In brief

JENELLE PETRINCHUK STAFF

The fight against AIDS continues

The fight against HIV and AIDS continues as $139 million has recently been announced and committed to the support of the Canadian HIV Vaccine Initiative, according to a Lab Canada press release.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will be providing up to $28 million while the Canadian government will add up to $111 million. The money will be directed to researchers and institutions across the country who are working with world-wide partners on HIV vaccines, clinical trials or general research.

Developing countries will be a central focus in the research that will progress due to the funding, as keeping with the strategic plan of the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise, a group of independent research organizations around that world who are dedicated to finding an effective vaccine for HIV.

The money has not been allotted specifically to any institutions as of yet.

U of M leader in Polar Year

During the fourth International Polar Year (IPY), scientists from around the world will conduct research on global warming and climate changes in the Arctic. Sixty-three nations are involved in the project.

While Canada is playing a large role in the project — the government is contributing $150 million — the University of Manitoba will be a leader in the research. The U of M will participate in 44 (out of 200) different projects for IPY, lead projects from 14 countries, and a total of 200 Canadian researchers will participate.

Projects include working with ecosystems, wildlife, large bodies of water and ice, human social life and the general atmosphere of the Arctic and Antarctic.

The project was launched in Paris on March 1 and will continue until March 2009, according to their website. IPY is organized through the International Council for Science (ICSU) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

U1 student starts petition

VERONICA CARR

After years of teaching at the University of Manitoba, the contracts of lecturers Andrew Dunlop and Lynn Bowick, both of the department of geography, are not being renewed this summer. Some students were shocked to hear the news, and one student, Elizabeth Sellen, U1, decided to start a petition to support her professors.

The petition states: “We, the undersigned, hereby petition the U of M to extend the contracts of professor, geography in a full time teaching capacity. They are rated by us as exceptional instructors, able to communicate at higher levels then the average university professor. We await your public response.”

So far there are almost 200 signatures, but as Sellen points out it’s difficult to get things going: “The petition hasn’t gone over too well — not because there isn’t support, but just because there is little time to get it ready. Plus we can’t go into the courses at class time to send around a petition because the faculty isn’t supposed to endorse it.”

Student invents floating, filtration device

A U of M master’s student, Alaina Prokopchuk, has invented something that may one day help save lives. The invention, entitled a sWell, is a portable, inflatable and solar-powered unit that can be used for shelter or as a raft. The device also filters water to make it safe for human consumption, if needed in an emergency.

Prokopchuk will be one of five students from around the world attending Tasmeem Doha 2007, a design conference based in Qatar, according to a U of M press release. She developed the sWell for emergency situations such as floods, hurricanes or tsunamis.

“I can see its value in both small and large scale crises, where water could be the first thing to become contaminated,” she said in the release.

Themed, “Sometimes, You Just Have To Do It Yourself,” Tasmeem is focused on single people or communities making a difference. The event takes place from March 5 to the 8 and features keynote speaker David Suzuki.

Link between depression and drinking stronger in women: study

Women who suffer from depression are more likely to turn to alcohol in comparison to men with the same condition, according to the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), which funded a new study on the subject.

The difference between the two sexes was examined in terms of whether or not an individual uses an anti-depressant. Participants recorded the number or alcoholic drinks they consumed in the span of a year, and while overall, men drank more than women, it seems the use of anti-depressants only made a difference in the amount males consumed.

The study shows that depressed women will drink more, whether or not they are using an anti-depressant, while if men use an anti-depressant they will generally consume as much alcohol as a non-depressed male.

Men not using anti-depressants consumed 579 drinks, while the number dropped to 414 when on a medication. This can be compared to the 135 drinks per year for depressed women not on anti-depressants and the 164 drinks for women who were on anti-depressants.

Research will continue to explore whether or not the difference in consumption is due only to the medication.

The study was conducted by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and was published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal on Feb. 7.