Page 2-The Michigan Daily- Wednesday, November 25, 1992 THANKS Continued from page 1 family ties for LSA junior Jennifer Chapekis. The Escanaba, Mich., res- ident said her relatives plan to con- verge on her house for the holidays. "All of my family is coming to Escanaba. I have family in Chicago and my grandmother is coming from Greece. I haven't seen her for a long time," she said. "We make a big deal out of the holiday to get together and have an excuse to eat." In the Chapekis home, the spirit of Thanksgiving is vocalized as ev- eryone around the table states what there is to be thankful for this holi- day season. The family's Greek heritage also adds a twist to the American Holiday. Chapekis remembers that last year's celebration was especially festivr;. "Last Thanksgiving was particu- larly funny. After dinner we turned up the Greek music and danced around the room. It was kind of funny. We burned off calories," she said, adding that her family usually makes the traditional turkey and cranberry sauce, supplemented by Greek appetizers. For LSA sophomore Peter Levinson, this Thanksgiving will represent a break in tradition. The New Canaan, Conn., resident said Thanksgiving was also a time for his family to come together, but after his parents' recent divorce, this break will be different. "My parents are divorced and both have new families. This is the first time I won't go to my Dad's house, so it'll be kind of weird," he said. "(My Dad) was living in Tokyo last year and we still flew out to see him though it was a three-day break." Levinson still plans to catch up with his cousins and then take ad- vantage of his proximity to New York City by attending a Phish con- cert with some high school buddies. Prabhjyot Singh's plans for the Thanksgiving holidays also include a good dose of old friends. "I am go- ing to see my friends that went away and I am going to sleep," com- mented the Sterling Heights, Mich., resident. Singh, who does not eat meat, says her family celebrates Thanksgiving by going to a friend's house. Victoria Diromualdo, an LSA senior who will stay in Ann Arbor over the break, will be supplement- ing her rest and relaxation with a lit- tle writing in order to finish a screenplay for a class. For seniors ready to embark on a journey in the real world, the long- awaited break is a time to reflect on what they have harvested over the past four years of school. Group gives students mass buying power by Sarah Kiino What began in 1955 as an attempt by a small group of fraternities to gain mass buying power has evolved into the Student Buyer's Association (SBA) - an organization that buys $1.5 million worth of food and supplies annually for U-M students. SBA is a non-profit, collective- buying organization owned and op- erated by 65 of U-M's Greek houses and student cooperatives. "The advantage to the houses primarily is ... the fact that if they use SBA 100 percent ... they get one statement per month broken down into what they spent with every sup- plier, and in turn only have to write one check," said Mary Lou Warchok, SBA's general manager. "If they were dealing with each sup- plier individually, they would have to do their own bookkeeping and write many, many checks." SBA member houses receive 10 to 15 percent discounts from suppliers. Owen Cooperative food steward Cheryl Gans said SBA's lower prices make products available to her house that would not normally be affordable. SBA operates on a modified bid system. Once a year, quotation re- 'Suppliers are attracted to our program and want to discount prices because of our mass buying power.' --Mary Lou Warchok SBA General Manager quests are distributed to vendors, with product specifications stated on the request forms to insure consis- tency in the quality of the merchandise. The merchandise - which in- cludes food, furniture, party rentals, party favors, linens, kitchen equip- ment and paper supplies - is then tested by the SBA staff for quality and weight specifications before the board of directors selects its vendors. Suppliers also benefit from deal- ing with the SBA, Warchok said. "Suppliers are attracted to our program and want to discount prices because of our mass buying power ... and the fact that they do not have to have a sales representative on the street," Warchok said. "There's one central billing place for all 65 houses and they (the suppliers) are guaran- teed payment once per month with one check from all of the houses." Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity mem- ber Jamie Spence said one disadvan- tage of using SBA is the 5 percent service fee charged per order. The service fee is used to cover expenses, but excess money is returned to members at the end of the year. In addition, he said, the number of people involved in the process makes it difficult at times to pinpoint errors when order or delivery mix- ups occur. Also, because supplies ordered through SBA must be ordered in large quantities, houses that need smaller amounts of items may not want to order through SBA. The board of directors - which is composed of representatives of member houses - governs SBA. Warchok - the only paid em- ployee of the organization - said, "In your Greek houses and your co- operative houses, they usually have what is classified as a food st'ward ... They have been exposed t1 the food industry - to placing orders, to receiving orders ... they come into the board strongly qualified. Treasurers come into the board strongly qualified because they have had to keep books." Todd Rearky, board treasurer and a member of Alpha Epsilon Pi fra- ternity, said being on the board can be rewarding for people who put a lot into it. The Board meetings are held from once every two weeks to once per month. "Some people don't put in any time. Others put in a lot of time. You can really be on the board of di- rectors and do absolutely nothing, but that's your loss," Rearky said. "I spend about five hours (at SBA) per week because I want to learn more about the organization and always have a feel for what's going on." Each October, the SBA sponsors a food show in the Michigan Union Ballroom. During the food show - which is open to all member houses - suppliers introduce new products. Warchok said she foresees a long future for the SBA. "I see nothing but growth. ... Any student organization that has survived here at the University for 37 years has great credibility," she said. I COLUMN Continued from page 1 qualifies in his letter, it will not be his last. Garvey said the editorial is a "raving bunch of anti- Semitic gibberish" and that the majority of the campus shares this opinion. "The public reaction that I have seen has been nearly unanimous in its condemnation (of the piece)," Garvey said. "Of those, most people seem to feel that the article itself didn't deserve a response, but that its appearance did." ECONOMY Continued from page 1, tive than their assessment of current conditions. Because the job market remains tight, rekindled confidence will not result in an economic boom, but it may make people more willing to splurge a bit on Christmas shopping, said Latta of DRI-McGraw Hill. More confidence "won't put more money into peo- ple's pckets but it might make them more willing to spend thmoney that's already there," Latta said. spThe October increase in durable goods orders fol- lowed a 0.3 percent rise in September. Orders had fallen in August and July, risen in June and fallen in May. Although most of the October gain came from transportation, other areas showed strength as well, in- cluding primary metals such as steel and aluminum, up 5.1 percent, and electrical equipment, up 1.5 percent. However, orders for industrial machinery were down 4.5 percent. The highly volatile military goods sector, which overlaps the aircraft category, shot up 42 percent fol- lowing a 20 percent drop the month before. Excluding defense, orders rose 2.2 percent. HARASSMENT Continued from page 1 Several members of the women's political caucus said that powerful congressional staffers, who have a major role in employment decisions, have also harassed female employees for years. The guidelines are explicit on what constitutes sex- ual harassment. Among the examples are unsolicited flirtations, graphic or degrading comments about an employee's appearance, dirty jokes, intrusive questions about someone's personal life, leering and unwanted physical contact. The guidelines also tell victims what to do in their offices to stop the practices and counsel them on how to use the fair employment offices. MINORITIES Continued from page 1 part of the university. He said he doesn't teach his class differently than a white professor might, but that it is important for minority stu- dents to see minority professors teaching their classes. "It's beneficial in a number of ways. Part of the role of faculty members is to be a model and to be an example of what students can be and do with their lives," he said. Awkward added that if the fac- ulty was composed of only non-mi- norities, it would send a message to students that these are the only peo- ple who can become professors. He added he did not think that was a message the university wanted to send. LSA junior Ronit Hoffer said she understands how minority stu- dents may be encouraged when they enroll in a class with a profes- sor of the same race, gender or religion. "I think it's a positive thing. I think it's empowering if I see a woman up there. I would think - of having a Jewish professor - that it's a nice feeling." Hoffer said she thinks minorities should also hold non-teaching fac- ulty positions. "It should be a given. The fact that white people can walk into an administration building and know that the people in power will be white is a privilege," Hoffer said. "I think students of color should have that same comfort." Robinson said, "I think, as a stu- dent, seeing students of color means some kind of commitment to giving different points of view. I think it should be a constant effort of the university." The U-M has made a conscious effort to recruit minority faculty members, Whitaker said. "I think the university will attract more mi- nority students if we have a more diverse faculty." The number of minority faculty members continues to increase among each ethnic group. Here is the percentage and number of ethnic group members out of the total U-M faculty of 3,721. 0 7 ., S6