LOCAL/S TATE

The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, September 17, 2002 - 3

CAMPUS'
Panel discusses
poverty in China
As part of the Brown Bag Lecture
series, the University Center for
Chinese Studies is presenting a
panel discussion on "Perspective on
Poverty in China" with philosophy
Prof. Philip Ivanhoe, sociology
Prof. Ching Kwan Lee, economics
Prof. Albert Park, and art history
Prof. Martin Powers. Participants
should bring a bag lunch to 1636
School of Social Work Building
today at noon.
'U' Professor reads
from new book on
Native American's
struggles
Creative writing Prof. Eileen Pol-
lack will read from her new book,
"Woman Walking Ahead: In Search
of Catherine Weldon and Sitting
Bull," the story of a Brooklyn artist,
a little-known advocate of Native
American rights, who traveled to
Standing Rock Reservation in the
Dakota Territory in 1889 to help
Sitting Bull hold onto land the gov-
ernment was trying to take away
from his people. The reading, along
with signing and refreshments, will
take place today 8 p.m. at Shaman
Drum Bookshop on State Street.
Linguistics prof.
speaks on language
Leslie Milroy, recently appointed as
the University Hans Kurath collegiate
professor of linguistics, will present
"Language and the Public Interest," at
4:10 p.m. tomorrow in the Michigan
Union Anderson Room, followed by a
reception.
Magazine columnist
gives talk about
crocodiles
The University Program in the
Environment presents Outside mag-
azine columnist David Quammen,
author of "The Song of the Dodo:
Island Biogeography in an Age of
Extinction" and other nonfiction
books. He will discuss "The Ances-
tral Crocodile (and Other Man-Eat-
ing Predators)" tomorrow at 5 p.m.
in 1400 Chemistry Building.
Prize-winning
playwright talks
about theater life
Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright
Wendy Wasserstein, known for her
plays about the contemporary chal-
lenges of educated women includ-
ing "The Heidi Chronicles," "Isn't
It Romantic," and "Uncommon
Women" will give a free talk titled
"My Life in the Theater" at the
Lydia Mendelssohn Theater tomor-
row at 7:30 p.m. The talk is a Uni-
versity Institute for Research on
Women and Gender and University
Museum of Art Vivian R. Shaw
Lecture.
Fiction writer
talks about new
novel Wednesday
Shaman Drum Bookshop will
host fiction writer Robert Clark
tomorrow at 8 p.m. Clark will read

from his new novel, "Love among
the Ruins," the story of an unset-
tling love that develops between two
teenagers during the summer of
1968. Signing and refreshments will
follow the free reading.
Professor gives
reading from
coming of age tale
Creative writing Prof John Fulton
will give a free reading at Shaman
Drum Bookshop Thursday at 8 p.m.
He will read from "More Than
Enough," a tale told in the voice of a
teenage boy experiencing poverty and
failure in a blue-collar Salt Lake City
family. Signing and refreshments will
take place afterwards.
Renowned print-
maker gives lecture
University printmaker Kenneth
Tyler will give a talk at the Art and
Architecture auditorium on Thursday
at 5 p.m., presented by the University
School of Art and Design. Tyler has
printed graphic works for Josef
Albert, Claes Oldenburg, Helen
Frankenthaler and other artists.

Students step into Middle East scenario

By Mark Hutchinson
For The Daily
Though the realities of the Arab Israeli con-
flict seem to be at a distance, University stu-
dents enrolled in education Prof. Jeff
Kupperman's class have the chance to step
into the shoes of the political leaders involved,
getting a hands-on look at the dynamics of
policies surrounding the issue.
The course, titled the Arab-Israeli Conflict
Mid-East Simulation, divides students into 16
separate teams. The teams simulate the deci-
sion-making process of three of the leaders
involved in the conflict, including Ariel
Sharon and Yasser Arafat.
Throughout the course, students may utilize
press releases to communicate with one
another and accomplish their parties' goals.
But Kupperman said a peaceful solution is not
always reached.
Students can make their character perform
an action such as instituting a curfew or initi-
ating a peace conference and the group repre-
senting the opposing side offers a response.
The various actions and responses culmi-

nate during the term untilthestudents are
faced with a situation as intricate and com-
plex as the real life conflict currently happen-
ing in the Middle East, Kupperman said.
"The course gave me a much better under-
standing of what is going on in Israel and
throughout the Middle East," said Chuck
Pearlman, an LSA senior who took the class
last winter. "It also puts the whole situation in
perspective, and it taught me how difficult it
is to find a solution to the conflict and made
me question if there ever will be a lasting
solution."
The program was formed in 1975 by Profes-
sor Emeritus Edgar Taylor as a way to get stu-
dents more involved in his political science
course. Since its inception, it has expanded to be
both an undergraduate course and a program
that is used by many high schools throughout
the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia.
"Most high schoolers come into the pro-
gram thinking that they can solve the Arab-
Israeli conflict," Kupperman said. "They think
that the only reason it hasn't been settled is
that the people involved are just stubborn or
short-sighted."

"The course gave me a much better understanding
of what is going on in Israel and throughout the
Middle East.... It also puts the whole situation in
perspective, and it taught me how difficult it is to
find a solution to the conflict."
- Chuck Pearlman
LSA senior

But they learn quickly that the conflict is
much deeper and more complicated than they
ever imagined. They leave the program with a
heightened awareness of the intricacies of his-
tory, religion and nationalism that has fueled
the conflict for so long, Kupperman said.
At times when it seemed the region would
achieve lasting peace, faculty searched for other
issues, Kupperman said. But each time, an event
occurred that brought relevance back to the course.
"There usually aren't any resolutions to the
conflict (during the class)," Kupperman said.

"We have seen various proposals to redistrib-
ute land or to trade water rights, but usually
somebody involved will not accept the pro-
posal because it doesn't suit their needs."
Similar to what has historically occurred in
real life, the resolutions do not stand and the
conflict continues on until the end of the semes-
ter, he added.
The initial founder of the course, Prof. Tay-
lor, returned this semester to teach the course
throughout the year. The course is open to all
students.

Sunshiny day

New laws could help some
men forced to pay alimony

DETROIT (AP) - A package of
bills sitting in a state Senate com-
mittee could free men from paying
child support for children they did
not father.
The proposals also would penal-
ize a mother who deceives a man
into believing he is the biological
father of her child.
Traverse City dentist Damon
Adams is pushing legislators to vote
the bills - passed last year by the
state House - into law.
Shortly after the end of his 25-
year marriage, DNA tests proved
Adams was not the father of the
fourth child born to he and his wife.
"It was the worst feeling I've ever
had to go through in my life," he
told the Detroit Free Press for a
story yesterday.
Adams presented the DNA evi-
dence to a judge, but was told to
continue paying child support,
which amounts to more than
$18,000 a year.
He said the proposed legislation
is in the best interest of children,
who have a right to know their med-

ical history.
"When something like this hap-
pens, the best way to heal is for the
truth to come out," he said.
But Amy Zaagman, chief of staff
for the chair of the state Senate
Committee on Families, Mental
Health and Human Services, said
the bills - which would allow men
to keep parenting time with children
- raise serious questions.
"Here's someone who had a rela-
tionship with the child, established
some responsibility for the child ...
yet now he doesn't want to be
responsible any more but wants par-
enting time?" she asked. "How does
that benefit the child?"
Zaagman said committee Chair-
woman Sen. Beverly Hammerstrom,
(R-Temperance), does not oppose
the bills' concept, but has legal con-
cerns.
For example, when a man who is
not married signs paternity papers,
he waives his right to a DNA test. If
the man has any doubts, he should
raise them before signing, not years
later, Zaagman said.

John Ruff of Grand Rapids, said
he believed his ex-girlfriend when
she told him she was pregnant with
his child more than eight years ago.
So he signed the paternity papers,
started paying child support and
scheduled visitations.
Ruff requested a DNA test only
after hearing rumors that the child
was not his. Like Adams, Ruff pre-
sented evidence that he was not the
father to a judge. He also was told
to continue paying child support.
"I hate to say it, but the whole
part where I went wrong was the
part where I tried to stand up and be
a man and take responsibility for
what I thought was my daughter,"
said Ruff, who added that he has not
seen the child since 1998.
"I should have been a jerk and
tried to protest what (my ex-girl-
friend) was saying."
Meri Anne Stowe, chairwoman of
the Family Law Section of the State
Bar of Michigan, said she can sym-
pathize with men in such situations,
but is more concerned about the
children involved.

PATRHICK JONES/Daily
Sun shines through the trees in, the Law Quad yesterday
afternoon as the temperature gets cooler and the leaves begin to
change.
New base for fuel
cell development
to open in Detroi't

LANSING (AP) - Detroit will
be home to Michigan's new center
for fuel cell development, the state
economic development office said
yesterday.
Washtenaw County's York Township
was the site before state officials
encountered problems establishing a a
700-acre, tax-free zone there, accord-
ing to the Michigan Economic Devel-
opment Center.
"Due to the costs associated with
providing infrastructure to the York
Township site, the need to open the
center quickly to meet market demand
and the favorable conditions of the
SmartZone in Detroit, the decision was
made to change the center's location,"
the MEDC said in a news release.
York Township officials were con-
cerned about who would pay for the cost

of upkeep of the roads, sewer and water
lines, the Ann Arbor News reported on
its website yesterday afternoon.
York Township Supervisor Bill Dean
didn't immediately return a telephone
message seeking comment yesterday
about the decision.
The center will be located in Wayne
State University's Research and Tech-
nology Park.
"The city of Detroit has expressed the
strongest interest in NextEnergy of any
location in Michigan since it was first
announced this spring," said Doug Roth-
well, president and CEO of the MEDC.
Gov. John Engler proposed the
Next Energy legislation earlier this
year. The large package of bills
designed to make Michigan a global
hub for alternative energy and fuel
cell development.

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Second quarter ends
in a loss for Kmart as
company stocks fall

TROY (AP) - Bankrupt retailer
Kmart Corp. posted a loss of $377
million in the second quarter, as sales
lagged and the company dealt with the
stigma of its Chapter 11 filing.
Kmart's net loss for the quarter that
ended July 31 was the same as the
year-ago quarter. The company had a
net loss of 75 cents a share in the most
recent quarter, compared with a loss of
77 cents in the second quarter of 2001.
i -a

lowed a loss of $137 million in June. It
reported July sales of $2.6 billion and
August sales of $2.09 billion.
Sales at stores open at least a year,
or same-store sales, were down 13.8
percent in July from the same period
in 2001, and down 11.9 percent in
August.
Executives at the Troy-based dis-
count chain had hinted that sales were
below expectations as consumers con-
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