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Wednesday
November 11, 1998
vol. CI1C, No. 32 Aim Arbor, the Michigan Daily
UOP
continues
leadership changes
WASHINGTON (AP) - Rep. Bob
Livingston of Louisiana, House speaker-in-
waiting, met with Newt Gingrich to discuss a
transition to power on yesterday as competition
for other Republican leadership posts swirled
around him.
0 Livingston told reporters he would be "tak-
ing notes," but otherwise made no comment as
he arrived for his first meeting with Gingrich
since his emergence as the next leader of
House Republicans.
Several GOP sources, speaking on condi-
tion of anonymity, said Rep. C.W. "Bill"
Young, a veteran lawmaker from Florida, was
iri line to succeed Livingston as chair of the
powerful Appropriations Committee.
Young, elected last week to his 15th
Wrm in the House, has been serving as
chair of the defense subcommittee on the
panel. These officials said he is likely to be
succeeded in that post by Rep. Jerry Lewis
of California.
Young, who is the senior Republican on the
panel, did not immediately return a phone call
seeking comment on his likely ascension to
chairship of the Appropriations Committee.
Ironically, Gingrich passed over him four years
ago when he named Livingston to head the
panel.
Livingston worked in his office much of
the day, although a late-afternoon session was
set with Gingrich in the speaker's offices in the
Capitol.
One official said the Louisianan was focus-
ing part of his attention on the makeup of the
Republican steering committee, the group that
makes committee assignments before the
beginning of each Congress. The speaker has a
large measure of influence over committee
assignments, and the task must be handled
carefully, given the rival claims often staked by
individual lawmakers to preferred committee
slots.
This official, who spoke on the condition of
anonymity, said Livingston was also continu-
ing to talk by phone with the Republican rank
and file in advance of the vote next week on a
candidate for speaker.
One source said Livingston doesn't want to
appear presumptuous by disclosing his plans
for after his formal election.
Still, the list of items calling for attention
was a long one, including filling dozens of
staff jobs in the speaker's office, taking a hand
in freshman orientation for the newly elected
members next week, overseeing any revisions
in the Republican proposal for House rules
changes and considering any changes in com-
mittees where the speaker has unilateral
authority to make GOP appointments: Rules,
Oversight and Intelligence.
One source also said Livingston has made
it clear privately he won't intervene in the com-
petition for majority leader or other leadership
positions.
See CONGRESS, Page 7
Party cooperation could
impact higher education
By Jason Stoffer
Daily Staff Reporter
With Republicans holding a razor-thin, six-
seat majority in the U.S. House of
Representatives next term, the fate of higher
education issues will lie in the ability of
Congress members to work with their col-
leagues across the aisle,
Rep. Dale Kildee (D-Flint) said the 106th
Congress will be successful if it consolidates
the gains made this past term. Kildee teamed
with Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon (R-Cal.)
on the Higher Education Subcommittee to
draft this fall's landmark Higher Education
Act.
"We wrote the best higher education bill
ever, bringing interest rates on student loans to
their lowest rate in 17 years," said Kildee, a
University alumnus.
"What I will probably do this semester is
switch to the Elementary and Secondary
Education Committee.
"I hope Buck will become chair of that and
then we would try to write another good bi-
partisan bill," he said.
See EDUCATION, Page 7
MSA votes
to reject
divestment
proposal
By Jennifer Yachnin
Daily Staff Reporter
The Michigan Student Assembly
oted last night not to support tobacco
divestment at the University, but instead
passed a resolution to gain more infor-
mation about University investments.
"Instead of discouraging divestment,
we're saying we want more informa-
tion," MSA Communications Chair Joe
Bernstein said.
The creation of the assembly's resolu-
tion to support tobacco divestment,
which did not pass, followed similar
easures by the Senate Advisory
Tommittee on University Affairs.
"SACUA adopted this and I thought it
was something we should look into and
support," said Sumeet Karnik, MSA
B u d g e t
Committee 4; V e VG ' yOU?
vice chair. onin .1 on
"There's a dif-
ference hO9the e:
teen mak- MSA is sponsoring.
ing money on an open forum
something toniht at 83i
you're com- the Michigan Union
fortable with Pendleton Room,
and something you're not ... It's not
right to profit off of getting people sick"
from a product.
Several assembly members ques-
tioned the divestment of University
tobacco stock by comparing tobacco to
alcohol stocks.
"Because one social condition is not
acceptable to us we divest from it,"
MSA Rackham Rep. Olga Savic said.
We are "are singling out tobacco instead
of all the other social vices."
MSA Business Rep. Andrew Serowik
described the economic considerations
involved in sellig the tobacco stocks.
"I believe selling the tobacco stocks is
just backing away from the problem;'
Serowik said.
* Assembly members also approved a
resolution in support of ideological free-
dom at the University, following the
University's decision to revoke a the
naming a reading room in honor of RC
Prof. Carl Cohen.
The assembly had no discussion
before voting 16-9 in favor of the reso-
lution with six abstentions, lambasting
the University's decision.
"I think that in the end that probably
would have been the outcome,"
*ernstein said about the lack of debate.
MSA is sponsoring an open forum for
students to discuss the Student Code of
Conduct tonight at 8:30 in the Michigan
Union Pendleton Room.
"We don't have any administration
because we really want students to feel
comfortable addressing the issues," said
Brian Reich, public information director
for the Students' Rights Commission.
Reich said he expects about 100 stu-
ants to attend the forum - the first in
a series of discussions about the Code.
Savic said the committee has a list of
questions for the audience, including the
jurisdiction of the Code, selection of
panelists and the definition of commu-
nity standards.
The result nf the fnms will be
HANDS-ON HEALING
La Nina expected
to bring changing
weather patterns
JESSICA JOHNSON/Daily
Elena Gillespie attempts to tap nto a patlent's energy field yesterday in her
Ypsilanti home, using an ancient alternative medicine method called Relki, to
treat the body.
U, studies examne
alternativeeiine
By Michael Grass
Daily Staff Reporter
University students battled high
winds, sheets of rain and temperamen-
tal umbrellas as bad weather moved
into Ann Arbor yesterday.
"The weather was very depressing,"
said LSA senior Angela Moore. "I've
been here for four years and I know that
you have to buy a secure umbrella"
The worst weather, however, may be
yet to come.
"It's been a relatively dry fall so far,
but the weather is beginning to pick
up," said Peter Sousounis, assistant pro-
fessor for atmospheric, oceanic and
space sciences.
The weather is expected to get
more interesting in the upcoming
months since meteorologists have
predicted this winter will be affected
by La Niia, a weather phenomenon
that cools equatorial Pacific Ocean
waters and has far-reaching effects.
Last winter, which saw periods of
below normal precipitation and
warmer temperatures, was influenced
by La Nina's brother El Nino, which
significantly warms Pacific Ocean
waters.
Many people have heard that La Nina
will bring a colder, harsher winter to the
Great Lakes region, Sousounis said.
But the science behind how La
Nina will affect regional weather is
more complex. The winter jet stream
is forecasted to cross North America,
south of Michigan, steering most
severe winter storms away from the
area, Sousounis said.
"We will be under a more cold, dry
air mass ... and we will experience
more frequent periods of light snow,"
Sousounis said.
La Nina is expected to affect local
weather by February and March, but
"we could start feeling the effects by
late December or January,"
Sousounis said.
"Actually, it could start snowing
from tomorrow onward - the air is
getting cold enough now .. we're
ready for it," Sousounis said.
But are University students ready
for winter?
"For graduate school, I want to
move to a warmer climate," Moore
said. "t don't particularly like the
cold."
Last winter, El Nino brought warmer
weather and very little snow to the
Great Lakes region in January and
February, creating poor conditions for
skiing and other outdoor sports,
Sousounis said.
In terms of precipitation, last
year's El Nino winter was not too dif-
ferent from a normal winter. Detroit
saw near normal precipitation,
Sousounis said,
"It all depends on the timing," he
said.
Sousounis said that last winter it was
difficult to predict the weather. Forecast
models would be totally different from
the actual weather.
"But this winter, students should be
able to trust the forecasts more,"
Sousounis said.
The last La Nina event, hitting the
Great Lakes region during the winter of
1995-96, saw record amounts of lake
effect snow. Brought on by colder
winds crossing the warmer waters of
the Great Lakes, lake effect snow nor-
mally pummels areas in West Michigan
and the Upper Peninsula.
Students and faculty in the atmos-
pheric, oceanic and space sciences
department will be studying data
related to precipitation in Michigan
as La Nina approaches. In the study,
made possible by a Great Lakes
Environmental Research Lab grant,
weather data dating from 1931 will
be analyzed for possible relation-
ships between the El Nioio and La
Nina weather patterns, lake effect
snow and precipitation in Michigan,
Sousounis said.
By Gerard Cohen-Vrignaud
Daily Staff Reporter
With the soothing chants of
monks in the background, Elena
Gillespie runs her hands over her
patients' still bodies.
Like practitioners of the ancient
Indian practice of Reiki thousands
of years earlier, Gillespie attempts
to alter her patients' energy fields
to ease pain and treat disease.
For many years, the medical
establishment dismissed Reiki and
other forms of alternative medi-
cine. But now, the field, which has
enjoyed a recent resurgence, is
gaining more acceptance with
patients and doctors.
Yesterday, the American Medical
Association held an alternative
medicine conference in
Washington, D.C. Researchers pre-
sented results from five studies to
be published in today's issue of
AMA's journal.
One of the reports found that
four out of 10 Americans use alter-
native medicine therapies, spend-
ing an estimated $27 billion in
1997.
Among the most popular alter-
native medicine methods were
herbal remedies, massage,
megavitamins, energy healing and
homeopathy.
The renewed interest in alterna-
tive medicine has not escaped the
attention of the University Health
System.
Last month, after submitting a
comprehensive 250-page proposal,
the system received a $6.7 million
grant from the National Institutes
of Health to study various alterna-
tive medicine therapies.
The newly created
Complementary and Alternative
Medicine Research Center will
serve as a resource for those inter-
ested in learning more about the
ancient remedies and will also
examine the effectiveness of such
energy healing, such as Reiki and a
See MEDICINE, Page 7
U of California teaching
assistants threaten strike
Blown away
By Sarah Lewis
Daily Staff Reporter
For the administration at the University of
California system, time is running out.
Administrators at the universities have until
Dec. 17 to recognize their graduate student
instructors as an organized union or the GSIs at
eight of the nine campuses plan to strike.
The struggle for collective bargaining rights for
the GSI has been going on since the late 1970s.
Under the present state law, based on a 1992 case
from the University of California at Berkeley,
graduate teaching assistants are not considered
employees and therefore do not have collective
bargaining rights.
GSIs at some of the California campuses have
staged strikes in the past to support their right to
organize, but the possible upcoming strike would be
the biggest since it will involve eight California
camnuses Even the United Auto Workers have affil-
said the UAW has plans to reimburse striking GSIs.
Joe Duggan, the associate dean of Berkeley's
Graduate Division, said the GSI union wants the
university to recognize them as bargaining agents
outside the state law, which it is free to do. But the
administration is reluctant to make such a move.
Duggan said a strike would only harm the
undergraduates, who depend on the GSIs for 75
percent of the discussion sections and some pri-
mary classes. He said he is unsure of what the
GSIs will do, but Berkeley will not give in to their
demands if they do strike.
"We will not grant them bargaining outside of
state law," Duggan said. "If the state law changes
then we'll recognize them."
Berkeley law student Ricardo Echoa, president
of the local Associated Graduate Student
Employees Union, said the administration is using
the state ruling as a stalling tactic.
"It's irrelevant," Echoa said. "They can do it vol-
JESSICA JOHNSON/Daily
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