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Show i I THE JJ ff M Urn v hit-- a a W3 XT What on Earth Is Tutiiion? Shane McCammon says ASUli's voter registration goals are misguided. 1 V3T r S ypM The University of Utah's Independent Student Voice Since 1890 Scary Date: The Chronicle says the Institute of Terror and Rocky Point are two fright-fille- d evening ideas Day of Reckoning: the Utes lose to San Diego State Saturday, the MWC title will be out of reach. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 13, dhitj If clS MATT CANHAM Chronicle News Writer Chronicle Asst. News Editor Each one of us carries an archive of human history- - in our genes, The voter registration- - campaign, which got off to a strong start Wednesday, fizzled Thursday due to slightly. Individuals within a population tend to show similar variations and the differences between populations tell the story of migrations and of lineages. O'Rourke's research has yielded the unexpected results, in that these genetic variations present on the North American continent several millenia ago are still present and largely unchanged. O'Rourke discussed his research and its implications Wednesday night with the Utah Statewide Archaelogical Society. His lab has taken samples of the genetic code, or DNA, from six prehistoric populations, including the Anasazi and the Fremont, They are working on a seventh, from the Arctic. The DNA extracted from these, samples is then analyzed to reveal the presence or absence of four small segments of the code, which are treated as markers. These markers ' determine the differences between the six ancient populations. A comparison with the results from modern populations reveals that little genetic change has occurred over time. The genetic variation within different regions of the continent has remained very stable, he said. According to this evidence, movement between indigenous populations had no impact on the their genetic variation, neither did the arrival of European colonists, according to O'Rourke He can offer no concrete explanation for these surprising results. Apparently, variation patterns were established early and are not easily disrupted, he said. In 1988, O'Rourke's lab began using a new technology designed to increase the numbers of copies of a DNA. strand to analyze the ancient samples. i otL saneou eft Sftj ASUU miscom-municatio- n and lackluster support from student groups. . The Associated Students of the University of Utah's government relations board is striving to register 6,500 students by the Oct. 18 deadline in an attempt to make this year's tuition increase as small as possible. Throughout the course of the year, ASUU has managed to register 1,150 students. In the past two days, ASUU registered 504 students, with most of those coming from Wednesday's student rally. The rally marked the beginning of the voter registration drive, which was to include 12 tables stationed around campus from the A. Ray Olpin University Union to the Chase N. Peterson Heritage Center. ASUU asked for volunteers to staff the registration tables in increments. But half of the stations had no volunteers Thursday and some of the ones that did had to end the day early. tr covered campus with lawn signs in an attempt to get students registered 46 VOL 110 NO Rocky Openin; WYNNE PARRY passed from one generation to the Dennis to next, according a Utah O'Rourke, University of professor of anthropology. The story encoded in the genetic archive of each human being varies 2000 If tration D rive jf VOTES MM in Chief j&--Ps-Lh- Research Explores The Implications Of Ancient DNA Chronicle Editor "We are having trouble finding people to take locations, so we have had to downsize," said ASUU Government Relations Chairman Spencer Jenkins. The Latter-da- y Saints Student Asso- - ciation hosted two of the stations near the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-da- y Saints' Institute of Religion, while ASUU covered the outside of the union. Terra Firma was stationed outside of the J. Willatd Marriott Library; The Residence Hall Student Association registered students in the Heritage Center; and individual students hosted a tabic at the Student Services Building. This left the union's first floor, the area south of Orson Spencer Hall, the HPER building, the John R. Park Building and the bus stop near Kinko's without any volunteers. "We thank those who have been helpful" Jenkins said, "But it has been a little difficult to get help. It's tough to get people to commit a half hour of their time to register people." Some of the organizations that planned on participating did not understand where they were expected to be and for how long. Jenkins said other student groups have supported the drive by getting their members registered, but few have said they would be willing to donate their time. Also, the ASUU General Assembly and Senate have helped out less than expected, he said. Jenkins will work between now and Election Day to strengthen the support see VOTE, page 4 Africa Day Shows Students 'Rich Traditions ' SHANE MCCAMMON Chronicle Editor in Chief Ashenafi Tekeste sat behind a table decked out with carved wooden figurines, wicker baskets and a printout of one of the newest national anthems in the world. And he thought of home. For Tekeste, a senior at the University of Utah majoring in chemistry, home is Eritrea, a relatively small country in the Horn of Africa, just west of Ethiopia. But Tekeste wasn't sitting in the A. Ray Olpin University Union, behind the artifacts and symbols of his homeland, which gained independence from Ethiopia only seven years d ago, for a little bit of nostalgia. Instead, he was participating in the U's first-evAfrica Day, vhere students of both the college and elementary-school variety were given the opportunity to learn more about a continent that few Americans and specifically, Utahns know well. "Most Utahns are not familiar with the rich culture of African," Tekeste said. "They only know about the starvation, the wars, the bad stuff." Even though Eritrea has had its own dose of the "bad stuff," particularly a brutal war with Ethiopia in which thousands of people have been killed, Tekeste and the rest of the Africa Day participants were more interested in educating people about the unique characteristics of the con tinent. "It's a good opportunity for chil- dren and adults to get acquainted with the rich cultures, history and traditions of Africa," Tekeste said, "We were glad we were invited because it's an opportunity for us to represent our country and tell people who we are." The people who learned the most about Eritrea and the rest of the countries represented at Africa Day were the very loud and very numer- ous elementary school children from the Salt Lake and Davis school dis- tricts. Because schools across Utah recently changed their curriculum to more instruction give second-gradeon African history, geography and culture, Veronica Crandall, program organizer for Africa Day, invited rs see AFRICA DAY, page 3 " home-cobke- er The data they obtained was pared to genetic analysis of modern populations inhabiting the same region and the consistent patterns of variation emerged. Like artifacts from archeological digs, ancient DNA provides what O'Rourke terms, "an independent type of data." Before this point, a lack of technology limited biological research in anthropology to the inspection of skeletal remains, O'Rourke said. Less than a gram of bone contains enough genetic material for com- see DNA, page 3 L f .. Students from Su?anne Perkins' second - grade class cut out African animals during Africa Day Thursday. THE DAILY UTAH ONLINE CHRONICLE IS ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB AT WWW.Utahchronjcle.com Jyii |