The Michigan Daily-Monday, February 29, 1988- Pogt3
U
U.N. resoluti~onsl-
Die-in
decry
American
Regents reject bylaw
change, spur protest
anti-PLO efforts
By JIM PONIEWOZIK
About 20 members of the Les-
bian and Gay Rights Organizing
Committee staged a "die-in" follow-
ing the University Board of Regents'
Feb. 19 meeting, after the regents
refused to vote on a LaGROC pro-
posal to amend an anti-discrimina-
tion bylaw.
The group had proposed that a
March 1984 statement by former
University President Harold Shapiro,
which said the University should not
consider sexual orientation as a fac-
tor in academic or hiring decisions,
be added to bylaw 14.06.
The group members, holding
gravestone-shaped placards, lay down
in front of the main exits from the
Regents' Room in the Fleming Ad-
ministration Building, where the
meeting was held, forcing the re-
gents to leave through a side door.
LaGROC leader and LSA senior
Alicia Lucksted said the "die-in,"
which lasted about 15 minutes, was
symbolic of the harmful effects on
gays the group says stem from the
regents' refusal to amend the bylaw.
The group has said the bylaw change
would help discourage sometimes
violent harassment of gays.
"Your complacency is killing
us," read one protester's sign.
Regent Deane Baker (D-Ann Ar-
bor) defended the regents' decision
yesterday, pointing out that the re-
gents voted to endorse Shapiro's
statement at their January meeting.
The endorsement does not incorpo-
rate the statement into the bylaw.
Baker would not comment on the
reasons behind the regents' decision
not to vote on the proposal. "The
regents' action speaks for itself," he
said.
LaGROC member Brian Durrance
called the regents' refusal to vote on
the proposal "very frustrating. (Anti-
gay discrimination) is the one kind
of minority discrimination that the
regents can casually dismiss."
Durrance and other LaGROC
members said they were not sur-
prised by the regents' decision. "We
knew they'd stonewall," he said.
At January's meeting, LaGROC
had proposed that the regents add the
words "sexual orientation" to the
section of the current bylaw which
prohibits discrimination based on
"race, sex, color, religion, creed, na-
tional origin or ancestry, age, mari-
tal status, handicap, or Vietnam Era
status."
The regents had defeated the Jan-
uary proposal unanimously.
Lucksted said LaGROC changed
its request for the bylaw revision to
address concerns some regents had
voiced at January's meeting. The re-
gents were worried that the previous
proposal would force the University
to cut its ties with groups, such as
ROTC, that discriminate on the ba-
sis of sexual orientation.
Lucksted said she and about 10
other LaGROC members held a
closed meeting with regents Baker,
Paul Brown (D-Petoskey), and
Philip Power (D-Ann Arbor) the af-
ternoon following the meeting to
discuss LaGROC's proposals. She
would not discuss details of the
meeting
"(The discussion) wasn't really
fruitful... there wasn't any concrete
agreement made," Lucksted said.
Baker said the two groups dis-
cussed LaGROC's January and
February proposals at the meeting,
which he termed "a friendly exchange
of views."
-Associated Press
A call for peaceA
Israelis carry torches in a main Jerusalem square as part of a demon-
stration organized by the 'Peace Now' movement calling for immediate
peace talks with Palestinians. About 3,000 people joined the demon-
stration which was held Saturday night.
Regents OK funds
for N Camp us center
UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The
United States, its U.N. prestige and
influence already at an all-time low,
faces a showdown today when the
General Assembly convenes an
emergency session to condemn U.S.
efforts to close the PLO mission.
Some Arab leaders say they want
to shift the next General Assembly
meeting to Geneva to punish the
United States for harassing the
Palestine Liberation Organization,
which the United Nations recognizes.
The entire U.N. operation here,
including the General Assembly,
funnels $400 million to $700
million each year into the U.S. and
New York economies, according to
the U.S. mission.
The 42nd General Assembly will
reconvene for at least three days
beginning today and consider two
resolutions regarding the P L O
mission.
One reaffirms the PLO's right to
operate and calls on the United States
to honor its treaty obligations, the
other calls for a ruling by the
International Court of Justice.
The move to shut the P L O
mission comes as Secretary of State
George Shultz is on a critical Middle
East visit aimed at initiating Middle
East peace talks and ending the 11-
week Palestinian uprising in Israel's
occupied territories.
State Department and United
Nations lawyers as Congress' new
anti-terrorist legislation, whi h
would close the PLO's U.N. obsefvr
mission, is illegal and violates the
1947 Headquarters Agreement.
Former Attorney General RanIsey
Clark, legal adviser to the PLO, told
the Associated Press Saturday, "We
assume the United States doesn't
want to be an international outlaw
'We assume the United
States doesn't want to be
an international outlaw
and will, therefore, honor-
(the UN's) obligations."
-Former Attorney
General Ramsey Clark
and will, therefore, honor its
obligations." S
PLO Ambassador Zehdi Labib
Terzi told the AP that the U.S.
action against the PLO mission is
harming Shultz' chances in :the
Middle East.
"The Palestinians are being killed
in their own home, and this is.an
attempt to stifle their voice in'¢the
international community. This. s
not a message of peace, but a
requiem," he said.
The anti-terrorist legislatioe,
passed in December and effective
March 22, has put the United States
on a collision course with the 159r
member world organization.
By STEVE KNOPPER
Students living in the Univer-
sity's North Campus family housing
will receive their long-awaited com-
munity center in the fall of 1989.
The University's Board of Re-
gents, at their Feb. 19 meeting,
unanimously approved construction
for the center, a proposed 14,000-
square foot building for additional
family housing facilities.
Rackham graduate student Kevin
Harris, a family housing resident and
Residents' Council member, said he
was "pleasantly surprised" by the re-
gents' vote. In the past, he said, re-
gents have spoken against additional
child care facilities.
The community center will in-
clude more than child care. The new
building will incorporate a large
meeting room, a kitchen, an exercise
room, a study, and more space and
See COMMUNITY, Page 7
'
pursues radon research lab'
Sparks fly
at GOP
d1 atiAtlanta
By The Associated Press
George Bush, whose backers
claimed victory yesterday in Maine's
Republican presidential caucuses,
was attacked by chief rival Bob Dole
on the Iran-Contra affair, while Rep.
Jack Kemp blasted the two G OP
frontrunners on taxes.
Massachusetts Gov. Michael
Dukakis won the Maine Democratic
caucuses, scoring another victory on
his New England home turf, and
Jesse Jackson scored a surprisingly
strong second. Most of the
Democrats, meanwhile, gathered for a
debate in Houston.
The Maine caucuses pick delegates
to the parties' state conventions this
spring, where national convention
delegates are chosen.
At a Republican debate in Atlanta
- their first full-scale face off of the
Southern campaign - Dole took
aim at Bush for the Reagan
administration's decision to trade
arms for hostages in the Iran-Contra
affair. That, he said, was a big
mistake.
"We should never trade arms for
hostages. We shouldn't issue these
reports and say we shouldn't trade
arms for hostages - and then later
By DAVID SCHWARTZ
The University may house a Radon Research
and Education Center to investigate the effects of
radon - a gas that causes lung cancer - and
train people to measure radon levels in their
homes, if a plan proposed by two University
professors is granted state funding.
Arnold Jacobson and James Martin,
University professors of environmental and
industrial health, developed the idea for a radon
center about a year ago. Jacobson said the state of
Michigan will most likely approve funding for
the $97,000 project, which would then open in
April.
Earlier this month, the University formed a
commission to research the extent of the problem
after 20 University buildings were found to have
small amounts of the gas.
Radon is an odorless, colorless, radioactive
gas that seeps into buildings through water or
soil. Breathing air heavy with radon is linked
with lung cancer, according to studies by the
Environmental Protection Agency. It is produced
by the radioactive decay of uranium in the soil
and may enter houses through the water or the
air.
John Jones, the director of the University's
Radiation Control Service, said 22 more
buildings were found to have at least traces of
radon. But Jones said radon is everywhere and it
is not a problem unless found in large quantities.
Radon gas is measured in picocuries. The
EPA reports that more than four picocuries per
cubic liter of air is dangerous and presents a lung
cancer threat.
Jones said three University buildings have
"unacceptable" levels of radon, but he would not
elaborate on which buildings. He said the levels
would be checked again to make sure the original
measurements were accurate.
The center is being created to deal with
problems of high radon levels in houses and
buildings in Michigan and throughout the
country, as well as to gather and provide
information on radon. Jacobson said people
exposed to both cigarette smoking and radon
generally run an increased risk of contracting
lung cancer.
"Radon may be the second largest cause of
lung cancer, after smoking," Jacobson said.
Another goal of the radon center will be to
train people to properly measure radon levels in
homes or buildings. Jacobson said between 10
and 15 percent of homes in Michigan have
dangerous radon levels.
Jacobson said radon levels in homes can be
lowered through better ventilation, among other
methods. Radon can be trapped in a home
through insulation that is designed to' conserve
energy during winter by trapping heat, he said.
An official from the EPA in Lansing who
spoke on condition of anonymity said no laws
currently exist to protect citizens from the
harmful effects of radon poisoning.
The state's grant will only be for one year.
Jacobson said he expected to receive further
funding if needed. But if the center does not
receive more funding, he said he hopes the center
can become self-sufficient by charging fees;for
services such as training to take tests.
Bush
... assailed by Dole
go to a meeting and say it's all right.
We shouldn't do these things," Dole
said, holding up a report on terrorism
that was written by a presidential
commission headed by Bush.
Bush did not respond directly, but
did say "mistakes were made" in the
Iran-Contra affair.
Kemp, whose campaign has been
faltering after poor showings in early
contests, accused Bush and Dole of
supporting tax hikes.
"They sound alike. They talk
alike. They've supported every single
tax increase over the last eight
years," the New York representative
said. "If they're nominated, the
Reagan revolution is over, gone,
dead."
Donation didn't affect
probe, senator says
(Continued from Page 1)
Corp., which presented its contribu-
tion to Riegle on March 23, 1987, at
a fundraiser hosted by company,
Chairperson Charles Keating.
The investigators were looking
into high-risk investments made by
Lincoln that could threaten its sol-
vency, the News said.
"If there was the slightest sugges-
tion or hint that somehow somebody
was going to contribute in return for
some kind of favorable consideration,
we don't want that money," Riegle
said. "I wouldn't accept it."
The other senators at the meeting
also have accepted contributions from
Keating and his associates during the
1980s - Democrats Alan Cranston
of California, $41,900; Dennis
DeConcini of Arizona, $43,000;
John Glenn of Ohio, $34,000; and
Republican John McCain of Arizona,
$112,000, the newspaper said.
The contributions were permiss-
ible under federal election laws.
THE LIST
What's happening in Ann Arbor today
Speakers
Sydney Shoemaker - "Qual-
ities and Qualia: What's in the
Mind?", West Conference Room,
Rackham, 4 p.m.
Clare Snook and D a w n
Soerries - Guild House Writers
Series, Guild House, 802 Monroe,
R 2
4:30 p.m.
Furthermore
Topics in the Art of Peter
Paul Rubens - seminar: "An-
twerp and Amsterdam: the Cities of
Rubens and Rembrandt", 180
Tappan, 4 p.m.
Pre-School Programs - Pee
Stop by and see a Jostens representative,
Monday, February 29-Friday, March 4,
11 a m tnAn m
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