LOCAL/STATE

The Michigan Daily - Monday, December 4, 2000 - 3A

A A
Matcher Library
exhibits ancient
,religious texts
Religious texts, some dating back
to the year 119 A.D., will be on exhib-
it until Jan. 31 at the Special Collec-
tions Library at the Harlan Hatcher
Graduate Library.
The exhibit, titled "From Papyri to
'King James: The Evolution of the
English Bible," features copies of the
earliest known letters to St. Paul, frag-
ments of papyri from Deuteronomy
amd Matthew and writings of early
church leaders.
Medieval and early English transla-
tions of the Bible, plus the evolution
of papyrus, parchment and paper, help
llustrate the timeline leading to the
1611 translation of the King James
Bible.
Viewers can compare translations
and view changes in languages, hand-
-writing and type designs.
The exhibit also shows a study on
16th Century English political history.
The exhibit is open Monday
through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5
-: p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to
noon.
Playwright from
South Africa to
read from work
The English Department's Visiting
Writers Series will feature playwright
Athol Fugard tomorrow at 5 p.m. in
Rackham Amphitheater.
Fugard's presentation, titled
"Antigone in Africa," includes read-
rngs fiom his one-act play titled, The
Island, which discusses justice, state
and individual issues.
Fugard, a renowned South African
playwright, was one of the first people
to speak out against apartheid.
Environmentally
inspired sculptor
to present art
Environmental artist Mary Miss
twill deliver a presentation about her
:work at 7 p.m. on Friday in the Art
and Architecture Building Auditori-
um.
Miss'work as an architectural
sculptor has helped shift the focus of
public art away from monuments to
mrore original works that fit between
built and natural environments.
Her talk, titled "Means of Mea-
sure," is sponsored by the School of
'Art and Design.
Researcher to
*discuss X-ray use
Physics researcher David Reis
will discuss the use of X-Rays
across the sciences during his pre-
sentation on Saturday from 10:30
a.m. to 11:30 a.m. in 170 Dennison
as the second presentation of the
physics department's Saturday
Morning Physics series.
Uses of X-Rays in science
branches, including geology,
*astronomy, biology and physics,
will be discussed in Reis' presenta-
tion, titled "X Rays: A Century of

-: Discovery."
The presentation if free to the
ptblic, and refreshments will be
served.
C++ creator to
give lecture at
Michigan League
C++ computer programming lan-
.goage creator Bjarne Stroustrup
Iwll give a lecture today at the
Mendelssohn Theater in the Michi-
gan League.
Stroustrup, who is the head of
the Lage-Scale Programming
' esearch Department at AT&T,
plans to center his presentation on
a discussion of why C++ is impor-
tant and how to use it effectively.
Le will also discuss how the code
is used as the building block for
larger systems.
The lecture is free and runs from
3:30 to 5 p.m.
- Compiled by Daily Staff
Reporter Lisa Hoffmuan.

Legislators block city living wage laws

By Hanna LoPatin
Daily StaffReporter
The state House of Representatives passed a
bill last week that could effectively put an end to
the battle for a living wage in Ann Arbor less
than a year after Mayor Ingrid Sheldon vetoed
the city council's proposal.
The bill, approved 55-46 Thursday night,
will end living wages in the city of Ypsilanti,
Ypsilanti Township, Detroit and Warren.
Local governments in Lansing, Grand
Rapids, Jackson and Battle Creek have been
considering a living wage.
"It's never really been the prerogative of
local governments to have their own mini-
mum wage policies," said state Rep. Andrew
Richner (R-Grosse Pointe Park), who spon-
sored the bill.
"There are 1,800 local governments" in
Michigan, Richner said. "If each had their own

minimum wage, it'd be destructive to our econo-
lily.
In Ypsilanti, the living wage law does not
apply to a large number of workers, Mayor
Cheryl Farmer said. If the Legislature's proposal
becomes law, it will only really take affect after
the city's current contracts expire.
"It has never really involved a lot of people. I
think it's been more symbolic," Farmer said.
"We're a small community and we don't have a
lot of money to do a lot of contracting."
The living wage is superfluous in the face
of a federal and state minimum wage, Richn-
er said.
"Just because they're local (governments)
doesn't mean they should duplicate every-
thing that the federal government does and
everything that the state government does,"
he said.
But state representative-elect and Ann Arbor
City Councilman Chris Kolb (D-Ward V) said he

feels the Republicans did not have a good under-
standing of the living wage when they passed the
bill.
"It affects only city contracts," Kolb said,
explaining that the Ann Arbor living wage pro-
posal aimed to increase pay for employees of
outside contractors y fho work with the city.
"They're stepping on local governments toes,
but they've been doing that for two years," he said.
The loss of local control did not dissuade Kolb
from his former position opposing Proposal 2,,
which would have required a two-thirds vote
from the state Legislature to pass laws with local
relevance.
The proposal failed in the Nov. 7 statewide
election.
Former Ann Arbor Mayor Ingrid Sheldon
said when she vetoed the living wage propos-
al, she did so because she believes there are
better ways to reduce poverty within the city
and the state.

"They're stepping on
local governments' toes,
but they've been doing
that for two years."
- Councilman Chris Kolb
D-Ward V
"If we were truly interested in poverty reduc-
tion, we'd be looking at broader policies" she said.
Sheldon said she felt that because it pertained
only to city contracts, the living wage would
essentially fail to help anyone.
Minimum wage is an issue for the state or fed-
eral government, Sheldon said.
"I'm a proponent of local control, but I also
like to look at the issues," she said.


Michigan lawmakers ready
for national conference

DANNY MOLOSHOK Daiiy
Nationally syndicated columnist Joe Sobran speaks Friday night on
'Constitutional Pluralism.'
LecturIoers attack
'confusing' nature
ofgrace prevference

LANSING (AP) -- State Rep. Mickey Mortimer says
a national conference for state lawmakers being held
this week in Dearborn is going to be a learning experi-
ence for evervone.
"You can look at what someone did in another state
and apply it to Michigan law. You don't have to reinvent
the wheel," said Mortimer. (R-Horton).
The Council of State Governments 2000 annual meeting
is expected to attract legislators. judges and governors to-
Michigan for the five-day event that starts Friday.
Elaine Stuart, editor of the magazine for The Confer-
ence of State Governments, says it's the first time in her
30 years with the Lexington, Ky.-based conference that
she can recall having the annual national conference in
Michigan. About 900 people are expected to attend.
Stuart said it's especially important for lawmakers in
other states that have term limits to attend the confer-
ence, since they can talk to Michigan lawmakers about
their experiences.
Sixty-four lawmakers left the Michigan House at the
end of 1998 when term limits kicked in. This year, 21
will be out at the end of the year. State House members
can serve no more than three two-year terms, while sen-
ators and top state officials, including the governor, can
serve no more than two four-year terms.
Gov. John Engler, Secretary of State Candice Miller
and a majority of the state senators will be unable to run
again in 2002 because of term limits.
Stuart said other states where term limits are just
kicking in can learn a great deal from finding out how
term limits have affected operations at the Michigan
Capitol.
"They have such a short time period to learn," Stuart
said of the new legislators. "Those people under term

limits especially need to come to these meetings'and get
involved and learn from other people."
About 80 of Michigan's lawmakers are expected to
attend the conference, said Maureen Herstek, a member
of the committee planning the conference.
Mortimer says the conference helps elected officials
develop legislation and policies by exposing them to sit-
uations experienced by lawmakers in other states.
Democratic state Sen. George Hart of Dearborn said
he always gets new ideas and insights at the state gav-
ernment conferences.
"All of us there share a commonality," he said. "We e
all members of a legislature. This way, we get see ltolv
others handle situations. It's a comparison, but we're ,all
here for the same purpose.
The focus of this year's conference is using technola-
gy in government, but lawmakers also will be talki ig
about urban sprawl.
The planning committee jumped at the chance to ie
the conference's technology theme to promote Michi-
gan's efforts to streamline state government on the Intty-
net with its e-Michigan initiative, Herstek said.
"It's kind of like the movie Field of Dreams' --f
you brag about it they will come,"' Herstek said.
Technology and urban sprawl issues are on the mhids
of many public officials as states work to operate il-a
global economy and satisfy residents who want thiris
done quickly, Stuart said.
"It's really a showcase of what people are doing, how
they did it," she said. "It's a way to avoid problems that
other states faced. It makes government more efficient.'
A trip to the Detroit Zoo and other activities are
planned for the families of those attending the annial
meeting.

By Samantha Ganey
Daily StaffTReporter
Accuracy in Academia Execu-
tive Director Dan Flynn said he
thinks higher education institu-
tions, including the University,
that search for diversity on their
campuses misconstrue the true
meaning of the word.
"There's talk of diversity,"
Flynn said. "We're offering intel-
lectual diversity - not superficial
based on race (but) based on
intellectual differences."
Throughout the weekend AIA
held a series of lectures titled
"Uncovering the Campus Diversity
Fraud: low Intellectual Intolerance
Masquerades as 'Diversity"' at the
Kuenzel Room in the Michigan
Union.
Philosophy Prof. Carl Cohen
spoke to a crowd of more than
100 students Saturday morning on
why he believes racial preferences
are unjust and unwise.
In his opening remarks, Cohen
said, "the object of my attack is
not affirmative action."
Affirmative action was origi-
nally intended to eliminate dis-
crimination by race, Cohen said,
but its meaning today is'a result
of "terminal confusion."
Cohen said he supports affir-
mative steps to fight injustice but
does not support affirmative
action the way it is used in univer-
sities' admissions. Discrimination
is the flaw he said he wants to see
people addressing on campus.
Cohen showed so much emo-
tion during his opening remarks
that his knuckles started bleeding
from him repeatedly hitting the
podium.
"I apologize for the physiologi-
cal messiness," he said before
continuing his speech.
Rights are possessed by indi-
viduals, Cohen said. Whites, as a
group, do not have rights, and
blacks, as a group, do not have
rights, he said. Cohen said he
does not deny that "individual
members may benefit" from the
University's affirmative action
policies but that minority groups

are subverted.
"Preference by race, in college
admissions, is not good for us,"
he said.
LSA freshman Adam Fancy
said he agrees wholeheartedly
with Cohen's assessment of the
University's affirmative action
admissions policies.
"I think lie's absolutely correct.
He identified exactly the methods
that were used," Dancy said.
But not all students said they
were convinced by Cohen's
speech.
LSA sophomore Ashley Bray
said she disapproves of Cohen's
interpretation of the methods the
University's admissions policy uses.
"I don't think the comments
made were surprising. Professor
Cohen is a work of art," she said.
"Even though he says he's not
against affirmative action, lie is."
The majority of students pre-
sent opposed affirmative action,
but sentiments in opposition and
support of affirmative action
were heard during an informal
debate after the last speaker of
the morning.
Flynn watched the debating cir-
cle of students and said he regard-
ed the heated but controlled
discourse favorably.
"I think it's reat. Our conference
program seeks to encourage debate.
What you see here should be happen-
ing on campus," Flynn said.
Joe Sobran, a nationally syndi-
cated columnist and commentator
on political and cultural matters,
opened the conference Friday
night with a lecture titled "Consti-
tutional Pluralism."
Sobran said he disagrees with
the federal government's current
interpretation of the Constitu-
tion.
"The original constitution did
not create the highly powerful and
highly centralized government we
now have," he said.
Sobran said he found it contra-
dictory that the Constitution, the
document limiting the power of
the federal government, decides
what the Constitution ultimately
means.




HE CALENDAR
What's happening in Ann Arbor today
EVENTS dens, Room 125, 761-1029 p.m., Hillel, 769-0500
* "Revolt of the Daughters-in-Law:
A U iw of Ihbe lnmesti cife CEC

. v,

- *~" I - I I