The Michigan Daily - Thursday, February 18, 1993- Page 5 Forum .tackles isues o battery by Michelle Fricke 0 Sixty percent of men will batter women at some point in their lives. Faced with this frightening statistic, about 40 men and women gathered last night to confront the nature and consequences of violence through battery. The discussion was led by Mike Jackson and David Garvin, social workers who founded Alternatives to omestic Aggression (ADA) in 1986. ADA, a program of Catholic Social Services of Washtenaw County in Ypsilanti, is designed to help people end their displays of violence or other forms of aggression. "Physical violence is only one- tenth of the battering," Jackson said. He added that physical violence in a battering relationship only takes lace about three times a year, but psychological abuse occurs every day. Garvin said men who batter are not frightened by the legal system. "Among men who batter, demo- graphics are no different than any other issue, such as alcoholism. Men from all walks of life have come to our program," Garvin said. "Men batter because they can get away with it. The consequences are not harsh enough." Nelson Peralta, a second-year law student, also stated the need for reform in the legal system. "In a course I'm taking I've learned about cases in which police response to battered women is not always attractive," Peralta said. "This is a problem that should be addressed. If women had support *ystems and if men had ways to deal with why they batter, it wouldn't get to the stage where people are getting killed," said Evanne Dietz, a third-year law student. The program was sponsored by the Women's Law Student Association. Res. halls start program to reduce crime by Sarah Gordon Following the measures taken in neighborhoods and on other campuses, and in response to concerned resi- dents, the University has launched a new program to raise awareness of crime in the residence hall system. This semester the residents of West Quad, Betsey Barbour, and Helen Newberry residence halls are work- ing in cooperation with the Department of Public Safety. (DPS) to increase awareness through a program based on neighborhood watch. "Here we want to involve the students and make them a part of their own security," said Christine Monroe-Loomes, housing security officer and crime prevention liaison for Housing. In addition to DPS, the West Quad Safety and Security Committee - a group of West Quad residents including resident advisors - is helping to organize and implement the program. The program aims to inform students of what to do if they see something suspicious in the dorm and to en- courage them to feel comfortable reporting these incidents. Two or three volunteers in each hall will be desig- nated as contacts, to whom students can report any sus- picious people or events they notice. The contacts will then notify DPS. Sgt. Benny Chenevert, DPS coordinator for crime prevention, said students are not expected to take action or risks, but to report problem situations immediately to DPS. Chenevert stressed that this program is a proactive measure. "A lot of times people are complacent until they are the victim of a crime or someone they know is the vic- tim of a crime," he said, adding that he hopes residents will report suspicions before crimes occur. Originally the crime watch program was to begin at West Quad, but it has now expanded to Barbour-Newberry. Monroe-Loomes said that both attendance and en- thusiasm were high at meetings held with the residents of Barbour-Newberry Monday night. After Spring Break, meetings will be held with West Quad residents. Students on the West Quad Safety and Security Committee are also enthusiastic. "We're really excited about working over at Barbour-Newberry," said Dan Held, an LSA junior on the committee. West Quad and Barbour-Newberry are piloting the t crime watch program this semester, but it is expected to expand to all dorms and other campus buildings in September. DPS representatives said they expect the crime watch program to result in more calls from residence halls in the short run, but in less crime in the long run. DPS officials added that they hope to evaluate the program's efficacy in Barbour-Newberry in the next two or three weeks. Diag policy protest LSA junior Dennis Guikema (center) speaks against the new Diag policy yesterday. John Payne (left), a member of the Trotskyist League, and Dante Stella (right), LSA sophomore, stand beside him to support his cause. Students have been holding protests every Wednesday since the University released a new policy restricting actions on the Diag. Stella said students should band together to oppose the Diag policy. "Your rights are in danger and so are ours. We've got to fight for our rights," he said. Progressives announce candidates by Soma Gupta Last night the Progressive Party announced its candidates who will vie to lead next year's Michigan Student Assembly. Music school junior Jason Hackner and LSA sophomore Erika Gottfried hope to become MSA president and vice president respectively. Hackner is currently the president of the University Activities Center (UAC). Although he has never served on MSA, campaign officials said they feel he has garnered leadership skills from running the largest campus student organization that make him well-qualified. "Jason's experienced at leadership. He organized a huge number of students to perform tasks at UAC. Besides, his vice president has been on MSA before. We're proud of his leadership skills," said Conan Smith, campaign chair for the Progressive Party. Gottfried has served as chair of MSA's Women's Issues Commission. The Progressive Party is enthusiastic about its presidential nominee's willingness to fight for student rights. "When Jason came to talk about the positions, we were very impressed with his charisma and organization. He really seems concerned for the students and voices those concerns effectively," said Devon Bodah, communications director of the Progressive Party. However, everyone does not agree with these high opinions. "I have no idea what leadership things their presidential candidate has done but I really don't feel that Erika Gottfried shows the leadership ability necessary for the executive office of MSA," said Michael Christie, a member of the opposing Conservative Coalition (CC). The Progressive Party presently holds the MSA executive officer positions. CC members said the leaders have accom- plished nothing over the last year. "I really think they've done nothing. We've lost a lot of ground with the administration because they spend more time bickering and whining than rationally discussing," Christie said. The candidates said they plan to attack new issues this year. "We don't have the slate officially but we do intend to revitalize MSA by making it more accessible to the students," Hackner said. *U .N. officials discontinue aid to Bosnia M I C HA E L DOUGLASl SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegov- ina (AP) - Serb tanks bore down on a key western suburb yesterday as U.N. officials halted aid opera- tions and accused Bosnia's warring factions of using food as a political weapon. The Serb offensive on the last Alefensive lines was an apparent at- empt to capture more of the capital before peace talks resume tomorrow in New York between Serbs, Croats and Muslims. The Muslim-led government has blocked U.N. food aid from reaching Sarajevo, accusing the United Na- tions of ignoring besieged Muslims in eastern Bosnia. "I really regret that I have to take Whis decision because we have been trying to help the victims, the ordi- nary people, and we cannot do that," Sadako Ogata, the U.N. High Com- missioner for Refugees, said in Nairobi, Kenya, in announcing the aid cutoff in Sarajevo and eastern Bosnia. The action could increase pres- sure on officials in Sarajevo. If the city begans handing out food again, warehouses would be emptied in eight to 10 days. In eastern Bosnia, an estimated 100,000 Muslims are trapped by Serb sieges. The aid cutoff also will hit some Serb-dominated towns. Bosnian radio reported battles throughout the republic and claimed 20 people were killed and 60 wounded in an air raid on Muslim- held Cerska, an eastern town. Radovan Karadzic, the leader of Bosnia's Serbs, said his fighters would not allow relief convoys to pass through Serb-held territory en route to central Bosnia until the search for further bodies in Ka- menica is completed. "We want to get the parties to cooperate. We want the international community to realize how serious the situation is," said Peter Kessler, a U.N. aid official in Croatia. U.N. officials already had sus- pended aid flights to Sarajevo be- cause the government's boycott caused U.N. warehouses to fill up with supplies. "We've gotten to a point now where we have almost a 100,000 people who are starving to death in besieged Muslim villages in eastern Bosnia. And we can no longer in good conscience feed the Serb-held villages next door, and feed Serb families, while Muslim families just a couple of feet down the road are dying of starvation," said Sylvana Foa, a U.N. spokesperson in Geneva. The United Nations said it had delivered an average of 20,000 tons of food, medicine, blankets and other supplies to Bosnia each month since July. .. , 4' F i. }s . e ,# as .. :, 4 t 1 t'% * i i I r As a Chinese philosopher, Confucious provided social leadership for many generations! As a UAC Executive, you could provide student leadership for the entire University community! Universities should provide social leadership for the rest of society! 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