;Chemical accident causes evacuation 0%f 1,000 residents The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, April 24, 1990 - Page 3 Bush may halt talks with USSR I 5 , 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. r. 4 °.4 , . 4 0r. 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