LOCAL/STATE The Michigan Daily - Monday, March 24, 2003 - 3A Campustruth.org ads spark controversy Subjects trespass, expose themselves in Tisch Hall By Carmen Johnson Daily Staff Reporter Department of Public Safety reports state an incident of indecent exposure that occurred at Tisch Hall early yes- terday morning. Two individuals were found trespassing in Tisch Hall after one had exposed himself. DPS arrest- ed the subject and charged him with minor in possession of alcohol and indecent exposure. The case is under additional investigation. Gold sparkle paint mars Stockwell courtyard DPS reports state malicious destruction of property occurred outside Stockwell Residence Hall Thursday afternoon. A caller report- ed that an unknown subject had painted the Stockwell courtyard with gold sparkle paint. DPS has no suspects at this time. Subject threatens students, asks for money According to DPS reports, a subject was harassing students and communi- ty members on the Diag Thursday afternoon. The subject was asking some passerbys for money and verbal- ly threatening others. The subject was removed from the Diag and cited for trespassing. Laptop case, wallet stolen from sleep laboratory According to DPS reports, a larce- ny occurred at University Hospital Friday morning. A caller reported to DPS that a laptop case and wallet were stolen from a sleep lab. DPS has no suspects in the theft. Graffiti spreads the word of 'faith diminished' DPS logs state a report of graffiti at Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library Fri- day afternoon. A caller notified DPS ,tkgre was black permnanent marer written on the side of the building. The words "Faith has diminished for some peace" were written. A report was filedi and.Building1Services were notified. DPS has no suspects. Subject found in men's restroom asleep A trespasser was reported at West Hall Saturday night. A caller report- ed to DPS that a subject not affiliat- ed with the University was sleeping in the men's restroom on the first floor of West Hall. DPS reports state that the subject was appre- hended, cited for trespassing and escorted from the building. Fire extinguisher no longer useful, as currently stolen DPS was notified of larceny at Mosher-Jordan Residence Hall on Friday night. DPS noted a fire extinguisher was stolen from the third floor of the residence hall. A report was filed, but DPS has no suspects at this time. Broken car door, mirror results in car accident Malicious destruction of a vehicle occurred at the Thompson Street Carport on Friday night. According to DPS, a caller reported an unknown subject had tried to break into his car while he was away. The car door was damaged and the side- view mirror was broken. DPS filed a report but has no suspects. Bus driver unsure if he caused crash DPS reports state a possible traffic accident occurred on Hoover Avenue Wednesday afternoon. A University bus driver reported that a vehicle might have struck the bus he was driv- ing. The bus driver was unsure if he had struck the vehicle. No damage was observed on the bus. LCD projectors stolen from Mason According to DPS reports, a larce- nv nccrred at Mason Hall Wednesdav A second wave of controversial advertisements appearing in college newspapers across the country - which some students say depict Palestinians as terrorists --has stirred debate about whether news- papers should continue to run the paid ads. Funded by campustruth.org, an advertisement printed last Thursday in The Michigan Daily showed a picture of an Olympic athlete in front of the Israeli flag, accompanied by the words "Israeli school children's hero," while an adjacent picture showed a man and a machine gun next to the words "Palestinian school children's hero." Below the pic- tures are the words "There are two sides to every story, but only one truth." LSA senior Bashar Al-Madani said the ads are offensive to the Arab and Muslim communities on campus. "The complexity of the world cannot be divided into right or wrong. The website is even more offensive and serves in their (campustruth.org) cause to convince everyone that Palestinians are evil people,"Al-Madani said. Business Manager Jeff Valuck, said the Michi- gan Daily business staff decided last night to tem- porarily suspend running the advertisements. Valuck said that last fall, the business staff re-evalu- ated its decision to run the campustruth.org ads because of the large amount of and wide range of negative feedback received from students. "We must reconsider running the ads if the Universi- ty community does not want them," Valuck said. Yulia Dernovsky, who co-chairs the American Movement for Israel, said that the ads are neither effective nor positive to the movement's cause, which seeks to educate about the Middle East con- flict. "I personally felt the ads. were offensive and evoked certain feelings that are not necessarily fair to the Palestinians," Dernovsky said. The campustruth.org advertisements have been running in college newspapers since last fall. Edi- tors of The Daily Illini - the student newspaper of the University of Illinois - issued a statement We must reconsider running the ads if the University community does not want them:' - Jeff Valuck Business manager, The Michigan Daily deciding to continue running the ads, although there were student protests on campus in Decem- ber. The Daily Targum, the student newspaper of Rutgers University, adopted a disclaimer policy to place on potentially controversial or advertisements of an offensive nature, according to a statement in November. The University of Chicago's student newspaper, The Chicago Maroon, decided to stop running the ads in November. But Michigan Zionists President Rick Dorfinan said the ads should not be censored. "Calling for the censorship of advertisements is a flagrant violation of the freedoms of our great nation, and is further indication of the vile hatred of America that exists within the Palestinian community," Dorfman said. In October, the Michigan Daily ran 10 campus- truth.org advertisements. Omar Khalil, vice president of the Muslim Stu- dents Association, said he was upset by the adver- tisements but was pleased that the advertisements were temporarily suspended in The Michigan Daily. "It's a great first step that The Daily has respond- ed to the concern of the students." Khalil said. Marcella Rosen, of the One Truth Foundation, which sponsors the campustruth.org advertisements and website, said in a December statement that dis- cussed the reaction to the ads. "Our goal was to make sure that other opinions were heard. Our opponents have chosen not to debate the facts pre- sented by the ads, but have responded with intellec- tual intimidation and obfuscation and equating any pro-Israel fact or opinion with "racism," Rosen said. Patriotic pipes Students First claims 13 seats By Andrew Kaplan Daily Staff Reporter After nearly 8,500 students voted in last week's Michigan Student Assembly elections - exceeding last year's turnout by more than 1,500 voters - Students First Party candidates Angela Galardi and Monique Perry emerged with the top executive officer positions on MSA. According to official MSA election results, Galardi beat out University Party presidential candidate Jon Clifton and Defend Affirmative Action Party presidential candidate Kate Stenvig for control over the assembly's executive arm. Galardi and vice presidential running mate Monique Perry garnered 403 more votes than Clifton's ticket, and 2,709 more votes than Stenvig's ticket. Students First candidates also claimed 13 of 25 open repre- sentative seats on MSA, with U Party candidates taking anoth- er nine and DAAP candidates walking away with two seats total from Rackham and the Law School. Alluding to her diverse coalition of supporters and represen- tatives, Galardi said her platform, which combined ongoing projects with upcoming campus improvements, was key to the election victory. "The thing on our agenda that's different from the other agendas was that it really had something on it for every student, whether you were in the Greek system, an ath- lete, whether you live by the rock or you live by North Cam- pus" she said. "It wasn't just geared at one community." Students First candidates also saw wins on the LSA Student Government, with LSA junior David Matz picking up the gov- ernment's presidency by 429 votes. "We all campaigned really hard, and we all made sure we campaigned for the team;' Matz said. "Student First really picks students who represent their communities." Although the U Party failed to attain executive control over MSA and LSA-SG, members said they are confident next fall's elections will yield more victories. "(We'll return) with more vigor and excitement,and I'm excited for next fall;' said MSA Rep Andrew Roskamp, who won one of three seats available for the College of Engineer- ing. "Unfortunately, there was a little bit of the negative influ- ence that we had to endure through, so I think some of that will be gone in the next election." U Party candidates claimed all three Engineering seats. "I think a lot of the e-mail rumors went to their advantage, and a lot of the untrue rumors went to their advantage," MSA presidential runner-up Jon Clifton said, referring to allegations of racism against the U Party over remarks made by candidate Adam Haba. "I think we need to step it up in the next elec- tion," Clifton added. Looking ahead to the next term, Galardi and Matz said the coexistence of three political parties will not impinge on their ability to unite representatives. "Everyone's been getting along well and its not going to be a problem;' Galardi said. "What's most important is that the reps on the assembly follow us in that attempt to make sure everyone's working together." "LSA-SG has historically been less bipartisan on party lines than MSA;" Matz said. "I've met and spoken to a lot of U Party candidates, and I'm sure we'll all get along together and have a good time." When voters logged onto the elections website last week, they viewed an MSA ballot surveying student opinion on the University's admissions policies. The ballot question followed a trail of concern over an MSA resolution supporting Universi- ty admissions policies in February. Out of 6,431 respondents, 2,675 students said they did not support the "use of race-conscious Affirmative Action in (the University's) admissions policy." But 2,622 students said they supported the policies, while another 1,134 respondents said they required more information to make a decision. Although students voted against University admissions poli- cies by an 18-vote margin, Galardi said MSA's stance on the issue will be determined by student opinion and assembly dis- cretion. "It's going to be a combination of both," she said. "Obvious- ly we'll have to see how the assembly feels too. We have a whole new assembly sta ting. on Tuesday so it's going to depend on how they feel too." SETH LOWER/Daily Herm Steinman plays the bagpipe at Saturday's "Support Our Troops Rally". The American flag is unfolded in the background. Survey shows opinions difer on cases' policies By Jeremy Berkowitz Daily Staff Reporter Two mgnth ago, more than 300 organizations filed 60 amicus briefs sup- porting the University's race-conscious admissions policies, which will be .defended.in.font of the U.S. Supreme Court in less than a week. But a survey compiled during Michigan Student Assembly elections last week shows stu- dents might not be presenting a unified home front when it comes supporting the policies. According to a survey of 6,432 stu- dents, approximately 41.5 percent said they opposed the University's admissions policies, while 40.8 per- cent expressed support. The remain- ing 17.7 percent said they felt they needed more information before making a decision. MSA President-elect Angela Galar- di, who supported an MSA resolution passed last month favoring the poli- cies, said she was concerned with the large number of uninformed voters. She said she plans on sponsoring more forums and events to educate interested students. "Twenty percent that voted don't feel they have enough information and that's a problem," Galardi said. "We're going to have more student outreach." But Galardi said MSA must also con- sider the fact that only 20 percent of the student body voted in elections. Earlier this month, MSA voted 32-1 to allocate $12,000 for buses to transport students to Washington for the Supreme Court hearings, coordinated with Stu- dents Supporting Affirmative Action. Galardi said she still supports the move because anybody - regardless of their viewpoint - is allowed on the buses. "(SSAA) offered to help and we needed4hat help. It's not because the stu- dents are being to limited to one group or another,"Galardi said. LSA freshman Laura Davis, who opposes the University's admissions policies, said she feels more non- University-sponsored events need to be held. She also said opponents of the University's admissions policies - especially groups like Young Americans for Freedom - need to speak out more. "I think they're starting to do that. Obviously BAMN and DAAP have a long history with the University and are very vocal," Davis said, referring to The Coalition to Defend Affirma- tive Action and Fight for Integration in Equality By Any Means Necessary and The Defend Affirmative Action Party, respectively. But University Regent Rebecca McGowan (D-Ann Arbor) said she is very skeptical about the results of the survey. She added that she believes in the value of using race in the admissions policies and has talked with numerous students and faculty over the years that have reinforced her views. 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