14 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, November 17, 1999 Resolution addresses racism at 'U' Good morning Ann Arbor 4 ff I By Jeannie Baumann Daily Staff Reporter The Michigan Student Assembly unanimously passed a resolution opposing discriminatory prac- tices against black and Latino/a students during its meeting last night at South Quad Residence Hall. "In passing this resolution, we as a body recognize that there is a problem and we will pick assembly members to address it," said MSA Rep. Erika Dowdell, a co-sponsor to the resolution. The resolution, which specifically refers to events in the Michigan Union, alleges that Union management and the Department of Public Safety routinely practice acts of discrimination. The MSA resolution cites examples including forcing black and Latino/a students to wear wristbands during events, consistently closing events early, .having more DPS officers at events hosted by black and Latino/a associations and making stu- dents leave through side doors by blocking off the State Street entrance. The assembly invited DPS Police Sgt. Gary Hicks, DPS Director William Bess and the Michigan Union Board of Representatives Chair Scott Balutowicz as guest speakers to address these issues. Hicks said the wristbands and patrolling issues were a matter of safety and order,. "The fire marshall sets a capacity on wristbands in an effort to determine how many people are in the room," he said. He also mentioned that the side door policy is an effort to divert traffic away from State Street and DPS policy provides one officer per 100 students. But Hicks said DPS has not been required to attend events such as Michigras, which brings in hundreds of students. Constituents who spoke at the meeting said these are not policies implemented across the board, but acts of discrimination. "Even though I'm at this University, (these policies) make me feel like nobody wants to see me here. There are police crowding around us act- ing like we're criminals, when there are no weapons, drugs or alcohol at these events," LSA first-year student Samantha Brown said. Vice President of Student Affairs E. Royster Harper also attended the meeting. "I am ultimately responsible for these policies, practices and procedures. It is clear that what is intended is not what's going on, so we will make the necessary changes," she said. Dowdell called the resolution a victory. "This is a big step forward. Students have been talking about this for years," she said. In a phone interview before the meeting yester- day, Assistant Facility Manger for the Union Barbara Niemi said there is absolutely no dis- crimination in practice. "Most of the events are sponsored by minority students. That's what we're here for," Niemi said, adding that if there are such issues, she would like to confront them and that facility coordinators are open to discussion. LSA senior Kiran Sajja, as a member of the Hindu Students Council helped to coordinate an event in celebration of the religious holiday Navaratri. Sajja said in a phone interview yester- day that the event, which started with a prayer called the Puja and ended with dances called the bhangra, had about 400 students in attendance. He said he did not notice any DPS officers in addition to those who usually work on Saturday nights. But Sajja said officers asked coordinators of the event to ask participants to leave through the side door. No wristbands were required and DPS officers did not enter the event while in progress. MSA President Bram Elias said the resolution is the beginning of a positive action. "It is fantastic that we made a strong statement tonight supporting students of color. But if we don't work hard to change the Union policies, then we are selling out. The real test is whether we act on this (resolution) and we still have to pass that," Elias said. In other MSA business, the assembly passed a resolution for MSA to urge the University "to divest from the three major corporations in the Global Climate Coalition that they are currently invested in." The resolution cited Mobil Corp., Exxon Corp. and General Motors Corp. The assembly also unanimously passed a reso- lution to work to overturn the Higher Education Act of 1998 which makes all students who have been convicted of any drug-related offense ineli- gible for financial aid. ALLISON CANTER/Daily The Burton Memorial Bell Tower stands out In the 7:30 a.m. daybreak sky yesterday. Fed raises interest rate by quarter point By Kevin Magnuson Daily Staff Reporter Have you been noticing an increase in the price of your favorite candy bar? How about the money you shell out for a pair of jeans at the Gap? To control potential price inflation, Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan and his colleagues decided overnight to raise interest rates by a quarter percent- age point. This brought the Federal funds rate to 5.5 percent and the dis- count rate to 5 percent. The Federal Reserve ftnds rate is the rate banks charge each other for overnight loans to meet the Fed's deposit requirement. The discount rate is similar to the rate the Fed charges banks. Over time, higher interest rates should slow down both the economy and the stock market because they raise the cost for companies to borrow money from banks to expand their business. Before the meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee yesterday, many stock market analysts were inde- cisive over whether the Fed would raise banks' short-term interest rates. "Interest rates looked like they were going to go up but if one looks at the Dow Jones Industrial Average, it looks like a rate hike has already been account- ed for," said Jack Shirley, a stock broker at Beacon Investment Company. The Fed's decision was complicated Jackson RU . vvagner UZ-ZUJ7 One Mile West of Weber's Inn ONLY $4.75 Matinees before 6 pm, Kids, Seniors, & Everyone all day Tuesday $5.50 with Student ID after 6pm $5.25 Late Shows Fri & Sat because of mixed economic reports dur- ing recent weeks. The economy grew at a 4.8 percent annual rate in the third quar- ter and unemployment in October fell to a three-decade low of 4.1 percent. The alliance of these two indexes usually forces businesses to raise wages to attract workers, which would then increase prices. But so far the economy has shown limited signs of inflation. Many econo* mists believe that technology is making workers more productive, allowing employers to pay higher wages without raising prices. The markets reacted positively to yesterday's news as the DJIA skyrock- eted 171.58 points and the Nasdaq and the Standard & Poor indices reached record highs. Many analysts said they believe the. Fed will not likely do anything mor until after Jan. 1. This ideology prompt- ed many investors to prefer to see the Fed raise rates now. The Fed wanted to take action now so investors would not worry about potential Y2K problems and whether the Fed would raise rates. "The markets have their own wisdom and it is always better than analysts pre- dictions," explained Business Prof. Mahud Rahman. "The Fed has been excellent in controlling the market and I sleep well at night confident in their decisions." Experts predict flu. pandemic. By Sheena Chawla The Daily Free Press 'Boston University) BOSTON (U-WIRE) - Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta are pre- dicting a major flu pandemic might kill more than 200,000 people in the United States and cost the govern- ment and HMOs billions of dollarsO next winter. Each winter, the flu moves through the United States and kills around 20,000 Americans, according to the CDC. Most of those affected are over the age of 65. Influenza epidemics tend to surface every few years, which have occurred three times this century in 1918, 1957 and 1968, lead CDC researcher Martin Meltzer said. The 1918 pan- demic killed 20 million people world-0 wide. The researchers estimate the pan- demic could kill between 89,000 and 207,000 Americans. "Another pandem- ic is likely, if not inevitable. Health pol- icy makers must set criteria, goals, and objectives for a Vaccine-based inter- vention," Meltzer wrote in a research paper describing the results. The cost and scope of wide-spread vaccinations could be a challenge for researchers and public health depart- ments. Without a large-scale vaccina- tion program in place, the economic costs of an influenza pandemic would range from $71 billion to $166 billion, Meltzer said. "The imnact of the nandemic can he No passes or Tuesday iscounts Unlimited Free Drink Refills & .25t Corn Refills Stadium Seating Gives YOU An Unobstructed View U m ,., ' # ": leU. 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