e'Elan Unit- One hundred four years of editorial freedom MSA safety walk report details hazardous campus areas Report finds problems with safety phones, lighting By AMY KLEIN Daily Staff Reporter The Michigan Student Assembly has targeted the Medical Center and Markley area, South Forest Avenue 40 North Campus as three of the most unsafe areas on and off campus, in a report released Tuesday. On Oct. 27, MSA asked students, University employees and city offi- cials to look for prominent campus safety hazards in its Campus Safety Awareness Walk-Through. The report contains a compilation of the participants' observations and vided recommendations for safety provements. "The Medical Campus is where I heard the most complaints about," said MSA President Julie Neenan. "My group walked around up there and it's just really scary." Eight groups of participants as- sessed student-populated districts, describing the locations of lighting problems, overgrown shrubbery and crumbling sidewalks. A key concern is the absence of emergency telephones in potentially dangerous areas. City Council member Jane Lumm (R-2nd Ward) participated in the walk of North Campus, an area the group found to be dark and unsafe. "We experimented and tested the response time on one of the blue emer- gency phones," Lumm said. "We ended up waiting over 25 minutes and no one showed up. "The phones themselves should be stationed in more places and should be made more accessible," she said. The Medical Center and Markley area parking lots are characterized as dark and secluded. "The sidewalk along the Arb should be fenced so people can't be dragged into the woods," the report stated. South Forest Avenue also was criti- cized for poor street lighting and for the dark side streets like Oakland and Cam- bridge Court. In addition, there are no public telephones on the street. Poorly lit University buildings, in- cluding the Power Center, the Michi- gan League, Tappan Hall and West Engineering were also highlighted as potentially dangerous to students. "We found that white lights are much more effective than those orange ones," Neenan said. "The orange ones arejust a little too eerie and seem to cast a lot of shadows." The University is currently tack- ling the issue of poor campus lighting, and has appropriated more than $1 million to help improve the lighting Danger Zones The Campus Safety Awareness Walk-Through directed MSA representatives, University administrators and city officials through campus and the surrounding streets in search of safety hazards. The report highlights three major areas of danger: Medical Center and Markley South Forest Avenue North Campus over the next several years. "We'll soon see immediate up- grades around the Undergraduate Li- brary. There will be enhanced perma- nent lighting there and added lighting in parking structures," said University See SAFETY, Page 2 'U' opens parking structures for free nighttime parking year round By JENNIFER HARVEY Daily Staff Reporter In an effort to make campus safer, free nighttime parking is now avail- able to all members of the University and area communities in a number of structures on Central, North and Medi- cal campuses. Parking is free of charge beginning in the early evening hours and will remain so until 5 a.m. The nighttime parking is available year-round, as part of a number of safety initiatives. The University has recently installed additional security lighting and blue light emergency phones and increased patrols made by the Department of Public Safety (DPS). DPS officers routinely patrol the structures to insure their safety. "They monitor the areas quite regularly," said University spokeswoman Lisa Baker. "The system seems to be working well. We want to keep it open to every- one. We hope everyone will take ad- vantage of this opportunity," Baker said. The free nighttime parking was tested in a pilot program last December and January. Students seem pleased by the new permanence of the measure. "I think it's a great idea. It's about time," said LSA sophomore Brandon Howe. LSA sophomore Kate DeMeester said, "I think it's great that it's free all night, but I believe it's more important that they make it safe. I hope they See PARKING, Page 2 66 same-sex . .c couples sign up for 'U' benefits By ROBIN BARRY Daily Staff Reporter The University will extend its benefits program to in- Ode same-sex domestic partners, beginning Jan. 1,1995, as a result of adding sexual orientation as a protected category to the University's anti-discrimination bylaw. "This means that I can now place my partner and my children on my health benefits," said Ronni Sanlo, direc- tor of the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Programs Office. "It means that all University employees are on equal footing, valued for work that they do and not discriminated against." Sixty-six faculty, staff and students are signed up to receive the benefits, at a cost the benefits office estimates U.S. troops may assist in Bosnia Troops would aid U.N. withdrawal Benefits The University's will extend benefits to a person who: 1. Is the same sex as the faculty, staff member or student, Vnd . is not legally married to another individual, and 3. is not related to the faculty, staff member or student by blood in a manner that would bar marriage, and 4. is registered either public or privately as a ember of a Domestic Partnership with a municipality offering formal registration, and 5. has allowed at least six months to pass since a statement of termination of a revious same-sex omestic partnership. will be about $132,000. "It's not a new con- cept," Sanlo said. "Many employers extend cover- age to same-sex couples - Apple, Levi's, Nike, Ben and Jerry's - but many others still need to honor all employees." Regents Laurence Deitch (D-Bloomfield Hills) and Rebecca McGowan (D-Ann Ar- bor) sponsored the change to Bylaw 14.06. "The 'U' anti-dis- crimination bylaw did not offer protection to people because of sexual orientation," Deitch said. "A lot of people thought that was wrong." Deitch said some is- sues such as family hous- ing and benefits to same- sex couples needed more study before they could be understood. After the Board of Regents approved the change 7-1 in September 1993, a committee headed by School of Den- tistry Dean Bernard Machen was formed to The Washington Post WASHINGTON - The Clinton adminis- tration formally notified NATO allies and con- gressional leaders yesterday that it would pro- vide American ground troops to help evacuate United Nations peacekeeping forces from Bosnia if a withdrawal is requested, U.S. offi- cials said. The commitment involves providing about half the evacuation protection force, meaning from 5,000 to 25,000 American troops. A with- drawal would be a massive, highly complex and potentially very dangerous operation for allied forces given Bosnia's mountainous terrain, wide dispersal of U.N. forces, and unremitting warfare between separatist Serbs and the Muslim-led government, officials said. Senior administration officials said President Clinton had decided on the move Tuesday, at the recommendation of his senior advisors. The deci- sion followed several days of discussions about how U.S. policy toward Bosnia would change if U.N. forces were withdrawn. In such case, officials said, the administration would return to the policy it pursued early last year, pressing for a lifting of the arms embargo against the Bosnian Muslims while threatening aggressive airstrikes if the Bosnian Serbs at- tacked the Muslims before the arms imbalance is corrected. In briefings to reporters and congressional leaders, administration officials stressed that the United States continues to believe with- drawing the 24,000 United Nations peacekeep- ers now in Bosnia is a mistake given the hu- manitarian assistance they continue to provide. But Clinton agreed to the U.S. troop commit- ment for the sake of shoring up shaky U.S.- European relations and reaffirming U.S. leader- ship in NATO, officials said. A defense official said NATO allies had expressed "some concern" about whether the United States would join in an evacuation op- eration. Clinton's decision represents a depar- ture from his longstanding position that he would not send American ground troops to the war torn region until after a peace settlement. "This is a demonstration that the United States will assist our NATO allies if their forces are in danger," a senior administration official said. "We hope that it is an operation that does not have to be implemented because we continue to have hopes for a diplomatic situation and believe with- drawal, particularly in winter at a point of the highest risk of starvation, would be unfortunate. "We do not believe that withdrawal is immi- nent," the official added. "Nor do we believe it is See BOSNIA, Page 16 DOUGLAS KANTER/Daiy 'M' heads to Durham to play Duke The Michigan men's basketball team has not beaten Duke since the 1989-90 season. The Wolverines play the Blue Devils tomorrow. See Sports, Page 13. RHA votes to ban grapes in dorm cafeterias investigate the logistics involved in extending benefits to same-sex couples. The commission later recommended to Duderstadt that benefits be offered to same-sex couples. Regent Deane Baker (R-Ann Arbor) voted against the proposal, which he calls poor public policy. "It is ironic because heterosexual couples who are not married but p together are not offered such benefits," he said. University spokeswoman Lisa Baker said the Univer- sity supports the changes. "It is the general desire of the University to encourage no discrimination based on sexual orientation," she said. 0 Duderstadt talks to women's caucus about the Michigan Agenda for Women. Page 5. By KATIE HUTCHINS Daily Staff Reporter The University will no longer serve Califor- nia table grapes in residence hall cafeterias, citing working conditions for grape farmers and pesticides believed to cause cancer. The Housing Division will support the rec- ommendation of the University Residence Halls Association student group, which voted last night to support a boycott of grapes in the residence halls. Representatives from most of the residence halls on campus, the RHA executive board, and more than 40 supporters of the California table grape boycott debated the proposal at RHA's weekly meeting in West Quad last night. The tensions in the room were manifested in heated arguments over procedure and represen- tation as representatives from at least five Latino/ a groups brandished signs carrying the message "No Grapes!" or the emblem of the boycott organizer, the United Farm Workers (UFW). The proposal was finally passed by a 14-2- 2 vote, and supporters filled the room with cheers, applause and hugs. "Personally, I'm amazed, but I'm really happy," said Ernesto Mirles of Michigan State University. "I'm glad to see the University of Michigan is living up to its reputation ... as a liberal school." Mirles and others attended the meeting as representatives of MSU's Chicano student group, Movimiento Estudiantil Chicanos de Aztlan. Before the meeting began, boycott support- ers stood outside West Quad cafeteria handing out fliers detailing the reasons for their support of the boycott. The fliers stated, "The goal of this boycott is to ensure safe and just working and living conditions for the (grape farming) work force." The fliers also detailed high percentages of cancer and birth defects among grape growing populations in California, as well as the alleged effects of grape pesticides on consumers. The support of RHA means the group will compose a letter recommending that the resi- See GRAPES, Page 2 'U' finalists for Rhodes scholar do not advance to next competition level INSIDE FRIDAY FOCUS 3 The University's nuclear reactor sits inconspicuously on North Campus, but it is home to much radiation research.3 JONATHAN LURIE/Daily Student organizations ask the Residence Halls Association to endorse the boycott of California table grapes because of their use of pesticides. Telephone CRISPers get a bad connection By RONNIE GLASSBERG Daily Staff Reporter not related to the new touch-tone sys- tem. - - - - -_ . .,. ... JiIRN ' Iif19V1!16 I _ -' - _ _ - _ ..._ -- _ _