LOCAL/STATE
The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, February 23, 2000 - 3
TIGHER E D
Study abroad program popula
Student rescued
from Sigma Nu
Fratermty fire
A man found with his wrists and
ankles taped together was rescued
from a fire at the Sigma Nu fraternity
at Washington State University early
Saturday morning. More than 30 fire-
fighters tended to the fire, which
destroyed the western wing of the fra-
ternity. Pullman Fire captain Richard
Dragoo said the firefighters had been
working on the blaze for 20 minutes
when they were told that more people
may be in the house.
After moving furniture that was
blocking the door to a bedroom, the
firefighters found the college-age man
with his ankles and wrists taped
together. The firefighters cut him frce
*and removed him from the house.
Another man was found sleeping on a
couch in the basement. Two people
V were treated for smoke inhalation. A
frefighter was also injured by falling
debris and was treated at the scene
before resuming to his duties.
MSU student
council reps resign
Four Associated Students of Michi-
gan State University Student Assem-
bly members announced their
resignation last Thursday after a six-
our meeting in which the assembly
ailed to recall two student leaders.
MSU students Shane Waller, Jeff
Gargoshian and Joan Barran formally
announced their resignations at the
meeting and Mark Pritzlaff said yes-
terday he planned to formalize his res-
ignation.
The assembly was asked to recall
chairman Michael Webber and vice
chairman of internal affairs Ryan
* ladzik after a report alleged the
committee had two violations against
ASMSU's code.
The committee, which Pritzlaff
belonged to, investigated an incident
of sexual harassment against Webber
that resulted in the resignation of a
female representative.
"There was a grave injustice that
was done and I can't stand sitting at
that table anymore, Pritzlaff Said.
Webber and Bladzik rebutted the
eport claiming error and prejudice.
The assembly discussed dissolving
itself for the remainder of the semes-
ter, but decided against it.
Students surf for
credit at San Diego
This isn't the average gym class or
Olympic sized swimming pool. San
Wiego State University has opened the
ocean for surfing classes.
The one-credit class is held at the
San Diego State University Associ-
ated Students' Mission Bay Aquatic
Center.
"I needed an extra credit to gradu-
ate and wanted to surf," SDSU senior
Catherine Judkins said.
Before students are allowed to
hit the waves at Mission Beach,
which is located about 10 minutes
*orth of downtown San Diego, stu-
dents take three lecture and
instruction classes.
Besides offering surfing techniques
the course offers basic oceanographi-
cal information.
Instructors, who are certified in
either CPR, first aid or as lifeguards
teach how to find different surf
locations and wave formations in
an Diego County.
Students can learn the differences
between beach breaks and rocky
reef breaks, and how to tell which
way a wave will break.
Students also learn safety tips, how
to survey ocean currents and water
temperatures, and how to care for
their surf board.
-Compiled from U- WIRE reports.
By Josie Gingrich
Daily Staff Reporter
With summer nearing, many students are con-
sidering opportunities for study and work abroad
and with an increasing number of applicants and
a favorable economy the option may be more
popular than in years before.
"The economy is good so people can afford it.
We grow 10 to 15 percent every year," said
Kristin Stewart, student services assistant for the
Office of International Programs. "So far we've
had about 600 applications."
Stewart said the University's international pro-
grams are more popular than offerings from
other universities due to the ease with which the
program transfers the credits earned abroad.
"It's the only program that you can earn Michi-
gan credit in," she said. "It's also the only one
you can use Michigan financial aid with."
OIP reports indicate that the most applications
- more than 90 - have been submitted for the
summer in Salamanca, Spain. Other popular pro-
grams include those in Great Britain and Aus-
tralia. Applications for OIP's fall programs are
due by March 1.
The program at the University is competing
with many other successful programs, the closest
of which is at Michigan State University.
"We have our fair share of U of M students,"
said Inge Steglitz, assistant director of the Office
of Study Abroad at Michigan State.
Steglitz said the popularity of Michigan State's
study abroad program is the result of the reason-
able price of the program.
"We keep the cost as low as possible," she
said. "We maintain a high quality, but reduce
the cost."
Steglitz said the programs at Michigan State
are "fairly major-specific" and that is attractive to
many students because they can "make substan-
tial progress toward their major," while still hav-
ing the experience of studying abroad. The most
popular program at Michigan State allows stu-
dents to travel to Nepal for courses in agriculture.
Last year, Michigan State sent 1,746 students
abroad, approximately 10 percent of which were
not students at the university.
Opportunities for work abroad are also avail-
able for students. AIESEC is one of the most suc-
cessful of work abroad organizations on campus,
said Business junior Hana Malhas, AIESEC vice
president of outgoing exchange. Although the
application deadline for travel next semester has
passed, AIESEC recruits every semester.
"AIESEC is the largest student-run, non-profit
business in the world," Malhas said. "We have 60
members who run the program and the business
(in Ann Arbor), and we have chapters in 87 coun-
tries."
AIESEC offers paid internships in business,
engineering or teaching that can last from eight
weeks to 18 months in the country of the stu-
dent's choice.
Malhas said the program's main benefit is its
extensive support system. AIESEC offers culture
shock sessions before students leave for their
internships and reception sessions and contacts
through AIESEC in the host country.
rity rising
"The best thing about AIESEC was the local,
committee in Izmir," Devesh Tiwari, an LSA
senior who worked in Izmir, Turkey, said in a"
written statement. "The program is excellent."
AIESEC and the OIP reported having fe.wr
problems with political strife and natural disas-
ters in host countries.
"No programs have been canceled" due top
problems, Stewart said, although some have beer
suspended due to natural disasters.
Students participating in work and study
abroad programs say the programs are so influen-
tial they describe them as life-changing experi-
ences.
"I can't imagine anything better," said Andy
Casper, an LSA junior who spent last summer i
Florence, Italy. "It was the best six weeks of my
life. I gained amazing perspective."
"There are a million reasons to go abroad at
this age," Tiwari said, "and the opportunity to do
so later is quite slim."
"Having this experience at a young age is a
definite advantage."
Building a vision
Internet filter measure struck
down by Holland voters
HOLLAND (AP) - Voters here yesterday rejected a
measure that would have required the city to stop funding
the library unless it installed Internet filters on its comput-
ers.
In unofficial results, voters in Holland rejected the mea-
sure 4,379 to 3,626.
"We were able to make a statement on an issue that we all
care about," said Shannon Garrett, who heads Families For
Internet Access, a local group that opposed the measure.
Garrett said it was unfair for Holland residents, who rep-
resent less than a third of the total taxpayers who pay for
Herrick District Library services, to make policy. The
remaining funding for the library comes from surrounding
townships.
"They left the townships out of the vote," Garrett said.
"That's what we were concerned about."
Garrett said those who supported the ordinance had
bypassed the library board and the Holland City Council,
trying to force filters onto the library. That, she said, proba-
bly drove most of those voting no.
"I think free speech brought out a number of voters,"
Garrett said "But I think more were concerned with the
community dialogue and the fact that we don't have a prob-
lem at Herrick District Library."
Opponents also said the computer filters are flawed,
unnecessary and too expensive.
They said outsiders, specifically the Mississippi-based
American Family Association, were using Holland to promote
a national agenda. The AFA contributed more than $35,000 to
the effort.
"I would say that is a smoke screen," said LoriJo Schepers,
a spokeswoman for Holland Area Citizens Voting YES! to
Protect Our Children.
"There are more than 1,000 member of the American
Family Association in Holland and they are the ones who
spearheaded this."
The issue of Internet access at libraries is being debated in
communities across the country, but supporters of the ordi-
nance say they believe Holland is the first city to put it on the
ballot.
They argued the measure was a chance for Holland, a
city where hundreds of thousands of tulip bulbs are
planted each year for the annual Tulip Time Festival, to
protect its children.
Schepers said last night the defeat won't end their fight.
"We had anticipated the vote would go differently," she
said. "This is not a stopping point. We consider this a jour-
ney. We'll wake up and ask what we do next in the journey."
The five-member board of the Herrick District Library
opposed the filters, saying its policies adequately protected
children.
The library board had initially suggested it would shut its
door rather than install the filters on six of its seven com-
puters, but later backed down.
JESSIUA JUNSUN/Uaily
Bowling Green State University student Jason Ross examines an architecture
disp'ay in the Slusser Gallery in the Art and Architecture Building yesterday.
The student architecture exhibit will end today.
'Man could
tieCfor killing
cat with hammer
® Suspect claims he
was asked by neighbors
to remove animal
GRAND RAPIDS (AP) - A
Grandville rmobile home park manager
could face up to four years in prison
after a jury convicted him of beating a
cat to death with a hammer.
Alfred "Chk" Bedinger is sched-
uled to be sentenced next month in
Kent County Circuit Court on the ani-
mal cruelty charge.
Jurors said they couldn't reach a
verdict on a charge of second-degree
home invasion, and it was dismissed
by the court.
There was a dispute about whether
Bedinger had permission to enter the
home of a park tenant, where he
us'ed a hammer to kill the family's
cat.
Kent County a;sistant prosecutor
Ed Lis agreed to drop the 15-year
felony.
"The problem with the home inva-
sion part of the case was that we had
so many conflictiig accounts," Lis
told The Grand Rapids Press for a
story yesterday. "They (the jury)
apparently just coulkin't decide which
account to believe."
Neighbors at the La Grande Mobile
Home Court testified they did not give
Bedinger permission to enter the home
of Miguel and Eileen Almanza while
the family was away on vacation.
The Almanzas and their two chil-
dren took in Smoky, a stray cat, as a
pet in 1998. Bedinger admitted
killing Smoky and claimed the
neighbors had asked him to remove
the cat because they no longer want-
ed to care for it.
Defense attorney James Bidol said
he was glad to see the home invasion
charge dismissed but was disappointed
with the guilty verdict for animal cru-
elty.
Bidol had tried to get a veterinarian
to testify that killing a cat with a ham-
mer was a humane way to put an ani-
mal to death. But the judge would not
allow it, saying the issue was whether
Bedinger killed the animal, not if he
tortured it.
Bidol does not expect Bedinger to
draw a long jail term.
"He has an excellent record and is a
good man," he said. "Errors in judg-
ment are sometimes problems with all
of us."
Bidol said he and Bedinger had not
decided whether they will appeal the
conviction.
_mmmmi
THE CALENDAR
What's happening in Ann Arbor today
EVENTS and destination oif their ride, Seattle architect discusses his
Wheeler Park, 11 a.m., 994- designs which he attempts to
Anyway," 5908 harmonize with their environ-
"Feel the Fear and Do it Anaye Brown Bag Lecture, Sponsored by ment, Art &Architecture Lecture
Lecture b Christine Carlesen- University Center for Russian and Hall.6 p.m., 764-1300
Jones and at Materka, learn the East European Studlies, Lecture WRAP Night Washtenaw Rainbow
basis of fear and how to manage featuring Postimevs Estonian Action Project, discussion of gay
it to grow personally, 8:30 a.m. Daily Journalist Mai Boorman. community topics, WRAP office,
Biological Seminar, Sponsored by at 0 South anbverty 12.WB322Braun Ct, 6:30 p.m., 764-
the University Health Systems, 7640351
Lecture by Xiaxin Hua, M.D., a *Ann Arbor Juggling Arts Club, Every SERVICES
postdoctoral research fellow at WensaadStuayjg
Whitehead Institute, 6311 Med Wednesday and Saturday jug-
WhitehadI, nstit,762dlers from beginners to) advanced ® Campus Information Centers, 764-
__Sci 1, 11 a.m., 764-2220 wnr~,'r~tr nthtpr FIrhrh 'h 'ii- nc :n mn rl nf
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