LOCAL/STATE
The Michigan Daily - Monday, January 26, 2004 - 3A
Meijer cuts 1,900 management positions
McDonald's theft
ends in arrest of
pilfering suspect
DPS identified and arrested a sus-
pect who robbed the McDonald's at
Pierpont Commons Wednesday after-
noon. The suspect was not affiliated
with the University and stole an unde-
termined amount of money from the
restaurant. No injuries were reported as
a result of the theft.
Late-night civil
dispute unfolds on
Law Quad property
A fight broke out between two peo-
ple on the Law Quad after 2:30 a.m. on
Friday. DPS reports show the individu-
als have no affiliation with the Univer-
sity. The incident is under
investigation.
University property
damaged by water
A caller reported to DPS Friday
afternoon that a water-flow problem
damaged property in the School of
Information North Building. The prob-
lem was weather-related, and only Uni-
versity property was damaged. The
value of the damaged property is unde-
termined.
Vending machine
panel smashed by
unknown person
DPS reports indicate the front panel
of a vending machine in East Quad
Residence Hall was shattered early
yesterday morning. DPS currently has
no suspects.
DPS picks up
suspect wanted
on two warrants
A DPS officer located and arrest-
ed an individual in the Shapiro
Undergraduate Library early Satur-
day morning. The subject was want-
ed on a traffic warrant and an
assault warrant held by the Washte-
naw County Sheriff's Department.
After the arrest, the subject was
transferred to the Washtenaw Coun-
ty Jail. The individual has no affilia-
tion with the University.
Thief steals laptop
b from hospital office
A caller reported the theft of a lap-
top from an office at the University
Hospital Friday afternoon. DPS has no
suspects, and the value of the stolen
laptop is undetermined.
Window of Markley
entrance shattered
A window panel of one of the main
entrances to Mary Markley Resi-
dence Hall was shattered after early
yesterday morning. DPS reports
show the destruction was intentional.
There are no suspects.
Caller reports
boxes burning
outside South Quad
A caller reported to DPS that 10 to
15 boxes were on fire outside South
Quad Residence Hall, on Monroe
Street late Saturday night. By the
time the Ann Arbor Fire Department
arrived at the scene, the fire was
extinguished. DPS reports indicate
there are no suspects.
Fire extinguishers
stolen from
Markley, Bursley
DPS reports state that an officer dis-
covered early yesterday morning that a
fire extinguisher was stolen from the
1400 wing of Little House in Mary
Markley Residence Hall. Three other
fire extinguishers were noticed missing
from Bartlett House in Bursley Hall
around the same time. Officers rou-
tinely inspect residence halls for miss-
ing fire extinguishers. There are no
suspects known for either theft, and no
relationships between them was estab-
lished.
CD player snatched
from CCRB women's
lockerroom
A CD player was stolen from a
locker in the women's lockerroom
of the Central Campus Recreation
Building late Friday morning,
GREENVILLE (AP) - As part of
a continued restructuring effort
designed to keep Meijer Inc. competi-
tive, the retailer said Saturday it has
eliminated about 1,900 management
positions at its stores.
Meijer said it is reducing the num-
ber of its managers from about 42 to
30 per store. The family owned and
operated grocery and general merchan-
dise retailer has 158 stores throughout
Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan
and Ohio.
Some team leaders will be offered
non-supervisory positions. Those who
leave Meijer will receive a severance
package, health care continuation
options and assistance finding new
jobs, the company said.
"As part of our continual transfor-
mation, we have been studying the
industry's best practices," Meijer
spokesman John Zimmerman said. "As
a result, we have determined we need
to streamline our stores' supervisory
structure in each store.
"These are hard decisions to make but
they're necessary decisions," he said.
Zimmerman said Meijer will create
about 6,500 new jobs with the planned
opening of five stores this year and
eight in 2005.
Meijer's restructuring started five
months ago. Before the latest round of
cuts, the company employed about
75,000 people.
"You make these moves when you're
strong and when you know that you're
not a unique (retailing) format, and
you've got competitors coming into
your market with this same format that
you have to compete against," Zim-
merman said.
A displaced manager, speaking on
condition of anonymity, said rumors
of possible cuts started circulating a
few weeks ago. The manager said the
rumors intensified until the past
week, when managers learned their
fates in one-on-one conversations
with supervisors.
"Everybody all week was walking
around like zombies," said the former
manager, who was not offered another
job within the company. "They didn't
know if they were the ones that were
going to be cut."
Multistate retail chains such as Wal-
Mart Stores Inc., Target Corp. and
Kmart Holding Corp. have adapted the
superstore concept that Meijer devel-
oped during the 1960s. Dutch immi-
grant Hendrik Meijer opened the first
Meijer store, a grocery, in Greenville
in 1934.
Outside a modern Meijer store that
now stands in Greenville, longtime
customer Nora Kam said Saturday she
expects the management cuts to reduce
the quality of service she is used to
receiving at the retailer.
"I'm sure it will affect it somewhat,
but I really don't know how much,"
said Kam, 65, of Greenville.
As competition forces retailers to
evaluate their organizations, some ana-
lysts say Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-
Mart is Meijer's biggest concern. They
say job cuts and other changes indicate
that Meijer is implementing processes
and technologies that will enable it to
pass along savings to its customers.
Meijer Inc. started experimenting in
October with a new cost-cutting bag-
ging system at a store in the Grand
Rapids suburb of Wyoming. If the
ring-and-bag system, as it is known, is
installed in all Meijer stores, nearly
8,000 mostly part-time bagging jobs
would be lost, the retailer said.
Drumming to a different rhythm
DIVERSITY
Continued from Page 1A
facilitate discussions about those issues and also
give students a better understanding about the dif-
ferent minority groups on campus, she added.
One of the workshop topics was minorities in
academia. Faculty members discussed issues Uni-
versity professors face in promoting diversity in
students' educations. A specific issue professors
deal with is students resisting different view-
points in "Race and Ethnicity" courses.
American culture Prof. Maria Cortera
described instances where her students would
make remarks about certain ethnic communities
based on preconceived perceptions of the minori-
ty group they were studying. But she said it was
difficult to tell those students that their opinions
might offend others in the class.
"Telling them (their comments are unaccept-
able) the wrong way could make them look like a
racist," she said.
But psychology Prof. Phillip Akutsu said stu-
dents could overcome resistance by telling those
students to take a minute to reexamine the
remarks they make, letting them realize their
comments can be offensive to others.
"It allows them to back up on their own thoughts
and to rethink what just happened," he said.
Another workshop discussed why people with
disabilities are minorities. Faculty members and
students began the discussion by comparing the
issues racial minorities face to the issues people
with disabilities contend with.
They found that both groups suffered from
many of the same social problems, such as feel-
ings of disassociation, lack of access to public
institutions and fear of other social groups.
Members of the workshop later explored the
issue of the lack of rights people with disabilities
experience everyday, such as how some handi-
capped people in the past were forced to be car-
ried in order to enter certain buildings.
"They have to give up the freedom of control-
ling their own body. They have to be touched,"
English Prof. Tobin Siebers said.
People with disabilities give up their right of
privacy and can also sometimes feel like a burden
to others, Tobin added.
LSA junior Pete Woiwode said he enjoyed how
faculty members went beyond their own position
by participating in the discussions with the stu-
dents. It also reaffirmed to him the importance of
diversity University staff, he said.
"In order to teach adequately about our socie-
ty and the world, you need different viewpoints.
It's short-sighted to think that one ethnic group
can teach about the different types of people,"
he said.
LSA freshman Julia Ris said the workshops
were productive in learning more about diversity
on the campus. "I think it's important for every-
one to spend time with other groups. We need to
get outside of our own groups," she said.
EUUNE RUt SUN/Uaily
Sinaboro performs traditional Korean drumming at its fourth annual concert in the
Michigan League's Mendelssohn Theater Saturday night.
COLLECTIVE
Continued from Page 1A
we've connected on such a deep level in such a
short time," she said.
She added that she looks forward to taking the
energy and sense of community from the concert
and the workshop back to groups she is involved
with on campus, such as Anti-War Action! and the
Environmental Justice Group.
"I feel very empowered to make activism a big
part of my life," she said. "(The concert) was even
more remarkable than the workshop because it
brought it to a larger audience. Everyone was
blown away. ... Everyone was laughing together
and crying together, it was quite an experience."
Long Hairz Collective member Brian Babb, a
University alum, said he traveled from Oakland,
Calif. to honor King and to join with students as
part of the legacy of a symposium dedicated to
making King's dream a reality.
"The MLK Symposium is like no other com-
memoration I've been to," he said. "What you have
is a lot of folks from different (backgrounds) cele-
brating his work, celebrating his life, celebrating his
memory and really living his dream of peace, jus-
tice and love."
Babb added that part of the purpose of the con-
cert and workshop was to remind people that they
can make a difference.
"I hope that people go away with an openness to
their own voice and an understanding that their own
voice is just as significant as Dr. Martin Luther
King, JR.'s," he said.
LSA junior Danica Williams, who attended the
concert, said the group's vision really resonated
within her and that the sense of community created
by their art felt like meditation.
"It's beautiful, the words and the way they're
voiced out - you can see there's a lot of passion
and meaning behind what they say," she said. "I
think the message is about love, it's about finding
that peace inside yourself and applying it to others
in your life - if you have love inside you, it's going
to come out and help others even if you don't even
realize it."
HOUSING
Continued from Page 1A
tion, renewal and construction of residence
halls will occur."
The housing director will also be responsi-
ble for working with students and the Resi-
dence Halls Association.
"We'd like someone who will work with
and recognize the goals of RHA," said RHA
Director Amy Keller, one of two students on
the committee. "The person we're looking for
will be open to change and possibilities for
the University."
Other members of the advisory committee
include Department of Public Safety Director
William Bess and Engineering graduate stu-
dent John Norton.
Zeller, who vacated the position Jan. 1,
2003, is now the assistant vice chancellor for
housing at the University of California,
Irvine.
At the time of his departure, Harper said
renovations to residence halls and the possi-
ble construction of a new hall would progress
more smoothly if Zeller stepped down.
F I
the daily
rri ein s apuzzle
The
rceton
Review
1-800-2-REVIEW
FRSHMNI
SOPHOM/ORES +
JUNIORS!!!
Want to work during
Spring/Summer/Fall Semesters?
The Michigan Daily will give you the opportunity to gain the
following business experiences:
* Sell Advertising to Local and National Businesses
* Manage your own account Territory
* Work in a team-oriented environment
" Earn Commission-based pay
Please pick up application at
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Student Publications Building