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One hundred ninze years of edit n l freedom
Tuesday
October 12, 1999
ME 1
Meningitis affects MSU
Jewel Gopwanl
aily Staff Reporter
A Michigan State University sophomore
as hospitalized this weekend at Sparrow
ospital in East Lansing after contracting
eningitis.
'am Busuttil, living on the second floor
f U's Wilson Residence Hall. was admit-
d to the hospital on Friday night with a life
ireatening strain of bacterial meningococco-
tia, a form of meningococcal meningitis.
Busuttil is a member of the MSU march-
ig band, but did not take part in the activities
Saturday's game.
Meningitis which can be viral or bacterial,
uses an inflammation of the lining of the
rain and spinal cord.
Bob Winfield, director of University
Health Service, said one University stu-
dent who stayed at Wilson Hall this week-
end was treated yesterday with anti-biotics
and could have come in contact with
Busuttil.
Winfield said meningococcal meningitis
is "contagious through saliva and immediate
contact with an individual."
He added that symptoms include
headaches, mental change such as lethargy
and confusion and a rash that can be small
or large blotches that are flat, red and do not
change color under pressure.
In order to keep the latest infection from
spreading at MSU, the university is dispens-
ing preventative anti-biotics to residents of
Wilson Hall or anyone who may have been
in contact with Busutill, said Terry Denbow,
MSU spokesperson. Denbow added that
MSU is also offering free vaccinations to its
students, faculty and staff.
As of yesterday evening, 1,300
Menumune vaccinations had been per-
formed. Each vaccination cost the univer-
sity about S50.
The vaccine will be available until Nov. 1.
But the vaccine, said John Greene,
director of Vanderbilt Student Health,
only protects against the A, C, Y and W-
135 forms of meningococcal meningitis.
It does not protect from the B form of the
infection.
Greene said meningococcal meningitis
student
can cause death as quickly as 24 hours
within the infection.
Greene said Vanderbilt had a case of
meningococcal meningitis in 1996, where
the student survived the infection.
"It's more common among those people
who live in a dormitory setting" Greene said.
Brian Kopinski, a first-year student and
Wilson Hall resident, said he has had no
contact with Busitill but still wants to take
precautions. "I want to go get the vaccine
just to be safe," he said.
MSU junior Dan McKeown. who lives in
East Holden Hall, which is located behind
Wilson Hall. said he isn't worried about
infection. "I'm kind of hesitant to become
Michigan State University first-year student Shannon Switzer
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OUT.
'community
shows pride
By Jon Zemke
Daily Staff Reporter
The door opened and some 60 students and
University community members walked proudly out of
the closet onto the Diag as the Office of Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual and Transgender Affairs sponsored National
Coming Out day yesterday.
The student group encouraged all homosexuals and
allies of homosexuality to come out of the make-shift clos-
e set up on the steps of the Harlan Hatcher Graduate
rary.
Students held up two colorful decorated planks covered
with gay pride symbols to represent a closet. Students then
came out of the closet through a rainbow flag of streamers
and declared that they were homosexual, bisexual or an
ally of homosexuality.
"We're just hoping to encourage people to come out,
support those who come out and build awareness," said
Lisa DeBruine, a second- year Rackham student and one of
the event's organizers.
tf those who came out of the closet, 15 people walked
of the close to declaring themselves as straight allies of
the gay movement.
Several students dressed in drag also walked through the
crowd of 100 people at the rally.
"I'm here to support those who came out and show Ann
Arbor that we have a strong LGBTA and that we need
their support," said School of Art and Design senior
Michelle Sabe.
Fredric Dennis, director of the LGBT office, led the rally
stating that the LGBT community is stronger than public
figures and "homophobes like Pat Buchanan, Pat
ertson and Jerry Falwell."
Dennis also shared the microphone with LSA senior
Andrea Zellner who asked the LGBT community to stand
up for themselves against bigotry.
"We are not animals to be beaten on and treated like
crap," Zellner said.
Dennis initiated the walk through the closet.
"I came out to encourage other people to come out and
to encourage students to be who they are," Dennis said. "I
did it to help them feel comfortable and confident in who
they are in the community."
everal community members and students said they
felt comfortable declaring who they are and that they
are homosexual or an ally of homosexuality into a
microphone that carried their message across the
Diag.
National Coming Out Day marks the mid point in
National Coming Out Week.
See PRIDE, Page 2
AND
PROUD
r gets a meningits vaccine train nUrse ynnect r OMMUner
See MSU, Page 2 yesterday.
City, MSA offer
new ticket boxes
By Jeannie Baumann
Daily Stati Reporter
Parking adh
codes. Univ
A collaborative project by the meters must
Michigan Student Assembly, the City of order to rec
Ann Arbor and the University will as city parki
enable students to pay their city parking next busines
tickets on campus. boxes can e
Drop-off boxes will be available later types of par]
this semester in the Michigan Union "My long
and Pierpont Commons, where stu- the way the
dents can pay their parking fees. City University "
couriers will pick up the ticket fees on a little easier.'
daily basis. Audrey S
"Parking tickets are already not seen director, sai(
in a positive light, so the
idea is to make it as conve- Drop on by
nient as possible," said
Ann Arbor City Council 3 Parking ticket drop
member Chris Kolb (D- off boxes will be
Ward 5). located in
"After someone gets a the Michigan
ticket, to make them walk Pierpont
down to city hall or mail in Commons.
the ticket is adding insult U Fines are
to injury," he said. reduced from $10 to
Ann Arbor parking poli- $5 for those who pay
cy reduces the fine from the fine by end of the
50 to S5 when tickets are next business day.
paid by the 5 p.m. the next
business day. This rule will also apply this is imp(
heres to a different set of
ersity tickets for expired
be paid within the hour in
eive a reduced fine, where-
ng allows payment until the
ss day. Elias hopes that the
ventually be used for both
king tickets.
-term goal is to harmonize
city works and the way the
works to make student life a
Elias said.
chwimmer, Michigan Union
d she is unsure of the exact
date that the boxes will be
installed because inspec-
tors still have to look at the
wall space and ensure that
mounting the boxes will
not interfere with any pip-
ing or other related fac-
tors. She also mentioned a
need to keep the historical
feel of the Union.
"It's relatively easy to
put a box up anywhere.
However, we want to keep
up the aesthetic quality of
the Union. We feel that
ortant to the students and
MARJORIE MARSHALL/aly
Director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Affairs Office Frederick Dennis (right)
applauds as LSA sophomore Juan Solomon walks through make-shift closet yesterday on the Diag.
to those who use the. drop boxes.
"We're planning on having a time
stamp, so that we know what time you
put it in the box," said Michael Scott,
manager of Parking and Street
Maintenance for the City of Ann Arbor.
All parties said they are enthusiastic
about the project and its potential. MSA
President Bram Elias said it marks the
first time in three years that MSA has
collaborated with the city.
"This is a good example of the three
groups - MSA, U of M, and the city
- working together," Elias said. "It
shows that the city is interested in
working with the students."
"If we can do this one thing, then we
can think of bigger projects," Kolb said.
The boxes are only vlid for city
parking tickets because University
important to the alumni," she said,
Schwimmer said that the University
administration is looking at this project
on a trial basis. "We want to see if this
is service that students will use, and
hopefully it is," she said.
LSA junior Angela Zonderman said
that she would definitely use the boxes.
"It sounds like a good idea," she said.
Many students echoed Zonderman's
excitement. The drop boxes "would be
better than having to walk to the police
station. It would save a lot of time,"
LSA senior Jason Harwood said.
LSA junior Blessing Fregene said
she sees the benefits for both the city
and the students. "The convenience will
make it easier for students to pay their
tickets, so the city will make more
money," she said.
Shepard jury s,
LARAMIE. Wyo. (AP) - Almost a year to
the day after gay college student Matthew
Shepard died with a cracked skull, jury selection
began in the murder trial of the man accused of
instigating the attack.
A few anti-gay protesters demonstrated out-
side the courthouse yesterday, along with people
who came to honor Shepard's memory by wear-
ing angel costumes to spread what they said was
a message of love.
Inside, the defendant, Aaron McKinney, talked
with his lawyers, looked at his notes and smiled
occasionally as prosecutor Cal Rerucha briefed
prospective jurors on the selection process and
warned them they will be shown graphic evi-
dence such as autopsy photos.
"Murder is never pretty," Rerucha said. "In
order to be a good juror, you have to be able to
election begins
examine those photographs."
Shepard, a first-year student at the University
of Wyoming majoring in
political science, died a
year ago today, five days
after he was lured out of a
bar, driven to a remote
spot on the freezing
prairie, lashed to a wood-
en fence and pistol-
whipped into a coma.
Prosecutors say
McKinney, accompanied
Shepard by fellow roofer Russell
Henderson instigated the
crime to rob Shepard of S20, but that Shepard
may have been targeted because he was gay.
See SHEPARD, Page 2
High bidders
Activist fights violence in Guatemala
by Kelly O'Connor
aily Staff Reporter
When Adriana Portillo-Bartow
eturned home one September day in
981, nothing could have prepared her
or what was waiting on the other side of
he door. Bartow's 70-year-old father, sis-
e law, younger sister and two daugh
ers had vanished and, she said, a 36-year-
ong bloody civil war was to blame.
In honor of Indigenous People's Day,
artow spoke in a crowded room at the
ichigan League yesterday about her
xperience in Guatemala and the work
he has done to raise awareness of the
relationship" with Latin American gen-
erals. The school is located at Fort
Benning near Columbus, Ga. and is
funded by U.S. tax dollars. Much of the
United States' interest is economic,
Bartow said.
"The School for the Americas was
established to protect the interests of the
U.S. corporations in Latin America,
Bartow said, adding that the U.S.
trained officers to use violence and
fueled the war with dollars.
The U.S. invests more money in
Guatemala than any other country in
Central America. but it is the country
Guatemala is "the home of one of the
most despicable crimes committed
against humankind."
- Adriana Portillo-Bartow
Guatemalan human rights activists
breath-taking natural beauty, including
many mountains, volcanoes and flowers
that bloom year-round. But it is also the
site of an ugly part of human nature, she
said.
"It's the home of one of the most
forces against violence against indige-
nous people everywhere. She is also a
part of a grass roots movement to shut
down the School for the Americas, as it
continues to "misuse military might,"
she claimed.