the best movie of the season (Not battleship) page 6
THURSDAY, MAY 24, 2012
VOLUME 45, ISSUE 30
WWW.UCSDGUARDIAN.ORG
A.S. Council
the best day of the year
sun god crime Stats Council:
UCPD to Disclose Protocol
58% crime
citations away from rimac 10 arrests 6 marijuana citations 140 alcohol contact
In a resolution passed May 9, Council filed a request for UCPD to disclose documentation regarding monitoring. By Ayan Kusari Staff Writer
B rian M onroe /G uardian
obituary
science and technology
Smoking Marijuana May Help Former Student MS Symptoms, Scientists Say Dies From Tumor By Javier Armstrong Staff Writer
By Zev Hurwtiz Associate News Editor Former Warren College freshman Chris Whitmore died May 20 from a brain tumor. He was 18. On May 22, Whitmore’s parents published via his Facebook profile the news that he had passed away. ‘[Chris] had been fighting a brain tumor for the past 18 months,” his parents wrote in the post. “Sadly, this is one kind of cancer for which there is not yet any effective prevention.” Whitmore withdrew from classes upon learning his tumor had worsened. He spent the last several months at home in Davis, Calif. “I wish I could be there myself, but the luck of the draw says no,” Whitmore wrote in a facebook message to a group of friends in December. Whitmore is survived by his parents, Robin and Carl Whitmore, and his brother Nathan.
In a recent clinical study at the UCSD School of Medicine, researchers discovered that multiple sclerosis patients who smoked marijuana had reduced symptoms. Professor of Neuroscience and Director of the Multiple Sclerosis Center at UCSD, Dr. Jody Corey-Bloom led the study, which was published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal on May 14. The study revealed that adult patients who smoked marijuana displayed improved range of motion and experienced up to 50 percent less pain. “We found that smoked cannabis was superior to placebo in reducing symptoms and pain in patients with treatment-resistant spasticity, or excessive muscle contractions,” Dr. Corey-Bloom said in a UCSD Health Systems press release dated May 14. Dr. Corey-Bloom and her colleagues used 30 MS patients for the study. The test subjects were randomly assigned to either the intervention group, which received a marijuana cigarette to smoke daily
sSPOKEN
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FORECAST
for three days — or to the control group, which also smoked an identical placebo cigarette for three days. After eleven days, the participants were crossed over to the other group so that all 30 MS patients eventually smoked marijuana. However, researchers also reported short-term and adverse effects in cognition, namely the ability to pay attention and concentrate, and increased fatigue among the patients. The press release said that the mild effects on focus and awareness could be a result of smoking the drug instead of the traditional method of orally administered cannabinoids, which have been used in the past. Past studies have shown to effectively treat neurologic conditions using oral intake of cannabis. Last May, another similar study was published in the journal of Neurology, in which researchers from the University of Toronto showed that MS patients who smoked marijuana to alleviate symptoms could double the risk of cognitive detriment. A May 15 article in the San Diego Reader said that researchers at the UCSD School of Medicine are call-
NIGHT WATCH
I’m going to win. Nuff Said.” thursday H 67 L 60
friday
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Thursday
friday
Nick Howe
UCSD Track and Field Senior Captain
saturday H 64 L 56
sunday
H 67 L 59
saturday
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ing for larger, long-term studies. The School of Medicine wants to confirm the recent findings as well as test the effectiveness of lower doses of cannabis. With a lower dose, researchers hope to reduce the negative impact on cognitive function. In the recent clinical study, participants had a breakdown of 63 percent female, 37 percent male and had an average age of 50 years old. Over half of the participants required aids such as walkers, while 20 percent used wheelchairs. The University of California Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research funded the research. CMCR said this is the fifth promising study currently underway. “The study by Corey-Bloom and her colleagues adds to a growing body of evidence that cannabis has therapeutic value for selected indications, and may be an adjunct or alternative for patients whose spasticity or pain is not optimally managed,” director of the CMCR, Dr. Igor Grant said in the UCSD Health Systems press release. Readers can contact Javier Armstrong at jarmstr@ucsd.edu.
A.S. Council passed a resolution on May 9 condemning the University of California Police Department for its alleged policy of monitoring UCSD student activists. This resolution was the third resolution council has passed regarding UCPD in the last five months. As part of the resolution, A.S. Council filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act, a federal law that requires most government agencies to disclose agency records. The request is designed to reveal all documents UCPD has complied on students they have been monitoring and the extent to which undercover police officers have been used. A.S. Vice President of External Affairs 2011-12 Samer Naji drafted the resolution last quarter, and received sponsorship from former A.S. President Alyssa Wing and former Associate Vice President of Student Advocacy Bryce Farrington. The resolutions, which council passed during the third week of Winter Quarter, condemn the use of police violence last November at UC Davis and UC Berkeley. According to Naji, student activists first suspected they were being monitored in December 2011, when they broke into CLICS to reopen the former library. University police officers were already present upon the students’ arrival. “That automatically alerted us that they might be monitoring or keeping track of the things student leaders were doing on campus,” Naji said. The student activists made sure that information disseminated online was distributed through secure networks, to prevent UCPD or the administration from uncovering the details of their plans, according to Naji. Students from the Student Affirmative Action Committee, the Public Education Coalition and the A.S. Office of External Affairs — all three of which were involved in the
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Saturday Height: 2-5 ft. Wind: 8-12 mph Water Temp: 65 F
sunday Height: 1-2.5 ft. Wind: 4-18 mph Water Temp: 65 F
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See UCPD, page 3
INSIDE Pun Time................................2 New Business.........................3 How to Guru...........................4 Letter to the Editor.................5 Dodging the Horizon..............6 Sudoku...................................9 Sports...................................12