LOCAL/STATE The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, October 28, 1997 - 3 Homeowners witness burglary itheir house When the owners of a house on the 3200 block of Nordman arrived home early Friday morning, they saw people carrying CDs, electric games and other personal items out of their house. Instead of calling 911 right away, the individuals staked out their home for about two hours, according to Ann Arbor Police Department reports. The homeowners claimed to know t suspects and told police that they in Milan. Through this informa- tion, officers were able to locate one of the suspect's homes and retrieve selec- tions from the victims' music collec- tion, according to AAPD reports. Irate car owner faces assault and battery charges * parking dispute resulted in a push- ing match between two people last Thursday at a parking garage on the 100 block of East Mosley Street. AAPD reports state that two people were arguing over a car that had been towed, when one of them grabbed the other person and then pushed the indi- vidual. The suspect is being charged with assault and battery. oman swallows astic fork A woman called the Department of Public Safety last Saturday to complain that she was not feeling well after hav- ing swallowed a plastic fork. The caller told DPS officials she did not need an ambulance. Officers met vith the injured woman near the fish- bowl area of Angell Hall, DPS reports e. Scuffle ensues in Kroger lot A manager who tried to approach a shoplifting suspect in the Kroger park- ing lot Friday afternoon became involved in a minor scuffle, according to AAPD reports. . Officers were called to the super- ket on Jackson Road around 5 p.m. d'ay. The suspect allegedly began pushing the manager after he was tar- geted as a shoplifting suspect, and a pushing matched ensued. The incident is being treated as an assault and bat- tery incident, AAPD reports state. Offensive writings scrawled on West uad chalkboard . A West Quad resident notified DPS efficials Sunday that a racist message was scrawled on a chalkboard in the residence hall's Wedge Room. a DPS reports state that the caller stat- !0, that she would store the chalkboard, *hich contained a message that was offensive to Indians, in her room. Money stolen om sock at 'U' Hospitals : A patient staying on floor 6C at tEniversity Hospitals notified DPS offi- ,als that $50 had been stolen from one gf his socks Thursday. DPS officers advised the patient, -who was "extremely agitated," to con- * t the hospital's patient relations divi- n for assistance. Floor 'exploded' -t 'U' institute '4 A caller from the Mental Health Research Institute notified DPS offi- cials Friday that the floor of a room "exploded." Maintenance workers investigated the caller's room and found no chemi- s or water problems. DPS reports conclude that a buildup of gases may ;have contributed to the unusual explo- sion. - Compiled by Daily Staff Reporter Alice Robinson. City Council candidates raise ey issues By Peter Meyers Daily Staff Reporter The City of Ann Arbor is a veritable tangle of garbage collection, parking structures, a sprawling campus and office buildings. With city council elections scheduled for one week from today, a small group of candidates have come forward to vie for its control. City council elections will be held Tuesday, Nov. 4. Of the five wards where members are up for re-elec- tion, three councilmembers are being challenged. Republican, Democratic and Libertarian parties are represented in the candidate pool. Their pet issues include environmental protection, budget control, homelessness, fiscal responsibility and the control of urban sprawl. U 2nd Ward: The incumbent Republican David Kwan is primarily concerned with financial responsi- bility. "I'd like to see the city spend every dollar as a pri- vate homeowner or as a business would," Kwan said. He said that over the last year the city has installed "hundreds of computers at City Hall, but our staff count stays the same." He said this disproportion is a sign of inefficient and unnecessary spending. Kwan's challenger is Democrat Parma Yarkin, an attorney formerly with the federal Department of Education. "Simply put, my platform is parks and good government" "Yarkin said. Yarkin said she wants to keep development and urban sprawl under control. "You could certainly argue that it's more effi- cient to have a lot of high rises," she said. "(But) I prefer to maintain neighborhoods. I think it's vital to Ann Arbor's character." Yarkin's other main concern is government accountability. She said her experience at the edu- cation department has taught her that bureaucra- cies tend to get out of control and need strict super- vision. When speaking of his opponent, Kwan brought up her short residency in Ann Arbor as a detriment. "Having lived in this town only two and a half years, I don't think she really knows where all the dangers are," Kwan said. Yarkin said she would be more successful than Kwan in communicating with all of the con- stituents of the 2nd Ward. "I would be much more available to the voters outside of the business community," she said. ® 3rd Ward: Democratic incumbent Heidi Herrell's primary issue is the environment, espe- cially its connection with ener'v eticiencv. -errell is involved whih the eity's .roct' to bring in natural gas and electric powercd \ehils. Herrell said she also wams to '"discourage uirbani sprawl" and "protect green spaces "It's not only an issue of beauts, it il o >,iects the quality of our air and the quality of our water," Herrell said. H errell's challengers are Republican Edward Koster, an attorney and Presbyterian min ster, and Libertarian Boyd StitL, a niversitv student. Koster said he wants to clean up the ct'ST innces. "There's a loomina fir ancial crisis coming. Property taxes are nOt keepin up with inlation:' Koster said. "The Democrats so tar have said that there's no problem." Koster said that the problem lies with uncon- trolled spending, and he pointed to the fact that the city ran a $200,000 dcficit Last year. This budget discrepancy "woul d have bcen S 1.5 million if the stock market hadn't don so wel' he said. Koster said he also is upset with the placement of the new homeless shelter, which will be located at the city's border, across the street from his ward. M 4th Ward: The Republican incumbent Pat Putman was elected in 1995 on a platform of road maintenance. crime reduction and opposition to increased taxes. His equative slogan was, "Good Common Sense + Good Business Sense = Good Government." H is Democratic challenger is Anthony Reffells. Douglas Scott, chair of the Ann Arbor Democratic Party, described Reffells as "a strong member of the black community. He's active in a variety of black groups." The third candidate for the 4th Ward is Libertarian Michael Enright, an LSA sophomore, who said he is running because he is concerned with constricted personal liberties in Ann Arbor. "Skttcboarding is one example," Enright said. '" Erybody has paid for it - the public lands - and if skateboarding is a legal action, they should be allowed (to use these public areas):' Enri ght divides his time between South Quad residence hall and Mt. Clemens but plans to make himself available to his constituents even when he is living out of town. Enright, 19, said he has no experience in city government. I have paid attention, and I kind of think I know how it works'Enright said. The races in the 1st and 5th wards are uncontested. Pharmacy Week attracts students, dispels images A By Megan Exley Daily Staff Reporter Consumers with questions aboutl their medications should look no fur-3 ther than their nearby drugstore. The nation's pharmacists and University1 Pharmacy students wrapped-up National Pharmacy Week on Friday by urging the public to talk to their best resources -- their local pharmacists. "Be Informed ... Stay Healthy -- Talk With Your Pharmacist" was the theme for this year's national promo- tional week. "This year was the first time in a while that we tried to promote Pharmacy Week on campus," said Amy Yadmark, campus American Pharmaceutical Association (APhA) organizer for the Academy of Student Pharmacists (ASP) Pharmacy Week committee. "Overall, we had a fairly good response to our campus promo- tions." Yadmark said the members ofAPhA- ASP hung a promotional banner in the Diag, posteied University buses with Pharmacy Week ads and distributed refrigerator magnets with local emer- gency phone numbers to heighten pub- lic awareness. "I think we definitely attracted peo- ple's attention, especially with the mag- nets," Yadmark said. "Many people liked that we weren't passing out fliers." Yadmark also said she was surprised by the number of students who didn't even realize that the University has a separate College of Pharmacy. Through promotional efforts such as Pharmacy Week, Yadmark said that the APhA- ASP hoped to spark more interest in pharmaceutical issues and change the public's "old-fashioned" concept of pharmacists. "The purpose of National Pharmacy Week is to increase public awareness of the availability and type of services offered by pharmacists," said APhA- MSU stabbi" 2 . . 2criticallyI EAST LANSING (AP) - Two peo- ple were reported in critical condition yesterday at a Lansing hospital after stabbings at a married-housing apart- ment at Michigan State University. A 23-year-old woman and a 19-year- old man underwent surgery after the stabbings, said campus police Capt. Tony Kleibecker. He said the woman had been stabbed several times, and the man, brandishing a large knife, later stabbed himself in the throat while police negotiated for his surrender. The woman was a student at ASP President Katrina Konopinski. "Our focus is to let the public know that pharmacists are more than just individ- uals dispensing pills." Konopinski said that the public still has a stereotypical image of the phar- macist as "the intimidating figure in a white coat behind the counter." "This image tends to distance the public from the pharmacist," Konopinski said. "We want the public to realize that pharmacists welcome interaction with their customers." Konopinski said Pharmacy Week also provided a good opportunity to make people aware of the expanding roles that pharmacists have in the health care community. "Many people are not aware that pharmacists in Michigan now can be certified to administer immunizations along with physicians," Konopinski said. In the season of flu shots and pneu- monia vaccinations, a visit to a local pharmacist at an out-patient clinic can be a lot more convenient than having to make an appointment with a physician, Konopinski said. Patient-oriented services are at the core of pharmacy practice in the 1990s, said Gary Kadlac, a pharmacist and President of the APhA. Kadlac said that many pharmacists today can also perform limited patient testing, such as cholesterol screening, glucose monitoring and blood pressure checks for serious health-threatening problems. "Following a pharmacist's advice can both save money for consumers and help lower the nation's health care bill by ensuring proper medication use," Kadlac said. Yadmark said that the members of the campus chapter of the APhA-ASP anticipate expanding the promotion of National Pharmacy Week and planning bigger events in the future. ngs leave njured Michigan State, but the man's status was uncertain. Officials declined to release their names. According to Kleibecker, officers were called to the apartment, located in Spartan Village at the Michigan State campus, about mid-morning. The und a woman bleeding profuse- ly, and the man holding a large knife. Officers removed the woman, who had been stabbed several times, Kleibecker said. He said the man made threatening gestures as police attempt- ed to talk to him. DANIEL CASTLE/Daily Scott Campbell of Human Rights Watch, who recently returned from Zaire, described the current human rights conditions in the country. Campbell spoke during a conference yesterday at the Michigan League. Con~fere LC%.uslpoeakers discluss'. past unrest in fonnwer]Zair By Neal Lepsetz Daily Staff Reporter Spurred by the political upheaval that transformed the nation formerly known as Zaire, the Center for Afroamerican and African Studies is sponsoring a sym- posium this week to explore the causes of the unrest. Following a film festival that kicked off the event Sunday, speakers discussed both the movement's origins and ramifica- tions at a public forum in the Michigan League yesterday. The symposium will conclude today with a graduate student work- shop on the topic. In April, forces led by Laurent Kabila captured Zaire's capital city of Kinshasa and overthrew dictator Mobutu Sese Seko. The coup was the culmination of a rebellion that began in response both to violence caused by Mobutu- backed Rwandan Hutu refugees in Zaire and long-term corruption within the government. But the military uprising itself had roots in the previous opposition by the society's arts and youth culture, said symposium co-coordinator and professor of African American history Frederick Cooper. "It involves artists, writers and other intellectuals,' Cooper said. "This is an event that has been in the news, and we're trying to look behind the event at the kinds of ways which politics and culture in Africa have shaped each other." Dieudonne-Christophe Mbala Nkanga, research director of theater and performance studies at the National Institute of Art in Kinshasa, discussed the role of songs as an influ- ence on the people. He mentioned one song called "My 12 Children," about a man who lost everything, including his 12 chil- dren, due to a relative's witchcraft. But in the 1980s, the lyrics became "spiced" up "I involves artists, writers and other inteIlectualso" - Frederick Cooper African American history Professor when witchcraft was replaced with leaders and their policies. "They would change the lyrics to kind of respond to what they were feeling at the moment said Nkanga, adding that Mobutu's regime is considered by many politi cal scientists a kleptocracy, where the government pillages from the people. He added that a youth movement formed and creat- ed artistic expression against the regime, in which many of the "young musicians joined the cycle of mad- ness." Nkanga said he cried when he saw the young men on TV carrying weapons and promoting libera- tion. Controversy surrounds the rebellion's success despite its democratic motivations. It is unclear whether a Kabila dic- tatorship will replace the Mobutu one. Scott Campbell of Human Rights Watch recently returned from the country and spoke about another contro- versy. Evidence is arising that Kabila's army, which included Rwandan Tutsis, was responsible for the massacre of many Rwandan Hutu refugees. Campbell also said many wit-: nesses live under the threat of retaliation if they speakr about the killings. "If we can't hold Kabila accountable for thousands of: bodies, how will we hold him accountable for thousands' of aid dollars?" Campbell asked. Pack Yo ur ags December 22, 1997 - January 1, 1998 GRouP MEETINGS 232D, 8:30 p.m. Center, The International Center, 603 E. Madison St., 12 p.m. U Allanza, 995-0123, Michigan Union, MUG, 7:30 p.m. U Cleptomaniacs and Shoplifters Anonymous, 913-6990, First Baptist Church, 512 E. Huron St., EVENTS U "Jobs In Japan: The JET Program," Sponsored by The International Center, International Center, SERVICES U Campus Information Centers, 763- INFO. info@umich.edu, and ..~ " ~. *;4~'* I I