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Show SUNDAY/July 6, 1997 U The Salt Lake Tribune Section B OBITUARIES WEATHER Page B-6,7 Page B-8 How DoesLife Grow? 1,000 Biologists Want to Know BY LEESIEGEL Mount Sinai Hospital and president of the Society for Developmental Biology. ‘THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE SNOWBIRD — Three Nobel Prize winners and 1,000 other biologists converged here Saturday to discuss whatfruit flies, zebrafish, mice, frogs and worms reveal about how humans and other creatures develop after conception, Such research — which improves understanding of human miscarriages and birth defects and breeding of farm animals and crops — is the focus of the 13th International Congress of Developmental Biology. Held every four years, the meeting runs through Wednesday “Developmental biology is in an exciting phase,” said Janet Rossant, a mouse geneticist at Toronto's “We're understanding how genescontrol forma- tion of an embryo, how you go from an egg to a complex organism such as ourselves, how you wire up the nervous system, how you determine your head from your tail, how you form limbs, and how youtell which is the left side of your body and which is the rightside,” Scientists from around the world will present about 700 studies, many of which involved develop- ment of organs such as kidneys,liver, bones, pituitary, heart and even the rectumand vulva of the nematode,a tiny worm, It is important to understand how all of an organ- ism’s parts develop, which is why the meeting in- cludes studies on how genes help translateinto creation of the physical structures such those at the rear end of a worm, said Mario Capecchi, a Universi ty of Utah human-genetics professor helping host the meeting, He said questions addressed at the meeting in- clude: “What are the signals, as the embryo gets more complex, to make the whole body? What talking to each other, and what they the genes involved in this procs Whieh cells ar using as a language? They are sending molecules back and forth, What are those molecules, how are theyre ceived and howare they processed?’ Humansshare manyfundamental genes with oth. er organisms, including fruit flies, zebrafish, nema todes and mice, Scientists can study creatures more eas: y and with fewer ethical ¢onthanin human: Rossant said she studies mouse embryo genes that “are the samegenesthat control developmentof the fly or frog or human, We're finding the way things developin all these different organisms is very similar.” For example, similar genes control hownerves grow and connect in worms, mice and people, shesaid Capecchi added; “If you want to make a heart or want to makeeyesor anyorgan, that has something in common among the different organisms, Fruit fly embryos divide into bodysegments using genes in those See BIOLOGISTS, Page B-6 Case Is Closed: Cannon Settles Suit, But It Didn’t Come Cheap BY DAN HARRIE THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE same time Chris Cannon was 8 uccessful campaign for Conlast year, he was suffering losses in a civil court battle in which he was accused of unscrupulous business dealings. The lawsuit against the privately owned venturecapital firm, Cannon Industries, and against Cannon personally, quietly slogged its way through Utah courts for nearly two years, beginning in August 1995. In the suit, former Cannon Industries executives Charles Tim Storey and Doug- las Winner claimed breach of contract, son andwasnot officiallyput to rest until last Tuesday. That is when 3rd District Judge WilliamA, Thornesigned an order dismissing the case following a negotiat edsettlement It was not cheap CannonIndustries paid $175,000 cash and pledged other assets worth anestimated $250,000, The deal was struck after Judge Thorne in March rejected defense motions to throw out major allegations and set trial for September. Already, defense attorneys had lost on another key front: failing to keep Cannon's name out of the uglylegal brawl In the crucial weeks before the Nov. 5 and “conversion” election, the defense team vehemently longing to them wrongfullyhad beendiverted to the company and Cannon add Cannonas a defendant, in addition to The litigation spannedtheelection sea- See CASE, Page B-6 “unjust enrichment’ — legal termsalleging that moneybe- fought Storey's and Winner's attemptto Rick Egan/The Salt Lake Tribune AlmaTorrez,left, Lizeth Jinvez and Blanca Cruz say goodbyetofriends beforetheir bus leaves Bonneville Elementary Schoolin Ogden.Thegirls are in a summer program that teaches them academic basics. THE LEARNING SEASON Teaghers: They Dedicate Their Summer ToWeach Children of Migrant Workers Advantages; For One Family, Program Opens World ofPossibilities for Kids BY HILAI ROUT, and RHINA GUIDOS THE SALT-LAKE TRIBUNE Hererra grew up in the 1970s, she became an stories about her aide to teachers there Chris hearing father traveling from job to job, state to state, looking for jobs hauling hay and harvesting fruit. Then and now, some of that seasonal workwas in Utah. “My dad used to tell me all about it,” she said. “Then he said we had to go to school so we could get When she graduated from Utah State University, she returned to the program as a teacher in Smithfield. “I guess I never really left,” shesaid. Hererrais one of dozens of passionately dedicated teachers from northern Utah to Beryl Junction ip better jobs.” Hererralistened. After a few years in Utah's summer first two months of every migrant education program See TEACHER, Page B-4 the south who spend the BY RHINA GUIDOS ‘THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE OGDEN — Under the burning sun of the Ogden onion and watermelon fields, Gerardo Lopez, a Mexican migrant worker, lifts his hoe and digsit into the ground. At the same hour, in a cool, clean basementapartment off Oak and Van Buren, Lopez’s wife, Reina Balderramos,stirs a pot of simmering beans and lifts her eyes to the basement window.It's 2:45 in the afternoon, and she is watch- ing for the yellow school bus that brings three of their four children home from Utah's migrant education summer program. Stirring the beans with one hand and holdingher 3year-old, Ivan, Balderramossaysher three children knew no English when it came time to enroll in the summer program. Both parents can read and write in Spanish, but want their See SUMMER,Page B-4 Program Helps Former Gang Members Lose Their Tattoos With Help of a Laser BY PHIL MILLER THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE PROVO — When Anthony Alba was a skinheadin Los Angeles, the eagle hold- ing a gang flag tattooed to his right shoulder was a source of pride, And the bulldog emblazoned on his left arm proved his allegiance to his fellow gang mem- bers But nowthat he is a returned LDS missionary with short-cropped hair and conservative clothing living in Provo, tattoos like the black big spider web that dominateshis left forearm no longer help him blendin. “They freak out a lot of people,” Alba says. Not for much longer, he hopes, Albais severinghisties to the past with lasers. The high-tech tattoo erasers are provided by University Hospital as part of Salt Lake and Utah counties’ Gang Projects. Every third Friday, the former gang- ster rises at 4 a.m. to cover his arms with Al Hartmann/The Salt Lake Tribune AnthonyAlba displays the remains of an eagle tattoo, one of many tattoos heis having removed witha laser. scabs heal a fewdays later, his tattoos, like the one with his name in Old English script onhis left biceps, will be faded just a little more, By year’s end, Alba's gang markers should be completely obliterat- ed. ‘That technicallywill make him the 10th success in Utah County's three-year history with the program. Actually, however, Gang Project coordinator Patty Long already considers Alba a success. The 26-year-old has begun a support group for former gang members, publishes a monthlynewsletter for the Gang Project, and regularly speaks to youth groups about the dangers of gangs. Before qualifying for the tattoo-removal program, applicants must carry a B average if still in school, and do at least 32 hours of community service, a standard Alba long ago surpassed. “He is really dedicated, becauseit has really changed his life,” Long says. That life included seven years of mem- bership in a skinhead gang, though Alba Skin LaserInstitute. An hourlater, his arms bloodied and is quick to make a crucial distinction: His was not a racist or white supremacist gang, as many people imagine all skinheads to be, Instead, his gang was dedicated to a party/music scene known as sore, Alba is bandaged and sent home. When the bandages come off and the See EX-GANGSTERS,Page B-5 painkilling cream, then drives to Salt Lake City for a7 a.m. appointment with a laser surgeon at the U. Hospital's Dixon Lynn R. Johnson’The Salt Lake Tribune FIRING UP THE FOURTH Residents celebrated Independence Dayat several sites throughout the Salt Lake Valley, including Sugar House Park where fireworks were accompanied by rousing music played by the Utah Symphony. UTAH QUOTES “Tt was fabulous, spectacular,a little scary and sometimes a lot scary. It’s hard to explain whatit was like, but all I knowis the way J felt when I got to the bottom of the canyon and it was utter exhilaration.” — John Williams, owner of NAV TECH Expeditions in Moab, who has run rapids in Cataract Canyon on the Colorado River for the past 30 years “You just wonder how many of these women are just staying and taking it because they have no place to go. — Susan Porter, assistant manager of Davis County's first domestic-abuse shelter, which will open In Kaysville in September “We don't want people coming in here with an anti-Mormonattitude. We expect a positive attitude andlots of love and concern for the LDS people and for non-LDS people in the valley.” — The Rev, Mike Gray, pastor of Salt Lake City's 1,200 member Southeast Baptist Church. alt Lake City will play host to the Southern Baptist Con- vention in 1998 “Contrary to popular belief, children who learn to read in kindergarten do not grow up to eat their young. — Kathlee! Brown, clinical professor, who says kin rgarten should be more than Just social time I've watched her fry eggs on a shovel. — Gabby Gourmet Fred Wix, on Dian Thomas, author of a book on roughing it in the back yard |