of hydrogen, from any source of
water, put enough energy in to start a
reaction, and more energy is released."
Although fusion and fission sound the
same, they're really opptisites. Today ifu¬
sion reactor* split/thf'Targe, already
unstable nuclei ofuranium into smaller
atoms (the theory of bombs) and harness
the energy released to drive generators.
These machines are well understood, and
thus easier to build.
But nuclear fusion—literally fusing two
hydrogen nuclei to form a helium atom-
can happen only under conditions which,
approximate the sun, which is a natural
fusion reactor. The temperature must
actually exeed that of the sun s to com¬
pensate for the differences in gravity and
density.
It is calculated that a temperature of
180 million degrees Celsius is needed to
promote atoms to the plasma phase, the
so-called fourth state of matter. These
intense temperatures are needed to separ¬
ate the nucleus fromils orbiting electrons,
which are negatively charged and would
otherwise repel entire atoms'. The nuclei
are then able to fuse, releasing unused
particles and a wallop of energy.
So far, more energy has been expended
heating the plasma than the resulting
fusion has released. The only exceptions
to this are the hydrogen bombs which
gave up their energy to the environment
Just as reaching the very high tempera¬
tures required is difficult, simply keeping
the heated plasma together is also a major
problem facing researchers.
At Princeton University, a magnetic
chamber traps plasma in a doughnut-
shaped field, allowing it to be concen¬
trated without touching the cool, solid
walls. But there s more than one way to
fuse a nucleus. In the inertial confinement
method high energy lasers bombard a
droplet or frozen pellet of hydrogen until
it implodes, thus fusing nuclei and releas¬
ing energy.
In both streams of research, the goal is
the break-even point, where the amount of
energy put into the reaction equals the
CSUF Today
Lasa nd re Ayrey will perform a program
of classical dance from India. Part of the
program will include Bharatanatyam, the
oldest form of classical dance in India,
based on ancient dance treatises and texts.
Ayrey will perform in the Satellite College
I'nion at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $3 general
and 52 for CSUF students.
I ambda Alpha Epsilon, the American
Criminal Justice Association, meets
tonight at 6 p.m. in San Ramon 1-19. All
interested criminology students are
encouraged to attend.
The Personnel Committee meets today
in the Main Cafeteria room 203 at
9:30 a.m.
A. Gale Sullenberger, candidate for
dean. School of Business and Administra¬
tive Sciences, will make a presentation at
an open meeting for interested faculty and
staff in College Union 309 at 2:10 p.m.
The Bulldog Baseball team hosts St.
Mary's in a two-game series at Pete Beiden
Field. Game time today is 7 p.m.
The Armenian Students organization
will hold its first meeting of the spring
semester at 2 p.m. in CU 308. Topics on
the agenda include the upcoming dance,
shish kebob sale, Genocide commemora¬
tion activities, and the introduction of our
new adviser, professor Ralph Setian.
CSU Member
Continued from Page 1
education outlay in Gov. Deukmejian's
1985-86 budget proposal.
Forty-six percent of the total budget
has been targeted for education with 32.9
percent going to kindergarten through
12th grade. The remaining 13.1 percent
would go to higher education. The CSU
system would receive a total of $1.3 bil¬
lion, 10 percent over last year.
With her teaching experience Bagdasarian
feels she can fill a big void on the board.
"My background in education makes
mc very aware of what's happening in
(kindergarten through 12th grade]. I'll try
to make them [trustees] aware of this. If
' we don't start being concerned at the K -12
level, they're [students] not going to be
ready to enter CSU."
The recent opening of an outreach cen¬
ter by CSU, Fresno and the California
Advocate newspaper in the west side of
town are two improvements Bagdasarian
sees in the area of minority educational
advancement.
"I work with minority children and I'm
very interested in minorities getting into
universities. The office on the west side is
the type of thing we need: Their (prospec¬
tive students) goal should be CSU."
The center will allow university repre¬
sentatives to meet with those interested in
attending the university.
"Another, problem is parent participa¬
tion," said Bagdasarian. "We're missing
the boat in not getting the parents
involved. There's some effort but it's not
enough."
Racism
Continued from Page 1
of minority groups who prior to the
establishment of those legal rights suffered
even worse discrimination than they do
now. What we haven't addressed yet is
social-economic discrimination. That's
still very prevalent; so prevalent that it
really is institutionalized. It's built in our
customary ways of doing things."
The current administration has come
up with the idea that a university or any
school that discriminates in one piece of
its operation will only lose federal funding
for that one piece, but they can continue
receiving this funding for everything else.
energy released. So far, temperatures of
148^million degrees Celsius have been,
achieved, and contained, controlled fusion
has been sustained for only a few seconds.
"There are enormous technical prob¬
lems to be overcome before we can get
either system to work. If we can solve
these difficulties, then the second problem
of designing and building a viable, com¬
mercial powerplant arises." said Zellmer.
With an eye towards the future, virtu¬
ally every ind ust rialized nation is engaged
in fusipn research. Although the U.S. is
clearly ahead in laser technology, Canada
appears to be leading the way in actual
development with a $40 million fusion
machine and a $21 million project on
fusion fuels.
Given the enormous complexity of
fusion research, the tremendous cost
involved, and the elusive promise of clean.
abundant energy being decades away, the
future of fusion is uncertain.
Can we afford it? A better question is,
"Can we afford not to have it?"
Correction
The Daily Collegian erred in stating in
.the Jan. 19 story on the European Geo¬
graphy Tour that the departure date is
July 19. The departure date for the tour is
July 9.
The Daily Collegian erred in a Feb. 1
letter it printed. The letter read: "Your
editorial which appeared the the January
28, 198S issue of The Daily Collegian"
reeks of demagoguery and is indicative of
the same tired, hemophiliac-liberal philo¬
sophy that is continually reflected at the
polls." the word reflected should read
"rejected."
"I think the proper way to enforce that
law is to say-to the school, 'If you dis¬
criminate at all, you're going to lose all
your federal funding.' Then you Ye got
some real sanctions. The struggle for a
more just society is never-ending."
Pickford and Richard Ford, dean of the
School of Health and Social Work, will
present a program on institutional racism
at the Unitarian Church on Feb. lOaspart
of the Sunday service. Pickford said this is
part of a celebration of Black History
Month. The topic was selected by a group .
in the church who are concerned with the
lost national will of trying to eliminate
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COLLEGIAN
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