Wednesday
November 30, 2011 51/30 Miserable
Oregon State University, Corvallis, Ore.
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OSU researcher takes personal interest in effects of malaria n
After an encounter with malaria, George Poinar Jr. aims to discover more on wide-spread parasitic disease By McKinley Smith The Daily B arometer
Man’s best friend may be dog, but his greatest enemy is quite possibly malaria. According to George Poinar Jr., a researcher at Oregon State University, malaria has had an intimate relationship with humans since the beginning. “They’re able to change their surface coat after several generations,” Poinar said of the disease. “If something doesn’t work, they switch over to something that does work.” This ability to evolve rapidly to the human immune system and other potential threats gives malaria a great advantage. “Malaria is a serious parasitic disease caused by a protozoan,” Poinar said. “This protozoan has to go through reproductive processes in the mosquito.” Malaria is transferred to humans and other animals when a female mosquito bites its prey. The malaria enters the victim’s bloodstream through the mosquito’s proboscis and, once there, completes another part of its life cycle. Poinar wanted to know if he could see evidence of malaria in mosquitoes fossilized in amber. What he found were oocysts and sporozoites, both stages in the Plasmodium (malaria) life cycle, even in samples of amber that were scores of millions of years old. Poinar himself personally experienced the effects of malaria while working with the World Health Organization in Africa. While sleeping in a hammock enclosed within mosquito netting and canvas, Poinar’s arm fell against the netting. A rash of mosquito bites lined his arm in the morning, and one week later, Poinar began to notice something was wrong. “I was in this house that was rented for me. I noticed that I was shaking this lemongrass cup,” Poinar said. To escape the severe chills brought on by the
disease, Poinar showered until the hot water ran out, too ill to remove his clothing. When the fever came, Poinar sought relief by showering with the cold water that remained. Poinar is not the only one interested in Plasmodium. Susan Jarvi, an associate professor at the University of Hawaii at Hilo, is currently studying Plasmodium relictum, a species of Plasmodium, in order to determine the relationship between malaria, Avipoxvirus and the native bird species. “Some species of Hawaiian honeycreepers [e.g. the i`iwi] are very susceptible and now only exist in areas where mosquitoes are not, i.e. high elevations on the Big Island of Hawaii,” Jarvi said. “Other honeycreepers like the `amakihi appear to have recently, within the past 20 years, evolved resistance, or tolerance, to avian malaria and survive at low elevations with prevalence rates of over 80 percent. We are currently studying low-elevation `amakihi versus high-elevation `amakihi to see if we can find genes involved in tolerance/resistance.” Jarvi’s studies are relevant to the human struggle with malaria. According to Jarvi, certain species of Hawaiian birds have become tolerant of malaria. “Tolerance mechanisms don’t impact the parasite, so there is no selective pressure for the parasite to out-evolve the mechanism,” Jarvi said. According to Poinar, malaria affects hundreds of thousands of people every year, mostly in Africa. Although malaria was mostly eradicated in the United States, Poinar points out that it even existed in Oregon. People across the world have developed different methods to deal with malaria; according to Poinar, Native Americans drank quinine to kill the malaria within their bodies and nearly two thousand years ago the Chinese began using Artemisia, known commonly as wormwood, to cure themselves. t
McKinley Smith, staff reporter 737-2231 news@dailybarometer.com
Sarah gillihan | THE DAILY BAROMETER
George Poinar Jr., Oregon State researcher, discovered oocysts and sporozoites fossilized in amber for millions of years. Poinar Jr. once suffered a fever brought on by malaria during his time with the WHO in Africa.
Attitudes toward necessity of core classes differ among faculty, students Giving students a well-rounded education spurs disagreement about core requirements
dents wonder about their necessity, and the process by which they are decided upon. Some students express that the baccalaureate core is a necessary By Amanda Antell cushion to relieve the pressures of The Daily B arometer the courses from their majors each While certain required classes have term. developed somewhat negative repu“We find something we can tations among the student body, like enjoy while still trying to graduate,” Math 111 and Health and Human said general science student Brian Sciences 231, faculty and committee Albrech. members are eager to defend their Established in 1989 by the offisignificance. With an undeniable anxiety toward cial committee, the baccalaureate the consequences of failure of bac- core system resulted from a survey See CLASSES | page 3 calaureate core classes, some stun
Gwen Shaw | THE DAILY BAROMETER
Corvallis Fire Department’s volunteer programs provide the opportunity for students from OSU, Linn-Benton and Chemeketa Community College to gain valuable experience and credits.
Corvallis Fire Department calling on student volunteers n
Interested students have opportunity to volunteer in one of three positions, get credits By Gwen Shaw The Daily B arometer
Vinay Bikkina | THE DAILY BAROMETER
Students pack into Milam Auditorium for HHS 231, one of the university’s required bacc core classes, which are required of all students in order to graduate.
Responsibility, dedication and muscles. These are just three of the things that a few volunteer firefighters offered up as reasons for students to look into volunteer firefighting. The Corvallis Fire Department is offering three different types of volunteering. Each program is designed with students of Oregon State University, Linn-Benton Community College and Chemeketa Community College in mind.
The first opportunity available is for community volunteers. These men and women live outside of the station and are assigned a shift in the station. Community volunteers train for a minimum of eight hours a month and volunteer a minimum of 14 hours a month. These volunteers are often students living in the dorms or houses off campus, but can also be other professionals from around the community who choose to help their community, said Lieutenant Rob Yencopal. Resident volunteers take the next step. They live in the station and are assigned a shift. They work a minimum of six 12-hour shifts and two 24-hour shifts. In exchange, they get a place to live in the station.
The highest level of volunteering available is the internship volunteer program. Interns have the most time commitment and the highest expectations. They live in Station 6 on Lewisburg Ave. in Corvallis. They are assigned a duty and are responsible for keeping the station open. Unlike community and resident volunteers, interns are given the opportunity to learn to drive and pump the engine and can work as a company officer. Intern volunteers are also offered scholarships. Students who volunteer in this program can get up to $2,000 per term, depending on how many credits they take. The Corvallis Fire Department See VOLUNTEERS | page 3