LOCAL/STATE
The Michigan Daily - Monday, March 25, 2002 -3A
Kids-Fair brings elementary students to
'U,
Native Americans
hold dance pow wow
At the 30th Annual Dance for Moth-
er Earth Pow wow, Native Americans
will gather for social dancing, dance
contests and demonstrations of differ-
ent styles of traditional dance.. Many
participants will wear ceremonial
dress, and traditional Native American
food and crafts will be sold.
The pow wow is historically the
largest gathering of its kind in Michi-
gan and is sponsored by the Universi-
ty's Native American Student
Association and the Office of Multi-
ethnic Student Affairs. It will be held
Friday from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m., Satur-
day from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Sun-
day from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Power
Center.
NBC correspondent
speaks about his
life experiences
"Dateline NBC" news correspondent
John Hockenberry will speak alout his
life experiences tomorrow at 7:30 p.m.
in the Michigan Union Ballroom. Hock-
enberry, who was paralyzed from the
waist down after a spinal cord injury, is
the winner of two Peabody Awards and
several Emmy Awards.
He has written a novel and a mem-
oir, performed a one-man off-Broad-
way show based on the memoir and
worked for the New York Times, the
Washington Post, the New Yorker,
National Public Radio and ABC News.
Rivers and ACLU's
Steinberg to discuss
antiterrorism laws
Congresswoman Lynn Rivers
(D-Ann Arbor) and Michigan chapter
of the American Civil Liberties Union
Director Michael Steinberg will speak
about "The Antiterrorism Laws and
their Implications" Wednesday, fol-
lowed by a panel discussion.
The talk is part of a series, titled
"Conflict and Culture in the Middle
East and Central Asia," organized
by Ann Arbor parents and students.
It will be held at 7:30 p.m. at the
Rudolf Steiner School, 2775 New-
port Rd.
UC creative writing
Prof. reads from her
most recent novel
University of California creative
writing Prof. Susan Straight will read
excerpts from her latest novel, "High-
wire Moon," Thursday at 5 p.m. at the
Business School's Hale Auditorium.
The novel is about a Mexican migrant
worker who is separated from her
daughter.
Law prof. speaks
on globalization
The Center for International and
Comparative Law will host a lecture on
globalization and the World Trade
Organization titled "Building a Better
WTO: The Limits of Interpretation."
Suffolk University Law Prof. Sara Dil-
lon will speak.
The lecture will be held today at
3:40 p.m. in 116 Hutchins Hall, 625 S.
State St.
Lectures held on
Phillipine culture
The University's "Philippines Stud-
ies Initiative," a series of lectures
exploring the culture and history of the
country, continues tomorrow with a
lecture on the politics and society of
Manila. Urban planning Prof. Gavin
Shatkin will speak at the lecture, which
will be held at 7 p.m. at the School of
Social Work Building, 1080 South
University Ave.
Lecture, exhibit
highlight Harlem
Renaissance art
In conjunction with an exhibit of
black artist William Johnson's works, art
history Prof. Jacqueline Francis will lec-
ture on the Harlem Renaissance. She
will speak tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. at the
Washtenaw Community College's Stu-
dent Center, 4800 E. Huron River Dr.
-Compiled by Daily Staff Reporter
Jordan Schrader
By Soojung Chang
Daily Staff Reporter
Eating snowcones in Antarctica, making mara-
cas in South America, practicing African tribal
face painting, fishing in the Nile river and build-
ing boomerangs in Australia were some of the
booth themes at this year's fourth annual K-grams
Kids-Fair, titled "Smilin' Around the World."
More than 1,000 students from nine local ele-
mentary schools and 1,850 college students par-
ticipated in the event held Friday at Crisler Arena.
"This year, we decided to integrate an interna-
tional theme, threading it throughout the entire
event," Ani Shehigian, executive director of the
Smile Programming Council, said. SPC is the
organization that runs K-grams.
"Because the focus of Kids-Fair is to provide
educational and interactive activities for people of
all ages to enjoy, the international theme added a
unique flair to Kids-Fair this year," she said.
K-grams, short for "Kids Programs" promotes
interaction between.college and elementary stu-.
dents. The K-grams Pen Pal Program pairs stu-
dents living in the residence halls with
elementary school kids who write to each other
throughout the school year.
"This is kind of the culminating event," Busi-
ness junior Leon Salkin said. "The pen pals get to
meet with their college pen pals."
LSA junior and Kids-Fair Director Channelle
Kizy said this year's kids fair involved more than
120 student groups.
"Our turnout has been incredible this year. We
had over 800 buddies, which is a larger number
than we've ever had before," she said.
At the Kids-Fair, pen pal pairs participate in
booth activities by University student organiza-
tions, ranging from fraternities and sororities to
multicultural organizations and athletic teams.
LSA senior and SPC member Erin Krumrei
noted that sometimes college buddies can not make
it to the fair, which is why every kid receives a pic-
ture of their buddy at the end of the day.
"We did have extra buddies," she said. "The
kids did get to meet college students throughout
the day even if it wasn't their pen pal."
According to Shehigian, a major part of the
Kids-Fair is to provide elementary students with
an opportunity to visit the University, interact
with college students and experience college life,
in addition to its educational component.
Karl Szynwelski, a fifth grader at Carpenter
Elementary School, has been to three fairs and
agreed that this year's fair was a success. "It was
the best one I went to so far," Szynwelski said.
Szynwelski's fifth grade teacher, Pete Larson,
said he has involved his students in K-grams for
the past four years.
"It helps kids a lot with letter writing," he said.
"It also helps them get to know what sort of
things happen in college.
Planning for this year's Kids-Fair started in June
and involved the 60 plus members of the SPC.
"We do all of this for the kids - that's
what it's all about," Shehigian said. "The
smiling faces, the excitement, the learning
taking place right before our eyes, the inter-
action between elementary and college stu-
dents, faculty/staff, parents, and teachers; we
can honestly say that Kids-Fair has exenipli-
fied the purpose of K-grams."
Students celebrate Anfican
fashion, dancing and music
By Karen Schwartz
Daily Staff Reporter
Dancers wearing traditional African
outfits swept through the Michigan
Union Ballroom last night in a flurry of
sights and sounds as the African Stu-
dents Association presented a night of
fashion, dance, music and food.
The show, titled "African Lights Mis-
chee" addressed culture throughout the
African continent, focusing on issues
including inter-generational conversa-
tions, bridging the traditional and the
modern, and marriage and the family.
"We want to show that there is an*
African student presence on campus
and that we are strong contributors to
the University community academi-
cally and culturally," show organizer
Ijeoma Nnodim said, adding that it is
important to share knowledge and
educate the, campus about Africa and
African history, as well as to let peo-
ple know there is a resource for those
who want to learn more.
Nnodim also addressed what she said
was the need for Africans to be able to
speak about their history and issues that
affect them.
"We are here to say that we are
Africans - that we are proud of our
culture and our identity and that we epit-
omize the contradictions of the stereo-
types usually portrayed about Africa and
African culture," she said.
Stereotypes that usually come to mind
when people talk about Africa, she said,
include that one of the first ideas that
people think of is AIDS and people
dying of AIDS. Nnodim said this and
other stereotypes are perpetuated by the
media and misrepresent reality.
"Whatever is here in the U.S. is there.
No society in the world has a monopoly
over poverty and disease, it is in Ameri-
ca too," she said. Nnodim questioned
why these stereotypes exist and why the
media is intent on showing negative
images in the continent as opposed to
positive images.
"It makes it seem like everyday there's
war, disease and famine, but that's not
the case," she said. "People live there like
they live here and that's a fact."
ASA member Victoria Rosser said
Friday night's show is different from
other cultural shows because its empha-
sis on the continent of Africa.
"I think there are a lot of people who
don't know about Africa, and it's very
important to learn about and embrace
different cultures," she said.
Rosser stressed the beauty of the cul-
ture and the chance to experience
African culture by way of music, food
and clothes. "African people have issues
and a culture we should educate our-
selves about," she said.
LAURIE BRESCOLL/Daily
As part of the African Students Association's African lights Mischee, two women
perform a market skit in traditional African dress.
Greek week aims to benefit
local and national charities
By Jordan Schrader
Daily Staff Reporter
BR I MOUNIAIN/Uaily
LSA sophomore Abigail Short serves traditional German food while she displays
german toys at the International Tea at Martha Cook Residence Hall Friday.
Tea festival displays
intern-ational cultureus
Fraternity and sorority members
who run, jump, limbo and ride tricy-
cles for charity on the Diag today will
be able to meet the children who bene-
fit from their games, during this year's
Greek Week.
The annual event raises money for
several national and local charities
during two weeks of activities and
contests. Last year, Greek Week
donated $36,000 to Camp Heart-
land, a Minnesota-based outreach
and camping program for children
infected with HIV and AIDS, out of
about $40,000 raised from sponsors,
donations and Greek system partici-
pation fees, LSA senior and Greek
Week spokesman Dan Fanton said.
Kids from Camp Heartland will be
on hand to participate in and judge
today's Greek Week events. They will
speak about their experiences tonight
at 7 p.m. in the Power Center in an
AIDS awareness presentation titled
"Journey of Hope."
"With a lot of charity programs,
we see there's not much contact
with the recipients, and with Greek
Week we try to change that to make
as much contact as possible," Fanton
said.
Money not donated to Camp
Heartland will be divided between
the Coach Carr Cancer Fund, the
New York Firefighters 9-11 Fund,
the Boys and Girls Club of America
and Students Promoting Eating Dis-
order Awareness and Knowledge.
SPEAK co-president and Social
Work student Lauren Victor said Greek
Week is donating proceeds to the
organization this year for the first time
because members of the Greek system
have come to realize how much they
are affected by eating disorders.
"Living together in close quarters
with a lot of girls (in sororities) pro-
motes a kind of environment of compe-
tition; Victor said. "That environment
really cultivates the problem."
SPEAK is a student group that pro-
vides support for people who suffer
from eating disorders and teaches oth-
ers how to recognize and confront vic-
tims of those disorders. The money
raised by Greek Week will help the
organization, better disseminate its
message, Victor said.
Apart from the donations to charity,
LSA sophomore and Interfraternity
Council spokesman David Jira said
Greek Week creates a greater sense of
community between participants
because a fraternity and a sorority are
paired as a team for competition in
activities.
Each team must also participate in a
sexual assault prevention workshop,
which creates bonds by showing frater-
nity members are willing to enter a
discussion on assault, he said.
The games on the Diag and the Jour-
ney of Hope presentation are the main
events today. A contest for the title of
Mr. Greek Week 2002 will be held
tomorrow at 7 p.m. at. the Power Cen-
ter. On April 1, participants will gather
at fraternities on State Street for more
games and will hold a spelling bee and
lip sync contest that night. Teams will
conclude Greek Week by singing and
dancing in Hill Auditorium at 6 p.m.
on April 3. Blood drives will also be
held throughout this week and next at
the Michigan Union.
Fanton said the general public is
welcome at Greek Week events.
By Karen Schwartz
Daily StaffReporter
Lindsay Benstead brought a piece of
Thailand home with her after teaching
there for two years, sharing a recipe for
mango and sweet sticky rice a Thai
woman taught her with the campus
community at the annual Martha Cook
International Tea Festival.
Martha Cook Residence Hall resi-
dents presented cuisine and culture
from more than 20 countries Friday,
giving visitors a chance to sample
diversity through their taste buds.
"We can't ever possibly travel to all
these countries but we can learn about
them by going to events like these;' she
said. "It's a rare chance to be able to
learn and try all these different things."
Thetheme of this year's Internation-
al Tea Festival was "Embracing Diver-
sity, in Search of Identity."
"Learning about others helps you
identify yourself," Ethnic Council
chair Yumna Mackie said. Mackie said
the event is presented annually as a
celebration of culture and diversity
and a showcase of the University com-
munity. Cultural presentations at the
festival included an Irish Whistle, a
Japanese drum performance, Czech
polka dancers, Scottish dancers and
Arabic drums.
Martha Cook President and LSA
senior Angie Bur said she feels the
event is a good chance to introduce
Martha Cook to the community and to
give people a chance to explore the
residence hall, which otherwise oper-
ates under a strict escort policy. "This
just opens our dorm to the community
and reflects the type of residents who
live here. It's a chance to celebrate
diversity," Bur said. She added that if
students had not taken advantage of
other cultural events on campus, this
was the one to visit.
"You get a window into many cul-
tures and gain a greater appreciation
for other cultures," she said. "I think
the message is clear, to appreciate and
honor multicultural students and that's
what a Michigan education is about."
Engineering freshman Tucker
Berckmann said he heard about the
event through e-mail and friends.
"It just sounded cool ... you don't
get to drink good tea very often and
free food everywhere ... you can't
pass that up," Berckmann said. "And I
think it's neat because it's nice to be
able to get into the building, which is
really cool but normally closed off."
- U
During the Passover
observance, alternative
meal options are available
for residence hall residents
or students with
Entree meal plans.
P vER
Information and forms
available at all residence
hall offices, Entree Office,
and Housing Information
Office. Forms must be
submitted by March 27.
University Housing, Division of Student Affairs in cooperation with
the Hillel Foundation and Chabad House (Jewish Student Centers)
@Salfu IVu
HE CALENDAR
What's happening in Ann Arbor today
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EVENTS
"Iraqi Sanctions Kill
Innocent Lives"; Spon-
sored by the Arab-Anti
Orchestra Performance;
Sponsored by the School
of Music, 8 p.m., Hill
Auditorium
"Landon Carter's Uneasy
"The Shapes They Wore
Onstage"; Sponsored by
Women's Studies, Talk by
Lisa Merril, noon, 2239
SERVICES
Campus information
Centers, 764INFO,
info@umich.edu, or
www.umich.eduinfo
S.A.F.E. Walk. 763-WALK,
i
p lo l !!I! !I!