LOCAL/STATE

The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, March 10, 1999 -3

HIGHER
EDUCATION s
Wisconsin high
court: officials
lot responsible
The Wisconsin State Supreme Court
Voted last week to assert that University
of Wisconsin at Madison officials,
including Chancellor David Ward and
Athletic Director Pat Richter, are not
liable for any injuries students sus-
tained during a 1993 stampede at Camp
Randall Stadium after a football game
against Michigan.
The decision affirms earlier appeal
 ings stating that the officials are
une from lawsuits.
Eight out of 69 injured students sued
officials for injuries from a student sec-
tion stampede after Wisconsin's victory
over Michigan.
.The students contend that university
officials knew a stampede might occur
but did not take necessary precautions.
Since the 1993 stampede, several
Wisconsin policies have changed -
*cluding the removal of fences and the
covering of the first three rows of the
student section to create a barrier from
the railings.
Princeton prof.
sues rock group
Peter Jeffery, a Princeton University
Music professor, filed a lawsuit last
week against the band Smashing
*umpkins and other organizations,
claiming his hearing was damaged
when he attended a concert with his 12-
year-old son two years ago.
Jeffery alleges that the concert's vol-
une caused tinnitus - a constant ring-
ing- in his left ear.
Jeffery's attorney Anthony Wallace
said Jeffery attended the concert with
the understanding that a parent waiting
om would be provided. But at the
oncert, the room was being used as a
dressing room for one of the bands.
Wallace said Jeffery purchased a
ticket and entered the concert to tell his
son he would be waiting for him in a
new location. Wallace insists that
although Jeffery put in ear plugs before
entering the concert, he experienced a
sharp pain in his ears as he was leaving
the arena.
Wallace said that because Jeffery's
*afeer depends on precise hearing, his
work will be affected.
Jeffery is suing for monetary damage
and hopes to send a message to youth
about the danger of concert volume.
Arizona student
questions ID use
A University of Arizona student is
4 uestioning the security of students'
personal information after finding hun-
dreds of Social Security number seg-
ments on the university's Websites.
The university permits professors to
display partial Social Security numbers
and test scores on unprotected
Websites.
A university attorney said the use of
the numbers do not violate the Family
Education Rights and Privacy Act,
which governs the use of personally-
Odentifiable information.
Also last week, the Arizona House of
Representatives passed a bill mandating
that universities stop using Social
eurity numbers by 2001, except for

-financial aid information and tax pur-
poses for student employees.
The university is currently accepting
bids to convert current database sys-
tems to random ID numbers.
ftudent accuses
prof. of stalking
"A female Ohio State University stu-
dent recently accused Paul Ponomarev,
a 54-year-old professor she dated, of
stalking her.
Ponomarev has been an associate
mathematics professor at the university
for more than 20 years.
The student claims Ponomarev was
.xarassing her. Ohio State police arrest-
ed Ponomarev, and he is scheduled to
appear in court next week.
°Ponomarev pleaded innocent to the
,charges at his arraignment and will
remain on paid administrative leave for
'the rest of the university's winter quar-
ter.
- Compiled by Daily Staff Reporter
Nika Schulte.

MSA addresses walkout, tuition increase

By Jewel Gopwani
Daily Staff Reporter
At last night's Michigan Student Assembly
meeting, assembly members spent most of their
time discussing money.
In light of today's scheduled Graduate
Employee Organization's walkout to protest what
GEO believes is a mediocre contract with the
University, GEO Chief Negotiator Eric Odier-Fink
told the assembly, "We hope and expect that you
will not go to class."
Odier-Fink added that GEO hopes that if the
walkouts, which are scheduled for today and
tomorrow, "look really good, the University really
will see that this is a serious thing."
Odier-Fink's brief visit to the assembly correlat-
ed with Rackham Rep. Jessica Curtin's resolution

to "support the GEG walkout and strike."
The intent of the resolution, Curtin said, is to
help graduate student instructors obtain "a living
wage so they don't have to work second jobs."
With little debate among assembly members,
MSA passed the resolution with a majority vote.
MSA Vice President Sarah Chopp also present-
ed the assembly with a proposal that "calls for
tuition to increase no higher than the rate of infla-
tion" for the next academic school year.
With hopes of presenting students' opinions to
the University administration, an original resolution
asked MSA to conduct a petition and collect signa-
tures of students who oppose increases in tuition.
LSA Rep. Vikram Sarma motioned to omit the
collection of student signatures, but Music Rep.
Gabriel Regentin argued against the motion.

"To back (the resolution) with a hellish list of
names is going to be enough to make a statement,"
Regentin said. "It unifies the whole student body."
The assembly voted against holding an official
petition drive, but left it up to interested individu-
als to proceed with the plan.
By amending this resolution, the assembly, in a
motion presented by LSA Rep. Joe Bernstein,
charged its Academic Affairs Committee and its
External Relations Committee with the responsi-
bility of working with University administrators to
discuss "improvements to the tuition increase
problem."
The resolution also includes lobbying in
Lansing about state funding to the University and
its effects on tuition increases.
Economics Prof. Paul Courant and Assistant

Provost for University Budget and Planning
Marilyn Knepp visited the assembly to discuss the
University's budget and field questions on tuition.
"The question for the budget is to try to get as
much as we can from the resources we have,"
Courant said.
LSA Rep. Jeff Omtvedt announced last night
that the MSA Student Input Phone Service, also
known as "the gripe-line" is up and running.
Omtvedt explained that the Student Input Phone
Service is a voice-mail system, which allows stu-
dents to record messages that will reach MSA
committees and commissions. Omtvedt said the
service is intended to "improve relations between
the student body and the student government" and
to make it easier for students to give suggestions to
MSA.

Higher learning I

Sweatshop labor talks
continue as deadline nears

By Michael Grass
Daily Staff Reporter
Student labor activists said they will
continue to work with University
administrators to take action on a
stronger set of labor standards for the
collegiate apparel industry as a Friday
deadline imposed by Students
Organizing for Labor and Economic
Equality nears.
SOLE members met yesterday with
University General Counsel Marvin
Krislov and Senior Associate Athletic
Director Keith Molin to continue dis-
cussions on the issue. Members said
several points of contention are pre-
venting both sides from finalizing a for-
mal agreement.
"We've made a lot of progress ... but
we would like to continue to bargain in
good faith," said LSA sophomore Julie
Fry, a SOLE negotiator.
Krislov could not be reached for
comment but Molin said many issues
were discussed during yesterday's
meeting.
"We had a very substantive conversa-
tion that was positive in tone," Molin
said.
The Collegiate Licensing Company
- the group that handles contracts
between manufacturers and 161 col-
leges including the University - is
proposing a set of standards for manu-
facturers that would ban unfair labor
practices and substandard working con-
ditions.
Members of SOLE and their affiliate
organizations at campuses nationwide

"never thought that raising people
from misery to poverty would be such
a contentious issue.-
- Joe Sex auer
SOLE negotiator

have said the proposed code needs to be
stronger and should include full public
disclosure of factory location and own-
ership and calls for better wages for
workers.
"Definitely, one of the central
points of a strong code is a living
wage and that is where the adminis-
tration needs to make more progress
and this is the time that students and
faculty need to support this," said
SOLE negotiator Saladin Ahmed, an
LSA senior.
Administrators and SOLE members
would not comment on the specifics of
their discussions, but members of
SOLE said the issue of full public dis-
closure has been more easily negotiated
than the living wage.
"I never thought that raising people
from misery to poverty would be such
a contentious issue," said SOLE
negotiator Joe Sexauer, an LSA
junior.
Protests at universities nationwide
have brought attention to sweatshop
labor in the collegiate apparel industry.
Sit-in demonstrations have forced
administrators at the University of
Wisconsin at Madison, Duke

University and Georgetown University
to call for a stronger set of standards
for manufacturers.
Members of SOLE plan to stage A
rally Friday at 1 p.m. on the Diag
regardless of whether University admin-
istrators meet the Friday deadline.
Fry said SOLE members "have the
potential to take disruptive rea-
sures" and could organize protests
similar to the ones held at other cam-
puses if their demands are not met by
Friday.
"We feel from our talks with other
schools that they are looking at the
University of Michigan to provide lead-
ership for the construction of a stronger
code," Fry said.
About 20 SOLE members met with
University President Lee Bollinger
on Feb. 19 after marching to his
office in the Fleming Administration
Building.
"We are not very far apart at all, we
just need to talk more," Bollinger told
SOLE members at the meeting.
SOLE members said they also plan
to join members of the Graduate
Employees Organization in their walk-
out today.

DARBY FRIEDUS/Daily
Frank Whitehouse, a faculty mentor, speaks with LSA senior Dana McGee at
the University Art Museum yesterday at a banquet honoring mentors.
DPS iformation
officer to leave
position for family
By Avram S. Turkel ations and have the public informed
Daily Staff Reporter quickly of safety concerns.
After four years of serving as public During Hall's employment at the
information officer for the Department University - which has scanned sever-
of Public Safety and the Office of al years of dealing with traumatic issues
Safety and Environmental Health, Beth that have influenced the campus com-
Hall will be leaving her position. munity - Peterson said Hall helped
The demands of her job have taken a DPS and OSEH be more proactive
great deal of time, Hall said, explaining when communicating with the public.
that she decided it is time for a change. Peterson added that Hall informed the
"I'm going to be spending more time community about many positive pro-
with my family," Hall said. But, "I've grams and projects of the departments
really enjoyed my time here." by working with the media and improv-
Hall's responsibilities have included ing overall public relations.
informing members of the University The community relied on Hall innu-
community and the general public of merable times over the past four years
various DPS and OSEH activities, in for her excellent judgment and wise
addition to tragedies and crimes on advice, Peterson said.
campus. "Beth has also seen us through some
Associate Vice President for tough times - including student deaths
Facilities and Operations Hank Baier and other upsetting occurrences,"
will be responsible for finding Hall's Peterson said.
replacement. He said DPS and OSEH Hall assumed her position at the
will begin a search once Hall leaves University after leaving her job at a
March 26. public relations firm in Chicago.
Hall said working for both offices Hall said she prides herself on having
gave her the ability to provide better established a good working relationship
assistance to the media and the two with the media and having improved
departments when joint problems - the public relations of OSEH and DPS.
such as chemical spills - occurred. "Much of what she contributes is
"Beth Hall really was able to work behind the scenes, but it's that part of
with both departments, and she would her work that I will miss the most,"
present the information to the media Peterson said.
very well," said Patty Watt, acting Hall said she is moving to Grand
director of OSEH. Rapids with her family after she leaves
University spokesperson Julie her University post later this month.
Peterson said Hall's work made it easi- She plans to work as a communications
er to warn the public of hazardous situ- consultant.

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Speaker Initiative and Hillel
present
Gloria Steinem!1
"The Politics of Sexuality"
Thursday, March 11, 7:30 pmn
Michigan Theater
Free Tickets
Available at the Michigan Union Ticket Office
*Limit 2 tickets per person *


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