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LOCAL/STATE
The Michigan Daily - Thursday, October 15, 1998 - 3A
New center
founded at ISR
The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
warded anthropology Prof. Tom
ricke $2.8 million to found the
Michigan Center for the Ethnography
of Everyday Life, a new center at the
ltistifute for Social Research, the
University Record reported.
The center will focus its research on
Sriitldle-class families from the
Midwest. Researchers at the new center
will use various techniques including
daily observation, recorded conversa-
-tions, interviews and surveys.
All research will take place in the
02 states of the Midwest, defined by
the U.S. Bureau of the Census as
North and South Dakota, Nebraska,
Kansas, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri,
Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan,
-Indiana and Ohio.
.'Fricke's previous research took
him to Nepal, where he studied the
changing lives of villagers. Other
~researchers in the center will vary in
dd'aemic backgrounds, from eco-
omics to psychology to sociology.
Unwanted
children suffer
later in life
Children who were unwanted at the
irme of their birth suffered from self-
esteem problems more than 20 years
Ster, according to University
researchers.
Jn the November issue of the jour-
anal Demography, University sociolo-
gists William Axinn, Jennifer Barber
and Arland Thornton argued
unplanned pregnancies have negative
psychological effects on the children.
The researchers interviewed 800
married women first and then their
hiidren 23 years later. Women were
sked to think back to their most
recent pregnancy and whether they
had wanted the baby. Nine percent
replied that they had not.
A year after the initial interview,
28 percent of those who said their
child had been unwanted changed
their minds.
Twenty-three years later, those who
had been unwanted scored signifi-
cantly lower on self-esteem tests than
dose who were wanted, adjusting for
actors such as parental income, birth
otddr, education and gender.
HHMI gives grant
for undergraduat6
education
Science education at the University
Will get support from a four-year,
S512-million grant from the Howard
Iughes Medical Institute. The money
wil[ be used to increase research
opportunities for students in biology
and related fields.
For 20 years, HHMI has given
grants to institutions across the
nfation. This year's package totals
091.1 million, disseminated among
58 research universities.
The departments of psychology,
*dhemistry and biology and the
Undergraduate Research Opportunity
Program will share the grant.
Science lab gets
,n artistic touch
Using browns and blacks, Art and
Design students painted an interpretive
iural in the integrated Manufacturing
ystems Laboratory that reflects their
artistic impression of the lab.
The work is called the Reconfigural
Machining Systems Mural and was
inspired by a visit to the Detroit
Institute of Art's 1932 Diego Rivera
frescoes, which depicted the assembly
line production at Ford manufacturing
plants in the area.
The College of Engineering and the
School of Art and Design jointly spon-
ored the project. It also incorporated a
vo-semester class on site-specific art
taught by Art Prof. Mark Pomilio.
Compiled by Daily Staff Reporter
Gerard Cohen- Vrignaud.
Research indicates global climate change
By Gerard Cohen-Vrignaud
Daily Staff Reporter
Geological sciences Prof. Henry Pollack
received an unexpected phone call Tuesday
night. The office of Vice President Al Gore rang
to see if Pollack would attend a press conference
on global warming yesterday morning.
The call underscored the importance of
research published by Pollack in the journal
Science last week, which some say definitively
establishes the trend of global warming. The
press conference was canceled, but Pollack met
with Gore to brief him on the research.
"They asked me if I could come, and I said yes,"
Pollack said. "The reason I'm participating is
because of the article I published."
Pollack and his team of researchers bored more
than 300 holes across four continents to determine
Gore consults 'U'prof on warming trend
the Earth's various temperatures during the past
500 years. Boreholes penetrate deep underground,
where layers of rock preserve the temperatures of
the past.
Pollack's data indicate the average global tem-
perature rose about 1 degree Celsius in the past
500 years, with half of that change in the past cen-
tury alone.
While a half of a degree Celsius increase (about
one degree Fahrenheit) may seem negligible, in the
context of normal patterns of temperature varia-
tion, some scientists say, the increase is worri-
some.
"Pollack's research is the last nail in the coffin,
saying that every measure we have shows this
warming trend," said James Teen, director of the
University's Biological Station in Pellston, Mich.
"Most scientists agree that human activity is a sig-
nificant factor in the warming trend"
Much debate in the scientific community cen-
ters around the significance of the recent burning
of fossil fuels and the release greenhouse gases
have contributed to global warming.
"We just don't know the extent to which human
activity plays a role," Teeri said.
As evidence of the singularity of the warming
trend, Teeri points out the global average tempera-
ture only has increased by 10 degrees since 10,000
years ago.
While many experts take the warming trend as
fact, some scientists are unsure whether global
warming will have negative impact on humans and
ecosystems.
SNRE Prof. David Allan said some regions will
be negatively affected while others might actually
benefit from the world climate changes.
"There are people who say there will be no net
loss," Allan said. "They say there'll be some local
losers and local winners."
Some regions will be battered by stronger
storms, which will increase the amount of runoff
water than could have been used for agriculture.
As far as Michigan goes, Allan said, it depends on
the perspective of the individual.
"If you're a person in the snowmobile business,
you may find it's bad," Allan said. "If you're in the
golf course business, it may be good. The road peo-
ple are going to see different pothole dynamics"
Dressin' up
'U,
students
return to teach
migrant workers
ANDI MAIO/Daily
Shoppers Tina Johnson, Terri Sullivan and Katie Johnson try on Halloween costumes at Fantasy Attic Costumes located on
Main Street yesterday.
WSU law school graduate
chaged with bankroby
Linguistics students
practice teaching, learn
about other cultures
By Lee Palmer
Daily Staff Reporter
Few University courses motivate stu-
dents to continue the coursework after
the semester has ended, but an innova-
tive language program offered this past
spring and summer did just that for sev-
eral students.
Linguistics 385, which will be
offered again this spring and summer,
trained University students in the spring
to teach English to area migrant farm
workers during the summer.
LSA senior Kristi Shaffer said a
small group from the class will contin-
ue to teach at one of the camps until the
workers leave Michigan at the end of
this month.
"After we were done with the sum-
mer I didn't plan to come out anymore
but (the workers) really wanted us to
come," Shaffer said. "If they can take
the time out of their schedule, when
they work such long hours, I figured I
could make the time."
The course requires a spring and
summer semester commitment, where
the spring focuses on the discussion of
language discrimination, increased lin-
guistic awareness and the basics of
English instruction and lesson plan-
ning.
The summer semester is spent teach-
ing at several of the migrant camps in.
Adrian County.
Several workers at the camp said
they appreciated the time the students
contributed to help them learn
English.
Alberto Ochoa, a worker from
Puebla, Mexico, said he was especial-
ly grateful to those students who con-
tinued to teach after the summer
ended.
"You really need English for many
different things, to get a good job or
to buy something in the store," said
Ochoa, speaking in Spanish. "Even if
you don't learn a lot, it's good to have
this help. Each time they come, you
have more of an idea of what they re
saying."
Holly Cashman, a graduate stu-
dent who helped coordinate the pro-
gram, said she was pleased with the
way the course had gone and is
encouraged by funding promises to
finance the program for the next two
years.
"We had absolutely great speakers
in the spring including Prof. Frances
Aparicio and her husband Julio
CesarnGuerrero who spoke about
migrant culture,' Cashman said. But
the actual success of the teaching at
the camps seemed to depend on the
individual camp the students went to,
she said.
"There were definitely different
experiences based on different camps,"
Cashman said. "Some of the farm
workers worked so much it was hard to
find a good time for the students to do
the teaching, but at other camps the
people were waiting for their class with
books and pencils when the students
arrived."
LSA senior Rachel Edwards, who
continued to teach at the camps this
fall, said the course gave her the
opportunity to experiment with dif-
ferent lesson plans, but that it also
taught her to be flexible with her
teaching.
"The first time I was really nervous*'
Edwards said. "We had this lesson plan
all written but they said they wanted to
learn the alphabet so we had to drop
everything we had planned."
Shaffer, who intends to go into
teaching, said that while the classes
could often become frustrating, the
positive attitude of the students was
inspiring.
"I probably learned more from them
than they did from me," Shaffer said.
"But we always had at least four or five
people show up to learn. They had us
make tapes for them for pronunciation.
They really showed their dedication."
Facing the prejudice that some peo-
ple have toward migrant workers added
challenges in the course for some stu-
dents.
"When I told people I was doing this
everyone told me their opinions of
migrant workers," Edwards said. "They
wanted to know how they spoke and if
they came to class dirty.
"They would ask me 'do you think
they want to learn English?' suggest-
ing that they wouldn't want to; she
said.
Workers also are afraid to use what
little English they know because they
are worried people will make fun of
their accents, Shaffer said.
In an effort to teach what the
workers said would be most helpful
to learn, many of the lessons includ-
ed practical skills such as filling out
a job application, buying groceries
at the store and speaking with your
employer.
"Learning English for migrant work-
ers is a very different experience than
learning a foreign language in the class-
room at the University," Shaffer said.
They need English for basic survival,
she said.
More information about the class can
be found on the course's Websie locat-
ed at http: //www umich.edul krisjosh.
HOWELL, Mich. (AP)-- There's a question that some of
the people who know Steve Simmons would like to ask him:
How does the '1993 valedictorian of Wayne State
University's law school get charged with robbing banks?
Simmons, of Royal Oak, was arraigned Tuesday in
Livingston County District Court on four felony charges stem-
ming from Friday's robbery of a Standard Federal Bank branch.
Brighton police say it was Simmons who walked into the
bank with a briefcase carrying a Halloween mask, a handgun
and a homemade bomb.
Simmons, who won an award for criminal law while at
Wayne State, also is a suspect in the July 10 robbery of a
Standard Federal branch in Beverly Hills, police said.
"Why has to be the big question," said Mark Peters, a law
school classmate and Detroit attorney. "It's a mystery:'
Simmons was in private practice in Royal Oak at the
time of his arrest. He would lose his license if convicted,
but could have it reinstated after serving his sentence.
The felony charges, however, could send him to prison
for life.
"My lord, it sounds like a desperate act and a cry for
help," said Donald Potter, president of the Southeast
Michigan Health and Hospital Council, where Potter
worked in the 1980s. "How could someone who graduated
first in his law school class do this?"
Simmons vas the council's vice president of public rela-
tions for three years. Potter said Simmons left a Chicago law
firm two years ago and asked him a few weeks ago for his old
job back, saying law had become "unethical and immoral"
Classmates depicted Simmons as extremely bright and
hard-working, but a loner. The Fort Smith, Ark., native grad-
uated with honors from Augustana College in Rock Island,
Ill., before moving to Michigan.
"I'm not sure if he was even in a study group' said law
school classmate Lisa Waits, now an Ann Arbor attorney. "He
was kind of a loner."
While in school, Simmons filed for personal bankrupt-
cy after falling thousands of dollars into credit card debt,
according to court records cited by The Detroit News in
a report yesterday.
Assistant Wayne State Law School Dean Sharon
Brown, who has counseled thousands of students in 23
years at the school, also reacted with shock.
"Oh my God! I can't believe it;" she said. "I guess we won't
make him the lead article in the alumni newsletter."
No preliminary examination has been set. Simmons, held
under a $500,000 cash bond, has requested a competency
hearing. A psychiatric evaluation will be conducted in
Ypsilanti at the state forensic center to determine if he is
capable to stand trial.
Ford profits, cuts costs
WRITE FOR
THE DAILY.
DEARBORN (AP) - Ford Motor
Co.'s billion-dollar profit in the third
quarter is more evidence that the
world's No. 2 automaker has become
the industry's most successful cost
butcher. -
Ford trimmed the fat to the tune of
$600 million in the three months ended
Sept. 30. In the first nine months of this
year, it saved $1.9 billion - well ahead
of its $1 billion target for all of 1998.
"Ford has exceeded its own aggres-
sive expectations on cost-cutting;" said
analyst Michael Ward of PaineWebber
Inc. "In the autoi
difficult to do."
industry, that's very
The savings, which offset higher
incentive expenses and dismal sales in
Europe and South America, contributed
to a 10 percent increase in Ford's third-
quarter earnings. Wednesday's report
marked the company's 10th consecutive
quarter of improved earnings.
The $1 billion profit equaled- 80
cents a diluted share and compared
with an adjusted year-ago performance
of $906 million, or 73 cents a share -
in line with Wall Street predictions.
Correction:
Palestinian militants allegedly opened fire on a pair of young Israelis bathing in a forest spring near Jerusalem killing
one and wounding the other yesterday. This was incorrectly reported in yesterday's Daily.
What's happening in Ann Arbor today
GROUP MEETINGS
[°l f'lwrt Aihr~ lin K~n
Q "Golden Key National Honor Society
Information Table," Sporsored by
Golden Key National Honor
U Northwalk, 763-WALK, Bursley
Lobby, 8 p.m.- 1:30 a.m.
Q Psychology Academic Peer Advising,
i
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