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LoCAL/STATE
The Michigan Daily - Friday, October 31, 1997 - 3
Woman arrested
for negligent
homicide
wVeihong Zhang was arrested by
the Ann Arbor Police Department
yesterday for the negligent homicide
of an elderly woman.
One month ago, Zhang was making
a left hand turn from Biel Street onto
Plymouth Road and hit another vehi-
cle that was going eastbound on
Plymouth. The side frontal impact
killed the passenger of the car going
cast. The elderly woman died as
*ult of injuries from the crash.
Zhang turned himself in to AAPD
yesterday and was arraigned later in
the afternoon.
Ten-foot python
attacks owner
A woman was bitten by a 10-foot
python Tuesday, according to AAPD
reports. The woman owns both the 10-
Ot python and a three-foot python.
When she attempted to pick up the
python, it latched onto her arm and
locked its jaws, refusing to free the
owner.
In a moment of panic, a friend pre-
sent during the attack called the
AAPD for assistance. As the unit was
being sent to help, the python
released its grip on the woman's arm.
The shocked owner sustained
ising and minor abrasions to the
rearm of her right arm.
The python was impounded by the
AAPD unit. It is now leaving the city
and returning to its previous owner.
The owner said she believes the
python may have attacked her
because of recently being placed in a
new environment.
WCC bomb scare
eancels class
Early yesterday morning,
Washtenaw County Community
College was told that an explosive
device was placed on campus,
according to a WCC written state-
ment.
Campus safety officers evacuated
staff and students from all campus
buildings except the Morris
* wrence building.
Authorities from the Washtenaw
County Sheriff's Department, the
Michigan State Police and the Ann
Arbor Fire Department investigated
the campus for any explosive devices.
No explosives were found and
classes resumed at 4 p.m. yesterday.
Bike injury
occurs on Diag
A serious bike accident occurred
when a student was riding a bike
across the Diag yesterday, the
Department of Public Safety reports.
The accident happened between
the Dennison Building and the
Randall Lab. The student's head was
bleeding and the student sustained a
broken nose.
The injured person was transported
to the University Hospitals' emergency
*om. There were no other bicycles or
pedestrians involved in the accident.
Costly horse-play
causes injury
A person was stabbed in the arm
Tuesday, DPS reports state. The sub-
ject was stabbed in the left forearm
by a friend.
The two friends were horsing
*ound when the subject was acciden-
tally stabbed with a knife. The cut
was minor and the subject was con-
scious and breathing. The subject was
taken to University Hospitals.
- Compiled By Daily Staff Reporter
Stephanie Hepburn
Clinton
adviser
educates
on cancer
By David Bricker
Daily Staff Reporter
What does it mean to be a cancer sur-
vivor?
While some choose to hide their
bouts with the disease like a lost battle
with a bully, Sandra Steingraber, who
spoke at Mendelssohn Theater last
night, has declared war.
While some cancer survivors
respond to their personal tragedy with
introspection, Steingraber has chosen to
educate the public.
In 1979, a doctor told the 20-year-old
Steingraber that she had bladder cancer.
Perhaps credited to her youthfulness
and rebelliousness, she fought against
the disease and won, then went on to get
two post-graduate degrees in ecology.
Steingraber, who received a Ph.D. in
biology from the University, has written
several award-winning books. She has
been offered fellowships by many univer-
sities, and was recently appointed by
President Clinton to develop a National
Action Plan on Breast Cancer.
Steingraber said her story is one she
hopes every cancer patient can tell.
"The role I've carved out for myself
is a kind of two-way translator,"
Steingraber said. "I see myself provid-
ing a bridge between the cancer activist
community and medical researchers.
"It's not always easy,"she said. "People
will come up to me during the book sign-
ings and tell me these sad stories. I often
don't know what to say. I feel honored."
In a week of University homecomings,
Steingraber returned as the inaugural
speaker of the Vivian R. Shaw Lecture
Series, which is dedicated to exploring
issues related to women and cancer.
The primary subject of the lecture
was Steingraber's book, "Living
Downstream: An Ecologist Looks at
Cancer and the Environment." In the
book, she confronts the murky research
on the environmental causes of cancer.
Students' Party
working to fulfill
election agenda
By Susan T. Port
1)aily Stafi Reporter
On the strength of a string olf
resounding camipaign pledges, the
Michigan Student Assembly's
Students' Party dethroned the previous-
ly unbeaten Michigan Party, and took
the assembly's political reins after last
spring's elections.
The party that once teetered on the
edge of extinction not only secured
MSA's executive positions, but also
won a majority of the assembly's 50-
plus seats. Its candidates w ere able to
do so thanks to many of the party's
sweeping promises.
The Students'
Party platform "We hai
included promises
to cut MSA's opera- aciutaii
tional budget,
ensure the tuition muCh a
rate increase does
'hair and Michigan Party President Dan
Serota said the assembl has ignored the
student body by thiling to make any sig-
ni ficant attempts at outreach.
"The stronger i oiee is not from the
assembly but from the student bo''y
said Serota, an L.SA senior.
Nagrant admitted that the assembly
needs to %work on mctin the needs of
students.
"We haven't actually done as
much as we should hax e," Nagr'ant
said. "We need
outreach.
Serota blasted
yen t
d --o ne as
s we
nav. "
to work on student
the Budget Priorities
Commit tee for
alterinl its applica-
tion process this
scmestcr fbr student
groups applying 10r
assembly fnds. le
said the committee's
old practice of
enacting hearings
for student groups
directly was more
- beneficial for stu-
PAUL TALANIAN/Daily
Sandra Steingraber, who was recently named to a presidential commission about
breast cancer, spoke at the Mendelssohn Theater last night.
not ex
inflation
ceed the
rate,
SWUM a
"Cancer is a bigger issue than ever,"
Steingraber said. "Cancer rates are rising.
As they cast a long shadow over all of us,
people are really starting to ask why."
For Steingraber, interest in carcino-
gens is more than peripheral. Her own
cancer may have been caused by dan-
gerous pesticides near her childhood
home in Tazewell County, Ill.
Her investigations revealed that more
than half the families in the area had at
least one member who was battling
cancer or had already died from it.
Despite overwhelming evidence to the
contrary, Steingraber said, the public
seems to believe that cancers are mostly
caused by intrinsic, genetic factors. This
misunderstanding makes communication
between cancer survivors and sympathiz-
ers difficult, she said.
"You can't change your genes,"
Steingraber said yesterday. "What we
can change is the environment. We put
it in, we can take it out. Even those of us
who have inherited so-called cancer
genes might not get cancer at all."
Steingraber's talents are not limited to
the sciences. She is also responsible for
the award-winning work "Post-
Diagnosis," a collection or recollec-
tion - of poetry centered around her
own cancer.
"She always liked to write," said
Beverly Rathcke, a biology professor
and Steingraber's former research
adviser. "Her abilities were evident
from the very beginning. She's an
excellent communicator."
Steingraber, who's been writing poetry
since she was seven, said her art was an
important emotional outlet while she was
ill.
"I think I needed the poetry to serve
as an encoded expression of the grief,
despair, and fear I was feeling,"
Steingraber said.
What does it mean to be a cancer sur-
vivor?
If Steingraber is any indication, it
means you can talk about it.
increase outreach to
students and build a
stronger voice for the student govern-
ment on campus.
MSA President Mike Nagrant said
that after six months in power, his party
is heading in the right direction. He said
party representatives are currently work-
ing to increase student funding by cutting
the operational budget and getting rid of
internal wastes. Cuts included eliminat-
ing four phone lines in MSA offices.
"We have to be able to maintain a bal-
ance by being able to function well and
provide students groups with funding,"
said Nagrant, an LSA senior. "We cut
around $2,500 out of internal spending."
MSA Vice President Olga Savic
said the assembly and the Students'
Party are cutting internal waste
while still dispensing high-level stu-
dent services.
"We were really sincere in the things
we wanted to do," Savic said. "We cut
to a bare minimum."
Nagrant said a concern for the party
during elections was the co-existence of
both MSA and the leadership round-
table, which is an advisory board that
meets with Vice President for Student
Affairs Maureen Hartford. He said some
assembly members worried Hartford
would not listen to the assembly.
"We wanted to make sure MSA is the
first and foremost student voice,"
Nagrant said. "Maureen Hartford
insists MSA is the voice of the stu-
dents"
Campus Governance Committee
- Mike Nagrant
MSA President
dents. This semester's "inefficiencv-eas-
ily could have been avoided ii it had
been handled in a proper manner:'
Serota said.
BPC Chair and Students' Party Rep.
Karen Morgan said modifications in
the application process were an attempt
to make the process more efficient for
students.
"We tried to make the process quicker.
So a group wouldn't have to wait three
months to find out if they received find-
ing;" said Morgan, an SNRE senior. "I
like the timeline. We need to do more
work to increase communication."
LSA Rep. Trent Thompson said the
party has fulfilled its goal of not having
tuition increase more than the inflation
rate. Thompson said he joined the
Students' Party because he thought he
could accomplish meaningful initia-
tives with the party.
"I thought of the Students' Party as
people who actually got things done,"
said Thompson, an LSA junior. "That's
why I ran with them."
LSA Rep. Rich Kovacik, who ran
with the Students' Party this past
spring, said the main goal for the party
during the elections was to bring the
government closer to the students.
"This is the first time in a long time
that the University of Michigan has
had a government that is responsible
and open to the student body," Kovacik
said. "I haven't seen the assembly
work better."
Bi-partisan sentiments shown
throughout Ann Arbor
By Peter Meyers
Daily Staff Reporter
In many ways, Ann Arbor is divided
along twisting partisan lines. While the
Ann Arbor City Council holds a
Democratic majority, Mayor Ingrid
Sheldon is a Republican.
Representatives from the two major
parties both pointed out major interest
groups in the electorate whose votes are
almost a guarantee of success for one
party or the other.
For the Republicans, long-time vol-
unteer Ginny Johansen said the student
vote was always an obstacle. Students,
she said, tend to vote Democratic, and
lately their turnout has been higher.
"I think, frankly, that's certainly been
the case since the election moved from
April to Fall," Johansen said, noting that
since 1995, city elections have been
held in November. Previously, city elec-
tions were held in April. Johansen said
that since students are in town more
often during November, student turnout
in the fall has been much higher.
Democrats, on the other hand, point to
business interests as a force that aids
Republicans. The Chamber of
Commerce in particular is always
Republican, said Douglas Scott, chair of
the Ann Arbor branch of the Democratic
Party. At present, two of the three
Republicans on City Council are partial
or full owners of their own businesses.
"The party is particularly key (at get-
ting out the vote) when there is no pres-
idential campaign," Scott said.
Local parties function in much the
same way as national parties, in that
they provide support services for the
candidates.
Johansen said major services include
mass phone calls to voters and prospec-
tive donors, and sending volunteers
door-to-door. In the 3rd Ward, for
example, Johansen said Republican
candidate Edward Koster had about 30
regular volunteers.
Third-party candidates said they are
at a disadvantage at amassing volun-
teers. Michael Enright, LSA sopho-
more and candidate for the 4th Ward,
said he had only five or six volunteers
to help him with his campaign.
Johansen said that although many
GOP volunteers are "just regular sup-
porters of the Republican Party," anoth-
er important source of volunteerism in
local elections is the candidates' per-
sonal friends. City elections are small
enough, she said, that the number of
friends a candidate has could make a
noticeable difference.
Another factor in the campaign is the
amount of financial contribution a can-
didate receives.
Scott described an elaborate fund-rais-
ing network for the Democratic Party.
"We have different levels of mailing
lists, different levels of activists," Scott
said. Scott said there are two groups of
Democratic donors in Ann Arbor. There
are about 400 regular donors, he said,
and an additional group of 200 "spe-
cial" donors who are known to be more
generous.
Johansen said a decent campaign for
city council required about $5,000-
6,000.
Enright said he was not able to raise
that much money. Libertarian Party
members from the city and around the
state have given him about $900.
NEED A HALLOWEEN COSTUME?
CHECK OUT TODAY'S FRIDAY
FOCUS
ILIL-
L1 mNI A
What's happening in Ann Arbor this weekend
FRIDAY
U "Halloween/Costume Party and
Mixer," Sponsored by The African
American Alumni Council,
Sheraton University Inn, 3200
Boardwalk Rd., 10 p.m.
U "Male Idols of the Japanese
Cinema," Movie screening,
Sponsored byThe Center for
Japanese Studies, Natural
Science Auditorium, 7 p.m.
U "Mishne Torah Chug for Grad
Students," Sponsored by Hillel,
Hillel, 1429 Hill St., 8:30 a.m.
U "Scott Turner Lecture Series: The
Ichthyosaura: Old and New
Perspectives on Marine Reptiles
of the Mesozoic," Lecture,
Snonsored hv The Denartment of
The Student Alumni Counc il,
Ingalls Mall.
SATURDAY
U "Alpha Kappa Psi Tailgate,"
Sponsored by Alpha Kappa Psi,
851 Tappan, 10:30 a.m.
J "Cider and Doughnuts," Sponsored
byThe Inter-Cooperative Council,
ICC office, 337 . William St., 12
m.
U "HIV/AIDS Testing," Sponsored by
The HIV/AIDS Resource Center,
HARC Offices, 3075 Clark Rd.,
Suite 203, Ypsilanti, 10 a.m.-2
p.m.
U "Late Night Sober Sensation:
Basketball & Volleyball
-rnan."..h I n fcr h r na
U "Weekly Rummage Sale," Sponsored
by The Kiwanis Club of Ann Arbor,
Kiwanis Building, 200 S. First St.,
corner of Washington, 9 a.m- 12
.m.
U "Wine Tasting," Sponsored by The
Ann Arbor Jaycees, Valley
Ranch Club House, 1315 Oak
Valley Dr., ,6:30 p.m.
SUNDAY
O "Seekers Meeting," Sponsored by
.The Ann Arbor Society of Friends,
Meetinghouse, 1420 Hill St., 7-9
p.m.
U"Sunday Worship," Sponsored by
Laymen's Evangelical Fellowship,
Ann Arbor YM A, Zonta Room,
10 a.m.
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