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October 16, 2001 - Image 3

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The Michigan Daily, 2001-10-16

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LOCAL/STATE

The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, October 16, 2001- 3

Profs. counter affirmative action criticism

Explosive set off,
two knives taken
from 'M' stadium
Officers from University Depart-
ment of Public Safety confiscated two
knives from people at Michigan Stadi-
um during Saturday's football game,
according to DPS reports. In addition,
one person set off an explosive just
north of Gate One and was subse-
quently arrested.
Racist graffiti
found on lot wall
Racist graffiti was found on the
wall of a Catherine Street parking
structure Thursday afternoon, DPS
reports state. The graffiti was written
in black marker and gave reference to
the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the
United States.
DPS did not report having any sus-
pects.
Scale missing
from 'U' building
A scale was taken from the Medical
Science Unit One Building sometime
Wednesday, DPS reports state. The
scale is valued at $1,500.
DPS did not report having any sus-
pects.
Car hits vehicle;
driver changes
parking spots
The driver of a vehicle attempting
to park Thursday afternoon in a lot
on Monroe Street hit another vehicle
and then moved to a different spot in
the lot, DPS reports state. The vic-
tim and suspect met with the DPS
officer in the Law Club. Reports
stated there was minor damage to
the vehicle.
Woman shoots
self with BB gun
A woman was taken to the emer-
gency room of University Hospitals
on Thursday afternoon when she acci-
6 dentally shot herself with a BB gun,
according to DPS reports. The woman
stated she was attempting to shoot an
opossum.
Wallet stolen four
years ago found
The maintenance staff of East
Quad Residence Hall recovered a
wallet in an air duct early Friday
morning, DPS reports state. The
wallet had been reported stolen in
February 1997. The victim was noti-
fied via e-mail. Reports stated all
contents of the wallet were recov-
ered except for $40.
Students set off
fireworks in dorm
Students were caught setting off
bottle rockets from their South Quad
a Residence Hall room on Sunday
evening, DPS reports state. The fire-
works were confiscated.
Harassing caller
identifies himself
A student at Stockwell Residence
Hall informed DPS of receiving
harassing telephone calls on Thursday
afternoon. Reports state the caller
identified himself.
Car stolen, later
discovered near

Briarwood Circle
A Plymouth Voyager was stolen
from the lot outside Wolverine
Tower on Sunday afternoon, accord-
ing to DPS reports. The vehicle was
later recovered on Briarwood Circle.
DPS did not report having any
suspects.
Blue lot permit
stolen from car
A blue parking permit was stolen
Sunday afternoon from a vehicle
parked in a Monroe Street lot, reports
state.
DPS had no suspects.
- Compiled by Daily StaffReporter
Kristen Beaumont.

By Jordan Schrader
Daily Staff Reporter
In a discussion yesterday on the effects
of affirmative action programs in the
workplace, two scholars made a case
against the contention that such programs
breed prejudice and job dissatisfaction.
Alison Konrad, a business professor at
Temple University, and Marylee Taylor,
an associate sociology professor at Penn-
sylvania State University, discussed their
research on the practical results of the use
of affirmative action in employment.
According to Taylor and Konrad's find-
ings, there is a widely held misconception
that affirmative action refers to racial
preferences and quotas. They said this is
usually not the case.
"People don't understand affirmative
action. Most people think it refers to pref-
erence programs," Konrad said.
Instead, she explained, affirmative
action in the workplace usually involves a
number of complex initiatives designed to
assess and rectify discrimination. This
includes efforts to ensure women and
minorities are encouraged to participate
and are well trained.
Konrad said this differs from university
More than
800union{
workers
walk out
General Dynamics

admissions, which often use a preference
system. The admissions policy at the Uni-
versity of Michigan is an example of this,
and uses race as one of many factors in
admissions. The hearing before the 6th
Circuit Court of Appeals on Oct. 23 will
address the legality of such a preference
system.
The main criticisms of affirmative
action addressed - and denied - by the
two professors were that it causes feelings
of resentment by both its beneficiaries
and their co-workers.
Opponents argue, Taylor said, that
"affirmative action has had detrimental
effects that may outweigh the positive"
and that women and minorities can be
"tainted bythe stigma of incompetence"
by the very process that seeks to help
them.
These claims, according to Konrad's
and Taylor's research, are unfounded.
In Taylor's study, women and minorities
were asked questions about their satisfac-
tion with their jobs and lives. She found
no evidence that subjects in workplaces
using affirmative action are less satisfied
than those in other workplaces.
Similarly, her survey of white men
showed no disproportionate discrimina-

"People don't
understand affirmative
action'.
- Alison Konrad
Temple University business professor
tion in businesses where affirmative
action is used.
These results led Taylor to conclude
that affirmative action causes no
"boomerang effect," or detriment to
minorities.
LSA freshman Mike Lusard, who
attended the event for his affirmative
action class, said the professors were
informative. But Lusard expressed disap-
pointment that the speakers did not
address the effects of affirmative action
on college campuses.
"We focus more on education in class,"
he said.
The discussion was sponsored by the Uni-
versity's women's studies program. It was the
fourth in a series focusing on the relationship
of affirmative action and the women's move-
ment, which continues Oct. 26.

DEBBIE MIZEL/Daily
Marylee Taylor, a sociology professor at Pennsylvania State
University, was one of the keynote speakers yesterday at
"Does Affirmative Action Really Help Anything?"

FOCUS physics
centers open in

2

and Austin

By Sarah Scott
Daily Staff Reporter

employees, who produce
military vehicles, strike
STERLING HEIGHTS (AP) - A
week into the U.S. attacks on
Afghanistan, union workers at three
plants that produce military vehicles,
including tanks, walked off their jobs
early yesterday.
More than 800 employees repre-
sented by the United Auto Workers
went on strike at General Dynamics
Land Systems facilities in Sterling
Heights; Lima, Ohio; and Eynon, Pa.
The company designs, manufac-
tures and supports land and amphibi-
ous combat systems for the Army,
the Marine Corps and allied nations,'
including the Ml-Al Abrams tank
and armored personnel carriers.
Contract negotiations with the
United Auto Workers continued past
a midnight deadline without reach-
ing an agreement, General Dynamics
spokesman Peter Keating said.
Some workers at one of the three
facilities affected by the strike say
they walked off the job because of
health care and pension issues.
"There's no health care for retirees
after they retire," said Dwight
Matthews, a designer at the facility
in this Detroit suburb. "We try to buy
health care, but when you get to be
50 or 60 years old, no one wants to
sell you health insurance."
UAW Vice President Nate Gooden
said health care benefits for retired

The University has a new physics
center and a new partnership with
the University of Texas at Austin,
thanks to a $15 million grant from
the National Science Foundation.
The new center, officially named
r FOCUS - Frontiers in Optical
Coherent and Ultrafast Science -
opened Aug. I this year. It has
three locations - two in Ann
Arbor and one in Austin. It is not a
part of the Life Sciences Initiative.
"The center has been funded for
its initial five-year period and then
>v will be renewed, we hope," said
Philip Bucksbaum, the center's
director and a University of Michi-
gan physics professor. "What we're
starting is a number of new modali-
ties for science centers. In many
ways, this is an experiment for the.
AP Photo NSF."
e Bucksbaum said that the center's
research focuses on three specific
areas: quantum computing, coher-
just as ent control of chemistry and very
a war, high intensity laser fields.
ted the The University has such sophisti-
c. I cated laser technology that
about researchers can have lasers to do
nefits tasks that formerly weren't possible
anic at such as direct laser acceleration of
's bad particles to speeds close to the
ing to speed of light, he said.
e vote THE =
vot . EAD THE DJ
had to
- - - s-<- -.rarĀ± - 1

"It's a little bit expensive to make
very high intensity laser fields,"
Bucksbaum said, "We're doing
that and they'll be used by faculty
at U of M and U of T."
Bucksbaum added that a lot of
the work by the Texas researchers
will be done here.
Another aspect that has come out
of the two schools' partnership is a
joint course on high intensity laser
matter interactions. Texas physics
prof. Todd Ditmire teaches the course
from Austin using webcasting.
"We thought that simultaneous
teaching of students at both institu-
tions would help tie the two institu-
tions together," Ditmire said.
About 15 students are enrolled in
the graduate-level class at each
campus and some work at the
FOCUS center.
"One of the important things is
educational outreach. One of the
major things we do is research with
graduate students and one of the
vital steps in training them is doing
cutting edge research," Ditmire
added.
In addition to its three specific
research frontiers, the center runs
an annual seed funding competition
to provide funding for new kinds of
advanced projects.
"That's something that research
centers don't normally do," said
Bucksbaum.

General Lan Systems mechanic Mike Scott walks the picket line outside the
company's complex in Sterling Heights yesterday.

workers were "something that UAW
workers had and gave up during con-
cessions, but now General Dynamics
Land Systems is again profitable and
has money to spend on expensive
acquisitions,"
The company will continue pro-
duction with nonunion employees,
Keating said. He would not discuss
key contract issues.
On the picket line outside the Ster-
ling Heights plant, clutches of a half-
dozen striking workers gathered
quietly at each entrance holding
picket signs that said simply "UAW

on strike."
Mindful that they are striking.
the United States is engaged in
several workers said they regret
action, but felt it was appropriate
"They should have thought
that when they gave our be
away," said Al Logic, a mecha
the Sterling Heights plant. "It
timing, but what are you go
do?"
Logic said there was only on
against strike at UAW Local 12
"The contract ran out, we-
go," Matthews said.

Anthrax vaccine manufacturer

I .- ----- l 11

I

t

i
1

seeks to gain
LANSING (AP)-- Amid reports of pages of
new anthrax exposures at the U.S. FDA onI
Capital yesterday, the nation's only ments prc
maker of an anthrax vaccine filed ed batche
paperwork asking federal officials for safe, cont
approval to ship the vaccine. "We fee
Lansing-based BioPort Corp. has obligation
continued to manufacture the vaccine "Very clea
since buying a state-owned laboratory in doing ther
1998. But it has been unable to ship any An FD
because it has failed to meet U.S. Food yesterday1
and Drug Administration standards after documen
renovating the plant two years, ago. long it wi
The vaccine has gained attention in its review
recent days as 12 people around the months to
country have either tested positive for BioPort
anthrax or have been exposed to the of it fede
bacteria. A piece of mail sent to U.S. upgradet
Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle's week that
office in Washington, D.C., tested pos- of a reno
itive for anthrax yesterday. two to thre
BioPort spokeswoman Kim Brennen DuringI
Root said yesterday that the company has found
finished submitting several hundred The comp

approval of FDA

studies and reports to the
Friday. She said the docu,
ove BioPort can make repeat-
s of the anthrax vaccine in a
rolled environment.
el that we have fully met our
ins to the agency," she said.
arly, we have the right people
right jobs in a timely manner."
A spokeswoman confirmed
that the agency received the
nts. She wouldn't say how
ill take the FDA to complete
N. The FDA has four to six
review the information.
t spent $16.8 million - most
ral dollars - to expand and
the facility. Root said last
it's not unusual for approval
vated vaccine plant to take
ee years.
that time, however, the FDA
repeated problems at the lab.
pany failed FDA inspections

in 1999 and 2000. An FDA report
issued in October 2000 said BioPort
failed to ensure that its facilities were
sterile and well-ventilated.
The FDA also said BioPort did not
submit complete annual reports in
1998 and 1999 and was failing to keep
proper records on people who suffered
adverse effects to the anthrax vaccine.
Root said the company is confident it
could begin shipping the vaccine early
next year if it wins FDA approval. She
wouldn't say what the company will do
if the FDA refuses to license BioPort.
"Failure is not an option for this
company," she said.
BioPort is the Pentagon's sole source
of the anthrax vaccine. About 500,000
of the 2.4 million troops and reservists
the military wanted to vaccinate have
received the vaccine, but the program
has basically been put on hold as sup-
plies to vaccinate additional troops have
run low.

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