LOCAL/STATE
The Michigan Daily - Friday, March 26, 1999 - 3
eCRIME
Electrical
transformer
catches fire
An electrical transformer caught
*ire Tuesday afternoon in the Medical
Center on East Liberty Street, accord-
ing to Department of Public Safety
repprts. The fire did not spread
beyond the second floor room where it
started.
DPS officers were alerted to the
fire by occupants of the Medical
Central Alumni Relations office on
the, third floor of the building, DPS
reports state.
The occupants described a smoke
electrical burning smell to DPS
*fficials. The fire also caused a
power outage in parts of the build-
ing.
there was no University property
damaged in the fire, according to DPS
reports. The Ann Arbor Police
Department fire inspector has taken
oyer the case for further investigation.
Mo-Jo dining hall
taffer cuts finger
A female staff member in
Mosher-Jordan dining hall cut her
finger during her shift Wednesday
afternoon, according to DPS
reports. The staff member was
working in the kitchen when the
incident occurred.
Since the cut was bleeding severely,
an ambulance was requested to escort
e, staff member to University
ospitals' emergency room, DPS
repgrts state.
Male refuses to
leave South Quad
resident's room
A male subject refused to leave a
female resident's room in South Quad
esidence Hall on Wednesday night,
PS reports state. A friend of the res-
ident called DPS to inform them of
the situation. During the phone call,
crying could be heard in the back-
ground, reports state.
When DPS officials arrived at South
Quad, they were able to make contact
with the male subject.
They discovered that an outstand-
ing bench warrant was issued for his
dling to appear on a minor in pos-
ssion charge, according to DPS
reports. The subject was given to
AAPD.
Parking permit
stolen from lot
A blue parking permit was stolen
from the M-28 lot on Washington
&eghts at some point during the day
onday, according to DPS officials.
The owner of the permit said the permit
could have been taken anytime between
8'a.m. and 6 p.m.
The thief did not break into the car,
since the owner is in the habit of leav-
ing her car doors open. She stated that
shedoes not lock the doors because it is
difficult to unlock them again, accord-
ing to DPS reports.
tudent charges
45 on roommate's
telephone bill
4 Bursley resident called DPS on
tuesday afternoon allegedly that her
reommate had used her authorization
phone card, according to DPS reports.
Her roommate charged an estimated
$45 worth of long distance calls on the
*rd.
Bike dismantled
near Diag rack
Parts of a mountain bike were stolen
eaily Tuesday morning from a bike
rack near the Diag, DPS reports state.
The, rack was located between the
Undergraduate Library and South
University Avenue.
The frame and front wheel of the
e was left at the rack. The bike was
estimated to be worth $1,300, accord-
ing to DPS reports. The theft occurred
sometime between midnight and 4 a.m.
--Compiled by Daily Staff Reporter
Marta Brill.
Muslims prepare
to mark end of
holy pilgrmage
Ad
DAVID ROCf*(IND/Daily
Humans rights activist Jennifer Harbury, who spoke at the Hale Auditorium yesterday, holds up a picture of her
Guatemalan husband, who was tortured and killed. On the right is Guatemalan musician Jose Rosales with his guitar.
Ar me *an
Speaks on conCspiracie
By Robert Gold
Daily Staff Reporter
For Jennifer Harbury, government
conspiracies are not a topic of specu-
lation left for "X-Files" and movies
like "Conspiracy Theory." They are
real and have deadly consequences.
Speaking before an audience filling
more than half of the Business School
Auditorium, the lawyer and human
rights activists spent yesterday night
talking about atrocities committed by
the Guatemalan government against its
Mayan population and how the United
States has been involved in helping the
government commit the crimes.
Harbury, whose husband Efrain
Bamaca was one of 200,000 killed
during the civil war that lasted more
than 30 years, began her speech by
asking the audience to think about,
"How far did the United States gov-
ernment go and can we prove it? The
answer is way too far and yes we can."
Harbury said although most of her
words were going to be about her
husband, his case was not special.
Harbury said the U.S. government
supported the Guatemalan govern-
ment by training their soldiers in the
now controversial U.S. Army School
of the Americas and allowed the tor-
ture and murder of innocent people.
"We not only placed people in
power, we trained them, funded them,
and protected them. Our CIA worked
with the death squads," Harbury said.
She detailed how in 1992 the
Guatemalan government said her
husband, a leader of the peasant guer-
rilla army, committed suicide in bat-
tle. But in fact his death was framed
and he was being tortured, she said.
Harbury said she went to the
United States Embassy for help but
was told they made every effort to
inquire about her claims and they
could find no evidence that any cap-
tives were being held and tortured.
During the next two years, 'Harbury
held hunger strikes, including in front
of the White House, but said her pleas
for help were repeatedly rebuffed. She
said her luck changed when "60
Minutes" ran a story in 1994 reporting
about the State and Defense depart-
ments knowledge of the tortures,
adding that they had lied to Congress
about U.S. involvement. For Harbury,
it was too late - her husband had
already been killed.
Harbury told the audience that
these type of atrocities occur all the
time but that there are effective ways
to stop these cover-ups. She said it is
critical that a bill before Congress
which would end the U.S. Army
School of the Americas be passed.
She added that the issue had to be
taken more seriously. "There needs to
be Nuremberg Trials. Some people
have to be punished.," Harbury said.
For some members of the audi-
ence, the speech was an eye-opening
experience. "I was really surprised by
the amount of deception that the
American government has displayed
and that none of it is brought to our
attention," LSA first-year student
Megan Heeres said.
For other students Harbury's
speech raised questions about their
faith in what they are led to believe
about governments. "It makes you
wonder about what you learn in his-
tory class, or what you don't learn,"
LSA junior Aaron Gillum said.
By Sarah Lewis
Daily Staff Reporter
In celebration of Hajj -the once-a-
lifetime pilgrimage to Mecca that
nearly 2 million followers of Islam
make each year - Muslims around
the world tomorrow will take part in
the Eid Ul-Adha, one of Islam's two
main holidays.
The holiday falls a few days after
the start of the yearly pilgrimage time,
which can last from six days to two
weeks, LSA junior Nora Mahmoud
said.
The pilgrimage to Mecca is one of
the five pillars of Islam, and all
Muslims are expected to journey
there unless they cannot afford it or
are restricted by health problems, she
said.
While Mahmoud has not made her
main pilgrimage yet, she has trav-
eled to Mecca before, where she said
visiting Muslims spend much of
their time praying and reading the
Quran.
"I was at the mosque as much as I
could be because it is one of the holi-
est mosques in the world," Mahmoud
said.
She explained that the pilgrimage is
a time for community togetherness
and prayer, as well as a time for self-
reflection.
"It's a time for them to reflect on
their life and how they can be more
devout ... how they can improve for
the future," she said. An important
aspect is to "split yourself from the
physical, materialistic world and put
ourselves all at the same level."
Hajj can be a humbling time for
many, Mahmoud said, because wor-
shippers dress similarly and meet
different Muslims from all around
the world - which makes judging
others on the basis of skin color,
speech or other distinctions nearly
obsolete.
"All that stuff does not matter when
you're there," she said. "We're all
equal in the eyes of God."
LSA senior Diba Rab said the pil-
grimage, in which Muslims have par-
ticipated for 1,400 years, is one of the
most spiritually uplifting experiences
Muslims can have. Like Mahmoud,
she said people are changed when they
return from Mecca, often becoming
more prayerful and even more gener-
ous.
When Rab's parents made their pil-
grimage, they were extremely content,
but excited about their experience, she
said.
"It's has so much significance,"
Rab said. "God's name is always on
your tongue throughout the pilgrim-
age ... it becomes a part of you some-
how."
Law third-year student Nizam
Arain said that for his parents, the
individual spiritual experience, cou-
pled with the bonding and unity that
resulted from sharing with people
they would never meet again, were
very important aspects of their pil-
grimage.
Arain said the most eye-opening
part of going to Mecca "is relating to
people as human beings without all
the accompanying baggage ... with
all those lines erased, just for a couple
of days, it's a pretty moving experi-
ence.
"All your worldly concerns are put
aside Arain explained, which leaves
time to focus on relationships with
God and other humans.
Eid also represents community
togetherness and unity, and is a way
for Muslims who are not in Mecca ip
pray and celebrate.
"It our way of observing it in
absence ... to think about that and
try and instill some of those ideas in
the people who aren't going," Arain
said.
Mahmoud said that on the day of
Eid, the worshippers on pilgrimage
will be about 10 miles outside of
Mecca, which is one of the most dif-
ficult times because all the people
will be concentrated in the same
place.
She also said Eid commemorates
the biblical story about the slaughter-
ing of the lamb instead of Abraham's
son and reflects the unity of message$
given to prophets like Mohammed and
Ishmael.
Rab said many Muslims from all
over the Ann Arbor area will gather
at the Islamic Center of Ann Arbor
tomorrow to celebrate Eid, while
many families will share a tradition-
al lamb dinner with friends and oth-
ers.
Environmental
debate to center
on globalization
By Nika Schulte
Daily Staff Reporter
After months of planning, the
University's chapter of the
International Society of Tropical
Foresters will hold a conference
Monday to explore whether globaliza-
tion and conservation of the environ-
ment are compatible.
The event, which organizers say is
expected to draw nearly 200
University students and community
members, will include speaker Odin
Knudsen from the World Bank and
Bruce Rich, a well-known critic of
the World Bank.
David Kaimowitz from the Center
for International Forestry Research
in Indonesia is also scheduled to
speak.
Although ISTF has held speaker
events in the past, Lisa Curran, an
assistant professor in the School of
Natural Resources and an assistant
Biology professor, said the group
was interested in hosting a panel
forum.
"This year we wanted to have a
more contentious debate with promi-
nent individuals who have strong
views about these pressing issues,"
Curran said.
While the event will focus on glob-
alization and the environment, ISTF
member Darci Andresen said the
symposium's purpose is to emphasize
the "interconnectedness of the
world."
Andresen said the conference's
focus on globalization is especially
timely, considering recent actions by
Students Organizing for Labor and
Economic Equality against sweatshop
labor.
"SOLE has called attention to the
University's intimate connection to
sweatshop labor, which is seen by
some to be a symptom of the negative
aspects of globalization," said
Andresen, a Rackham second-year
student
ISTF President Sergio Knaebel, a
Rackham second-year student, said
he hopes students and others who
attend will be able to use the confer-
ence as a method to understand how
their actions carry weight on a global
scale.
"Our main interest is getting people
to understand how our actions as
American citizens can impact the
world," Knaebel said. .
ISTF founded its campus chapter
last year. The organization also has
active collegiate chapters at Yale
University and the University of North
Carolina.
The event is scheduled to be held at
2 p.m. in Hale Auditorium at the
Business School.
I
I
Correction:
U LSA senior Mark Scozzafava and LSA junior Mike Warden were incorrectly identified in Wednesday's Daily.
What's happening in Ann Arbor this weekend
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