LOCAL/STATE

The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, March 4, 2003 - 3

CAMPUS
Asian Pacific
Islander American
minor launches
To kick off the Asian Pacific
American heritage month and launch
the Asian Pacific Islander American
studies minor, Prof. Frank Wu will
be speaking at Haven Hall Reception
Room today at 7 p.m. with a recep-
tion following his speech.
Proceeds for one of Wu's books,
"Yellow," will benefit APIA Studies.
This year's theme is "shattering the
image, redefining identity."
Role of history in
Rushdie's novels
to be explored
Visiting history Prof. from Varane-
si University, India, Nita Kumar will
be giving a lecture and discussion
titled, "The History of India accord-
ing to Salman Rushdie," in the
Osterman Common Room at Rack-
ham Graduate School today at
noon. Kumar will discuss Rushdie's
telling of history in his novel "Mid-
night's Children."
Health, ethics,
a war addressed in
series of forums
As part of the War, Health and
Ethics forum series sponsored by the
School of Nursing and Military Offi-
cer Education Program, the role and
missions of health history, public
health and legality will be discussed
in the School of Dentistry today at
* 5:45 p.m.
Anti-war lectures
to be held during
student strike
Along with other schools nation-
wide, Anti War Action! is organizing
a one-day student strike to raise
awareness about the war and the
international situation tomorrow.
Various events on campus include
a lecture titled, "Iraq, Weapons of
Mass Destruction, and the Rush to
Preemptive War," in 1640 Chemistry
Building at 1 p.m. and the showing
of a documentary on the effect of
sanctions off the Iraqipopl i 1008
Frieze Building at 3 p.m.
Consequences of
warfor wolrmento
be discussed
As part of the Women in the
Aftermath of War series, Profs. Nita
Luci, Lucia Suarez and Andrea
Smith will be discussing the conse-
quences of war for women around
the globe in the Center for the Edu-
cation of Women Conference room
at 3 p.m. Issues such as sexual vio-
lence during the war in Kosovo and
politically-motivated rape during
and after the 1991 Haitian coup
exemplify some of the issues to be
discussed.
Dinner to illustrate
disproportion of
wealth worldwide"
The South Asian sorority Delta
Theta Psi is presenting "Uncov-
ered," a hunger dinner to educate
students about the disproportion of

wealth, in the Wedge Room of West
Quad on Thursday at 7 p.m. The
event includes a keynote speech by
a University doctoral candidate
Najeeb Jan and performances by
The Sopranos, members of Saad-
hanai, 786 and male chanteurs. The
proceeds from the $5 tickets will be
donated to Manav Sadhna, a charity
improving educational facilities in
South Asia.
Seminar explores
depression on
college campuses
The first national conference on
depression in college students to
explore current knowledge on
depression will be held in the Michi-
gan League Thursday all day. Relat-
ed disorders in undergraduate and
graduate students, and the best
approaches for prevention, detection.
and treatment will be discussed. The
conference is sponsored by the
Depression Center and Rackham
Graduate School.
Issues affecting
futures of urban
youth presented
A presentation by students and

Survey: Class of '06 has more compassion

By Robyn Lukow
For the Daily
By showing more interest in the family, cre-
ative projects and volunteer work, this year's
freshmen class is more compassionate than
those of previous years, as revealed by a recent
national survey.
According to the results, this year's freshmen
feel that raising a family is either a "very impor-
tant" or an "essential" goal, as compared with the
freshmen class of 2001, according to Malinda
Matney, senior research associate in the Division
of Student Affairs. The survey found that 74.5
percent of University freshmen in 2002 feel that
raising a family is a "very important" or "essen-
tial" goal, as compared to 72.8 percent in 2001.
LSA sophomore Torrie Hoffrneyer believed the
events of Sept. 11 could have reinforced the
importance of family ties for many students.
"People throughout life want to make sure that

they have family around them. Maybe that's why
more students this year showed a greater intent of
having children on the survey," she said.
Along with 282,549 students at 437 of the
nation's universities and four-year colleges, Uni-
versity freshmen contribute to an annual survey
of entering classes conducted each fall by the
Higher Education Research Institute at the Uni-
versity of California at Los Angeles' Graduate
School of Education and Information Studies.
"Undoubtedly, (September 11) had an influ-
ence on this year's results. Our students were lit-
erally taking this survey during the anniversary of
Sept. 11," Matney said.
The findings of the Cooperative Institutional
Research Program survey reveal that University
freshmen demonstrate an increased interest in
participating in the arts. While 12.9 percent of
freshmen surveyed in 2001 indicated performing
arts aspirations, 17.1 percent of 2002 freshmen
reported this interest.

"With the 2002 results, we have seen huge
gains in our student's desire to apply themselves
creatively. Many more of our students show an
interest in creative writing and the visual arts than
in previous years," Matney said.
An increased desire to participate in communi-
ty-based projects may also reflect a shift in fresh-
men's perspectives since Sept. 11. University
students reported a higher interest in working for
environmental programs, promoting racial under-
standing, helping others in difficulty and promot-
ing connunity action programs.
Matney said that the University's survey results
have traditionally shown that University students
are more inclined to perform volunteer work in
comparison with the national freshmen body.
"Our students come in with already a large.
amount of experience in volunteering. This is in
much higher proportion than the national aver-
age," she added.
The survey also revealed a large gender gap

regarding freshmen's intentions of being
employed during college. At Michigan in 2002,
43.7 percent of entering students expected to
work, with 36.1 percent of men and 49.1 percent
of women reporting this expectation.
"Women tend to report coming from less afflu-
ent households than men in the survey. This may
explain why more women than men intend to
work during college. Still, this gender discrepancy
is particularly interesting considering that students
enrolling at Michigan are largely traditional stu-
dents coming directly from high school, rather
than students returning to college after a break in
studies," Matney said.
Matney suggested that the 2002 results reflect
our country's troubled status. "2002 was an inter-
esting year. We've had a lot to deal with in this
country, and I believe that (September 11), the
current economy and uncertainties about the
future were all factors that affected freshmen's
answers to the 2002 survey."

-Ili


PRISONERS
BREAK
OUT
(CREATIVELY
SPEAKING)

"The Yard 2," by Maurice Scott

Photos courtesy o fXEiDItIln ofArt bMy Michigan Prisoners
"Dance of Joy," by Sheila Bolden

Annual art show givesp ners a chance to destroy
stereotypes, express themselves from behin~d bars

"Man's Future," by Sheldon Murry

By Maria Sprow
Daily Staff Reporter

For the next 15 days, prisoners
from around Michigan are expressing
their desires, debunking stereotypes
and showing the realities of life
behind bars.
Their stories and artwork will be
shared from March 4 to 8 at the
eighth annual Exhibition of Art by
Michigan Prisoners, displayed in the
Media Union on North Campus. The
once-local exhibit, co-curated by Uni-
versity English Prof. Buzz Alexander
and art Prof. Janie Paul, now features
200 pieces of work from more than
35 prno4s n, 150 artists.
Alexander said he believes the
show,,at first a surprising success, has
built a reputation among art goers and
students for its diversity and quality
of work on display. "Some people
come out of curiosity, and they are
often very surprised," he said. "They
come expecting prisoner art to be

very dark, with prison scenes, but
what they find is ... just a beautiful
range of wonderful art. People are
usually blown away."
Often times, Alexander said,
viewers come to the show with neg-
ative stereotypes about the artists -
whether it be with their back-
grounds, their talent or their person-
alities. But Alexander added that
looking at the artwork and reading
the artists biographies helps dispel
those stereotypes, which is an
important mission of the exhibit.
"People generally have stereotypes
about prisoners, which is that they are
all bad people, they all killed some-
,ope" AlgYnder said, "They re gen-
erally disappointed in their
stereotypes."
Art and Design sophomore Mary
Paul is taking a class taught by
Janie Paul in which students travel
to local prisons and help give art
workshops to prisoners. She said
working with the artists was an eye-

opening experience.
"I think there is a lot of media por-
trayal of these criminals, that they are
such terrible people," Mary Paul said.
"In a lot of respects, they are very
nice people. Art is a place for them to
express who they are."
She added that she feels the art
show will allow students and faculty
members who have not had experi-
ences with prisoners to understand
more about their lives.
"It really gives people a glimpse
into what these artists are thinking.
Some works are incredibly intense,

and some are really sad and hard to
look at," she said. "It really helps to
be able to identify with them on a
more human level."
Former prisoners who have par-
ticipated in previous years' shows
said that, to them, the purpose of
the exhibit is more personal. They
credit the art show with giving
them something positive to focus
on while in prison, as well as being
a therapeutic outlet for their anger
and frustration.
Detroit resident Lloyd Stoval, a
former exhibitor in the prisoners'
art show, says participating in the
show helped him turn his life
around.
Stoval, who was incarcerated for
nine-and-a-half years for larceny, said
he felt lost and worthless and had dif-
ficulties finding a positive goal to
reach for while sitting in prison.
"When you are in prison, you lose
a little bit about yourself, you think
people don't care, you're not worth

"Self-Portrait," by Anthony James
anything. Then you get to that point
where the prisoners accept you and
they want you to be in their gangs,"
Stoval said. "The prisoners art show
gave me an opportunity to say,
'Look, I'd rather go into the yard
and draw then go into the yard and
pick a fight."'
Another former prisoner, Monroe
County resident Jason Rios, had been
involved with gang activity before his
incarceration. The art show, he said,
allowed him to communicate the neg-
ative aspects and results of gang life
to an audience.
"I was taking my experience and
trying to help others," he said of his
tArawings,.entered in previous years' 4
shows. "In prison, you are constant-
ly told what you can do and what
you can't do ... doing your art,
that's yo r-freedom. You can do r
what you want. You see a lot of peo-
ple drawing nature scenes, or just
places they wish they could be at.
It's like a rehabilitative tool."

I

Getting back in gear

Cities focus
on downtown
revitlization
LANSING (AP) - Efforts to create new jobs and pro-
mote investment in Michigan's downtowns have prompted
21 communities to apply for a Main Street makeover.
The Michigan Economic Development Corp. has joined
forces with the National Main Street Center in a program
that will get at least two Michigan communities a year's
worth of intensive training on downtown revitalization.
The Main Street program - operated in 39 states -
provides experts who advise local officials on how to
enhance commercial district appearances, market down-
town, strengthen economic bases and foster cooperation
among community groups and individual businesses.
Portland Mayor Marion Hilligan said the city already has
programs geared toward business district improvements and
hopes to add a Michigan Main Street designation to the list.
"We plan to submit an application that will knock their
socks off," she told the Lansing State Journal.
"Portland's problems are the same as any other down-
town with vacant storefronts and a weak economy," she
added. "But our stores are starting to sell, some people
are beginning to invest in the downtown and we may have
turned the corner."
To be eligible for the Main Street project, a community
must agree to pay the salary for a Main Street manager
and provide office space at an estimated annual cost of
$35,000.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Vietnam/Iraq Comparisons
The Vietnam War protestors,
just as the protestors of today,
are content that they were in
the right. Read one priest's
account of the fall of South
Vietnam.
http://www.geocities.com/
dnqbook/en/ch1_3.htm
Gary LiHie & Assoc., Realtors
www.garylillie.com



UNIVERSITY of PENNSYLVANIA

FRANK PAYNE/Daily
MBA student Brad Floering listens to his
professor give instructions during class.

Granholm, union leaders focus
on avoiding state worker layoffs

LANSING (AP) -- Gov. Jennifer
Granholm and union leaders represent-
ing thousands of state workers are
working together to avoid layoffs
Granholm said may be needed to deal
with the large budget deficit.
Last month, Granholm said her
proposed budget for the upcoming
fiscal year probably won't include
any pay raises for state employees
and could mean the loss of at least

Rather than cutting jobs or taking
away the scheduled pay raise to help
with the deficit, union leaders want
Granholm. to state lower costs by
reducing the number of private con-
tracts for state services and return-
ing those responsibilities to state
workers.
"We're looking closely to see if
we can achieve any cost savings by
reducing the amount of services pro-

employees on the payroll after more
than 7,000 left under last year's early
retirement plan. The loss of state
employees has led to delays in issu-
ing unemployment checks and liquor
licenses, among other services.
The shrinkage in the number of
state workers could make it difficult
for those left to take on additional
responsibilities. Many of those who
left under early retirement last year

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