E rrruri kR. 4*11 News: 76-DAILY Advertising: 764-0554 One hundred six years of edforulfreedom Monday February 10, 1997 3olice use chemical spray to end fight at dance By Jenni Yachnin Daily Staff Reporter Department of Public Safety officers report that they used chemical spray to stop a fight that started in the Michigan Union early Sturday morning after a fraternity dance. At approximately 12:45 (a.m.) Saturday a fight occurred at an (Omega Psi Phi) fraternity dance in the Union," said DPS spokesperson Elizabeth Hall. "The fight escalated and U of M Department of Public Safety officers inter- vened, taking necessary action to insure the safety of the 600 people attending the event." Gerald Olivari, who is president of Omega Psi Phi, said the fight occurred while members of the fraternity were preparing for a "step show." "On the side, football players were ... mak- ing fun of what we were doing and making noise," Olivari said. "They were causing a dis- traction and one of our fraternity brothers asked them to stop. They started getting hostile to us and calling us names." "It turned into a brawl. DPS came and they sprayed mace." A first-year student who attended the dance and did not want to be identified saw the fight begin. "Some of the members of the fraternity were talking to some of the members of the football team. They exchanged words and then the fighting started," the student alleged. "I don't know who took the first blow. Everybody was trying to pull everybody else off of each other." DPS requested assistance from Ann Arbor Police Department officers in dispersing the crowd that had gathered on the steps of the Union after the dance ended, Hall said. "No injuries were reported and no arrests were made," Hall said, adding that the fight had start- ed in the Union and not outside the building. "Department of Public Safety officers called for assistance from Ann Arbor Police Department when the crowd spilled into the streets from the Union," she said. A DPS officer then used a chemical spray on students involved in the fight to separate them. Olivari said Saturday morning's fight was not the first altercation between the fraternity and individual football players. The fraternity is a member of the Black Greek Association. BGA President Peter Tate said he does not know if there will be any official reprimand of those students who were involved in the fight. University Assistant Athletic Director Bruce Madej had no knowledge of the incident. "I do not know anything about it and that's the first I've heard of it:' Madej said last night. DPS is still investigating the incident. Hall said. $tudents celebrate Caribfest i'AAll"Robinson Several students paid their own tribute Saturday to "Carnival Week," an annual street party which begins in Trinidad and Tobago tomorrow. Dressed in red, green and turquoise, 10 students brought the spirit of Carnival Week to the University with their per- formance, "Flag Party" set to uplifting reggae music. The women danced energetically among an audience gath- ered in the Michigan Union's Kuenzel room for Caribfest 1997--two hours of poetry, speakers and art, highlighting the Qitributions of Caribbeans to black history. The first-annual Caribfest, featuring visiting University faculty member and world-renowned Jamaican poet Lorna Goodison, was organized by the the University's Caribbean Peoples Association and drew about 70 students, faculty and alumni. The Cuban American Students Association also helped coordinate the presentation. Caribfest offered an opportunity for Caribbean students to network and celebrate their culture, said LSA senior Tamarah Moss, a co-president of the CPA. 'We want to promote a spirit of cooperation between West di'ans from different areas, and this will serve as an outlet to serve the West Indies when university days are over," said Moss, who is from the Bahamas. During the presentation, LSA first-year student Dwayne Knight told stories about Caribbeans who have excelled in their fields, such as Stokely Charmical and Nobel Prize win- ner Derek Walcott. Knight said it is important for those of Caribbean descent to come together to celebrate their heritage "because we tend to get lost, especially on campus here, at such a big univer- LSA senior Denise James, a CPA co-president, said the event was aimed at displaying the uniqueness of Caribbean culture. "Basically a lot of times at the University, people of color get grouped together in one clump, and we want to show that there is a distinctwCaribbeaneculture," James said. (Goodison amused the crowd with her candid poetry, which reflected her experiences and observations growing up in Jamaica. In "Trident," a tribute to the natural beauty of Jamaica, @odison said the resort there reminded her of paradise. "I turn and turn in wonder. Who could have put all this together?" she read. Goodison explained in her Jamaican accent that she titled her last poem "To us, all flowers are roses" because of "a wonderful and eccentric habit Jamaicans have of calling every single flower on earth 'roses."' "It's my tribute to Jamaica and, by extension, to the Caribbean," Goodison said. "To us, all flowers are roses," is also the name of odison's most recent collection of poetry, published in 95. Engineering first-year student David Reid spoke about how Caribbean culture can be seen everywhere in the United States, noting that "one-quarter of the base- ball players in American sports are from the Caribbean," and that Colin Powell and Louis Farrakhan are of Caribbean descent. Caribfest 1997 effectively reached out to others, said LSA first-year student Melita Alston. "It was very interesting because that was the first time that I actually got educated about the Caribbean people." Alston *d. "I didn't know that it was so collaborative, and I liked the dance." Schedule for Diversity Days Making dough S' MedicalI Center to face audit 0 U.S. Department of Health to investigate billing practices By Heather Kamins Daily Staff Reporter The University Medical Center faces a federal investigation into the billing practices of teaching physicians in the upcoming months. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services established a national audit of teaching hospitals last June to investigate physicians' bills submitted to the government for medical services provided to Medicare patients since 1990. In conjunction with the national inves- tigation, the University's Medical Center and about 30 other schools will undergo audits, said Lloyd Jacobs, senior associ- ate dean for the Medical School. "We are one of dozens of institutions who are having their billing practices examined," Jacobs said. "They are going to look at the same sort of exam- ination for all universities." Officials from the department's Office of the Inspector General will examine University medical records to assure that teaching physicians were physically present for all services pro- vided to Medicare patients. But it is too early to speculate on the results of the investigation, Jacobs said. "The answer is I just don't know," Jacobs said. "It is my belief that there is nothing wrong with the technicality of (the University Medical Center's) billing," Jacobs said. In a similar audit in 1995, doctors at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center agreed to pay a set- tlement of $30 million because they were found to have charged Medicare full-physician fees, when residents were doing most of the work. The Association of American Medical Colleges said OIG is unfairly auditing past records because before August 1995 the Medicare billing stan- dards were unclear. "(The investigation) amounts to an OIG program to coerce medical See AUDIT, Page OA Domenico Telemaca, co-owner of New York Pizza Depot, which opened on WillianStreet last Monday, ptepares pizza dough. Tossing dough Is this native-Italian's specialty. Trotter House: 25 years as U cu'tural center By Ericka M. Smith Daily Staff Reporter An old house on Washtenaw Avenue was honored Friday night in celebration of its 25th year as a cultural center in the University community. More than 100 students, faculty, staff and community members filled an upstairs room in the William Monroe Trotter House, named after an early 20th-century civil rights advocate. Vice-provost for minority affairs emeritus and emeritus education Prof. Charles Moody said the original Trotter House resulted from the Black Action Movement that swept across campus in the early 1970s. "Some people paid some heavy dues for us to be here," Moody said. The first Trotter House stood on the corner of South University and East University avenues in 1971 as a black student cultural center. That house burned down because of a boiler heater problem. After the fire, Alex Hawkins, then the director of the house, said he led the committee in search of the present location. "There was a band of hippies living here with a dozen dogs" Hawkins said. "The place was a mess." Since its purchase, Trotter House has come a long way, Hawkins said. It now serves as the meeting ground for 37 organizations as well as a host to many campus events. Among those giving appreciation to the house Friday was the University Gospel Chorale, which sang two songs in appreciation of the home. The keynote speaker, state Sen. Alma Wheeler Smith (D-Salem Twp.), reflected on the struggles of the BAM that took place while her father was a professor at the University. "My father would come home from work and say 'some of these kids are putting their college careers on the line and because of the attitudes of some of the administration, when this is all over (the students are) gone,"' Smith said. ASSISTMEUMIC.EDU JOHN KRAFT/Daily Jennifer Walters, the University ombuds, coordinates the service ASSIST-ME. Students can send questions and concerns to ASSIST-ME@umlch.edu and receive a response with suggestions. Problem--solver available on e-ma * Today: "Religious Studies" Begins at 6 p.m. in the Power Center1 0 Tomorrow: "Gender ssues" cy Begins 6 p.m. in Angell Hall U Wed.: "SexualFt ° Orientation" IO-M Begins 6 p.m. in Angell Hall 1 Thurs.: "Our America" Sumakwai/DalI i +' i By Susan T. Port Daily Staff Reporter It may not be Dear Abby. But students in need of advice and guidance can turn to a different source: ASSIST-ME@umich.edu, an e-mail address linking the University to the Dean of Students and the University ombuds.. Jennifer Walters, University ombuds, helped coordinate ASSIST- ME, mainly for student use. "The fact is the University is too com- plicated," Walters said. "It seemed to me there needed to be one place where you can go to with any problem." on help for a problem," Walters said. Problems may include health issues, financial aid, administrative and hous- ing questions, Code of Student Conduct violation, and many other concerns, Walters said. Walters said the goal of ASSIST-ME is to make life easier for students, "rather than send them on a wild-goose chase," "The goal is for me to be the one to assist you," Walters said. "That way a student can be assured of confidential help." Walters said that if a student was unsure about taking a higher-level class, she would have access to the stu- be completely secure. "Anonymity cannot be maintained over e-mail," Walters said. "I hope first contact is made over e-mail and confi- dential matters will be handled by phone or in person." Though the program has been in existence since November, many stu- dents had not heard of ASSIST-ME. LSA first-year student Jennifer Schader said she didn't know she could access the Dean of Students' Office through e-mail. "I have never heard of ASSIST-ME before," Schader said. "It sounds like a really efficient way of getting help." I I .