LOCAL/STATE The Michigan Daily - Monday, November 30, 1998 - 3A C~AMPUS im U' chosen to teach nuclear eng neenng The nuclear engineering and radio- o ical sciences department has been osen by the China National Nuclear Corporation to teach nuclear reactor engineering and safety education courses to students from the People's Republic of China. Because only three universities in China have nuclear engineering depart- nients, the University's program pro- vides a much-needed resource to sup- port commercial nuclear safety in China. The CNNC currently operates he nuclear power plants in China, has many as 30-40 more scheduled to be opened in the next 20 years. Participants, who will move to Ann Arbor to take classes, must meet University admissions standards. The CNNC will choose candidates for the program. The program will offer mas- ter's degrees to students who complete the program. Surator t0 discuss design patterns Carol Bier, curator at the Textile Museum in Washington, D.C. and a specialist in creating Islamic patterns for oriental carpets, is scheduled to give a speech titled "Magic Carpets: Explorations of Meaning and Beauty." Bier will be joined by Art and Design assistant Prof. Jamy Sheridan, a artist who creates dynamic comput- enerated carpet-like patterns of light and color. They will discuss designing patterns, and how their different fields overlap, at noon tomorrow in room 1524 of the Rackham School of Graduate Studies. The lecture is free and open to the public. Children's parade et for Sunday eindeer will pull Santa's sleigh as kids play kazoos on Sunday, Dec. 6 during the 10th annual Children's Holiday Parade. Scheduled to begin at noon in front of the U.S. Post Office at Liberty Street and Fourth Avenue, the parade will last five blocks and end at Main Street and William Street. High school band members will lead the kids, who will play kazoos. The Ode will also include fire engines, floats, animals and buses. A petting zoo will be waiting at the end of the parade route. After the parade, hot chocolate and cookies will be provided at the Real Seafood Co. restaurant for all marchers. No reservations are neces- sary to participate. ecturerto explore rcestermuseum Residential College History of Art Lecturer Thomas Willette is scheduled to give a gallery talk on Dec. 3 about the Worcester Art Museum, located in Worcester, Mass. The exhibition contains 100 selected drawings from the museum's collec- tion, showcasing the changing style of drawings in Europe and the United Stes from 1300 to the present. special Sunday tour of the collec- tion will also be held on Dec. 13 and Jan. 17. M-Fit to sponsor relaxation class. - *The M-Fit Health Promotion Division is sponsoring a Time Management and Relaxation nique workshop. he program costs $10 and will be held tomorrow from 6-8 p.m. in the lower level conference room of the East Ann Arbor Health Center. Professor to speak In lecture series The Center for Japanese Studies is scheduled to sponsor a lecture by Western Michigan University political Once Prof. Steven Benfell. The lec- ture is titled "Rich Nation, No Army: Politics, History and National Identity in Post-war Japan." The lecture is part of the center's weekly noon lecture series and will be held this Thursday in conference room 1636 of the International Institute. Compiled by Daily Staff Reporter Adam Zuwerink. Students continue storm relief efforts By Michael Grass Daily Staff Reporter A truckload of donated clothing that left Ann Arbor this past Tuesday will soon reach Honduran survivors of Hurricane Mitch, which devastated much of Central America earlier this month. More than 3,000 cubic feet of clothing were col- lected in the weeks before Thanksgiving. The donated items filled one trailer and one-sixth of a second one, said Public Health graduate student Cyrus Boquin, a member of La Salud, a Latino/a public health organization. Cintas, a Westland-based clothing company, donated boxes of uniforms as part of the clothing convoy. The trailers, donated by Conway Central Express, will reach Gulfport, Miss., tomorrow, Boquin said. From Mississippi, the clothes will arrive in Puerto Castilla, Honduras via a Dole fruit compa- ny ship by Dec. 13, Boquin said. Dole, along with Chiquita banana company, was a major employer in the area before the hurricane damaged the large Honduran fruit industry. The clothing items will be distributed with the help of the father-in-law of SNRE graduate student Shari Ortez, who works for Dole in Honduras. The clothing drive was the first major effort put together by University students to aid those affect- ed by Hurricane Mitch. "Now we want to approach corporations ... for mass donations of medicine," Boquin said. "We are not about to call off our efforts anytime soon." University students said they will continue to help in the grassroots relief effort. The Latino fraternity Sigma Lambda Beta will start collecting clothing in residence halls this week, Boquin said. Public Health graduate student Christina Nyhus, relief effort. F a former Peace Corps volunteer, left for Nicaragua Sister City C this past Tuesday to deliver financial donations to Arbor, MI 48 rebuilding organizations, Boquin said. The First B Those who want to donate clothing and medicine 512 E. Huron can also leave items in boxes located at the School bazaar for hun of Public Health at the corner of Observatory Street Central An and Washington Heights and at the Institute for Mitch, withr Social Research at 426 Thompson St. Honduras an Boquin and others currently are trying to coor- communicati dinate their efforts with other organizations for the region, news relief effort, including the Greek system and other overall impac undergraduate clubs. "Central A "We only pray the impressive response we have recovery and seen so far from the U of M and Ann Arbor com- Boquin said. munity will continue," Boquin said. Since muc The Ann Arbor-Juigalpa Sister City Committee, aged during t the group that coordinates with the Nicaraguan sis- turally based ter city, currently is holding a fund-raiser for the years to recov Students Financial donations can be sent to the Committee at PO. Box 8198, Ann 107. aptist Church of Ann Arbor, located at n St., will be holding a community ricane relief on Dec. 6 from 3 -7 p.m. merica was hit hard by Hurricane more than 10,000 killed mainly in d Nicaragua. With transportation and ons links severed throughout the slowly continues to come in on the t of the storm. merica will be in a critical period of d reconstruction for many years, h of the region's farmland was dam- he storm, Central America's agricul- economy is expected to take many ver. A preph Practice makes perfect for AIDS day By Melissa Andrzejak Daily Staff Reporter In recognition of World AIDS Day, scheduled for tomorrow, student groups in cooperation with University Health Services will use entertain- ment to educate students about the deadly virus. "Here on campus ... (AIDS and HIV) seems really far away," LSA sophomore Sabrina Charles said. Every 30 minutes one person under the age of 20 becomes infected with HIV, Charles said. Mara Venners, an LSA junior and AIDS awareness advocate, said students need to realize "it is not participation in certain groups that puts you at risk, it is certain behaviors" Sponsors of the event want students to realize AIDS still has no cure. The recent discovery of improved AIDS treatments "doesn't mean you stop using condoms, stop practicing safe behaviors,"Venners said. Although AIDS-related deaths have decreased due to life-prolonging drugs, the rate of infection is still increasing, Venners said. Although UHS does not document University-specific AIDS statistics, it estimates that AIDS cases at the University total near the national average posted by this Center for Disease Control. One in every 500 college students is HIV positive, which would mean about 70 students at the University, said Janet Zielasko, associate director of UHS. AIDS day planners said their goal is not to scare students, but to encourage further education. "College students need to realize that AIDS is out there - no one is invinci- ble," LSA junior and event coordinator Suma Amarnath said. World AIDS Day organizers said they hope to alert students to AIDS' possible dangers as well as give stu- dents a feel for what living with AIDS is like. Campus events for this year's World AIDS Day include a performance by HIV positive composer and lyricist Steve Schalchin. Promising to bring more than just facts and figures about AIDS and HIV, Schalchin's presentation will include personal testimony of his second chance at life. The presentation, titled "Living in the Bonus Round," will be entertain- ing, said Amarnath, one of the events coordinators. In addition to his pop- ularity among college students, Schalchin's past presentations have received incredible reviews from numerous publications including the New York Times and Entertainment Weekly. Schalchin is scheduled to speak tonight at the Michigan Union, in the Pendleton Room at 6 p.m. Admission to the event is free, however, canned food donations will be accepted. World AIDS Day events include a candle light vigil, in honor of Washtenaw County HIV positive res- idents, on the Diag from noon to 1 p.m. The film "Jeffrey" will be shown at the Michigan Theater at 9:30 p.m. AP PHOTO Despite the unseasonably warm weather yesterday, Lansing resident Michael Kerr and his four Siberian Huskies get a jump on the sledding season by mushing down the River Trail in Lansing. Legislators to push bills in final days .WNW LANSING (AP) - It's show 'em or fold 'em time in the Capitol for unfin- ished business before state lawmakers. That includes such delicate issues as electric deregulation, Indian-run casi- nos and revenue sharing. The Michigan Legislature enters the stretch run this week as it prepares to wrap up its two-year session in two weeks. And as usual, some of the most divisive issues have been left for the "lame duck" final days, in hopes the cooler, post-election atmosphere will help members reach agreement where none existed before. And time is running out. Legislation not passed by the time lawmakers offi- cially adjourn for the year late next month will die, and have to be reintro- duced next year to begin the tortuous journey to passage all over again. The top issue in the Senate this week is electric deregulation, a fancy title for a plan to let Michigan residents shop around for their electric power. It would expand on orders already issued by the state Public Service Commission. "We've got an excellent bill," said Sen. Mat Dunaskiss (R-Lake Orion) chair of the Senate Technology and Energy Committee which approved the legislation last week. "I think we're very close (to an agreement)," he said. "I think this is the No. 1 legislative priority. We'll be one of the leaders in the nation if this bill passes." If it must start all over again, he said, "It will be a real shame. If we do noth- ing, we do have deregulation in the state in the state of Michigan" through the PSC orders. Under the bills now before the Senate, 7.5 percent of each utility's annual peak load would be able to choose an alterna- tive electric supplier within 60 days of the new deregulation laws taking effect. That percentage would rise in steps until all electric customer would have that choice by Jan. 1, 2002. The legislation also would: Freeze rates at the 1998 level until 2003. The Michigan Chamber of Commerce wanted rates limited, not frozen, to permit them to drop if needed. ® Authorizes a code of conduct rela- tive to utilities and their affiliates shar- ing resources and information. Some small businesses, such as construction firms, worry that utility subsidiaries could steal their business. Requires utilities to use part of their excess earnings to reduce "stranded costs" - the costs of mov- ing from the current regulated scheme to deregulation. "The governor remains very commit- ted to getting this done in lame duck," said John Truscott, a spokesperson for Gov. John Engler. "Deregulation is going to happen; we think it's appropri- ate to do it legislatively" rather than under the PSC orders. But critics see the legislation as a gift for Consumers Energy and Detroit Edison Co., the state's largest electric utilities, and a threat for smaller busi- nesses and residential customers. What's happening in Ann Arbor today a -. - a ~.. ..... .. .. . . ..t..