TODAY Moshty sunny; High: 74, Low: 49. TOMORROW Mostly sunny; High: 76, Low: 55. 1£. 4 nYs/DE... MSA staggers on alcohol awareness. See OPINION Page 4. One hundred and one years of editorial freedom Vol. CII, No. 18 Ann Arbor, Michigan - Wednesday, October 23, 1991 Soviets make * emergency appeal to U.S. WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush yesterday .received a 300-page Soviet request for emergency food aid, a document likely to be high on the agenda when he and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev meet in Spain next week. Agriculture Secretary Ed Madigan delivered the Soviet request to the White House. Madigan led a U.S. delegation that spent nine days in the Soviet Union studying emergency food needs. Soviet officials have appealed repeatedly for such assistance and called it essential to the success of polit- ical and economic reforms. "We need help and assistance from the United States as a country in order to survive the winter and to solve all the problems concerning the transition," Soviet Foreign Minister Boris Pankin said when he was in New York late last month for the opening of the U.N. General Assembly. But U.S. officials and other experts are concerned about whether massive shipments of food would ever reach the Soviet people. There also are major differ- ences on what sort of aid would be most effective. Bush and Gorbachev will meet next week in Madrid before the opening of the Middle East peace conference. All indications are that humanitarian assistance will be a major topic on their agenda. "It will not do to send food in the general direction of the Soviet Union because the inefficiency and cor- ruption that are involved in the process will frustrate fulfillment," said Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, the ranking Republican on the Senate Agriculture Committee. "The various republics are frequently hoarding food that is indigenous to those areas," Lugar said. "Beyond See FOOD, Page 2 Survivors of yy sexual ssaul speak by Julie Schupper Daily Women's Issues Reporter Survivors of rape and sexual as- sault retold their experiences to more than 300 students and Ann Arbor residents who attended the University's Sexual Assault and Prevention and Awareness Center's (SAPAC) fifth annual "Speak Out" last night. The event gave many survivors an opportunity to come forward and tell their stories, either.publicly or anonymously through a backstage microphone. "When you are raped, you feel trapped in darkness in a life that has lost its happiness and all its mean- ing," LSA junior Jenny Cass said. Her experience is not uncommon.. The primary purpose of the "Speak Out" was to provide survivors of rape and sexual assault attention and support in a positive public light, organizers said. Speaking openly about one's ex- periences can be empowering to a survivor. "Silence and invisibility go hand and hand with powerless- ness," said Audre Lord in one of the event's publicity fliers. "The main thing tonight is to give support to survivors. Also, we )ut want to educate people in order to sensitize them toward sexual as- sault," said SAPAC volunteer Margaret Yellin. "The Speak Out allows people to show support for survivors as sur- vivors," said SAPAC coordinator Julie Steiner. "Rape is not just a woman's problem, it is something we all have to deal with." The first speaker of the night, Eileen McComb, a two-time rape survivor, spoke in reference to the psychological problems encoun- tered when coping with being raped. She candidly shared her story of sexual harassment with the audience. "Less than six hours of horror have severely affected my entire life ... Only after moving to Ann Arbor and going to SAPAC have I received the help I needed," McComb said. The recent testimony of University of Oklahoma Law Professor Anita Hill about her al- leged sexual harassment by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas en- couraged several women to voice their own experiences. History prof. Carol Carlson came forward for the first time last See SPEAK OUT, Page 2 One survivor, who discussed her experiences at the "Speak Out" last night, told about the agony she experienced coming to terms with her abuse. Students complain about treatment at UHS by Lynne Cohn Daily Staff Reporter As colds, flus and cases of pneu- monia sweep through the Univer- sity, students are complaining that they are not getting the "right" kind of treatment from the Univer- sity Health Services (UHS). Despite student complaints, UHS Director Caesar Briefer de- fended UHS as one of the most comprehensive health services in the country. He added that given the variety of services available through UHS, students only pay a flat $82.25 fee for access to these services, which shows up on tuition bills. "The health service is like resi- dence hall food - it's an easy tar- get, easy to dump on," Briefer said. "The truth of the matter is that we elicit student input. We are ex- tremely anxious to please our stu- dents. It's not like we don't care what they think. We care a lot." UHS provides everything from walk-in general medicine to obstet- rics and gynecology to physical therapy and sports medicine for all students and many faculty and staff members. Twelve full-time doctors, six nurse practitioners and three physi- cians' assistants staff UHS, which provided services to 70 percent of the undergraduate student popula- tion last year. But many students say it is not enough. Lainie Lindner, an LSA junior, visited UHS with a severe case of bronchitis last March. She said the clinician who examined her sug- gested that it could be mononucle- osis but would not give her the necessary test for another week. Lindner subsequently went to the University Hospital, where they gave her a mono test and a pre- scription. She said UHS treated her kindly but she was not satisfied with the medical treatment. "I am lucky enough to be within driving distance from my family and my doctor," she said, "but it worries me that out-of- state students don't have that op- tion. What can they do if they are not satisfied with the health ser- vices? They really have no choice." Ann Kucera, a University devel- opment officer and recent alumna said one of her friends went to UHS a few years ago complaining of flu symptoms. Kucera said the clinician asked her friend if she was pregnant. Ed Goldman, a medical center attorney, said there have been only two malpractice cases involving UHS in the past 14 years, both of which were dismissed. Goldman said one of the re- quirements that must be fulfilled to have a solid malpractice case is the service's care or advice must re- sult in an injury. "They are not making mistakes that are resulting in injury," he said. "It doesn't mean that every- body is happy with the care." Goldman said it is possible that UHS hasn't had malpractice suits for a number of reasons, possibly because some harder cases are re- ferred to other medical facilities. Of the 77,000 visits last year, how- ever, UHS employees referred only 98 to the University hospital for treatment. See HEALTH, Page 2 University Health Service offers students a range of medical services. However, some students complain it misdiagnoses their illnesses. i *MSA removes eigh t *reps. by Purvi Shah Daily MSA Reporter Eight representatives have been removed from the Michigan Student Assembly due to excessive absences. Before being removed, represen- tatives are allowed 12 absences from roll calls taken at the begin- ning and end of assembly meetings 0 and from roll call at committee meetings. Representatives who were taken off the assembly include: Engineering Reps. Bill Cosnowski and Brian Johnson; LSA Reps. Joy Goldberg and Elissa Silverman; Architecture Rep. Ari Blumenthal; Art Rep. Alen Yen; Medical Rep. John Uy; and Music Rep. John Naatjes. MSA adjourned debate early last Residents still fighting N. Campus incinerator by Gwen Shaffer Daily Staff Reporter The conflict between North Campus residents and the University over expansion plans for a radioactive incinerator continues to smolder after almost two years. Residents claim the incinerator is a health hazard, while University officials say that the site poses no serious risk. The University has been burning animal carcasses containing radioac- tive "tracers" on the site for more than 20 years and announced in 1989 they would expand the site to house a radioactive and hazardous waste storage facility. North Campus residents said since the site is listed as a laundry facility on University maps, they were not even aware the building housed an incinerator until they read about the expansion plans. The University hired a consul- tant to review the plan after area residents expressed alarm over its Owlsley of University News and Information Sevices. Citizens for Safe Waste Disposal (CSWD), a group of residents con- cerned about the site's proximity to family and low-income housing, brought in an outside consultant to review the plan. Environmental Consultant Marvin Resnikoff cri- tiqued the University study and found that even if all 80 of the changes are implemented, the facil- ity would pose a health risk "The critique recommended that the University not incinerate in the area because iodine releases would still increase the risk of thyroid cancer for area residents," said Lisa Olivier Soronson, a CSWD spokesperson. Owsley said the amount of radia- tion given off by the incinerators is "biologically insignifigant." "The dosage people would re- ceive if they are downwind from the incinerator would amount to one millirem per year, compared to the ternative methods such as mi- crowaving or freezing the waste do exist. The University was recently no- tified by the MDNR that they vio- lated the Hazardous Waste Management Regulations Act, Erickson said. University officials deny the charges, saying they are in compliance with all state regula- tions. In addition to the MDNR complaints, residents claim the in- cinerators were causing a foul odor. "I inspected the incinerator and could not verify that," Erickson said. CSWD has collected 1,000 peti- tion signitures and has gained the support of the Ann Arbor City Council and the County Commissioners. Both have signed resolutions urging the University to to cease incineration until the Michigan Air Pollution Control Commission reviews the University's revised permit applica- tion and the University installs fil- tar,. :