The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, December 2, 1992 - Page 3


A2 faces lack of low-income housing

by Kerry Colligan
Daily Staff Reporter
When winter drives away the
sunshine and a bitter cold wind
whips through town, the shelter of a
warm home provides solace.
For the homeless of Ann Arbor,
however, winter is a harsh reminder
of one of the problems they face:
society.
"I'm not blind to it," said Terry
Hurd, an unemployed homeless man
living at the YMCA. "(People) close
their eyes to it. The city is doing
everything they can, but they have to
make prices affordable. We need
shelters."
The city does not have a definite
estimate of the number of homeless
people in Ann Arbor. Mayor Liz
Brater said the figure is difficult to
pinpoint.
A 1985 City Council report
projected the city needed 1,500 low-
income housing units, but homeless
activists say that number is below
the mark.
In Ann Arbor the state maintains
342 federally-funded permanent
low-income housing units, but local
housing officials say the need is
greater.
"Right now we have about a six-
month waiting list for one-bedroom
units. For the family housing, the
waiting list is closer to a year or a
year-and-a-half," said Cynthia
Telfer, business manager of the Ann
Arbor Housing Commission.
The commission provides

permanent low-income housing to
local homeless people, survivors of
domestic violence, senior citizens
and people with disabilities.
Many of those still waiting for
permanent housing turn to the
shelters, where life is not always
pleasant. The Ann Arbor
Community Center, for instance,
was the site of a knife fight last
week.
Although these incidents do not
take place that often, they do occur
in spurts, said Joan Scott, general
coordinator of the Ann Arbor
Hunger Coalition.
"Usually when stuff like that
happens, they eventually are arrested
or committed," Scott said. She said
one-third of people in local shelters
are either substance abusers or
mentally ill.
The Shelter Association of Ann
Arbor is the only place in
Washtenaw County that provides
transition services for women,
medical services and a warm place
for single adults to sleep.
The association provides
overnight shelter to 72 adults
throughout the year, and increases its
winter capacity to include 30 more
people, said Leah Maloney, the
association's assistant director.
Since it opened in late 1982, the
association has been housing
roughly 80 percent men and 20
percent women, Maloney said. She
added there seems to be a greater
need for single-male housing than

for single-female.
"There probably isn't a housing
assistance program for a single
homeless man. ... That's a serious
problem with (the federal
government's) program," said Maria
Foscarinis, director of the National
Law Center on Homelessness and
Poverty.
Brater attributes the homeless
problem to federal-spending

But Brater pointed out that during
the Reagan years, federal programs
and low-income housing funds were
cut 70 percent.
"Cities like Ann Arbor ... have
been hampered in an effort to
provide (low-income) housing
because of the loss of funding,"
Brater added.
Telfer said most new housing
development in Ann Arbor has been

'The city is doing everything they can, but
they have to make prices affordable. We
need shelters.'
- Terry Hurd
homeless man

reductions.
"In my opinion, the epidemic of
homelessness is directly traceable to
the federal retrenchment in housing
programs that occurred during the
Reagan and Bush administrations,"
Brater said.
The government has made some
efforts to alleviate the problem, such
as the adoption of the Stewart B.
McKinney Homeless Assistance Act
in 1987, which provides money
mainly for emergency assistance to
the homeless, and establishment of
the Interagency Council on the
Homeless, a federal council that
reports on the condition of, and laws
regarding, the homeless.

geared toward middle- and upper-
income people.
"Most of the (available) housing
is considered luxury housing.... It's
just outpriced for the clients we
have," Telfer said.
Larry Fox, a member of the Ann
Arbor Homeless Action Committee,
said the government needs to build
more permanent low-income
housing.
"(Progress) has been very slow
and there haven't been any specific
goals set," Fox said. "Everything
that's been done has been strung
together with bale wire."
"Providing permanent low-
income housing is the only way that
homelessness will end," he added.

Wrap session
The metal sculpture in front of the Museum of Art was covered by a white
sheet yesterday as part of World AIDS Day activities.


*Air quality commission delays discussion of N. Campus incinerator

by Gwen Shaffer
Daily Environment Reporter
LANSING - The Michigan Air
Pollution Control Commission put off dis-
cussion of the North Campus radioactive
mjaterials incinerator during a public hearing
yesterday.
Members of Citizens for Safe Waste
Disposal (CSWD), a group opposed to the
university operating the incinerator, agreed
to delay discussion until next month's hear-
ing because it was the last item on the
agenda and the meeting could have lasted
well into the evening.
An inspection of the North Campus in-

cinerator by the Department of Natural
Resources' Hazardous Waste Management
Division found that waste stream materials
are frequently misclassified, containers are
mismanaged and improperly marked and
that air emissions may violate state Clean
Air Act regulations.
The U-M has an application under review
to burn the low-level radioactive pathologi-
cal waste in the Medical Science I Building
incinerator, using the North Campus facility
only as an emergency back-up.
In addition, the university is proposing to
extend the exhaust plume of the Med Sci
incinerator through the use of a strobic fan.

The U-M said this will disperse the emis-
sions enough to reduce concentrations before
they are inhaled.
However, before the university can make
any modifications to the facility, a public
hearing must be held.
CSWD members said they are not satis-
fied with the U-M's proposed amendments
to the North Campus incinerator.
"These concerns will not go away if the
incinerator is used on an emergency basis,"
said Dora St. Martin, a CSWD member.
Other incineration issues from around the
state were heard by the Air Pollution Control
Commission.

During public comments, representatives
from a coalition of 35 local environmental
organizations asked the commission to con-
sider a statewide ban on the building of new
incinerators, and to set up a process for
phasing out the use of existing incinerators
wherever possible.
The proposed ban coincided with a recent
International Joint Commission request for
all state and provincial governments to
phase-out incineration facilities around the
Great Lakes.
The agency declared that current back-
ground levels of persistent toxic compounds
in the Great Lakes basin pose a human

health threat.
Charles Griffith of the Ecology Center of
Ann Arbor said additional incineration ca-
pacity serves as a deterrent to waste reduc-
tion and that incinerators are responsible for
a large portion of mercury emissions.
"Fifty-four hundred pounds of mercury
are released yearly from incinerator operat-
ing under state permits," Griffith said. "This
is 23 percent of all mercury emissions
(statewide)."
Fish consumption advisories exist for
most Michigan inland lakes and the Great
Lakes watershed due to high mercury levels
in fish.

Radiation Suit Wednesday seeks to raise ozone hole awareness


by Jennifer Tianen
Daily Staff Reporter
"Radiation Suit Wednesday" may
sound like the title of a 1950s after-
the-bomb film, but it's actually the
name of a monthly demonstration
held on the Diag.
Students and local residents con-
cerned about the depletion of the
ozone layer gather each month for
"Radiation Suit Wednesday," a na-
tionwide activity organized by
Greenpeace.
People all over the country have
been holding similar activities every
}Wednesday since Oct. 28 to raise
awareness about the dangerous ef-
fects of the widening hole in the
ozone.
"The reason we wear white
r (radiation) suits is to make an im-

pression of a hazardous response
suit. It makes conversation and gets
people talking," said Corey Conn, an
Ypsilanti resident who is deeply in-
volved in Radiation Suit
Wednesday.
The demonstration on the Diag is
made up of a small, informal group
of seven to 10 students and residents
of Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti.
"This roughly-knit coalition just
kind of fell together," said LSA se-
nior Pat Soule. "It's not a formal
thing at all."
The sudden appearance of ozone
hole protesting comes in the wake of
reports from the National Aeronau-
tics and Space Administration
(NASA), which forecasts the future
of the ozone hole.
Although NASA predicted holes

in the ozone over parts of the United
States, Europe and Canada by the
end of last winter, they never
materialized.
However, due to the volcanic
eruption in the Philippines, the dust
'The sad thing is ... we
may have to wear
these radiation suits
on a day-to-day basis.'
- Corey Conn
Ypsilanti resident
and ash scattered through the atmo-
sphere is "more conducive to the
production of ozone-eating clouds in
mid- to late-March, April-and May,"
Conn said.

According to Vice President-
elect Al Gore's book Earth in the
Balance, "For every 1 percent de-
crease in ozone, there is a corre-
sponding 2 percent increase in the
amount of ultraviolet radiation
bathing our skin."
An increase in the level of ultra-
violet radiation exposure could mean
"phenomenal rates of skin cancer
and cataracts," Conn said.
"The sad thing is, if the ozone
depletion doesn't end soon, we may
have to actually wear these radiation
suits on a day-to-day basis to protect
ourselves from the sun," Conn
added.
"I've learned that a lot of the
substances released now will not
take effect for 30 years. So even if
production were to halt right now,

we haven't even seen the worst
effects," Soule said.
The biggest cause of ozone de-
pletion is the release of industrial
chemicals known as chlorofluoro-
carbons (CFCs), and halons. CFCs
are found in refrigerators and air
conditioners.
"I want people to know that
there's a lot of what I call
'greenwash' out there in the media
and I think people try to portray that
the ozone problem is no longer an
issue when it's more crucial now
then ever," Soule said.
Conn urged people to go to facili-
ties using CFCs and halons and
protest their use.
"I think you'll find that Radiation
Suit Wednesday will intensify and
become a major thing," Conn said.

U-M to solicit student input
on campus bicycle safety

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Student groups
U Japan Student Association,
meeting, Michigan Union,
Kuenzel Room, 8 p.m.
U Newman Catholic Student As-
sociation, Centering Prayer, 7
p.m.; Education Commission, 7
p.m.; U-M Catholic Student Fel-
lowship, 7p.m.; Saint Mary Stu-
dent Chapel, 331 Thompson St.
Q Pre-Med Club, student/faculty
mixer, Michigan Union,
Pendleton Room, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Q Social Group for Lesbians, Gay
Men, and Bisexuals, meeting,
East Quad, check room at front
desk,9 p.m.
Q Shorin-Ryu Karate-Do Club,
practice, CCRB, Martial Arts
Room, 9:15-10:15 p.m.
Q Students Concerned About
Animal , Rights, meeting,
Dominick's, 7:30 p.m.
Q TaeKwonDo Club,regular work-
out, CCRB, Room 2275, 7:45-
9:15 p.m.
Q Time and Relative Dimensions
in Ann Arbor, meeting, Mason
Hall, Room 2439, 8 p.m.
Q U-M Amnesty International,

G21, 7:30-9 p.m.
Q U-M Public Relations Associa-
tion, meeting, Frieze Building,
Room 3040, 5 p.m.
Q Undergraduate English Asso-
ciation, meeting, Mason Hall,
7th floor lounge, 4 p.m.
Events
Q "Applications of FAB and ESI
Mass Spectrometry of Phar-
maceutical Interest," analyti-
cal seminar, Department of
Chemistry, Chemistry Building,
Room 1300,4 p.m.
Q Blue Sun, performance, North
Campus Commons, Leonardo's,
8-10 p.m.
-Q Book Promotions, "Mass Kill-
ings," "Reactions of the World
to the War in Croatia," and
"Analysis of Serbian Propa-
ganda," Michigan Union, Art
Lounge, 6 p.m.
U "Chance and the Novel:
Prevost's 'Manon Lescaut',"
colloquium, Rackham Building,
West Conference Room, 8 p.m.
Q "Charity and Tzedakah:
&U- :i"- r tflA ) To..

Around the world in 80 slides,
Baits I, Stanley Piano Lounge,
4-6 p.m.
U "Libertarianism: The Perver-
sion of Liberty," meeting, U-M
Students of-Objectivism, MLB,
Room B 120, 8 p.m.
Q Pre-Holiday Fair, presentation,
West Engineering Building,
Robert E. Hayden Lounge, 12-3
p.m., call 764-5513 for more in-
formation.
Q "Spies," movie, Oxford Hous-
ing, Max Kade Haus, 8 p.m.
Q "What is Classical about Rus-
sian Classicism?" Brown Bag
Lecture Series, Lane Hall, Com-
mons Room, 12 p.m.
Q "Work and Responsibility,"
Pre-Kwanzaa lecture, Oxford
Housing, Goddard Lounge, 8
p.m.
Student services
Q Northwalk Safety Walking Ser-
vice, Bursley Hall, lobby, 763-
WALK, 8 p.m.-1:30 a.m.
Q Psychology Undergraduate
Peer Advising, Department of
Psychology, West Quad, room
V10a- Anm.

by Christine Young
Daily Staff Reporter
The U-M's Campus Safety
Committee will hand out bicycle
safety surveys today and tomorrow
to students on the Diag as a result of
President James Duderstadt's man-
date to improve bicycle safety on
campus.
At last night's Michigan Student
Assembly meeting, the committee's
student chair, Joel Strimling, spoke
about proposed plans that would
eliminate the increasing number of
reported bicycle accidents around
campus.
"We have proposed that bicycles
not be banned from the entire cam-
pus but only in certain areas around
campus including the 'M' area, the
Diag and by Angell Hall," Strimling
said.
"The committee feels that riders
should only be permitted to go a safe
and reasonable speed (probably
around jogging speed) and if a bicy-
clist hits a pedestrian then they
should be fined anywhere from $50

a problem with bicycle safety, what
the problem is and how we should
go about dealing with the problem,"
Strimling said.
Strimling's proposals received
mixed feelings from MSA members.
LSA Rep. Tobias Zimmerman
said, "We need bike paths. They are
beneficial to walkers and would
promote bicycle safety."
Strimling explained that bicycle
paths would be an expensive project
for the U-M.
"This was attempted at Berkeley
but it simply did not work. It would
be extremely difficult for the uni-
versity to pave the Diag," Strimling
said.
Newly-elected School of Music
Rep. Lisa Silver agreed with Strim-
ling.
"The point of the proposal is to
prevent bikes from being banned.
There have been people who have
been hit. The (committee) is trying
to compromise and look out for their
safety."