LOCAL/STATE
The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, December 4, 1996 - 3
Michigan secretary of state to visit Israel to better trade
Alleged rape
prompts protest
on campus
About 100 students at Appalachian
State University in Boone, N.C.,
. rotested in front of the main adminis-
tration building last month, criticizing
the university's handling of sexual
assault and harassment complaints, The
Chronicle of Higher Education report-
ed.
The protests stemmed from an
alleged gang rape of a woman at an off-
campus party sponsored by the Kappa
Alpha fraternity in October. The
*emonstrators criticized the university
for not punishing fraternity members
and for not issuing a statement about
the incident.
A police investigation has not identi-
fied any suspects, said university
. spokesperson Jane Nicholson.
Nicholson said police officers have not
discovered evidence that fraternity
members committed the crime.
0
Threats arise at
San Diego
Three months after three engineering
.professors were murdered at San Diego
State University, officials are investi-
gating a threat against an unnamed
black faculty member, The Chronicle
of Higher Education reported.
An anonymous flier discovered in a
campus library last month said a bomb
would be placed in the faculty mem-
ber's car. The flier included a racial slur.
Rick Moore, a San Diego State
spokesperson, said the flier referred to
the earlier shootings and said, "You'll
be the fourth professor to be killed."
More said no details of the attack were
specified.
The university's 68 black professors
*and teaching assistants were offered
escorts and more secure parking spots
after the threat was discovered.
Moore said officials suspect the threat
may have been the work of a student.
Contagious virus
hits Dartmouth
A survey of 1,000 Dartmouth
College students found that 45 percent
of the student body has a virus that
causes upper respiratory problems and
an itchy rash, the school's student
newspaper, The Dartmouth, reported.
The Centers for Disease Control in
Atlanta administered the survey via the
jnternet in mid-November to determine
what kinds of symptoms students with
the virus have.
. CDC Director of Health Services
Jack Turco said CDC and College
Health Services see no need to place
restrictions on the campus because the
symptoms are relatively mild.
Turco said the virus lasts up to 3 1/2
weeks with rash symptoms beginning
"on the neck.
Arepresentative, from the CDC is
currently on campus to investigate the
situation.
Villa Julie pres.
fined for smoking
A few years after she established a
-policy prohibiting smoking in campus
_ iuildings, the president of Villa Julie
College in Stevenson, Md., was fined
$1,312 for smoking in a washroom, The
Chronicle of Higher Education reported.
An anonymous tip led the Maryland
0Occupational Safety and Health
Department to Carolyn Manuszak, who
.was smoking in the washroom next to
3 -her office. A report said the president
admitted to smoking in her washroom
but said she had tried to exhale the
smoke through a window.
Manuszak set a strict smoking policy
.in 1994, and in a memo said "there
would be no exceptions made for times
of inclement weather."
- Compiled by Daily Staff Reporter
Janet Adamy.
Correction
By Jeff Edridge
Daily Staff Reporter
In a world increasingly referred to as
a global village, Candice Miller is try-
ing to raise Michigan's international
profile in an effort to build stronger
commercial ties.
The Michigan secretary of state is
scheduled to travel to Israel from Dec.
7-16, as part of an entourage of gov-
ernment officials from several U.S.
states. While there, Miller will meet
with Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu, members of parliament,
Israel's chief rabbi and several mem-
bers of the country's business com-
munity.
"It's my great honor to have been
asked to participate," Miller said,
adding that she is looking forward to
"really understanding the country and
the customs" and meeting with Israel's
leaders.
As foreign trade becomes increas-
ingly integral to industrial nations,
many U.S. states work on an individ-
ual basis with other nations to foster
commercial cooperation. Miller said
the opportunity to work on bettering
trade ties was an incentive for her to
make the trip.
"The world is becoming smaller all
the time," Miller said. Michigan has
worked to be proactive in building rela-
tionships with industrial nations, she
continued, although a trip of this sort is
unusual.
Talking to Netanyahu will be one of
the trip's highlights, she said, adding
that she will be the first Michigan offi-
cial to personally meet with the recent-
ly elected prime minister.
"I'm curious to meet him," Miller
said. "He certainly is an incredible
international figure, and obviously.
extremely conservative. From those
perspectives, it will be an interesting
conversation, certainly."
Miller also said she is looking for-
ward to touring Israel and getting a
sense of its history. Visiting during the
holiday season and touring the coun-
try's holy grounds will be an added ben-
efit to the trip, she said.
"It certainly couldn't be happening
at a better time of the year," Miller
said.
The trip is sponsored by Project
Interchange, an organization funded
by foundations and individual
donors. In the last 10 years, more
than 1,500 state officials, members
of Congress and other leaders have
participated in Project Interchange
seminars.
12 new members
get first taste of
MSA procedures
IOSH BIGGS/Daily
Charles Baxter, renowned author and University English professor speaks at Rackham Auditorium yesterday. Baxter only gives
reads on campus every three or four years.
Renowned author, ''Prof.
Baxer re'adS from his fiction
Assembly passes
proposal supporting
student regent
By Will Welssert
Daily Staff Reporter
At last nights meeting, some members
of the Michigan Student Assembly could
not find seats around the table and were
forced to sit in window sills or stand up.
The lack of seating was caused by the
filling of six previously vacant seats.
MSA held two meetings last night:
one to bid farewell to the six members
leaving the assembly and another to initi-
ate the 12 newly elected representatives.
"It was a little overwhelming;" said
incoming LSA Rep. Jennifer Genovese.
"There was a little more debate and pol-
itics involved in the process than I was
expecting."
Outgoing LSA Rep. Amer Zhar, who
was unsuccessful in his bid for re-elec-
tion, said he would still be active in
assembly politics.
"I think I got a lot done, but I would
have liked to do more" Zhar said. "I
will still be involved. One thing I
learned from being on MSA is it's easi-
er to stir things up from the outside than
from the inside sometimes."
Zhar used the constituents' time por-
tion of the second meeting to discuss
upcoming programs he will work on in
the next few months.
In an effort to make the newly elect-
ed assembly members feel comfortable,
LSA Rep. Willie Jurkiewicz established
an assembly buddy system in which
veteran members will act as mentors
for those new to the process.
"The purpose of this program is so
(new representatives) don't have to sink
or swim - you can hit the ground run-
ning," Jurkiewicz said.
But some new members said they
had already experienced the assembly
firsthand.
"I've been to some meetings in the
past and this one was true to form, said
incoming LSA Rep. Doug Yatter, who
served as vice chair for MSA's Academic
Affairs Commission this term.
"I must admit I was a little nervous
speaking in front ofthe whole assembly
- but I'm glad to be here and I look
forward to speaking more during future
meetings;' he said.
The new members were treated to a
lengthy debate on ammending a pro-
posal that calls for the creation of a stu-
dent regent.
LSA Rep. Andy Schor, who drafted
the original motion, said the measure
would have to be reworded to allow all
voters in the state to vote in student
regent races.
"Legally we have to do this - I don't
want to see this struck down because of
a loophole;" Schor said. "I'd love to
have just students vote for a student
regent, but we can't do that."
But other assembly members said
statewide elections would mean that the
state political parties would chose
potential candidates.
"The two parties will pick a candi-
date and one will win," said
Engineering Rep. David Burden.."The
students won't be electing a student
regent, the two political parties will."
LSA Rep. Dan Serota said a student
candidate would not be able to get on
the ballot.
"It's impossible for a student to get
on a statewide ballot," said LSA Rep.
Dan Serota. "A student won't get the
necessary signatures - you'd have a
better chance of running against Carl
Levin because at least then students
would care."
After more than 30 minutes of dis-
cussion, the measure passed 27-7.
Schor said now that the measure has
been accepted, assembly members have
their work cut out for them.
"In the next six months we need to get
260,000 signatures to get this on a
(statewide) ballot," Schor said."This will
be my life during the next six months.'
By Alice Robinson
Daily Staff Reporter
Seeking advice on how to get over
her lost lover, Kit, a character in a short
story titled "The Cures for Love;"
turned to the Latin writings of the
Roman author Ovid.
"I tell you, when you're heartsick ...
trust me, get knocked down in public,
you'll be helped up," was Ovid's
advice.
Later in the story, Kit takes the
advice. But the results are less than sat-
isfying. "OK, so it happened as predict-
ed, but it didn't make you feel wonder-
ful (comfortably numb was more like
it);" Kit said in the story.
University English Prof. and
renowned author Charles Baxter, who
created Kit, told the audience her story
last night at Rackham Amphitheatre.
Although Baxter lives in Ann Arbor, he
said he doesn't do readings at the
University "more often than every three
or four years."
The meticulous attention to detail in
Baxter's fiction kept the 160 audience
members intrigued during the two half-
hour-long selections, a piece from the
novel "The Feast of Love" and the short
story about Kit.
Baxter's first selection described the
narrator's steps in a disappointing quest
for love, including an impulsive excur-
sion to Jackson, Mich., and his
inescapable observance of couples in
the throes of love.
In "The Cures for Love" Baxter
focused on Kit's feelings as she comes
to grips with the fact that her lover has
gone away.
Many audience members said
Baxter's reading met their expecta-
tions.
"I thought it was splendid, both the
work in progress and the work
achieved," said English Prof.
Nicholas Delbanco. "It had that spe-
cial slant of his that brings every-
thing into relief while remaining in
the first light."
As Baxter read his work, different
phrases caused knowing smiles or
chuckles to escape from the audience.
Baxter's unique and memorable style
was evident in his word choice and
descriptions, from referring to a
woman's nod as "therapeutic" to
describing a man in Chicago's O'Hare
Airport as wearing a polyester suit and
reading USA Today.
Baxter said he was pleased with his
reading of the first selection, "The Feast
of Love?' "I liked reading it - it's fun;'
he said.
A former student of Baxter's,
English lecturer Lauren Kingsley said
she went into Rackham Amphitheatre
confident of what she was about to
hear. "I know his work and it's as good
as I expected it to be,' she said. "He's
a sure thing.'
4 in GM-VW lawsuit seek
postponement of crininal case
DETROIT (AP) - Four key defen-
dants in General Motors' corporate
theft lawsuit against Volkswagen AG
want the case against them postponed
until criminal charges in Germany are
resolved, their attorney said yesterday.
Attorney Plato Cacheris told a judge
in U.S. District Court that he will file
motions by Dec. 13 asking that the civil
case be delayed against Jose Ignacio
Lopez, Jose Manuel Gutierrez, Jorge
Alvarez and Rosario Piazza.
All four are under investigation by
German authorities in the alleged theft
of trade secrets from GM and its
German subsidiary, Adam Opel AG.
They also are being investigated by a
federal grand jury in Detroit, Cacheris
said.
No charges have been filed from
either investigation, but Cacheris said
the German case is expected "to come
to fruition" by year's end. Lopez's
Frankfurt lawyer said last month that he
expected Lopez to be charged in
Germany soon.
GM alleges that Lopez, a former GM
purchasing chief, conspired with top
VW executives to steal trade secrets
when Lopez defected to VW in 1993
with several other managers from the
world's largest automaker. GM seeks
unspecified damages in the lawsuit,
filed in March.
If Edmunds grants the motion, pro-
ceedings against VW, its U.S. sub-
sidiary and other company executives
presumably would continue. But VW
attorney James Denvir said the case
probably would not come to trial until
1998 because of its complexity. He pre-
dicted a trial would last at least nine
months.
Denvir said no negotiations for an
out-of-court settlement were under way,
but that VW remained willing to dis-
cuss one.
GM and Opel publicly have taking a
hard line with VW, insisting that any
settlement would have to include a pub-
lic apology, the dismissal of the remain-
ing VW managers named in the lawsuit,
and significant damages.
OPEN-MINDED
BIBLE STUDY
all denominations welcome
all faiths welcome
all sexual orientations welcome
all people welcome
FRIDAYS 3:30-5:00
at Canterbury House
Blue house past the Frieze Bldg.
721 E. Huron
The headline on the front page of Monday's Daily should have read: "Israel eyes permanent spots in West Bank."
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EVENTS
U "Advent Evening Prayer," spon-
sored by Lutheran Campus
Kelsey Museum Tappan
Building, Room 186, reception
to follow, 6-7 p.m.
0 "South Quad Safety Forum," spon-
sored by South Quad Council,
444C, 7-11 p.m.
U Northwalk, 763-WALK, Bursley
Hall, 8 p.m.-1:30 a.m.
U Psychology Peer Academic
Advising, 647-3711, sponsored
by.. ln.. k..I dVnal. fnrtmfant
,