Page 6 -The Michigan Daily, Thursday, September 10, 1987
Nicaraguan town loses official city
assistance
By ARLIN WASSERMAN
Members of the Central
American Sister City Task Force
will now have to provide economic
aid to Juigalpa, Nicaragua - one of
Ann Arbor's sister cities -
without the backing of Ann Arbor's
city council. Republican Mayor
Gerald Jernigan nullified the task
force's charter one year after city
residents voted overwhelmingly to
establish a committee to establish
relations with Juigalpa.
Jernigan vetoed a resolution last
May that would extend the task
force's charter indefinitely. Former
democratic Mayor Ed Pierce
established the task force in April
1986 after Ann Arbor residents
backed the idea with a 61 percent
vote.
ALTHOUGH they no longer
have official City endorsement, task
force members want to continue
assisting Juigalpa. "A veto is not
going to stop our efforts to aid the
people of Nicaragua. It will be
more difficult because city
affiliation lends broader acceptance
to the task force, but we can still be
effective," Jim Burchell, a task
force member, said.
The private task force has
planned to invite Juigalpans to visit
Ann Arbor in the near future and to
send medical and humanitarian aid
to Nicaragua through the Michigan
Quest for Peace Organization.
Quest for Peace attempts to send
$100 million in humanitarian aid
each year to match the military aid
that the U. S. government has
already given to the Contras.
As a compromise to reestablish
the task force as a city committee,
Jernigan proposed making the task
force part of the city's hospitality
committee. The hospitality com -
mittee - which deals with Ann
Arbor's other sister cities in West
Germany and Japan - does not
partake in any fundraising activities
on the scale of the Juigalpan task
force.
ACCORDING to the Ann
Arbor City Charter, the main
purpose of the hospitality com -
mittee is to foster diplomatic
relations with sister cities. The
charter does not provide for
humanitarian projects characteristic
of the task force.
Task force members think
joining the hospitality committee
would take the task force out of the
public's eye. Task force member
Gregory Fox said that since the
majority of city council members
agree with the purpose of the task
v
force and since it puts no demands
on city funds, there was no reason
for Jernigan to veto its extension.
"The people mandated it and
there was widespread support for it
throughout the year. Why should
we think that ends when the charter
expires?" Fox said.
Jernigan said he vetoed the bill
because he and the other Republican
city officials are "opposed to the
sister city project. Though, I don't
know much about it."
REPUBLICAN council mem -
ber Terry Martin (R-Second Ward)
said that the task force members,
"have made it clear that they cannot
separate between the political and
the humanitarian overtones of the
task force."
But Burchell said, "Are we
supposed to just send bandages (to
the citizens of Juigalpa) and not say
anything about the Contras who
shoot them?"
Fox said, "The only political
thing we are doing is holding vigils
for those people who have died in
Nicaragua; this is only human -
itarian. It is only political because
our government is killing them.".
Last year, the task force collected
almost $25,000 through fundraisers
and bought the Juigalpans a garbage
truck which will help them with
their sanitation problems.
"No money for the sister city
task force has ever come from taxes
or other city funds. This is just
people helping people," Pierce said.
LAST November, the task force
sent a delegation of 17 to visit
Juigalpa, bringing with them thou -
sands of dollars worth of medical
supplies. Pierce and state Rep.
Perry Bullard (D-Ann Arbor) were
among the delegation.
After returning to the United
States, the task force reported its
findings in a five point letter signed
by all seventeen members. The
letter said that Juigalpans suffer
from extreme poverty - which the
delegation said a U.S. economic
embargo of Nicaragua is partly
responsible for.
The letter also said that the
Juigalpans people work together in
political and religious freedom and
that the acts of the Contras are a
"morally bankrupt campaign of
brutality."
Last March, a group of Jui -
galpans spent two weeks in Ann
Arbor. The delegation included
Mayor Claudio Vallecillo and Dr.
Marilyn Carille, head of the medical
clinic in Juigalpa.
The last city sponsored act of the
Caribbean
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City parks: the cure x
task force was a vigil for Benjamin citizens to continue aiding the sister
Linder, an American volunteer who, city in spite of the veto.
along with two Juigalpans -
Paulo Rosales and Sergio Juigalpa is located six hours
Hernandez - was killed on May 2, west of Managua, has about 30,000
1987 in Nicaragua. Members urged inhabitants.
Briarwood: a place
of myths and shoes
for the
By ANGIE JAKAI
University students can
discover and take advantag
vast array of parks and
recreation spots that An
offers the community.'
they want to picnic, bo
hike, fish, or swim, most
find outlets for these activit
to campus and within easy
distance.
Officially known as the
Arboretum, the Arb is prob
most well-known park am(
Arbor's student population.
near Mary Markley
University-owned forest
offers many scenic trails
bikers and joggers. Many
find its scenic location
Huron River a great place g
from the rigors of Universi
either relax or socialize.
"I like to jog through tl
Natural Resources junio
Larkin said. "Sometimes w
m right in the middle ofi
completely removed from
of Ann Arbor."
Further down the Huron
Gallup Park, which boasts
thing from a boat liN
barbecues. Offering a full
of recreation space, Gall
tends to draw. more ofi
Arbor community than the
Other recreational oppo
can be had at Argo, Burn
and Riverside Parks, whic
study blues
RY located along the Huron River. In
quickly addition to boating facilities, most
ge of the of these parks offer tennis and
outdoor basketball courts, along with
n Arbor lighted softball and baseball fields.
Whether For those who prefer to plunge
at, jog, in the water rather than'to wade in
students the river, Fuller Pool, located on
ies close Fuller Rd., features a massive
walking eight-lane, fifty-meter pool during
the spring, summer, and early fall
Nichols months.
ably the "Although Fuller Pool is not
ong Ann Lake Michigan, it is still a good
Located place to cool off," Joseph Steketee,
, this an Art School senior, said.
reserve Although many students con-
for both sider Fuller Pool their favorite
students waterside hang-out, Veterans and
by the Buhr Parks also offer outdoor
get away swimming facilities.
ty life to Although most of these sites are
accessible by foot, Ann Arbor's
he Arb," Bicycle Touring Society encourages
r Kathy people of all ages to take advantage
when I'm of the city's many bike trails.
it, I feel Information about the society and
the rest the trails are available at the
Michigan Union and the Ann Arbor
River is City Hall, located at Fifth Street
s every - and Huron Avenue.
very to For a more comprehensive
85 acres description of all the city's parks
up Park and services, Ann Arbor's Parks and
the Ann Recreation Office - also located in
Arb. city hall - offers many guides to
)rtunities take full advantage of everything
s, West, from the city's parks to its
h are all museums and art galleries.
By SETH FLICKER
I remember my first -week of
school as if it were yesterday. I was
scared, shy and lonely, trapped in a
new place far away from home. I
can remember laying on my bed
thinking of my old hang-outs in
Brooklyn - Kings Plaza, Cara -
velle, Marine Park and Martin's.
But these places were far away, and
I realized I must make the best of
my new surroundings..
Slowly, as the weeks progressed,
places like Frank's and Donburi
replaced Martin's and Caravelle. I
became acquainted with the new
hang-outs - Brown Jug, Char -
lie's, Dooley's and the MUG. I
began to feel more secure in this
once strange world.
But just when I thought I had
this damn town conquered, another
place to conquer entered my life and
challenged my security. This would
be the hardest challenge I would
have to brave in my extra-curricular
life. It's name was Briarwood.
AT FIRST Briarwood was just
a word occasionally interjected into
conversation. "Let's go to Briar -
wood," I would hear someone say.
Others would chuckle, and that
would be the end of it. I wouldn't
ask questions .about it but rather
accept it as something that didn't
concern me, a private joke, perhaps.
But this private joke seemed to
encompass more people than my
immediate friends. I heard other
people talking about it, but still
nobody went there.
I couldn't let it bother me,
though. Anytime anybody men -
tioned it, I would just chuckle
along with the rest and sometimes
when I was extremely daring would
say, "Yeh, that Briarwood. I love
that place."
This went on for quite
sometime. But, one day, when it
was least expected, I made a
remarkable breakthrough. While
looking at a bus map of Ann
Arbor, I discovered that there was
actually a bus that went to
UM News in
The-Daily
764-0552
Briarwood.
TWO THINGS entered my
mind - either Briarwood was a
private joke that all of Ann Arbor
was in on or Briarwood was
actually a place. There was only
one way to find out. So, on one
quiet Saturday morning, I took the
number 6 bus, the bus that would
take me to Briarwood.
As the bus moved along State
Street, I realized that the myth of
Briarwood was coming true and
before I knew it, the doors of this
great Brigadoon of malls were in
front of me.
I
I
'As I floated out of
Briarwood, I realized I *
had reached a state of
nirvana.'
V
Ann Arbor jogger takes advantage of the serenity and shade on one of the
exercise trails running through Nichol's Arboretum.
Michigan Daily Classifieds
764-0557
Awestruck, I entered this other
world through the West Court.
Carpeted in royal blue and adorned
with huge modern sculptures, the
West Court offered everything from
jewelry to jeans, burgers to books.
If this wasn't enough, there were
still the the South and East Courts
which had Lord and Taylor, Sears,
Hudson's, Chess*King, and even a
multi-plex movie theater! Briar -
wood seemed to good to be true. A
world of merchandise and services at
my beck and call.
. But Briarwood is more than a
mall, it's a work of art. Perhaps the
greatest evidence of this is the
Grand Court. This majestic center -
piece is decorated with cascading
fountains, brick walls, benches, and
more sculptures, not to mention the
information booth.
As I floated out of Briarwood, I
realized I had reached a state of
nirvana that most students had
never experienced. And though I
knew that I might not go back there
for a while, the memories from that
one day will be with me for a long
time.
I
Flowers for Special Occasions.. .
or no occasion at all
.
_a !1
FLOWERS INC.
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