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.Panelists encourage environmental justice legislation
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By Lee Palmer
.Daily Staff Reporter
Environmental activists met with students last
night in the Michigan Union to address what
they see as a failure of the Michigan Legislature
to enact effective environmental policy.
LSA senior Trisha Miller, who chairs The
Environmental Clearinghouse that sponsored
*the panel, said the event was a chance to unite
leaders working for environmental justice and
students interested in learning how to affect the
legislative process.
The Environmental Clearinghouse, part of the
Michigan Student Assembly's Environmental
Issues Commission, recently sent more than 50
University students to Lansing to lobby for envi-
tonmental legislation.
"We are trying to mobilize students to pro-
mote environmental justice issues at the state
level," Miller said. "There is a beginning of a
movement within the state which is trying to get
Michigan to follow the lead of the federal gov-
ernment in implementing environmental justice
legislation."
Panelists said existing environmental policies
do not adequately protect people's health and are
not sufficiently enforced.
Tracy Easthope, who works at the Ann Arbor
Ecology Center, said Michigan ranks among the
top 10 states in the nation for the number of tox-
ins released into the environment. Of the chem-
icals used, 71 percent lack toxicity data, and 90
percent have never been evaluated for the effect
they have on children, she said.
Coupling this with declining rates of
reported current law enforcement results in a
"failure of current policy to protect us"
Easthope said. There is also a significant dis-
parity in the rate of enforcement based on
race, she said.
"The result of this inadequate regulatory
scheme and enforcement are health conse-
quences - health consequences that are biased"
said Easthope, citing the rates of cancer inci-
dence among blacks as 6 percent higher than for
whites.
Donele Wilkins said her organization,
Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice,
works to increase the "capacity of community
people to build a voice" concerning the use of
land and the quality of water and air in their
neighborhoods. Her organization became incor-
porated in 1994 to combat what she determined
was environmental injustice prevalent in Wayne
County.
"One of the issues we are dealing with is apa-
thy because people are so used to (environmen-
tal injustice) just being a natural part of their
lives," Wilkins said.
Many people from low-income communities
suffer from what Wilkins characterized as "quiet
desperation." Instead of fighting unfair environ-
mental burdens, such as disproportionate
amounts of landfills in their neighborhoods, res-
idents fear the economic consequences of
protesting, she said.
"This is what we're up against - this should
not be an issue of jobs versus the environment,"
Wilkins said. "They should be able to co-exist
for a healthy economy and a healthy environ-
ment"
Public Health Prof. Sylvia Tesh said people
should not be discouraged by the statistics or
cynics who say it takes too much work to make
change.
"If we take a long view, we can see there has
been a substantial transformation into an envi-
ronmental consciousness in a short time?' Tesh
said. "Today, (environmental legislation) has
become a major part of the political agenda.
Public Health graduate student A my
Gildemeister said she is optimistic about
future state environmental legislation. Her
research studying mercury and trace medals
in downtown Detroit has sparked discus-
sions with city officials.
"They definitely are concerned and interested
in meeting the currently required permits and
potentially improving the situation in the down-
town area," Gildermeister said.
Surfing the net
STADIUM
Continued from Page 1
plays, similar to those outside of Yost Ice Arena and the remaining two
boards probably will be installed in the Varsity Tennis Center.
Cecchini said Athletic Department officials are still researching the
type of videoscreen they will purchase, but that a decision should be
reached sometime next week.
"We have been evaluating videoboards since early December and that
process has not been completed," Cecchini said. He added that contractors
have been hired to build the scoreboard structure and production facility.
Cecchini said the different technologies involved with the
videoboards have contributed to the lengthy search.
"There's a big move in technology related to videoboards," Cecchini
said. "We're kind of on the cusp of where its changing."
Cecchini said some of the systems' differences include picture quali-
ty, power usage and durability.
"Image quality is what we're looking for" Cecchini said.
The company contracted to create the scoreboard, Daktronics Inc.,
based in Brookings, S. D., has created several information boards on
campus, including those outside of Yost and Crisler.
Jack Janveja, facilities planning and design director, said the project is
on track with its $6 million budget. "Everything is on schedule," Janveja
said.
But Vice President for University Relations Walter Harrison said
graduates at Spring Commencement may graduate in a half-finished sta-
dium.
"Every expectation is that it will be finished," Harrison said.
The construction is divided into two phases. The first phase
includes the halo that will add an additional 5,000 seats to the sta-
dium, and the second phase that involves relocating the rest rooms
and food vendors.
"The infrastructure of the stadium will be finished," Harrison said, adding
that food vendors may remain in temporary buildings similar to those they
occupied in previous seasons. Eventually, all of the vendors will be in per-
manent structures in order to clear the walkway outside the stadium.
Washington D.C. for the summer, where she
been awarded for her will be an intern to First Lady Hillary
the state Senate also Rodham Clinton.
community service After the White House internship, Rose, as a
Rhodes Scholar, will attend Oxford University
ed in the University's in the fall.
e. Alternative Spring "I'm very proud that I will represent not
of Humanities and the only the United States, but I will also represent
for Students with the University of Michigan," Rose said.
Rose plans to earn a Masters degree in clas-
pient of the Harry S. sical archeology at Oxford. Rose said she has-
congressional schol- n't made any further plans for her future at this
ward will take her to time.
ROSE
Continued from Page 1
recognition.
"I want to point out that really this state has
brought this honor to me," Rose said. "Really,
this is a tribute to public schools more than
anything else."
Sen. John Cherry (D-Clio), co-signer of the
resolution, is a University alumnus.
"It is always a moment of pride to have a stu-
dent from the University of Michigan get such
an honor,"Cherry said."It is a special moment,
a special recognition."
Not only has Rose t
academic success, but
acknowledged hert
efforts.
Rose has been involy
Child Care Task Forc
Break program, the Year
Arts and Services
Disabilities.
Rose was also a reci
Truman Scholarship, a
arship. The Truman av
NATHAN RUFFER/Daily
Ten-year-old Rebecca Schaffner from Heritage School in Saline learns all about the Internet in
the Ann Arbor Public Library.
. RESIDENCY
Continued from Page 1
in Michigan, left the state and later
returned to attend school.
"You may think of Michigan as still
your home, but you gave up your resi-
dency," she said. "We wanted to clarify
that with people."
If a student is denied Michigan resi-
dency after going through the
Residency Classification Office, the
*student can maintain non-Michigan res-
ident status or appeal the decision.
Of the nearly 1,300 applications
processed during the 1996-97 school
year, 627 were approved by the
Residency Classifications Office and
608 were denied. From that pool, 194
students appealed the office's decision.
Only 1,3 students succeeded in over-
turning the office's ruling.
The appeals committee reviews
applications submitted by students who
think they were unfairly denied
Michigan residency by the Residency
Qlassification Office - a part of the
Office of the Registrar.
After reviewing a student's appeal
application, the committee either
denies or accepts the student's claim. If
the student receives Michigan resident
status, he or she will be reimbursed for
the difference of paying out-of-state
residency tuition for the duration of the
appeals process.
LSA senior Stephanie Brimo, who
served on the committee from fall '95
through fall '97, said some of the cur-
rent guidelines' language is "deceiv-
ing," and caused many students a great
deal of anguish.
"It's a very serious issue" Brimo said.
"So, people were getting very upset
because they were being led to believe
Osomething because of the language."
Brimo said students who wish to
obtain Michigan residency cannot
apply to or attend the University and
then try to get in-state residency. In
most situations, they must show interest
prior to that point.
"One of the big hang-ups (is that) peo-
ple think you have to live in the state of
Michigan for one year, but that's not
true," Brimo said. "If you show an inter-
est in the University of Michigan before
you come here, you won't get residency."
SNRE sophomore Joe Thompson
received word earlier this semester that
the University approved his Michigan
residency status.
"I'm not really sure what their justi-
fications are for letting me keep in-state
(status), other than the fact that I'm
here for three-fourths of the year,"
Thompson said.
Thompson lived in Michigan when he
applied to the University as a high school
senior. His family then moved away from
Michigan, but Thompson maintains that
he is still a Michigan resident.
"My parents lived here for a few
years and paid taxes in the system,"
Thompson said, adding that if the
University had not approved his appli-
cation, he would not have been able to
afford out-of-state University tuition.
"If I couldn't do it, I would have to go
to school in Wisconsin"
Although it is not common, some
students choose to take their case to the
Michigan court system if the appeals
committee denies their claim.
"The number of students who take
their case to court is very small," Dunn
said, adding that the court cannot deter-
mine a student's residency status in this
context. "They simply decide if the
University has been fair and consistent
in its determinations."
Dunn said that out of the small num-
ber of residency cases filed by
University students in the Michigan
court system, she is not aware of a case
the University has lost in 20 years.
HOPWOOD
Continued from Page 1
could not speculate on Morales' actions
concerning the request Wednesday.
Whether the 5th Circuit overturns its
decision depends on the panel of judges
chosen to hear the case, Farabee said.
But Lino Graglia, a UT law professor,
said he did not think the court would over-
turn its original decision banning the use of
race in admissions to the law school.
There is a possibility that the court
may increase the damages awarded to
the plaintiffs, said Graglia, who does not
support affirmative action policies.
"There's a possibility that the plaintiffs are
entitled to more damages. They could hard-
ly get less'" Graglia said. "The only substan-
tial amount was the lawyers' fees, and that
was half or less of what they asked."
Monty Jones, UT System director of
News and Public Information, said
Cunningham wouldn't comment on the
letter Wednesday.
-Daily Staff Reporter Katie Plona
contributed to this report.
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The Department of
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edition of The Michigan
Daily contained an error.
The application deadline
should have read April 21.
We apologize for any
inconvenience this may have
caused.
(Te SOd igan &iigj
Tau Beta Pi
Michigan Gamma
Tau Beta Pi, the National Engineering Honor Society, was founded to mark in a fitting
manner those who have conferred honor upon their Alma Mater by distinguished
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We, the officers and faculty advisors of the Michigan Gamma Chapter of Tau Beta Pi, wish
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