The Michigan Daily - Monday, September 21, 1992 - Page 3
Mattress
lights on
fire in
Markiey
Firefighters say
* reading lamp caused
accidental flames
by Michelle VanOoteghem
Students living in Mary Markley
Residence Hall had an early morning
wake-up call yesterday when a mat-
tress fire required residents to
evacuate the building.
The fire started around 3:40 a.m.:
*Sunday in Room 4338, shared by
first-year students Ken Haskett and
Mitch Kaplan.,
Kaplan's mattress apparently
caught fire after direct exposure to
his reading lamp, Haskett said.
Both students were asleep at the
time and awoke to the smell of
smoke. Haskett then pulled the fire
alarm outside the room, setting off
alarms throughout the building.
As the building was being evac-
uated, Markley Resident Adviser
Robert Resio put out the fire with a
nearby extinguisher.
Fraternity
leaders
expect large rush
by Angela Dansby all over campus, and in some houses, new
Fraternity members say they are looking
forward to a successful rush this year as a re-
sult of an overwhelming turnout at the mass
meeting last Wednesday night.
"It was really packed," said
Interfraternity Council (IFC) President
Bruce Namerow. "I haven't seen it so heavily
packed in the four years I've been here.
"Although there currently seems to be a
decline in rush across the country, it has picked
up again at the University of Michigan," con-
tinued Namerow. "I think this is because we
have taken the necessary steps to improve our-
selves."
Cracking down on alcohol and party poli-
cies has helped revamp the system, Namerow
said. For example, alcohol may not be served
at parties open to the public. Party-goers must
have invitations or be on a guest list. No kegs
or common sources of alcohol may be served
at closed parties exceeding the house capacity.
Glass bottles cannot be brought on the
premises.
"These changes have given us a chance to
regroup ourselves and let the focus be on the
positive rather than the negative. Finally, the
right things are getting attention in the Greek
system," Namerow said.
Last February, the IFC formed the Social
Responsibility Committee to ensure that fra-
ternities and sororities adhere to the new pol-
icy changes.
"I think this is a positive step," remarked
Jon Rose, president of Delta Tau Delta
Fraternity. "Self-policing makes things a lot
safer, especially liability-wise."
Last year, fraternity rush declined signifi-
cantly, Rose said. Rush attendance was down
memberships decreased by nearly half.
The decline seemed due in part to the strict
sanctioning and regulating of parties, said Jon
Carlson, president of Sigma Nu Fraternity.
"Partying does attract people, and the new
policies definitely hurt the Greek system,"
Rose said. "However, people are adjusting to
the system now. They see that it works and
that they can still have fun."
"Upcoming freshmen don't know any dif-
ferent and current Greeks have just learned to
accept it," added Carlson. "Last year was just
a period that the Greek system had to go
through. People are looking at it for better
reasons nowadays."
Furthermore, public opinion has largely
improved as a result of a significant reduction
in alcohol abuse and sexual assault being taken
more seriously, said Stuart Kieland, president
of Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity.
"In the past, fraternities were associated
with bad attitudes and negative stereotypes,"
Kieland said. "But things have really turned
around. There is more respect for the Greek
system now."
Additionally, the IFC has been promoting
fraternities by sponsoring public events
around campus. Last Tuesday, students
grooved to tunes by the band Dig on the Diag.
On Friday, the IFC is sponsoring a Reggae
Bash at Palmer Field from 3-9 p.m. Featured
bands include Trinidad Tripoli and Harambe
(formerly Itol).
"We want people to see that alcohol isn't
necessary in order to have fun," Namerow
said.
Fraternity Rush runs until Thursday.
KRISTOFFER GILLETTE/Daily
LSA sophomore and rushee Steve Bauer meets and greets Beta Theta Pi member Erik
Peterson yesterday during the first day of fraternity rush. Fraternity rush will take place until
Thursday, Sept. 24.
'I thought the fire was
small enough to
contain. I grabbed an
extinguisher and put it
out until there was no
more smoke. The
security officers then
arrived and asked me
to evacuate the
building.'
- Robert Resio,
Markley resident adviser
"I thought the fire was small
enough to contain. I grabbed an ex-
tinguisher and put it out until there
was no more smoke," Resio said.
"The security officers then arrived
and asked me to evacuate the
building."
Six firetrucks responded to the
call. The firefighters arrived to find
one corner of Kaplan's mattress
burned and quickly concluded the
fire was accidental, Fire Battalion
Chief John Schnur said.
"The heat from the light bulb is
what started the fire," Schnur said.
Schnur added that the light, a 75-
watt bulb, was the maximum power
allowed in the lamp.
No lasting damage was done to
the students' room and the charred
mattress has been removed.
While firefighters investigated
the incident, Markley residents re-
mained outside for nearly a half
hour. Markley resident and first-year
student Mike Silk said, "At first no
one took it seriously - people were
walking in and out. After a while
people began to realize that it was a
real fire."
First-year student Ruth Kalinka
said she was not awakened by the
fire alarms. "I was. sound asleep. My
roommate had to wake me up," she
said. "We weren't even sure that
there was a fire until the fire trucks
arrived."
Haskett and Kaplan do not expect
U-M action to be taken against them.
"It was an accident, something very
small. Thankfully no one was hurt,"
Haskett said.
The only reminder of the fire
lingers in the air. Kaplan said, "It
smells like a campfire in here."
L
U-M's Shady Trails Camp speaks to its members
by Renee Huckle
On the northern shores of Lake
Michigan is a part of the U-M few
people see. Only the staff members
and a group of children with special
needs share in a unique experience.
The setting - 26 wooded acres
along Grand Traverse Bay - is
home to Shady Trails Camp, a camp
for communicatively-impaired
children.
"The mission of the camp is to
provide excellent speech, language
and hearing services," said camp
administrator Minnie Bluhm, a 1982
U-M graduate.
The 60-year-old camp was first
established as a fluency camp for
children who stutter, and in 1949,
the Kresge Foundation gave the
U-M money to buy it.
"I think Shady Trails is
a sterling example of
how the university
provides not only an
excellent educational
institution to the state
and nation, but
provides a service
back to the tax-payers
of Michigan.'
- Holly Craig,
Communicative
Disorders Clinics director
On-site Camp Director Joane
Pierson said, "Many children live in
environments where they're not suc-
cessful in communication. Our goal
is to enhance language skills and
enhance their self-esteem."
Now operated by U-M's
Communicative Disorders Clinics,
Shady Trails offers therapy for chil-
dren with a variety of communica-
tion impairments. Ninety-five per-
cent of the children are from
Michigan.
"I think Shady Trails is a sterling
example of how the university pro-
vides not only an excellent educa-
tional institution to the state and na-
tion, but provides a service back to
the tax-payers of Michigan," said
Communicative Disorders Clinics
Director Holly Craig, who received
her doctorate from the U-M.
The 55 staff members - includ-
ing nine speech and language pro-
fessionals, interpreters for the deaf, a
special education teacher, and recre-
ation staff - incorporate various
activities into the campers' therapy
to improve their language skills and
boost their self-esteem.
"We all have strengths and
weaknesses. If you can give them a
strong positive self-esteem, they'll
be able to overcome any of those
deficits, and that's my goal in life
with these little guys," Pierson said.
Pierson added that many of the
recreation staff members are univer-
sity students - both from the U-M
and other colleges - who are
studying a variety of disciplines.
LSA senior and staff member
Jenniffer Kleinow said she discov-
ered Shady Trails in a newspaper ad
and decided to spend her summer in
northern Michigan.
"Camp gave me a good chance to
see what speech pathology as a
whole is like," Kleinow said.
"The greatest thing," she said, "is
being able to see improvements in a
short time. Things are really
happening here."
Because of her experience at
Shady Trails, Kleinow said she
might pursue a master's degree in
speech pathology.
Bluhm said she would like to see
other students and staff members
from various disciplines within the
U-M incorporated into the camp.
Former Shady Trails campers had
high praise for the program's be-
cause it helped them pursue
successful careers.
John Vitolla, a former camper,
Campers and staff look on as a U-M Shady Trails Camp staff member uses sign language to narrate a student skit
at the open house this summer.
said Shady Trails helped him im-
prove his childhood stutter. Now a
staff member, Vitolla said Shady
Trails is important because it gives
the children the opportunity to be in
a different environment that is often
healthier than ones experienced at
home.
In addition to Shady Trails, the
U-M Communicative Disorders
Clinics has two other clinics: the
residential aphasia clinic for people
with language disorders resulting
from strokes and other traumas, and
the outpatient service clinic for peo-
ple with speech, language and
fluency disorders.
Craig said the residential aphasia
clinic has gained international
recognition because it is the only
program of its type in North
America and draws people from all
over the English-speaking world.
Even 40 years later, one former
camper said he has fond memories
of his experience.
David Megdell, a trial attorney in
criminal defense in Flint, Mich.,:
spent several summers during the
1950s at the camp to combat his
stutter.
"(Camp) was a great experience.
It was a camp with a purpose,"
Megdell said.
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T-EHONOROFYOUR
ENE S EQUESTED.
If you've achieved a Grade Point Average
of 3.0 or higher and have at least 12_ - ATF Tuesday, September 22, 1992
Student groups
U Newman Catholic Student As-
sociation; RCIA, 7p.m..; Lector
training,7p.m.; Bible study,7:30
p.m.; 331 Thompson St.
U Michigan Women's Rugby Club,
practice, East Mitchell Field, 8-
10 p.m.
U Shorin-Ryu Karate-Do Club,
CCRB,Martial ArtsRoom,7:45-
8:45 p.m.
Events
U "Freeing the National Archival
Legacy from Soviet Controls:
The Case of Estonia," lecture by
Dr. Peep Pillak, Archival Admin-
istration of Estonia, Lane Hall
Commons Room, 4 p.m.
J Gargoyle Humor Magazine,
mass meeting, Student Publica-
tions Building, 420 Maynard St.,
7 p.m.
1 Students Concerned About Ani-
mal Rights (SCARR), mass
meeting, Michigan Union, Pond
Room, 8:30 p.m.
1 U of M Asian American Student
Coalition (UMAASC), mass
meeting, Michigan Union, Pond
Room, 7:30 p.m.
Q "Veiling and civilization (in Tur-
key)," iecture by Prof. Nilufer
Gole, Depa . :nt of Sociology,