-- - LOCAL/STATE
The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, February 10, 1999 - 3
IGHER
EDUCATION
Northwestern
student fights to
express himself
Northwestern University student's
artwork generates debate over students'
rights to express themselves while liv-
ing in campus housing units.
Earlier this school year, Ryan Du
Val, a music sophomore at
Northwestern University, replicated a
mural of Michaelangelo's Sistine
hapel on the ceiling of his residence
hall room.
Du Val took Northwestern to federal
ca in December after university
a nistrators said they planned to
paint over the mural during winter
break. In an out-of-court settlement,
Du Val and the university decided the
mural would not be painted over until
he-end of this school year.
The Northwestern University senate
ebated earlier this week a proposal
hat would allow students to paint the
alls of their residence hall rooms, as
a as they removed their paintings
bere .moving out at the end of each
cademic year.
Many members of the Northwestern
ssociated Student Government had
upported Du Val's right to paint his
eiling and his work was profiled in
he Feb. 8 edition of People Magazine.
DuVal said he wanted to brighten
he dull white walls of his room.
p ice seize
nks, search for
ate rape drug
In search of a date rape drug, police
nd security officials at Brown
niversity collected drink samples
nom a party at the Phi Kappa Psi fra-
ernity house Friday night.
estigators plan to test the drink
ales for Rohypnol, more common-
y known as "roofies," one of the most
idely used date rape drugs.
The investigation began after a
oma i was allegedly sexually assault-
d Friday night at Alpha Tau Omega
raternity. She claims the assault
>curred after Rohypnol was slipped
nto her drink, and she lost conscious-
ess.
Phi Kappa Psi representatives said
hoare certain Rohypnol was not
laced in drinks at the fraternity's party.
tudy: living
ogether doesn't
uarantee glee
Researchers at Rutgers University
ound that living together before mar-
i leads to a higher chance of
livorce.
"The key finding is that living
ogether outside of marriage tends to
generate attitudes about relationships
hat are not helpful when you marry,"
;aid-David Popenoe, co-director of the
Rutgers University National Marriage
Project.
The study concluded that nearly 60
erceht of people who live together
niry, and almost 50 percent of mar-
-ia* end in divorce.
"Marriage is based heavily on a
;trong, long-term commitment to
nothir person," he said.
Cohabitation is basically the opposite
f .that. You get into a pattern that
orks against having a long-term,
:omipitted relationship," Co-Director
f the National Marriage Project
Barbara Whitehead said.
&?udents still on
hunger strike
More than 100 students at Indiana
University continue a hunger strike
:hey began at the University of Notre
Dame on Feb. 3. The students are
asting to show support to have the
:ategory of sexual orientation pro-
:ected under Notre Dame's discrimi-
a policy.
tudent-run gay and lesbian
:rganization at Notre Dame, which
was formed 28 years ago, is not per-
itted to hold meetings on campus,
post advertisements or buy adver-
isement space in the campus news-
paper.
-Compiled by Daily Staff Reporter
Lauren Gibbs.
Housing proposes plan to MSA reps
Assembly members greet presentation
with questions, concerns about projeCt
8y Jewel Gopwani
Daily Staff Reporter
A plan for a new dining hall that would consolidate four Hill area
dining halls was the hot topic at last night's Michigan Student
Assembly meeting when two University Housing representatives
talked to assembly members about the plan and displayed pictures of
similar facilities at other universities.
Director of Housing William Zeller and interim Director of
Resident Halls Dining Services William Durell stopped by the MSA
meeting to discuss University Housing's construction proposal that
would cost nearly $1.5 million and take three years to build.
MSA plans to vote on a resolution next week to support Housing's
plans to build the Hill Area Dining Center.
At the meeting, assembly members were receptive to the Housing
presentation, but expressed concern about the dining hall's use.
"As long as students are involved in the input, this will hopefully
be a step forward for students in the Hill area," MSA Treasurer Bram
Elias said..r
If built, Zeller said the 50,000-square-foot dining hall would
stand on the south side of Mosher-Jordan Residence Hall, adja-
cent to Palmer Field.
As part of its plan, University Housing would close dining halls at
Couzens, Alice Lloyd, Mosher-Jordan and Stockwell residence halls.
"Each of the dining halls we currently have need major renova-
tion,' Zeller said.
Zeller said the new dining hall would basically be a food court.
"We want to bring in some sort of convenient store operation," Zeller
said.
Durell and Zeller said the cost of building the new dining facility
would equal the cost of renovating the current Hill area dining halls.
If Housing decided to renovate the four existing halls, students'
room and board rates would increase, Zeller said.
"That money would come from room and board increases," he
said, assuring MSA representatives that the new facility would be
financed without increasing room and board rates.
In addition to closing four dining halls, the plan Zeller and Durell
presented also includes closing Mary Markley Residence Hall's din-
ing facility on weekends.
Closing the dining halls would free 50,000 square feet of space in
dining halls, space that Zeller said could be used for living-learning
services, such as classrooms and academic advising offices.
MSA Vice President Sarah Chopp asked the Housing representa-
tives about the status of dining hall project.
Zeller answered by telling the assembly that the University Board
of Regents approved the idea of a large Hill area dining facility in
December 1996. But, Zeller said, University administrators are cur-
rently deliberating Housing's plan. After administrators approve the
final plans, he said, the Hill Area Dining Center would take approx-
imately three years to build.
In addition to the Housing proposal, a revised version of a resolu-
tion to support the AT&T-sponsored Student Advantage contract was
discussed at last night's assembly meeting. The resolution, which
would allow the assembly to endorse the calling and debit card and
possibly profit from the card, was voted down.
MSA also welcomed three new representatives to its table.
Architecture and Urban Planning Rep. Joel Kirzner and new LSA
Reps. Jeff Omtvedt and Marisa Linn were appointed by their respec-
tive schools after going through an application process.
DARBY FRIEDUS/Dai4y
William Zeller gives a presentation to the Michigan Student Assembly
yesterday on a new dining facility for Hill area residence halls.
"I have been active in the assembly's communication committee-
since September," Omtvedt said.
If students run for any one these seats during the assembly's bi-
annual elections in March, the three appointed representatives must
campaign to keep their seats.
Study finds vaccine rates low among local gay men.
By Tushar Sheth
For the Daily
Three University students concluded that Hepatitis B.vaccination
rates among gay men in Ann Arbor were low in a study they con-
ducted in 1997.
LSA senior Katie Neighbors and University alumni Chinwe Oraka
and Linda Shih conducted their study, titled "Awareness and
Utilization of the Hepatitis B Vaccine Among Young Men in the Ann
Arbor Are~a Who Have Sex With Men," in the fall of 1997 under vis-
iting instructor Peter Lurie's supervision.
The study, published in last month's issue of the Journal of
American College Health, found that 67 percent of the sample
group were aware of the high risk, but only 22 percent of them
had been vaccinated. But 58 percent said they were willing to be
vaccinated.
The students interviewed 120 gay men for their study.
Lurie said the results show a contradiction between the "alarm-
ingly" low number of men who are vaccinated and those that are
willing to be vaccinated.
"The vaccination requires three shots to become effective, which
can be a bit of a hassle," Lurie said. "Along with this, the vaccine is
expensive.
"It is also hard to identify gay men because, as a result of society's
discrimination, many gay men don't identify themselves as such," he
added.
Mih/I Ligan joins i
LANSING (AP) - Michigan is join- of a broader effort to make
ing 25 other states and the federal gov- drugs profitable, it was a
ernment in a lawsuit against five phar- either raising them or drol
maceutical companies, Attorney General Shapiro said. "You could
Jennifer Granholm said yesterday. cheaper than these thingsa
According to the complaint, the Shapiro also said that
defendants conspired to monopolize the prices have gone up,
the market for the generic drugs drugs remain half the c
lorazepam and clorazepate, both used brand-name competitors.
to treat anxiety. The defendants also are "As more informationc
accused of fixing drug prices. will be clear that Michigan
Named in the suit are drug maker suit that has no basis in fac
Mylan Laboratories Inc. of Pittsburgh, Lorazepam is prescribed
Penn., and ingredient suppliers Cambrex iety and insomnia and is
Corp. of East Rutherford, ,N.J.; control nausea in some
Profarmaco S.R.L. of Milan, Italy; Gyma AIDS patients. Doctors fil
Laboratories of America Inc. of lion prescriptions each}
Westbury, N.Y.; and SST Corporation of drug, often to nursing ho
Clifton, N.J. pice patients.
Granholm said the alleged activities Clorazepate also is used
began in 1997, when Mylan approached ety as well as hypertension
the manufacturers and negotiated an out about 3 million prescri
exclusive supply deal in exchange for a drug each year, often as par
promise to raise prices. for nicotine and opiate wits
. After Mylan cornered the market Granholm said the
on the ingredients, the suit says, alleged actions cost th
prices for lorazepam and clorazepate Medicaid program million
jumped more than 2000 percent. The Granholm spokesman Ch
price per 500-count bottle of estimated that one millic
lorazepam rose from $7.30 to Michigan use the drugs.
$191.50, while the price per 500- "The astronomical pri
count bottle of clorazepate rose from which these drug com
$11.36 to $377.50. extracted from the consum
Mylan spokesperson David Shapiro cal and illegal," Granhor
said yesterday that action against the lawsuit will require the dr
company is "radical, rushed and wrong." to pay back their ill-gotte
Shapiro denied that the price increase substantial penalties."
was connected to any arrangements The suit alleges multiple
with ingredient suppliers, adding that the federal Sherman Antitr
prices went up on several of the compa- as the Michigan Antitrust R
ny's other drugs as well. seeks triple damages and cc
"When Mylan raised prices as part of both consumers and the
The three students conducted the study when they took Lurie's
class "Research Based Health Activism," which was offered through
the Residential College and Inteflex Program. Lurie now works for
the Public Citizen's Health Research Group, a health advocacy orga-
nization based in Washington, D.C.
"The students started the project in the fall and continued on with
it after the class had ended," Lurie said.
A warning issued by the Center for Disease Control recom-
mending that gay men be vaccinated for Hepatitis B prompted the
students to conduct their study. Oraka and Shih said they wanted
to find out what percentage of gay men in Ann Arbor had been
vaccinated.
Lurie said some of the ways Hepatitis B is spread is through sex-
ual contact and contaminated injection equipment. The nature of
male homosexual contact puts gay men at a higher risk of infection,
he said.
Using this information, the students prepared to conduct their
study.
"We identified a problem, wrote a study protocol, received
(Institutional Review Board) approval, collected data, analyzed data,
and then published the data," Neighbors said.
The students said they collected data from men at a few gay
bars in Ann Arbor area. They also distributed their questionnaire
to members of a gay swim team and members of two gay frater-
nities, one at Eastern Michigan University and another sponsored
by the University's Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and
Transgender Affairs.
The 120 men who participated in the study were asked questions
such as "Do you know about the high risk of acquiring Hepatitis B
among gay men?" and "Have you been vaccinatea and if not, why
and are you willing to be vaccinated?"
To increase the number of gay men who are vaccinated, Neighbors
said all university health providers must make changes to their pro-
grams.
"In 1995, the American College Health Association made
Hepatitis B one of the vaccines included in its recommended prema-
triculation immunization requirements.
"We are urging university health services around the country
to do all that they can to implement this recommendation,"
Neighbors said. "For example, university health services should
conduct outreach programs to their local gay communities to
increase vaccine use among homosexual and bisexual young
men, a high risk group for hepatitis B, although, most of whom
have not yet been infected."
Through their study, which the students said was a valuable expe-
rience, Oraka said they hope to impact the public health field.
"It was time-consuming, but definitely one of my most rewarding
experiences as a student" Oraka said.
"This shows what dedicated undergrads can accomplish when
they are motivated to promote the public health;' Lurie said.
n
it
unprofitable
question of
pping them,"
buy M&Ms
at the time."
even though
, the generic
cost of their
comes out, it
has joined a
ct," he said.
d to treat anx-
also used to
cancer and
I1 out 18 mil-
year for the
me and hos-
to treat anxi-
. Doctors fill
ptions for the
xt of therapies
hdrawal.
companies'
e Michigan
ns of dollars.
hris De Witt
on people in
ce increases
panies have
er are unethi-
m said. "The
ug companies
n gains with
violations of
ust Act as well
Reform Act. It
osts on behalf
state.
;,* '
IL{I:.
L. kLLNI l~L_:
What's happening in Ann Arbor,
Sponsored by Alpha Kappa Delta
today
www.umich.edu/-info on the
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