About Life...
Neu) 'miracle sweetener" hits market
Remember when you
were a little tyke. And a trip to
the store was an adventure.
This time it was 14 cents—
a fortune! As the enormous
task of decision making started,
with all the brightly colored
packages catching the eye, the
little fists clenched even tighter.
One more time! Just when an
Almond Joy, a Hershey bar
with almonds, and four sticks
of licorice had been decided
upon, after what seemed an
eternity, the case was swiftly
brought to a close.
From an early age, the
concept that what is good to
the tummy, is also off limits by
Mommy, is constantly reinforc
ed.
The culprit, of. course, is
sugar! Life can be miserable for
those who constantly have to
watch what they eat to insure
they don’t do any more than
maintain their body weight.
Diabetics must give
themselves daily injections of
insulin and/or eliminate this
pleasant tasting substance from
their daily food intake to insure
that their life support systems
are not jeopardized.
Hypoglycemics (those
with low blood sugar) need to
replace sweet foods with high
protein foods to avoid symp
toms which can range from
mild to severe depression,
headaches, and dizziness. Ad
ditionally, sugar is thought to
have a detrimental effect on
our biochemical systems in
general.
What if someone said,
“Hey, you don’t have to worry
about those things anymore!”
Loren Studer, Organic
Chemistry instructor says this
may very well be a possibility in
the near future. He is very ex
cited about the possibilities.
And what is the answer to
this dilemma? It is glucose,
itself. Studer explained that
there are two forms of glucose-
-D-glUcose and L-glucose.
Both these forms have the
same exact number of
elements (six carbon atoms, 12
hydrogen atoms, and six ox
ygen atoms).
The only difference is that
if you looked at a diagram of
the L-glucose molecule, it
would be the same as the
D-glucose molecule, only in
verted, as if you were observ
ing it through a mirror.
So what does all this
mean? The glucose we use
everyday is D-glucose. And all
carbohydrates that we eat cure
metabolized into the D-glucose
form, which is acted upon by
enzymes for our systems to
use.
The L-glucose form,
Studer reassured, tastes just as
good to our taste buds as the
regular D-glucose form.
However, it has one major ad
vantage. It passes right through
our systems without being
metabolized because the en
zymes in our systems cannot
make contact and attach
themselves to its structure.
According to Studer, this
means no calories—no reac
tions. Theoretically, one could
eat all the sugar one wanted
and not gain a pound; and
diabetics might be rid of injec
tions and special diets.
When will this be
available? Studer stated that
the California firm which is
capable of converting. (or
twisting) D-glucose to
L-glucose is ready to go! They
went public and sold shares of
stock which, predictably,
skyrocketed because of the
possibilities involved.
So what’s holding it up?
Loren’s pet peeve is the restric
tive actions of the Food & Drug
Administration which he feels
are to blame in this instance.
He agrees with Linus Pauling’s
view in that the FDA‘does have
its place but that they are too
powerful.
So, it may be a little while
longer for that miracle; but the
possibilities are very interesting!
By Darla J. Weinberger
Of The Print
In some buildings, the ex
termination of rats is a big pro
blem. In the Linus Pauling
Science Center, however,
everything is done to keep
them breeding, white rats, that
is, and for experiments, of
course.
Classes such as anatomy
and physiology or zoology
need rats for study and ex
periments. “Instructors tell me
how many rats they will need
for a class and when they’re
needed,” said Joan Heiser-
man, science lab technician. “It
takes about 12 to 15 rats per
term.”
“Basically you let a male
and female rat live together
and let nature take its course,”
Heiserman commented. “I
leave them together for two
weeks even though it doesn’t
take that long for them to
breed.” After 24 days, the
female rat has a litter of seven
or more. Heiserman leaves the
baby rats in the cage with the
mother for three weeks before
weaning them. When the rats
do not have a large enough lit
ter, she has to buy them from a
Staff Photo by Duane Hiersche
WORKING IN THE RATRACE, Joan Heiserman breeds
lab animals for the science department.
“It’s good to bring in ‘out
side’ rats, because of inner
breeding
and
genetic
disorders,” said Heiserman.
“The rats make better
mothers when they receive
love and are handled a lot,”
she commented. “I try not to
get too close to them, but my
work study student gets attach
ed.” When the rats are sexually
matured or two months old
they are ready for the class ex-
“We put them to sleep
with ether,” said Heiserman.
“It’s like giving them an over
dose of a sleeping drug.”
The life expectancy of rats
is about three years. Heiser
man usually lets the breeder die
of old age because she gets at
tached. “Rats are nice pets if
you give them love and give
them a nice atmosphere so
they are not afraid or ap-
Kudos for speech team
Last weekend, the speech
team participated in the
Western Washington Invita
tional and faired “pretty well,”
according to Forensics Coach
Frank harlow;
Competing against 27
other colleges; Teresa Svatos
finaled in oratory and ex
pository, and Mike Doane and
Sandy Brainerd finaled in dual
page 8
interpretation.
Harlow said, “The com
petition was really tough stuff,
there were only two other com
munity colleges competing and
the rest were four-year
schools.”
The speech team will trek
to North Idaho Community
College in Cour D’Alene to
compete in the Regionals
Clackamas Community College
D50 Illuminant, 2 degree observer
Density