WEv 4v *ri ws: 76-DAILY vertlsing: 764-0554 One hundred six' years ofeditorialfteedom Friday February 28, 1997 EO rallies or unity GSis, faculty and students on cam- us celebrated 'National Day of ction' to honor graduate student teachers lanet Adamy y Staff Reporter Bertha Louise Poe quoted labor leader A. Phillip Randolph she spoke to nearly 150 people who attended the Graduate ployees Organization's "National Day of Action" yester- y afternoon on the Diag. " t the banquet table of nature, there are no reserve seats," *d. "You get what you can take and you take what you can Id ... and you can't take anything without organization." Poe, secretary-treasurer of the Michigan AFL-CIO, battled ld winds to speak to graduate student instructors, students d faculty to celebrate graduate student teaching and union powerment. Graduate students held similar demonstra- ons and activities at 26 universities nationwide. GEO handed out popcorn, cotton candy and song sheets hile members of the University community listened to eakers, gospel singers and a bagpipe player. The centerpiece of the rally was a 320-square-foot "black- " monument to graduate teaching onto which GSIs sta- teaching memorabilia, including collages and pictures. Speakers focused on the strength of the University's GEO's ion-the second oldest graduate workers' union in the coun- - and stressed the need for graduate teachers to form ons on dozens of other university and college campuses. "We have the strongest, most participatory graduate union the country and dome of the best working conditions in the ountry," said GEO President Michelle Mueller, noting that raduate students at other universities are -fighting to get ealth coverage and adequate compensation. "We have these its. It's our role to show the rest of the nation what a ra uate union can do." Alan Wald, an English and American culture professor, Id the crowd that University faculty should support GEO. 11 employees have the democratic right to combine to pro- ct and preserve their economic rights and working condi- 'ons, he said. "Propaganda that some administrators and a few misguid- See GEO, Page7 'U' rankings hold steady 0 in report By Heather Kamins Daily Staff Reporter When U.S. News & World Report released its annual rankings of national graduate and professional education programs yesterday, a slight variation from last year's rankings was the only noticeable trend. The magazine ranked the University first in the categories of health services administration and social work. William Weissert, the University's health management policy depart- ment acting chair, said the depart- ment has been ranked number one for the last four years, and has remained consistent. "Certainly everybody (in the department) tries very hard to stay at number one," Weissert said. "We continue to be ranked number one, and if you ask people in the field, I think that they'll tell you that." Associate Vice President for University Relations Lisa Baker said the University is happy that its programs and schools continue to rank near the top of the list. "As always, we are pleased to be ranked highly on the U.S. News & World Report survey," Baker said. "We continually rank high in academic rep- utation, which is a key measure for us." Baker said that although the rankings in the survey are high, they still may not be the best evaluation system. "We are in good company, but this is, after all, a magazine survey and there are other more rigorous evalu- ations that are obviously more important," Baker said. The University's School of Engineering moved down from its fifth-place ranking in 1996 to a sev- enth-place ranking this year. Associate Engineering Dean 1997 'U" Rankings by U.S. News & World Report No. 1 No.?7 No. 8 No. 9 No. 12 Health Administration Social Work Law Engineering Education Medical Business William Martin said the drop does not concern him. "It doesn't make any difference if you are going up or down one or two spots," Martin. said. "If you are in the top group, that's all that is important." Martin said the rankings indicate that the school is consistently in a respectable range. "We'd like to be number one," Martin said. "We'd like to be better and we are working on it." The School of Business Administration, the School of Law and the School of Medicine all retained the same rankings they received last year. The School of Business tallied in at No. 12, the School of Law at No. 7, and the School of Medicine at No. 9. School of Business Associate Dean Edward Snyder said there is a discrepancy between the results of the U.S. News survey and the Business Week survey -- which ranked the University's MBA pro- gram second in the nation. The stan- dards of review each magazine uses may affect the resulting rankings they produce, he said. See. RANK, Page 7 JENNIFER BRADLEY-SWIFT/Daily Elyse Bryant of the Center for Labor and industrial Relations rallies the crowd of more than 150 gath- ered on the Diag yesterday for a Graduate Employees Organization rally. Senate bar Ban passes after concern of trash from Toronto y Jeffrey Kosseff ly Staff Reporter Some Michiganders are asking Toronto not to rt one of its most plentiful goods - trash. bill to ban waste from being imported into ichigan from other states and countries was passed y the Michigan State Senate's National Resources d Environmental Affairs Committee yesterday. Some local residents are concerned about a deal tween Toronto officials and the Arbor Hills landfill n Salem Twp. that would allow Toronto to send about 00,000 tons of garbage to the landfill per year begin- g in 1998. "It's a dumb idea to cart trash from Toronto to ichigan," said Ann Arbor Mayor Ingrid Sheldon. body wants a landfill in their backyard." Some said the the Canadian city is looking to export ts waste because of landfill fees. It costs $60 per ton f waste in Toronto and it only costs $25-30 in is importing garbage Michigan to dispose of waste. Many legislators are angered by other states and coun- tries taking advantage of Michigan's low disposal prices. "Michigan has worked sohard to recycle, reduce and reuse," said state Rep. Eileen DeHart (D- Westland). "It's win-win for them and lose-lose for us. It's a shame." The bill, proposed by state Sen. Loren Bennett (R- Canton), is also aimed at controlling the large amounts of waste from other states that Michigan currently receives. Fourteen percent of Michigan's landfills are comprised of waste from outside of the state. The state's department of environmental quality has been supportive of Bennett's bill. "We very definitely support the bill," said Ken Silfven, press secretary for the Department of Environmental Quality. "It is the first step in address- ing a serious problem. Senator Bennett should be commended." Ingrid Thompson, the press secretary for Norman Sterling, Toronto's minister of environment and ener- gy, said Toronto is exporting the garbage because Browning Ferris Industries, the owner of Arbor Hills landfill, placed the lowest bid for the city's business. "There are landfill sites here in Toronto that were competing for the business," Thompson said. "It was completely economic competition." Although Bennett's bill is aimed at giving the states the authority to regulate waste importing, some legis- lators who agree with the spirit of the bill said the leg- islation is unenforceable. "It's unconstitutional," said Rep. Tom Alley (D- West Branch). "Michigan cannot regulate interstate transportation. Until the federal government acts, nothing can be done." Sen. Alma Wheeler Smith (D-Salem Twp.) said the bill was proposed only to make a statement, because the Michigan Legislature already passed a law that gives Michigan the power to restrict garbage imports. That law was struck down by the United States Supreme Court, but could be activated if the U.S. Congress votes to allow it. "This bill is a political game that is being played," See TRASH, page 2 - ;,MtAC MTI'ACK DS deaths o firstti Growth rate drops 1995 Vacationers warned to behave abroad or ne ATLANTA (AP) - AIDS deaths fell 13 percent in the first half of 1996, the first significant drop since. * epidemic began in 1981, the government said yesterday. Officials credited better treatment and pro- grams. "This is one of the first bright spots we have seen in this epidemic," said Christopher Portelli, executive director of the National Lesbian and Gay Health Association in Washington. "But we hope it is seen as a call to ins rather than a chance to relax and breathe a sigh of relief." The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said about 22,000 people died of AIDS in the first six months of 1996, down from the 24,900 deaths in the same period a 362,200 people are diagnosed with AIDS, a 2-per- cent drop from 1994 1994 N361,200 new cases of AIDS reported, a 5-percent drop from 1993 There was more good news yester- day: While the number of people diag- nosed with AIDS continues to grow, the growth rate is slowing. In 1995, about 62,200 people were diagnosed, an increase of less than 2 percent over the 61,200 new cases in 1994. The growth rate from 1993 to 1994 was 5 percent. The first signs of the drop in AIDS deaths came in January, when New York City reported a 30 percent drop in AIDS deaths in 1996. "I think this speaks to the success of the dual approach of counseling, testing and treating people with H IV," said Patricia Fleming, the CDC's chief of HIV/AIDS reporting and analysis. By Ajit K. Thavarajah Daily Staff Reporter What may appear to be a tropical paradise can quickly become a night- mare. This is the message the U.S. State Department is trying to make clear to The State Department reported this year that more than 2,000 American cit- izens are arrested abroad every year. Arrests for violating local laws regard- ing the use of alcohol in public and the behavior associated with it account for many of those incidents, the report stat- students who plan to vaca- tion in foreign countries next week. A n y d a Budig, press officer for the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs, said ed. itlIwantit fun but Ut's worth kIli myself ova -M LSA first Some students to have said horror stories and disturbing Snot statistics made them willing to play it safe while vacationing It, abroad. "I want to have ichael Brown fun but it's not -year student worth killing myself over it. Last year a girl got hit by a bus and was in a coma (while during spring break). You have to be on guard-when you're in potentially dangerous situa- tions," LSA first-year student Michael Brown said. "It's not hard to let loose and be out of harm's way at LSA first-year student Aaron Olmstead bites Into a burger yesterday at McDonalds on South University Avenue. Burger priCe may drop some students come to foreign coun- tries with the wrong attitude. "Many students come to foreign countries, especially Mexico, the Bahamas and islands in the Caribbean, with the belief that it is more laid-back than the United States and any type of By Peter Meyers For the Daily University students may soon be able to buy a popular fast-food sand- wich for just the change in their pock- quarters will reduce the price of the Big Mac to 55 cents. Jancasz learned about the 55-cent Big Mac from yesterday's evening news- casts and his customers at the franchise's I I