LOCAL/S TATE
The Michigan Daily - Monday, April 20, 1998 - 5
Senate
takes up
cloning
ban
Ceremony
s
honors latino/a
LANSING (AP) - Alarmed by the
cloning of the sheep Dolly, the
Michigan Senate is slated this week to
shepherd through a bill to forbid the
cookie-cutter process from being used
c people.
The chamber is slated to open debate
on four bills to prohibit human cloning
while - supporter; hope - not dis-
couraging potentially valuable medical
Wsearch.
"We worked hard not to interfere
with the research community," said
Sen. Loren Bennett (R-Canton
Township) sponsor of the Senate bill in
the package.
'The research community tells me
we have the language" needed to block
human cloning without chilling valid
experimentation, he said, adding the
legislation would permit the cloning of
anything short of a human being."
"Everything else is still legal.
Everything else is still desirable
because it would lead to a better human
condition," he said.
The bills have no visible opposition.
TIey emerged last week on 3-0 votes
from the Senate Health Policy and
Senior Citizens Committee.
Michigan is in the forefront of
opposing human cloning. Only
California has acted, imposing a five-
#ear moratorium on such procedures,
according to the National Conference
of State Legislatures.
But similar bills have been intro-
duced in 23 states, the NCSL said.
Under the Michigan bills, a person
with a medical license who engaged in
human cloning could lose that license
for up to five years. Violators of the
new law would be liable for civil and
#riminal fines of up to $10 million and
imprisonment for up to 10 years.
Three of the four bills already have
passed the House in slightly different
form, as the House voted overwhelm-
ingly in January to ban the practice in
Michigan. That followed the apparently
successful cloning of the sheep Dolly
and increasing discussion of possible
attempts to clone a human.
A bill to ban human cloning was put
on indefinite hold in the U.S. Senate
tarlier this year when lawmakers
expressed concerns it could slow scien-
tific research. And the Scottish scientist
who cloned Dolly said he may have
made a mistake and will try the task
again with other kinds of animals.
President Clinton has called for a
federal ban on human cloning.
The state Senate is scheduled to open
debate on legislation to establish a state
ead-paint removal program. That's to
comply with federal mandates which
require every state to enact a lead-paint
program including removal and dispos-
al of lead paint.
"This bill is the result of 5 1/2 years
of work," said Sen. Dale Shugars (R-
Portage) sponsor of the legislation. He
said it's intended to address "the levels
of toxic lead still affecting some of
Michigan's children."
Provisions of the bill include a pro-
gram to accredit and certify persons or
businesses dealing with lead-based
problems.
The state faces a June 1 deadline to
have the program in place, and risks
losing federal funds if it doesn't.
In the House, lawmakers are expect-
ed to move minor bills off its calendar,
now bulging with 160 items. Much of
them are minor bills making technical
changes in state laws for one reason or
*another,
One such cleanup package deals
with making personal protection orders
harder to get. The House may debate
the nine-bill package this week.
The bills would alter language in
personal protection order laws
adopted four years ago. The way
some read the law now, anyone who
feels threatened can take out a pro-
tection order.
Under the changes, the orders could
only be obtained by victims of stalking
or domestic violence, not neighbors
involved in squabbles over hedges or
school kids trying to escape play-
ground bullies.
LIKE
NORTH''
CAMPUS?
YOU'LL
LOVE
AP PHTO
Southfield attorney Jeffrey Fleger announces this past Thursday, on the steps of the capital building in Lansing, that he
will be a Democratic candidate for the post of Michigan governor .
Fiegecr anno~ounce0-0ment a
circus; Englers to be same
graduate
By Lee Palmer
Daily Staff Reporter
Dressed elegantly in suits and gowns,
nearly 100 members of the University
latino/a community gathered in the
League Ballroom on Friday night for
the 9th annual Latino Leadership
Award and Graduation Ceremony,
sponsored by the Latino/a Task Force.
Students were honored for outstand-
ing academic achievement, leadership
and community service during the
evening, which opened with a mariachi
band and concluded with salsa dancing
late into the night.
LSA senior Lori Nicholson. one of
the 35 graduates who was recognized,
said it is always critical to celebrate
one's leaders.
"If you don't honor your leaders,
none are re-born," Nicholson said. "It's
an important part of our culture -hon-
oring those who came before and those
who'll come after."
Public Health graduate student Maria
Lopez spoke to the crow'd and
addressed the graduating seniors.
"It is your fresh sprits and young
minds that will shape the lives of other
latinos," Lopez said. "You are the lead-
ers for those who follow you. Do not
forget the younger or the older genera-
tion - muchas felicidades to all the
graduates."
To open the ceremony, a slideshow
illustrated the programming achieve-
ments of the year that included bringing
the Cuban "Queen of Salsa" Celia
Cruz, Paco de Lucia and his flamenco
orchestra and the chicano musicologist
Jesus "Chuy" Negrete to campus.
Katalina Berdy said she began the
leadership awards in 1989 when she
became the latino/a coordinator for the
Office of Multicultural and Ethnic
Student Affairs.
"As the latina coordinator, I needed
to work closely with the different stu-
dent groups," Berdy said. "As I was
"Y ou are the
leaders for those
who follow you."'
- Maria Lopez
Public Health graduate student
helping them program events, I felt~it'
was important to recognize their contr-
butions."
Since the first ceremony, the awards
have expanded to include more than 10
categories. This year there were mofe
than 100 nominations made by ther
community, Berdy said.
Janet Padilla, who was named Latina
of the Year, said the celebration was a
way to unite the latino/a community.'
"I think tonight is very important,
because it's a way of getting together
and sharing all the accomplishments
everyone has made," said Padilla, an
LSA first-year student.
The evening was also a way to'
include less active members of th(
community, she said.
LSA first-year student Andrea
Chapa, whose family comes from1
Mexico, said she attended the everit
because she was interested in seeing
what the latino/a community had to
offer.
"I thought I would come and see
what it's about," Chapa said.
Engineering senior Samuel Lopez deg
Victoria said the awards renew hope for
the future of latino/as in the United
States.
"A lot of the students are graduat-,
ing and we're celebrating that there
are more latinos entering the work-
force - and we're hoping that they'll,
give back to the community," said
Lopez de Victoria, who serves as
president of the Puerto Rican-
Association.
LANSING (AP) -The flock of reporters and television
cameras outnumbered Geoffrey Fieger's supporters
Thursday as the flamboyant attorney stood on the Capitol
steps and announced he was running for governor.
But while Jack Kevorkian's lawyer may have studied
drama and have a flair for publicity, his one-day play
in the political headlines is hardly a match for the
media blitz Gov. John Engler has in mind -- a 10-day
campaign swing marking the official start of his drive
for a third term.
TFhe Republican incumbent has been unofficially in
the race since last June, when his wife, Michelle,
made a surprise announcement that they had decided
he should run again.
Engler has spent the months since the announcement
hiring his campaign staff, raising prodigious amounts of
money and refining his campaign themes.
Now he plans stops in nearly 50 communities over 10
days starting late this month to kick off his campaign. The
multi-city blitz is aimed at putting him in every region -
and media market -in the state.
"You need a starting point (for the campaign), and this is
it," said ;ngler campaign spokesperson Maureen McNulty.
"It's exciting for him to get out and meet people he's not
met before. It's exciting for people outside Lansing to have
the governor come to town."
It's also a sure way to get his picture on the evening
newscasts and his face on the front page throughout the
state. Simply by being the governor. Engler gets the kind of
media attention that Democratic gubernatorial candidates
Doug Ross of West Bloomfield and Larry Owen of East
Lansing can only dream about.
The coverage imbalance may shake out somewhat
now that Fier is in the Democratic race, said
Lansing pollster Ed Sarpolus of EPIC/MRA. As
Kevorkian's attorney, he has gained the name recogni-
tion - and some would say notoriety -- that so far
only Engler has been able to claim.
"It brings attention to the fact that John Engler is not the
only one running for office," Sarpolus said.
Engler isn't as telegenic as Fieger, and his tongue
isn't as publicly acidic. But he's clearly ready to begin
the campaign and make some verbal attacks of his
own.
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G;RILLE
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Hopwood Awards
Will be announced
Tuesday, April 21
at 3:30 in the Rackham Auditorium
Open to the Public
Lecture by John Barth
Author of:
The Floating Opera
The Sot-Weed Factor
Giles Goat-Boy
Lost in the Funhouse
Once Upon a Time
Kasdan Scholarship in
Creative Writing
Arthur Miller Award
Jeffrey L. Weisberg Poetry
Award
Dennis McIntyre Prize
Chamberlain Award for
Creative Writing
Helen S. and John Wagner
Prize
Andrea Beauchamp Prize
Robert F. Haugh Prize
The Meader Family Award
The Naomi Saferstein
Literary Award
The Leonard and Eileen
Newman Writing Prizes
The Paul and Sonia
Handleman Poetry Award
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