LOCAL/STATE
The Michigan Daily - Friday, October 25, 1996 - 5
Two
'U'
retirees fight
against tobacco interests
By Janet Adamy
Daily Staff Reporter
Two University retirees are leading a
nationwide campaign to divest tobacco
money from the nation's largest pension
fund.
Eugene Feingold, professor emeritus
in the School of Public Health, and Dr.
Douglas Kelley, retired University of
Michigan-Flint extension director, are
co-chairs of the organization "Educators
for Tobacco-free Investments by TIAA-
CREF."
The organization worked to create and
publicize "shareholder resolution No. 3,"
which calls for getting rid of the $1.5 bil-
lion in tobacco stocks that account for 2
percent of the College Retirement
Equities Fund portion of the Teacher
Insurance and Annuity Association.
The proposal appears on the 1.4 mil-
lion ballots that were sent out to CREF
shareholders beginning Oct. 11.
Nearly all University faculty and staff
are members of TIAA-CREF.
Kelley said his organization is push-
ing to get rid of the stock because of
increasing financial risks involved in
tobacco investment and because of
tobacco's harmful effects on its users.
"We refuse to believe that the tobacco
industry has a bright financial future,"
Kelley said. "In addition, it is grossly
inappropriate for teachers to be involved
in a product that is going to shorten the
lives of thousands of their students who
will become hooked on cigarettes"
Feingold said his organization is plac-
ing an importance on publicizing the res-
olution by using e-mail chainletters as
well as print and television media.
"We start with the basic position that
most people would care about the issue,
but throw out their ballots because they
see them as junk mail;' Feingold said.
"Most people don't bother to vote, so
we're trying to get in touch with them."
Kelley said
TIAA-CREF,
which opposes There
the resolution,
turned down a position 1
request for a
summary of the - E
resolution on School
the ballot. pro
"We're con-
said he doesn't think it is necessary for
the organization to get rid of the stocks
because CREF offers a '"social-choice"
option in which investors' money maybe
taken out of tobacco.
"This shouldn't be an institutional
decision. It should be an individual deci-
sion" Frisancho said. "I don't need atly-
body to tell me not to invest my money
in tobacco."
Feingold said the social-choice option
is inflexible because it requires investors
's a moral
ugene Feingold
of Public Heath
fessor emeritus
to have money in
both stocks and
bonds. The option
can only be cho-
sen as a package
that takes
investors' money
out of other "con-
troversial" invest-
ments.
"There's a
cerned that
they're not making it easy to vote knowl-
edgeably," Kelley said. "The way that
they're mailing (the ballots) out, the par-
ticipants in the association are going to
have to show the initiative of looking
through the pamphlet and reading about
resolution No. 3."
The resolution was endorsed by for-
mer U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett
Koop during a news conference at the
end of last month.
Anthropology Prof. Robert Frisancho
moral position here" Feingold said.
"We'd like to take the whole company
and make them stop being immoral, not
just 12 percent of the company."
Kelley said that Wayne State
University, The Johns Hopkins
University and Harvard University have
began to take university investments out
of tobacco stocks.
The outcome of the vote is expected to
be announced at the CREF annual meet-
ing in New York City on Nov.11.
AP PHOTO
Don't tread on me
With security officers protecting a flagpole, a supporter of the Michigan militia looks up at the United Nations flag fly-
ing with the American flag yesterday in Lansing. More than 100 militia members peacefully protested the United
Nations in a gathering in front of the state capitol 51 years after the world body was formed.
..
CDCP
warns of
epiemic
flu season
By Maya Habib
For the Daily
A busy schedule does not allow time
off for a cold -- much less the flu -
which may prevent students from
attending classes.
But according to the Center for
Disease Control and Prevention, a
more severe influenza epidemic is cir-
culating this year.
The best way to prevent influenza is a
vaccination administered at the
University Health Service Immunization
clinic, said Dr. H. Drobny, head of the
clinic. The shot can protect from both
type A and type B viruses.
"After being in bed for the whole
'month of February once, I decided to
get the shot every year," said Ann Arbor
resident William Tompkins, who is self
employed. "I don't have a second to be
sick."
Influenza is caused by a specific
virus that changes year to year, requir-
ing a new shot depending on the type of
virus. The name of this year's virus is
"type-A-Hong-Kong-like virus," said
John Maasab, chair of the epidemiolo-
gy department in the school of Public
Health.
The virus is commonly called
"Wuhan,' after the Chinese city in
which it originated, he said.
The virus is transmitted through air-
borne saliva droplets in large lecture
e
halls where
students are
concentrated,
- Maasab said.
*Students in
' cold weather
are concen-
t r a t e d
which helps
the virus
spread faster
and puts them
Clinic
Hors;
MTuF
9( 1 1 a~m.
W h
X230 to 4:30 pm.
M $F
Health Plan HustleP
at a greater risk.
"I had a flu shot last year, and I came
back this year to get one" said LSA
first-year student Keith Mieczkowski.
"I do not want to get the flu, and this is
a sure way of preventing it."
Besides vaccination, Drobny sug-
gests keeping the hands clean, staying
away from people who already have the
flu and detecting the flu early.
Symptoms include high fever,
headaches, muscle aches and cough.
"Help should be sought very early
because the worst stage is at the begin-
ning" Drobny said, adding that the flu
can be a very severe illness if not treat-
ed properly.
Drobny said the vaccination has no
real side effects for most people, and
Tompkins said he has had no com-
Before you join a new health plan or iIMO, think about the choices you'll be left with.
Will your doctors be top-of-the-line, and close to home? Can they help you deliver a
healthy baby...in the hospital of your choice? What options will you have for children's
specialty care, emergency services or even cancer treatment?
Don't be left out of quality health care. Choose one of the many health plans now
accepted by the U-M Health System. You'll win access to world-class medical care and
day-to-day health services at any of 30 easy-to-find health centers. Now that's something
vou can really feel good about.
m