The Michigan Daily - Monday, September 27, 1993 - 3 Asian American groups discuss 'plans for April conference at 'U' By SARAH KIINO DAILY STAFF REPORTER Coming from Hawaii, California, Colorado and New York, members of the Association of Asian American Studies' executive board converged on the University campus this weekend for a biannual meeting. The association is a nationwide professional organi- zation for educators involved in Asian American studies. Friday, Minority Student Services (MSS) sponsored a reception with a joint purpose: to welcome the board members to campus and to serve as a welcome-back for Asian Americans on campus. "It's my understanding and intention that the recep- tion will serve as a medium in which students of Asian heritage can feel free to mingle and network with faculty, * students, and staff," said Yee Leng Hang, the MSS Asian American representative. Hang added that the reception was open to all students, not just Asians and Asian Americans. The receptionallowed representatives of campusAsian and Asian American organizations to speak and inform those in attendance about their groups. Lambda Phi Epsilon vice president Rafael Barretto said he came to the reception to inform people what Lambda Phi Epsilon, the campus Asian American frater- nity, is really about. He added he also wanted to establish ties with other Asian American organizations. Some students attended the reception to gather infor- mation about the various Asian and Asian American organizations on campus. "I wanted to learn more about the associations. I didn't really know anything about them. Last year I just sat back," said Engineering sophomore Shamma Siddiqui. Students who attended said they also wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to meet Asian American faculty and students. "I heard they're people from all over the country," said Sung Park, LSA junior and Korean Student Association member. "I want to see who they're representing." Along the same lines, LSA sophomore Dan Zarazua said, "I didn't really know who the Asian American faculty were. ... The main reason I came was to meet people." The Association for Asian American studies is having its annual conference at the University in early April, the first time the conference will be held in the midwest. The fall board meeting is traditionally held at the school that will host the conference. Since the Midwest Asian American Student Union was planning to have a conference the same weekend, the two programs have been combined. The two groups met this weekend to make plans for the conference. Gary Okihiro, board member and Cornell University history professor, said the goals of the conference are to connect the campus with local communities. One method of outreach is to sponsor workshops with local schoolteachers on how to integrate Asian American * studies into a multicultural curriculum. Conference members also search for ways to link various minority communities. Forexample, said Okihiro, last year at Cornell, the conference included a dialogue between Asian Americans, African Americans, Latinos, and Puerto Ricans. Festifali finally uniesstudents campus grous By JEFF MAEHRE weather," Gamel said. FOR THE DAILY Lisa Beattie, an LSA fifth-year The old adage "all's well that ends senior who helped organize Festifall well" holds true for Festifall. After for SODC, said, "(Having delays) being postponed twice, the event fi- was upsetting because it pushed ev- nally took place Friday on the Diag. erybody back past their mass meet- Festifall, a forum in which campus ing." organizations recruit new members, was originally scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 14. Due to poor weather, it was rescheduled for the 20th. Another day of rain moved the date to last Friday. With the help of sunny skies, Friday's event was largely considered a success. Festifall is organized by the Student Organization Development Center (SODC). Jason Gamel, an organizational consultant for SODC, said Festifall was "absolutely fabulous. I'd have to say in all honesty, it's been the best." Gamel said a record-high 241 stu- dent groups were represented on the Diag. A large number of students also turned out for the event. "I was expecting a big turnout but I was still surprised by the numbers," Gamel said. "After 11:30, it's been constantly busy." Neither groups nor students seemed discouraged by the weather delays. "Most of the groups out here weren't mad. They understand (that the delays were) because of the However, she added, "I think people are getting a lot of sign-ups, so the purpose still came through." Eric Priuska, a graduate student who represented the Shorin-Ryu Ka- rate-Do Club at Festifall, was not upset by the delay because of the unusually pleasant weather Friday. "Well, look at the weather now, so in my opinion it's worth it. I think it was a problem for us, but not for the students," Priuska said. Some people, though, were alittle frustrated by the scheduling. "They said today if it rains, it will be in the Union, and I'm wondering why it wasn't scheduled on Tuesday - the rain day in the Union," said LSA senior John Damoose, of the College Republicans. In addition to all the organiza- tions' booths, students also had the opportunity to see several student groups in action. The Wolverettes danced, the Shorin-Ryu Karate-do club displayed techniques, Kappa Alpha Psi and Alpha Phi Alpha per- formed step shows and a mariachi band played. Festifall partificpants demonstrate their fencing skills on the Diag. U.S. considers sending troops into Bosnia If Clinton green-lights NATO operation, 25,000 troops could enter area within days WASHINGTON (AP) - If President Clinton decides to order U.S. soldiers into Bosnia on aNATO peacekeeping mission, thousands of troops will enter Sarajevo in an airborne show of force thatcould start within days of his request, military planners say. But before U.S. troops go in, the Penta- gon wants to see apeace accord that holds - with the combatants separated from one another, heavy artillery withdrawn and the free flow of humanitarian supplies assured, the planners said. The initial deployment could grow to about 25,000 troops over a several-week period-bristling with enough heavy tanks, artillery and armed troop transports to de- fend themselves and ensure their mission is carried out. Military planners spoke of their work on condition of anonymity, but the men ex- pected to be in charge have been blunt about what they want to send, should they get the mission. "If we have to go into Bosnia, I don't want to say 'Mother, may I?' to anyone," Adm. Jeremy Boorda, NATO's southern Europe commander told a conference orga- nized by the U.S. mission to NATO on Friday. Gen. John Shalikashvili, Clinton's nomi- nee as chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has said the force "should be robust enough so it can take care of itself, regardless of what the circumstances might be." Sen. Sam Nunn (D-Ga.) chair of the House Armed Services Committee, said yesterday that the United States must have "a very clear exit strategy" before sending any troops. "Because when you commit to some- thing like this, as we found out in Somalia, if you don't watch out, what your basic premise was ends up not being what the U.N. or the NATO premise was,"he said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "Then you're in a situation where the mission gets broader and broader and it's very difficult to find an ending point." Once apeace accord is signed, the United Nations is expected to ask the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to monitor the new borders and disarm militias. NATO has tentative plans to provide about 50,000 troops - perhaps half of them Americans. There has been some disagree- ment whether NATO or the U.N. will have overall command of the force, but Washing- ton wants NATO in control. Mostofthe 25,000U.S. troops thatwould form the reinforced division envisioned for the job are expected to be drawn from the Army's 1stArmored Division, based in cen- tral Germany. While an advance team would enter the region within hours of the president's order, the first troops could be flown in with some armaments aboard C-5A transports within three days, the military sources said. They would be bolstered with additional heavy weaponry - such as M1-Al tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles, trucks, artillery, rocket systems and radar units - drawn from positions in central Italy. Those arms could be transported by ship across the Adriatic Sea to Split and sent inland to the U.S. troops, planners said. UGLi's Pink Lady' collects cans for causes gi 3 * By JEFF MAEHRE FOR THE DAILY A lot of students who study in the Undergraduate Library (UGLi) have given their empty pop cans to Zatha Bruns atone time or another. Butmost people would be surprised to know what she uses the money for. Zatha Bruns, or "the Pink Lady," as she is called because she often wears pink clothes, is only one of many people who collect empty cans around campus. But defying miscon- ceptions, Bruns does not use the money for her next meal or for clothing. In- stead, she donates most of the money to various Ann Arbor institutions. "Everybody has benefits they like to help," said Bruns, who has donated money to the Michigan Theatre and the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum. She also volunteers at the Hands- On Museum. This gives her a chance to deal with children. Bruns has a friendly personality and is full of energy. She is currently funding a new fiber optics exhibit at the museum.When not working there, she also volunteers four days a week at the Kemp House, an Ann Arbor historical exhibit. She has been vol- unteering at both places since 1985. Before that, Bruns worked as the director of medical records at the Vet- erans Administration Hospital in Ann Arbor. She has a degree in medical records from St. Louis University. "A lot of people think I'm a home- less person," Bruns said. However, she lives in an apartment in Ann Ar- bor. The apartment is part of a house owned by University Housing. The house is also home to several Univer- sity students from Europe. In 1985, Bruns left her job at the hospital to do volunteer work and other projects in the community. "I wanted to use my gifts and tal- ents for the community," Bruns said. In addition to her work at the museum and the Kemp House, each spring Bruns helps direct Health-a-Rama, an event facilitating health checkups. After she left her job, Bruns began collecting cans so she could give more than just time to her favorite causes. She began collecting on the Diag, searching through garbage cans. In addition to cans, Bruns began finding books from the UGLi in the garbage. When she returned the books, she began striking up friendships with several library staff members. She then started gathering cans in the library. And she's been doing that ever since. Barbara McAdam, the Interim Di- rector of the Graduate Library, said Bruns has been "a fixture in the com- munity for several years." Bruns spends seven days a week in the UGLi. The day of collecting be- gins for her at 4 p.m., when she makes one round through the building. She makes another round at 7 p.m. and comes back at 9 p.m. The rest of her evening is spent in the UGLi. She usually does not finish her collecting until 3 or 4 a.m. It would be natural for one to won- der how much money Bruns makes from such long hours of collecting. But she would rather keep this infor- mation to herself. "Students are always asking me (how much I make) and I always say 'Well, quite a bit'." Bruns' relationship with Univer- sity students has been a big part of her time here. "I enjoy the students," Bruns said. "They save their cans for me, and they're very nice to me. When I come back in the fall they say 'Hi' like I'm a good friend of theirs." Many students find that Bruns is someone they can talk to, she said. "They'll say 'Oh, I'm so stressed out. I have an exam' and so forth, and I'll say, 'Do you have one of my pop- ups?"' Bruns reached into her pocket and pulled out two rubber toys that pop up into the air. She said she's handed out more than 2,000 of these to people on campus. Bruns' colorful personality shows why she's so popular in the University community. McAdam said Bruns is "extremely eccentric ... but in the best sense of the word, meaning dif- ferent than other people, having dif- ferent values, perhaps." MAROKH QIJA/Daiy Zatha Bruns, a volunteer at the museum, helps Julian Meade explore the Hands-On Museum, corner of 5th and Huron. Bruns collects cans for the museum-at the UGI. Student groups Q ENACT-UM, mass meeting, Dana Building, Room 1046, 7 p.m. U Saint Mary Student Parish, Lector Training, 7 p.m.; RCIA session, 7 p.m.; Bible Study, 7:30 p.m.; 331 Thompson St. Q Study/Discussion - (re)introduction to the Bible, sponsored by University Re- formed Church, 1001 E. Huron, 9 p.m. Q U of M Fencing Team, mass practice, Boat House, Men 3, 4, and 5 p.m., Women 3:30,4:30, and 5:30 p.m. Q U of M Shorin-Ryu Karate-Do Club, beginners welcome, CCRB,Martial Arts Room, 8:30 p.m. U U of M Tae Kwon Do Club, training session, CCRB, Room 2275, 7 p.m. Events U Photochemical and Electro- chemical Catalytic Reduction Center, Room 10, 7 p.m. U Study in Australia or Britain, sponsored by the International Center, presentation, Interna- tional Center, Room 9,2:30p.m. Student services U Career Planning & Placement, Andersen Consulting presenta- tion, Michigan Union, Kuenzel Room, 7 p.m. U Psychology Academic Peer Advising, sponsored by the psy- chology department, West Watch Monday Night Football In Comfort