-NATION/WORLD
The Michigan Daily - Thursday, September 6, 2001- 7A
Nations .seek compromises at racism conference
DURBAN, South Africa (AP) - Under threat of
a devastating European walkout, the World Confer-,
ence Against Racism held closed-door meetings
yesterday to try to find compromise language on
the Israel-Palestinian conflict and reparations for
slavery.
France warned it and the European Union could
follow the United States and Israel by quitting the
U.N. meeting, which was meant to highlight discrim-
ination around the world but has been marred by dis-
cord over efforts to condemn Israel for "racist
policies."
"If comparisons between Zionism and racism
remain, the question of France's, and the European
Union delegation's, departure would be posed imme-
diately," French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin told a
Cabinet meeting, according to spokesman Jean-Jack
Queyranne. "France and the European Union would
seek a departure from this conference, which would
mark a failure."
EU delegates said they had set a deadline of yes-
terday night to make substantial progress on the
issue.
Koen Vervaeke, spokesman for Belgian Foreign
Minister Louis Michel, who is leading the EU del-
egation, said the EU would not sign a document
that takes sides in the Middle East conflict. How-
ever, he said the delegation had no immediate
Officials The a
reinstate
Concorde
flights
PARIS (AP) - The supersonic
Concorde got its wings back yester-
day - just over a year after a deadly
crash - with French and British offi-
cials clearing the fleet of 12 aircraft
for flight once safety modifications
are made.
The announcement came '13
months and 11 days after an Air
France Concorde crashed minutes
after takeoff from Paris, killing all
109 passengers and crew and four
people on the ground.
"Air France is very pleased with
the decision ... to reinstate Con-
corde's airworthiness certificate," the
carrier said in a statement, adding
that it would resume commercial ser-
vice'between Paris and New York in
November.
British Airways, which owns the
other seven Concordes, said it intend-
ed to resume London-New York
supersonic service soon, but did not
set a date.
The "mandatory airworthiness Scott Inma
directive" from civil aviation authori- Cloney Par
ties lays out changes to be made to
the aircraft before it can resume its
trans-Atlantic flights.
The major changes address the
chain of events that sent the sleek
needle-nosed plane, carrying mainly
into a hotel in the town of Gonesse on Juy2,(00
Air France grounded its Concorde AR F
fleet immediately after the crash.
British Airways doggedly kept flying Continued fro
Concorde between New York and Awareness
London until mid-August of last year. every day o
Investigators believe a stray strip of people. We
metal on the runway punctured one of people's hea
the doomed Air France plane's high- Students f
pressure tires, which blew a hole in a an LSA seni
wing fuel tank and started a fire in the an unforgett
electrical and hydraulic systems on "It actuall
the underside of the wings. of abortion.
Maxime Coffin, deputy head of hot potato.
the flight standards department for the murder
France's civil aviation authority, said makes it real
that one Air France Concorde Cunning
should have its certificate within response in
days, with two more planes ready "stunned dis
within weeks. pictures are
British Airways has said one of its um, his orga
modified Concordes was to be certi- getting to the
fied to fly yesterday. Modifications "They're
were under way on two other planes. seeing it on
Chris Yates, aviation safety and functioning
security editor for Jane's Transport disfavor abo
said he did not feel the Concorde was Taylor-Mc
being rushed back into service. misguided
The experts in the British-French approaches,
working group that nursed the talking abou
grounded Concorde back to life are "They do
"some of the brightest brains" in the contraceptiv
field, Yates said in a telephone inter- One cone
view. "I think they've assessed that trucks on th
detail they got from the crash very
Scarefully." DfLKi
The Concorde flies faster than any PO I
other commercial aircraft, racing Continued fro
between Europe and New York in "If we loo
under four hours. Its fastest New look under
York-London crossing was completed said. "We a
in just 2 hours, 52 minutes and 59 know are un
seconds. thing.
The Concorde cruises at 1,350 The Resi
mph, or twice the speed of sound, at tightening e
an altitude of 60,000 feet. hall commu
The 31-year-old plane, which car- which include
ries just 100 passengers and costs In addition t
some $10,000 a ride, is a commercial also been at
failure. But it is a point of pride for activity in
British Airways and Air France. according to
The crash likely dealt at least a "We are at
short-term blow to its image, said they see a v
Yates. While business travelers will polices, the
be happy to get back on the aircraft, Assistant Di
leisure travelers and the charter mar- cation Greg I
'ket might be more difficult to woo "Alcohol
back, he said. our commun
British Airways plans a $20 million eyes and ear
1 remodeling of cabin interiors and thing, it will
Concorde lounges in New York and Merritt sai
London, part of an aggressive mar- have been the
keting campaign by the carriers. "We're all
plans to leave.
"Walking away is not on the agenda at this
moment," Vervaeke said. "Everybody, has to gain
from a successful outcome to this conference."
Delegates from the 15 EU countries said they
would act as a bloc along with 13 nations that are
candidates for EU membership.
In the original draft text, Israel is the only nation
singled out for condemnation. Among the sticking
points were references to the "racist practice of Zion-
ism," and description of the movement to establish
and maintain a Jewish state as an ideology "based on
racial superiority."
Amr Moussa, Arab League secretary-general, has
said if there were no specific references to Israeli
policies toward the Palestinians a final declaration
would be "meaningless."
The United States and Israel left the conference
Monday when talks with the Arab League over
removing the anti-Israel language broke down.
The dispute over the wording of the Mideast sec-
tion has diverted attention from other issues, but the
issue of how to deal with the legacy of slavery also
have been contentious.
Many African delegations want the U.N. meeting's
final declaration to include a mechanism for repara-
tions for the trans-Atlantic slave trade.
Throughout the conference's planning stages, the
United States opposed putting reparations on the
agenda, and the U.S. departure appeared to harden
some positions.
African nations that had reportedly promised to
drop demands for reparations suddenly put them
back on the table this week. African-American
groups have lobbied hard for reparations to be
included in conference documents.
The EU was in talks yesterday with African dele-
gations over the issue. It has offered a limited apolo-
gy for colonialism and slavery, but does not want
reparations mentioned.
Africans led by Zimbabwe and Namibia are
demanding specific apologies from the countries
involved in the slave trade and colonialism, repara-
tions, cancellation of African debt and more invest-
ment in the continent, said Marcus Gama, assistant
to the head of the Brazilian delegation.
"For the moment. all the positions are maximal-
ist. ... It's hard to be optimistic," Gama said. "I
think (all sides) will have to make concessions
before the end of the conference or there will be
no conference."
The conference's draft document calls for "an
explicit apology by the former colonial powers," and
requires "substantial national and international
efforts be made for reparations" to Africans, African
descendants and indigenous peoples.
AP PHOTO
Danny Glover takes part in a candlelight vigil at the World Conference Against
Racism in Durban, South Africa yesterday.
air up there
Number of households
with internet access up
n, 17, of Rainier, Ore., gets some air as he twists off a wall at the skateboard park at
k in Longview, Wash.
~iabortion activists bri'i
?krnzg p/otos to /hik/zvays
aborted fetuses is the issue of the trucks being
a driving hazard.
m Page 1A "Hardly a day passes that we don't see near
Project has been successful, but misses on the freeway, but we have yet to wit-
o the freeways we reach 400,000 ness an accident," Cunningham said.
have to put these pictures into Shirvell agreed that the trucks' presence
ds," Cunningham said. could lead to distracted drivers.
or Life President Andrew Shirvell, "The only thing I have qualms about is that
ior, said the images instill in people it can cause accidents," Shirvell said.
able image of abortion. Cunningham said there are few places where
y shows it. These are the results the Center for Bio-ethical Reform can display
It just doesn't become a political the photos of aborted fetuses and that the orga-
Now it's 'Oh yes, that's real. It's nization will use the few public forums to their
of real babies.' The visual aspect great advantage. Cunningham said he is hop-
J to people," Shirvell said. ing to target "large outdoor assemblies of peo-
ham said that although the ple" such as Michigan Stadium with photos
n the past three months is of towed by aircraft in the near future.
belief from motorists" that these Shirvell said one difference between the
displayed in an unexpected medi- trucks and the displays like last year's Diag pre-
nization believes their message is sentation is that the trucks cannot be ignored.
o public. "It's less of a control than the Genocide
absolutely shocked that they're Awareness Project. People didn't have to go
the freeway. ... If they have a see it if they didn't want to, but that is the
conscious, they are more likely to point of this project," Shirvell said.
rtion," Cunningham said. But Cunningham said that the motorist
.Ghee said the center's efforts are audience not being able to ignore the trucks is
by not including realistic exactly what needs to happen.
to reproductive issues such as "The highways are only one of the few pub-
t prevention of pregnancies. lic forums available to use," Cunningham
n't promote women's access to said. "We don't want people to be able to be
es," Taylor-McGhee said. in public ... without seeing a dead baby. This
ern of those involved with the is a tactic that you're going to see more and
e highway that display photos of more. The pictures are going to get uglier."
WASHINGTON (AP) - More proof of the
skyrocketing popularity of the Internet: 42
percent of U.S. households could log on to the
Web in 2000, up from 18 percent three years
earlier, the Census Bureau found.
More children than ever before are growing
up in homes with computers, according to the
census report released today. Nearly two-thirds
of all kids between ages 3 and 17 lived in
homes with computers, and nearly one-third of
kids in that age range have gone online.
The capability to e-mail and send instant
messages have made Internet access a "must-
have" item for many Americans, said Suzanna
Fox, research director for the Pew Internet
and American Life Project..
"E-mailing and instant messaging ... have
been woven into Americans' social lives,"
said Fox, whose nonprofit group tracks Inter-
net usage and habits.
Nearly one-third of all adults 18 and older
and one-fifth of all kids 3 to 17 use e-mail,
the census survey found.
That need for instant communication, along
with a decline in prices, contributed to the
growing number of homes with computers,
analysts said.
Over half of the country's 105 million
households had computers, the first time that
percentage has been over 50 percent'since the
bureau started keeping track of such figures
in 1984.
"Having a computer is no longer an oddity,"
said bureau analyst Eric Newburger.
Gaps still existed among different socioe-
conomic groups. Older Americans and fami-
lies with smaller incomes were less likely to
have computers.
Among children, however, that gap was
CONSTRUCTION
Continued from Page :IA
"We gave the contractors an incentive," said
city project engineer Alison Ferree.
"They got a certain amount of money for
early days; if not, they paid the city for days
past the finish date."
Smaller, on-campus projects, like lab reno-
vations and roof projects also took place, and
construction on the Palmer Drive Commons
Building began. City officials anticipate
blocking Palmer Drive as construction contin-
ues in the area.
Construction officials said the
Mason/Haven Hall project, which includes an
eight-story addition, is on schedule for a
November 2002 completion.
The Rackham building will remain closed
for two years, forcing the University to lease
offices elsewhere.
Renovations also took place over the sum-
mer in East Quad Residence Hall and the
Modern Languages Building and continue in
West Hall. The next major project begins in
the spring with the closure of Hill Auditori-
um.
"We're doing a lot of infrastructure work,"
Brown said.
"It's not the aesthetic stuff and the sexy
stuff. It's things like fire and sprinkler sys-
tems."
The Hill project will reduce the number of
seats from 4,200 to 3,650 and cost $33.5 mil-
lion dollars but promises to positively affect
erased by the availability of computers in
most schools. Nearly 90 percent of all school-
age kids - age 6 to 17 - had access to com-
puters either at home or at school.
Many school districts are going further. At
River Hill High School in Clarksville, Md.,
some ninth-graders were given handheld
devices to use for schoolwork on a test basis.
Teachers uses the devices to solicit respons-
es from everyone in a classroom during dis-
cussion, instead of only the familiar few who
raise their hands, River Hill principal Scott
Pfeifer said.
"When every kid has access to a device and
it is portable like this, then there is this every-
pupil response that occurs," he said. "Then it
truly become a tool that every kid has to
learn."
Among those with Internet access at home,.
73 percent of kids age 3 to 17, and 88 percent
of adults 18 and older, used it for e-mail.
Among children, the next most popular use
was for school research (68 percent), followed
-by more generic information searches (33
percent) and news, weather or sports (20 per-
cent).
Among adults, 64 percent used the Internet
for information searches, and 53 percent to
get news, weather or sports updates. Forty
percent used it to shop or pay bills.
According to the Consumer Electronics
Association, the average price for a personal
computer today is about $950, down from
$1,450 in 1997.
The census figures are from a survey taken
in August 2000 separate from last year"s head
count. The bureau began tracking households
with computers in 1984, and started tracking
Internet usage in 1997:
the acoustic integrity of the building, Brown
said.
"If you listen to some acoustic experts, they
will question that the building is acoustically
sound," she said.
"If anything, we're going to enhance the
acoustics by creating more of a sound barrier
between the lobby and the auditorium."
The School of Music and University Musi-
cal Society are still looking as far away as
Detroit for alternate venues for their events
that normally take place at Hill.
"A project like this might typically last a
couple of years in a normal environment,"
Brown said. "In this case, we're asking people
to tighten up to an 18-month window.... It's a
large consideration because performers are
scrambling for alternative venues."
The city also plans to continue their con-
struction push with the restoration of two-way
streets downtown and the State Street Area
Project.
"We're trying to figure out how we're going
to phase in the construction," said Sue Polley,
Downtown Development Authority executive
director. The project, which is slated to begin
in the spring, involves the installation of new
sidewalks, trees and lights on North Universi-
ty Avenue and State, William, Washington
and Thompson streets.
In addition, all one-way streets in that area
will be reopened to two-way traffic.
Polley said the city hopes to make the area
more pedestrian-friendly by the completion of
the project in 2003.
MPUTERS
ed from Page 1A
mont. "We work with them and they suggest a unit
our needs," Dumont said.
ain aspects considered when selecting new comput-
te campus computing sites are reliability and cost.
Lon't need super, super high-end. We just try and get
and pretty fast, we also try and be economical,;
said. "Our goal is not to have a computer down for
han 24 hours."
lition to the new computers the University also pur-
ew scanners for the Angell Hall computing site and
Rescomp sites, as well as new printers in Angell
addition to the hardware, new software has also
led.
't Bertram, a student academic consultant for the
Hall computing site, said the transition to the new
rs and software has been very smooth.
new computers have been working perfectly as far
Low," Bertram said. "We've eliminated a lot of prob-
ed a lot of older problems.
ot all students have had success with the upgrade.
s have had difficulty using some of the new pro-
nd accessing their e-mail accounts.
n't get my password to work and I have to redo
ing. I think they suck," said LSA senior Jodi
CE
m Page IA
k at the person and they
21, we ask for ID," he
lso tell those who we
ider 21 not to touch any-
dence Halls are also
nforcement of residence
nity living standards
de alcohol and drug use.
o alcohol use, there has
n increase in marijuana
the residence halls,
DPS reports.
dvising our staff anytime
'iolation of any of our
y should document it,"
rector in Resident Edu-
Merritt said.
is clearly a concern in
ity," he said. "We are the
s, and if we notice any-
be documented."
d alcohol-related deaths
e cause for concern.
I more aware and cog-
"We are advising our
staff anytime they
see a violation of any
of our polices, they
should document it."
- Greg Merritt
Assistant Director in
Resident Education
nizant of the dangers of alcohol. We
had students die here last year and we
want our staff to be trained not just
from a policy perspective, but from
an educational perspective," he said.
Brown said DPS does not usually
encounter other drugs, but GHB and
ecstasy are both increasing issues
they are dealing with.
"Occasionally we encounter
crack," she said. "But the drug of
choice tends to be alcohol, and sec-
ondly marijuana."
SERIES
Continued from Page 1A
Counsel Liz Barry, Law Prof. David Chambers, psychol-
ogy and women's studies Prof. Patricia Gurin, Education
Profs. Sylvia Hurtado and Steven Raudenbush, and Law
and women's studies Prof. Christina Whitman.
A panel of student activists from the Coalition to
Defend Affirmative Action and Integration and Fight for
Equality By Any Means Necessary will lead the third
discussion Oct. 1.
The last two lectures, Oct. 15 and 26, feature guest
speakers from Columbia, Temple and Pennsylvania State
Universities.
Each discussion will give audience members the
opportunity to comment and pose questions to the pan-
elists.
Those working closely on the panel series said it had
two major objectives.
"First of all, the affirmative action appeals cases being
heard this fall in court are very important. Secondly, the
positive impact of affirmative action over the past 20
years hasn't been emphasized or celebrated enough," said
Abigail Stewart, the institute's director.
Stewart said these talks should help people think
about the possibilities affirmative action has intro-
duced before the policy is changed or eliminated at the
University.