LocAL/STATE
The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, September 11, 1996-- 3
Northwestern
staffer fired after
racial comments
A Northwestern University registra-
tion employee was fired last Friday after
.tittering racial slurs to an Asian
American senior during student regis-
tration, according to the The Daily
Northwestern, the school's student
newspaper.
The employee, whom NU declined
to identify, reportedly said to senior
4oanna Chien, "Young lady, watch your
outh or go back to the Orient."
The comment stemmed from an
argument between Chien and the
employee that began when Chien asked
about a petition to graduate early.
In addition to the termination of the
employee, NU will also submit a writ-
ten apology to Chien, The Daily
Northwestern reported Monday.
Northwestern University Registrar
Donald Gwinn said that this is the only
lncident of its kind that he's seen in 20
~years.
"It was an isolated incident. One per-
son got angry and overreacted and con-
fronted the student in an inappropriate
manner," Gwinn told The Daily
Northwestern.
Chien was reported as being general-
ly pleased with the administration's
response but was upset that she was not
given the name of the employee.
Campus Text
sues U Penn
The Philadelphia discount text com-
pany Campus Text filed suit against
,Barnes & Noble and the University of
Pennsylvania last Friday for allegedly
interfering with its business ventures,
The Daily Pennsylvanian reported
*onday.
The suit claims that U Penn hoped to
lessen competition between Campus
Toxt and The Book Store, which
8 rnes & Noble operates. Terry
Elizabeth Silva, Campus Text's attor-
ney, told The Daily Pennsylvanian, the
<school's student newspaper, that the
university was attempting to prevent
-Campus Text from distributing promo-
tional information.
,Silva and her clients have filed a
~chlarge of assault against U Penn police
- for trying to take Campus Text co-pres-
i0ent Doug Levy into custody for hand-
ing out promotional literature. In addi-
tn, they have requested injunctions
for constitutional rights violations and
interference with business.
Campus Text co-president Mike
Saewitz told The Daily Pennsylvanian
& t1t university police have harassed and
hreatened his employees -95 percent
Qf whom are U Penn students - with
.crminal citations and arrest.
Saewitz said he harbors no ill feel-
ings toward U Penn, but does not want
any interference "with (Campus Text's)
rights to conduct business," The Daily
Pennsylvanian reported.
°:UVA fraternity
members brawl
A brawl between members of the
Delta Sigma Phi fraternity and two
grdonsville men broke out early last
Saturday morning at the University of
yirginia, according to The Cavalier
;ily, UVA's student newspaper.
The fight began after "the people at
A lta Sigma started yelling at these
an saying look at these faggots,"'
Charlottesville Police Sgt. Pleasant told
heCavalier.
'"Delta Sigma Phi President Neil
Malhotra, who was struck in the head
vith a board, was reported to have
received mild injuries.
Witnesses told the campus newspa-
per that about 10 Delta Sigma Phi
members were involved in the fight,
-'d'uring which an unidentified
Charlottesville resident was struck over
the head with a brick.
Pleasant said the night's events
*emain unclear because alcohol was a
factor in the incident. An anonmyous
Delta Sigma Phi member claims the
Gordonsville men were "looking for a
fight," The Cavalier reported.
- Compiled by Daily Staff Reporter
Janet Adamy.
Engler names
Saginaw officer
as new drug czar
M Education programs
are key in war against
drugs, appointee says
By Jennifer Harvey
Daily Staff Reporter
When Darnell Jackson takes over as
the state drug czar Oct. 7, it will mark
the first time a police officer is at the
helm of the state Office of Drug
only exits are death and imprison-
ment."
Engler spokesperson John Truscott
said he expects Jackson to take a
"proactive role" in the office. "He'll be
very visible." Truscott said. "He
knows what it takes on street level to
get the job done and he has a big story
to tell."
The Office of Drug Policy, which has
about a dozen employees, disburses
approximately S40 million in U.S.
Justice Department grants to state dreg-
fighting groups
each year. The
groups include
pressure u n d e r c o.v er
JOSH BIGGS/Daily
LSA Rep. Mike Nagrant speaks at last night's meeting at The Trotter House. With little seating at the alternative location,
many members had to sit on the floor.
MSA returns to part yfighting
Control Policy.
"I feel pressure
get this thing
turned around,"
Jackson said. "I
want to get the
office more
involved with
the public."
Gov. John
E n g l e r
announced
J a c k s o n1 ' s
appointment
Monday.
"(Jackson) is
to get it done and
1Ifeel 1
-get this t
turned ar
By Will Weissert
Daily Staff Reporter
Michigan Student Assembly Vice
President Probir Mehta admitted
before last night's meeting that he was
nervous about having to act as the
meeting's chair in the absence of the
president.
As it turned out, the meeting went
less than smoothly.
"This is back to the old MSA of
party politics," said Engineering Rep.
Mike Pniewski. "It's very disappoint-
ing."
The meeting was marred by heated
debate and confusion. Statements such
as "what is this?" "what are we voting
on?," and "what's going on?" were heard
increasingly as patience ran thin on all
sides.
When the smoke cleared, MSA had
tabled the only two major resolutions
until next week's meeting.
The first resolution members dis-
cussed would have prohibited students
campaigning for an MSA office from
attaching posters or fliers to any paint-
ed surface on campus.
After extensive debate, members
decided the measure would have to be
tabled for a week so it could be
reviewed by the rules and oversights
committee.
The assembly then debated a resolu-
tion that would require a two-thirds vote
from members for approval of internal
or external assembly spending.
MSA's rules state that only a majori-
ty of members is necessary for spend-
ing to be approved.
After more than half an hour of dis-
agreement and conflict, the second res-
olution was also tabled so that members
would have more time to review their
options.
Toward the end of the meeting, about
the only thing the assembly could agree
on was adjournment.
LSA Rep. Jonathan Winick was dis-
turbed by the meeting's lack of accom-
plishment.
"I don't think I've ever been so upset
about an MSA meeting as I am right
now - and I've been here three years,'
he said.
Mehta said his inexperience as chair
may have fueled the disagreement and
confusion, but because the meeting took
place at Trotter House instead of MSA's
office in the Michigan Union things
were not as heated as they mignt have
been.
"It was my first time so I was a
little rusty, but I tried to make it
flow," he said. "I think (the Trotter
House's) environment helped calm
things a bit, because if we had been
in the chamber, it really would have
been bad."
Despite previous expectations of a
high student turnout for last night's
meeting at Trotter House, the change in
venue did not attract many observers.
Only a handful of students who are not
on the assembly attended.
Mehta said internal assembly issues
like those discussed last night usually
lead to heated conflict. "This was
housekeeping and housekeeping got a
little tense," he said. "Tension had to
happen sometime, and tonight became
sometime."
MSA will try to resolve these same
"housekeeping" issues next week.
State drug
f
ideally suited to lead Michigan's drug
control policy," Engler said in a state-
ment. "Not only is his reputation one of
being tough on dope dealers, he is also
adept at educating communities and
forming partnerships with them to take
back their neighborhoods from drug-
dealing predators."
Most recently in his lengthy drug-
enforcement career, Jackson has
served as a member of the Saginaw
Police Department, prosecuting drug
cases. He said he would use his experi-
ence as a tool for spreading a stronger
anti-drug message.
"1 want to focus more on prevention
and education, rather than on treatment
and incarceration," he said.
College students will be one target
of his anti-drug efforts, Jackson said.
"I want to tell them there's no such
thing as recreational and casual drug
use, because by doing drugs once, you
open a door to a highway where the
drug units in1
zone and law enforce-
met agencies
5116 and programs
o n "like Drug
A b u s e
arnellJackson R e s i s t an ce
czar appointee Education.
Former Gov.
J a in e s
Blanchard created the drug czar post n
1989, appointing Donald Reisig, a for
mer president of the Michigan Bar
Association.
After Engler defeated Blanchard an
1990, he tapped New York native
Robert Peterson for the post.
Peterson drew fire for controversial
positions, such as his crusade to take
832 million in federal drug education
money away from Michigan school
health programs, which included sec-
tions on sex education. Since Peterson
resigned from the post last August,
attorney Thomas Ginster has served as
acting director.
But Truscott said Peterson's prob-
lems were partly a result of "tu'rf
wars" over Engler's push 'to consoli-
date federal grants from throughout
state government under the drug
office's control.
- The Associated Press contributed
to this report.
Clean-up, investigation continues after lab fire
By Heather Miller
Daily Staff Reporter
Dressed in a soot-covered lab coat and yellow rubber gloves,
research associate Celeste Malinoski wiped clown a computer. A
bucket of black water was on the floor next to her feet.
She began working at 10:30 a.m. yesterday to clean up the
damage caused by a small fire in the Natural Sciences build-
ing Monday night.
"We're kind of all in shock," Malinoski said of the fire,
which started in Room 3113, one of the research laboratories.
Joseph Wyatt and Troy Adams, who both work for
Building Services, discovered the fire at approximately 10:30
p.m. Monday.
"We were working in the stairwell area and we smelled
smoke,' Wyatt said. "When we looked through the door we
saw a lot of smoke.... It was just a black cloud."
Wyatt and Adams then pulled the fire alarm and dialed 911.
The Department of Public Safety and the Ann Arbor Fire
Department are still investigating the cause of the blaze, but
Malinoski said there were "some flammable materials" under
the fume hood where the fire occurred. A fume hood is a
device used to contain and remove chemical fumes.
"There is no good place to have a fire, but to have one in a
fume hood is better than to have one in a room because (the
fume hood) acts as a chimney," said DPS spokesperson
Elizabeth Hall. "If something happens in a fume hood, it will
be drawn up."
The AAFD dispatched five trucks and 17 firefighters to
the scene. The firefighters were at the scene for approxi-
mately 2 1/2 hours, said Battalion Chief Gary Basso.
The building's sprinkler system activated after the fire
started and helped to keep the fire contained. "The sprinkler
controlled the fire," Basso said.
DPS estimated damage from soot and water at about
S10,000. Malinoski said the lab computer will probably have
to be replaced because of soot damage, and that microscope
lenses were damaged by water. The ceiling tiles will also have
to be replaced.
"There's a lot of soot," Malinoski said, adding that water
damage to the floor "wasn't so bad."
"It'll be a couple of days of just cleaning," Malinoski said
about preparing the lab for working conditions. "Everyone's
been really good (about helping to clean)."
Malinoski said the ceiling must be replaced before any
equipment can be brought back into the laboratory because of
the danger of soot falling from current ceiling tiles.
"We have another suite, so we're setting up our equipment
that survived there," Malinoski said.
JOSH 8IGGS/GDily
Monday's fire at the Natural Science Building started in this fume hood. DPS est
mated damage from the resulting soot and water at about $10,000.
Local NAACP branch plagued by debt, lack of support
By Brian Campbell
Daily Staff Reporter
A series of failed fund-raisers has forced the
Ypsilanti-Willow Run branch of the NAACP into
debt, leaving the agency hoping for sufficient
donations to avoid bankruptcy.
Raymond Mullins, president of the local
NAACP branch, said people sometimes forget that
the civil rights organization must operate like a
business.
"We have to heighten awareness in the members
of our community," Mullins said. "They tend to
thitik you can do things without money. We're
about civil rights, but it takes money."
Mullins said part of the agency's financial trou-
bles stem from local members' inexperience at
maintaining an office, which was acquired two
years ago, but said he is particularly frustrated by
affluent blacks not sharing their success with the
NAACP.
"Some people who have jobs making five or
six figures haven't supported us like you'd think
- they forget the group that fought the battles,"
he said. "We need to call on this segment of soci-
ety for their brainpower as well as their dona-
tions."
To bring in the badly needed donations, the
branch will be holding the C. Eugene Beatty 18-
hole golf tournament Sept. 23 at the Huron Hills
Golf Course. And on Oct. 25, the branch will have
its annual Freedom Fund dinner.
Mullins emphasized the difficulty of raising
money in the black community.
"We haven't operated on a level with majority
organizations in the community," he said. "If we
had a white budget it would be four or five times
what it is now. That's one aspect of being an
African American in this country: less job oppor-
tunities and chances for promotions"
Mullins, who has been president of his branch
for eight years, said the office has received gener-
ous donations from non-blacks in the past, but sup-
port is still thin.
"We get donations from all people who believe
in what we're trying to do - battling for civil
rights, equality and equal opportunity in terms of
job availability," he said. "There are some good
people who support our mission, but we do need
more support."
Nationally, the NAACP has also suffered severe
financial troubles. Mullins said the NAACP - the
nation's oldest civil rights organization, founded in
1910 -- was $3.5 million in debt only a few years
ago. But organizers announced at this year's con-
ference in Charlotte, N.C., that the debt had been
nearly eliminated.
The Ypsilanti-Willow Run branch, founded in
1918, has 550 members, most of whom livejn
eastern Washtenaw county. Ninety of the group's
members live in Ann Arbor.
Mullins said future donations will go toward
paying rent, utilities and dues to the national
NAACP. The branch also hopes to hire a secre-
tary.
For more information regarding the golf touma-
ment, dinner or general donations, contact the
Ypsilanti-Willow Run branch of the NAACP at
(313) 480-9654.
ILIL LNLLENLNR
What's happening in Ann Arbor today
Come to a Daily Mass Meeting tonight!
7 pm. in the Student Publications Building at 420 Maynard St.
Call 76-DAILY for more info.
GROUP MEETINGS
Q Consider, mass meeting, Michigan
nn 7.*on m
9 p.m.
J WCBN Sports Broadcasting, recruit
meeting, 647-4128, Student
Activities Building, Basement, 6
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