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Show The University of Utah's Independent Student Voice Since 1890 The Daily Utah Chronicle ©2005 www.dailyutahchronicle.com Vol. 114 No. 120 Thursday, March 10,2005 Allergy season is in full swing Tests recommended to determine which medicine works best, doctor says Catherine Callister Staff Reporter Allergies this time of year are a common trend among U students. But many of the Utah plants that cause allergies axe foreign to students who come from other states or countries, said Allen Bitner, an allergist at the Intermountain Allergy Clinic. Such is the case with sophomore Sana Muller, who came here from Idaho two years ago. "I felt sick. I thought it was a cold at first, but then it continued," Muller said. She went to a doctor who told her to take over-the-counter Claritin. There are a variety of over-thecounter and prescription medications for allergies, but students say they have a hard time finding one to work. "I used to take Zyrtec, but when I take it, it makes me so sleepy. It feels like you've just got out of bed all the time," said Matt Hansen, a junior. Many allergy medications such as Benadryl will cause drowsiness, but it's important to have the correct ingredients in the medicine. "An anti-histamine makes it so your body can't release histamine, which is what causes the sneezing and runny eyes," said Christina Hackett, a phar- macist at the U hospital. Hackett recommends a generic over-the-counter brand of Claritin because, "it has the same strength as prescription medicine," but is a lot cheaper. The generic version sells 30 pills for $9.99. Prescription medicines Allegra and Zyrtec are $77 and $65 for 30 pills, respectively, Hackett said. In full swing The big issue right now for all students is that March to May is tree-allergy season, and so the majority of SEE ALLERGIES PAGE 3 Vents from the hfgh temperature water plant work throughout the late afternoon Wednesday. The plant recently facilitated a switch from coal to natural gas as the U's backup power source. U to use natural gas in emergencies stored coal, however, creating environmental challenges. "The extra cost to students will The U has announced that it will be totally insignificant," van der switch from coal to natural gas as Have said. "The increase in cost the backup fuel in emergency situ- will be S2O,ooo, but the operation ations for its many buildings and and maintenance cost will decrease about that much." operations. "After careful discussions and Also, the U said it is close to an evaluations involving Questar and agreement that will help reduce University administrators, the de- the amount of fossil fuel utility cision was made to eliminate coal companies use to generate elecas a backup option," said Pieter van tricity on campus. der Have, assistant vice president The U added that it is in the final for plant operations. "Not only stages of negotiations for the acdoes this help the environment, it quisition of wind-generated elecalso eliminates the need to repair tricity, as well as the hydropower and or replace aging coal handling the U has already purchased. Beequipment for the boilers." tween the two sources, the U will Since 1993, coal was used exclu- acquire about 35 million kilowatts sively as the backup fuel for the of electricity through non-fossil U, on which it rarely relied. Ev- fuel generation. ery year the U still burned off the pmuir@chromcle.utah.edu Patrick Muir News Reporter Pay for head of stem cell agency too high, some say Keli Senkevlch The California Aggie U. California-Davis March marks the beginning of allergy season for many students. The culture behind coffee Jaryd Bern, an Arabic major. Paul Matlin, an engineering major, said he's "addicted to the coffee" Now and then, a course titled "Cof- and he likes to look at the pictures of fee Culture," or LLFW 271, will be of- Bolton's trips. fered in the course catalog. It is where The diverse selection of coffee at students may drink their favorite cup- the Roasting Company can be attribof-mud and learn about the different uted to the efforts of Bolton, who has cultures and countries from whence traveled to 26" different countries to the caffeinated beverage originated. bring to Salt Lake City what he claims The course is taught by John Bolton, is the best-tasting coffee. who opened the Salt Lake Roasting The line to get coffee at the comCompany in 1981 despite skepticism pany is almost always outside the about the profitability of a coffee shop door in the evening hours, while busy in Utah. Nevertheless, more coffee is employees steam milk, fill bags with sold in the state than one would think plump coffee beans and explain to in a community that doesn't wish to customers the geographical origin of drink it, Bolton said. the flavor of the day. The Roasting Company attracts Pictures of places like Peru and many students who enjoy coffee and African countries line the walls, and staying up late to study. the list of available coffee reads like "I like to come in and get different a world atlas. Bolton said he took glimpses and tastes of culture," said his first trip in 1985 because he had Colby Frazler News Reporter A&E page 4 Oiled up Robots will keep you rolling in the aisles, says Aaron Allen. Opinion _page5 Are you covered? Anne Looser would like to see the U require every student have health insurance. It is expensive, but not if we're all covered together. Sports page S Mile-high mayhem U men get ready for first round MWC matchup with CSU. an "insatiable curiosity where coffee came from." Coffee is the second most1 popular drink in the world behind water and about 400 billion cups are consumed annually, according to http://www. coffeeuniverse.com. Because coffee is best grown near the equator and because frost may kill trees further to the north or south, the majority of the world's No. 2 beverage is grown in Brazil, Bolton said. Some coffee growers pick five-toseven times in a three-month harvest to get the ripest berries, Bolton said, but others strip the entire tree at once to be more efficient and gain higher yields. Coffee cherry quality is compromised by large yields that exhaust the soil of valuable nutrients, Bolton said. SEE COFFEE PAGE 3 DAVIS, Calif.—The interim president for the newly established stem cell agency will earn 3389,004 a year, a salary comparable to University of California medical school deans. However, some have voiced concern over the new president's salary, criticizing it as too high. The Independent Citizens Oversight Committee hired neuroscientist Zach Hall to head the state's Institute for Regenerative Medicine, and set his salary in a unanimous vote at Tuesday's meeting. Claire Pomeroy, executive associate dean for the UC Davis School of Medicine, serves on the committee and said she and the other members felt the salary to be appropriate for the duties demanded of this position. "This is a huge responsibility that Dr. Hall is taking on and we need a leader who has the experience," Pomeroy said. "So we have to pay a competitive salary that pays the best and I think the public deserves the very best leader- ship." In November, California voters approved Proposition 71, which allocates S3 billion in funds for stem cell research over a 10-year period. Dr. Philip Lee, Stanford University professor and former federal assistant secretary for health, and Charles Halpern, a public interest attorney, filed a petition in February, proposing regulation of the agency in four areas. In particular, the petition addressed salaries, stating that the top-ranked officials should make no more than $290,000, the salary of the highest-ranking directors at the National Institutes of Health. Lee said, however, that when he initially filed the petition with Halpern he had not considered the comparability of the president's salary in terms of the cost of living. In Bethesda, Md., where the N1H is located, the cost of living is lower than in California. Lee said he thinks that the oversight committee recruited an "outstanding individual" for the position and that his salary is not excessive. U-Wire Former ambassador: Parties have only months to resolve Arab-Israeli conflict Steve Gehrke Asst. News Editor What must happen? Ross said groups like Hamas, al-Aqsa Martyrs Palestinian President Brigade and Hezbollah Mahmoud Abbas is in a will give Abbas some race against time to legiti- time to establish himself mize his path to generate so they "don't look like peace in the Arab-Israeli they're frustrating what conflict, said one Middle- Palestinians want." But, East expert. he added, "pretty soon Former ambassador there will be attacks." Dennis Ross, who served "Right now, we have to as chief Middle East peace show our willingness. If negotiator under Presi- [Abbas] goes down, we dents George H. W. Bush go down with him," Ross and Bill Clinton, told an said. "The only other audience in the Dumke option [the Palestinian Auditorium on Wednes- peoplel have is Hamas. If day that negotiations must we miss this moment, the happen now. stakes are very high, and Ross said he wanted to it will be a very long time answer the one question before we will see another regarding the Middle-East opportunity." conflict that he hears evRoss said there was no erywhere: "Are you opti- potential for change unmistic?" der former Palestinian He answered with a President Yasser Arafat, conditional yes, warning whom he referred to as a that if all parties don't take "someday politician." advantage of the situation "He would come to now, it will be a very long limited agreements, but time before there is a new wouldn't end the conflict," opportunity for peace. Ross said. "He thought someday something bet- ter might come along." ceasefire and generate a Now that Arafat is out, mutual understanding of Ross said Israel, Palestine the Roadmap to Peace, and the United States must work together to secure a SEE ROSS PAGE 3 Five new conditions for hope in the Middle East* 1-Arafat is gone. 2-Abbas, a leader who doesn't believe in violence, is now in charge. 3-lsraeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is leading withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and four settlements in the West Bank. 4-Egypt is prepared to play a more active role. 5-The Bush administration is showing signs of re-engagement. Five recommendations for action In the Middle East* U.S. Ambassador Dennis Ross and Ibrahim Karawan, director of the Middle East Center, share a moment after Ross' talk about U.S. Diplomacy In the Middle East as attendees exit the Dumke Auditorium Wednesday. Ross shared his personal experiences dealing with high-level leaders in the Middle East peace process and theorized about Its future directions. 1-Secure a ceasefire. 2-Abbas has to deliver to the Palestinian people. 3-Focus international efforts on Hezbollah rather than Iran, which funds •the organization. 4-The Arab Summit should embrace and legitimize Abbas. 5-lsrael and Palestine need to cooperate and form a mutual understanding of the Roadmap for Peace, which is currently defined differently by both sides. •According to Dennis Ross |