The Michigan Daily - Monday, November 15, 1993 - 3
Bosnian editor hopes
for peace in Sarajevo
SCOT WOODS
UAILY STAFF REPORTER
Saying his city is "condemned to
die," Kemal Kurspahic left his duties
last week as editor in chief of
Oslobodenje - Sarajevo's daily
newspaper -- to visit the United
States. He will return soon to the war
in Sarajevo, Bosnia, where Bosnian
Serb forces have surrounded the city.
Aut while he is here, Kurspahic will
ake a plea for help.
Speaking today in the Ostearman
Common Room in the Rackham
Building at 5 p.m., Kurspahic will
explain the forces behind the tragedy
in Bosnia and share his opinion about
whatcan still be done torestore peace.
In an interview with the Daily,
Kurspahic said he has not given up
~lope for his city, but is brutally real-
c concerning its future. "I'm not
sure if there will be a Sarajevo in two
or three years," he said.
"This city atpresent, without any-
one being ready to intervene to stop
the terror, this city is condemned to
die,"hesaid. "Idon'tknowhow much
people can endure."
The country has been torn apart by
nearly two years of ethnic fighting.
Kurspahic called on the United
ations to lift its arms embargo on
Bosnia-Hercegovina and bring war
criminals to trial.
"(The United Nations) has an ill-
defined mission. You can't have a
peace-keeping mission, in a place
where there is no peace."
He also said the United States
should bomb Serbian artillery posi-
tions around Sarajevo to send a mes-
sage to Serbian leaders, adding that
the only thing armed Serbs under-
stand "is the language of force."
Kurspahic calls the violence in
Bosnia "imported terror" brought by
fascists.
In Sarajevo, buildings that stood
through two world wars have fallen to
Serbian shells.
Kurspahic described religious and
publicbuildings as reduced to rubble.
Oslobodenje's modern structure was
also destroyed.
"I was in the building when they
brought the tanks 1504meters from the
building," Kurspahic said. "They fired
seven tank missiles on that occasion,
and this building used to be a glass
and aluminum structure.
"Hit by tank missiles, it behaves
like a living being," he said. "It's
something like the scream of an ani-
mal being kicked by someone. It's a
few seconds of painful screaming.
Despite the loss of its building and
the deaths of three staffers,
Kurspahic's paper has not missed an
issue during 19 months of conflict.
Staffers take seven-day shifts in the
underground shelter, where the paper
is printed everyday. Reporters have
moved to other offices to avoid sniper
fire near the main building.
Kurspahic and his staff have over-
come shortages of paper and supplies
to keep the citizens of Sarajevo in-
formed about military and diplomatic
developments.
Circulation has fallen from 60,000
to between 3,500 and 12,000, depend-
ing on paper reserves.
On days when circulation is low,
fights break out over single copies of
the paper. There is no other news
source in Sarajevo.
The paper continues to print with
the aid of international organizations,
especially news services.
Kurspahic has also made sacri-
fices. He is among the walking
wounded in Bosnia, his leg shattered
in a collision with another driver flee-
ing sniper's bullets. Kurspahic was
unable to get proper treatment in time
for his leg to heal correctly.
But Kurspahic said he thinks
Bosnia's wounds can be healed. He
opposes any division of Bosnia and
said most of the population is willing
to live peacefully in a multi-ethnic
state.
"The whole concept of division is
disputed in the minds of many
Bosnians."
The Bosnian Serb forces are con-
trolled by the Serbian Democratic
Party, which Kurspahic said "never
belonged to that culture of living to-
gether in a multi-ethnic Bosnian en-
vironment."
Kurspahic said the editorial board
ofOslobodenje-withSerbs,Croats,
and Bosnians -- serves as proof that
citizens can still live in peace, despite
rifts caused by the violence.
JONATHAN LURiE Daity
Kemal Kurspahic, editor in chief of Oslobodenje, talks about his hopes for
saving Bosnia before it is destroyed by war.
"We have a mutual encourage-
ment, the paper and its readership.
Oslobodenje symbolizes the hope."
That hope extends to Kurspahic,
who believes a peaceful, multi-ethnic
nation in Bosnia is still possible.
"Within the city, there is still a
huge sense of community, of surviv-
ing. And I believe these people, under
siege for more than 19 months, are
even closer together than they used to
be before the war."
Activist
to discuss
marital
as sault
By COURTNEY WEINER
FOR THE DAILY
Thirty states, including Michigan,
still maintain rape statutes that permit
a man to rape his wife.
So claimed Laura X, founder and
directorof the National Clearinghouse
on Marital and Date rape in Berkeley,
Calif., who will speak in the Law
school today at 3 p.m.
In an interview with the Daily, X
argued laws are supposed to protect
women who are raped while they are
"drunk or drugged" or who have a
mentaldefect. Butin states like Michi-
gan, when a woman is raped by her
husband while under these conditions,
she is not protected.
The Michigan criminal sexual con-
duct statute 750.5201, under Legal
Spouse as Victim, states a spouse
cannotbe charged or convicted solely
because his or her husband or wife is
mentally incapable or mentally inca-
pacitated.
"Ifahusband has sex with another
woman in that condition it is auto-
matically rape. That is therefore an
exemption from prosecution," X said.
In her talk, X, who changed her
name in 1969 to "symbolize the ano-
nymity of women's history and the
legal ownership of women," will fo-
cuson the 13th and 14th amendments,
which outlaw slavery and promise
equal protection respectively. X con-
tended these rights are not granted to
survivors of marital rape.
In many states, the highest courts
have struck down the exemption of
husbands from rape prosecution. For
example, X said, in 1984 the New
York State Court of Appeals decided
there is "no rational basis for any
distinction between the protection for
wives versus other women under the
rape statutes."
In these states, there is an 85 per-
cent conviction rate on completed
cases of marital rape.
X said one woman out of seven is
raped by her marital partner.
X will also discuss popular cases
such as last week's acquittal of a man
who was accused of raping his wife,
who retaliated by severing his penis.
"I understand her despair and rage
because I have been listening to
women for 20 to 25 years, document-
ing their story," X commented. "What
I am uncomfortable about is people's
callous reactions to what happened to
him. It bothers me because I want
understanding for women who have
experienced the trauma of having a
hysterectomy, mastectomy or genital
sexual mutilation.... It's about losing
a part of your body."
Nine members of the jury in the
John Bobbit case were women.
Lorena Bobbit will be tried for
malicious wounding with a possible
sentence of up to 20 years.
JOurnalist tells investigative stories eliCits laughs
By ANDREA MacADAM "At first I said (to my husband), Mitford added that the book also intothe childbirth"business"afterhear- plantowriteanotherbook,sayinglight-
FOR THE DAILY 'Why pick the wretched undertakers? led to a backlash against her credibil- ing midwives' accounts of harassment heartedly, "I've had it. I'm retiring."
Journalist Jessica Mitford dis- They're only doing their job,"' she ity when her subversive background by the medical community. Audience members reacted favor-
played her trademark sense of humor said. was revealed. She said one congres- "I wondered why the doctors are so ably, praising the journalist's presenta-
while delivering the First Annual Butafurther investigation into the sional representative proclaimed the opposed to midwives and I soon dis- tion.
Honors Lecture Friday night.
The small group of attendees that
gathered at the Modern Languages
ilding auditorium heard stories in-
4lving everything from corrupt fu-
neral directors to persecuted midwives
as therenowned"muckraker"recalled
career experiences.
Mitford's first investigative work,
"The American Way of Death," was
published in 1963 after she and her
husband discovered racketeering
practices within many funeral busi-
&esses.
industry revealed unnecessarily high
costs for services, swindling and a
disregard for the law which, Mitford
said, compelled her to write the
ground-breaking book.
The work created a stir, eventu-
ally prompting the government to in-
stitute laws regulating the practices
of the funeral business.
"The whole point of writing this
sort of work is to get results and (the
book) got into the public's awareness
about being fleeced by funeral direc-
tors," she said.
book to be a "pro-Communist work"
and a Californian funeral business
threatened to file a lawsuit against the
journalist because it viewed the book
to be "part of Communist plot."
But none of it fazed Mitford.
"I was thrilled. I was sitting there
like a cat in creme waiting for them to
come around but they never did," she
laughed.
Mitford also briefly discussed her
most recent book, "The American
Way of Birth," published last year.
She said she began her research
covered thatmidwives charge one-tenth
of what doctors charge," she said.
The book deals with the high hospi-
tal costs associated with childbirth and
after its publication, she said, the certi-
fication of midwives became protected
under the law.
One attendee inquired abouther start
in the field of writing. Mitford, who has
no formal background in writing, ex-
plained, "I thought the only thing that
requires no education or training was
writing."
She also divulged that she did not
Physician Raymond Mercier said
he enjoyed Mitford's speech.
"I think she's certainly humorous
and she wants to make people think
about things rather than to just accept
them,"he said.
Clinical Social Worker Susan
Sefansky agreed, "She's got a wonder-
ful eye for recognizing life's absurdi-
ties."
Mitford, currently a visiting profes-
sor in the University's College Honors
department, teaches an investigative
reporting course.
Project SERVE vigil to increase awareness of homeless
By WILL MATTHEWS
DAILY STAFF REPORTER
"There are as many causes of
homelessness as there are homeless
people," saidBrian Dunn, hunger and
melessness coordinator for Project
'RVE.
Dunn called homelessness an enor-
mously complex problem, with origins
that arise from all facets of society.
Project SERVE, a campus organi-
zation that emphasizes involvement in
social issues, is sponsoring and coordi-
nating a vigil on the Diag tonight to
heighten awareness of, provide infor-
on about, and inspire involvement
Mt the problem of homelessness.
"We're attempting to use aware-
ness as alinktoaction and interaction of
people that are often living in two sepa-
rate worlds because of certain reali-
ties," said Dunn. "(The vigil's goals
are) raising the level ofawareness about
the issues, leveling some stereotypes,
introducing new information and facts
about what is going on presently in the
homeless population."
With events like the vigil, Project
SERVE aims to help motivated stu-
dents find means by which they can
take action. Dunn said Project SERVE
hopes to show students the "intercon-
nections of so many different problems
in our society thatcause these injustices
... getting to therootsof a problem and
attacking them on a advocacy level in
addition to a direct service level."
The vigil, which begins at 5 p.m.,
will feature speakers and activities that
aim at advocacy and action.
The Homeless Action Committee
will conduct a walking tour of the im-
mediate campus area.
"The tour is going to illustrate the
idea of how definitive decisions made
by the business community and made
by the local government lead to the
causes of homelessness as well as per-
petuate it," Dunn explained.
A variety of speakers will address
homelessness, followed by a perfor-
mance by student vocal group the
Harmonettes. Project SERVE will also
introduce several new programs.
"Interactive Art" will utilize the
talents of those attending the vigil to
spread information abouthomelessness.
The vigil will come to a close with a
candle lighting accompanied by music.
"We're attempting to bring together
students, faculty, community members
- which includes members of the
homeless community - and to get a
community voice," explained Dunn.
"It's hard to smash apathy, and that's
what we're trying to do. I think a lot of
the apathy and indifference is rooted in
the belief that there's nothing we can do
about it.,"
C ohrrection
The driver of the Maize and Blue is Deanna Winton. This was incorrectly reported in Friday's Michigan Daily.
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Student groups
U Asian Pacific Lesbian-Gay-Bi-
sexual Support Group, weekly
meeting, Michigan Union,
Room 3116, noon
U Association for Computing
Machinery, general meeting,
Electrical Engineering and
Computer Science Building,
Room 1500,7 p.m.
)U Comedy Company Writer's
Meeting, sponsored by UAC,
Michigan Union, Room 2105,
7 p.m.
U ENACT-UM, meeting, Dana
Building, Room 1046,7 p.m.
U Homeless Vigil, sponsored by
DrnnntCTVT.nn#hs .. ....
Boat House, Men 3, 4, and 5
p.m., Women 3:30, 4:30, and
5:30 p.m.
D Shorin-Ryu Karate-Do Club,
beginners welcome, CCRB,
Room 2275, 8:30 p.m.
U Tae Kwon Do Club, training
session, CCRB, Room 2275, 7
p.m.
U Women and Judaism, panel dis-
cussion with representatives
from Reform, Conservative, Or-
thodox, and Humanistic Juda-
ism, Hillel, 7:30 p.m.
Events
U Blood Battle, sponsored by Al-
Commons Room, 4 p.m.
U Opiate Receptors and Behav-
ior, presentation, 1057 MHRI,
Waggoner Room, 4 p.m.
U Science and Tradition in An-
cient Mesopotamia, lecture by
Francesca Rochberg, Frieze
Building, Room 3050, noon
Student services
U Career Planning and Place-
ment, Preparing for the Second
Interview, CP&P, Student Ac-
tivities Building, Room 3200,
4:10p.m.;Georgetown, Colum-
bia, Johns Hopkins, Princeton,
and Tufts universities, Michi-
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ARMY NURSE CORPS. BE ALL YOU CAN BE.
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