The MichiganDaily - Thursday, March 17, 1994 -3 'Big Three' student representatives unite to increase funding . By ROBIN BARRY DAILY STAFF REPORTER Student government officials of Michigan's collegiate "Big Three"- Michigan State University, Wayne State University and the University of Michigan -joined forces yester- day in an attempt to convince legis- lators to increase funding for higher education. Brad Thaler, student assembly chair for the Associated Students of Michigan State University said the three universities decided to work together because they have much in common. Representing more than 100,000 students, the schools are na- tionally recognized by the Carnegie institute as "research intensive." "We felt, as larger research uni- versities, that some of our interests were different than other universi- ties," Thaler said. Speaking before the House Higher Education subcommittee in Lansing, student leaders lobbied for at least a 3-percent increase in funding for their schools. Thaler said the representatives added a student perspective to issues being addressed. Craig Greenberg, president of the Michigan Student Assembly, also testified for the 35,000 students at the University. "We wanted to show the people in Lansing that our three student bod- ies are serious about being heard. We feel students should have a major say in the running of state higher educa- tion system," he said. Although the University is repre- sented by the Michigan Collegiate Coalition, a statewide lobbying or- ganization, Greenberg said there was no reason the University should not be contributing to those efforts. Each of the three representatives mentioned examples where students faced difficulty finding sufficient funds to cover university costs. Nedda Shayota, vice-chair of the Intergovernmental Relations Com- mittee and member of the Student Council of Wayne State University, said in his testimony, "The national economic situation has taken its toll on everyone -especially students." Thaler and Greenberg agreed that the testimony was a success. "I think this is the beginning of a great joint effort between our univer- sities," Greenberg said. Greenberg said there was much more the University could do to in- crease and improve the quality and funding level of higher education for all Michigan's research universities. "The next step is to increase our efforts with more participation of the students of our three schools. We need to do more than just testify; we need to increase communication be- tween our schools and between our students and the state government," he said. Seminar focuses on . "women and AIDS r. 'U' science center receives grant for research on lasers By REBECCA GORDON -FOR THE DAILY The 50 seats in the small East Lecture Room of the Rackham Build- ing overflowed yesterday afternoon when the Michigan Initiative for Women's Health (MIWH) led a "Woman and HIV" seminar. Eve Mokotoff, chief HIV/AIDS epidemiologist for the Michigan De- partment of Public Health, led a talk that emphasized the growing need to educate women in light of the high number of HIV-positive women in the state. Throughout the seminar Mokotoff presented many statistics concerning women and HIV in the state. Michigan ranks as the 14th highest state in the country for cases of women with HIV. The number of women that have been tested HIV-positive in Michigan alone ranges between 650 and 2,100. "HIV data is so difficult to draw conclusions about because there are millions of biases," Mokotoff said. The risk category data in the De- troit Metropolitan region show 59 *percent of HIV-positive women at- tained the virus through the use of injected drugs, while 13 percent of HIV-positive women became infected after having sex with a partner who had used injected drugs. Because of the high correlation between drug use and HIV-related diseases, Mokotoff said, "The key to preventing the dis- ease is to concentrate on drug usage." Mokotoff mentioned an undeter- mined category to describe those women whose HIV-positive status did not fall under categories such as blood transfusion, drug use or sex. Motokoff said a common mistake people make is to assume the unde- termined category encompasses women who have contracted the dis- ease from mosquitoes or toilet seats. But she said women who fall under this category are "sexually active people who didn't know enough about partners to tell us, or didn't want to admit the truth about their partner." "Women are the newest, fastest growing group of AIDS cases," said LSA senior Juliet Rogers, a work- study assistant inresearch for MIWH. "I think MIWH provides a forum that allows students, staff and the whole university community to interact and talk about issues of women health. It really gives students an opportunity to get more involved in important but neglected issues." Donna Schaldenbrand, a Nursing senior, said this was the first MIWH seminar she had attended. "I think this type of seminar can help me in my studies because it is an important is- sue for women," she said. By SCOT WOODS DAILY STAFF REPORTER A sizable grant from the National Science Foundation will assure fund- ing for the University's Ultrafast Optical Science Center (UOSC) through 1999. The Center received the first in- stallment of the $13.9 million, five- year grant last week. Prof. Gerard Mourou, UOSC di- rector, said, "It's the most prestigious money you can get in this country." Research into ultra-short laser pulses is the primary focus of the Center's work. The technology has applications in high-speed fiber optic communications, computers and three-dimensional medical imaging. Mourou, a professor of electrical engineering and computer science, said, "Ultrashort optical pulse research has had and will continue to have an enormous impact on future advances in medicine, high-speed electronics and communications." Past successes of the four-year- old center include developing the fast- est optical detector in the world, new lasers for use in spectroscopy and an optical "valve." These products are now being manufactured by various spin-off companies. The grant constitutes approxi- mately 40 percent of the center's an- nual $5 million budget. The rest comes from the University, governmental agencies and corporations. Aside from supporting research, the grant will fund the center's educa- tional efforts. The center sponsors several projects for younger children, including summer camps that feature laser technology. Autumn Craft, the Center's ad- ministrator, said educational programs are a vital part of UOSC's mission. "There's a point around fourth grade where interest of females in sciences decreases severely," she said. Craft added that the Center works to keep females and minorities inter- ested in math and science during those early years. In the future, Mourou and his as- sociates will work to develop an X- ray laser, which could accelerate elec- trons. This may allow scientists -to build sub-atomic colliders up to 1000 times smaller than current technol- ogy permits. MARK FRIEDMAN/Daily Eve Mokotoff, public health epidemiologist, discusses the problems facing women with the AIDS virus yesterday afternoon in the Rackham Building during the Michigan Initiative for Women's Health seminar. *Israel refuses new Palestinian demands NEWSDAY WASHINGTON - Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin voiced a hard line against any immediate new con- cessions to the Palestinians yester- * day, while at the same time holding out an olive branch to Syria. Alluding to the killing of 29 Pales- tinians by an Israeli settler in Hebron three weeks ago, Rabin said Israelis "are also victims of terror. ... Our women and children have lived in the shadow of terror for decades. Not a week passes when we don't bury our dead." "We don't think it appropriate to raise new demands after every terror attack," Rabin said at a news confer- ence at the White House with Presi- dent Clinton. "Security is a two-way street." But senior administration officials said later that in his meeting with Clinton yesterday Rabin had indicated Israel was prepared to take new steps to ensure Palestinian security in the *occupied territories if Palestine Lib- eration Organization (PLO) Chair Yasser Arafat agreed to resume the peace talks he broke off after the massacre. They said, however, that the two leaders had not concentrated on any specific proposal. "A variety of ideas came up," said one official at a White House briefing. In response to a question yester- day, Rabin mentioned the possibility of reconstituting a Palestinian police force under Israeli command in areas where there has not been any Israeli withdrawal. Palestinian police, who were accused of being collaborators with Israel, resigned after the Pales- tinian uprising began in December 1987. Israel and the Palestinians have already agreed on a force of 8,000 to 9,000 Palestinians under Palestinian command in Jericho and the Gaza Strip, from which Israel has agreed to withdraw when negotiations are com- pleted. From its base in Tunis, Tunisia, the PLO told Reuters that Rabin's stand meant that peace talks, sus- pended by Arafat after the Feb. 25 massacre, were deadlocked. "We are disappointed by Rabin's position," said PLO executive com- mittee member Yasser Abed-Rabbo. "The Israeli government did not re- spond in any positive way to our de- mands, and (this) leads us to a kind of a deadlock." Rabin raised the possi- bility of moving ahead on talks with Syria, which also broke off peace negotiations after the massacre. U.S. officials see the move as a way of pressuring Arafat to come back to the table so as not to fall behind his rival, Syrian President Hafez Assad. "We will stand ready to do what is required of us if the Syrians are ready to do what is required of them," the Israeli leader said, an allusion to con- cept of returning the strategic Golan Heights, captured from Syria in 1967, in exchange for a peace treaty. There are painful decisions to be made, Rabin said. "The promise of peace and its genuine benefits ... jus- tifies making such decisions vis-a-vis Syria." Clinton said he had talked to Assad by phone a few days ago and was convinced "he wants to make peace with Israel." issue during Oxford-style debate WASHINGTON (AP) -There's no shortage of talk on the floor of the House of Representatives. Prepared speeches and strict time limits can make real discussion rare. Congress sought to change that last night by staging a proper Oxford- style debate, complete with a resolu- tion, opening and closing statements and questions from opponents. The format called for 90 minutes of in- depth argument on a single subject. "I've thought for a long time that the debate was really statements and speechifying, and that we need real debate," said House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt (D-Mo.) "We get a lot of constituents saying, Why are you always wrangling all the time? Why are you all making these parti- san presentations? Why can't you work it out?" he said. The topic of Wednesday's debate was the topic in Congress these days: health care reform. And those debat- ing included some of the subject's key players, like Rep. Pete Stark (D- Calif.), whose House Ways and Means subcommittee is currently working on a bill, and Rep. Bill Thomas (R- Calif.), the ranking Republican on Stark's panel. The aim was not just to argue the finer points of employer mandates, universal coverage and choice of doc- tors. It also makes a good impression. The 100-minute debate was being carried live on C-Span. The hope was that when Amfericans tuned in, they would see and hear substantive de- bate on philosophical issues, not bills. "Often we get so caught up in the minutiae of the legislation, and the public isn't interested in that," said Rep. Robert Walker (R-Pa.) who has been coaching the Republican team. Last night's debate was the first of three to be held in the House as part of 90-day experiment. If the experiment works, it could do wonders for the image of Congress. U.S. House takes on health care t Somalia plagued by cholera outbreak MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) - An outbreak of cholera first noticed in Somalia last month has become an epidemic, with more than 100 people already dead and the toll growing daily. Christian Clark, a spokesperson for the U.N. Children's Fund, ex- pressed concern yesterday that ef- forts to control the epidemic could be jeopardized by the withdrawal of Western military forces. The United States, Germany, Italy, France and several other nations are removing their troops from the U.N. peacekeeping force in Somalia by the end of March. With them are going helicopters and airplanes that for more than a year have often been put at the disposal of U.N. and private aid agencies, allow- ing them access to parts of the country unreachable overland. "It's a real worry," Clark said. "Our ability to get around could be severely restricted." Cholera was first detected in the northern port of Bosaso a little more than a month ago. Since then, it has spread 1,000 miles south to Kismayu and to a number of points in between. In Bosaso, 664 people have con- tracted the disease and at least 22 have died, Clark said. He said there were unconfirmed reports of 256 cases and 42 deaths in Belet Huen, near the Ethiopian border in central Somalia In Kismayu, 250 miles south of Mogadishu on the Indian Ocean, 261 cases have been confirmed the past four days, Clark said. Mogadishu it- self has reported 431, with an uncon- firmed number of deaths. Cholera is a viral disease most commonly contracted by drinking impure water. Its symptoms include high fever, vomiting and diarrhea that leave its victims critically dehydrated. Group Meetings U Amnesty International, Michi- gan Union, Anderson Room, 7:30 p.m. U Campus Crusade for Christ, Dental School, Kellogg Audi- torium, 7 p.m. U Haiti Solidarity, First United Methodist Church, 120 S. State, 7:30 p.m. U Jewish Feminist Discussion Group, Hillel, 7 p.m. U Korean Students Association, 2203 Michigan Union, 7 p.m. U Saint Mary Student Parish, Lenten scripture sharing, 11 a.m.; Parish Pastoral Council, 7:30 p.m. U Society of Women Engineers, 1200 EECS Building, 6:15 p.m. U VIA Hillel, Hillel, 7 p.m. Events Chemistry Building, 7:30 p.m. Q "Contemporary East Euro- pean Poetry," Emery George, sponsored by the Department of Slavic Languages, Lane Hall Commons, 4 p.m. Q "Cross Generational Trans- mission of Wealth and Social Standing in the Maros Vil- lages of Southern Hungary: 2000 B.C.," John O'Shea, spon- sored by the Museum of An- thropology, 2009 Museum of Natural History, noon. Q "Excellence and Resilience: The African Past, Present, and Future," sponsored by the Black Student Union, Business School, Hale Business Audito- rium, 7 p.m. U Free Health Fair, sponsored by Nursing Students, North Cam- pus Commons,10 a.m.-2 p.m. English, Rackham Amphithe- ater, 5 p.m. Student services Q 76-GUIDE, peer counseling phone line, call 76-GUIDE, 7 p.m.-8 a.m. U Alternate Career Center, ca- reers in the nonprofit sector, 2213 Michigan Union, 10 a.m.- 5 p.m. Q Campus Information Center, Michigan Union, 763-INFO; events info., 76-EVENT; film info., 763-FILM. Q Federal Tax Workshop, Inter- national Center, 9 a.m. Q North Campus Information Center, North Campus Com- mons, 763-NCIC, 7:30 a.m.- 5:30 p.m. Q Professional Development for International Spouses, spon- U a KIr CHINESE CUISINE " s m A A II I " -- i n n ~iIh i I i TnlIrn _/'uv+ .per.