- 2A - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, February 10, 2000 NATION/WORLD PROTESTS Continued from Page 1A of the demands is to completely abolish Michiga- mua," said MSA Rep. Siafa Hage, an LSA sopho- more. "The goal shouldn't be to abolish them, but to restructure them." At 6 p.m. the students and alumni crowded the Wedge Room to review the 14-point petition from the SCC with University President Lee Bollinger, University Provost Nancy Cantor, University Vice President for Student Affairs E. Royster Harper and Associate Provost for Academic Affairs Lester Monts. "I'm glad they showed up," LSA senior Arvind Grover said. "I thought they wouldn't." The SCC presented the petition -- which calls for the elimination of Michigamua - to adminis- trators Friday. On Sunday the administration took over access to the property. After yesterday's meeting, Harper said the three secret societies agreed to let the University take over the spaces until a "pending discussion" with all parties involved. She noted that it is unclear whether the space is owned by the University or the societies. "I have no idea the implications of "Michiga- mua's ownership of the space, Harper said. "This is what makes this all so complex." She said a group can be associated to the Univer- sity in two ways: By the space it occupies and by being recognized as a student group. Harper said the University did what was in its power by taking over the space Sunday. Students and alumni demanded answers from the administration regarding their stance on Michiga- mua and other minority issues. "We have received what you have said and they're all the things we care about," Bollinger said. "We're not prepared tonight to address these issues, we're here to listen." The president's statement prompted a huge response from the audience of questions of why - a question that prevailed throughout the meeting as many people shouted out comments., "We're all here, the administration is here," LSA freshman Agnes Alcobua said. "These things aren't new, (the administrators) don't need to do research." Bollinger said there would be another meeting set up by the administrators in a week. "I don't think we need to wait a week to get the answers," Aleobua said. "I graduated in 1973 and I am disgusted that almost 30 years later that we still have racist orga- nizations at this University," said University alum, Audrey Jackson. Several attendees asked administrators how a school that supports affirmative action would also support Michigamua. "You get the impression that we condone this behavior," Harper said. "We don't. Many of the issues are not going to be solved by one person. As a community, we have not been working on it. We've been critiquing our actions, but not work- ing." Michigamua is approved by MSA which has the power to recognize and derecognize student organi- zations, Harper said. MSA is not responsible for Michigamua, MSA Vice President Andy Coulouris said after the meet- ing. "It is true that MSA is responsible for recogniz- ing student groups on campus. but that recognition is a passive process," he said. Groups come to MSA and sign a form to become a student group - that is an administrative func- tion. But they must apply for funds and use of Union rooms, he said. Michigamua has not applied for or received any funding from MSA and the assembly does not rent out or deal with the fifth, sixth and seventh floors of the Union. Any funding for Michigamua comes from anoth- er source. "Michigamua - as an institution at the University - we have nothing to do with," Coulouris said. "I didn't think it was fair for the administration to blame the student government as much as they did," LSA freshman Chip Englander said. "I felt they were trying to do quite a bit of stonewalling on the matter." "I thought (the meeting) exposed the University/ administration tremendously," said Luke Massie, a member of the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action By Any Means Necessary. "They defend affirmative action in words, but scale affirmative action back in deeds," he said. Representatives from various interested groups plan to meet next Wednesday. ACROSS TH E NATION Clinton fends off Giuliani's accusations NEW YORK - An angry Hillary Rodham Clinton, leveling her most direct attack yet, said yesterday that she was "appalled" at a fund-raising letter signed by New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani that accused her of "hostility to American religious traditions." But in what has become an almost daily slam against her from City Hall, Giu- liani stood by the letter, first sent in October, as "making very, very clear the dif- ference that exists between Hillary Clinton and me." The latest clash comes nine months before Election Day, prompting politico consultant Hank Sheinkopf to say, "Sure it's early. But we've never had a cam- paign where the first lady is running for U.S. Senate in the media capital of the world, against a take-no-prisoners type of mayor." Giuliani also said the first lady was trying to distract attention from a pub- lished report that she had tapped into fund-raising sources used by her husband, some of whom have been charged with wrongdoing. In fact, however, the fracas involving church-state distinctions began with a story in the Village Voice about the eight-page letter, which calls her "an agent of the ultra-left" and says the "left-wing elite" supports "liberal judges (who) have banned the posting of even the Ten Commandments in our public schools" In 1980, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that posting the Ten Commandments schools violated the First Amendment ban on government promotion of religion. MEDICAL Continued from Page1A Medicine's report, state Rep. Paul DeWeese (R-Williamston) and Sen. John Schwartz (R-Battle Creek), who are both physicians, called a governor's commission to study ways to reduce medical errors that could result in death or serious injury. "Obviously, when humans are involved, there is room for error and mistakes." Fox said. "But at the same time, with one of the best health sys- tems in the world, a mistake is one too many." University medical officials added that many accidental deaths within hos- pitals happen to patients who are already extremely ill and struggling to survive. "It's not a common problem (in the University Health Services), and many of the accidents that do happen else- where are to people who are much more sick to begin with," UHS interim Direc- tor Robert Winfield, M.D. said. UHS does not keep any records or statistics about medical mistakes and misdiagnosis, Winfield said, but they "do not get frequent complaints." The University Hospitals' plans for improvement include "root cause analy- sis" policies which include rigorous investigations of medical mistakes by the entire health care staff. "We've instituted triple-checking of blood for transfusions ... double-check- ing patients' arm bands before medica- tion delivery ... and have installed mechanisms in the operating rooms for ensuring that the correct side of a patient's body is operated," Jacobs said. Health care providers urge patients to take a more assertive role in their time of treatment. "It's important to start by searching for the best doctor and asking around. Patients should walk into a visit with questions already written down ahead of time so when they walk out of the doc- tor's office, they have answers," Fox said. The American Medical Association began improvement policies in 1997, Fox said, when they created the National Patient Safety Foundation dedicated to raising awareness about medical errors. The organization emphasizes patient involvement and continuous communi- cation between caregivers and the gen- eral public for safety. "Frank discussion of medical error is crucial, but unfortunately medicine has traditionally had a 'culture of silence' that hinders such dialogue," DeWeese told the AMA in a written statement in December. That, he said, does not include attorneys or lawsuits. "Keeping such information out of attorneys' hands will encourage thor- ough and consistent reporting by health care providers," he said. Congress continues to review the report and work on improvement poli- cies. WANT TO BE THE FIRST ONE TO KNOW ABOUT NEWS.? GET A GREAT SEAT AT THE FOOTBALL GAME? Go TO CONCERTS AND MOVIES FOR FREE? WRITE ABOUT IT. OB/GYN carves initials into-patient NEW YORK - An obstetrician who carved his initials into a patient's abdomen when he delivered her baby was arrested yesterday on assault charges. Allan Zarkin was accused of cut- ting "AZ" with a scalpel into the lower abdomen of Liana Gedz after delivering her baby by Caesarean section at Beth Israel Hospital on Sept. 7. Zarkin pleaded innocent to two counts of assault at his arraign- ment. Acting Justice Brenda Soloff released him without bail and scheduled a hearing for March 14. Zarkin, whose license to practice medicine was revoked Feb. 3, faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted. The charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years. Barry Fallick, Zarkin's lawyer, admits that his client cut the letters into Gedz but said his client isn't responsible because he suffers from a brain disease that impairs his judgment. "He never mean to hurt her," Fallick said. Gedz, who is suing Zarkin for S5 million, asked prosecutors to spare the doctor, said her lawyer, Robert Sulli- van. He said the prosecution will accomplish nothing. Chicago Auto Show introduces SUVs CHICAGO - The Buick Ren- dezvous, to be unveiled today at the Chicago Auto Show, is General Motors Corp.'s next stab at the lucra- tive market for vehicles that offer the cargo capacities of a truck and the smooth, easy ride of a sedan. The Rendezvous, a mechanical siD ling of the Pontiac Aztek unveiled ear- lier this year, is roughly the same size as the Lexus RX 300 and Mercedes M-Class SUVs, but will likely cost thousands less. Buick hopes the Ren- dezvous will bring in a younger group of buyers than its current lineup of conservative sedans when it goes on sale in late 2001. j AROUND TH.E WORLD Hijacked airliner's crew escapes STANSTED, England - Eighty- five hostages, including women and children, walked out the back stair- case of a hijacked Afghan plane early today, raising hopes that the crisis may be nearing an end. The largest release of hostages came about 3:30 a.m., nearly four days after the plane was hijacked. Police said dozens of hostages and their captors were still aboard the plane, parked at Stansted airport near London. Police vehicles were parked at the foot of the stairs and bright lights shone up the staircase as a steady stream of people walked down the stairs of the Ariana airlines Boeing 727. Some of those leaving the plane appeared to be holding their hands in the air. During earlier releases, pas- sengers were not seen leaving with their arms raised. Police were hopeful earlier this evening that a resolution to the four- day crisis was close. Before the release, officials said 151 people, including 21 children, were believed on board the aircraft, which was hijacked early Sunday 20 minutes into a domestic flight leaving Kab Afghanistan's capital. It then beganY meandering journey across the former Soviet Union, stopping in Uzbekistan, Kazakstan and Russia. Iraqi oil smuggling breaches U.N. laws DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Smugglers skirting U.S. destroyers in the Persian Gulf are shipping Iraqi 4 in violation of U.N. sanctions, reaping handsome profits and lining the pockets of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, the U.S. Navy says. Last week's seizure of a Russian tanker carrying illicit Iraqi fuel high- lighted the issue, which the U.S. Navy estimates has nearly doubled in sib months. U.N. naval forces seized the tanker off the Emirates' coast. - CompiledIfrom Daily wire / epo0r 0 i i The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday through Friday during the fall and winter terms by students at the University of Michigan. Subscriptions for fall term, star ting in September. via U.S. mail are $100. Winter term (January through April) is $105, yearlong (September through April) is $180. On-campos subscriptions for fall term are $35. Subscriptions must be prepaid. The Michigan Daily is a member of the Associated Press and the Associated Collegiate Press. ADDRESS: The Michigan Daily, 420 Maynard St.. Ann Arbor. Michigan 48109-1327. PHONE NUMBERS (All area code 734): News 76-DAILY: Arts 763-0379: Sports 647-3336: Opinion 764-0O Circulation 764-0558: Classified advertising 764-0557: Display advertising 764-0554: Billing 764-0550. E-mail letters to the editor to daily.letters@umich.edu. World Wide Web: www.michigandaily.com. EDTRA STFFMie e. * SiorinChe NEWS Jewel Gopwani, Managing Editor EDITORS: Nick Bunkley, Michael Grass, Nika Schulte, Jaimie Winkler STAFF: Lindsey Alpert. Jeannie Baumann. Risa Berrin. Marta Brill. Charles Chen, Anna Clark. Adam Brian Cohen, Shabnam Daneshvar. Sana Danish. Nikita Easley. Dave Enders. Jen Fish. Josie Gingrich. Anand Giridharadas. Robert Gold. Krista Guilo. David Jenkins. Elizabeth Kassab. Jodie Kaufman. Yael Kohn. eUsa Koivu, Karolyn Kokko. Dan Krauth, Hanna LoPatin, Tiffany Maggard. Kevin Magnuson, Caitlin Nish. Kelly O'Connor, Jeremy W. Peters. Katie Piona. Jennifer Sterling, Shomari Terrelonge-Stone. Jennifer Yachnin. Jon Zemke CALENDAR: Adam.Zuwennk. EDITORIAL Emily Achenbaum, Editor ASSOCIATE EDITORS: Ryan DePietro, Nicholas Woomer STAFF: Ryan Blay. Michelle Bolek, Kevin Clune, Josh Cowen, Chip Cullen. Peter Cunniffe. Seth Fisher. Lea Frost. Jenna Greditor. Kyle Goodridge. Ethan Johnson. Heather Kamms. Molly Kennedy. Cortney Konner, Jeffrey Kosseff. 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