LOCAL/S TATE
The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, February 7, 2001- 3
MSA
By Carrie Thorson
Daily StAfiReporer
votes to support Day of Action
Rape statistics
released by U.S.
Justice Dept.
According to a recent Justice
Department report that interviewed
4,446 women attending two- or four-
year colleges, 2.8 percent of college
women experience rape or attempted
rape each academic year. The rape sta-
tistic for the entire calendar year,
including reports made in the summer
and during vacation times,jumps to 4.9
percent.
The report also said nearly 60 per-
cent of rapes occur in the victim's resi-
dence, 31 percent in other campus
living quarters and 10.3 percent in fra-
ternity houses.
John Foubert, associate dean of stu-
dents at the University of Virginia said
these statistics can be misleading since
the reported number of rapes each year
is vastly under the actual number -
many victims do not report the inci-
dent.
"Tent of Consent"
closed at Penn
Stated"Sex Faire"
The "Tent of Consent" was already
erected at Penn State University's "Sex
Faire" last weekend when university
administrators shut it down. They were
worried about the consequences of cre-
ating a private space in a publicly
accessible commons area, said univer-
sity spokesman Steve MacCarthy.
The tent consisted of a couple of
sheets duct-taped together in the far
corner of the fair, where two or more
students would be admitted in for two
minutes, in which time they would be
free to do anything they wanted as long
as it was agreed upon before entering.
Lynn Thompson, co-director of
Womyn's Concerns, which sponsored
the fair, said the tent was supposed to
be a fun way to learn about what it
means to give and receive consent.
Vice President of Student Affairs
Bill Asbury met with representatives of
the fair to give them an ultimatum to
close the tent or the university would
encourage the event's venue to stop the
entire fair. The representatives ulti-
mately decided to shut down the tent
and instead encouraged students to
write on a poster the best places on
campus to participate in consensual
activity.
In protest of the tent closing, a group
of students assembled another tent out-
side the "Sex Faire" entrance shortly
after the fair began. State Rep. John
Lawless (R-Montgomery) interrupted
his tour of the fair to find out who was
responsible for organizing the protest.
As a crowd gathered around Lawless
outside, someone from the crowd
yelled, "Let's see how many people we
can fit in here," and the group of stu-
dents rushed into the tent's hatch.
About an hour later, the protest was
over and the tent was gone.
Number of Ph.Ds
at American
*oft^
universities drops
The number of doctorates awarded
by American research universities in
1999 declined from 1998 as reported
by the National Opinion Research
Center at the University of Chicago.
The reported decline is a first in 14
years.
According to the report, the decline
in the number of doctoral degrees
awarded has affected almost every dis-
cipline at colleges and universities
around the nation. The largest drop
occurred in engineering, which experi-
enced a 9.8 percent decrease, followed
by the physical sciences, which showed
a 6.2 percent drop. Social sciences,
humanities and education were affect-
ed the least.
Kathy Thornton, assistant dean of
graduate programs at the University of
Virginia Engineering School, said she
is not surprised about the nationwide
decline because the economy is good
and many individuals are entering the
work force instead of graduate schools.
Another factor in the shrinking num-
ber of doctoral students may be the
decline in federal support of fellow-
ships and graduate education said
Sarah Turner, assistant professor of
education and economics at the Uni-
versity of Virginia.
- Compiled from U-Wi re reports by
Dailh Staff Reporter Jane Krull.
Last night the Michigan Student
Assembly resolved to support the Day of
Action on Feb. 22 in defense of integra-
tion and affirmative action.
Guest speakers will be present, and a
noon rally and march will be held on the
Diag to commemorate the event.
"This is our last chance to have a Day
of Action before the trial ends," said LSA
Rep. Erika Dowdell.
Vice President Jim Secreto amended a
resolution to extend speaker invitations to
all facets of the University and to desig-
nate the assembly's Affirmative Action
Task Force to administer the speakers.
"Instead of just having a few people
who aren't students defending affirmative
action, we're trying to get the whole Uni-
versity involved," Secreto said. "Without
this amendment we would just have white
communists from Detroit there."
Several assembly members recounted
their experiences at the University's Law
School and LSA admissions trials in sup-
port of the Day of Action.
"We're trying to get the whole University
involved"
-Jim Secreto
Vice President of the Michigan Student Assembly
"I had the good fortune to be a part of
history today," said LSA Rep. Reza
Breakstone. "As a leader on this campus I
felt honored to be there representing stu-
dents."
Also passed at last night's meeting was
a resolution in support of Queer Visibility
week, beginning Feb. 14. Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual and Transgender Commission
Chairman Ben Conway addressed the con-
cerns about the lack of mention of the
Rev. Fred Phelps of Oklahoma, a vehe-
mently anti-homosexual pastor planning
to come to the University during the
week, in the proposal.
"This is a resolution in support of
Queer Visibility week, not against Fred
Phelps," Conway said.
LGBT plans to remove Phelps from the
Diag if he poses a threat, Conway said.
LSA senior Cybele Blood addressed the
assembly on the issue of the Ann Arbor
Transportation Authority's negotiations
with the University bus system.
"They are going to eliminate all student
driving jobs, which are the best paying
jobs for students on campus," Blood said.
Also at the meeting:
SNRE freshman Neil Greenberg present-
ed his plan to charter buses when demand is
high enough for students to go to Detroit Metro
Airport and back.
* Students would register for a time on a
Website and Greenberg would assign buses for
S18 roundtrip. Next week the assembly will
decide whether or not to give Greenberg the
money to start his plan.
LSA juniors Siafa Hage and Rob Devore
were appointed to fill the two vacant LSA seats
for the rest of the term.
JEFF HURVITZ /Daly
SNRE freshman Neil Greenberg addresses MSA on the
subject of airport transportation last night.
Eye on the pie
Mental health center
opens on campus
By Susan Luth
.Daily Staff Reporer
The Center for Develonment and Mental Health - a
division of the University's Center for Human Growth
and Development - celebrated its official grand open-
irig last Wednesday. The center is funded by a S3 mil-
lion grant from the National Institute of Health and
will allow the center to focus on several mental health
research projects.
"It will carry out three projects, each of which
research mental health in different age groups," CDMH
Director Arnold Sameroff said. "It will look at individ-
uals as they change across time."
The first project, led by Delia Vazquez, CHGD asso-
ciate research scientist and associate professor of pedi-
atrics, will center on the mental health of infants. She
is trying to discover whether there are markers that can
be found in early childhood that will indicate whether a
child is more prone to mental disorder later in life.
"We focus on a cohort of infants who have problems
of physiological regulation, primarily excessive crying,
sleep disturbances and feeding problems," Vazquez
said. "We know that infants in this cohort have an
increased risk of problems in emotional, social and
cognitive functioning."
The second project will study how the economic
stress of a child's parents can affect the emotional well-
being of a child. The project, headed by CHGD Senior
Research Scientist Vonnie McLoyd, an LSA psycholo-
gy professor, will collect data from five different sites
in the northern and eastern United States.
"Our aims are to evaluate a model that explains the
effects of economic hardship on children's social and
emotional adjustment by examining the effects of
poverty on parents' mental health and child-rearing
behavior," McLoyd said in a written statement.
A final nroiect. headed by Sameroff. will focus can
the life and mental health of a group of adults who
have been observed since birth. The study will try tp
determine the factors that caused some of the subjects
to become more or less successful in life than others.
But the center will do more than just host research
projects. It is also intended to facilitate relations
among researchers on campus.
"The center will provide communication between dif-
ferent individuals and different departments who are
studying similar areas of mental health," Sameroff said;
Before the center was created, researchers through-
out the University studied intertwining topics but were
not able to share information because they did not
know about one another, Sameroff said.
Teachers and faculty who share the center come from>
many different departments across the University. tha-
deal with mental health, such as psychology, social
work, medicine, education and other LSA units.
The grant given to the center lasts for five years
After it ends, the center can reapply for the grant.
Over these five years, the center intends to integrate
information from over 40 existing University studies of
mental health.
Sameroff said the areas of research focused on now
may not be the only ones pursued throughout the dura-
tion of the grant. Even though the research on the
development of people over time is the main project at
this moment, there are several other projects affiliated
with the center that will continue to function on the
side.
AP PHOTO
Mabel Duch won first place in the pie eating contest at the Senior Winter
Olympics at the McKinley Center in Flint yesterday.
Dentistry Clbrary and
Colgate to send books
to African college rs
I
By Ted Borden
For the Daily
The University's School of Dentistry
Library has joined forces with Colgate-
Palmolive Co., one of the world's largest
consumer products companies, to pro-
vide books and journals to newly-estab-
lished dental schools and educational
institutions in Africa.
The project's objective is to augment
the volumes of dentistry publications
available in African libraries.
"The Ann Arbor dental community
has a great deal of resources and it
would be a waste if they weren't used
for benefit," said Pat Anderson, head
librarian in the School of Dentistry
Library.
Robert Bagramian, a professor of
dentistry and one of the leaders of the
program, said the idea to send books
was of mutual interest to both parties.
Colgate "wanted to know if we would
be interested in doing this and we
thought it would be a great opportunity
to help out a nation in need," Bagramian
said.
"The Colgate-Palmolive Company
is honored to be a partner with the
University Library team with regard
to this important initiative," wrote
Anthony Volpe, vice president of
clinical dental research at Colgate-
Palmolive. "This joint initiative will
bring specialized knowledge, partic-
ularly as it relates to oral health, to
both dentists and dental students
across Africa."
Anderson said that many of the mate-
rials sent are donations from faculty and
alumni. Also included are older but not
out-of-date copies of texts found in the
library.
While the School of Dentistry
Library chooses which materials to
send, Colgate works with the ship-
ping aspect of the process, paying
for packaging and postage and deal-
ing with customs. As a result, the
project is not costing the University
any money.
The materials are first sent to the Uni-
versity of Zimbabwe and then distrib-
uted to five partnership libraries. The
first shipment, mailed last August,
included 364 items in 27 boxes. The
library hopes to increase that number of
over time.
Presently, only University faculty and
staff are involved with the project.
"But we might get students involved
after the end of classes," Anderson said.
The library does not have any plans
to start similar programs in other areas
of the world. "At this time, our hands
are full with Africa,' Anderson said.
Bagramian said he is excited to be
involved. "Overall, it's been a great
experience,"Bagramian said.
"It is a challenging and rewarding
experience," Anderson said. "I'm grate-
ful for the opportunity to do work that
shows clear benefit and meaning.:
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