LOCAL/STATE The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, September 29, 1999 -- 3 HIGHER EDUCATION L Two unions authorize strike effectin MSU Members from unions represent- ing more than 1,000 workers at Michigan State University have authorized a strike that could disrupt campus life. Local 1585 representing groundskeepers, maintenance workers and food service workers numbering 940 members, and Local 999 repre- senting plumbers, carpenters and elec- * cians numbering 220 members, have called for wage raises between 3 and 5 percent. The strike is expected to shutdown food services, said Jim Rhodes, presi- dent of the carpenters union. No talks are scheduled, Rhodes said. GM gives first *onation to MSU General Motors Corp. has donat- ed $30 million for use by Michigan State University engineering stu- dents. The money will finane110 Unigraphics stations, software and technical support. The equipment can service 250 engineering stu- dents per semester who work draw- ing blueprints and 3-dimensional ages. GM, Unigraphics Solutions, Sun Micerosystems and EDS plan to donate $190 million in computers to 40 Mexican and U.S. universities. Oregon student illegally peddles merchandise University of Oregon senior Jeffrey Levy has been convicted of illegally distributing music, movies and software and could face jail time. By distributing items such as mp3s on his Website, Levy violated the 1997 No Electronic Theft Act, which makes it illegal to reproduce copyrighted materials. Levy's operation was discovered *en university computer managers noticed a high volume of traffic from one of its servers to Levy's Website. Levy's sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 22. He faces up to three years in prison and $250,000 in fines. Program helps place welfare recipients By Melissa Haris For the Daily As they approach their one-year anniversary, members of the campus chapter of National Student Partnership are enjoying success in their battle against unemployment. Yale University students Brian Kreiter and Kirsten Lodal founded NSP in August 1998 in their mission to utilize the untapped resource of college students in attempt to better communities. "College kids are seen as selfish, lazy and self- centered. The truth is they have the desire but lack the venue to help others," said NSP Regional Director David Singer, an LSA senior. Singer found- ed the Ann Arbor chapter last October. The campus chapter has 25 volunteers and has successfully found employment for 10 community members under the guidance of Singer and Regional National Student Partnership completes 1st year on campus Director Molly Norton. NSP volunteers assist in placing clients, who are often welfare recipients, into jobs that match their skills. By helping clients build resumes, conducting mock interviews and pinpointing what type of employment a client is seeking, NSP attempts to place unemployed and under-employed individuals in positions where they are most likely to find suc- cess. By January, organizers plan to have 18 chapters established at colleges and universities across the country. Currently about 1,000 students are involved in NSP's 10 chapters nationwide. NSP opened a national office this summer in Washington D.C. with two full-time employees including Program Director Cory Sorenson, a '99 University alum. Sorenson, an active member of the Ann Arbor chapter, decided to continue her involvement in NSP after graduation, when she said she realized that "no other job could possibly be as important or fulfilling as the one I currently hold with NSP "It is invigorating to see how one college stu- dent can make such a lasting difference by not only helping to improve the daily lives of indi- viduals, but by bettering the community as a whole,"Sorenson said. Last month, local NSP members participated in the "Welfare to Work: One America" conference held in Chicago. NSP delegates, representing the only student organization at the conference, also met with President Bill Clinton during the event. "It is amazing to see college students coming together, involved in something bigger than them- selves:" said NSP volunteer Dana Reed, a Business senior who attended the conference. Students interested in joining NSP can visit the organization's office at 416 East Huron St. - The Associated Press contributed to this report. UAW expects GM, Ford to follow DamlMerChrsyler deal DETROIT (AP) - Negotiators for the United Auto Workers and General Motors Corp. worked around the clock before taking a break yesterday afternoon, a sign that an agreement on a new contract for about 180,000 workers could be near. The talks intensified after workers at DaimlerChrysler AG approved a new four-year deal with raises in each year and job security clauses. The UAW expects GM and Ford Motor Co. to follow the same basic terms in their contracts. While there's been no official word on progress in the talks, a strike or other union action seems unlikely. GM has been working on improving relations with the UAW after last summer's 54-day strike at two Flint parts factories, and nei- ther side seems willing to interrupt a record year for U.S. vehicle sales. The strike virtually shut down the automaker's North American production, costing GM about $2 billion in lost revenue and a chunk of market share it has yet to recover. The strikes were largely over plant work rules and the loss of work to outside suppliers, issues certain to be back on the table in these talks. GM has said it needs to be more flexible and efficient to compete. The UAW represents about 143,000 workers at GM, about 80,000 fewer than it did in 1990. The job losses have come from GM closing factories, using fewer workers on assembly lines, relying on suppliers for more work and not replacing workers as fast as they retire. GM also has spun off its Delphi parts unit into a separate company with 42,000 UAW employees. GM said Delphi could be more profitable and compete better if it went after. business from other automakers - something it couldn't do- as a division of GM. Consequently, the UAW has made protecting jobs a major goal. The DaimlerChrysler contract includes clauses aimed.tf keeping job levels near current totals. The union has also proposed a ban on outsourcing and the right to strike over sourcing issues - including sending new work to a supplier that a GM factory could do. And it asked for an "America First" pledge, saying GM should invest in plants in the United States rather than expand in foreign countries. The UAW also wants Delphi workers covered under the GM national contract for the foreseeable future. Other demands included adding compensatory time off to overtime pay and giving the UAW a seat on GM's Board of Directors. ALLISON CANTOR/Daily Martin Powers speaks yesterday in the Rackham Amphitheater after receiving the Michaelson Davidson professorship in Chinese arts and cultures in the history of art department. His address was titled "Representing the People." Pro0f.: historians often negl ect Chinese works Underwood healing from wound College Board Marts Website The administrator of the Scholastic Aptitude Test, the non-profit College Board, has created a for-profit Website in order to stay competitive with on-line commercial SAT prep courses. The Website, www collegeboard.com offers practice test software, college and financial aid applications, low-cost tutoring and chat rooms. 8. Texas unveils campus statue to honor MLK A statue dedicated to Martin Luther King Jr., was unveiled in the East Mall of the University of Texas on Friday. The statue, sculpted by Jeffrey illa and Anna Koh-Varilla, shows ing standing at a podium in pastor's robes with hands stretched out, as if giving a speech. Images of important moments in the civil rights movement and quotes from his speeches are etched in the side of the podium. The unveiling followed a speech by Martin Luther King III, the son of the slain civil rights leader. UT student groups at the had been 'king for almost 12 years to erect the statue of King. - Compiled by Daily StafflReporter Jewel Gopwani from wire reports. i By Robert Gold Daily Staff Reporter The contributions of Chinese artists to the development of Enlightenmenft ideals is often overlooked, said history of art Prof Martin Powers yesterday to a crowd of about 100 people in the Rackham Amphitheatre. Powers, reading from his essay, "Representing the People," described European and Chinese writers and artists since the Enlightenment who were social radicals, adding that histori- ans during the Romantic period over- looked Chinese contributions when writing about social ideals. "Romantics talked of the spirit of the people," Powers said. "Spirit is so vague. It was easy for them to rewrite history." He said many of the political ideals attributed to Europeans - such as mer- itocracy and liberty - were expressed in China as well. A better idea, he sug- gested, is to study the histories of social issues "across nations." Rackham student Roz Hammers said Power's argument that social principles have developed cross-culturally is sig- nificant. "It helps break down ethnic stereo- types," Hammers said. "I think that it's important that diversity doesn't mean separate." Throughout his talk, Powers empha- sized the painting and literature by VIRGINIA Continued from Page 1 But Louise Dudley, director of univer- sity relations at the University of Virginia said it is not yet clear how the ruling with affect the school's affirmative action practices. Although the committee has not yet released any conclusions, Dudley said Virginia's board is looking for ways other than using race in admissions to increase campus diversity. Chinese artists that represented "the people" as a political entity. Powers gave specific evidence of Chinese radicals fighting government oppression through artistic expression, including the painting "People's Destitute" by Zheng Xia in 1073. The work of art depicts common people suf- fering from a drought that occurred that year. Xia blamed the Chinese govern- ment for the people's condition and was exiled from the country. Art was used to diminish the problems of the common people. Powers described how in the 12th Century, the "Chinese Court responded with pictures of people's conditions." The people were shown as "plump." "Maybe people never had it so good," Powers added sarcastically. Powers explained the expressive power of art and how social radicals used it to advance their cause. "Appeal to the universality of the human condition was used to gain sym- pathy for disadvantaged people," Powers said. Powers also said in this respect, his- torians are still in the Romantic era. Many audience members left the lec- ture impressed "His command of the visual and con- textual sources is amazing," said Rackham student Leela Wood, who studies art history. "It would be helpful to do more out- reach," she said. Virginia is currently looking for two new administrators to assist in recruiting and reaching out to students who do not attend the best high schools in the state and may not think of applying to the University of Virginia. Dudley said at the Board of Visitors' October meeting, it plans to review a proposal to expand its summer pro- gram for disadvantaged high school students. LANSING (AP) - As Miami Dolphins rookie Dimitrius Underwood recovers from a suicide attempt that left him severely cut and bleeding on a down- town street, his mother blamed a "cult that's posing as a church." Underwood was able to talk and get out of bed yesterday following surgery Sunday, a Sparrow Hospital spokesper- son said. He was listed in fair and improving condition. What police say was a self-inflicted slash to the neck was the latest turn in the life of the former Michigan State University defensive end, a first-round pick of the Minnesota Vikings. He left the Vikings in August without explanation a day after signing a five- year, $5.3 million contract. A reporter later found him in a hotel, where he said he had been torn between his faith in God and his football career. Underwood was released by the Vikings. When Underwood decided to return to football to support his family, the Miami Dolphins picked him up on waivers. He played one preseason game on Sept. 2, then injured his shoulder. Underwood's mother, Eileen, told The Miami Herald she wanted to speak out against a church Underwood began attending while at Michigan State. She might take action against it. "There are controlling spirits in there;" Underwood, an ordained minister, told the newspaper in yesterday's editions. "I visited one time and the pastor was talk- ing about if a young man and woman in the church are dating and then they break up, he won't let them date anyone else for six months. "That's not in the Bible. I know the Bible. That's just someone trying to con- trol people. It's a den of witches sitting up in there." Correction: Michigan State University Department of Residence Life Director Ann Bolger was incorrectly identified in Monday's Daily. What's happening in Ann Arbor today /^_ r~ s Arrr'i_ 11 "]ails. Honitals andtt-Ho. n" Ui Campus± Information Centers. 764- I G FUR JUP MEETLINGSI pl. ia/as iU i .. vV . m-11Vl(4lvtviea. lrv '.----