I
LOCAL/STATE
The Michigan Daily - Friday, April 14, 2000 -3
YRRIME
Patient smoking
in hospital room
4gnites blaze
A patient at University Hospitals
was in critical condition after a fire
broke out in his room shortly before 5
p.m. Wednesday, Kara Gavin, spokes-
woman for the University Health Sys-
tems said yesterday.
Department of Public Safety investi-
gators ruled that the fire was caused by
the patient smoking in his room. The
Ann Arbor Fire Department responded
t the fire and officials confirmed that
hospital sprinkler system kept the
blaze contained to the patient's room.
There were no other injuries, but the
unit was temporarily evacuated, Gavin
said.
According to DPS reports, the
patient had been warned before about
smoking, and hospital staff previously
had confiscated lighters and cigarettes
from him. DPS reports said the
*tient's bedding was made from
flame-retardant materials but oxygen
being used by the patient is believed to
have accelerated the fire.
Patients were still being returned to
the unit yesterday.
Two men found
taking pictures
with pants down
n Two teenage males were seen
'ing pictures in a bathroom at the
School of Education Building on
Tuesday night, DPS reports state.
One was reportedly taking pictures
of the other as he sat on the toilet
with his pants down. DPS did not
report having any suspects.
Woman assaulted
t Arbor Heights
A female employee was kicked
in the shoulder by an Arbor
Heights Juvenile Center resident
Monday night, DPS reports state.
The extent of the woman's injuries
were unknown and the suspect
later escaped from Arbor Heights
before being returned to the facili-
ty by DPS officers.
Items stolen from
ending machine
A vending machine on the first
floor'of West Quad Residence Hall
was broken into Wednesday
evening, according to DPS reports.
The glass on the front of the
machine had been removed and all
the items were missing. DPS did
not report having any suspects.
elan walking on
East U. insulted
Two unknown people called a man
walking along East University Avenue
on Tuesday night by a derogatory
name, DPS reports state. Both sus-
pects reportedly had facial hair.
Shower curtains
tolen from South
uad bathroom
Six shower curtains were stolen
from a bathroom in South Quad
Residence Hall on Wednesday
afternoon, DPS reports state. DPS
did not report having any suspects.
DPS units unable
) locate burglars
DPS officers aiding the Ann Arbor
Police Department in a search for rob-
bery suspects in the 600 block of Mon-
roe Street on Monday night were
unable to locate anyone involved, DPS
reports state.
Employee reports
desk lamp stolen
A female employee of the Kellogg
e Center found her desk lamp miss-
ing upon returning to her office Mon-
day, DPS reports state. DPS is
investigating the incident.
- Compiled by Daily Staff Reporter
David Enders.
Group aims for access to administration
By Tiffany Maggard
Daily Staff Reporter
Latino students on campus may now have a new
effective means of attaining leadership and influ-
ence at the University - by going straight to the
top.
Members of the Collegiate Leadership Develop-
ment Program have met weekly throughout the
semester with high-level University administrators
including interim Dean of Students Frank Ciancio-
Ia. During the meetings, administrators familiar-
ized the students with the roles of their jobs so
students will be able to contact individuals who can
help them make a difference in the Latino commu-
nity.
LSA junior Janet Padilla, who worked on the
program with LSA senior Nick Delgado, said
CLDP is an alternative means to making Latino
concerns heard on campus rather than through
other facets of activism like public protests.
"Our goals are to have constructive, bilateral
conversation between the administration and the
Latino community, because usually we have to be
outside screaming and protesting - trying to get
heard," she said.
Padilla said the program, which has been suc-
cessfully implemented at several universities across
the nation, including University of California at
Los Angeles and Michigan State University, has
five fundamental missions, which entail familiariz-
ing Latino students with University officials and
the internal structure of the University and making
officials aware of the students' talent and potential.
CLDP member Rosio Suarez, an LSA freshman,
said the group was eager to implement these goals.
"We wanted to talk to administration and see how
Latinos were represented on their agendas. We
wanted to make sure our voices were heard more at
U of M," she said.
Padilla and Delgado introduced the program to
Cianciola earlier this semester after learning about
it through the United States Hispanic Leadership
Institute based in Chicago, from which the pro-
gram originated.
Cianciola said he was impressed by the program
when it was brought to him and believes it has
proven itself successful. "Basically, as I reviewed
"Our goals are to have constructive, bilateral
conversation.
-Janet Padilla
LSA junior
the proposal, I thought it was an opportunity to
have substantive conversation between students
and faculty. Whenever you can have that kind of
dialog, it's a good thing," he said.
LSA sophomore Victor Soto, a CLDP member,
said the group was able to probe several of its con-
cerns about minority representation on campus -
concerns not exclusive to Latinos.
He said CLDP members, when working with
University Director of Undergraduate Admissions
Ted Spencer and Associate Provost for Academic
Affairs Lester Monts, had the opportunity to
address their concern for the drop in minority
enrollment and the need for more minority faculty
members.
Padilla said the program will continue next year,
but members are still aiming to make it an official
University program. Soto said he and other mem-
bers of CLDP are committed to making that hap-
pen.
Soto said CLDP members from this semester's
session plan to see that student representatives of
the Latino community make incoming Latino stu-
dents aware of the program during fall orientation
so it will remain strong and successful.
"I thought it was a positive experience - we
met with a lot of people, were made aware of who
the administrators are. It helped humanize them ...
it also helped me understand what they go through.
A few of them really fight for students, but they
have to go through a lot of redline and politics;
Soto said.
I
RC students fight against
new course grade policy
By Jacquelyn Nixon
Daily Staff Reporter
With the Residential College plan-
ning to use letter grades for courses in
addition to narrative evaluations, many
RC students who gathered in East
Quad's Madrigal Lounge last night said
they had not been given a chance to
voice their opposition to the changes.
"There wasn't much interaction
between the administration and the RC
students and we weren't allowed to
react. We haven't been given the
opportunity to voice our views. We've
just been given the grandfather clause,"
RC sophomore Sanjay P Hukku said.
The new grading policy was
announced to students this week
through an e-mail from RC Director
Tom Weisskopf.
"It is standard practice within the
LSA College to hold external
reviews of departments and units at
intervals of approximately every 10
years. The LSA College takes these
reviews very seriously because they
include recommendations for
improving the unit and that serve as
the basis for long range planning,"
LSA Dean Shirley Neuman and
Associate LSA Dean Robert Owen
said in the e-mail.
"An important consideration in this
decision involves the way narrative
evaluations are weighed by admissions
committees of graduate and profes-
sional schools," the statement said.
Another one of the changes that will
be made concerns the number of
pass/fail credits allotted to RC stu-
dents. "Currently RC students have
more than 30 pass/fail credits, and the
new plan with only given them 30
credits like all other LSA students,"
Hukku said.
"The college has decided to accept
the recommendation of the external
reviewers, and has requested that the
RC convert its grading practices to
conform to these of the rest of the Col-
lege. Present RC students will not be
affected by this change," the statement
said.
Owen attended an LSA Student
Government meeting Tuesday. LSA-
SG passed a resolution during their
meeting urging "RC faculty students
and LSA faculty, students and adminis-
tration to keep an open mind in all
demands." The resolution also called
"for further consideration by the dean's
office for the concerns of RC faculty"
"The dean's main concern was to
give RC students an opportunity for
getting into grad school," RC sopho-
more Rachel Razgunas said.
Hukku, who attended yesterday's
meeting with Owen, said "he ended the
meeting saying that this change is a
part of many changes to come."
A few members of the RC faculty
were present to hear student's opin-
ions and discuss the relationship with
RC and LSA faculty.
"There are those at the RC who are
not on the tenure track and they aren't
respected. We have a higher percent-
age of them than LSA. It's kind of a
class war," RC lecturer Katherine
Mendeloff said.
The new plan is scheduled to be
implemented in Fall 2001. Some stu-
dents said they fear those who have
already been accepted into the RC will
arrive in a program that has become too
similar to LSA. "We want to maintain
diversity. We're not better or worse than
LSA students, we're just different,
Hukku said.
DAVID ROCHKIND/Daily
LSA sophomore Sarah Marks makes posters yesterday to protest the decision
to change the Residential College's grading system from written evaluations to
letter grades. ,
MILE
Continued from Page 1
students. We're not exploiting students
because they can choose to buy it or not
buy it," Fuentes said. "We hate the per-
verts out here and the people who come
out of town. It gets way out of hand."
Ann Arbor resident John Gabriel,
who set up shop outside of West Hall
Engineering Arch, said that there is a
difference between selling T-shirts and
putting pictures on the Internet.
"It's unfortunate that the mass
media and especially the Internet has
dampened the spirit of the event. It
was originally for students and alum-
ni," Gabriel said.
Department of Public Safety
Spokeswoman Diane Brown agrees
that the problems associated with
Naked Mile stem from its now chaotic
atmosphere. "This is not just a student
issue, if it was just a student thing per-
haps it would be a whole different
event," she said.
"Our students have demonstrated
many times this year they are capable
of making their voices heard in non-
violent situations, but what about the
people who are coming to our campus
this weekend? Do they have the same
non-violent request?"
Many of the spectators inundating
Ann Arbor tonight are from areas all
over the country and even the world.
Naked Mile photos have cropped up
even on international Websites. Fears
of being seen on these sites are keep-
ing many students from running.
"I don't like the idea of someone
taking my picture and putting it on the
Web so I'd never run the Naked Mile,"
said LSA sophomore Emily Hebert.
While these sites show runners
carousing, they don't show the stu-
dents arrested for indecent exposure,
minors in possession of alcohol or run-
ners groped and assaulted.
DPS estimates that last year alone,
the event garnered between 8,000 and
10,000 people. With crowds tonight
expected to exceed last year's, a ques-
tion arises as to the physical safety of
the runners and their vulnerability in
being filmed or videotaped.
Runners will be snaking their way
through crowds of spectators, reporters
and camera crews. Brown even referred
to the event as running a "gauntlet.:
"A lot of people get the impression
that this is an endorsed, sponsored and
planned event and that there will be
barriers up," she said. "This is not
what this is, this is a dangerous event."
Business owners whose shops line
the path don't seem particularly wor-
ried. "In years past, except with street
litter we haven't had any structural
damage," Campus Rentals manager
Bruce Dekracker said.
But DPS is concerned with more
than just litter. The possibility of run-
ners being physically or sexually
assaulted is a great one.
"When there is that size a crowd
with that much inebriation, there is
very little we can do to prevent some-
one from being raped," Brown said.
She added that since the Naked Mile
is not endorsed nor planned by the
University and because the cost of
keeping an ambulance on hand for
medical emergencies runs thousands
of dollars, medical assistance will not
be supplied.
"If we find someone who needs an
ambulance we'll call for it and then
figure out how to get it to where the
person is," Brown said.
She added that if police are dressed
in added protection, such as riot gear,
it is not to intimidate spectators and
runners, but to protect the police force.
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THE CALENDAR
What's happening in Ann Arbor today
EVENTS readings and discussion of Yid- Maurer's "Fade," about a dis-
dish literature selections and abled rock star. RC Auditorium,
Scott Rogers, contemporary folk- singing Yiddish songs, JCC, East Quad, 8:30 p.m., 647-
rock, Amer's, 8 p.m. 2935 Birch Hollow Dr. 1:30-3 4354
* "The Zoo Story." Soon sored by . .m., s 9..71-90n a it c ...l,.
Part-Time
On Campus
Cutting-edge
RP ANT h U111 lE IMP 1111 KnEE