;Chemical accident
causes evacuation
0%f 1,000 residents
The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, April 24, 1990 - Page 3
Bush may
halt talks
with
USSR
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5
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s
MUSKEGON, Mich. (AP) -
esidents were treated yesterday for
burning eyes, respiratory problems,
nausea and vomiting after a chemical
factory accident released a thick cloud
of hydrochloric acid and forced evac-
pation of about 1,000 people, au-
thorities said.
Residents of two trailer parks
were evacuated about 10:30 p.m.
Sunday and were allowed to return
dome about 4 a.m. after the cloud
dissipated, said Dion LeMieux, fire
chief for Muskegon County's Egel-
ston Township.
A mechanical malfunction at the
Lomac Inc. chemical plant caused
F about 580 gallons of phosphorus
oxychloride to come in contact with
limestone, which produced a violent
chemical reaction and released a
,gloud of the highly toxic acid fumes,
LeMieux said.
At least 46 people, including four
tirefighters from Egelston and
Muskegon townships, were treated
jor exposure to the fumes and re-
leased, hospital officials said. No
area hospitals reported related admis-
,sions.
Many of the 25 people treated at
Muskegon General Hospital com-
plained of eye irritation, congestion,
nausea and vomiting - common re-
actions to the chemical, hospital
,resident Roger Spoelman said.
"We had to devise a system where
.eyes could be irrigated to remove any
.material lodged in the eye, we gave
chest X-rays and had to administer
oxygen for some," he said.
Thirteen people were treated at
Hackley Hospital and eight were
treated at Mercy Hospital, officials
there said.
Muskegon County health offi-
cials advised residents to air out their
homes before returning.
The acid cloud forced evacuation
of a 6-square-mile area of Egelston
and Muskegon townships, LeMieux
said. About 50 people took tempo-
rary shelter at Oak Ridge High
School and Mercy Hospital, though
LeMieux said more than 1,000 peo-
ple may have been evacuated from
the 426-unit Arlington Estates and
the 30-40-unit Eaglecraft Park.
"I don't know where they all
went - probably to friends and rela-
tives," he said.
The U.S. Environmental Protec-
tion Agency and state Department of
Natural Resources have joined the
investigation of the spill.
Lomac officials said they are tak-
ing measures to prevent a reoccur-
rence of the accident and offered to
pay all medical, damage and rescue
expenses incurred as a result.
Robert Miesch, general manager
of the industrial chemical plant, said
he has been notified that exposure to
the chemical does not result in any
long-term health problems.
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush is ready to
announce a series of economic penalties against the S'-
viet Union in response to Moscow's crackdown On
Lithuania, U.S. officials said yesterday.
In Moscow, the spokesperson for Soviet President
Mikhail Gorbachev said the Kremlin might negotiate
with Lithuania if it freezes its March 11 declaration of
independence for two years.
Arkady Maslennikov, Gorbachev's press secretary,
said Soviet leaders were willing to talk to Lithuanian
leaders if they will acknowledge they are still subject to
the Soviet Constitution.
Bush is expected to outline his strategy at a meeting
today with congressional leaders, said officials who
spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Among the steps will be postponement and with-
holding of a variety of trade and economic concessions
that the Soviet Union is seeking from the United
States, the officials said.
However, the administrations's measures are not in-
tended to interfere with U.S.-Soviet arms negotiatiops
or to postpone the May 30-June 3 superpower summit,
the officials said.
Although exact details of the administration's pack-
age were not clear, the general thrust will be to slow
down U.S.-Soviet trade liberalization talks, which had
been scheduled to resume in Paris today, the officials
said.
Among the actions expected to be announced by
Bush today are a withdrawal of his earlier support for
Moscow's bid for observer status in the General Agree-
ment on Tariffs and Trade, the international organization
that oversees free-market trading rules.
Although such an approach would be a measured
one, the sanctions could help mute criticism in
Congress that the Bush administration wasn't doing
enough to respond to the Soviet's tightening crackdown
in Lithuania.
In a news conference yesterday, Secretary of State
James Baker denied reports the administration was tak-
ing its time, hoping a solution would emerge.
Gravity sticks
Enjoying the sun on the Diag, senior Adam Schneiberg plays with gravity sticks which he
bought while in Key West. The object of the game is to keep the middle stick off the
ground by hitting it with two sticks the player holds in his two hands.
GREEK
Continued from Page 1
jonight" scrawled over the posted
party flier on the house's bulletin
board, which they discovered was an
7acronym for Stick Any Pig, mean-
ing have sex with any "ugly"
woman.
In response to the incident,
Schafer has written about 100 letters
to University administrators, campus
and national fraternities and sorori-
ties, and several other organizations.
* Fink said a "spin-off" of the
"blatant sexism (in the Greek sys-
tem) is that incidents of this sort
will arise."
"When people see a poster like
that, they receive a message that
women are something that exists
only for pleasure," which he said
may lead to situations like date rape.
'm so happy that this woman is
saying something because in order to
deal with issues like sexism within
the Greek system, it is imperative
that people speak up," he said.
"It's all behind closed doors,"
Schafer said. "It's not all out in the
open the way this sign was, " she
added. "Since the sign was out in the
open, it gave us a chance to get at
the issues behind it."
Katie Fagan, president of Sigma
Kappa, the sorority that found the
sign, said members of the sorority
met and drafted a letter to send to the
fraternity.
"What happened was wrong.
Something had to be done about it,"
she said. "We wanted to state in the
letter, not something like 'We're
mad at you,' but that we felt it was a
form of sexism and that was what
really upset us."
Fagan added that the sorority's
advisory board, comprised of alumni,
supported Schafer's decision to pub-
licly discuss the incident. She said
the board supported the decision be-
cause, "it is a problem, and a lot of
sororities nationally are adopting
rules to help stop date rape and
things like that."
After receiving the letter from
Sigma Kappa, SAE President Josh
Greenblatt, said the house formulated
disciplinary action for the member(s)
responsible. He said the message on
the poster represented a minority
opinion in his house, an attitude he
agreed may contribute to incidents of
date rape.
"It would be foolish to think it
couldn't. There are some people out
there who do think it's funny," he
said.
Greenblatt emphasized it was not
the house's consensus to write the
S.A.P. message on the poster. "We
don't acknowledge it as an SAE act.
It's not like we sat down and had a
vote," he said. "The person was not
speaking for SAE."
Although Greenblatt saw the sign
himself, he said he didn't ask anyone
what it meant because he didn't want
them to tease him for not knowing.
When he received a letter from
the sorority, Greenblatt contacted the
sorority to discuss the incident.
However, Greenblatt said going pub-
lic with the incident, rather than al-
lowing it to remain inside the Greek
system, may impede a resolution for
the two houses because the atmo-
sphere may become confrontational.
"I think Maureen would have
been a lot happier and wouldn't have
had to bring this all out (if it had
been handled internally)," he said.
Greenblatt said women also
comment "crudely" about sex.
"I think it's not any different than
the way girls talk," he said. "This is
just a more extreme case. Women in
sororities are not beyond being
crude, but I don't think they would
post a sign in a sorority."
Though Schafer was offended by
the sign, she said there are women in
her sorority who did not take offense
at the acronym.
The women who get their confi-
dence from the approval of others are
the ones who "are going to accept
what these parties are about -
'hooking up' men and women," she
said.
Houses have reputations within
the system, Schafer said, adding that
this poses a danger to the individual
because it "takes away that person's
voice."
"Eventually it leads to a situation
where a woman's choice is not re-
spected. And this leads to date rape,"
she said.
Kim Glenn, LSA sophomore and
a member of Sigma Kappa, said she
and other sorority members are glad
someone spoke out about issues of
sexism within the system. "It's not
just SAE. It's the whole system,"
she said. "Unfortunately, they got
caught."
"It's a sign against all women,
not just Sigma Kappa, and that's
why it had to be stopped."
"Often women get reputations
from fraternities. This will just help
our rush in that we will be seen as
women wh are addressing the issues
and we will come out strong,"
Yet IFC vice president and LSA
junior Eric Reicin said the Greek
system has taken "an active role in
educating its members of society's
larger problems," such as sexism.
Reicin said problems such as the
poster are likely to happen in a stu-
dent organization such as the Greek
system
"We're one-quarter of the student
population, and there will be a few
problem items that will offend other
people," he said. "(But) it seems to
me the variety of programming and
the depth and breadth of program-
ming increases the awareness of
members of the Greek system."
Reicin was the chair of the Greek
sexual awareness day, a day-long
series of lectures and workshops co-
ordinated with SAPAC last year. He
said he expects to repeat the day next
fall.
Despite Schafer's experience, she
said there is much about the Greek
system she still enjoys, such as
"sisterhood events" like movie
nights, lunch dates, etc., and would
like to see more activities like tois
between fraternities and sororities,
instead of the frequent alcohol par-
ties, because these activities encour-
age building of "real relationships
between men and women."
"It's great to go to the parties and
meet people and make friends. But
it's a tough environment to dq it
in."
THE LIST
What's happening in Ann Arbor today
Meetings
LaGROC - The Lesbian and Gay
Mens' Rights Organizing Com-
mittee meets at 7:30 p.m. in
Union 3100; 7 p.m. to set agenda
Women's Club Lacrosse -
practice 4-6 p.m. at the Sports
Coliseum (5th and Hill)
UM Cycling - team meeting and
rollers riding 6 p.m. in the Sports
Coliseum
Arab-American Anti-
discrimination Committee -
meeting at 7 p.m. in the Union
(check board for room)
Asian American Women's
Journal - editors meeting at 5
p.m. in South Quad's Afro-
American Lounge
Ann Arbor Committee to
Defend Abortion and
Reproductive Rights
(A2CDAR2) - new members
meeting at 5:15 p.m., general
body meeting at 5:30 p.m. in the
Union
Women's Issues Commission
of MSA - meeting at 6:30 p.m.
in 3909 Union
Iranian Student Cultural Club
- meeting at 7:45 p.m.. in the
Michigan League
TARDAA (Time and Relative
Dimensions in Ann Arbor) -
Speakers
"Liminality and Magic on the
Day of Atonement" -
Shlomo Deshen speaks at 5 p.m.
in 3058 LS&A
"Design and Control of High
Speed Data Networks" -
Debasis Mitra speaks at 4 p.m.
in EECS 1200
"Scientific Psychology, Art
and Creativity in Late Life"-
a brown bag discussion at noon in
1524 Rackham
"Beyond Japan-Bashing"
Glen Fukushima speaks at 12:30
p.m. in room 250 of Hutchins
Hall
Furthermore
ECB Peer Writing Tutors -
available for help from 7-11 p.m.
at the Angell and 611 Church St.
computing centers
Safewalk - the night-time safety
walking service runs from 8 p.m.-
1:30 a.m. in Rm. 102 UGLi or
call 936-1000; the last day of
service is April 24 with service
reopening in September
Northwalk - the north-campus
night-time walking service runs
from 8 p.m.-1:30 a.m. in Bursley
2333, or call 763-WALK; the last
day of service is April 24 with
service reopening in September
SPARK Revolutionary History
Series - "China 1949:
4.
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