LOCAL/STATE
The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, October 21, 1997-- 3
Officials snag
NBD robbery
euspect Friday
Ann Arbor Police Department offi-
cials say they have nabbed the man
who robbed the East William Street
branch of NBD bank on Oct. 1.
Richard Lee Housewright was
arrested by AAPD detectives on Friday
and arraigned on Saturday. Police say
they were aided by anonymous tips
from people who saw the security cam-
photo of the incident and recog-
zed Housewright.
A preliminary hearing is set for Oct.
2.
Blind Pig robbed
on Thursday
The owner of the Blind Pig was alert-
ed by an alarm company that his busi-
jness's alarm was blaring early Thursday
roming. By the time the owner arrived
the business, three suspects had fled,
according to AAPD reports. The Blind
Pig is located at the corner of First and
East Liberty Streets.
The man later discovered from the
hidden security camera that the sub-
jects were carrying items when they
left the Blind Pig at around 3 a.m.,
including an unidentified object and a
stolen briefcase.
.;The incident is being investigated as
*'larceny, according to AAPD reports.
Various items
stolen from local
businesses
Three local businesses were broken
,nto since a week ago today, AAPD
reports state. AAPD officials do not
believe that the incidents were related.
Minor damage was caused to Big
City Bakery, Arbor Hills Salon and
Activate Cellular.
Big City Bakery on Miller Street was
entered Saturday, sometime around 7
am., AAPD reports state. A circular
saw was taken from the bakery, as well
as loose change. AAPD officers say the
suspect's name is a familiar one to the
Special Investigations Unit.
The Arbor Hills Salon on South
ate Street was entered Friday by one
or more suspects, sometime between 4
a m. and 5 a.m., AAPD reports state.
The unknown suspects smashed the
building's front doors in order to enter,
but did not take anything from the
business.
About $95 was stolen from an
Activate Cellular cash box last Tuesday
or Wednesday, AAPD reports state.
Police reports state that the suspect or
tspects pried open a cabinet door in
order to reach the cash box. Currently
AAPD has no suspects in the incident.
Boy missing,
found at bus stop
A missing person report was filed
with DPS on Thursday morning by a
woman in Northwood V family hous-
ing who could not locate her six-year-
old son.
' The woman stated that her son had
been sitting on the front porch waiting
for his father to emerge from the apart-
ment when he disappeared.
The same day, bus drivers saw the
young boy walking toward the Diag
and then standing outside of Angell
' all. DPS officers met up with the
bby at the CC Little bus stop, where
the boy said that he was going to the
vnagogue on Hill and Oakland streets
pray.
Man almost hit
by angry driver
.The officers returned the boy to his
home, where he mci up with his mother.
A man called the Department of
Public Safety last Thursday morning to
report that a female driver came close
to running him over.
* The caller told DPS officers that as
he crossed Palmer Drive near the
Fletcher parking structure, the woman
"waved her hand in anger" as she
almost crashed into him.
The woman then proceeded to drive
to the Fletcher Street carport, DPS
reports state.
- Compiled by Daily Staff Reporter
Alice Robinson.
Public Health alumni gather
to discuss worldwide issues
yam.
By Heather Wlggin
Daily Staff Reporter
Public Health alumni from around
the country and as far away as Kenya
convened Friday to hear panel discus-
sions and presentations on current
issues in the field.
"It's really hard to think of an area
that's more exciting than public health,"
Public Health Dean Noreen Clark said
in her welcome statement. "We're
always struggling to deal with newly
emerging infectious viruses."
The visit marked the second annual
Alumni Day at the School of Public
Health.
"Rather than inviting alumni back for
a dinner, we want to showcase the best
of the school for them," said Director of
Alumni Relations Laura Rosenthal.
A poster session featured the work of
University public health experts.
Studies covered a broad range of topics,
from E. coli to depression in older
women with heart disease.
Dental hygiene Prof. Joan
McGowan said she hoped her poster
on chewing tobacco would increase
awareness of a "gross, addictive,
yucky" habit that is especially com-
mon with American athletes.
McGowan's objectives include
"break(ing) the connection between
baseball and spit tobacco" and "get-
ting players and owners together on
this subject."
McGowan said dental hygienists
should talk to every patient about tobac-
co use.
"We are gung-ho about getting the
message across (that spit tobacco is not
safer than cigarettes and causes can-
cer);' McGowan said.
The field of public health encom-
passes more than the study of specific
diseases, said keynote speaker John
Henshaw, who presented information
about "corporate profits and environ-
mental responsibility."
The human race is growing exponen-
tially, and "if present birthrates contin-
ue, our population will double in less
than 40 years," Henshaw said. "The
most important issue is we're going to
deplete life-sustaining resources."
Reducing waste, increasing quality of
life, accepting capitalism and realizing
that humans are not willing to sacrifice
enough for a greater good were all chal-
lenges Henshaw exposed and discussed.
"The next revolution (is to) take
advantage of biological systems,"
Henshaw said.
Genetics is another hot topic in pub-
lic health circles. Internal medicine
Prof. Elizabeth Petty tackled problems
PAUL TALANIAN/Daily
Dr. Elizabeth Petty, assistant professor of internal medicine and human genetics,
speaks In the Public Health 11 building as part of Alumni Day on Friday.
in genetic testing. Her ethical questions
such as, "Can anyone force anyone else
to be tested, and who decides?" sparked
interesting debates to accompany rela-
tively new genetic technology.
For example, there are psychological
issues that can be agitated when one
finds they have a genetic disease with-
out a cure, or pacified when one's fears
of genetic disease are calmed by nega-
tive test results.
"It is important to understand value
systems and moral systems of genetic
testing;" Petty said.
l Tl'f lrll 'I ! i oaactso- xa.
Council delays
vote on pollution
BRYAN MCLELLAN/Daily
SSA Junior Mae Clark speaks with Cuban painter Rocio Garcia at her exhibit titled "Cuban Geishas." Her work is on
display in Rackham's East Gallery through Oct. 28.
Cuban artist brings innovati e
paintingrs to Rdackham 71dis-p&mlay
By Peter Meyers
Daily Staff Reporter
Ann Arbor City Council decided to
once again postpone voting on a per-
mit that would allow the Pall/Gelman
Sciences corporation to continue
injecting decontaminated ground
water into Ann Arbor City sewers.
Councilmember Chris Kolb (D-5th
Ward) proposed the delay so that the
legal wording of the permit could be
perfected.
"They're word-smithing now. That
all has to be done right," said Pat Ryan
of the Gelman Remediation Project, an
intergovernmental advisory group that
is overseeing the cleanup of the
groundwater contamination by
Pall/Gelman Sciences medical waste.
Ryan felt comfortable with the delay
caused by the proposals' rewording.
"There's nothing being held up or
damaged because of this," Ryan said.
Spalding Clark, Scio Township
commissioner, said Gelman Sciences
(now called Pall/Gelman Sciences)
was for several decades disposing of
1,4 dioxane by dumping it. "They were
literally spraying it on their lawns,
Clark said.
This dioxane, which is carcinogenic,
has since contaminated the Scio
Township groundwater. Contaminated
water must be pumped up and treated.
The dioxane is a byproduct from the
manufacture of the Pall/Gelman med-
ical filters.
The contaminated aquifer has been
moving toward Ann Arbor. The clos-
est point is now at the corner of
Dexter and Allison Roads. While
Pall/Gelman has been developing
more permanent methods of disposal,
the company has temporarily been
injecting treated water into Ann Arbor
City sewers.
"Gelman has to pay the sewage dis-
posal rate, so this can get pretty
pricey," said Ann Arbor Water Utilities
Director Frank Porta.
Porta said the sewage disposal rate
in Ann Arbor is $1.97 per 100 cubic
feet, which amounts to about 750 gal-
lons. At present, Pall/Gelman is inject-
ing the water into the sewers at a rate
of 80 to 100 gallons per-minute. Porta
estimates that the entire aquifer would
"There's nothing
being held up or
damaged because
of this"
- Pat Ryan
Gelman Remediation Project
take 10 years to dispose of at this rate.
The permit would allow
Pall/Gelman to use the sewers at a
lower rate.
The City of Ann Arbor has been
requiring that Pall/Gelman treat the
water to the point where the dioxane
presence is undetectable. "At this
point, they're destroying all of the
compound. They're discharging clean
water into the sewers" Ryan said.
But officials from local govern-
ments have complained .that
Pall/Gelman is not running a satisfap-
tory cleanup.
"Gelman never really spent the time
to make it work right;" Clark said. He
added that Pall/Gelman was uninter-
ested in devoting its resources to utido-
ing the damage, and hasn't hired
enough experts or hasn't bought the
best equipment to solve the problem.
Ryan said the city in the past has
been too lenient with Pall/Gelman as it
conducts its cleanup.
"The city has been extremely coop-
erative with this company," Ryan said.
She said she blames this cooperative
attitude for the expansion of the conta-
mination into new wells and aquifers.
Ryan and Clark said that
Pall/Gelman has in recent years ibeen
delaying the cleanup operation by con-
testing ordinances in court.
"Gelman has taken a sort of hostile
stance" Clark said.
Ryan said that Pall/Gelman is a
company that for years "has preferred
to litigate rather than clean up."
This makes the wording of the er-
mit much more important, Ryan Said.
Clark said that the cleanup could be
done in one or two decades, but added,
"At the rate they're moving, it won't
happen in my lifetime."
By Asheley Riley
For the Daily
Illustrating feminist and gay alle-
gories, Rocio Garcia's paintings fea-
ture subjects that include a beheaded
Geisha and a half-human, half-
giraffe figure standing in a men's
room.
Sponsored by the Latino/a
American and Caribbean Studies
Department, artist Garcia's work has
been widely exhibited in Cuba and
Spain. Garcia, who was born in
Cuba, will have her work on display
in Rackham's East Gallery through
Oct. 28.
The exhibit comments on the rise
of prostitution in Cuba, which
according to anthropology Prof.
Ruth Behar, is becoming "the
Bankok of the Caribbean."
Many of Garcia's paintings por-
tray the Japanese symbol of the
Geisha, who by definition is "a
woman of artistic talent" The Geisha
is used as a vehicle to portray the
new meaning of sexuality in Havana.
Two paintings in particular, "The
Maja Geisha" and "Geisha
Samurai" are part of a series show-
ing a naked Geisha lying on a bed
with a sword between her legs. The
next painting shows the same
woman, who has committed suicide
by cutting her own head off.
All of the work in Garcia's exhibit
portrays swords, which is a symbolic
way to refer to prostitution. The
paintings are dramatic, and often
violent.
"Her work is wonderful," said
Behar, who introduced the exhibit.
"Every painting in this exhibit is
dazzling, dramatic and disturbingly
beautiful - great feminist work."
Garcia's painting "The Dream"
refers to gay sexuality. The paint-
ing depicts a nude man with the
head of a giraffe, who according to
Behar is "somewhat of a voyeur,
the one who wants to see every-
thing in kind of a vulgar fashion."
The giraffe-headed man stands in a
men's bathroom in the company of
two naked men.
"The paintings are really interest-
ing and rather shocking," said Leslie
Davis, who works in the Office of
Academic and Multicultural Affairs,
one of the exhibit's sponsors. "They
reflect a shocking reality."
Rackham student Toby Barnes
said he appreciates the source of
Garcia's work. "I'm from Miami and
I can understand where she's coming
from," Barnes said.
Garcia considers herself to be one
of the first artists to express these
kinds of issues in a symbolic way.
"I'm happy about it. A lot of people
have come, a lot of gay people and
young people especially," Garcia
said through a translator.
Garcia's two-month visit to the
United States was sponsored by a
Distinguished Visiting International
Artist-in-Residence Fellowship at
the University. She will leave at the
end of the month to show her work at
an exhibit in Spain.
Behar is presenting Garcia and her
work to one of her classes on Cuba
tomorrow. It will be held at
Rackham on the third floor of the
East Gallery from 2-5 p.m. The title
of this exhibition is "Cuba and Its
Diaspora."
Garcia's work also is now being
displayed at the Common Language
Bookstore, located on Fourth Street.
L
Meeting to focus on domestic violence
DETROIT (AP) -Animal cruelty
investigators and child protective ser-
vices workers will be some of the new
faces at the third statewide meeting on
domestic violence.
The relationship between domestic
abusers, abused children and animal cru-
elty has become a focus of study in recent
years.
"We're finally linking this all up,"
Lynda Baker, director of the Wayne
County Coordinating Council to Prevent
Domestic Violence, which is organizing
the event, told the Detroit Free Press.
About 300 people will attend the
meeting tomorrow in Detroit. It is not
open to the public.
"For several years, we've known that
many of the men who batter their wives
and girlfriends are also abusing the
children," Baker said. "The family pet
is often a part of this. We're finally real-
izing we have to coordinate our efforts.
We can't treat one problem independent
of the other," she said recently.
Services for abused women and
children have been "separate in terms
of response, even though the majority
of shelter residents are children and
even though the child-protective ser-
vices are working primarily with
mothers and their children," said
Jeffrey Edleson, a professor at the
University of Minnesota School of
Social Work. who will speak at the
gathering.
Studies show 30 to 60 percent of bat-
tered women are mothers to abused or
neglected children, Edleson said.
S77
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What's happening in Ann Arbor today
GROUP MEETINGS
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