One hundred sIk years ,ofedeftorifreedom
Tuesday
September 23, 1997
ews: 76-DAILY
dvertising: 764-0554
ollinger
says extra
egents
needed
y Chris Metinko
)aily Staff Reporter
University President Lee Bollinger,
n his monthly meeting with the facul-
y's governing body, did not lend sup-
ort yesterday to a proposal to add a
toit and faculty member to the
oard of Regents.
Bollinger said that "adding a faculty
ember to the regents will not perfect
the lines of communication)," and stat-
d that he felt the same way about a stu-
ent regent.
"I would like to keep it at the level of
rying to perfect it at the levels we
ave" Bollinger said.
Louis D'Alecy, chair of the Senate
d jsory Committee of University
Ss and professor of physiology,
greed with Bollinger that adding fac-
Ity members to the board is an
nneccessary proccess.
D'Alecy said there are already
nany forms of communication open
etween faculty and administrators,
ncluding public and private meet-
ngs with the University provost and
resident and seven faculty commit-
e that advise administrative
>tWs, giving the faculty "a very
uigh level of contact."
However, Olga Savic, vice president
f the Michigan Student Assembly, said
student regent could strengthen the
ommunication lines between students
nd administration.
"1 think communication between stu-
ents and administration is good for
-ome students," said Savic, pointing to
hairs and presidents of student groups
hio get to speak to the administra-
ion on a somewhat regular basis.
The discussion of adding a faculty
iember and a student to the board
'as introduced at last week's
ACUA meeting by SACUA mem-
oer and natural - resources Prof.
unyan Bryant.'
After D'Alecy asked Bollinger about
dding student and faculty regents,
Bnt stopped the president to outline
ileas on the additional regents.
See SACUA, Page 2
linton
supports
ucear. ban
UNITED NATIONS (AP) -
resident Clinton sent the Senate the
long-delayed global test-ban treaty yes-
erday and urged lawmakers to "end all
nuclear tests for all time" by approving
he pact over objections of some
Republicans.
Announcing his action in an address
'gW~e United Nations' 52nd General
Assembly, Clinton called the treaty
"the longest sought, hardest fought
rize in the history of arms control." He
signed the accord a year ago but pock-
eted it while White House lobbyists
tried to build support.
In a 19-minute speech to U.N. dele-
gates, the president also called for a
permanent international court to punish
human rights violators.
A nd he pledged that the United States
xld pay nearly $1 billion in past-due
U.N. fees to "put the question of debts
and dues behind us once and for all."
Returning to the theme of his U.N.
address last year, Clinton said the
nations of the world must unite against
"21st century predators." He warned,
"We're all vulnerable to the reckless
acts of rogue states and to an unholy
axis of terrorists, drug traffickers and
inational criminals."
he president met privately with for-
eign leaders, including Russian Foreign
Minister Yevgeny Primakov, before
heading to the Metropolitan Opera's
season-opening performance of
"Carmen." He returned to Washington
last night.
4e -.nhmiscion of th e tect-han treniat
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I
VatndalisIm
Diag boards posted by
a Jewish group and QUP
damaged, defaced
By Alice Robinson
and Katie Piona
Daily Staff Reporters
Diag boards posted by two student
groups - the Queer Unity Project and
the Jewish organization Reform
Chavurah - were vandalized within
the last two weeks, causing some to
question the tolerancy of the University
community.
The vandalism of the Diag boards
comes on the heels of recent crimes,
including the drawing of swastikas on
the doors of Mary Markley residence
hall rooms and alleged acts of racial
prejudice at the Nectarine Ballroom.
The Queer Unity Project's Diag
board was posted on Sept. 8, and was
torn down by Sept. 11, said Corey
Fryling, a Business School junior and
QUP spokesperson.
Early Sunday morning, a Reform
Chavurah Diag board near the Shapiro
Undergraduate Library was urinated
upon and ripped down by three sus-
pects, according to Department of
Public Safety reports.
RC junior Andrew Schlegel, a resident
advisor in East Quad residence hall, said
he witnessed the three vandals deface the
board at about 2:50 a.m. Sunday as he
walked through the Diag with his brother.
"There was one male student urinat-
ing on the board poster, and then after
he finished he ripped the poster down
crea42te
the middle as the other two were hoot-
ing and hollering," Schlegel said last
night. "Then, as they were walking
through the West Engin Arch, another
one spit on the Star of David embedded
in the ground."
Schlegel said he followed the three
down South University Avenue toward
Cava Java before returning to East
Quad and calling DPS.
"I took extreme offense to it,"
Schlegel said. "These are University of
Michigan students, they are my class-
mates. To see someone vandalizing
takes the hatred up another level."
DPS spokesperson Elizabeth Hall
said DPS is aware of the Reform
Chavurah incident and is seeking help
in identifying suspects.
Hall said that if suspects are identi-
fied, they could be charged with mali-
cious destruction of property. Hall also
said that the suspects could be charged
under the "hate crimes law."
MSA President Michael Nagrant
said the recent acts on campus may
signify an underlying tension, which
could partly be attributed to a poten-
tial lawsuit against the University,
challenging affirmative action initia-
tives in admissions and financial aid.
"It seems like people's actions don't
match their words, so to say," Nagrant
said. "It seems to me that we're reaching
a tension that wasn't there in the past."
To address the Diag board vandal-
ism and other offensive incidents
that have occurred on campus, a
group of about 15 individuals met
yesterday at Hillel.
£ tension
After. discussing possible steps, the
group decided to form a pro-active
written response from the University
community, stating that such incidents
will not be tolerated under respectful
norms of living at the University.
The proposed Declaration of Student
Solidarity is "in response to incidents of
directed hatred on campus and to declare
that the students of the University of
Michigan have a set of values that we
adhere to and that we will hold our
members up to," said David Caroline,
chair of Hillel's governing board.
Plans are tentatively set for an
Oct. 6 mass distribution of the brief
declaration, which may conclude by
proposing that students look closely
at the tolerancy of the University
See VANDALISM, Page 3
A2 katers
lau nch,
political
campaign
By Peter Meyers
Daily Staff Reporter
After racking up a mountain of
fines and confiscated skateboards in
recent years, local skaters are getting
political.
Local skaters have banded together
to try to change city and University
policies that they say make Ann Arbor
an inhospitable place for skateboard-
ers. The skaters plan on organizing a
petition, lobbying the Ann Arbor City
Council and conducting a public rela-
tions campaign to loosen the policies.
"We're going to try to get organized,
but it's going to take a lot of work,"
said Aaron Blumhardt, a skater who
works at Amer's Deli on S. State
Street. "Part of our lifestyle is a lack of
organization"
Skateboarding is prohibited on
some sidewalks in Ann Arbor.
"Roughly it's the downtown area'" said
Lt. David Lovell of the Ann Arbor
Police Department. Fines vary from
case to case, he said.
Manager Bob Stevens of the Maize
and Brew said that skateboarders
bother some of the store owners by
being loud and running into cus-
tomers.
"Young kids being loud is what it is.
But you don't really see them harangu-
ing people on the street," said Stevens.
Department of Public Safety
spokesperson Beth Hall said that
skateboarding, unlike rollerblading, is
prohibited on all campus sidewalks.
The prohibition exists, she said,
because the skateboard wheels might
See SKATEBOARD, Page 2
Secretar yof
I nterior to
speak today
By Jeffrey Kosseff
Daily Staff Reporter
Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt will speak about the
dangers of global warming tonight in the Michigan League.
Babbitt, who has controlled the nation's parks and wildlife
departments since 1993, is touring the country to urge col-
lege students to educate themselves and others about the
long-term effects of global warming.
"This is a an intergenerational issue," Babbitt told The
Michigan Daily. "Most of the great political movements of
our time began on college campuses. The root of civil
activism began with academic movements. This is an issue
on which students must lead and explain the problems"
Babbitt said global warming is a new concern, and it is
especially difficult to bring to the public spotlight because it
is not as visible as other political issues.
"You can't sense the problem," Babbitt said. "You can't see
carbon dioxide."
Corporations such as the Detroit automobile manufacturers,
Babbitt said, produce large amounts of pollutants that cause
global warming.
Currently, the automobile manufacturers, along with other
corporations, are launching a. multi-million dollar campaign
against an anti-global warming international treaty that will
be negotiated at a conference in Kyoto, Japan later this year.
Nations signing the treaty would agree to reduce global
warming-causing pollutants.
"They are acting in what they perceive is their self-interest,"
Babbitt said. "They are financing the movement against reform."
Babbitt and many others are concerned about global
warming because global temperatures are expected to
increase two to six degrees within the next century. Current
global warming can be seen by melting glaciers and chang-
ing weather patterns.
The campaigns launched by the corporations, however,
claim that there is not a dire need for reduction in pollutants.
"They are in a deep stage of denial," Babbitt said.
Babbitt said there is technology that would reduce the
amount of pollutants and not reduce efficiency.
Babbitt has previously served as the governor of Arizona.
Babbitt will hold a discussion on climate change at 6:45
p.m. in the Michigan League's Kalamazoo room. At 7:30
p.m., Babbitt will present his speech in the League's
Mendelsohn Theater.
DANIEL CASTLE/Daily
LSA junior Matt Grossman skates on the steps in front of the School of Dentistry Building. Local
skateboarders want the city to change its skateboarding policies.
Local observatory faces extensive restoration
By Jason Korb
For the Daily
Perched on a hill between Couzens and Alice
Lloyd residence halls, silhouetted by the evening
sky is how one University landmark defines tran-
quility.
For more than three decades, the Detroit
Observatory has remained untouched and aban-
doned as edifices popped up and encompassed its
once-dignified lone structure. But this summer,
University officials began the daunting process of
restoring the 143-year-old observatory, a window
to the stars.
Patricia Whitesell, chair of the Detroit
Observatory Restoration Advisory Group and
assistant to the vice president for research, is
orchestrating the monumental restoration project.
"This is a way of showcasing both science and
history to the University community" Whitesell
said. "It is truly an engineering marvel. Not only is
it scientifically significant and relevant to
University history, it's also architecturally signifi-
cant:'
The project is scheduled to conclude in about a
year and a half, meaning the restored observatory
modern thinking and teaching. The observatory
became the forefront of Tappan's vision, helping
bring a valuable research component to a
University in its infancy.
The observatory remained active until the
1960's, when it was branded outdated and obsolete
and was eventually abandoned.
Before it was closed, the observatory played an
instrumental role in various areas of research.
James Watson, director of the observatory in 1864,
discovered 22 asteroids using the observatory's
resources.
"There was a significant amount of competition
to bag asteroids, but he certainly rose to the chal-
lenge," Whitesell said.
Whitesell considers herself lucky that the struc-
ture was deserted for so long.
"Because it was abandoned it has persisted,"
Whitesell said. "A lot of it has to do with the fact
that the building was small and in a bad location.
So it wasn't very useful to the University (as a
sight)."
But restoring a wounded treasure chest almost a
century and a half after its construction is truly a
laborious task.
loll , I ,