LOCAL/STATE The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, January 22, 2002 - 3A White won't say if he will seek presidency Wayward car goes into median A person drove a vehicle into the traf- fic island on the east side of the Forest Avenue parking structure early Friday morning, reported the Department of Public Safety. There was no property damage, but the vehicle had to be towed. Ex-boyfriend hits current boyfriend A South Quad Residence Hallresi- dent reported that her ex-boyfriend entered her room through an open door and punched her current boyfriend in the face at 10:15 p.m. Thursday and then left the area, according to DPS reports. The report was made 15 minutes after the inci- dent, and the suspect was not located in the area. The victim did not require any medical attention. Person arrested for attempting to use stolen checks A person entered the University Credit Union at Pierpont Commons Friday afternoon and attempted to pass several hundred dollars worth of stolen checks, according to DPS reports. The suspect was arrested prior to leaving the area. Damage reported to phone at Union A telephone was damaged at the loading dock of the Michigan Union, DPS reports state. The telephone was damaged from normal usage. Panhandler gets aggressive when visiting patient An aggressive panhandler entered the hospital early Sunday morning, according to DPS reports. The subject was located and turned out to be a vis- itor of a patient. Man gets death threat during basketball game A man at the Central Campus Recreation Building claimed that a man threatened to kill him if he bumped into him again while they were playing basketball Saturday afternoon, DPS reports state. When the caller turned his back to the sub- ject, the man hit him in the back of the head. Both the victim and the sus- pect were interviewed. Resident smells smoke in building A resident of the Northwood Apart- ments called to report the smell of smoke and that a neighbor's smoke detector was going off Saturday night, according to DPS reports. The neigh- bors had left food on the oven when they left. There was no damage. Patient attacks, hospital workers Staff members at the University Hospitals were assaulted by a patient early Sunday morning, DPS reports state. The patient was being treated for alcohol and drug problems. There were no injuries. Solicitors invade South Quad A South Quad resident called and complained that there were solicitors going door to door in the building Fri- day afternoon, DPS reports state. The solicitors were apprehended, informed of the trespassing policy and escorted out of the building. Markley resident hospitalized after drinking Friday Four residents of Mary Markley Res- idence Hall were cited for possession of alcohol Friday night, DPS reports state. One resident was transported to the University Hospitals emergency room because of a high blood-alcohol level. - Compiled by Daily Staff Reporter Jeremy Berkowitz. By Shannon Pettypiece Daily Staff Reporter Interim University President B. Joseph White will not publicly announce whether he will toss his hat into the candi- date pool for the next University president. White announced last semester that he planned to inform the search com- mittee of his decision to apply for the permanent position as University president in January but White has not yet discussed the matter with the committee. "As I indicated earlier, at some point in the process I will communicate my intentions to the Presidential Search Committee and Presi- dential Search Advisory Committee," White said in a written statement released Friday. He said the University Board of Regents, which is acting as the search committee, has .asked him to keep quiet with any decision he makes regarding the vacant presidential posi- tion and that he will comply with the request. "Those committees have asked me to make no comment about my candidacy due to their firm commitment to confidentiality for all elements of the search process," White said in the statement. "I respect their wishes, and their commitment to the integrity of the search, and will not discuss this matter pub- licly." Regent David Brandon (R-Ann Arbor) said the committee did not request White to refrain from commenting on his potential candidacy because they believed it would hinder his ability to serve as interim presi- dent or deter other candidates. "The Presidential Search Committee is deeply concerned about the confidentiality of the search process. Consequently they felt to maintain the highest level of confidentiality at this stage would be a benefit," Brandon said. "The search consultant and the Presidential Search Committee felt at this stage the search recruitment process would be helped in putting together a pool of candidate if there was a quiet period," said Regent Larry Deitch (D-Bingham Farms). Ready and waiting U' rejects GEG proposal for more har By Christopher Johnson Daily Staff Reporter Graduate student instructors and staff assistants were denied additional con- tractual protection from harassment last week during contract negotiations between members of the Graduate Employees Organization and the Uni- versity. The proposal requested a sepa- rate grievance procedure and the inclusion of discrimination as a form of harassment. Pavitra Sundar, a spokeswoman for GEO, explained that recent cases of harassment prompted the organization to propose the changes. "The grievance procedure in exis- tence was not adequate; we needed to have a separate system altogether," she said. Although only three students present- ed their cases during contract negotia- tions, Sundar asserted that other incidents of harassment have occurred from both faculty and students and that ssment protection many graduate students who have expe- "We think it is extremely clear t rienced harassment do not file for griev- harassment is covered by the grievar ance. procedure.... The important thing is "How can you go to the University make clear to (GEO) members tl when the problem is the University harassment is covered under (it), itself?" Sundar said. She said GEO sus- statement from GEO quoted Gamble pected the University denied the propos- saying. University spokeswoman Ju al because there were few cases and Peterson confirmed the accuracy of1 added that the institution should not quote. base its decision on the number of cases Peterson was reluctant to offer mu because individuals are suffering. information on the University's sta GEO member Susanni Ngarian lost a while contract negotiations were grievance based on harrassment. progress, but said the University 1 "After all that I went through, I already created many methods couldn't believe that ordinary faculty grievances involving harassment. that deal with grad students could be "Harassment is simply not tolera part of a team that makes the University at the University of Michigan. We ha seem so heartless,"Ngarian said. a number of offices and processes GEO negotiators will consider all of available to all faculty and student the options to further their appeals but Peterson said. plan to continue discussing the matter at She also said the University and1 tomorrow's meeting, Sundar said. GEO have been engaged in product Dan Gamble, the administration's discussions during negotiations and t chief negotiator, defended the Universi- they normally progress in the back-a ty's rejection of the proposal in a written forth process of proposal and count statement. proposal. hat nce s to hat " a eas ulie the uch nd, in has for ted ave ts," the ive hat rnd- ter- EMMA FOSDICK/Daily Ann Arbor children listen to the assistant dean of the School of Education as they wait for the 15th Annual MLK Symposium Children's Program to begin. Panel e-mphasizes importance of legal abortion to women r.,,t,.,.,..... I-LORD0OF THIE RNGS 1' Wednesday, January 23,7:0- 8:30 p.mn Presenter: Dr. Christopher Mitchell Chris Mitchell is director of the Wade Center at Wheaton College, Illinois, which houses a major research collection of the books and papers of J.R.R. Tolkien and others. By Kay Bhagat Daily Staff Reporter Looking to today's 29th anniversary of the landmark Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion, state Sen. Alma Wheeler Smith said this weekend that it's essential to continually address the issue so a woman's right to choose will never again be taken away. University Students for Choice/Vox organized Sunday's event with the inten- tion of honoring Jane Roe and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. while combining women and minority students, said Stu- dents for Choice member Katrina Mann, a third-year Rackham student. Smith (D-Salem Twp.) opened the speaker panel with a background of his- torical legislative patterns and obstacles that allowed abortion to become legal. "Protection of our civil rights takes eternal vigilance," she said. Smith focused the direction of her speech on the danger and risk of the reversal of the Supreme Court's 1973 decision legalizing abortion because of the community's decreasing activism. "Everyone says this is a pro-choice state, but there's nothing in this legisla- ture that says we're pro-choice," Smith said. Smith's encouragement and strong enforcement for more community involvement had an effect on many stu- dents. "I was delightfully surprised at the emphasis of political action," Mann said. Planned Parenthood senior educator Rhonda Bantsimba was the second panel speaker, relating the issue of race and the right for a woman to choose. Bantsimba said women should have control over their own bodies, and no one else should make a decision con- cerning their bodies. The statistics she integrated into her speech sent gasps of surprise through the audience. Half of all women have an abortion in their lifetime, while two- thirds of these women intend to have children in the future, and Catholics are as likely as all women to have an abor- tion, according to Bantsimba. Nesha Haneff of the University's women's studies department and Center for Afroamerican and African Studies, was the last panel speaker. She voiced concerns about people being more interested in making money than in making a dlifference. She said the problem is that a univer- sity educates students to be the same, not to go against the status quo. Haneff challenged the 70 attending students at the Michigan League to work with the community and stand up for what they believe in, especially if that is different or risky in their future careers. An eight-week book club on "Lord of the Rings" will follow this special presentation. Everyone is welcome and all events are FREE! For additional information, please call 248.374-5937. ITI WARD Evangelical Presbyterian Church 40000 Six Mile Rd., Northville - Just west of 1-275 I REC SPORM INTRAMURALS The University of Michigan Department of Recreational Sports INTRAMURAL SPORTS PROGRAM WHAT'S HAPPENING I BADMINTON SINGLES & DOUBLES ENTRIES DUE: Thursday 1/24 4:30PM IMSB ENTRY FEE: $5 for Singles/$9 for Doubles TOURNAMENT DATES: Saturday 1/26 & Sunday 1/27 NCRB z ~ '" SWIMMING AND DIVING ENTRIES DUE: Tuesday 1/29, 4:30 PM, IMSB ENTRY FEE: $25 per team $5 per individual MANAGER'S MEETING: MANDATORY Tues 1/29,6:00 PM, IMSB MEET DATE: Thurs 1/31, Canham Nat MSU grad student dies of meningitis _ i 'EAST LANSING (AP) - A 25- year-old Michigan State University graduate student died Sunday of bacteri- al meningitis. Matthew E. Knueppel, of Jackson, was a first-year food service manage- ment student. He died at Lansing's Spar- row Hospital shortly after midnight. , Knueppel had meningococcal menin- gitis, a bacterial infection that inflames the lining surround the brain and spinal cord, Ingham County Health Depart- ment Director Dean Sienko said. The disease has flulike symptoms that can include high fever, headache, nausea, vomiting and a stiff neck. Sienko said Knueppel went to Spar- row on Saturday afternoon. He was released shortly afterward but returned later that evening. It is unknown which strain of the dis- ease Knueppel had. Public health labo- ratories should be able to identify the strain within the next several days. 3-POINT SHOOTOUT ENTRIES DUE: Fri 2/1, 4:30 PM, IMSB Office Fri 2/1, 6:00 PM, IMSB Gym ENTRY FEE: $5 per individual $1 per each additional try SHOOTOUT DATE: Fri 2/1, 11:00AM to 6:00PM IMSB L FREE THROW CONTEST ENTRIES DUE: Fri 2/1, 4:30 PM, IMSB Office Fri 2/1, 6:00 PM, IMSB Gym ENTRY FEE: $5 per individual $1 per each additional try CONTEST DATE: Fri 2/1, 11:00AM-6:00PM IMSB THE CALENDAR What's happening in Ann Arbor today EVENTS The 12th Annual Golden Apple Award; Sponsored Assembly Meeting; 7:30 p.m., MSA Chambers, Third Floor, Michigan Union "Fired Text, Embedded Memory"; Sponsored by the University Institute for the Humanities, Noon, SERVICES Campus Information Centers, 764-INFO, info@umich.edu, or www. umich.edu/-info The Entry Deadline for the Table Tennis Tournament is 4:30pm Thursday 2/7 while entries for Pre-Season Volleyball will be taken at the IMSB Main Office 9am- 4:30pm Monday, February 11-Wednesday, February 13. 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