LOCAL/STATE
The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, April 3, 1996 - 3
Yale workers
strike, close
aintenance workers at Yale Uni-
versity went on strike last week, caus-
ing the shutdown of 11 of the
university's 12 dining halls. They said
they plan to strike for a month.
The university brought in temporary
custodial workers to re-open the halls
for service.
The workers have been negotiating
for a new contract with the Yale admin-
istration since last November, but have
t reached an agreement.
'Gypsy scholars' teach
Bosnian soldiers
Soldiers serving around the globe and
in war-ravaged former Yugoslavia are
earning college credit in makeshift Uni-
versity of Maryland college classrooms.
The students are taught by a rare breed
professors, known as gypsy scholars,
o have been teaching since the post-
World War II reconstruction ofGermany.
"I suppose you have to have a sense
of adventure to teach for us," said Jo-
seph Arden, director of the university's
European operations.
The sun never sets on this universal
university that specializes in "distance
education," with nearly two-thirds of its
35,000 students scattered far from its
College Park, Md., campus in countries
has Ireland, Iceland and South Korea.
s term the mission is to instruct
some of the 20,000 U.S. troops de-
ployed in the former Yugoslavia to keep
the peace. An expected 400-plus stu-
dents seeking bachelor's and associate
degrees can choose fron nine subjects,
from business to sociology.
Violence threatened at
Jniversity of S. Florida
A letter was recently delivered to the
Oracle, the student newspaper of the
University of South Florida, threaten-
ing that "War Purgers" would blow up
the school's administration building and
kill an unnamed female professor un-
less a public apology was issued to a
former faculty member.
The professor, Ramadan Abdullah
Shallah, left the university last spring.
rst fall, the university learned Shallah
d become the leader of Islamic Jihad,
a terrorist group in the Middle East. The
letter did not state why the university
had to apologize.
The letter said the threats would be
carried out on April 29 unless the apol-
ogy was issued and the letter was run on
the front page of the Oracle.
Students rally against
'lgotry at UNC
Students attheUniversityofNorthCaro-
lina recently rallied against bigotry after
vandals drew swastikas and "KKK" in at
least 40 of the university's library books.
The books covered topics of social-
ism, communism and Marxism. Sev-
eral dealt with Jewish and women's
issues. The books have been removed
from circulation and will be repaired.
The students asked the administration
develop a policy against hate crimes
andto sponsormore diversity workshops.
"This kind of hate comes out of igno-
rance, which is evidenced by the fact
that some of the swastikas were back-
wards," UNC student body president
Aaron Nelson said.
-Compiled by Daily Staff Reporter
Jennifer Harvey.
State legislators
call for end to
affirmative action
AP PHOTO
Who's afraid of the Easter Bunny?
Eighteen-month-old Anthony Kirvan of Clio, Mich., cries on his mother Diane's shoulder Monday as he gets his picture
taken with the Easter Bunny at Courtland Center Mall in Burton, Mich.
MSA reject s proposal to
c ondenGE after debate
By Stephanie Jo Klein
Daily StaffReporter
After state legislators return from
their two-week recess April 16, affir-
mative action in Michigan could be-
come a thing of the past.
Bills introduced by state Reps. David
Jaye (R-Washington Twp.), Michelle
McManus (R-Lake Leelanau) and
Penny Crissman (R-Rochester) call for
the elimination of affirmative action
programs in employment, business con-
tracts and college admissions.
Jaye's legislation would allow voters
in the 1996 general election to decide
whether or not to ban preferential treat-
ment based on race, color, religion, sex
or ethnicity.
Crissman's bill would prohibit em-
ployers and educational institutions
from altering criterion or test score cut-
offs used for promotion or admission
depending on racial status.
TheMcManusamendment to the Michi-
gan Civil Rights Acts would differslightly,
allowing employers to use voluntary affir-
mative action programs only in the ab-
sence of quotas, goals or timetables.
Before the recess, the House Judiciary
subcommittee on affirmative action
heard public testimony about the issue.
A vote scheduled for last Wednesday on
whether to send the bills to the larger
Judiciary and Civil Rights Committee
was postponed until after the break.
Once the committee reviews the bills
and passes them to the House floor for
final approval, Jaye said the bills should
receive widespread support from both
Democrats and Republicans.
"We're going to win," he said, adding
that 50 other representatives co-spon-
sored his bill and several other legisla-
tors had already pledged their support.
"Minority preferences are racist, evil
and un-American," he said. "Why
should a rich black kid from West
Bloomfield, whose parents are doc-
tors, get in (to a school) over a poor
white kid with a welfare mother from
Mt. Clemens?"
Jaye, a 1976 graduate ofthe Univer-
sity, said he first experienced racial
discrimination when he was an LSA
student having problems with classes.
"I struggled in my math and science
classes and needed a tutor," he said.
"For minority students, tutors are free.
Tutors should be open to everyone."
Andrew Adams Ill, president ofthe
University's Native American Student
Alliance, said the legislation could have
a catastrophic efffect on the number of
students of color at state universities.
"All it's going to do is re-establish
the unequal playing field of American
society," said Adams, an LSA senior.
Jaye said the University's minority
drop-out rate is three times that of
other universities. "You're not help-
ing these kids by throwing them into a
competitive environment."
Adams said financial, not academic,
concerns lead to the low retention rates
for students of color.
"Jaye's statement implies that affir-
mative action is dealing with kids that
aren't intelligent enough to get in oth-
erwise," Adams said.
Lester Monts, the University's vice
provost for academic and multicultural
affairs, said ending affirmative action
would be a mistake.
"There are many aspects of affirma-
tive action that are very much needed,
particularly for institutes of higher
education," Monts said.
Arguments that schools should only
base admissions on merit, he said, is
not realistic. "You just can't count test
scores and grade-point averages as
factors to measure how successful stu-
dents will be at the University ofMichi-
gan," Monts added.
GEO bargaining team
member apologizes for
misleading assembly
By Laurie Mayk
Daily Staff Reporter
A motion to condemn the Graduate
Employees Organization prompted one
of the Michigan Student Assembly's
strongest votes of support for the orga-
nization this year.
LSA Rep. Dan Serota submitted a
proposal to the assembly last night con-
demning GEO for announcing its two-
day walk-out before completing arbi-
tration and mediation processes. Serota
said the assembly passed its resolution
last month in support of the walk-out
while under the impression the action
would be a last resort.
"The assembly passed something
based on the idea (the walk-out) would
be after a meditation," Serota said.
GEO Bargaining Secretary Mike Sell
said his original timeline was skewed
when he discovered there would not be
a state mediator available until April
10. Waiting until after mediation could
push the walk-out into finals or the
spring term.
"I wish to apologize for misleading the
assembly during my last appearance,"
Sell saidtothe assembly. "When I laidout
the timeline, it had been my understand-
ing that mediation would indeed fall be-
fore any work action. I was wrong."
Members of the GEO steering com-
mittee and members of the assembly
you're perceived to have"
The assembly voted overwhelmingly
to defeat the proposal and later voted
against another proposal involving the
GEO walk-out.
"It shows that support for GEO has
only gotten stronger as the year's gone
on," said Rackham Rep. Ray Robb.
Some members,
spoke against the
proposal.
"I think there is
a difference be-
tween trying to use
the assembly ...
and not being
aware of the situa-
tion," said Fiona
Rose, MSA presi-
dent-elect.
Rackham repre-
sentatives warned
the assembly that
condemning GEO
would have nega-
It shows that
support for GEO
has only gotten
stronger as the
year's gone on"
however, main-
tained their dislike
for GEO's walk-
out.
"In order for
GEO to show their
power, they are go-
ing to take away the
education people
pay for and try to
shut down the ad-
ministration,"
Serota said.
GEO's walk-out
is scheduled for
Court ruling stops
Kevorkian jury selection
-- Ray Robb
representative
Rackham
tive repercussions on the organization's
negotiations.
"It's going to give the appearance
that the students are no longer behind
GEO," Rackham Rep. John Lopez said.
"It's not how much power or bargain-
ing power you have, it's how much
April 8-9, pending unsatisfactory re-
suIts of current negotiations with the
administration. The assembly passed a
sign-up sheet for members to pledge a
show of support by picketing with
graduate student instructors during the
walk-out.
'UJ' researchers develop new
gene themapy against AIDS
PONTIAC (AP) - The Michigan
Supreme Court halted jury selection in
Dr. Jack Kevorkian's trial late yester-
day and ordered the state appeals court
to consider whether prosecutors must
prove he intended his patients to die.
The high court in Lansing ordered
the Michigan Court of Appeals to rule
on the appropriateness of Oakland
County Circuit Judge David Breck's
preliminary jury instructions. The jus-
tices did not elaborate.
Breck ruled earlier that, based on
Michigan common law, the state must
prove that Kevorkian knew two women
sought to commit suicide, that he gave
them the means and that his intent in
doing so was to help them die.
The prosecution appealed the intent
instruction last week to the appeals court,
which declined the case. Prosecutors ap-
pealed to the Supreme Court on Monday.
Defense attorney Geoffrey Fiegerwas
angry after yesterday's decision.
"The prosecutor must prove beyond
a reasonable doubt that Dr. Kevorkian
intends to kill people, which he doesn't,"
Fieger told reporters. "And the pros-
ecutor knows Dr. Kevorkian'sonly true
intent is to relieve pain and suffering.
"The prosecutor keeps appealing,
knowing they can't prove that."
Without the intent instruction,
Kevorkian's pain-and-suffering defense
would be less useful, because the state
would need to prove only that he knew
the women wanted to kill themselves
and that he provided the means.
Oakland County prosecutor Richard
Thompson said the state simply wnts
to eliminate any confusion for jutors
about the importance of Kevorkian's
intent. He said it is best to get the ruling
before testimony begins.
By Alice Robinson often pass before severe and potentially
Daily Staff Reporter fatal opportunistic diseases, such as
University researchers have perfected
a special gene-replacing technique that
could prolong the lives of HIV-positive
people by postponing the onset of full-
blown AIDS.
The study was published yesterday
in the Proceedings ofthe National Acad-
emy of Sciences.
Once HIV is contracted, several years
pneunomia, set in.
"This is really sort of a pilot study,"
said key researcher Dr. Gary Nabel.
"It's the first time we've been able to
use genes to attack the virus."
Scientists put man-made genes into
three patients' immune systems in the
pioneering study. The genes produced
an HIV protein, which stopped the vi-
orrection
achael Holmes was incorrectly identified in Monday's Daily.
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What's happening in Ann Arbor today
rus from multiplying within the pa-
tients' T-cells.
Researchers caution that similar stud-
ies need to be conducted on a larger
scale in order for concrete conclusions
to be drawn about whether the gene
therapy can extend AIDS patients' lives.
None of the patients experienced
negative effects from the research,
which indicates that the gene therapy
could be safely tested among a larger
group of AIDS patients.
Gene therapy is the introduction of
different genes into human cells with
the intention of producing a different
result, said Nabel, an internal medicine
professor.
The scientists were quick to point out
that the gene-to-cell transfusion is a
promising development in AIDS re-
search, but not a panacea.
"It's not aimed at curing anything,"
said Clive Woffendin, assistant research
scientist for the project.
Zhi Yong Yang, a research investi-
gator in internal medicine who worked
on the project, noted that the study's
implications were more intense because
no other such research has been con-
ducted.
"This is probably the first kind of
trial ever done in the whole world," he
said.
Nabel said the success of the study
startled scientists at first. "When the
early results came in ... we quite hon-
estly didn't believe it, because in sci-
ence you often have false starts," he
said.
"We view it as an important step
forward... butwedon'tthinkourwork's
done yet,"'he said.
Nabel noted that the study would not
has h 4an nncha x,, hnth~ i~raa
I COOKIES
Spring has sprung,
I'm no longer bummed,
g Off/to Peabody's I run,
For some yum, yum, yums.
® Treat yourself to a Cookie,
Muffin, or nonfat Colombo Frozen Yogur
* 715 N. University 761-CHIP
* Mon-Thurs 8:30am-6:30pm Fri 8:30am-5:30pm Sat 10am-5
hm m mimnm m m
mm
KI
I
rt.
:30pm r
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GROUP MEETINGS
J AIESEC Michigan, general mem-
ber meeting, 662-1690, Busi-
ness Administration Building,
Room 1276, 6 p.m.
U American Baptist Student Fellow-
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9376, First Baptist Church, 512
E. Huron, 5:30 p.m.
U Connections Support Group, for
women returning to school for
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7210, CEW Center, 330 E. Lib-
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J Latin American Solidarity Com-
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cglenn@umich.edu, Michigan
Union, Anderson Room, 8 p.m.
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D, 7 p.m.
Q Taekwondo Club, beginners and
other new members welcome,
747-6889, CCRB, Room 2275,
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EVENTS
Q "A RustlingofLeaves," documentary
screening, sponsored by Maoist
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TBA
Q "Bridging the 'Is'-'Ought' Gap:
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, "Fall Orientation Leader Preview
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Q "The Patriot Game and Irish
U "The Structure of Organolithiums
in Solution: Structure-Reactivity
Relationships," Roger Clark, or-
ganic seminar, Chemistry Build-
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J.. "Thylias Moss," poetry reading,
sponsored by Shaman Drum
Bookshop and Third Wave, Sha-
man Drum Bookshop, 313 S.
State, 8 p.m.
STUDENT SERVICES
U Campus information Centers,
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