Veritas, Vol. 14, No. 12, November 19, 1973

              Muscular Aging Subject of Paper
by Jack Oswald Public Information Officer School of Medicine
Researchers here presented additional proof that muscles in living creatures are “programmed” at birth to reach a certain optimal stage after which they start deteriorating in the process known as aging.
The evidence was described in a paper presented at the 26th annual meeting of the Gerontological Society by two members of the department of physiology and biophysics of the School of Medicine, Dr. Morris Rockstein and his associate, J. A. Chesky.
Using common house flies as models— because of their relatively short life spans—the scientists studied the activity of actomyosin, the contractile protein which is common to muscles in all species. They found that the amount of actomyosin extractable from the flight muscle increased two-fold during the first 24 hours after the flies’ emergence from the pupal stage, reached a peak, and then steadily declined for the next 10 days in a clearly defined pattern.
Commenting on the finding, Dr. Rockstein said: “We have shown a time-related progression of decline in motor function—in speed and vigor of movement—and there is a concomitant age relationship in activity of the enzyme complex. This enzyme is virtually identical to that of higher animals, like man. Therefore, we could expect such a distribution to occur in mammals, and our next step will be similar studies of mammalian skeletal and cardiac muscle.
Dr. Rockstein also noted that the knowledge of the role played by actomyosin might have application in muscle-related diseases such as muscular dystrophy and myocardial pathologies.
Lowe Art Exhibit Goes to Naples
Works from the permanent collections of the Lowe Art Museum are being selected for exhibition at The Beach Club Hotel in Naples on December 17 and 18.
In announcing the show, which will be open to the public at no charge, Addison B. Miller and H. Alvin Smith, co-chairmen of the Collier County Advisory Committee for the University, said, “Our committee of local citizens, working with the University of Miami, has been endeavoring to tap the resources of the University in the fields of medicine and education. Now we are happy to announce the plans for this cultural program.”
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Volume 14, Number 12
November 19, 1973
New D.A. Program Underway
Dr. Lars Onsager
Birthday-Conference To Honor Onsager
More than 50 scientists, including several from Europe, Japan and South America, will gather Nov. 27 and 28 at UM’s Center for Theoretical Studies to celebrate the 70th birthday of Nobel Laureate Lars Onsager, Distinguished University Professor at the Center.
Professor Onsager, who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1968, was bom Nov. 27,1903 in Oslo, Norway. The UM birthday celebration—in the traditional manner of honoring science and humanities eminence—will be a conference. Its title: “Unity in the Natural Sciences.”
Participants will present papers in their fields of theoretical chemistry, physics, and biology. Professor Onsager’s work has crossed all three disciplinary lines. Represented among the conferees will be a number of his former students as well as old friends.
Three other Nobel Laureates will attend the celebration, including Manfred Eigen, of Max-Planck-Institut fur biophysikalische Chemie, Gottingen, Germany; Willis E. Lamb, Jr., department of physics, Yale University, and Earl W. Sutherland, Jr., department of biochemistry, UM School of Medicine.
Holiday Schedule
Otto G. Richter Library has announced its Thanksgiving holiday schedule:
November 22, closed November 23, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. November 24, regular hours resume.
The newly established doctor of arts program at the University is making healthy progress, according to Dr. Clarence G. Stuckwisch, dean of the Graduate School.
Nearly 100 applications have been received for the program, with 32 applicants approved and enrolled in course work leading to the degree. Other applications are in process or have been rejected.
The new degree was approved by the Board of Trustees last May after over two years of study and consideration by various academic committees and by the Faculty Senate.
Nine academic areas are involved in the program as follows: English, history, international studies, physics, engineering, foreign languages, education, mathematics and chemistry.
Commenting on the new program, Dean Stuckwisch said: “The program, since it is new, will pass through a developmental stage. We are determined to develop it as a quality program and thus attain the objectives set forth in its conception.”
The University of Miami is the first private university in the South to offer the doctor of arts. Across the country the D.A. is offered in more than a score of universities. The new degree has the strong endorsement of the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education and other authoritative bodies in higher education.
Although admissions standards are the same as for the doctor of philosophy degree, the doctor of arts differs sharply in its emphasis. Preparation for teaching college undergraduates is the central focus rather than intensive involvement in original research resulting in a dissertation. The D.A. requires broad subject matter enrichment and professional courses in higher education. It provides for an internship in teaching undergraduates. In addition it requires a six-credit written project relevant to the teaching area studied.
Among those studying for the doctor of arts are faculty members from Miami-Dade and Broward Community Colleges, Florida International University, and
other colleges in the area, as well as full time graduate students, according to Dr. M.A.F. Ritchie, director of the program and professor of higher education.
Astronomy Confab Set for This Month
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A major public event marking the 500th birth year of Poland’s Nicolaus Copernicus, father of modern astronomy, will be a Copernicus Commemorative Symposium at the University Nov. 30-Dec. 1.
Free and open to the public, the symposium is sponsored by UM and the Copernicus Committee of Florida, and its theme will be “People and the Universe: The Development of Astronomical Thought.”
Dr. Shepard Faber, UM professor of education and physical sciences, and Dr. Douglas Duke, UM professor of physics, now on sabbatical, are co-chairmen planning the symposium in cooperation with the executive officers of the Copernicus Committee of Florida.
Music School Dean Conducts Symposium
Dr. William F. Lee, dean of the School of Music, was selected by the National Association of Schools of Music to conduct a symposium for all deans and directors who are new to administration, new to their present location or new to NASM. The symposium was held at the Association’s 49th annual meeting, November 17-20, in Denver, Colorado.
The NASM is designated by the National Commission on Accrediting as the responsible agency for the accreditation of all collegiate programs in music.
Dean Lee has also been selected as one of eight music deans in the nation to serve as a resource person under a grant from the Contemporary Music Project which will involve visiting institutions to assist with curricular and instructional matters and serving as a moderator for faculty seminars.