The Michigan Daily - Monday, November 8, 1993 - 3
*Speaker
pleads for
daughters,
.Puerto Rico
Mother of two
political prisoners
speaks of heritage,
fight for freedom
By JULIE ROBINSON
DAILY STAFF REPORTER
Among variouscolorful fliers, large
lack and white photos with an English
and Spanish text tell astory of political
prisoners held by the U. S. govern-
ment. These are the faces of Puerto
Rican freedomfighters.
Josefna Rodriguez, mother of two
such prisoners, spoke abouttheirplight
Friday aftemoonat the Michigan Union
toabout 100 people.
A Puerto Rican flag hung behind
*er. Much like the ones seen around
campus, pictures of prisoners bordered
the room. Portraits and quotes by her
daughters Ida Luz Rodriguez and Ali-
cia Rodriguez were placed on either
side of her.
A standing room-only crowd in the
Kuenzel Room listened as the 62-year-
old woman softly recounted stories
aboutherlife, immigration to Chicago
with her husband and raising her fam-
oly to appreciate its culture.
"They grew up tobeproudof being
Puerto Rican," she said. "They were
forced to speak Spanish, eat Puerto
Rican food, listen to its music.... The
whole environment was there even
though we were go many miles away
from the island."
Her daughters werearrestedin 1978
forparticipating in an organizational-
*egedly fighting for the independence
of the commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
They claim that colonialism has con-.
tributed greatly to the poor living stan-
dards and has undermined the attitude
of Puerto Ricans themselves and also
their culture and heritage.
Rodriguez said it was painful to
watch her daughters and nine friends
be subjected to interrogation and abuse
'luring and after the trial. In the end,
Aicia and Ida Luz received 80 to 83
years in prison.
The words of the judge who sen-
tenced them have stayed with her since:
"If it was in my power, I would give
them the electric chair."
She and many other supporters of
the Puerto Rican solidarity movement
have kept in touch with the prisoners
end try to visit as much as possible.
Rafael Pinedo, LSA senior and
member of the Puerto Rican Solidar-
ity Committee, was pleased with the
turnout and hoped that the audience
had found the speech beneficial.
"We thought it would be an op-
portunity to show people the determi-
nation of the people and no one else
better than her could have done that,"
Pinedo said.
0 Rodriguez said she gets stronger
every day from recounting the stories
of a movement so dear to her heart in
so many communities.
"I get my courage from (the pris-
oners)," she said. "It is hard but these
women have such convictions that
you learn from them."
A question-and-answer session
provoked many questions from the
udience who were curious to know
hat they could do to help. A petition
and literature were also available.
PLANE TAKES A DIVE IN HONG KONG
Policies hurt 'U'
students, say
MSA candidates
By KAREN TALASKI
DAILY STAFF REPORTER
Although mostpolitical campaigns
are plagued by arguments and conflict-
ing ideologies, candidates in the 1993
Michigan Student Assembly fall elec-
tion agree on one thing -University
policies do not reflect the needs of the
studentbody.
The Statement
of Student Rights
and Responsibili-
ties (SSRR), the
Diag policy, and
the Student Policy
on Alcohol and
Other Substances
ELC9O
ELECTION
AP PHOTO
Smoke billows from a Boeing 747 yesterday after an explosion detonated by bomb experts successly dislodged a
damaged tail-fin from a fallen plane. The aircraft crashed in shallow waters surrounding Hong Kong Thursday after
enduring severe weather conditions enroute from Taipei. All 274 passengers and 22 crew members were rescued.
Local politician rela
of Clinton's health (
SOUTHFIELD (AP)-U.S. Sen.
Jay Rockefeller was confronted with
an array of anxious questions yester-
day while trying todrum up support for
President Clinton'shealth carereform.
The West Virginia Democrat
strongly urged backing for the 1,342-
page proposal to have all Americans
insuredby 1998. He saidthe health care
system needs comprehensive reform
because itis too costly at$1trillion, yet
still leaves millions of Americans
without insurance.
"This is like a giant tidal wave of
money which is just running over ev-
eryone," Rockefeller told about 150
people at Providence Hospital.
"We're talking about people who
work hard, who work everyday and
play by the rules and then their health
insurance goes."
Rockefeller said that the adminis-
tration will streamline government
spending to slash $250 billion.
But some in the audience were not
convinced. One by one they rose to
bombard him with questions:
"Will the proposed health plan in-
clude mental health coverage?"
"Why are small business owners
excluded from negotiations with insur-
ancecompanies?.
"Can medical-costreally be trimmed
without tackling the expenses of mal-
practice suits?"
Rockefeller, and U.S. Rep. Sander
Levin (D-Mich.) whoalsoattended the
hearing, tried to allay some of the fears.
Under the proposal, residents will
be organized in massive alliances that
will give consumers greater leverage in
obtaining health insurance, they said.
The proposal also seeks to organize
the medical system.
ys details
are plan
Levin said that Michigan hospi-
tals are only half occupied and that
medical schools were graduating too
many specialists and not enough pri-
mary health care physicians.
Reflecting on the frustrations
prevalent at the meeting, housewife
Linda Daniels told Rockefeller that
the current health system required too
much paper work.
She said her family losthundreds of
dollars trying to get insurance compa-
nies to pay medical expenses, even
though she was covered by a major
company health plan. "It has taken
me years to master the system," she
said.
Rockefeller said change would
take time.
"It is desperately complicated and
you have to persist," Rockefeller
said.
have been described as unfair and
ridiculous by candidates across
MS A's political spectrum.
"These policies are distinctively
anti-students' rights," said Students'
Party chair Devon Bodoh. "The code
(SSRR) itself is aridiculous statement
and the Diag policy is the only thing
I can think of that could top the code
in silliness."
The Statement of Student Rights
and Responsibilities is the
University's code of non-academic
conduct. Since its implementation in
January, 93 cases have been investi-
gated in areas such as hazing, harass-
ment and theft.
The alcohol and other drugs policy
is an extension of the SSRR that out-
lines administrative attitudes about such
substances and solidifies the SSRR
sanctions. The policy is still in the
process of being drafted.
The Diag policy, created in 1992,
regulates use of the Diag and North
Campus Commons by student organi-
zations.
MSA has actively worked with ad-
ministrators and students in the forma-
tion of these policies, which were insti-
tuted despite student protests against
their use.
Calling the policies "an attempt to
create a utopian society," Keg Party
candidate Mark Rabinowitz saidMSA
should try to increase pressure on the
administration to cooperate with stu-
dents' needs.
"(The administrators) can't cure
these ills without compromising indi-
vidual rights, telling us our responsi-
bilities have to be spelled out,"
Rabinowitz said in a writtenstatement.
"The cure for their hard-lire action is
studentcounteraction."
Conservative Coalition candidate
Tracy Robinson defended University
administrators for creating these poli-
cies because they were formed in ac-
cordance with federal law. However,
she disagreed with the way they have;
been presented to students.
"Student involvement is usually an
afterthought," Robinson said. "Itwould
probably be easier to ask students be-a
forehand, insteadof presenting acom-
pleted statement for students to com-
ment on."
Beavis n' Butt-Head candidate
Brent House said his party is against,
any type ofcode thatrestricts students'
behavior. He criticized the administra-
tion for placing its needs before those
of the campus.
"I'm sure they're really great for
the University for liability reasons,"
House added. "It saves their butts, but
it hurts the students."
Michigan Party candidate Jacob
Stern said he would like to open a
dialogue between the administration
and MSA to insure student input in the
creation of such policies.
"We need to let them know we're
willing to work toward the future (and)
get our foot in the door to start making
some changes," Stern said. "I defi-
nitely thinkMSA should takeabigger
role."
U'students warming up to defeat..............__
b kxJddre agaI 6nsth 1 taeUnl r~y h e scho M' ht oI Ec~ta e~p
OSU ini 11th iannulBlood Bal e h " '0 1b °~wil
By SHARi SITRON
FOR THE DAILY
Just in case the Wolverines lose to
the Buckeyes, Alpha Phi Omega Ser-
vice Fraternity (APO) and the Ameri-
can Red Cross are working hard to
ensure the University is not defeated
in the Blood Battle as well.
The 11th annual Blood Battle be-
tween the University and Ohio State
University (OSU) begins today and
runs for two weeks until the football
game Nov. 20.
The main goal of the competition
is to collect blood and to promote
awareness that there is always a des-
perate need for blood.
The University leads the competi-
tion, 7-3. However, Ohio State gained
possession of the trophy last year when
it defeated the University.
"They're really excited down there
because Ohio State's football team is
doing so well," said Neal Fry, the
University's regional Red Cross rep-
resentative.
'If I was ever In a
situation where I
needed blood, I would
want to know the favor
would be returned.'
-Doug Whittington
president,
Alpha Phi Omega
"Ohio State took the trophy away
from us last year and we want it back,"
he said.
The winner of the contest is deter-
mined by calculating which school
collects the greater percentage of its
goal after a two-week period. The
University's presentgoal is 2,680 units
of blood, up 440 units from last year.
A need for blood is constant in the
United States, where many surgeries
are canceled due to a shortage of
blood supply. One person's donation
may help four or five different people.
When asked why she wanted to
donate blood, LSA first-year student
Lorie Dakessian said, "I've got an
extra pint around here somewhere.
Why not?"
Nancy Bruggeman, an LSA first-
year student, said she is also eager to
have the chance to donate blood. "I
want a cool free sticker," Bruggeman
said.
Other students indicated they
wanted to give blood because it is a
good cause.
Red Cross representatives said
they want to stress that there is abso-
lutely no chance of contracting a dis-
ease from donating blood and encour-
age everyone to donate their blood.
Doug Whittington, LSAseniorand
president of APO, said it is so impor-
tant for University students to con-
tribute to this effort. "If I was ever in
a situation where I needed blood, I
would want to know that the favor
would be returned," Whittington said.
Student groups
U Archery Club, meeting and
practice, Sports Coliseum, 8
p.m.
D Comedy Company Writer's
Meeting, sponsored by UAC,
Michigan Union, Room 2105,
7p.m.
" ENACT-UM, meeting, Dana
Building, Room 1046,7 p.m.
O Estonian, Latvian &
Lithuanian Club, meeting with
guestspeaker, Michigan Union,
Crofoot Room, 7:30 p.m.
D Saint Mary Student Parish,
Administration Commission,
5:45 p.m.; Bible Study, 7 p.m.;
RCIA session, 7 p.m.; Worship
Commission, 7 p.m.; 331 Th-
, -m-n VCt
beginners welcome, CCRB,
Room 2275, 8:30 p.m.
U Tae Kwon Do Club, training
session, CCRB, Room 2275, 7
p.m.
Events
" Diversity in the Classroom,
video on suggestions for devel-
oping and supporting diversity
in college classrooms, spon-
sored by the TA Training Pro-
gram, LSA Building, Room
2553,4 p.m.
" Environmental Street Fight-
ing, sponsored by ENACT and
the American Lung Associa-
tion, Natural Resources Build-
inc Ronm 1046 '7nm
by Inter-Cooperative Council
Education Center, 1522 Hill St.,
7:30 p.m.
Student services
U Career Planning and Place-
nent, Marketing your Liberal
Arts Degree, Student Activities
Building, Room 3200, 4:10
p.m.; Chase Manhattan Bank,
Michigan Union, Kuenzel
Room, 6:30 p.m.; AMP, Inc.,
Michigan Union, Pond Room,
7 p.m.; Morgan Stanely/Infor-
mation Services, Michigan
Union, Anderson Room, 7 p.m.
U Psychology Academic Peer
Advising, sponsored by the psy-
chology department, West
Ouad. Room K103 call 747-
ABSOLUTE
LAST
WEEK!
SENIOlklR PORTRAITS
Do 't V ~..
I I