LOCAL/STATE
The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, January 27, 1999 - 3
kHIGHER
EDUCATION "
UCLA survey
looks at student
Internet use
0 "The American Freshman," an annu-
al survey sponsored by the University
of California at Los Angeles Higher
Education Research Institute, attempts
to gage the attitudes and behaviors of
first-year college students.
UCLA Prof. Alexander Astin, first
began conducting this survey in 1966,
in an attempt to track the trends of col-
lege students. The survey, released yes-
terday, confirmed that the Internet has
rown in popularity among students.
1 The survey discovered that 91 per-
cent of first-year students at UCLA and
83 percent of students at other uniersi-
ties and colleges nationwide use the
Internet for research and homework.
The study also showed that 55 per-
cent of students visit chat rooms and 66
percent use e-mail.
Other college related trends, such as
the acceptability of beer drinking, casual
x and abortion reached all-time lows.
Beer drinking among first-year stu-
dents nationally, has fallen from 75 per-
cent in 1981 to 57 percent in 1998.
U. Wisconsin
prof. sentenced
University of Wisconsin at Madison
Engineering Prof. Leon Shohet was
sentenced by a federal judge for using
false documentation to receive millions
f dollars in federal grant money from
e Engineering Research Center for
Plasma Aided Manufacturing.
An investigation has shown that the
grants Shohet received allocated $2.8
million annually from 1988 to 1997.
The judge fined Shohet $10,000 and
sentenced him to three months in
prison beginning Feb. 19. He was also
given 100 hours of community service
and one year supervised release.
* Shohet has not yet been given a leave
of absence from his teaching position
at the university.
Study: women
have greater
risks from alcohol
An NBC news story reported that
women have a greater chance in devel-
ping long-term adverse affects from
' Icohol than men. The report referred
to the Framingham Study that states
Women who have more than four drinks
per night, or each time that they drink,
are considered heavy drinkers. The
report stated these women are at
greater risk for future problems.
College-age women are the most
susceptible to these problems because
they make up the greatest number of
ieavy and binge drinkers among
women, said the National Household
Study on drug abuse.
The alcohol has a greater affect on
women because they don't have the
same amount of enzymes to break
down the alcohol as men, said Judith
Reichman, a doctor contributing to the .
NBC report. Alcohol consumption has
also been linked to an increase in breast
cancer. The Framingham Study showed
a 50 percent increase in breast cancer
*mong women who had more than
three drinks each week.
Cloning defended
by MSU professor
Michigan State University Prof. and
lawyer, Elizabeth Foley will represent
state of Illinois physicist Richard
Seed's plan to open a clinic that will
*specialize in cloning humans.
Last spring, Michigan was the second
state to ban human cloning. The Food
and Drug Administration said it has the
right to block anyone from cloning
human beings. Foley said the FDA
threatened Seed with a cease-and-desist
order to curtail the plans for his clinic.
The order demanded Seed stop his
experimentation with( human cloning or
he could face criminal charges, Foley
said. Foley strongly defends her client
against the ethical questions raised in
regards to human cloning.
- Compiled by Daily Staff Reporter
Lauren Gibbs.
GEO hopes for settlement by Feb. 1
GEO hoped to compromise
with the University by reducing
its wage increase proposal
By Nick Falzone
Daily Staff Reporter
Only five days remain until the Graduate
Employees Organization's contract with the
University expires on Feb. 1. But as January draws
to a close, many issues remain unsettled between
the two debating sides, including GEO's 27 per-
cent wage increase request.
University Chief Negotiator Dan Gamble said
the two sides reached "a new level of understand-
ing" about the wage proposal at their meeting ear-
lier this week.
"GEO made a plea for a revised wage proposal
from us," Gamble said. "We explained that it was
unlikely (GEO) would receive a counterproposal
while they still had a double-digit request.
"For weeks we've been expecting GEO to
become more realistic with their proposal, but it
just hasn't happened," Gamble added.
GEO Chief Negotiator Eric Odier-Fink said
GEO had tried to compromise with the University
when they dropped their wage increase request
from 37 to 27 percent last semester- a difference
of SI 10 a month from their previous request.
GEO member Chip Smith expressed a similar
view concerning the University's negotiating poli-
cies. "When I asked Gamble why the University
wasn't making any effort to work toward a middle
ground (at the meeting), he responded with
silence," Smith said. "The lack of willingness to
compromise is troublesome."
Gamble said he requested GEO reduce its wage
request to less than 10 percent because he believed
the organization was not receiving the University's
message that its proposal was unrealistic.
Gamble said his team also tried to convey this
message to GEO last Thursday by presenting a
comparison of graduate student instructor wages
from 28 universities throughout the country.
Gamble said this presentation of comparable
wages demonstrated that the University's GSIs
were adequately funded.
Odier-Fink said this response was useless since
the University did not factor cost-of-living into its
calculations. GEO took the wages the University
presented last week and recalculated them, taking
cost-of-living into account, Odier-Fink said.
"We plugged the numbers into a Website con-
nected with the Department of Labor and figured
out cost-of-living," Odier-Fink said, adding that the
University GSIs' wages fell from 16th of 28 univer-
sities to 23rd according to these new calculations.
"This was really significant," Odier-Fink said.
"All these other schools like (the University of)
Nebraska and Iowa (at Davenport), where cost-of-
living is so much lower, are making considerably
more than us in Ann Arbor dollars."
When GEO presented the new numbers to the
University at the negotiations earlier this week.
Odier-Fink said they acted hypocritically toward
their own figures.
"As soon as we brought it to them, they said it
wasn't good data" Odier-Fink said. "We said these
were the same numbers you used last week. I
found that really suspect."
Gamble said cost-of-living would only be
important if the University was dealing with a
smaller wage increase request.
"When you're dealing with 27 percent increas-
es, a 2 percent cost-of-living difference doesn't
mean that much," Gamble said.
Gamble added that he believed that for the
amount of time University GSIs work - 17 hours
a week - their average wage of S 16.34 per hour is
substantial.
Vigil to commemorate lives of
two LSA first-year students
By Nick Bunkley
Daily Staff Reporter
Friends of two LSA first-year stu-
dents who died in a car accident last
week near Traverse City are planning a
candlelight vigil on the Diag tonight at
10:30.
Following the candle lighting, par-
ticipants will proceed to the Michigan
League Ballroom for a ceremony to
remember Sarah Metzger and Celia
Zwerdling.
Metzger and Zwerdling, both of
Silver Spring, Md., were killed Jan. 18
on their way home from a weekend
skiing vacation at Crystal Mountain.
Both were passengers in a Jeep driven
by LSA first-year student Kelson
Smith.
Smith lost control of his car on an
ice-slicked road in adverse weather
conditions and an oncoming vehicle
struck his Jeep. LSA first-year student
Alyssa Rosen, another passenger, and
Smith were treated and released from a
nearby hospital.
Reminiscent of the Diag vigil fol-
lowing the October death of LSA first-
year student Courtney Cantor, the trib-
ute will allow members of the
University community to honor the
lives of Metzger and Zwerdling, LSA
first-year student Kimberly Wojtas
said.
Some of Metzger's and Zwerdlings's
former professors, their academic
adviser, and also anyone who wishes to
say anything about the girls will have
the opportunity to speak at the League.
"It's an open
invitation to share
stories, com-
ments or any-
thing about Sarah
and Celia," said
LSA first-year
student Jessica
Roberts, who
lived next door
to Metzger in
South Quad Metzger
Residence Hall.
"We just want .
more people to bef
able to show their
support," said
LSA first-year
student Jessica
Greer, another of
Metzger's hall-
mates. "We
thought this
would reach more Zwerdling
people."
Since the acci-
dent, Smith has spent time creating a
video in memory of the girls, taping
comments from their hallmates and
friends.
"It's just basically something for the
parents and the people back home,"
Smith said. "This is also self-therapy."
Hallmates of Metzger and
Zwerdling reflected on the loss of
their friends.
"Sarah was probably the loudest,
most obnoxious, craziest person I've
known in my whole life," Smith said.
"She was absolutely wonderful."
"She was one of the most cheerful
people I knew," Roberts said of
Metzger. "She was a huge presence. If
she was in the room, you knew it."
"Celia was the cutest little fireball
that I knew," Smith said. "She almost
had more energy than Sarah, which is
pretty hard to do. She had really high
self-esteem. She was really sure of her-
self."
Friends said'the vigil is designed to
focus on memories of the students
rather than the tragedy that took their
lives. "We wanted something to
remember Sarah, rather than Sarah's
death," Greer said.
"They both had such a love of life,"
Smith said. "They'd probably be-
screaming and turning over if people
were just down about this."
Smith said the tragedy has brought
him close to Metzger's and Zwerdling's
families. "Both families have been
incredible to me," Smith said.
Many grieving students have used
the University's Counseling and
Psychological Services to deal with the
losses, said CAPS Clinical Director
and Psychologist Todd Sevig.
Sevig said CAPS offers free coun-
seling to students and, in some special
circumstances, provides special ser-
vices outside the program's office.
"We try to go out to the community
that the students were part of instead of
waiting for the students to come to our
office," Sevig said. "What we try to do
is complement other support systems."
LOUIS BROWN/Daily
Michigan State University Prof. Patrick LeBeau speaks last night on the
topic of Michigamua's use of Native American traditions.
Pro. eXores Native
American portrayals
By Sarah Lewis
Daily Staff Reporter
The stereotypical images of Native
Americans and the use of their tradi-
tions in Michigamua, an honor society
at the University, were the focus of a
speech given by University alum and
Michigan State University Prof.
Patrick LeBeau last night at Angell
Hall. Sponsored by the Native
American Students Association,
LeBeau's presentation discussed why
the "Indian warrior motif" is so wide-
spread in American culture.
Several collages set up at the front
of the auditorium displayed various
depictions of the "classic" Native
American warrior,nfrom sports team
logos and Valentine's Day cards to
packaged consumer goods like sugar
and cigarettes.
"We conjure up romantic images
of the noble Indian," LeBeau said,
flipping through slides depicting ads
of the Indian warrior visage.
"They're inventions of a heritage-
conscious American public."
Michigamua, an all-male senior
honor society established in 1901 that
chooses top campus leaders as its
members, adopted a Native American
theme to appeal to males and has
wrongly used Native American tradi-
tions in their rituals, LeBeau said.
The meaning of "Michigamua"
involves a Native American warrior,
LeBeau said, adding that the society
- which counts many famous
University alumni among its past
members, including former U.S.
President Gerald Ford - used "silly,
romantic words" with Native
American connotations to replace
names of members and everyday
objects.
Michigamua members, who even-
tually changed their nickname from
"Braves" to "Pride," also has an elab-
orate initiation ceremony that used
many aspects of Native American cul-
ture such as smoking a peace pipe and
wearing Native American "headdress-
es" LeBeau said.
The audience watched a film that
showed some Michigamua public ini-
tiation rites from the past that depict-
ed members in Native American
headdresses and warpaint with
University faculty handing out arrows
to new members.
"The disservice that people do to
Indians by praising the warrior is ...
saying that real Indians are degenerate
descendants," LeBeau said. "They
don't measure up ... you never see an
Indian with a diploma."
Some Michigamua members who
attended the lecture said that although
it is important to recognize the past
injustices, the society has changed
some of its practices.
"The organization has now com-
pletely disavowed itself from Indian
rituals;' LSA senior and Michigamua
member David Caroline said, but
added that LeBeau's speech was use-
ful and enlightening.
"The only current association with
Native American themes and tradi-
tions used by Michigamua is the
name," one Michigamua rep. who did
not want to be identified said.
American culture graduate student
Andrew Adams argued that the very
name Michigamua "connotes
Indianness," and with that name intact
the society exploits Native American
tradition.
LSA senior JuJuan Buford called
Michigamua an "exclusionist, racist
and detrimental" organization whose
rituals were reminiscent of the "black-
face" minstrel shows from the 1950s.
"You're calling yourself leaders;'
Buford said to the members of
Michigamua in the audience. "How
can you call yourself a person of
integrity?" Engineering senior and
Michigamua member Dan
Chamberlin said the benefit of his
organization is learning about oth-
ers, because Michigamua brings
together leaders of different cam-
pus groups.
U i
Five Great Reasons
to Get a Degree
in Pharmacy From
the University of
Michigan
I Outstanding employment
opportunities (a virtually
recession-proof career choice)
2 An average base annual salary
of $64,823 for pharmacists with
a PharmD degree
3 You'd be part of a small, yet
diverse student body (only 220
PharmD students total)
4 An exceptional
alumni network (3,000
worldwide, with a high
concentration in leader-
ship positions)
Consistently ranked
among the top three
colleges of pharmacy
in both US News &
World Report and the
Gourman Report.
To learn about career oppor-
tunities in pharmacy from those
in practice, and for information
about the Pharmacy Program at
U-M, join us 7-9 pm in
Room 1544, C.C. Little
Rni1ldinA Wepnpedav. ian.
ICorrecion: The Michigan Union Bookstore was misidentified in a photo in yesterday's Daily.
What's happening in Ann Arbor today
GROUP MEETING S Sponsored by Latino Student Hillel, 1429 Hill St., 8 p.m.
Psychological Association and La
JAdut Support Group for Relatives Voz Mexicana, Trotter House. SERVICES
2d . .Ii p Mrmammw fith MentIl "Lecture by Vanessa Northington