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March 24, 1998 - Image 3

Resource type:
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Publication:
The Michigan Daily, 1998-03-24

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LOCAL/S TATE

The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, March 24, 1998 - 3

k.RIME
ligihtbulbs
stolen by child
The Department of Public Safety
received a call on Friday stating that an
-year-old child stole a light bulb
am the Argus I building on West
William Street, DPS reports indicate.
. The caller said the boy, after remov-
ing the bulb from its socket, left the
'building and threw the bulb on the
ground. When the bulb broke, the
VatIer said the boy screamed "I am the
.cat and I am here to steal."
-Reports do not indicate whether the
boy was apprehended.
mily feud
ecomes violent
Washtenaw County police dispatch-
ers called DPS on Saturday afternoon
Iq Ueport that a woman turned herself
in to Washtenaw County Police for
assaulting her mother, DPS reports
state.
e mother told DPS that her
.daughter struck her while they were in
M-18 parking structure on East
edical Center Drive. The report does
not indicate whether any physical
injuries occurred during the fight.
I )PS officers reporting to the scene
fied a report, but the mother said she
did not want to press charges.
Dining hall
mishap with tray
jures employee
>DPS received a call from Couzens
Residence Hall this past Saturday
.porting that an employee accidental-
Jy pulled a dinner tray onto her head in
the Couzens dining hall kitchen, DPS
reports state.
The caller said the injured employ-
echad a cut on her head, and told the
91. dispatcher the cut needed stitch-
But he said the bleeding was
nder control and an ambulance was
not needed.
DPS called the M-Works clinic,
ani a clinic employee escorted the
in.pred worker to M-Works to
recive medical attention. The
injured employee returned to work
.shortly thereafter.
Patient steals
ental tools from
Dentistry building
A School of Dentistry employee
called DPS on Friday to report that
a .pan who had undergone dental
work in the building may have
stolen some dental tools, DPS
reports indicate. Officers reporting
to the scene confirmed that equip-
ent was stolen.
Officers discovered the 46-year-
old suspect had an outstanding war-
rant for failure to pay child support.
He.was arrested and transported to
prison for attempted larceny from a
building and evading paternity pay-
1ments.
Radioactive
material exposed
gi med. building
A researcher in the Medical Science

Research Building called DPS on
Friday to report that someone left
-aioactive material exposed in a
mom. The caller was worried about his
posure to the material.
DPS contacted the University's
Occupational Safety and
nvronmental Health office to inquire
out the possible effects of radioac-
tive exposure. OSEH employees
reported to the scene and investigated
the incident. They said there was no
chance the caller was exposed to the
,material.
Compiled by Daily Staff Reporter
Jason Stoffer

House committee passes higher ed. bill

By Mike Spahn
Daily Staff Reporter
The House Committee on Education and the
Workforce came to the conclusion of a lengthy
debate last week when it passed the reauthoriza-
tion of the Higher Education Act.
The act sets interest rates on the college and uni-
versity loans known as guaranteed loans. These are
funded by private banks but are subsidized by the
federal government.
The committee decided to set interest rates for
students with guaranteed loans at 6.93 percent
while in school and 7.43 percent after graduation.
David Foy, spokesperson for Rep. Howard
McKeon (R-Calif.), who chairs of the
Subcommittee on Postsecondary Education,
Training, and Lifelong Learning, said the deal
drew strong bi-partisan support, passing by a vote
of 38-3.
"You're never satisfied with a compromise, but

these were the best numbers we could get," Foy
said. "This keeps student loan rates as low as they
can get. It will help students repay loans while
keeping the programs alive."
Bill McCarthy, press secretary for the
Committee on Education and the Workforce, said
this is the most important bill the committee will
pass this term.
"This has been a priority for this committee and
this Congress," McCarthy said. "We made this the
top legislative priority."
Thomas Butts, associate vice president for gov-
ernment relations, said he is pleased with the con-
clusion of the committee's work.
"We're pleased that they completed their work,"
Butts said. "We're looking forward to the Senate."
If Congress does not re-approve the act by July 1,
interest rates on some student loans will drop to 6.86
percent, which would make it infeasible for lenders
to continue offering the guaranteed loan programs.

But lenders, who worried they would lose prof-
its and be forced to bail out of loan programs, will
receive .5 percent more funding if they stay in the
industry that will be provided by the federal gov-
ernment.
"The lenders are still not happy with it," Foy
said. "They're not jumping up and down with joy,
but we believe they will stay."
McCarthy said studies completed by the com-
mittee show that these rates will keep the lenders
in the program.
"We think that for the most part, they will (con-
tinue to give loans)," McCarthy said.
Butts said the lenders probably will continue to
give loans with this agreement, but the additional
funding for them may be hard to find.
"The big challenge on that front is winning
Appropriations (Committee) funding," Butts said.
The Senate Committee on Labor and Human
Resources is scheduled to begin debating this issue

April 1. Butts said the House committee made the
decision to cut loan rates and he hopes the Senate
agrees.
"The House decided the students should receive
the lowered student interest rates. I hope we won't
have to fight that battle again," Butts said.
Improvements on the program can be made in
the Senate and in the Senate's conference commit-
tee, Butts said. He said the exclusion of funding
for the Javits Scholarship for Arts and Humanities
was one area the University hopes to see change.
"There may be additional flexibility in student
loans," Butts said. "There is possibility of addi-
tional improvements in the Senate."
The act will also increase the availability and
size of Pell grants, which, Foy said, gives students
grants that are not particular to a specific school.
McKeon also proposed a bill that will require
the federal government to study and issue reports
on the costs of regulation on colleges.

Bhatia, Lanier to take reins
of LSA1Student Government

MALLORY S.E. FLOYD/Daily
Michelle Smith, of the U.S. Department of Treasury speaks to former Public
Policy Dean Edward Gramlich, a member of the Federal Reserve Board, at a
panel In Rackham Amphitheater yesterday.
Poli1cy reps. di*scus
medi*a -1coveragev

By Lee Palmer
and Gerard Cohen-Vrignaud
Daily Staff Reporter
Geeta Bhatia and Gregg Lanier were
elected LSA Student Government pres-
ident and vice president, respectively,
after beating their nearest opponents by
nearly 600 votes.
The Students' Party swept the pres-
idency, vice presidency and eight of
the nine representative spots.
Michigan Party presidential and vice-
presidential candidates Pac Man
Shuen and David Silver received 605
votes to Bhatia and Lanier's 1,180.
New Frontier Party candidates
Conrad DeWitte and Jonathan Voigt
received 201 votes.
Bhatia and Lanier said they are
looking forward to their tenure in
LSA-SG, whose role is primarily in
academics.
Unifying the government is the first
order of business, Bhatia said.
"We want to bring everyone togeth-
er," Bhatia said. "We all ran under par-
ties but regardless of how we got elect-
ed, we all have the same goal and we
need to focus on that."
Bhatia and Lanier currently are
working with LSA Assistant Dean
David Schoem to improve departmental
student clubs and their relations with
departmental committees.
"We're going to establish the network
Mdce
Medicine

we were campaigning on," Bhatia said.
"We want to strengthen the clubs to
have student representation on depart-
mental committees"
Although campaigning was gruel-
ing, student voters offered valuable
input on how to improve LSA, Lanier
said.
"Campaigning was time-consuming,
but worth the while because I got the
chance to meet a lot of LSA students
and hear their ideas," Lanier said. "I
don't think name recognition helped
that much. It was the contacts we've
already made through the projects
we've been working on.
Many newly elected representatives
said they have concrete plans on how
to improve the academic life of stu-
dents. Incoming Michigan Party repre-
sentative Laurie Linden, an LSA first-
year student, said her goals are focused
on projects that her constituents have
requested.
"My first plan will be diving into this
foreign language requirement," Linden
said. "I also want to see some of the
-man visits

academic advising improved. I want to
look into extending the drop/add dead-
line."
The top point-recipient was LSA
sophomore Rupa Patel, who said she
had the edge in the campaign because
she is an incumbent.
"Elections are a fun, yet a very
tedious, time-consuming and some-
times unfair process," Patel said.
"I've worked really hard this year as
chair of the appointments commit-
tee."
Patel said she and fellow student
representatives plan to establish an
LSA "ambassador program" that
would appoint students to represent
different student groups on the
assembly.
These students would not be able to
vote, but they would provide the neces-
sary communication link between the
student government and the more than
400 LSA student groups on campus,
Patel said.
Members of the New Frontier Party
were unavailable for comment yesterday.
campus

"We're going to establish the
network we were campaigning on."
- Geeta Bhatia
LSA Student Government president-elect

By Mike Spahn
Daily Staff Reporter
Journalists had the tables turned
on them yesterday as their coverage
of monetary policy was critiqued
and discussed by the people they
write about every day.
Representatives from four major
publications met with individuals
from major financial institutions in
the Rackham Amphitheater to dis-
cuss ways to improve coverage of
economic issues in the United States
and abroad.
One of the central issues debated
was accessibility to information about
the Board of Governors of the Federal
Reserve System, the body that con-
trols the country's monetary policy.
David Wessel, chief economic cor-
respondent for The Wall Street
Journal, said the closed meetings and
refusal of members of the board to dis-
cuss policy keeps him from accurately
reporting all the actions of the Fed.
"We are unable, by the current
method, to describe what the Fed is
arguing about," Wessel said. Fed
Chair Alan "Greenspan should take
questions from the press."
The Fed currently releases the min-
utes of meetings six weeks after the
fact and announces the results of the
meetings right after the decisions are
made. But members of the board are
reluctant to discuss any sort of policy.
Former University Public Policy
Dean Edward Gramlich, now a
member of the Board of Governors
of the Federal Reserve system, said a

certain amount of privacy is required
for the Fed to complete their duties.
"None of us are against transparen-
cy, but it becomes hard to (make poli-
cy) if the glare is too bright," Gramlich
said.
The Fed has opened some doors
for reporters during the Greenspan
era, Gramlich said.
"The Fed has made a lot of changes
in the last few years," Gramlich said.
"We would like to be open."
Wessel said it is obvious why the
Fed has to meet in closed session,
but that he is not sure why the Fed
discussed some other issues behind
closed doors.
"It's not obvious to me why the
Fed doesn't explain why they didn't
move interest rates," Wessel said.
"It's not obvious to me why the
chairman doesn't sit down with the
20 or so reporters that cover the Fed
and have an on the record interview."
Zanny Beddoes, economic corre-
spondent for The Economist, said
her concern is with the Fed's plan for
future monetary policy.
"The goal of the Fed is not made
clear," Beddoes said.
The current Asian economic crisis
has afforded many reporters an
opportunity to show skills in cover-
ing monetary policy.
Klas Bergman, chief of media
relations for the World Bank, said he
has been impressed with media cov-
erage of the crisis so far.
"The American media has covered
it very well," Bergman said.

Professor lectures about alternative
medicine to a crowded Rackham
Auditorium last night
By Heather Wiggin
Daily Staff Reporter
Alternative medicine has made a big impression on
Americans in recent years, and La Salud, a public health stu-
dent association, presented topics in the field of traditional
herbal treatments last night.
A crowd of about 500 people attended the event, titled "A
Real Life Medicine Man," in Rackham Auditorium.
"La Salud is a public health organization that tries to
increase latino issues in School of Public Health issues,"
said Public Health fourth-year student Ann-Gel
Palermo.
The discussion featured Eloy Rodriguez, a professor of
environmental studies from Cornell University. Rodriguez is
a chemist who studies ecosystems worldwide in an attempt to
understand the medicinal properties of plants.
Rodriguez opened his presentation by recalling a time he
once worked as a migrant worker in Michigan.
"One of my worst moments as a human was as a migrant
worker," Rodriguez said. "When you treat people worse than
you treat your own dogs, memories like that never leave you."
But the experience left Rodriguez "very involved in the
quest for knowledge."
Throughout his college education, Rodriguez said he had a
deep interest in organic chemistry and plant biology.
"But I always kept in the back of my mind my interest in

traditional herbal medicine."
Rodriguez said he believes that women are the ones "that
really get down to the business of growing herbal medi-
cines."
He said he hopes to see a cooperative effort between
researchers and the indigenous people who practice natural
medicine.
"I think it was growing up as a chicano in Texas where I
was cured by women," Rodriguez said. "I was cured by herbs
and religious magical ways:'
Rodriguez said this area of research is exciting because it
is multi-disciplinary and has great medical potential if com-
bined with solid scientific evidence.
"There are still many new miracle plants coming out of the
rain forest" Rodriguez said.
But not all herbal medications are quickly embraced by
mainstream pharmaceutical industries, Rodriguez said.
"Most plants do not produce drugs that will make phrma-
ceutical companies happy."
Much of the work Rodriguez has done has been in the
Amazon region.
He said he tells his students, "if you're going to pick field
research, don't pick the city dump of Ann Arbor-- go to the
Amazon."
New species of plants are constantly being discovered in
the splendid diversity of the Amazon, which provides a
"multi-layer of natural products" and can be used as herbal
medications, Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez has spent time studying the diets of animals
such as monkeys, which cure their own ailments such as
malaria and parasites by feeding on a specific plants.

Correction:
9 The dates of an exhibition on the environment sponsored by the Michigan League were changed to April 2-April 24.
Submissions will be accepted until April 1.

ILIII'

LLN L All

What's happening I An Arbor today

GROUP MEETINGS
Q Cleptomaniacs and Shoplifters
Anonymous, 913-6990, First
Baptist Church, 512 E. Huron St.,
Room 102, 7-8:30 p.m.
U Free Mumia Coalition/ARA, 763-
7335, Modern Languages
Building, Room 129, 7 p.m.
ULSA Student Government, 647-
8i3 [SA Ruilding Room 2003.

Holocaust," Sponsored by South
Quad Bible Study, South Quad,
Ambatana Lounge, 8-10 p.m.
® "Orion Language Tour," Sponsored by
Environmental Theme Semester,
Michigan League, Vandenberg
Room, 8 p.m.
J "Residence Hall Repertory Theatre
presents: 'RACE ATTACKS',"
Sponsored by University Housing
_ Division, East Quad, 9 p.m.

SERVICES
U Campus Information Centers, 763-
INFO, info@umich.edu, and
www.umich.edu/-info on the
World Wide Web
U HIV/AIDS Testing, 572-9355, HARC
offices, 3075 Clark Rd., Suite
203, Ypsilanti, 6-9 p.m.
U Northwalk, 763-WALK, Bursley
Lobby. 8 o.m.- 1:30 a.m.

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