LOCAL/STATE

The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, April 10, 2002 - 3

HIGHER ED

Canine unit added to

DPS staff

Ivy League target
of possible slave
reparations suits
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Reports
from the national Reparations Coordi-
nating Committee indicate the group
will likely sue Brown University for
monetary compensation relating to the
institution's alleged historical role in
the slave trade.
In an editorial written in The New
York Times last week, Harvard Univer-
sity Professor of Law Charles Ogletree
named Brown, Yale University and
Harvard Law School as "probable tar-
gets" in a reparations lawsuit to be
filed later this year.
The schools "made headlines recent-
ly as the beneficiaries of grants and
endowments traced back to slavery,"
Ogletree wrote.
Mark Nickel, director of the Brown
News Service, said Brown has no
response because no lawsuit has been
filed yet.
Ogletree told the Harvard Crimson
the RCC's goal in filing the suits is to
"create opportunity for discussion of
slavery and its impact on culture and
society as well as how we can move
forward as a nation to remove barriers
and work for equality to stop racial dis-
parity."
Ogletree made clear in his editorial
the RCC will go forward with the suit.
"Reparations litigation will show
what slavery meant, how it was prof-
itable and how it has continued to
affect the opportunities of millions of
black Americans," Ogletree said.
Anti-reparations critics say the suits
should not be brought about at all.
"This is a shakedown operation, a
frivolous scam," said David Horowitz,
author of "Uncivil Wars: The Contro-
versy Over Reparations for Slavery."
"You just can't try cases after every-
one involved is dead," he said. "What
they are doing is to take a crime com-
mitted 150 years ago and using it to
make money for people today."
The lawsuit would not be without
precedent.
Deadria Farmer-Paellmann, a New
York legal researcher and activist, filed
a reparations suit in federal court
against three companies last month.
The claim stems from the companies'
past involvements with slavery.
NYU tops list for
international
undergrad studies
NEW YORK - In a recent ranking,
the American Universities Admission
Program named New York University
the top American undergraduate uni-
versity for international students
because of a "tidal wave" of interest
from students abroad, an AUAP offi-
cial said.
The ranking comes only weeks
after an announcement from New
York University officials that inter-
national students would be subject to
more scrutiny at the University,
including stricter immigration
reporting standards. Despite the
changes, New York University man-
aged to beat out a wealth of Ivy
League schools for the top spot.
This is the first time since the
rankings began that Harvard Univer-
sity, now tied for second with
Columbia University, has not been
ranked first.
Rounding out the top 10 were Cor-
nell University, Stanford University,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
Yale University, University of Pennsyl-
vania, Pennsylvania State University
and Middlebury College. Wellesley

College ranked first among all-women
colleges.
AUAP Chairman J. Prade said Har-
vard's low acceptance rate for interna-
tional students - 3 percent - is one
reason it tied for only second place.
Meanwhile, the appeal of the Big
Apple helped put New York Universi-
ty on top, right above Columbia,
Prade said.
"This year we saw everyone was
talking about New York University,
and it was just statistically (very
high) in rate of admissions and test
scores," Prade said. "They all wanted
to go to New York. New York Univer-
sity seems to be a little more 'in,' a
little more 'hip' than Columbia. I
don't know why - location, per-
haps."
- Compiled from U- Wire reports by
Daily StaffReporter Maria Sprow

By Rob Goodspeed
Daily Staff Reporter
The newest members of the Department of Public Safety are two-
years-old and respond to verbal foreign language commands. DPS has
added two police dogs to their staff - trained to track people and
detect explosives.
DPS officers Mark West and Brian Daniels are in charge of over-
seeing Brutus, a two-year-old bengian malinois, and Jesse, a two-year-
old German shepherd.
The dogs and officers have completed a one-month training pro-
gram. DPS spokeswomen Diane Brown said the dogs will be used by
DPS to track criminals, lost and missing persons and detect explo-
sives. The dogs are not trained to attack.
Each canine unit cost DPS $13,000, which includes the dog, one
month's training for the dog and an officer, travel expenses, and retro-
fitting a DPS vehicle to transport the dogs.
"They're both great dogs," said Brian Gregory, a trainer for North-
ern Michigan K-9, a police dog training company. Gregory oversaw
the training of Jesse and Brutus. He said the dogs were active and
social, two criteria he said DPS was looked for.
Although the dogs are not trained to detect narcotics, Brown said
DPS considered adding narcotics detection dogs but decided that
bomb detection was more useful. She said the University receives a
handful of threats by telephone each year and sweeps auditoriums
before important speakers visit campus. The dogs were visible at
recent visits to campus by David Horowitz and Sens. John McCain
(R-Ariz.) and Evan Bayh (D-Ind.).

"We have much more of a danger of the possession of explosives
... we attract many visitors," Brown said.
Michigan State University Police Capt. Dale Metts said canine
units have benefited the department and were well received. The
Michigan State University Police Department has six canine units,
including four dogs trained to detect explosives and two trained to
detect narcotics. "When we started our (unit) back in 1984, honestly,
they expected a big controversy" Metts said.
"Is it hard? Certainly," Metts said. "The way I look at it is to say,
'What do we have to lose?"'
DPS has used the dogs to attempt to track suspects in a couple of
the incidents in University residence halls, Brown said.
DPS said heightened security concerns since Sept. 11 motivated the
department to obtain the dogs. "The outgrowth of the events of Sept.
11 increased the security needs on campus, some of which a canine
program will be able to address," DPS Director Bill Bess said in a
written statement.
Gregory said he has trained hundreds of dogs, including some
involved in the emergency effort on Sept. 11.
Jim Watson, secretary of the North American Police Work Dog
Association, a national association of police officers who work with
dogs and accredit dog handlers, said interest in police dogs has
increased nationwide.
"Use of explosives detection units have really jumped," Watson
said. He added that dogs were superior to any other method when
conducting sweeps for explosives.
"A dog can use his nose more quickly, economically and efficiently
than a human,' he said.

DAVID ROCHKIND/Daily
Department of Public Safety Officer Brian Daniels trains with Jesse,
one of two canines new to the DPS staff, to search for explosives.

Medical health journalist
honored with media award

By Annie Gleason
Daily Staff Reporter
Balancing work and family can be
difficult for any professional, not to
mention a woman simultaneously trying
to raise a family and maintain a career in
journalism.
New York Daily News reporter Susan
Ferraro recounted a tale when she
almost lost a telephone interview with
former New York Jets football star Joe
Namath. During the interview she was
suddenly interrupted by the loud, high-
pitched shriek of one of her children's
playmates who she was secretly attempt-
ing to monitor. She sat humiliated while
listening to Namath laugh on the other
end of the line. This was just one of the
many experiences Ferraro had to share
about her life as a female reporter.
Ferraro was honored last night at the
Michigan League when she was named
the 2002 Michigan Media Award Recip-
ient. The two-year-old award is spon-
sored by the University's Women's
Studies Department and the Institute for

Research on Women and Gender.
Ferraro, a medical reporter for the
Daily News, was selected because of her
exemplary coverage of women's health
care issues.
"We reward journalists who cover
feminist perspectives well ... it's so
often an under-represented or carica-
tured issue," director of IRWG and event
organizer, Susan Douglas said.
After receiving the award, Ferraro
gave a lecture titled, "Truth and
Romance: Why One Female Journalist
Needs Them Both in the Hard Fact
World of Twelve Inches at 4 O'Clock"
about her experiences as a journalist.
In explaining the title Ferraro joked,
"In the newspaper world, 12 inches is
considered a generous slice, and keep in
mind that I write health, which has a lot
of big words ... big words take up
space."
The 4 o'clock in her title referred to
her unbending deadline enforced by her
editors, she said.
"You have to realize, reporters have a
few hours to learn everything they can

learn about something they knew noth-
ing about when brushing their teeth that
morning," she said.
Ferraro spoke about her mother's
experiences as a reporter at the San
Francisco Chronicle in the '40s and
the issues female reporters have to
deal with today. Switching to a
more serious tone, she described
her experience covering the Sept.
11 attacks.
"The press was there for you on
September 11, and I think the Daily
News soared above the rest on the
coverage," she said after describing
the trials of her fellow reporters and
photographers who witnessed the hor-
ror personally that day.
Many students and faculty said they
enjoyed hearing Farraro's experiences in
the news world.
"I just came because I like to hear
all sorts of perspectives on women's
issues," Stacey Palazzolo, a senior at
Eastern Michigan University said.
"But, I thought her stories were
hilarious."

LAURIE BRESCOLL/Daily
New York Daily News reporter Susan Ferraro shares her experiences as a medical
reporter after accepting the 2002 Michigan Media Award yesterday.
MSA announces
executive officers


By Tomislav Ladika
Daily Staff Reporter
Two remaining Michigan Student
Assembly executive officers and the
leaders of the assembly's bureaucratic
committees and commissions were
selected at last night's MSA meeting.
LSA junior Liz Mullane, who served
on the assembly for two years and on the
Budget Priorities Committee this semes-
ter, was chosen to be MSA treasurer by
MSA President Sarah Boot and MSA
Vice President Dana Glassel.
Law student Joe Bernstein was chosen
to be Student General Counsel. He has
served on MSA for three years and has
remained active in student government
during his six years at the University.
Boot said Mullane and Bernstein
were selected to be executive officers
"because we felt that not only were they
qualified, but they'd work well with us
... these are the people we trust will do
the best job."
Bernstein said his experience re-writ-
ing the MSA election code helped pre-
pare him to advise Boot and Glassel as
SGC on the procedural and technical
rules of the assembly. "I know the MSA
rules backwards and forwards. I know
Robert's Rules of Order" which govern
MSA meeting procedures, he said.
Mullane said as treasurer, she wants
to ensure student groups will get the
most funding possible, and to review the
new three cycle funding process, which
the MSA has begun using this semester,
with previous BPC chairs.
MSA also voted on chairs for each of
its committees and most of its commis-
sions last night. "All the committee and
commission chairs that just got elected

have a lot of energy and a lot of great
ideas,"Boot said.
The committee chairs elected are
Engineering rep. Ruben Duran for
budget priorities, LSA rep. Jeff Nelson
for campus governance, LSA rep. Jason
Mironov for rules and elections, LSA
rep. Pete Woiwode for communications
and LSA rep. Kristin Brooks for exter-
nal relations.
The commission chairs, who do not
have to be representatives on MSA, are
LSA senior Pierce Beckham and LSA
freshman Jeff Souva for Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual and Transgender, Engineering
junior Elliott Wells-Reid for North
Campus affairs, Engineering sopho-
more Priya Sehgal and LSA sophomore
Liz Higgins for women's issues, LSA
freshman Paul Spurgeon and LSA
sophomore Jay Surakanti for peace and
justice, LSA freshman Andrew Block
and LSA freshman Brian Baker for stu-
dents' rights, School of Natural
Resources and Environment junior Tim
Reynolds and SNRE rep. Alan Talhelm
for environmental issues, Public Health
rep. Ken Stewart and LSA sophomore
Bob Nooromid for health issues, Engi-
neering rep. Zach Slates for campus
safety, LSA junior Erin Hartl for com-
munity service, Art and Design rep.
Brooke Gerber and LSA freshman Ben
Gerber for voice your vote and LSA
rep. Scott Meves and LSA freshman
Jenny Nathan for academic affairs.
Additionally, Kinesiology senior Rick
Mestdagh was re-elected Campus
Improvement Taskforce Initiative chair.
The Minority Affairs and International
Student Affairs Commissions will elect
their chairs at a later date.Vice chairs
were also elected.

THE CALENDAR
What's happening in Ann Arbor today


EVENTS
"The Hiroshima Projec-
tion"; Sponsored by the
Cnnanicuc nrlnmment.

Room, Alumni Center
University Choir and
Concert Band Perfor-
mance; Sponsored by
the School of Music, 8

sored by Career Planning
and Placement, 8 a.m.-2
n m Mithuin Union

SERVICES
Campus Information
Centers, 764-INFO,
info@umich.edu, or
www. umich.edu/~nfo
.. . .... l.,. 72Ue i A



I

i