LOCAL/STATE

The Michigan Daily - Thursday, April 13, 2000 - 3A

ORESEARCH
Video to focus
on social stigmas
o HIV/AIDS
To educate the community on
the social stigmas of HIV/AIDS
and help dispel some of the nega-
tive sentiments towards patients of
the disease, a group of students
and recent graduates at the School
of Social Work have created a mul-
timedia intervention tool for Uni-
versity students, faculty and Ann
Arbor residents.
The nonprofit University student
group, Social Workers Advocating
Wand Teaching (SWAT) has created a
booklet and an informative skit to
help facilitate discussion about
social issues facing those with
HIV/AIDS.
,?, Some of the social issues that
will be covered are effectspof the
- l',ack of family and social support,
access to medical resources, vul-
terability to bias and discrimina-
tion, pressure to conceal the
diagnosis, cultural sensitivity to
illness, death and dying.
"I have experienced firsthand the
pain that comes with having to
cope with the social stigma and the
oppression and discrimination that
surrounds HIV/AIDS, and I want
to do whatever I can to prevent
"other people from having to experi-
ence the same thing," SWAT mem-
ber Nicole Vennell said.
"Creating the booklet and video
are a way for me to find a voice
and to help others find a voice in
the fight against the bias and dis-
crimination surrounding HIV/AIDS:'
The booklet cost $7 and video,
1 Can't Believe You're Positive!"'
E Exploring Social Reactions to
HIV/AIDS,' is S15. Purchases can
be made via e-mail at
swat org@hotmail. con.
'U' collection
shows history of
taxes in time
Although filing is sometimes
considered a tedious and painful
ritual, collections at the University
show that taxes have afflicted peo-
ple for thousands' of years and are
*Wothing new to complaining citi-
zens.
Ever since the second century,
taxes have existed in forms of
sheets of papyrus and pottery
shards. The University's Papyrus
Collection reveals a number of
' similarities between taxes then and
anow
These days tax forms can be
Oreadily filed through the mail or
computers, but in ancient Egypt, a
. tax roll was used. One of these
rolls in the University's collection
is more than 100 feet long and lists
"600 adult males who paid taxes
during the tax year, art 1 1-month
period.
Official tax collectors had
agents working in villages, travel-
ing to different houses collecting
what was due on a vast array of
items, including capital, trade and
land.

When confronted by one of these
collectors, the head of the house-
hold would hand over the money
required and receive a receipt in
~- return, similar to the receipts given
to tax-paying citizens of today's
time.
Traianos Gagos, curator of the
University's collection said "there
were cases where people either
didn't pay or were in arrears, lead-
ing to their flight from the coun-
tryside to lose themselves in the
more populous city of Alexan-
dria."
Similar instances would current-
ly result in federal involvement and
penalization these days.
-Compiled by Daily Staff
Reporter Shabnam Daneshvar:

Mich. senator proposes state tuition plan

By Jeremy W. Peters
Daily Staff Reporter
Michigan parents and students looking for a
way to finance the steadily rising cost of higher
education may soon find themselves with a new
alternative.
The Michigan Savings Program, which was
introduced yesterday into the Senate Finance
Committee, would allow anyone to set up a sav-
ings account applicable toward tuition at any col-
lege, university or technical school in the nation
for S25. The owner would be free to invest up to
$125,000 free from state taxes.
The bill's sponsor, state Sen. Mike Rogers (R-
Brighton), said its aim is to make higher education
more affordable to middle- and low-class families.
"I want to expand educational opportunities
for all Michigan's working families. I think this

one is unique. I want it to be open and available
to as many people as possible,' Rogers said,
Rogers' proposal differs on many levels from
the Michigan Educational Trust, which is current-
ly the only state-subsidized college savings fund.
MET, unlike Rogers' legislation, has a starting
fee of S5,000 and can only be applied to tuition,
not room and board, at state schools.
"There are some real hurdles there. You have
to put $20,000 in and that is a very difficult
threshold to meet," Rogers added.
Sen. Chris Dingell (D-Taylor), a member of
the Senate Finance Committee, said that while he
acknowledges the faults of MET, he still thinks it
is a better alternative to Rogers' proposal.
"I much prefer the MET program. It very neat-
ly meets the needs and desires of the average
Michigan constituent,' Dingell said.
LSA sophomore Nicole Rappaport said the

MET program was of great assistance to her and
her family in meeting the costs of attending the
University.
"It let me go to any school in Michigan I want-
ed, and U of M is the most expensive. If I didn't
have it, I'd be paying a lot more," she said.
But Rappaport said in some respects, MET
was restricting. "My parents are constantly com-
plaining that it doesn't cover room and board.
And ... I had to go to a state school but I would
have liked to go out of state. It was kind of an
inconvenience," she added.
In addition to being able to spend the savings
on any institution of higher learning - public or
private, in or out of state - the Michigan Sav-
ings Program could be used to pay for all expens-
es incurred during one's college education.
Rogers, who announced his candidacy for
Congress just two weeks ago, has come under

fire by Democrats who claim the Michigan Sav-
ings Program is an election-year ploy.
"It's very funny how during an election year'
Republicans discover most Michigan residents'
difficulty paying for college," Dingell said.
"The Rogers bill seems to be OK, but ... I feel
it has something to do with his run for Con-
gress," he added.
Dingell said despite his objections, he moved
to send the bill to the full Senate for debate.
Rogers said claims that his bill is aimed at
getting him elected and will not benefit mid-
dle- and low-income families are erroneous.
"Those are completely baseless charges.
First of all, my plan opens (higher education)
up to more'families. Twenty-five dollars gets
you in. Second, ... I started on this bill in
1998. This is something I've had on my agenda
for a long time," Rogers said.

Dancing the night away

Architect listens to input
for campus master plan

By Lisa Koivu
Daily Staff Reporter
Members of both the Ann Arbor
and University communities met yes-
terday afternoon to provide sugges-
tions to University President Lee
Bollinger's campus "master plan,"
which he initiated three years ago.
The plan includes the Life Sciences
Institute, a new medical research labo-
ratory facility, the potential for con-
structing numerous other buildings
and increasing the options and avail-
ability of transportation between all
campuses.
The goal of the plan, Executive Vice
President and Chief Financial Officer
Robert Kasdin said, is to link all parts
of the campus and create more physi-
cal unity among all colleges.
"Three years ago the Board of
Regents and Bollinger committed
themselves to a meaningful dialogue
with the community. This is just
another step in that ongoing dialogue,"
Kasdin said. "Almost nothing you will
see is final. This is not a blue print.
We're looking for input."
Philadelphia-based architecture firm
Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates is
in charge of designing the new Life Sci-
ences Institute as well as other means to
increase cohesion between the Medical,
North and Central campuses.
Architect Denise Scott Brown said

the firm is committed to refurbishing
the campus.
"Many of the buildings built in the
1950s to '60s are ailing. Some need
rehabilitation and some just need to be
demolished. We're committed to see-
ing what can be changed," Scott
Brown said.
"There is a Diag on Central Cam-
pus. We think there should be a Med-
ical Center Diag too," she said. "We
are also working on the transportation
issue near the Medical Campus..
Everyone says you take your life in
your hands when walking around
there."
Many people questioned whether
any new residence halls would be
included in the plans for the campus.
"Bollinger asked the Provost (Nancy
Cantor) to chair a committee to review
all options concerning housing. We
want a notion of how the issue of
housing intersects with the rest of the
University community," Kasdin said.
One audience member inquired
about an approximate time frame that
it would take for the entire project to
be completed and how many jobs
would be created as a result of the new
buildings.
"There has been an ongoing discus-
sion on the time frame this will take,
and we are predicting approximately
four years. The exact number of
growth in jobs is hard to predict, but

we are expecting many. That's why
we're building an extra 1,100 parking
spaces:' Kasdin said.
Plans for the Life Sciences Institute
are scheduled to be presented tp'the
University Board of Regents today:
Ann Arbor Mayor Ingrid Sheldon
said she is excited about the effects the
project will have on the city.
"I'm very happy that the current
administration is doing the additional
outreach to the entire city. They have
looked at all aspects of community
life. It really should turn out nicely,"
Sheldon said.
Executive Vice President for Med-
ical Affairs Gil Omenn said the project
will be invaluable for the entire Uni-
versity.
"The master plan and strategic plan-
ning is very important to tie the med-
ical school and the health system
much more closely to the University,
Omenn said. "We are building on
important linkages that are already in
place for undergrads, like the bio-
chemistry major and the very active
(Undergraduate Research Opportunity
Program), both of which often take
place in the medical school," Omenn
said.
"This is a time of extraordinary
excitement over the advancements in
the life sciences and their implicatioins
for our society, economy and thinking
about the human condition," he added.

KIMITSU YOGACHI/Daily
Law first-year student Jenny Runkles dances with Javier Aguilar of Sterling
Heights at a dance class held at the U-Club last night.
P IA' s door Ymrked
with racist graffiti

U N

By David Enders
Daily Staff Reporter
Will Youmans is a resident advisor
in South Quad Residence Hall. He is
also the head of the University's Arab
Anti-Discrimination Committee, and
he is used to hearing all sorts of anti-
Arab sentiments. That is why his first
instinct was to ignore the racist graffi-
ti he found on his door when he
returned home Monday.
"I feel like it's a societal problem,"
he said. "I feel like getting one person
in trouble won't change anything."
The words "Kill more" were written
on a Seattle Times editorial titled
decrying U.S. foreign policy in Iraq
that Youmans had attached to his door.
"Imagine if this was an article
about the Holocaust ... or the (New
York Police Department's) treatment
of blacks, and it said 'Kill more,"'
Youmans said.
The Department of Public Safety is
investigating the incident, but
Youmans also reported it to the office
of Multiethnic Student Affairs.
"Certainly I and the office I repre-
sent are very disturbed when
instances of hate mail and verbal,"
MESA interim Associate Director
Roger Fisher said.

"Sometimes conflict is a good
thing, but whenever it rises to a level
where it incites intimidation or incites
violence, it clearly has gone out of
bounds," he said.
Fisher could not give a quantitative
representation of the number of such
incidents on campus, but did say the
incidents reported are likely just a
"fraction" of those that occur.
"We have students complain quite
often of anonymous intimidation tac-
tics being leveled against them -
that could be the work of a handful of
people who are not a legitimate part
of our community, or unfortunately it
could be more widespread than that,"
Fisher said. He added that his office
deals with any kind discrimination
against people of minority races or
sexual orientation.
"Unfortunately, in an environment
with free speech, some people will
seek to abuse that freedom of
speech, he said.
As for the abuser of that freedom in
this instance, "We would make every
effort to locate who is responsible for
it," said DPS Lt. Robert Neumann,
who declined to speculate about the
possibility of finding the perpetrator.
Neumann added that anyone with
information is urged to call DPS.

,o ]Z1em4ers of/nie Qiniversil/ Communf y
ou are cord afy in o//o di/e 21s/annuaf
L/N IVERS S OF M1{}cHIGA S
CeremOny gey13 rom/Ij a! 4.*.Op .
B -od f6kofrn 5O/2 ea/re
7teceplon /ofo/fow in /ie 71fumni Cen/er
2dcSUI9 repues/eod iu/no/rewired
(734) 763-5900
cSponsorecf y:
Of/ice of/cS/uoenl,7c/iilies anfLBeadersizp, biorsion of c/u en/ 1fairs
7/e JI/umni 2ssociaion of/lie (Unioersxy of11c/igan
%ecSluden/ l/Ifumni Counc1f
A OMp



THE CALENDAR
What's happening in Ann Arbor today

EVENTS
Dinner for the homeless, Sponsored
by Volunteers in Action, meet at
the First United Methodist
Church, 3 p.m. - 5 p.m. preparing
the meal, 5 p.m. - 7 p.m.
Graduates and Professionals Bar
Night, Sponsored by Hillel, Hillel
buys the pizza, the sangria is on
you, Dominick's, 8 p.m.
"T e Zoo Story," Sponsored by
Basement Arts, directed by
William Matthew Patrick, this

sored by the Institute for
Research on Women and Gen-
der, lecture by Kathleen Coul-
born Faller, Family Assessment
Clinic, 555 S. Forest Ave.,
764-9537
Gifts of Art, Sponsored by Univer-
sity Hospitals, modern dance
by the University Freshman
Touring Company, University
Hospital 1st floor main lobby,
12:10 p.m., 936-ARTS
Comedy Company, Sponsored by
the University Activities Cen-
tir .Michigan I ague Under-

764-0350
0 Washtenaw Toastmasters, devel-
op public-speaking skills and
self-confidence in public speak-
ing, 777 E. Eisenhower dining
room, 7 p.m., 572-9978
"Spirit and Movement: NIA and
Tai Chi Demonstration," Spon-
sored by University Comple-
mentary and Alternative
Medicine Research
Center/Women's Health Pro-
gram, Borders, 3527 Washte-
naw, 7 p.m., 677-6948

I


11

i