LOCAL/STATE

The Michigan Daily - Monday, March 3, 2003 - 3A

CRIME
SPolice try to
keep pedestrians
from falling down
A woman, having slipped and
fallen on an icy patch in a Universi-
ty Hospital parking lot, reported to
the Department of Public Safety
Thursday morning that she had
injured her thumb in the fall.
The woman told officers that she
had known about the icy patch and
had previously been careful to avoid
it, but had simply forgotten it was
there at the time the incident
occurred.
According to the DPS incident
log, the area was later salted so fur-
ther injuries could be avoided.
However, slip and fall injuries con-
tinued to affect the campus.
On Saturday, at least two pedes-
trians sustained unknown injuries
outside University Hospital.
The first injury occurred at 6:30
a.m., but was not reported until 8:27
a.m. The second injury occurred at
8:43 a.m., while the first victim was
giving a statement to police.
Cigarette causes
more than just
second-hand smoke
A dropped cigarette caused a
small accidental fire to break out
near the University of Michigan
Health System women's hospital Sat-
urday afternoon.
The cigarette caught fire on some
leaves, causing smoke but no dam-
age, and DPS reports state that there
were no injuries.
Attempted thefts
of ATM machine,
TV are investigated
DPS is investigating the attempt-
ed theft of an ATM machine and tel-
evision set from the Kresge
Business Library. The attempted
theft occurred at approximately
3:24 a.m. yesterday. DPS reports
state that there were no initial sus-
pects in the incident.
Suspect detained
for stealing from
MoJo pop machine
A DPS officer patrolling Mosher-
Jordan Residence Hall early Friday
motring detained a person suspect-
ed of stealing pop from a vending
mad in I Atht building."" '"
The alleged thief was released
pending a warrant, DPS reports
state.
Girl Scout cookies
reported missing
from desk drawer
A University employee discovered
last Monday that a box of Girl Scout
cookies was missing from her desk
drawer.
The woman filed a report on the
possible theft to DPS, which has no
suspects.
Door to North Ingalls
tampered with,
possibly damaged
A caller informed DPS officers Feb.

21 that they believed a door leading to
the North Ingalls Building had been
tampered with.
Nothing was reported missing,
but the caller said there were pry-
marks on the door, and that it
appeared a blunt object had dam-
aged the door's locks.
DPS has no suspects.
Confusion occurs
over location of
* couples' vehicles
A woman reported to police offi-
cers Wednesday night that her hus-
band had taken her car without her
consent. The car was later recovered
by the Pittsfield Township Police
Department and returned to its
owner.
In a separate incident, a man who
had parked his car in the Church
Street parking structure Feb. 23
reported that the car had been
stolen, but further investigation
showed that the caller's wife actual-
ly had the car.
Trespassing man
can't stay away
from Frieze
A person in the Frieze Building
reported Wednesday that a thin,
white male standing approximately
5-feet-7 and wearing a green army

Event focuses on Muslim American perspectives

By Soojung Chang
Daily Staff Reporter
While the war against terror has placed much
emphasis on the status of Muslims internationally, a
conference held in the Michigan Union Ballroom
over Spring Break attempted to focus on the Mus-
lim community domestically.
"We wanted to really bring emphasis on
Muslims in America," said Muslim Graduate
Student Association representative and Den-
tal School student Mohammad Khalil. "Peo-
ple think that Muslims only care about what's
going on internationally but they care about
both international and local issues."
The conference, titled "The 1st Annual Per-
spectives on the Muslim Community in
America Conference," featured University of
Chicago Islamic studies Prof. Umar Faruq
Abd-Allah, Howard University African stud-
ies Prof. Sulayman Nyang, DePaul University
Islamic studies and religious studies Prof.
Aminah McCloud and Wayne State Universi-
ty Islamic studies Prof. Muneer Fareed.
"These are speakers that are well known
among Muslims in America," Khalil said.
Khalil said event organizers wanted to get
as many different perspectives as possible to
The
which i
Continued from Page 1A subscri
-er part of the Surveys of Con- Univer
sumers - fell to 69.9 in February Researc
from 72.8 in January, indicating Thef
that consumers still believe the approxi
future of the economy will remain views v
sluggish. conduc
QUESTIONING details
Continued from Page 1A tives ha
-tors of the economy, knowing all soil; th
the while that he could be lying. afforde
Zubaydah did provide some infor- cials sa
mation that was later verified has not
through other sources, officials Anot
said. That included intelligence that will att
led to the detention of Jose Padilla, Moham
the American whom federal offi- U.S.c
cials allege was plotting to use a physica
radiological weapon on U.S. soil. is uncle
U.S. officials were elated by live by
Mohammed's capture. Also
"This is equal to the liberation of interro
Paris in the second World War," said that h
GOP Rep. Porter Goss of Florida, chair- regarda
man of the House Intelligence Commit- threats
tee, on ABC's "This Week." niques
"This is a giant step backward for the or wear
al-Qaida," Republican Sen. Pat Roberts "We
of Kansas, chairman of the Senate Intel- there a
ligence Committee, told "Fox News ways th
Sunday." "Now their operations com- we nee
mander is simply out of operations." (D-W.V
Officials were not releasing Senate I
DEMOCRATS said. "
Continued'f6iiP e A;, rely-diver
last April with the College Republi- college
cans, featuring McCain and U.S. and foci
Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.). The sena- some ot
tors came to promote federal legis- grassroc
lature proposing the expansion of In ter
AmeriCorps. Over 1,100 people lege D
attended the event, which was cov- events f
ered by CNN. gell (D
Former chapter chair and Universi- Lynn Ri
ty alum Eric Feldman said the Uni- (Ann A
versity's chapter frequently works on got peo
events with other student organiza- govern
tions. "We've worked on events with As w
Students for Choice and the College Democr
Republicans," Feldman said, adding ister p
that the University's chapter gener- represe
ates great interest in national as well door, p
as local politics because of its large electio
membership. re cogn
"Last year was an off-year in elec- proud t
tions. It's tough to generate interest this rec
MARCH oppone
Continued from Page 1A sifying
The rally was organized by the against
Coalition to Defend Equal Opportu- LSA
nity and other groups including the BAMN
NAACP, after the Detroit City impres

Council declared and reaffirmed its speaker
support for the University's affir- "It w
mative action policies earlier this the De
month. said. "?
Proponents of affirmative action new ciN
say race-conscious admissions poli- ing."
PLEDGEGd"h
God" h
Continued from Page 1A the year
-tening to the words "under God" in persons
school. The words were added by Con- to drive
gress in 1954 during the Cold War to the publ
distinguish democracy from "godless But R
Communism." turbing]
Reached in Houston, Newdow that the
praised the court for "upholding the suaded t
Constitution. That's what they are sup- "The
posed to do. intended
"This makes our country stronger the min
when everyone's views are given sions of
equality, especially when it comes to limit the
religion," said Newdow, who received hardt wr
death threats last summer when the The
court ruled. parenta
The three judges who took part in dow ag
the original ruling - Circuit Judges dra Ban
Alfred Goodwin and Stephen Rein- In res
hardt on one side, Ferdinand Fer- ruling,
nandez on the other - did not daughte
change their positions during the pledgea
appeal. the cou
Circuit Judge Diarmuid O'S- standing

discuss issues highly debated within the Mus-
lim community, such as dealing with different
ideologies and understandings of Islam.
The speakers' backgrounds were as diverse
as the topics that they covered. Abd-Allah
was born in a Protestant family and converted
to Islam while in college. Nyang is a former
Gambian diplomat who immigrated to the
United States in 1978. McCloud is a black
convert to Islam, while Fareed is originally
from South Africa.
The diversity among American Muslims in
terms of ethnicity, nationality, ideology and socioe-
conomic status was a topic that several speakers
addressed.
"The community is so heterogeneous. It's
so diverse, to speak of it as a community is
possibly a misnomer," Abd-Allah said.
In his keynote speech titled "Muslims in
America: Historically, Post 9-11 and in Rela-
tion to the International Community," Nyang
said there are over 80 nationalities represent-
ed in the American Muslim community.
"The American Muslim community is a
mirror image of global Islam," he said.
Nyang said there are three major communities
among Muslims in the United States today: African
American Muslims, Arab American Muslims, and

"The community is so heterogeneous. It's so diverse, to
speak of it as a community is probably a misnomer."
- Umar Faruq Abd-Allah
University of Chicago Islamic studies professor

South Asian Muslims.
McCloud spoke about issues affecting the
black Muslim community, who make up the
majority of converts to Islam. She also
touched upon the tensions between the black
community and immigrant Muslims, who
have different ideas and practices associated
with Islam. She also spoke about relationship
between women and Islam.
Another topic that was addressed involved
the problems that many Muslims have faced
post-Sept. 11. "Since (September 11), the
American Muslim community has come
under siege," Nyang said.
Nyang said it is important for Muslims to
find a balance between domestic and interna-
tional interest."You do not sacrifice your
American identity on the altar of solidarity to
Islam internationally," he said.
When it comes to the relationship between
Muslims and non-Muslims, Khalil said

"There's a lot of tension that could be allevi-
ated in a lot of ways."
"Dr. Abd-Allah raised some good points
about Muslims and what Muslims need to do
in order to improve the manner by which they
interact with non-Muslims," he said.
"He proposed reasonable solutions for
Muslims and non-Muslims to ease a lot of
underlying tension without compromising
their beliefs," Khalil added.
LSA senior Sophia Hussain said she agreed
with Abd-Allah that the priority of American
Muslims should be to develop their own com-
munity.
"The future of our community here in
America is very important," she said.
Hussain said the American Muslim com-
munity needs to work on defining itself.
But because it encompasses so many differ-
ent types of people she added, "There is not
one single American Muslim identity."


Surveys of Consumers,
s accessible only to paying
bers, is conducted by the
sity Institute for Social
,h.
final results are based on
mately 500 telephone inter-
with Americans nationwide
ted by the institute.
of Mohammed's detention.
is high-level al-Qaida cap-
.ve not been brought to U.S.
iey would have rights not
d on foreign soil, U.S. offi-
y. Where they are, however,
been disclosed.
her secret is how officials
empt to get information from
med.
officials insist they eschew
, violent torture, although it
ar if all of America's allies
a similar code.
less clear are to what extent
gators use certain methods
uman rights groups also
as torture: sleep deprivation,
of torture and other tech-
intended to confuse, frighten
down a captive.
don't sanction torture but
re psychological and other
at we can get most of what
d," said Sen. Jay Rockefeller
fa.), vice chairman of the
Intelligence Committee.
ocratic politics," Feldman
Ve have a more geograhial-
'se student body (than other
s) so we have more interest
us on national politics, while
her college chapters are more
ots."
ms of local politics, the Col-
emocrats held two separate
eaturing U.S. Rep. John Din-
-Dearborn) and former Rep.
vers. "We had a meeting with
rbor) mayor John Hieftje and
ple involved with the city
ment," Feldman said.
ith every year, the College
ats also worked hard to reg-
eople to vote and organize
ntatives to campaign door to
articularly during last year's
ns. "This is a worthwhile
ition," Feldman said. "I'm
that the College Dems got
ognition."
ersify the University, while
nts say the process of diver-
the campus discriminates
white students.
junior Cyril Cordor, a
I member, said he was
sed by the impassioned
s at the rally.
'as a good way to mobilize
troit community," Cordor
And it shows that there is a
vil rights movement build-
andez said the words "under
ave caused no real harm over
s, "except in the fevered eye of
who most fervently would like
all tincture of religion out of
ic life."
einhardt lashed out at the "dis-
ly wrong-headed" suggestion
public outcry should have per-
the court to reconsider.
Bill of Rights is, of course,
Ito protect the rights of those in
ority against the temporary pas-
a majority which might wish to
eir freedoms or liberties," Rein-
rote
lawsuit later became a
I rights case that pitted New-
ainst the girl's mother, San-
ining.
sponse to the court's original
Banning asserted that her

r is not harmed by reciting the
and is not opposed to God. But
urt said Newdow had legal
g to bring the case on behalf of

En guarde

AP PHOTO
Theater junior Erin Maya Darke watches swimmers do laps back and forth at the University's Flint
campus'last week.
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