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 Sea HONDURAS Tegucigalpa " NICARAGUA Esteli " eMatagalpa SA.LVADOR .Juial a . " angaBluefields M iwanagua Lake icaragua ,tf Pacific Ocean COSTA R ICA 0 Miles 100 I 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. Q II II F-