LOCAL/STATE The Michigan Daily - Monday, November 19, 2001- 3A Commencement to feature novelist Baxter Law School lunch, language program begins today Law School students, faculty and staff will have the opportunity to prac- tice their foreign language skills and learn more about other cultures during the Language Lunch programs, which will be held today through Wednesday. The Center for International and Comparative Law and the Internation- al Law Society will be providing free pizza and soda to residents and non- residents of the Lawyers Club. Participants are not only encour- aged to hone their communication skills, but also to share their interest in foreign countries. Today's Language Lunch will fea- ture Spanish, Japanese and Korean languages. Tomorrow, participants will have the opportunity to practice speaking French, Russian and Chi- nese. Wednesday will be German, Hebrew and Hindi/Urdu day. People interested in including anoth- er language in the Language Lunch series may contact the Center for hter- national and Comparative Law. All Language Lunches will be held from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m. in the Lawyers Club Recreation Room. Second' part of writing workshop series begins The second in a two-part writing series that aims to enhance partici- pants' writing style and technique will take place today. The event is designed to help par- ticipants improve their writing styles and develop techniques that will strengthen their communication skills. While the first part of the writing series focused on larger elements of writing, the second part will focus on smaller components such as sentence structure and individual word choice. Participants will be able to practice the skills they are learning through several different types of writing exer- cises. In addition, there will be tips on revising and editing and how to iden- tify ineffective and forceful writing. The workshop is open to the public, but space is limited to 30 participants. The event will take place from 4 to 5:30 p.m. in the Henderson Room of the Michigan League. Scholl to perform historical pieces Singer Andreas Scholl willperfori "A Musical Banquet" tomorrow at the Mendelssohn Theatre beginning at 8 p.m. Scholl's performance will include a program filled with songs from the peak of the Renaissance period and traditional Spanish and French songs. The concert will include music from the songbook of John Dowland, often referred to as one of England's greatest composers. The program hopes to convey the emotion of longing for love and death with love in unobtainable and the rich expressions of nature. The University Musical Society sponsors the concert. Tickets range from $20 to $35. Sultan's exhibit to end this week This week will be the last chance to see Donald Sultan's Smoke Ring exhibit at the Museum of Art. The exhibit contains large-scale Iris prints, smaller photographs and can- vases featuring tar paintings and spi- raling curls of smoke. The paintings are'meant to represent the graphic ele- ments of black and white, as well as to create a certain state of mind for the viewer. Sultan is a New York artist who has had a long-time interest in still-life art. He strives to give attention to the beauty found in everyday life and commonplace details that are encoun- tered on a daily basis. The works will be accompanied by a gallery guide where each pho- tograph and painting of Sultan's will be paired with an emotional and provocative piece of writing by Max Blagg. The exhibition will run through Nov 25 at the Museum of Art. - Compiled by Daily Staff Reporter Shannon Pettypiece. By KyleneoKang Daily Staff Reporter Novelist and University English Prof. Charles Baxter, who was approved last week as this year's winter commencement speaker, says he already knows what kind of message he wants to give graduating seniors during the Dec. 16 ceremony at Crisler Arena. "Particularly after Septem- : ber 11, it's important to be realistic about things. That's the gist of the message I want to send to the students," Bax- ter said. Baxter, who joined the Uni- versity faculty in 1989, is an adjurgct professor and former Baxter director of the University's graduate program in creative writing. He is also the author of several novels and collections of short stories. His works have been featured in publications including The Atlantic Monthly, The New Yorker This used to be her pla and Harper's Bazaar. Baxter's most recent novel, "The Feast of Love," was a finalist for the National Book Award last year. "We're really delighted to have someone like Professor Baxter to address the graduating class. I think they will be very pleased with what he has to say," said Gary Krenz, special counsel to the presi- dent. Also during the commencement ceremony will be the presentation of honorary degrees to Dwight Gourneau, president of NAMTech Inc., a manage- ment and technical services consulting firm, and Kapila Vatsyayan, founding director of the Indira Gandhi National Center for the Arts and former secretary of the Department of Arts and Culture in the Ministry of Education in India. After serving 27 years as a computer develop- ment engineer and manager at IBM, Gouneau retired from his position in 1992. Since then he has made widespread contributions to the technological and economic betterment of American Indian tribes. A member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa of North Dakota, Gourneau has encour- aged American Indian students to pursue education yground U 'a,, and careers in math, science, engineering and tech- nology. Goumeau is the founder of the National Ameri- can Indian Science and Engineering Fair and has developed math and science teacher enhancement projects through the American Indian Science and Engineering Society. In addition, he has chaired the AISES Board of Directors as well as the Board of Trustees of the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. He has also served on the National Science Foundation's Committee on Equal Opportunity in Science and Engineering. Gourneau will receive an honorary doctor of laws degree. Kapila Vatsyayan, a leading advocate of cultur- al preservation and the humanities, will receive an honorary doctor of fine arts degree. During her tenure in the Ministry of Education in India, she launched various institutions of higher education in the humanities. Vatsyayan fronted a national initiative for art history, cultural awareness and the reprinting of rare books, which improved worldwide accessibility of Indian literature and history. She has facilitated cultural exchange pro- grams with more than 30 countries and has received honors including the Rajiv Gandhi National Award for Harmony and National Integration. Honorary degree recipients are selected from a pool of nominations by-a committee of faculty, stu- dents and alumni, said John Chamberlin, an hon- orary degree committee member and professor of political science and public policy. Nominees need not have any affiliation, with the University, although it is a factor considered by the selection committee. The nominees were approved last week by the University Board of Regents. Krenz, a member of the committee, said of the recipients: "They both have demonstrated great adherence 'to the University's standards, those standards being commitment to excellence, acad- emics and diversity Those are the kinds of peo- ple we look for, people who have made a significant impact in the. domain which they choose to wotk and have also performed a great public service." community requests energy-efficient facilities By Rachel Green Daily Staff Reporter With 400 University offices under renovation and construction this year, more than 200 environmentally- sity President Lee Bollinger and the administration to consider updating facilities to energy-efficient stan- dards which comply with the Kyoto Protocol by the year 2010. The Kyoto Protocol was signed in 1997 by the United States and 84 other industrial nations in order to reduce greenhouse gas admissions 7 percent below 1990 lev- els. The United States is the only country that has not yet ratified this treaty. On Oct. 31, Michigan Faculty and Staff for Global Warming Action sent their petition to Bollinger and the University Board of Regents, requesting that the Uni- versity join other colleges and universities in creating their own form of the Kyoto Protocol. The letter notes other colleges and Universities, including Tufts University, Oberlin College and Rutgers University, which have already enacted similar propos- als, adding that "the University of Michigan should join this group of environmental leaders." The letter suggests renovations to all campus build- ings to include the Environmental Protection Agency's renewable-energy systems. A similar proposal was made to Bollinger and the regents last spring by Sustain U-M, a student group dedicated to environmental issues. Now, two weeks later, Catherine Badgely, director of the Environmental Studies Program, said she has yet to receive a response from Bollinger. "What we request in this letter from the faculty and{ in the parallel letter from Sustain U-M would certainly require some changes, but we think they could be done in a creative way and in a way that would elevate the University," Badgely said. . "It would be a challenge, but it is within the reach of the University to do this." Badgely, who has been a faculty liaison between Sus- tain U-M and the administration, said she would like to see Bollinger make the University more energy effi- cient as his final great achievement before leaving for Columbia University in January. Bollinger has on his mind, and especially since he is only here until the end of the year, that he won't give this much attention, and I don't know how much inno- vation an interim president can make on this issue," Badgely said. "But I know that (interim President-elect B. Joseph White) has a strong interest in environmental issues. He was on the provost advisory council for environmental commitment. He has a personal interest in making the University more environmentally sound." The letter was forwarded to the office of Facilities and Operations and has been taken under consideration by its staff, spokeswoman Diane Brown said. She said the biggest problem with the all of the pro- posals made to the administration is that they fail to give specific changes that should be made to reduce admissions. "The Kyoto Protocol is designed for countries, not for individual institutions," she said. "That's the whole problem." Jason Smerdon, Sustain U-M founder, said he hopes : this most recent letter sent to the administration : receives adequate attention and a response from: Bollinger. Smerdon added that the' University is a national leader in environmental policies he hopes that Bollinger - will overlook the initial additional building costs of these changes. "We can't wait around until someone else has made a this a foolproof plan. That is not the role of a leader and the long term nature of this-change will make it too late to make course corrections in the future that are needed Z now," Smerdon said. "The point is; that reducing our emissions is some- thing that must be done," she added. AP PHOTO Constance Bogedin, right, and her daughter Erica stand in front of a table with Madonna memorabilia, which sits on the lawn of the Rochester Hills home where Madonna and her family lived in from the time she was 12-years-old until she left for college. The home was purchased Saturday for $331,000. Early prevention, effects focus LIN11r"of annual 'Smokeout' By Stephanie Schonholz Daily Staff Reporter Students and faculty alike were drawn to the Diag Friday due to the presence of a giant cigarette who strolled back and forth across the 'M'. The National Cancer Society spon- sored its annual Great American Smokeout last week, which has attempted since 1977 to get regular smokers to quit for the day and possibly for life. The student group University Stu- dents Against Cancer celebrated this day Friday with a booth on the Diag, handing out pamphlets and talking about the effects of smoking. The celebration on campus was held a day after the national Great American Smokeout because candidates for the Michigan Student Assembly were using the Diag to campaign on Thursday. "Our main goal is to get as many stu- dents, professors and Ann Arbor resi- dents aware of the harmful effects of smoking and maybe to go smoke-free for the day," said USAC co-chair Tama- ra Gipprich, an LSA senior. With 4,800 adolescents aged 11 to 17 starting to smoke each day and almost 2,000 of these teen-agers becoming regular smokers, various programs are being implemented to stop the problem before it starts, including having college, students go to elementary schools and provide hands-on lessons to children about smoking. "More things need to be done to pre- vent young kids from starting to smoke; commercials are one step, but parents need to take the initiative and talk to their kids about smoking. We need to look at the root of the problem to stop it" Gipprich said. Gipprich said studies have shown 76 percent of college students do not smoke, but a look around the Diag on Friday found dozens of students taking smpking breaks between classes. "I started smoking because I was curious. My dad smoked so I was around it a lot as a kid," said LSA senior Jennifer Lim. "I'm worried about the diseases like lung cancer but I'll quit when I'm ready. I already tried quitting when I came to college but I was getting really moody and my roommates would just tell me to go outside and smoke a ciga- rette." Fellow smoker Jian Liu, an LSA senior, said, "I started smoking because my friends did it. It's hard to quit once you start so don't start at all." Roughly 4.5 million U.S. adolescents are smokers, with 90 percent starting to smoke before age 21. "Smoking just never appealed to me as a kid because I grew up with a lot of friends who played sports and it just never crossed my mind. When I have kids I'm going to drill it into their heads that smoking is bad" said Rob Hira- sawa, an LSA junior. "If I was a smoker the only thing that would get me to quit smoking would be a personal experience, like if a family member or a friend got sick or died, that would really hit home," Hirasawa said. As many as one-third of the nation's 46 million smokers took the day off from smoking on Thursday for the Great American Smokeout. iPod. 1,000 songs. In your pocket. Presenting iPod.T" 1,000 songs. 10-hour battery 6.5 ounces Ulkra-slim 5-gigabyte hard drive doubles as a Fire~ire disk for your files and applications. Apple's legendary ease-of-use. $369. THE CALENDAR What's happening in Ann Arbor today EVENTS "Facing Environmental Dilemmas while Bridging North-South Gaps"; Hot to pick one of 40 songs, with melodies written in numbers, and play it on the 17-bell bell tower's num- bered keys, 12:00 p.m., play; Annual indoor-out- door light spectacular, 5:30 - 9:30 p.m., Domi- no's Farms, 30 Frank Lloyd Wright Drive SERVICES Campus Information Centers, 764-INFO, info@umich.edunor www ,umich edu/1.info