LOCAL/STATE
The Michigan Daily - Monday, April 8, 2002 - 3A
CAMPUS
'U' prof. to speak on
affirmative action
Law and sociology Prof. Richard
Lempert will give his Distinguished
University Professor Lecture on
"Defending Affirmative Action."
Lempert, a University faculty
member since 1968, applies social
science to legal issues such as studies
of juries and affirmative action and
directs the Life Sciences Values and
Society Program.
The lecture will be given Wednesday
at 4 p.m. in the Founders Room of the
Alumni Center.
Retired executive
speaks on science
and the race track
"The Role of Science and Technolo-
gy in Motorsports" is the topic of a
panel discussion today at 4 p.m. in
room 1800 of the Chemistry Building.
Retired Ford Motor Company execu-
tive and University alum Neil Ressler
will be on the panel.
Other panelists include General
Motors Motorsports Executive Direc-
tor Herb Fishel, Championship Auto
Racing Team driver and team owner
Bobby Rahal and NASCAR team
owner Jack Roush.
The event is part of a day-long sym-
posium addressing "The Physics and
Technology of Motorsports," held by
the Department of Physics and the Col-
lege of Engineering.
Film series puts
worldwide human
rights under lens
The Human Rights Watch Interna-
tional Film Festival, a documentary
series covering worldwide human
rights events, begins Sunday at 6 p.m.
in room 140 of Lorch Hall. Sunday's
film is "Behind Closed Eyes," which
chronicles the struggle of four "chil-
dren of war."
Police officer to
speak on history *of
Ann Arbor Police
Michael Logghe will discuss his
new book, "True Crimes and the
History of the Ann Arbor Police
Department," tomorrow at 12:10
p.m. in the Ann Arbor District
Library multipurpose room, 343 S.
Fifth Ave. Logghe is the AAPDs
media relations officer.
Forum will focus on
the future of public
education direction
The Ann Arbor Area League of
Women Voters will hold a lecture
tomorrow addressing "Public Educa-
tion: Where is it Going."
Michigan Board of Education
member Herbert Moyer will give the
talk, which will be held at 7 p.m. in
the Women's City Club, 1830 Washte-
naw Ave.
Single women to be
focus of discussion
Views of single women over the
20th Century will be the topic of a
discussion led by Deborah Siegel
Wednesday at noon. The event, titled
"Single Girl: The Making of an
Icon," will be held at the Center for
the Education of Women, 330 E.
Liberty St.
Expert of social
problems to give
Copernicus Lecture
The Annual Copernicus Lecture
will be given by Polish artist and Min-
nesota Institute of Technology Inter-
rogative Design Group director
Krzysztof Wodiczko.
Known for his projections on archi-
tectural facades focusing on societal
problems, Wodiczko has tackled
issues such as xenophobia, urban vio-
lence, homelessness, domestic abuse
in his art.
The lecture will be given Thurs-
day at 7 p.m. at Chrysler Center's
Cheseborough Auditorium, 2121
Bonisteel Ave.
- Compiled by Daily Staff Reporter
Jordan Schrader
GEO votes, approves contract with
'U'
By Jordan Schrader
Daily Staff Reporter
The 2002-2005 contract between the Univer-
sity and the Graduate Employees Organization
was approved last night by GEO members and
is ready to be signed.
GEO organizers tallied the
results yesterday of the mail-in
ballots sent to members. They
voted overwhelmingly to ratify
the contract, casting 399 votes in
favor and only two against. About
1,000 ballots were originally sent to members.
The University and GEO bargaining teams
will sign the contract in two to three weeks,
organizers said.
The contract comes after five months of
negotiations, a one-day walk-out and GEO's
threat of an indefinite strike.
Rackham student and GEO member Rachel
Meyer said the vote was close to unanimity
because the bargaining team addressed the con-
cerns of most groups within the union, includ-
ing parents, women, minorities and low-fraction
graduate student instructors.
"We made significant gains in all aspects of
our strike platform," she said.
Despite what they say is an excellent con-
tract, the union will soon be searching for ways
to improve it, GEO organizer Mark Dilley said.
When contract negotiations start again in 2004,
CEO's new leaders will have a new set of goals
based on members' priorities, he said.
Dilley said one policy the union may try to
change is the LSA rule that limits GSIs to 10
terms of paid teaching at the University.
"When graduate students are teaching, their
own work slows down," requiring that they go
beyond the maximum time in their studies, he
said. Dilley added that GEO has been looking
for ways to change the rule for a decade.
Another issue he said the union may address
in the future is the unionization of graduate
research assistants, which GEO could aid by
either bringing them into its membership or
"We fully expect the University to live by the
contract they have signed. ... But in the event that
does not happen, we'll make sure that it does."
- Rachel Meyer
Graduate Employee Organization member
working with them to create a separate union.
Despite the potential for more contract dis-
putes during the next round of negotiations,
Dilley said he would like his successors to be
able to settle the disagreements with the Uni-
versity without resorting to the threat of a
strike.
"We'd much rather bargain with the Universi-
ty," he said. "I hope sincerely that things will be
different."
Organizers emphasized that before beginning
to work on a new contract, the union must
enforce the one they have.
"We fully expect the University to live by the
contract they have signed," Meyer said. "But in
the event that does not happen, we'll make sure
that it does."
While some GEO leaders counted votes, oth-
ers were participating in a national conference
of the Alliance of Graduate Employee Locals.
Dilley, who attended the conference, said other
GSI unions there looked to GEO for leadership
because of their strong position and new con-
tract.
"Everybody sees what GEO has and that's
what they strive for," he said.
Students rebuild Detroit
during day of service
U Over 1,500 volunteers
work in communities
surrounding Detroit
By Samantha Woll
Daily Staff Reporter
More than 1,200 students learned
during the weekend that saving the
world starts one Detroit Project Day
at a time.
The day is touted by organizers
as a "grand finale" of year-round
service. The Detroit Project is a stu-
dent-run community service organi-
zation which has been working with
the Brightmoor community of
Detroit since it was founded in
1999.
"Exposure to urban blight and
awareness of surrounding issues are
both crucial components to taking
an active role in community serv-
ice," LSA senior Lindsay Laneville,
the Detroit Project's external direc-
tor, said. "That is one of the reasons
we aim high in our numbers to
recruit volunteers."
Through the help of local schools
and more than 15 non-profit organi-
zations, the oetroit Project focuses
on forming relationships with com-
munity residents and uniting the
University and surrounding com-
munities around the common cause
of strengthening the city.
The day of service began around
10:30 a.m. with opening remarks
from Motor City Blight Busters
President John George. This year
had additional significance for the
city because Detroit Mayor Kwime
Kilpatrick is kicking off the first
annual "Motor City Makeover" - a
10 week citywide cleanup initiative
- this month.
Although they encountered a few
problems, Laneville said all of
Detroit Project Day's aims were
accomplished.
"We definitely met every goal,
each and every goal," she said. "We
filled every dumpster to the brim."
One of the challenges was that
two demolition sites were can-
celled. But the planning committee
claimed success despite the prob-
lem by consolidating certain sites
and doing more cleanup.
While rain and snotw was present
at past Detroit Project days, pleas-
ant weather conditions set the stage
for additional improvements from
past years.
A larger awareness throughout
Detroit helped to increase commu-
nity attendance and involvement.
Laneville said the community was
very enthusiastic with people com-
ing out of their houses to help out
with the day's efforts. She estimated
that there were between 1,500 and
2,000 volunteers.
In addition to a large turnout from
University volunteers, the day was
also successful in mobilizing volun-
teers from other universities' various
conmunity service groups. About
50-75 students from Oakland Univer-
sity, Wayne State University, Univer-
sity of Detroit and Western Michigan
University came to help out.
Members of the fraternity Pi Psi,
representing various chapters around
Michigan, volunteered for the proj-
ect, working with Grandmont-
Rosedale and cleaning up parks.
Faculty, staff and University
alumni were also in attendance at
this year's event. Laneville said
there were several other community
members who had stumbled upon
the project's website and showed up
to volunteer.
Future goals for next year's
Detroit Project Day include raising
awareness throughout the state,
especially in Southeastern Michi-
gan, as well as more recruitment
and involvement of faculty and
staff. Organizers said they aim to
spread their efforts by moving into
the southwest area of Detroit in
addition to the northwest area.
At the end of the day, exhausted
volunteers returned to Ann Arbor
proud of their achievements.
"Barriers were coming down left
and right," Laneville said. "People
were speaking to each other without
reservations, working towards a
common goal."
LSA sophomore Jeannette
Dupure, who worked on the Public
Relations team, echoed Lanevillie's
excitement about the day's events.
"It took a lot of planning but it
was definitely worth the effort,"
Dupure said.
LAURENBRAUN/D, l
A Detroit Project volunteer paints a mural on the side of Gompers Elementary
School In the Brightmoor neighborhood of Detroit Saturday.
Fraternity, concert
earn researchfud
By Tyler Boersen
Daily Staff Reporter
This was not your typical frat party.
Nearly 500 students gathered in the
backyard of the Alpha Epsilon Pi frater-
nity house Saturday, forming a tight
crowd to fend off cold weather and
dancing with the music of the first "Pi
Bash" in an effort to raise money for a
good cause. The fraternity is donating
the proceeds from the event to Mott
Children's Hospital and breast cancer
research at the University. This year's
first "Pi Bash" raised more than $1,000
and fraternity members said they hope
to make the concert an annual event.
"We covered our costs early in the day
and hopefully we will have a lot to give
away," LSA sophomore and fraternity
President Ron Alkalay said.
Three bands entertained the crowd
standing near the small stage. The show
featured Granian, a band touring small
venues and colleges throughout he
country. They were joined by East Lans-
ing native Four Days and Kalamazoo's
The Transfer. The music could be heard
from a block away and six neighbors
called the Ann Arbor Police Department
complaining of noise. However, officers
did not attempt to shut down the event
and only asked them to keep the volume
a little lower.
LSA freshman Dave Lapedis, an
AEPi brother and event organizer, said
the police "were very accommodating."
AAPD spokesman Sgt. Michael Log-
ghe said it is the officer's discretion to
act on noise violations. The event was
kept in order by orange construction
fence surrounding the yard and several
University athletes serving as security.
The idea to hold a benefit concert
came from Granian interest in returning
to Ann Arbor after an appearance in
December. Lapedis also said they want-
ed to do something for the community
bigger than volunteering for a day.
The fraternity is hoping the event will
help paint a new face on their house and
the Greek system, which often receives
more attention for their misconduct than
their good deeds.
"People don't often look at the Greek
community as being a good thing for the
surrounding community," Lapedis said.
The A EPi brothers hope to prove that
fraternities can have a positive impact.
"If I am going to be involved in it, I
want to make a good statement. We
don't get drunk and party all the time,"
Lapedis said.
Alkalay said AEPi members are try-
ing to disassociate from the former fra-
ternity that had its charter revoked. They
are attempting to rebuild and show that
this is a new group of members. "We are
capable guys who are going to be suc-
cessful in the future," Lapedis said. "We
wanted to show that we could donate a
lot of money and still have a lot of fun"
THE CALENDAR
What's happening in Ann Arbor today
EVENTS p.m., St. Mary Student Work"; Sponsored by the SERVICES
Parish, 663-0557 Center for the Education Campus Information
National Service Town "Parents in the Acade- Centers, 764-INFO,
my: When is the Right of Women, 3-5 p.m., info@umich.edu, or
by University Democrats, Time to Have a Baby?"; Museum of Art Alumni ww.A..E.a k n63 A ,
Talk hv ntnra John Sponsored by the Center Memorial Hall Cli 4 hoursa rav