LOCAL/STATE -The Michigan Daily Monday, February 16, 1998 CAMPUS Fraternity offers essay contest The University chapter of the Pi Lambda Phi fraternity is sponsoring an essay contest in an attempt to curb prej- *die. All University students are eligible to enter the contest. The essays should discuss one's definition of prejudice, how it has affected their own life and sohitions that can solve these problems. The winner will receive a $500 schol- arship, and all applicants will be invited to 'a banquet in April that will feature various speakers. Entries must be limited to five typed ' ages and submitted by March 8. For ore information, stop by the Office of Greek Life, located in the Michigan Union. Project to help teach languages The University, along with three other universities, will begin a project that uses computer technology to aid students' learning of uncommon anguages. The project was funded by a $950,000 grant from the Andrew Mellon Foundation. ,,The focus of the project is to aid studies in languages taught by smaller University departments. The limited scope of these departments often -nakes it difficult for students to take courses beyond the introductory level. 'The use of computers is intended to 1elp students with drills and aid in the lng-distance aspect of the program, as well as allow professors more time to teach other programs. The long-distance advantage should allow University students to interact with students at other schools. The expansion of Hindi and Middle Egyptian programs are scheduled to be ;sponsored by the University of Michigan and the University of hicago. Other universities involved on the project are the University of Wisconsin and Northwestern University. Both will jointly sponsor th6 study of Swahili. Cultural seminar to examine many heritages Students interested in examining a *ariety of backgrounds and cultures .cn participate in a four-day seminar that will attempt to bring together stu- dents to discuss their upbringing and cultural experiences. Participating students will look at their own background while learning about the values and experiences of students from different backgrounds. Much of the group work will analyze Lases toward particular cultures and 01w they affect cross-cultural relations. Accommodations for participants will be provided. Interested students can call 764-9189 for more information. Rackham student starts contest The Sphinx Competition, a contest for 13- to 19-year-old black and lati- no/a string players, will conclude this month. The competition was started by Rackham student Aaron Dworkin to encourage students with little expo- sure to classical music to study the discipline. . Twelve semi-finalists will perform at -Radkham Auditorium on Feb. 27 at 5 1.M. Three finalists will be chosen to .perform with the Ann Arbor Symphony at Hill Auditorium on March 1. 'J.S. Dept. of Energy to offer fellowships Fellowships with the U.S. Department of Energy are now available to undergraduate students. Students can participate in 10-week summer programs or 16-week fall pro- grams. Areas of study at the U.S. Energy Eedcral laboratories include biology, computer science and environmental sci- ence. .-For more information, interested stu- dents can call (423) 576-2478 or e-mail erutf orau.gov. - Compiled by Daily Staff Reporter s ,Melanie Sampson. Chicano journalists discuss latino/a history By Rachel Edelman Daily Staff Reporter A combination of political and personal issues currently affecting the latino/a community were discussed Friday evening as Chicano journalists Patrisia Gonzales and Roberto Rodriguez spoke to a group of 60 people. Gonzales and Rodriguez. who are married and work in Albuquerque, write a syndicated column, Latino Spectrum, which is published in 30 newspapers nationwide. "Gonzales & Rodriguez: Uncut and Uncensored," a collec- tion of their columns, was recently published. Their work involves attempts to expose Americans to latino/as and broaden the public's conceptions of the ethnic group. Gonzales spoke about the need for men and women to work together to achieve peace and social progress, as well as the need to challenge violence in society. "low many times have we become emotionally violent towards another'?" Gonzales asked. "We react in anger. we attack ourselves - simply because we don't agree." Gonzales is the country's first latina syndicated columnist and has been writing a book about Mexico's emerging human rights movement, titled "The Mud People: Anonymous Heroes of Mexico's Emerging IH uman Righits Movement," for the last two years. "Do we honor nonviolence the way we honor armed struggle?" she asked. "I think we should begin to honor peace and peaceful struggles ... If we have not come to the point where we cannot hold back arms with our bodies, then we have to evolve as a people." Rodriguez, who received a standing ovation for his speech, discussed affirmative action, repre- sentations of Mexicans in the media, and various laws that are directed at immigrants. Rodriguez is a senior writer at Black Issues in H-ligher Education and wrote "Justice: A Question of Race," which chronicles two police brutality tri- als stemming from a physical beating Rodriguez suffered by L.A. County Sheriff's officers in 1979. Rodriguez said the United States is in a "peri- od of anti-rights" toward immigrants, particular- ly Mexicans and Central Americans. ''What is at stake is the very definition of what it means to be human," he said. Rodriguez discussed the implications of anti- immigration laws such as Proposition 187 in California, which banned public education for ille- gal immigrants. "A human being can be deemed illegal simply for migrating," Rodriguez said. "No human being is illegal." Rodriguez also spoke about the lawsuits filed against the University that target the use of race as a factor in the admissions process and the effect that they nma hav\ cacross the country. "Incidentally. all eves are on M icigan todai California and texas have hau ht us that segr cation cati be instituted as legal.'' Rodrigue said. 'Maybe what happens in Michigan will reverberate around the country. Audience members said they' evre moved by onzales' and Rodrigcuez' personal account>. "It xwas a very uplifting speech in the sense of letting people know that there are struggles that should not be forWotten," said LSA junior Jessc Perez. The event, sponsored by NiMECha. the Student Affairs Progrmning Council. the Office of Multi-Ethnic Student Aftirs. the sociology department and the latin o studit program was part of Chicano IHistorv We which ended yesterday with( a mural dedica- tiol. V! Coupons and sports guides still part of Ann Arb LOUIS BROWN/Daily The rock, located on Washtenaw Avenue and Hill Street, is an Ann Arbor mainstay. Residents have complained about the vandalism around it. Residents complain about vandalis-m By Peter Meyers Daily Staff Reporter Three University undergraduate students made handing out free pub- lications - first in the form of' Football Sports Guide and later as coupon booklets and Current Magazine -- permanent aspects of' campus life. They began as a small printing company that distributed free book- lets of sports information laced with slogans encouraging support for social issues. Twenty years later, Sports Guides, Inc. is still a character mark of Ann Arbor. University alumni David Devarti, Greg Hesterberg and Tim Kunin began printingin 1976. "Basically, we started it as a fund- raiser for the Coalition for Better Housing," Devarti said. "What gave us the idea originally for doing this was in 1976, we did a 10-page pro- motional flier (for the bottle deposit ballot)." The flier included football infor- mation and slogans that favored the bottle ballot. Devarti, Kunin and Hesterberg organized the flier operation, pass- ing out about 50,000 fliers in total. The bottle bill passed, creating the 10-cent deposit for Michigan bottles and cans. HAVE A NOSE FOR NEWS? STOP BY THE DAILY AT 420 MAYNARD ST. The following vear, Devarti, Kunin and HI esterberg ran a similar operation for the Coalition for Better Housing by handing out fliers of football and housing infor- mation. Today, coupons are distributed pri- marily by part-time workers or con- tracted workers. All coupon distributors are paid S7 per hour. Coupon booklets are given out pri- marily early in the semester or immedi- ately after vacations. Devarti said the contracted work is "totally irregular" since the books are only passed out a few times each year. Devarti said SGI often employs homeless people. "I'm very open to somebody who doesn't have a home," Devarti said: "I probably had one person this witer (who was homeless)," he said. "Fo' us, here's an opportunity for a guy to have an opportunity to get back on track." Janet Upjohn, the clinical supervisor for the housing program at Michigan Ability Partners, a local non-profit organization that implements pro- grams for homeless people, said busi- nesses should employ homeless when they can. "It's a way for (businesses) to sup- port the community as a whole," Upjohn said. "It is a community ior life 5.. problem. Upjohn said that contracted lab9j provides a soft transition into emjplo ment. "That can be very beneficial clients who haven't worked Ior,.r while," Upjohn said. "It's much e ier to go from day to day (work i workingt 40 hours a week, or even hours a week," she said. Devarti said he thinks lie h helped soie horeless people in past. "I've seen them a couple of yCide later with a full-time job and an apgl ment," Devarti said, adding, "I doet- want to take credit. I think it's basicaLly- an individual who takes control of theji life." The football guide is distributed di- ferently than the coupons. "We pay groups to go down and hai* them out, Devarti said. "We don't pg individuals." Groups that have been employedM. the past include the Boy Scouts : America, a University business frat4 nity and the University's Wome i Soccer club, Devarti said. Groups arl paid S20 per person. Devarti said the distribution is us ally easy work, so groups fill the ava able positions years in advance. -' "On the one day every three ye'a~rl when it's a rainy day, it's hard," Deva - said . s By Jason Stoffer Dailv Staff Reporter Some student groups were a little overzealous with their paint cans and brushes last semester, causing a storm of complaints from neighbors of the rock. They trekked to the corner of Hill Street and Washtenaw Avenue to paint the rock, but they also doused surrounding sidewalks and pillars with paint, scattered paint cans all over George Washington Park and woke up residents during the night. In response to a situation that Ronald Olson, superintendent of Ann Arbor Parks and Recreation, said was "g e tin g out of hand," the "heAr is a city enact- ed The folklore suo Actionthe rock" Plan on Dec. 5. Ann Arbor "People w e r e painting everything in sight," Olson said. "We removed the park sign because they even painted that. Our people were needing to go out there every day or every other day to clean up." The action plan calls for increased enforcement of city litter- ing and vandalism ordinances and urges University fraternities and sororities to enact an adopt-the-park program. Interfraternity Council President and Kinesiology junior Bradlev Holeman said that after receiving a letter from the city, IFC and the Panhellenic Association immediately took action. "Ann Arbor told us we'd like you to educate members and tell them 'this is a public park,"' Holeman said. "At our Panhel and IFC meet- ings, we've educated presidents with letters and various articles." So far, the Greek system has made. a difference, Olson said. George Washington Park is noticeably clean- er and groups painting the rock have been making considerably less noise, he said. "There haven't been empty cans around like there were (last semcs- ter)." Olson said. "If things had kept gtcttitg worse. we would have had to consider other options. The worst option would have required the rock to be removed." Complaints from neighbors were not the only reason the city decided to take action. Cleaning the area around the rock was becoming a costly undertaking, Olson said. "Cleaning the sidewalk is a very labor-intensive and expensive V I .. rP proposition lie said. I loleman said the Greek system is going to amend its "ort of constitution to award rounding faternte ties that - Ronald Olson decide to arks and Recreation adopt the rock. " W e have a point system for self-govern- ing, where houses get penalty points for disciplinary reasons," Holeman said. "One of the projects to lose points is to adopt the rock by putting paint cans in the trash and cleaning up the park in the morning." Olson said the city would like the tradition of painting the rock to con- tinue. He said the tradition is not only for fraternities and sororities, with many students and local orga- nizations also painting the rock. "There is a sort of folklore sur- rounding the rock, and painting it is a neat thing to do!' Olson said. "We want to cooperate with everyone so the tradition can continue without burdening others." Pi Kappa Alpha President Eric Ranka called the new rules "common sense" and said groups should respect the park and residents in the area. "I hope people conform to them so we can keep the tradition," said Ranka, an Engineering senior. "They even have a trash can right there to put your empty paint cans in" " *F r6i $1 00 * 0garnld s .B - - INTts - br es LOWEST PRICES! HICGHESTsnUALIagYr gy F FASTESTdSERrsCE!th go sra * 1002 PONTIAC TR. - Are you readyfo Course starts February 21st in Ann Arbor! ffl k xxx:xj" L (&u.LLN L l What's happening in Ann Arbor today Test 1 Class 1 Workshop 1 Class 2 Sat. Feb 21 Sun. Feb 22 Tue. Feb 24 9:00am-1:00pm 2:00pm-5:30pm 6:30pm-10:00pm One-on-one instruction Comprehensive, up-to-date materials Real GREs given under actual testing conditions GROUP MEETINGS J "International Conference 'A Century of Modern Jewish Politics: The Bund and Zionism in Poland and U "Talk to Us Presents: "The Other Side of the Mirror" and "Identity Indemnity'." Place to be MM3p p Mon. Mar 9 6:30pm-10:O0pm I