The Michigan Daily-- Wednesday, December 9, 1992 - Page 3
F I
U-M student earns
award for caring
by Will McCahill school board" to become in-
Daily Staff Reporter volved. Persson said Koerner
Supreme Court seeks to
curtail role in abortion
A U-M student who was once
known as the "Condom King" has
earned yet another title - this
time for being one of the 20 most
caring people in the United States.
Andrew Koerner, a first-year
LSA student from Jupiter, Fla., re-
ceived his award from the Caring
Institute in Washington D.C. -
an organization dedicated to pro-
moting "fundamental values."
Koerner is credited with start-
ing many community service pro-
jects in southern Florida, includ-
ing programs addressing sexual
awareness, Holocaust education,
and literacy for the children of
migrant workers.
Carmin Persson, Koerner's
guidance counselor at Jupiter High
School, said the student's most
visible project was an attempt to
have condoms distributed in Palm
Beach County schools.
Although school authorities
never handed out condoms, the
school board ruled that students
could pass them out themselves.
Persson said the tremendous
time and emotion Koerner put into
the task almost persuaded what
she called "a very conservative
earned the title "Condom King" at
this time.
"Andrew is the most unique
student I've ever known ... he has
a way about him that he motivates
people to get involved," Persson
said.
The sexual awareness program
Koerner started dealt with sexu-
ally transmitted diseases, AIDS
and teen pregnancy. The program
has since spread across the state of
Florida.
Koerner said he and others
acted as AIDS "peer educators" in
an effort to better connect with
students.
"We tried to facilitate a sit-
around-and-talk-type attitude," he
added.
"He changed Jupiter High
School for the better," Persson
said.
Koerner also participated in the
"March of the Living" in Poland,
retracing the steps of Jews be-
tween two concentration camps
during World War II.
After more than six months of
preparation, this led him to estab-
lish a Holocaust education pro-
gram aimed at both Jewish and
Koerner
non-Jewish people in his
community.
"We talk about human nature
and hate ... and standing up for
what you believe in," Koerner
said.
"I think the award is highly de-
served," said David Goldstein,
Koerner's rabbi at Jupiter's Beth
David synagogue. "Andrew is at
the very top of the list."
Koerner's roommate at the U-
M, Engineering first-year student
Dennis Sylvester, said he is also
impressed with Koerner's
achievements.
Although he doesn't see
Koerner too much - he always
seems to be busy with something
- he said, "Andrew is a good
roommate."
by David Carrel
Daily Staff Reporter
The Supreme Court has refused
to review two separate abortion-re-
lated cases in the last 10 days, per-
haps indicating that the high court is
seeking a less central role, U-M pro-
fessors say.
Since the landmark decision Roe
vs. Wade in 1973, the United States
Supreme Court has been the van-
guard in defining abortion. Lately, it
appears the Supreme Court wants to
mitigate that role.
"The court does not want to be
the center of attention, and they are
not going to become involved any-
more," said Kim Scheppele, profes-
sor of public policy and associate
professor for the law school.
Last week, the high court chose
not to challenge a lower court's
ruling that a 1990 law prohibiting
virtually all abortions in the U.S.
territory of Guam was
unconstitutional.
The high court then refused to
review a Mississippi state law re-
quiring a 24-hour waiting period
Monday.
Both rejections stemmed from
the July 1992 landmark ruling
Planned Parenthood vs. Casey ,
which upheld a woman's basic right
to have an abortion, but allowing
states to regulate abortions that do
not place an "undue burden" on
women.
"It was clear that the Guam law
would be refused (because the)
Casey case answered Guam's deci-
sion," Scheppele said.
Although the refusal to review
Guam's law came as no surprise to
abortion advocates and opponents,
the refusal to review Mississppi's
law may indicate the court's desire
to remove itself from the center of
the abortion issue and defer to the
individual states, Scheppele said.
She added that the phrase "undue
burden" was abortion advocates'
principle argument for why the law
was illegal and should have been
reviewed by the Supreme Court.
The lawyers for abortion clinics
in the state argued the Mississippi
law - which requires a 24-hour
waiting period - places an undue
and substantial burden on the
woman. The state only has three
abortion clinics, and women must
travel long distances to reach them.
"The Supreme Court thinks it an-
swered all these questions already in
the Casey case and they don't want
to repeat themselves," Scheppele
explained.
U-M Law School Prof. Christina
Whitman agreed. She said now that
the court has set broad parameters
for abortion, it will defer to the
states for specific regulations.
"The decision in Casey indicated
that the Court is not going to find
something to be a burden unless it
went very far to prevent an abor-
tion," Whitman said.
But some scholars believe the
Supreme Court's failure to review a
case reveals little.
"It's often a mistake to read too
much into the court's decision not to
review a case," said U-M Law
School Prof. Richard Friedman.
"People look for overly-political ex-
pectations."
However, Scheppele said the
court's reluctance to engage in ef-
forts to specify state regulations and
definitions demonstrates its desire to
move away from the center.
Scheppele said, "The court is
trying to keep its head down and
stay out of the fight."
City to hear public concerns on housing
by Jonathan Berndt
and Hope Calati
Daily Staff Reporters
Ann Arbor residents will be able
to air their grievances over the city
Housing Commission's firing of
Director Conrad Benson, as well as
general public housing concerns, at a
public meeting to be scheduled after
Benson's appeal is resolved.
Mayor Liz Brater stalled efforts
to hold a public hearing on the issue,
saying that personnel issues should
not be publicly discussed.
However, she and council mem-
blrs agreed Monday to hold a public
meeting, in which councilmembers
interact with constituents.
: Councilmember Peter Nicolas
(D-4th Ward) has repeatedly at-
tOmpted to place a public hearing on
the agenda to address public housing
*residents' concerns over Benson's
removal.
His attempts were rebuffed by
councilmembers' conflicting inter-
pretations over agenda-setting
procedures.
City Attorney Elizabeth Schwartz
said public hearings are only placed
on the agenda if directed by ordi-
nance, city charter, state statute or
official council action.
"The mayor cannot arbitrarily
keep things off the agenda,"
Schwartz said. "If they are frivolous
or illegal, the mayor would have the
right and duty to keep it off the
agenda."
After vehement bickering that re-
curred throughout Monday's meet-
ing, the council approved a substi-
tute resolution sponsored by
Councilmember Tobi Hanna-Davies
(D-1st Ward) establishing a public
meeting.
"I'm very interested in having
something more like a dialogue than
a public hearing," she said. "I'm
concerned about the poor people
feeling that institutions are more im-
portant than people."
The search for a professional
mediator to direct the meeting will
begin as soon as possible, Hanna-
Davies said.
However, the meeting cannot
legally occur until Benson's appeal
is completed because it would im-
pede his right to due process,
Schwartz said.
Nicolas defended his call for a
public hearing as the desire of the
public housing residents. "Real or
perceived, they do feel that having a
public hearing will benefit them in
some way," Nicolas said.
He added, "(The council majority
doesn't) want to let people speak.
This is where democracy breaks
down. I think the mayor needs to go
back to her 10th grade civics class."
Later in the meeting, Nicolas
asked the city clerk's office to put a
public hearing on the agenda for the
next commission meeting. Nicolas
vowed to raise the issue of a public
hearing at every meeting until the
council votes on it.
Nicolas had submitted a memo to
the city administrator last week to
place a public hearing about public
housing residents concerns on the
agenda. Brater kept the hearing off
the agenda.
After that unsuccessful attempt,
Nicolas and Councilmember Bob
Eckstein (D-5th Ward) sponsored a
resolution that would have allowed
two tenant representatives to sit on
the Housing Commission.
They withdrew - it after
Councilmember Larry Hunter (Dlst
Ward) pointed out that the commis-
sion's makeup could not be changed
without amending the City Charter.
Clinton's political reform expected to
draw opposition from House, Senate
- LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) -
From beginning to end, Bill Clinton
made political reform a theme of his
presidential bid, positioning himself
as a reform-minded outsider.
Now comes the hard part: turning
leis promises first into legislation and
then into law. Already, resistance is
surfacing among both Republicans
and Democrats in Congress, as well
as among lobbyists and political ac-
tion committees.
Clinton's biggest challenge in
enacting his reform agenda may well
cbme on the thorny issue of health
( re. But his will for reform is likely
to be tested first on campaign fi-
iance and lobbying, where his ideas
are more clearly defined.
"If we are going to get anything
done we've got to clean house in
Washington," said Bruce Reed,
Clinton's deputy transition director
for domestic policy. He acknowl-
edged considerable pressure on the
Clinton camp to temper many of its
reform ideas, but predicted Clinton
would hold fast to his centerpiece
proposals.
Clinton's economic package will
be his first priority. Some advisers
favoring waiting a while before
pushing campaign and other political
reforms because of their desire to
foster good relations with Congress.
However, other Clinton advisers,
particularly his political strategists,
believe he needs to deliver on his re-
form promises early to prove his re-
solve against special interests and
help woo supporters of Ross Perot.
In the campaign, Clinton pro-
posed voluntary spending caps on
House and Senate campaigns, with
candidates who agree to limits get-
ting some public financing.
Clinton also pledged to reduce
the maximum PAC contribution
from $5,000 to $1,000 - the cap on
individual contributions. Clinton
called for reduced-rate television and
radio time for candidates and
pledged to reduce by an unspecified
amount the money that political par-
ties can accept from corporations,
labor unions and big donors to fun-
nel into campaigns.
"We are optimistic that we are
going to have presidential backing,"
said Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.)
Student may have
been sexually
assaulted at party
A female student may have been
sexually assaulted while highly in-
toxicated at a house party in the 900
Block of South State Street Saturday
night. According to Ann Arbor
Police Department (AAPD) reports,
the survivor said she last remem-
bered being put to bed by two men.
When she woke, she said, she found
her underwear had been removed
and her bra had been pushed down.
The survivor told police she does
not suspect the men who put her to
bed. She does not know if she will
prosecute.
PoliceQ
Beat
Woman attacked
on Hill Street
A woman received a four-inch
cut in the cheek by a knife during an
attack Monday morning. The victim
told AAPD she was walking alone
on the 600 block of Hill Street near
State Street at 2:20 a.m. when she
Reach out and touch
Melanie, a fourth grade student from Cherry Elementary School in
Toledo, plays with the Bermonli Ball at the Hands-On Museum.
was approached by a 6-foot-2 man,
approximately 20 years old. The
man had dark hair, a thin build and
was wearing a black leather coat and
ripped jeans.
The victim said the man tried to
force her to the ground before he
was scared off by an approaching
group of people.
Two houses report
breaking and
entering, theft
In separate incidents Sunday
night, two houses close to campus
were entered unlawfully and prop-
erty was stolen.
An unknown suspect entered a
house on the 400 block of E.
Washington Street through a
ground-floor window at about 11
p.m. A stereo was removed.
Cash and a leather jacket were
taken from a house on the 1300
block of Hill Street, between South
Forest Street and Washtenaw
Avenue early Monday morning.
Entry was gained through an un-
locked window.
CD player, printer
stolen from
campus buildings
Campus thefts Sunday night in-
clude a portable compact disc player
with speakers and one compact disc,
valued at $225, stolen from the med-
ical center, and a laser printer, val-
ued at $280, stolen from the
Clarence Cook Little building.
Student groups
Q AIESEC, meeting, Business Ad-
ministration Building, Room
1276,6 p.m.
Q Hindu Students' Council, meet-
ing, MLB, Room B118, 8 p.m.
Q Newman Catholic Student As-
sociation, Centering Prayer, 7
p.m.; U-M Catholic Student Fel-
lowship, 7p.m.; Saint Mary Stu-
dent Chapel, 331 Thompson St.
O SocialGroup 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,
nminick's_7.30 n m.
Q U-M Amnesty International, tion - Concepts, Strategies and
meeting, East Quad, Room 122, Applications," analytical semi-
7 p.m. nar, sponsored by Department
Q U-M Ninjitsu Club, practice, of Chemistry, Chemistry Build-
I.M. Building, Wrestling Room ing, room 1300,4 p.m.
G21, 7:30-9 p.m. Q "The Latin Americanization of
Russia: Economic Transition
and Development Theory,"
Events Brown Bag Lecture Series, Lane
U Blue Sun, performing, North Hall, Commons Room, 12 p.m.
CampusCommons,Leonardo's,
8-10 p.m.
Q "Croatian Classical Music and
Christmas Carols," Detroit
Tamburitza Orchestra, Michigan
Union, Art Lounge, 7:30 p.m.
Q "In a Brilliant Light: Van Gogh
in Arles," art video, U-M Mu-
seum of Art, Audio Visual
Room, 12 p.m.
Q Internationnal Coffee Hour.
Student services
" Northwalk Safety Walking Ser-
vice, Bursley Hall, lobby, 763-
WALK, 8 p.m.-1:30 a.m.
U Psychology Undergraduate
Peer Advising, Department of
Psychology, West Quad, Room
K210, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
" Safewalk Safety Walking Ser-
I I