Marchers blast G.I.
Joe, violent toys
The Michigan Daily - Monday, December 4, 1989 - Page 5
200 Couzens Hall
residents complain
of food poisoning
by Jennifer Hiri
Daily Staff Writer
In today's commercialized soci-
ety, children expect toys to talk,
change into robots, explode, or be
featured in a Saturday morning tele-
vision cartoon.
Whatever happened to hand-made
toys and stuffed animals?
On Saturday, the Campaign
Against Violent Toys protested
against violent toys and promoted
creative ones during its first annual
parade. The four-year-old group met
on the corner of State St. and E.
William St. and marched down E.
Liberty St. to Main St.
The parade drew more than 50
people, including small children,
parents, grandparents, and representa-
tives from other organizations op-
posed to violent toys.
The coalition has been asking
stores to join their campaign against
violent toys.
Ann Arbor resident and campaign
co-organizer Joan Horton works with
children at the Pound House, a nurs-
ery school for children of University
faculty and staff. She said she is
alarmed with the amount of violence
children are exposed to through tele-
vision programs and toys.
"Since television was deregulated
in. 1983, educational programs have
diminished... and violent toys have
increased at least 700 percent," she
said.
The campaign objects to machine
guns which mount onto tricycles,
laser guns for Nintendo video games,
and gun sets with fake blood, among
other toys.
Additionally, the campaign criti-
cizes many cartoons which have
been commercialized into popular
toys for children - including He-<
Man, Super Heroes, and G.I. Joe.
'G.1. Joe averages
84 acts of violence
every half-hour
episode.
- Joan Weisman, a
member of the Women's
International League forr
Peace and Freedom
Joan Weisman, a member of thec
Women's International League for
Peace and Freedom, said such televi-
sion cartoons are not real programs
- just thinly disguised sales for vi-
olence. In fact, she said, "G.I. Joe;
averages 84 acts of violence every1
half-hour episode."
Horton said most studies confirmE
that children's behavior is more ag-
gressive after they watch violent
television programs. While educators<
by Ruth Littmann
Daily Staff Writer
A week and a half after enjoying
Thanksgiving dinner, more than 200
students at Couzens Hall reported
food poisoning from residence hall
meals.
Between 20 and 30 Couzens Hall
residents were driven by University
security guards, resident directors,
and friends to the University Hospi-
tal early Sunday morning after they
complained about severe stomach
pains, fever, nausea, and diarrhea.
Between Saturday night and Sun-
day morning, more than 200 com-
plaints were filed by students who
ate at the Couzens Hall cafeteria on
Saturday.
Eric Hermanson, an engineering
sophomore, said students on his hall
"narrowed it down to the salad bar -
maybe the dressing."
LSA sophomore Chris Tuohy
said, "It's weird. Nobody really
knows what caused it."
Toni Shears, the University Med-
ical Center's Information Officer,
said the center logged about 20 stu-
dent calls between 1 a.m. and mid-
Sunday morning.
Shears also said available docu-
ments diagnose the instances as ei-
ther food poisoning or other gastro-
intestinal problems.
However, Dr. Ronald Maio at
Emergency Services said the diag-
noses were ambiguous. "The prob-
lem is that not all the students'
symptoms are completely alike," he
said. "The symptoms of the flu can
mimic symptoms of food poison-
ing."
While Maio said doctors have not
yet determined whether students who
ate at Couzens Hall suffered from
food poisoning or other illnesses,.he
said that the incident has already
been reported to University and
health authorities. "They will be
looking into it," he said.
First-year student Maggie Carey,
who spent five hours in the hospital
on Sunday, said, "They put me on
an I.V. to prevent dehydration." r
On Sunday evening, Carey re-
ported feeling better despite "a
headache and queasy stomach." She
figured her illness must have been
caused by the spaghetti dinner she
ate, since she did not eat lunch that
day.
"I probably won't eat here for
while," said Tuohy, who said li
wanted to stay healthy for final ex-
aminations.
Thecafeteria was open for lunch
Sunday.
Sister Dori Gapczynski participates in the anti-war toy protest in William
Street Saturday.
continue researching the link be-
tween violence and children, Horton
said she doesn't need their studies to
predict the results.
"I see the effect with my own
eyes... violence limits a child's de-
velopment," Horton said.
Ruthie Calhoun, a six-year-old
student at Emerson Elementary
School, said she disapproves of vio-
lent toys. "Guns are not nice," she
said. "I tell my friends not to play
with them."
Members of the Women's Inter-
national League for Peace and Free-
dom, the Grey Panthers, World Book
Childcraft, and the Pound House also
participated in the march.
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