The Michigan Daily - Thursday, February 9, 1995 - 3 Students at Rutgers protest pres. Students at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, are call- ing for the immediate resignation of the university's president, Francis Lawrence, after he made a comment they perceive to be racist. During halftime of the Rutgers- Massachusetts basketball game Tues- day night, approximately 150 students crowded the floor and sat down, caus- ing play to be suspended. Yesterday, about 750 students staged a protest rally on an outdoor commons area. On Nov. I1, Lawrence, during a faculty meeting, made an off-hand comment that the reason why African Americans and other minorities gen- erally score lower on standardized tests, such as the SAT, is because they lack the "genetic, hereditary back- ground" to score well. Ironically, thepurpose of the meet- ing was to suggest that low test scores of minority students should not hinder admission. During and immediately after the meeting, no objections were raised to Lawrence's comments. Student anger, mostly among mi- norities, has risen in the past week since Lawrence's' comments were printed in the Newark Star Ledger. Most faculty and the board of governors support Lawrence, but many students disagree. "It's not a Freudian slip when someone says something like that," senior Denise Troope told The Asso- ciated Press. "I know he has helped minorities in the past, but this negates everything he has done." Lawrence has denied the charges that his comment had racial implica- tions. Many people, pointing to Lawrence's good track record of mi- nority recruitment at the university, feel that his comment was not in- tended to be derogatory or racist. They said it was misinterpreted. Study: Campus crime increasing Across the nation, colleges and universities reported an increase in the number of crimes related to drugs, weapons, robberies and aggravated assaults in 1993, according to a study published last week in the Chronicle of Higher Education. There was a decrease in the number of murders, rapes and burglaries re- ported. The report surveyed 796 institu- tions with more than 5,000 students. Drug-law violations increased 34.3percent from 1992,jumping from 3,601 to 4,837. The number of rapes reported declined from 458 in 1992 to 367, or 19.9 percent. Here in Ann Arbor, the University reported no murders, six rapes, seven robberies, 30 aggravated assaults, 184 burglaries, 39 motor-vehicle thefts, 191 liquor-law violations, 215 drug arrests and 12 weapons arrests. The statistics show an increase in all crimes except murder from the year before. In 1992 one murder was reported at the University. -Complied by Daily Staff Reporter Kelly Feeney Speaker describes eating disorders By Deborah G. Weinstein For the Daily Psychologist Sheri L. Szuch, the assistant director of the Institute for Psychology and Medicine, attempted to dispel myths about eating disor- ders during a workshop at the Michi- gan League last night. The program, titled "Friends Help- ing Friends," was part of Eating Dis- order Awareness Week, which runs Feb. 6-10. "Food is not the problem," Szuch said. "An eating disorder is a way of trying to cope. The person with the eating disorder tends to focus on body weight. It is a way of distracting, blocking. It is not coping." Szuch said symptoms may be hard to see, but could include noticeable weight loss, unwillingness to eat in front of others, frequent bathroom trips after meals and excessive exercise. Szuch said approaching a person is difficult, because people tend to ignore what they do not understand and are unsure of how the suspected person will react when questioned. "The question to ask yourself, is what happens if no one says any- thing?" Szuch said. Szuch advises students who sus- pect that a person has an eating disor- der to first get information and under- stand forms of treatment, confirming their suspicions before questioning a friend's habits. Students who are still uncertain can call a service like the institute. When approaching someone, Szuch, in the institute's literature, advises us- ing "I messages," that show concern such as, "When I see you (lose weight, starve, depressed) I feel worried and I want to know if I can help." "The most important thing to do is let the person know you are con- yr..s. I , - r' ,r _V. ', r F Woman files 2nd suit against 'U' By Michelle Lee Thompson Daily Staff Reporter Claiming the University's man- agers are "racist," former Univer- sity Hospitals employee Ella Jones filed her second suit against the Medical Center and her former man- ager, Jeannie Rizzo, last week. Jones' first suit contained com- mon-law tort allegations charging institutional racism, from which the University as a government-run or- ganization is all but immune. In the latest suit, Jones alleges that she was the victim of racial discrimination at the hands of only Rizzo and Jones' immediate super- visor, Janet Hall - a breach of the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act. Hall is not named as a defendant in the case. Jones claims the alleged dis- crimination compelled her to resign from her position, due to declining emotional health. "She decided that her health was more important and she got out - she resigned," said Jones' attorney, Dewey Martin. Jones was hired in 1987 as a clerk III in the obstetrics/gynecol- ogy department and was promoted in 1988 to patient representative. The Ypsilanti resident worked un- der the direction of Rita James and said that she received "good" per- formance evaluations under James' management. When Rizzo replaced James as Jones' manager, she assigned Hall to be Jones' immediate supervisor. "Under the direction and control of ... supervisor Hall commenced an unrelenting campaign of racial discrimination," according to Jones' complaint. In November 1992, Jones said physicians diagnosed her as being "medically disabled to perform her job duties due to work-related stress," according to the lawsuit. The following month, while on medical leave, Rizzo allegedly no- tified Jones by mail that she would have the position of Clerk III once again upon her return. Jones says she was replaced by a white employee with less experi- ence and fewer qualifications. "She was demoted," Martin said. But Gloria Hage, assistant gen- eral counsel for the University, said "Her record justified whatever ac- tion we took and we are satisfied that there was no race discrimina- tion in this case." Hage, who deals with labor-related cases, said she would not release details of person- nel matters. Due to her own emotional dis- tress and severe depression, Jones said she did not return to work at all. "The action we took was not dis- charge," Hage said. However, Jones had earlier called for an investigation by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission before filing suit. Hage said, "EEOC determined that there was no cause to believe there was racism." Jones alleges that her supervi- sors "came down harder on her" after she filed with the EEOC. Now, she seeks an injunction against Rizzo and the University, back pay and future earnings, in- cluding fringe benefits and interest, as well as the cost of litigation for violating the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, which prohibits racial discrimination. She is seeking the same damages for retaliation by Rizzo and the University that fol- lowed her EEOC complaint. Jones claims these amounts total more than $1 million. "I am anticipating they're going to deny everything," Martin said of the University's reaction. 62 STEPHANIE GRACE LIM/Daily This sculpture stands between the Fishbowl and the Diag as part of Eating Disorders Week. cerned," Szuch said. "Be sensitive to the fact that you may get a variety of responses. They may run out of the room, yell, cry. "Let them know you are there," Szuch said. "They may not bring it up again, but may return weeks, or months later. They may not get treat- ment, but that is not your failure. That you told them is your victory." Szuch also addressed the impact an eating disorder has on friends and relatives. "Everyone knows someone who has an eating disorder," Szuch said. "But you need to know where to draw the line and distance yourself. Know that you tried. "I'm not saying to throw your friend away," she continued. "But you may have to distance yourself, not because you don't care, but because you have to take care of yourself. It's hard to watch someone kill themselves." Marcella Raimondo, a first-year School of Public Health student, helped organize the presentation. "I did it because of my history with anorexia," she said. "I would like people to see that it is not some- thing to be ashamed of. My friends wanted to help me. I would feel really good if someone left feeling they know what to say. That really matters." Local vendors share their wares in Black business fair By Stephanie Jo Klein Daily Staff Reporter Strains of West African music wafted through the air of the Michi- gan Union Ballroom yesterday as ven- dors sold their wares at the Ann Arbor African American Fair. The fair - ajoint project between Minority Student Services and the Office of Academic Multi-Cultural Initiatives - hosted a slow stream of customers throughout the day. Daria Young, one of the fair's organizers, said she "felt the fair went smoothly, but I would have liked more students attending or faculty attend- ing because it is a rare opportunity to have all of these Black-owned busi- nesses in one place at one time." The Center for African and Afro- American Studies ran a similar fair in pastyears thatonly involved students, Young said. This year's fair com- bined the local community with stu- dent entrepreneurs. LahTisha Evans, an LSA sopho- more, said she was disappointed with the low attendance at the fair. "It really is a good opportunity for people to network with each other. I didn't even know there were this many Black- oriented businesses in Ann Arbor," said Evans, who represented Dymonz, a student organization for community service and educational programs. Several participants hinted that the small crowd at the event was partly due to the timing and the light publicity. Derrell Locket, of D's Ceramics in Detroit, said, "It could have been a bit more advertised. Other than that, I can't complain." The Washtenaw County Health Services also tested about 25-30 people for high cholesterol and blood pres- sure at the fair. "It gives us a nice amount of time to really talk to people who are higher risk for heart disease and talk about diet and exercise in a more relaxed way than if you have to work real fast," said Ann Schreiber, a Health Services employee. Afrovisions, a business in Lan- sing, sold cards and calendars with such popular figures as Malcolm X, Dizzy Gillespie and Bob Marley. Store owner Saleem Shabazz said he found the atmosphere to be "real low-key, compared to some of the other shows we do, but we did OK in sales." Lamp starts Markley fire By Jodi Cohen Daily Staff Reporter A small fire forced the evacuation of approximately 1,300 residents of Mary Markley Hall at 6:30 a.m. yes- terday. Resident AdvisorDerek Clark said a lamp fell over in a double room and the lightbulb landed on a resident's bed. "Rumor has it they weren't sober ... the mattress began to smolder, and put a lot of smoke in the room," Clark said. According to an e-mail report sent to Markley staff, a janitor smelled the smoke and contacted Housing secu- rity. The smoke alarm in the affected room did not activate. Clark said the word "smolder" was used in the report to describe the mattress. "It was not just singed, but obviously there was some sort of fire going," he said. WIgFrEEgss QX3JBOg(* BY PARTICIPATING IN A FOCUS GROUP ON YOUR FIRST YEAR EXPERIENCE AT U OF M Please complete the following information and drop the form off at 6015 Fleming Administration Building or email all of the information to: debmor@umich.edu by Friday, February 17, 1995. time, and meeting location. We will contact you to confirm your assigned date, Correction While several individual members of the Michigan Student Assembly at the Tuesday night meeting condemnedLSA sophomore Jake Baker's posting of a "slasher" story on the Internet, the Assembly as a whole did not condemn Baker. This was incorrectly reported in yesterday's Daily. Name: Phone #: Mailing Address: .'rSrr 'C#:'.LED Sex: Male _ Female Race/Ethnicity:. - Caucasian _ African American Native American Latino/a What's happening in Ann Arbor today _Asian American ._ Other: rst - Second _ Th GROUP MEETINGS U Bible Study and Fellowship, spon- sored by ICM, 763-1664, Baits II, Coman Lounge, 6-8 p.m. 0 Environmental Issues Commission, Earth Week mass meeting, 665- 4542, Michigan Union, MSA Of- fice, 7 p.m. U Eye of the Spiral, informal meeting, 747-6930, Guild House Campus Ministry, 802 Monroe, 8 p.m. 0 Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, 764-5702, Dana Building, Room 1040, 7 p.m. U Queer Unity Project, Michigan Union, 10 p.m. U VIA Hillel, Habitat For Humanity, Call 764-0655 for location, 5 p.m. 0 WOLV Progamming: Toolbox, 7-8 p.m. and 10-11 p.m.; MSA, 8-10 p.m. EVENTs r, U . *AMCI ..5L . A r. . A a e In M of English, Rackham Amphitheatre, 7:30 p.m. Q "Fun Flicks: Totally Interactive Video," sponsored by Michigan League, Michigan League Ballroom, 4-10 p.m. Q "Haiti: A Just Peace? Or Just 'Peace'?," Bishop Thomas J. Gumbleton, sponsored by Haiti Solidarity Group, St. Mary Stu- dent Parish, Lower Chapel, 7:30 p.m. Q "Michael Awkward Talking About His Book, 'Negotiating Difference: Race, Gender and the Politics of Positionality,'" sponsored by Black History Month, West Engineering, Hayden Lounge, 4 p.m. O "Mr. Smith Goes to Tokyo: The Japanese Cinema Under the Ameri- can Occupation, 1945-1952," sponsored by Center for Japanese Studies, Lane Hall Commons Room, 12 noon O~ "Michisan State a nd WavnA StatA Building, 8-11 p.m. B "Ultrafast Studies on the Solvated Electron and Near Field Scan- ning Optical Measurements on Dye Aggregates," special CUOS and physical seminar, sponsored by Department of Chemistry, Chemistry Building, Room 1640, 4 p.m. Q "Using Technology in the Job Search," sponsored by CP&P, Stu- dent Activities Building, Room 3200, 4:10-5 p.m. STUDENT SERVICES Q 76-GUIDE, 764-8433, peer coun- seling phone line, 7 p.m.-8 a.m. Q ECB Peer Tutorial, Angell Hall Com- puting Site, 747-4526, 7-11 p.m., Mary Markley, 7-10 p.m. O Campus Information Center, Michi- gan Union, 763-INFO; events info 76-EVENT or UM*Events on GOpherBLUE F nr,+k namim Inma+in Pn ntar Year: Fir iird _._ Fourth _ > Fourth Please indicate all dates and times you are available to participate. Mon. Mon. Tues. Tues. Wed. Wed. Thurs. Thurs. Fri. March 6 March 6 March 7 March 7 March 8 March 8 March 9 March 9 March 10 12n-1:30pm 4:00-5:30pm 12n-1:30pm 4:00-5:30pm 12n-1:30pm 4:00-5:30pm 12n-1:30pm 4:00-5:30pm 12n-1:30pm Mon. Mon. Tues. Tues. Wed. Wed. Thurs. Thurs. Fri. March' March' March' March' March' March' March March' March 13 13 14 14 15 15 16 16 17 12n-(1:30pm 4:00-5:30pm 12n-1:30pm 4:00-5:30pm 12n-1:30pm 4:00-5:30pm 12n-1:30pm 4:00-5:30pm 12n-1:30pm I i '