The Michigan Daily-Thursday, March 24, 1988-- Page 5
Groups work to unite
Hispanic students

By JEFFREY SCHULMAN
The University's Latino students
- separated on campus by their
classwork and academic clubs -_
have touched base with each other
and celebrated their heritage this
March in the University's first an-
nual Hispanic-American month.
"Instead of Hispanics being sepa-
rated by academic clubs, we are try-
ing to bring Hispanics together so-
cially," said Grecia Souffrant, a first-
year LSA student and active member
of the Socially Active Latino Stu-
dents Association.
Throughout the month, SALSA
has promoted events to unite Latino
students on the University's campus.
THIS SATURDAY SALSA
will sponsor "La Gran Fiesta," a
dance that will feature a D.J.
spinning records of Latin-American
origin and refreshments.
In addition, the Hispanic Law
Students Association (HALSA) has
hosted culturally-oriented movies
each week. Tonight, HALSA will
present "El Super" - the story of a
Cuban family'in New York, strug-
gling to attain a better life in the
United States - at Hutchins Hall
in the Law Quad.
Both groups encourage Latino
unity, but the goals of HALSA are
slightly different from those of
SALSA. HALSA hopes to increase
acceptance of latino students to the
Michigan Law School, and "to en-
hance the achievement of these stu-
dents upon their admittance," said
PASS

recently appointed chair Eddie
Chavez.
HALSA is continually working
with the admissions office reviewing
applications and giving positive rec-
ommendations for Latino applicants.
Chavez hopes to increase the number
of Latinos who will enroll in the
law program. The number admitted
has already risen from 13 to nearly
40 this year.
In the past, Marty Castro, former
chair of HALSA and third-year law
student, organized the recruitment of
Latinos by visiting colleges and
universities throughout the country.
HALSA has also been lobbying
for the recruitment of Latino faculty
and administrators. Castro plans to
meet with Law School Dean Lee
Bollinger and the rest of the law fac-
ulty on April 8 to convince them of
the need for Latino faculty. There is
currently only one minority faculty
member in the law school.
ALTHOUGH the goals of
SALSA differ from those of their
law school counterparts, they are
also working on a minority
recruitment program. By working
with the Ambassador Program of the
admissions office, SALSA hopes to
increase the number of undergraduate
Hispanic students accepted.
Members of SALSA have visited
high schools throughout Michigan.
At Jackson and Adrian High Schools
on March 9, they spoke to students
who have been accepted to the Uni-
versity, described life as a Latino at
the University, and encouraged their
enrollment.
LSA junior and president of
SALSA, Adoleena Gonzalez has
watched the group quadruple its
membership from last year to 25
members. Through Hispanic Ameri-
can Month Adoleena hopes more of
the nearly 700 hispanic students on
campus will become involved in the
group.

Daily Photo by JOHN MUNSON
Spring thaw
Sandra Hundley, Ypsilanti resident, and her two children, Alexandra, 8 months, and Aaron, 2 years, take advantage of the warm day to
feed the birds at Gallup Park. According to the National Weather Service, yesterday was the first time the thermometer hit 70 degrees
since November 3 of last year.
Reporters speak on environment

By LISA WINER
Radon. The greenhouse effect. Radioactive
waste.
Threats to the environment are a public con-
cern, but without the press these issues might
never be addressed, said speakers at yesterday's
conference on The Impact of Environmental
Journalism.
The responsibility of the environmental jour-
nalist extends beyond reporting the facts. At-
tempting to target change by informing the pub-
lic is these journalists' greatest challenge, said
environmental reporter for Booth Newspapers,
Wayne Schmidt.
Schmidt said that by reporting on these is-
sues, environmental journalists are "forcing peo-
ple to make a choice whether to act or not."
"It is maddening that I can never really know
the impact of my stories," he added.

Angus McEachran, editor of the Pittsburgh
Press, told an audience of about 50 how the
Ashland Oil Spill left 20,000 people in Pitts-
burgh without water this year. During the crisis,
a reporter went for 37 hours without being re-
lieved, reporting from the river in below zero
temperatures.
Answering the public's needs in such a crisis
was most important, McEachran said. Whether to
drink the water, where to buy port-o-johns, and
what the water would do to their radiators needed
to be addressed.
McEachran said the reporter cannot have
enough information, and cannot check it too
many times. "If your mother tells you she loves
you, check it out," he said.
Investigative reporting is not glamorous, as is
often thought, said McEachran. But it can often
have a dramatic impact on the status quo. The

Pittsburgh Press alone discovered that one or
more industries had taken advantage of the spill
to dump their own wastes. This discovery led to
a government investigation.
McEachran said an investigative reporter in
such a crisis must ask: Who is resisting the
remedies? How are their interests served by the
status quo?
In addition, award-winning journalists from
Seattle, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C.
spoke at the all-day conference, discussing tainted
water and indoor air pollution. The individual
speeches were followed by a panel discussion
with University communications professors and
professional journalists.
The conference was sponsored by the Meeman
Archive, an information service at the School of
Natural Resources that stores environmental
news articles.

IT
AROUND! HAPPY 21st JM!!!!

1

Botanist works to save Michigan dunes

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By SHARON OSTER
The Sleeping Bear Dunes Na-
tional Lakeshore - which contains
threatened species of vegetation and
fragile habitats needing immediate
attention - will be better protected
due, to an intensive environmental
study by a University graduate stu-
dent.
Botany graduate student Brian
Hazlett began the study in 1982, fo-
cusing initially on terrestrial vegeta-
tion of the North and South Manitou
islands, located on Lake Michigan
about seven miles off the Leelanau
Peninsula. He found five species of
endangered plants, including
pitcher's thistle, which grows only
on the sand dunes of Lake Michigan,
and a Calypso orchid.
The second part of the study
identified three other rare plants on
the mainland: pine-drops, three-birds'
orchids, and a possibly threatened
rape fern. The study's descriptions of
these species and their locations
should help park service manage-
ment to "route trails away from
them, yet close enough to point
them out to visitors," Hazlett said,
who did the study for his doctoral
thesis in botany.
ALSO IDENTIFIED as one
of the primary fragile habitats is an
area commonly referred to as "The
Valley of the Giants," a grove on
South Manitou of some of the
largest white cedars in the world.
"It's an interesting area botani-
cally," and it needs special protec-
tion, including minimized public

access through a single hiking trail,
Hazlett said.
The National Parks Service of the
U.S. Department of the Interior,
which funded the study, is now re-
viewing its third part - a study of
the aquatic vegetation of t h e
lakeshore - which will either be
returned to Hazlett for further infor-
mation or placed in their files.
SLEEPING BEAR Dunes is a
popular place for vacations, and for
those who are interested, the survey
provides a reference for sightseeing.
"(The study is) also a great re-
source for the park service man-
agers," because it provides a thor-
ough inventory and interpretation of
the vegetation located there, Hazlett
said.
Florence Six, spokesperson for
the National Parks Service at the
Midwest Regional Office in Omaha,
said the service initiated the study in
order to document the vegetation
growing there and "to establish
baseline data to make informed deci-
sions for research."
SUCH DATA, said Six, could
be beneficial for fire protection,
forest succession estimates, and
decisions on park planning and
development.
The study was done through, and
with the administrative assistance of,
the University Biological Station,
on Douglas Lake in northern Michi-
gan. Project director and station
member Markley Paddock said the
station is "one of the biggest and
best in the country," located on ap-

proximately 13,000 acres of land,
owned and preserved by the Univer-
sity.
Hazlett has studied a different area
each summer since1982: South
Manitou the first summer, North
Manitou the second, the mainland
the third, and the aquatic environ-
ment the fourth.
Robert Vandekopple, an assistant
for the first part of the study and
resident biologist at the University

Station, said we "have to have these
background surveys for the environ-
ment," and felt Hazlett did a great
job.
HAZLETT of Waterloo, New
York, said he had a great time and
felt fortunate to work on the Islands
and the lakeshore.
He said that in addition to doing
the study, he was paid a sumner
salary for about 50 hours a week of
research.

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ANNOUNCEMENT
The Office of Minority Affairs, University of Michigan,
will host Dr. Jeff oward, noted Psychologist and
President of the Efficacy Institute, as a Martin Luther King/
Cesar Chavez/Rosa Parks Visiting Scholar,
March 29 through 31,1988.
Dr. Howard will give a public lecture on "Advancing
the Intellectual Develo pment of Minorities: A Framework
for Analysis and Action" at the Institute for Social
Research, Room 6050, on Tuesday March 29,
beginning at 3:30 p.m.
The lecture will be followed by a reception
from 5:00-6:00 p.m.
We encourage students faculty, and staff to meet
with Dr. Howard during his visit here.
For information regarding his schedule of activities
and available meeting times please call
Valerie Munson at 936-1055.

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