The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, April 12, 1994-3 Graduates bid adieu to 'U' with Senior Days celebration By REBECCA DETKEN DAILY STAFF REPORTER What do Bill Cosby, They Might Be Giants and Morton Downey Jr. have in common? They are all part of the Senior Days '94 festivities. The first annual Senior Days cel- ebration began Sunday and will run through April 30. Several events are *planned to commemorate graduation. Everything from tips on how to go ,:about finding a job to comedy acts " ,will be featured. A2 council *swears in three new m,11embers By JAMES M. NASH DAILY STAFF REPORTER Family, friends and political sup- porters filled City Council chambers last night as the city's legislative body welcomed three new members. Democrats Patricia Vereen-Dixon Kof the 1st Ward, Haldon Smith of the 3rd Ward and Christopher Kolb of the 5th Ward took the oath of office last aight. The three were elected last No- vember, but did not assume office until last night's meeting. A lawsuit by Councilmember Peter Fink (R- 2nd Ward) successfully challenged a voter initiative to switch council elec- * tions from April to November. Fink said the initiative would unfairly shorten his term. Washtenaw County Circuit Court Judge William F. Ager Jr. ruled in :favor of Fink, so Vereen-Dixon, Smith and Kolb had to wait nearly five nonths before taking office. In the meantime, the three spent many of their Monday nights at City ,Hall, watching from the sidelines as the council debated issues both vital ,and trivial to Ann Arbor's future. The three new council members said constituents have called them durng the gap between the Novem- 'brelection and their swearing-in, but Vereen-Dixon, Smith and Kolb 'have had to defer questions. Vereen-Dixon replaces Larry Hunter, the council's longest-serving member and an outspoken liberal ac- tivist. Smith succeeds Robert Grady, a soft-spoken Democrat. Kolb, the secretary of the Ann Arbor Demo- crtcParty, replaces Thais A. J;eterson, the city's mayor pro-tem. Last night, council members mnanimously voted to appoint David Stead as mayor pro-tem. The post is largely ceremonial; the mayor pro- tem's principal role is to chair the ,council in the mayor's absence. Observers rank Stead as a front- runner for the Democratic nomina- 'ion in November's mayoral election. In one of their first moves as coun- cil members, Smith and Kolb intro- iuced and supported the motion to appoint Stead as mayor pro-tern. Before the meeting adjourned, Smith and Vereen-Dixon offered thanks to the many relatives and sup- 'porters assembled in council cham- bers. They exchanged hugs and hand- shakes with current and outgoing col- jcagues before leaving. The meeting adjourned at 8:10 p.m., just 40 min- utes after it began, making it the efest council session in months. Jeff Brake, a member of the Se- nior Days Steering Committee, said, "We are trying to start a new tradition to honor the seniors." The idea for the program was dis- cussed about eight months ago. Start- ing in January, a group of student volunteers from various groups be- gan organizing the celebration. Randy Schwemmin, an engineer- ing junior and head coordinator of the program, described Senior Days as "a collaborative effort of some of the large groups on campus working to create a meaningful program that serves as a bookend." Intended to be a way for seniors to say "good-bye" to the University, the program consists of traditional fare- well activities such as Spring Thaw, Grad Bash and Michigras. New events such as Senior Day at the Ball Park have been added as well. "It's going to be a lot of fun. We have free T-shirts, hats and food," Brake said. Each senior will also re- ceive a gift from the committee when they pick up their commencement tickets. Seniors had a chance to win tick- ets to some of the scheduled events. "We raffled off 500 tickets for Cosby, 50 for the Salif Kieta and Terence Blanchard concert, and 20 for They Might Be Giants," said Kathleen MacKay, adviser to the event. Carol Gerstner, a nursing senior, said Senior Days is a great idea. "It's nice to be recognized," she added. Engineering senior Rhakesh Jha isn't planning on attending any of the events because of everything he has to do. "It sounds like it will be fun, but I just don't have any time," he said. Schwemmin said, "Senior Days is, for me, a way of saying 'Thank- you' to the seniors. It is also a way for them to enjoy the end of the year, relax and reflect." Jarman Davis, an LSA senior and member of the Senior Days Steering Committee, said he hopes seniors get a good feeling from the events and realize "the University does care." While most of the activities are geared toward graduating seniors, all students are welcome to attend. De- tails about the happenings can be found in Senior Days '94 booklets. If students didn't pick one up on the Diag yesterday, they are available at the Student Organization Develop- ment Center in the Union, the Dean of Students' Office, North Campus Com- mons and University bookstores. BEHIND THE EIGHT BALL Violent rampages continue in ethnically torn Rwanda BUTARE, Rwanda (AP) - Chaos, despair and blood flowed through this small African country for a fifth day yesterday. The air was heavy with the stench from thousands of corpses and from the smoke of villages burned by marauders. Hundreds of foreigners have fled since the ethnic-based violence gripped Rwanda. Some foreign aid workers had elected to stay, but even some of the most dedicated were pack- ing their bags yesterday and hoping to find a way to escape. In Butare, Rwanda's second-larg- est city, refugees from the country- side told of gangs of men roaming the countryside, setting fire to villages and hacking the residents to death with machetes. In Kigali, the capital 50 miles north of Butare, automatic weapons fire in the streets played a terrifying coun- terpoint to the roar of shells on the city's outskirts. Armed men, many of them clearly drunk, manned check- points and went house-to-house look- ing for victims. The rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front told Africa No. 1 Radio that its forces had advanced into Kigali and would not sign a truce. "We have not signed any cease- fire agreement and we don't intend to do it," said Christine Omutonyi and Bosco Butera, members of the RPF's political bureau in Kampala, Uganda. The RPF's Radio Muhabura, monitored by the British Broadcast- ing Corp., said the rebels could not sign an agreement with a government it does not recognize. "As far as the RPF is concerned there is no govern- ment in Rwanda," the report said. Rwanda's military and police named an interim civilian govern- ment Friday, headed by Theodore Sindikubwabo, the former head of parliament. Six ministers were an- nounced, including Jean Kambanda as prime minister. They were drawn from parties represented in the previ- ous coalition government. "From the roof of the French school, while evacuees were being loaded on trucks, you could look across a valley and see people, espe- cially women, being hauled out of houses and being beaten to death on the road," Mark Huband, a reporter for the London Guardian, said by tele- phone from Kigali. Huband said there was shelling to the east and north of Kigali's airport, the jumping off point for foreigners unwilling to risk driving through the anarchic countryside. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societ- ies said yesterday it had pulled all but one of its foreign staffers out of the country and "expects the worst" for the 250,000 refugees who had fled earlier violence. The U.N. High Com- missioner for Refugees also has with- drawn its workers. The current bloodshed is an espe- cially grisly episode in the feud be- tween the Hutu and Tutsi ethnic groups, which has wracked Rwanda and neighboring Burundi for decades. The hatred runs so deep that maraud- ers have attacked hospitals, slaugh- tering people as they lay on their cots. Fighting between the army and the rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front broke out after the deaths in a plane crash last Wednesday of the presi- dents of Rwanda and Burundi, who were returning from a summit in Tan- zania aimed at finding an end to the Hutu-Tutsi animosity. The Rwandan government said the plane was shot down, but this has not been confirmed. U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher said all of the 250 Ameri- cans, mostly missionaries and aid workers, who wanted to leave Rwanda had been evacuated by late Sunday. Some were flown to Nairobi, Kenya, while others went by truck convoy to Bujumbura, capital of Burundi. SARAN WtIIINei/aily High school student Cassandra Stevens shoots pool yesterday afternoon. 'U' students work to protect endangered species By APRIL WOOD DAILY STAFF REPORTER It is estimated that by the year 2000, as many as 100 species of plants and animals will become extinct ev- ery day. This rapid loss of endangered spe- cies presents a critical dilemma for environmentalists and legislators to address. During Earth Week activi- ties all this week, ecosystem preser- vation and species protection will top the agenda. Environmental Action at U-M (ENACT) will be hosting letter-writ- ing campaigns at . the MUG in the Union on various environmental topics. "The letter- writing is an op- portunity for stu- dents to get di- rectly involved in these issues that directly affect EARTH WEEK1994 their lives," said Aprid11-15 Mark Reeves, an LSA sophomore and ENACT officer. At present, 9,000 plant and animal species are at risk in the United States. These species are falling victim to logging, mining and urban develop- ment projects that destroy their natu- ral habitats. A Public Interest Research Groups (PIRG) newsletter states that one fourth of all species could be lost within the next 50 years, more than 3,000 species are currently waiting to be placed on the endangered species list and the global extinction rate may rise as much as 50 percent after the year 2050. Proposed solutions emphasize measures toward the protection of natural habitats and multi-species re- covery plans. Once ecosystems where these species live are protected, re- covering-their numbers will become easier. The PIRG plan proposes prioritiz- ing the rescue of endangered species. In saving certain species first, others could be dropped from the list. Environmentalists campaigning for the rescue of species face opposi- tion from timber, ranching, mining and development industries. The American Farm Bureau Fed- eration and the National Forests Prod- ucts Association are lobbying Con- gress to pass a more lenient version of the Endangered Species Act. Supporters of the act are working for the initiation of deadlines for spe- cies recovery and increases in fund- ing for enforcement of protection guidelines. There will be a campaign con- cerning the re-authorization of the Endangered Species Act today at the MUG. For more information, contact the ENACT office at 663-4433. Flexible health care plan causes concern among faculty By LISA DINES DAILY STAFF REPORTER President Clinton's advisers are not the only leaders proposing health care reform. Yesterday, the co-chairs of the University's flexible benefits study committee answered questions from the Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs (SACUA) about the adoption of the new health care and benefits plan. Flexible benefits would allow fac- ulty members to choose from several different options to create their own health care and benefits package. Gil- bert R. Whitaker Jr., provost and vice president for academic affairs, and Farris Womack, vice president and chief financial officer, appointed the committee to study the issue. Co-chairs David Anderson and Chandler Matthews said the commit- tee plans to recommend that the Uni- versity adopt flexible benefits by Janu- ary 1996. The target date for imple- menting the plan was Jan. 1, 1995. Last Monday, The University Record published the results of a tele- phone survey conducted to gage fac- ulty members' attitudes toward flex- ible benefits. According to the survey, 66 per- cent of the staff and 45 percent of the teaching faculty support the develop- ment of a flexible benefits package. The survey also shows wide support for a vision, extended dental and short- term disability plan. -Anderson said that while these improvements can be made, the plan will not be in place by the proposed date."There is no possibility for imple- menting 'Flex' in January 1995. We are beyond the point where we can catch up and implement it by then," he said. Despite the support for the pack- age shown in the survey, many fac- ulty are concerned about the cost and effectiveness of flexible benefits in meeting the needs of the faculty. The flexible benefits package is currently in the planning stages. Many of the details have not been finalized, including the financial parameters - how much coverage will be paid for by the individual and by the Univer- sity. "There has not been an evaluation of what proportion of the staff and faculty will actually benefit from this," said Public Health Prof. Morton Brown. SACUA members expressed con- cern that flexible benefits will lead to increased bureaucracy in medical cov- erage. Anderson said there will be a cost increase during the transition period, but that will diminish after the Uni- versity adjusts to the change. "If you go into- 'Flex,' you are going to spend some more money on communication at first," he said. Group Meetings Q American Movement for Is- rael, Hillel, 7 p.m. CI Amnesty International, Michi- gan Union, Welker Room, 7:30 p.m. C Arab-American Students' As- sociation, Michigan League, Room C, 7:30 p.m. Q Asian Pacific Lesbian-Gay-Bi- sexual Support Group, 3116 Michigan Union, 5:30 p.m. U ENACT, environmental letter writing, Michigan Union, Mug Foyer, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Q Hellenic Students Association, Michigan Union, Kuenzel Room, 8 p.m. U People Opposing Weapons Research and Proponents of Economic Conservation, An- gell Hall, Room 444C, 8 p.m. U Rugby Practice, Oosterbaan, sembly, Michigan Union, Baits Room, 9 p.m. Events * U "Economic Deprivation and Early Childhood Develop- ment," Greg Duncan, Center for Human Growth & Develop- ment, 300 N. Ingalls, noon. Q Frank Browning, sponsored by Borders Book Shop, 7:30 p.m. U From Backpack to Briefcase, sponsored by Career Planning and Placement, 200 SAB, 5-7 p.m. U International Fest - Singing Contest, 2011 MLB, 1-3 p.m. U Speakers/Survivors of Concen- tration Camps & Siege of Sarajevo, sponsored by Bosnian Relief Effort, Michi- gan Union, Pendelton Room, 8 p.m. Michigan Union, 763-INFO; events info., 76-EVENT; film info., 763-FILM. U Deciding Your Career, Career Planning and Placement, 3200 Student Activities Building, 4:10 p.m. Q Federal Tax Workshop, Inter- national Center, come early, 1 p.m. Q Free Tax Assistance, 3909 Michigan Union,10 a.m.-6 p.m. Q International Center, health a insurance, 9 a.m.; practical training, 10 a.m. Q North Campus Information Center, North Campus Com- mons, 763-NCIC, 7:30 a.m.- 5:30 p.m. Q Peer Advising, Undergraduate Political Science Association, 5620 Haven Hall, 10 a.m.-noon, 1 p.m.-4 p.m. Display staff thanks the following advertisers for their donations to our sales meetings: I I m m