The Michigan Daily - Monday, October 24, 1994 - 3
.New 'U' staff group makes 'coming out' easy, lends support

By ROBIN BARRY
Daily Staff Reporter
University staff members say being gay at
work can be an uncomfortable situation -
but they're working to change all that.
"Knowing when it is safe to be 'out' is
never easy and the threat of harassment or
loss of income or lack of promotional op-
portunities compounds the difficulty for
lesbian, gay and bisexual workers," said
Andy Katz, who works at the University's
Information and Technology Division.
Katz and other University employees are
working to address this problem by forming the
Lesbian Gay and Bisexual Staff Association.

, In a university environment, everyone
should have an opportunity to learn about a
multicultural, diverse community, Katz said.
However, he said, what a university says and
what people do are two different things.
Katz explained that last year he posted a
cartoon featuring gay characters on his wall at
work. An anonymous co-worker complained
and Katz was asked to remove the cartoon by
his boss because it could be considered "rea-
sonably offensive."
"I was a brand-new employee and I didn't
feel that I could take the risk of fighting their
decision," he said. "My department has since
reorganized, however, and I don't work with

all the same people."
Ken Blowchowski, program coordinator
at the Business School, said it surprised him
how many ways being gay affects the atmo-
sphere at work.
"When others ask you what you did over
the weekend, they talk about their husbands
and wives," he said. "You would like to think
that you can join in the conversation."
Still in its infancy, one of the group's
major functions will be to provide lesbian,
gay and bisexual staff with a social forum in
which they can network and find support. The
organization will also provide advocacy for
its members and possibly offer programming.

Blowchowski agreed. He said the group
"gives us a chance to feel less isolated across
the campus. It's all too easy when you're in an
environment that is predominantly hetero-
sexual to feel alone."
Katz said the idea for the organization was
developed this summer over the computer
conference LGM: Rap.
Jim Toy, a University staff member and
former co-coordinator of the Lesbian Gay
Male Programs Office, said he was part of the
old staff association, which broke up about
two years ago. He said the group had dis-
solved because they did not meet often enough.
"We were only meeting on a monthly

basis - a month is a long time to go," he said.
"We were also meeting at people's houses;
you need a consistent meeting place that is
accessible and comfortable."
Toy said he hopes the new organization
can provide a safe and welcoming atmosphere
where people can share common concerns.
"I have concerns about how I will be
treated at the University as a member of a les-
bi-gay constituency," he said.
The staff association now has almost 40
members consisting of full-timepart-timetem-
porary and permanent University personnel
members, including staff and faculty members.

*College
Bowl tests
students
By KELLY XINTARIS
For the Daily
What president served the longest
without any living predecessor?
Who wrote a book about a girl with
a daisy growing atop her head, set for
publication in late 1994?
(Keep reading for the answers.)
They came, they saw, they buzzed
in. The University Activities Center
(UAC) kicked off the 1994 College
Bowl Intramural Tournament this
weekend at the Michigan League.
* Sixty-four four-person teams com-
peted in the first round of a round-
robin tournament that will end Nov. 6
with the finals. The contest will deter-
mine which players are the best of the
best in the "Varsity Sport of the Mind."
The four best players will have the
chance to compete on the varsity team
at the national intercollegiate level.
Michigan clinched second place at
1rhe 1993 National Championships.
Second-year Law student David
Frazee, a College Bowl director and
competitor, said the top 27 teams were
determined yesterday, and that more
teams will be selected through com-
petition tomorrow. Frazee added that
the top teams are chosen based on
their win-loss record.
The college bowl games are played
in seven-minute halves. The two types
4of questions are toss-ups and bonuses.
To answer a bonus, a team must first
correctly answer a toss-up.
UAC awards a pizza party to the
residence, Greekorganization and cam-
pus group with the most points after the
preliminaries. The team with the best
name wins an award.
The best way to prepare for the
tournament, Frazee advised, is to "read
The New York Times from front to
back." Memorizing lists of Oscar win-
ners won't help, Frazee said.
Amir Baghdadchi, an LSA first-
year student and member of the Mighty
Morphin Power Bowlers team, said the
tournament had "fierce competition"
yesterday.
LSA junior Mitchell
Szczepanczyk, a member of last year's
junior varsity team, said, "The com-
petition was easier than what I'm used
to, and that threw me off a bit. I was
anticipating much harder stuff."
Szczepanczyk said that as well as
watching Jeopardy to prepare for
College Bowl games, "It helps to keep
an open mind and read a great deal."
As far as his team's practices, LSA
junior Rusty Kaufman said, "We do
things like thumb-wrestling and quar-
ter-flipping."
In case you were wondering the
trivia answers are: George Washing-
ton and Dr. Seuss.

SAIL AWAY

Recycling plastics raises
confusion among students

Not all plastics can
be recycled because
of high costs and
low demand
By JOHN LOMBARD
Daily Staff Reporter
While the University has an ex-
tensive recycling program, students
often have difficulty determining
which ones can be recycled with the
abundance of plastics on the market.
Part of the confusion stems from
the number system on the bottom of
all plastic containers that was created
by plastics companies or the Society
of Plastics Industry (SPI).
"The companies are participating
in confusing people with the SPI sys-
tem" said Paul Orrin-Brown with
Recycle Ann Arbor (RAA). "The
companies know that plastic is seen
by the public as something to throw
away and trashy."
The industry imprints a recycling
logo, which consists of three chasing
arrows forming a triangle, along with
a SPI number on the bottom of every
plastic container.
The SPI number does not neces-
sarily mean that the container can be
recycled routinely. Rather, the num-

PLASTIC RECYCLING Q o he plastic whether it can be
Some plastics can be re clc
Others cannot. Take thi q z 4. re lastic tops recycled by
for the latest on recyc ng the iv rsity? No. Plastic tops
plastics. must r oved from all
'L If a container h t contain s. e tops are one of
recycling arrow lo It, does the bi roblems for
that mean it d nit ly can be recycling s i s.
recycled? No. a astics 5. If a plastic o ainer cannot
with the logo a be recycled, be put in a Uni er 'ty recycle
but there ar e eptions, bin do I have to r it away?
2. Can S rof am be put in No. If you are int es d you
Universi r ycling bins? While should call the Uni r 'ty's
Styrofo s a plastic, it W ste Management e 'ces
'c7annotr llR ..c Ann
bor's 24 hour hot at 971-
3. Can you te rom e 0o o for alternatives.
EVAN PETRIE/Daily Graphic

ber indicates the chemical makeup of
the container.
Take-out plastic salad trays used
in the Michigan Union have the recy-
cling symbol under the tray but they
cannot be recycled by the University.
Today, the trays cannot be recycled,
but new technology may be intro-
duced that will make that possible.
In theory, all plastic should be
recyclable, but some plastics are too
expensive to recycle or there are no

buyers for that recycled material,
Orrin-Brown added.
"We find that people are frustrated
with recycling because of the chang-
ing rules," said Orrin-Brown. "New
rules usually mean improved tech-
nology and increased varieties of
material that are acceptable."
To find out if a container can be
placed in a University!recycle bin, a
student must have a No. 2 container
See PLASTICS, Page 7

MOLLY STEVENS/Daily
The University's sailing club sponsored a regatta near Pinckney Lake
recreation area over the weekend.
Film looks at impact of
sanctions on ILa qi le

' 'U' broadcasting head dies at 79

By MARIA KOVAC
Daily Staff Reporter
While Iraq's recent inflammatory
troop movements have all but guaran-
teed that economic sanctions will re-
main in place, faculty and students
watched a film Friday night to help
better understand the sanctions' im-
pact on Iraqi citizens.
"Greetings From Iraq," a docu-
mentary that addressed the effects of
economic sanctions on Iraq, was spon-
sored by the Arab American Student
Association.
The film, made in October 1992 by
Signe Taylor, a graduate student from
California, showed images of a deterio-
rating country and a hopeless people.
Children were seen playing atop
the ruins of bombed buildings. Iraqi
citizens spoke of the high prices on
food and goods, people starving and
the great amount of unemployment.
The film crew visited a hospital in
Baghdad where malnourished children
struggled to survive with little medica-
tion. Members of the medical staff gave
frustrated accounts of being unable to
provide the care these children needed.
The embargo limited medical supplies

to hospitals, they said.
Taylor, who narrated the film, says,
"They (Iraqi people) want to put the
war behind them, but the embargo
won't let them."
After viewing the half-hour film, a
discussion followed with the 20 people
in attendance voicing many opinions.
A lively debate centered around
the United States' right to remove
Saddam Hussein from power and
whether alternatives to economic
sanctions existed.
Group members believed that con-
ditions in Iraq had worsened since the
filming of the documentary. Many in
the audience had family members who
still live in Iraq.
"I have most of my family living
there and I don't care if Saddam
Hussein is in power, I'm worried
about them starving. ... My cousin
had to have a C-section without an-
esthesia," said first-year LSA stu-
dent Haytham Bahoora.
Mona Hanna, a first-year SNRE
student, noted that her grandparents are
still in Iraq. "I feel something should be
done about the situation in Iraq. People
should be aware.... It's very severe."

From Staff and Wire Reports
Jerome B. Wiesner, who headed the
University's broadcasting service in its
infancy before advising Presidents John
Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, died
Friday night. He was 79.
Wiesnerjoined the staff ofthe Mas-
sachusetts Institute of Technology in
1942 after directing the University's
broadcasting service and working as
chief engineer for the acoustical record
lab at the Library of Congress.
At MIT, Wiesner researched the
effects of atomic fallout from nuclear
detonation. He helped Kennedy negoti-
ate a partial nuclear test ban in 1963
with the Soviet Union.
Philip Morrison, an MIT professor
emeritus, credited Wiesner with help-
ing curb nuclear fallout through the
partial ban.

"This is theworkofJeromeWiesner
more than anything else," Morrison
told The Associated Press.
Wiesner died Friday night in his
home of heart failure, according to an
MIT press release. He suffered a stroke
several years ago.
Born May 30, 1915 in Detroit,
Wiesner was president of MIT from
1971-80. He was Kennedy's assistant
for science and technology and chair-
man of the President's Science Advi-
sory Committee from 1961-64.
"He was a humanitarian. The issues
that were most important to him were
peace, disarmament, education," his son
Zachary said.
An electrical engineer, he helped
develop the first atomic bomb at Los
Alamos National Laboratory and after-
wards worked to control nuclear arms.

Wiesner

EVEa BARR
T .... _

Correction
The men's gymnastics team still plays at varsity status. This was incorrectly reported in Friday's Daily.

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NENG

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