"U" offered money by National Security Education Program

The University of Michigan"s Arabic language department is reportedly considering accepting resources and money from the National Security Education Program.

The program offers scholarships at universities throughout the country in the hopes of attracting Arabic language speakers to governmental jobs.

Alexander Knysh, chair of the Near Eastern Studies Department, said that if the department decides to work with the NSEP, the money would go toward hiring additional instructors.

However, Knysh added that there are "some strings attached" to the money and said the department is currently debating the pros and cons of the NSEP offer. He added that he is worried about whether the program goals, for students to learn Arabic and then use the language for work in the Federal Bureau of Investigation or other governmental agencies, clashes with the mission of the department.

A meeting is scheduled with Richard Brecht, a representative of NSEP, in November.

The government is making several other attempts to attract Arabic speakers to jobs involving national security. Since Sept. 11, the FBI has received more than 15,000 applications from Arabic speakers who are interested and willing to translate documents.

Texas A&ampM may end ESPN show

COLLEGE STATION, Texas Texas A&ampM University officials are considering ending cooperation with ESPN camera crews filming the reality show "Sidelines" unless the show focuses more on Aggie football and less on the indiscretions of students.

"We have the option to cancel our participation in future taping," A&ampM President Dr. Ray M. Bowen told the Dallas Morning News at Saturday"s A&ampM-Kansas State game in Manhattan, Kan.

A&ampM University officials have asked ESPN executives to reconsider the subject matter of the show "Sidelines", which was intended to show A&ampM football from the perspective of its fans and players.

ESPN director of communications Rob Tobias could not be reached for comment.

Med schools to include alternative medicine classes

BALTIMORE Students attending medical schools such as Johns Hopkins School of Medicine can expect lectures on acupuncture, meditation and herbal medicine beyond the traditional studies of sicknesses, labs on cadavers and bodily functions.

The new addition to the Johns Hopkins curriculum is a wide array of practices known as Complementary and Alternative Medicine, or CAM.

Since the probability of the patient"s use of the new practices is rising, medical schools have in recent years moved to add information on CAM to their required and elective coursework. Both the Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland schools of medicine now include at least some basic CAM lectures in their curricula.

The action is in response to a growing embrace of CAM both by health care consumers and by the medical establishment.

In 1992 Congress established the Office of Alternative Medicine now called the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine at the National Institutes of Health. The American Medical Association charter likewise encourages members to "become better informed regarding alternative medicine and to participate in appropriate studies of it."

In the May 2000 issue of Consumer Reports, a poll showed that 35 percent of respondents had used alternative treatments during the past two years.

Compiled from staff and wire reports from Daily Staff Reporter Maria Sprow.