_LOCAL/STATE

The Michigan Daily - Friday, October 4, 1996 - 3

Camera and lens
stolen from
andall Library
A Nikon camera and two commer-
Iia1 lenses, worth S10,000, were stolen
*st weekend, according to Department
of Public Safety reports.
The caller said the door was darn-
agad to the room in Randall Laboratory
on East University Avenue. He said he
beljeved it was opened by force,
ascrding to DPS reports.
Sarijuana plant
ound in WMC
A caller who works in University
Waste Management reported to DPS that
he found a marijuana plant in a flower
pet while he was cleaning yesterday.
The plant was located in the third-
floor exterior plaza at the West Medical
Center, according to DPS reports. DPS
reported no suspects.
ign, window on
car damaged
A caller reported that someone tried
to rip the pizza sign off a personal vehi-
ci and broke a window in the process
Qn Sunday. '
DPS reported that two suspects were
las. seen running on Madison Street
+yard the Michigan Union. One of the
n was wearing a baseball cap and a
greer-and-white flannel shirt, and the
other man was wearing a white long
sleeve shirt.
The pizza sign was attached to the car
by suction cups, according to DPS reports.
Phone stolen
#Om LSA Building
A caller reported that a phone of
unknown value was taken from a fourth-
floor room in the LSA Building on
Tuesday.
The caller told DPS that she thought
the telephone repairman had removed
the phone while repairing other phones
in. he area. She said she checked with
the telephone repair company, and they
i4 not have the phone, according to
WSreports.
Caller receives
Obscene calls
A caller reported yesterday that she
had received-between 10-15 obscene
calls from a New Jersey state prison.
The caller said she received the calls
*ween 8:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. The calls
were mostly Spanish recordings with a
request to press one, according to DPS
reports.The caller reported that one call
was from a person who identified him-
self as "Ron"
Caler receives no
magazines
rhe caller reported Tuesday that she
ought a subscription from an
unknown male outside West Quad. She
did not receive any of the magazines
she.ordered, which were Seventeen,
Elle and Rolling Stone.

S e described the man as a white-
six-feet-one-inch tall with blue
and brown hair, according to DPS
Shemical over-
fIow at EMC
A strong order of an unknown cheni-
ical was discovered at the East Medical
Cnter yesterday. DPS reported that the
e. came from a bucket in the corner
pofone of the center's rooms.
The liquid was overflowing onto the
carpet, and DPS reported the stench
S "overwhelming."
Compiled hy Daily Staff Reporter
Anupama Reddy;

Writer

0

0

inspires
students
By Jenni Yachnin
D)aily Staff Reporter
Tea and crackers were served in the
afternoon to would-be writers and fans
who wanted to chat with their favorite
author.
Stuart Dybek, an English professor at
Western Michigan University and a
non-fiction author, spoke last night in
the Rackham Amphitheater as part of
the Visiting Writers Series.
"1 don't think of reading as a perfor-
mance," Dybek said. "At the same time,
it isn't something I want people to
approach with the reverence that lec-
tures are sometimes approached with."
Dybek is the author of several short
story and poetry collections, including
"Brass Knuckles." His latest book is
"The Story of Mist."
The series is sponsored by the
University English department along
with Borders Book Stores. Every week
from September through April, at least
one writer is scheduled to come.
"It keeps students in touch with the
contemporary writing scene," said
Andrea Beauchamp, program associate.
"It's valuable for English students
because they can experience a variety
of styles. We often conference hours for
the graduate students where they can sit
and talk with the speakers."
The reading and tea are free for all
students and community members,
except for the Writers Harvest Lecture,
where donations are requested.
Students who participate find the pro-
gram helpful for their own work.

Virtual reality
joins art to-giv e
iglance at future

A
a
A

By Janet Adamy
Dailv Staf Rporter
Gone are the days when architects
and designers squint at lines on paper
wondering, "What will it look like in
real life?"
With its own section in the Media
Union, virtual reality is being incorpo-
rated into the curricu-
lums of the School of If you i
Art and Design, the
Medical School and the
School of Engineerin. and virtual r
- When: Oct. /
School of Art and oct 5. 9 a r
Design Dean Alan 6, 8:45-
Samuels said he is excit- Where: Medi
ed about the opportuni-
ties virtual reality can
bring to his department and other
schools at the University.
"We're always looking for ways to
bring people together to make intellec-
tual inquiry through visual means."
Samuels said.
Samuels said virtual reality, which
creates situations and allows users to
experience life-like sensations, is
"another mechanism for enhancing our
ability to make ideas visible."
"One could imagine the technology
could help artists create a painting, but
can go further to place that work into a
context," Samuels said.
Samuels said virtual reality will
enable medical students to "fly"
through the human body and experi-
ment with new ideas without needing a
patient.
Samuels said he sees great potential

ra

for the technology to be expanded
beyond the scope of the academic cur-
riculum. He predicted the equipment
may be used to cure societal problem,".
"If we could enable a young woman
to heel what it would be like to be preg-,
nant, this technology could be extreme
ly beneficial to society,' Samuels said.
"By virtue of hay
ant to go ing said that, along
{ with the exciter
ity n ment, there are cau-
nty ptions. This could be,
3:30 p.m.; Oct. used to take chil-.
a m dren into any world
Union You want.
"'i'm a little con-
cerned about what
the cereal companies and the Disneys
could do with it."
While some students said they are
skeptical about incorporating virtual
reality into the School of 'Art aid
Design's curriculum, others said thy
welcome its arrival.
"I'm interested in the direction it is
going to take." said Nick Selinsky. Art
and Design junior. "It seems like the Aut
school is getting really technical and
I'm just curious how far it will go."
''I'd be for ii:" said Adam [aja. Art
and Design senior. "I think it offers
another direction. Computers are a tool
just like any other medium. It is how the
artist uses it that dictates the product.
Samuels said he hopes the technology
w ill not take the place of reality, bit
hopes it will be used instead to expatd
it.

JULLY PARK/Daily
Author and Western Michigan University Prof. Stuart Dybek discusses the inspira-
tion for one of his fictional characters with Edward Morin at a reading yesterday.

"Great writers
come through
every year," said We l
Ian Twiss, a grad-
uate student in the only the
writing program.
"Writers come in word, bi
to give you feed-
back on your voice,
work. It's an inte-
gral part of the - Prof
writing program." M FA
English Prof.
Charles Baxter, director of Master of
Fine Arts program in writing, said he
feels the program is beneficial to all
students.
"It brings living writers into our pres-
ence' Baxter said. "We have not only
their written word, but their voice. At its

a
it

best the series should excite and inspire
people. If a writer is really clicking and
going well with students, it doesn't mat-
ter what field they are in.'
Speakers are selected for the pro-
gram by I FA students. along with se% -
eral professors. The range of speakers
includes pro-
fessors from
ye ntt the "
wrl ften and non-fiction
, w\ r i I e r s .
th ir Occ asional ly,
speakers from
Borders' book
tours will read
Charles Baxter when they
'riti ng program come through
Ann Arbor.
"Here we really( get more support.
Beauchamp said. 'There isn't the foot-
ball mentality. like that of other schools
where you can't win nless someone
else is losing."
Students said they like the program
because it exposes them to a variety of

writers.
"It brings people in contact witi high
duality writing," said Melanie Kenny,
an RC sophomore. "It gives me a
chance to hear work I haven't gotten
around to reading yet."
Cory Rosenblatt. Art sophomore.
attended the reading for a class but said
she would have anyway because it was
nterestintg.
It's better than IV because xyoCdO
all the imaging yourselr' said Ann
Arbor resident Lois Cole.
Many students attended for class
requirements but local residents and
alums enjoy the speakers.
"There are a variety of speakers who
are always well known,' said alum
Martha Stoner, who has been attending
the lectures for more than 20 years.
Not everyone shares the enthusiasm
for hearing the authors.
"I have to come for my creative Writ-
ig class. I don't think it's really any
better than just reading," said L SA
Jiior Adrian Ray. "But It ISinteresting
to see who wrote it.

Rep. Chrysler faces FEC I

LANSING (AlP) [The Federal
Election Commission is investigating
allegations that U.S. Rep. Dick
Chrysler used his company to prop up
his 1994 congressional campaigni a
government official said.
T'he focus is an allegation that the
Brighton Republican used a specialty
auto conversion company lie owns to
pay the salary of a campaign staffer
for two months. said John Russell. a
spokesperson for the U.S. Justice
Department in Washington.

FederW law prohibits corporatioti:
donations of funds or resources to 'a-
campaign.
Scott Gast, who managed Chrysler's
narrowly successful 1994 campaign"
allegedly was on the payroll o -
C'hrysler's RCl company but primaril}
doing campaign work instead, Russelt
said.
(Gast later became chief of staff foC
Chrysler's Washington office and i-
now comuniuications director for th&
congressman's re-election campaign.'

Exhibit examines pop culture

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BARGAIN MA TINEES -
DAILY BEFORE 6PM*-
Student Rates Daily after 6pm
with valid student ID

Photos inspired by
trips, Jewish culture
in Poland
By Nick Farr
For the Daily
When Erica Lehrer, a graduate stu-
dent in anthropology, drew up the itin-
erary for her first trip to Eastern
Europe, Poland was not the foremost
thing on her mind.
"Warsaw's there, and Auschwitz is
there, and that's all (my brother and I)
knew about Poland. We had a vague
sense that our ancestors were from
there, but it was very unclear. We fig-
ured we'd stay there for a week;' Lehrer
said.
But what sparked Lehrer's interest in
subsequent trips to Europe became the
topic of a photo exhibit titled,
"Commercializing the Jewish Past in
Poland," currently on display in
Rackham's East Gallery.
"I'm trying to say something a little
bit more universal about the appropria-
tion of pop culture in a commercial
context," Lehrer said.
The inspiration for the exhibit came
to Lehrer in an unusual way.
"I opened my refrigerator one day.
and I saw my little Land-O-Lakes butter
tub staring me in the face with this little
Indian maiden on it, and I thought.


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Real Buttered Popcorn EXPIRES: OCT. 31, 1996
Popped in Peanut Oil COUPON- - COUPON-""
A play for the Venice Carnival by Carlo Goldoni
Based on the novel by Samuel Richardson
~-,Trueblood
Theatre

af
JOSH 3!GGS/Daily
Scott Specter takes a look at the photo exhibit in Ann Arbor. "Commercializing the
Jewish Past in Poland" is on display in Rackham's East Gallery.

Oct. 10-12, 17-19
at 8 PM
Oct. 13, 20
at 2 PM
Special preview
performance
Oct. 9 at 8 PM
Tickets are $14
Charge by phone:
3 13-764-0450
Student seating is $7
with ID at the League},
Ticket Office

Wow, we do the exact same thing here.'
I connected the whole theme in my
mind on what was going on with Jews
in Poland," Lehrer said.
Lehrer, however, wants her theme to
be interpreted on a deeper level.
"I just want people to think, and
hopefully people will make connections
to themes in the United States. Not just
with Native Americans. but with other
ethnic groups in general, about senti-


InL-
What's

#0DAY
J "A Representationalist Argument for
Qualia (Ironically Enough)," spon-
sored by Philosophy Department,
Maso Nal, Rom 408, 4 p.m.
;J "Academic Job Search Symposium,"
sponsored by CP&P, Michigan
Union, 8:30-3 p.m.
I"Ethical and PsvchnIosical Issues in

J

LALLNL Al
happening in Ann Arbor today
Virtual Reality Technology," sym- Communion," sponsored by
posium sponsored by ITD Office of Lutheran Campus Ministry, Lord of
Policy Development and Light Lutheran Church, 801 South
Education, Media Union, 8:30 Forest Ave., 10 a.m.
a.m.-3:30 p.m. _.I "College Democrats Debate
1 "Gray Panthers of Huron Valley - Is Watching Party," sponsored by
Government Our Enemy?" spon- College Democrats, Owen Coop,
sored by Gray Panthers, Ann Arbor 1017 Oakland, 8 p.m.
Senior Center, Burns Park, 1320 J "Ethical and Psychological Issues in
Baldwin, 10 a.m.-12 noon Virtual Reality Technology," sym-

mentalizing the past and sort of trivial-
izing other cultures, and then using that
for profit," Lehrer said.
While Lehrer said the trivialization
of Judaism in Poland has a negative
slant, she said she also sees it as "an
expression of Poles taking an interest in
Jewish culture."
"I didn't even realize that there was a
Jewish culture in Poland," said Ann
Arbor resident Cathy Weingrot. who
visited the exhibit. Weingrot's father
lost his entire faniily in Poland.
"His whole background is a mnystery.
Anything I can find out is a real mvs-
tery," Weingrot said.
"I find it interesting the way the
Polish people are reconstructing what-
ever Jewish culture they have left," said
Rashi Jackman, a second-year graduate
student in history. "Every clear image
you bring forth of the Jewish communi-
ty also brings forth a certain impact. It's
interesting to see the ways they're deal-
ing with that."
Carrie Bettinger, an LSA anthropolo-

S

UM School of Music
Department of Theatre and Drama

Law School

Business School
Medical School

great scores..

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Graduate School I