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The Michigan Daily - Monday, April 12, 2004 - 3A

CRUh4E
* Syrup, cornflakes,
feathers cover East
Quad bathroom
A caller reported to DPS on
Thursday morning that someone put
syrup, cornflakes and feathers all
over one of the bathrooms in East
Quad Residence Hall.
There was no damage done to the
bathrooms, and facilities staff mem-
bers were requested to clean the
mess.
E-mail threat
made at DPS
Headquarters
A caller reported to the Department
of Public Safety on Saturday after-
noon that a threat was made against
him via e-mail. The caller worked at
the front desk of the DPS headquar-
ters. DPS has a suspect in the case.
Dispute over
parking space ends
in altercation
DPS crime reports show that on
Saturday afternoon, an officer report-
ed to a parking lot on the 300 block of
Hoover Street in response to a physi-
cal dispute at that location. The minor
altercation resulted from a disagree-
ment over a parking space. There were
no injuries.
Heated basketball
. game ends in one
man's arrest
DPS officers arrested a man for
non-aggravated assault at the Cen-
tral Campus Recreation Building
Friday evening after the man
punched another person while play-
ing basketball, resulting in minor
injuries for the victim.
* Drunken man
attempts to enter
East Quad
DPS officers arrested a man who
was found intoxicated and in posses-
sion of stolen property Saturday
morning. The man was located on
East giversityAvenue attempting to
enter East Quad Residence Hall.
Officers later discovered the man was
in possession of a wallet that had been
reported stolen to the Ann Arbor
Police Department.
Acid leak causes
property damage
in C.C. Little
According to DPS crime reports,
small amounts of several different
acidic chemicals leaked from a
waste containment bucket in the
C.C. Little Science Building on
Wednesday afternoon. Police
reports said the leakage presented
no health risks, though a minor
amount of property damage
occurred. The Department of Occu-

pational Safety and Environmental
Health was contacted to clean the
chemical leak.
Highly intoxicated
man found laying
on bench
DPS officers observed a man laying
on a bench outside of the C.C. Little
Science Building early Sunday morn-
ing. The highly intoxicated man
received a minor-in-possession cita-
tion and was transported to the Uni-
versity Hospital's emergency room.
Smoke alarm set
off by hair-styling
equipment
According to DPS crime logs
from Saturday afternoon, a smoke
detector went off in Mosher-Jordan
Residence Hall. Officers deter-
mined the alarm had been set off by
a curling iron. The alarm was re-set
and there were no further problems.
$3,000 worth of
bathroom
a amnniac ctlan

Open wide

Bush campaign turns
focus to Mich. battle

By Jameel Naqvi
Daily Staff Reporter

A potential uphill battle for President Bush's re-
election has his campaign earnestly expanding its
scope, most recently by designating its pre-existing
Southfield office as its Michigan headquarters last
Thursday.
"Oakland County is very important to the
campaign," campaign spokeswoman Merrill
Smith said.
Former Montana Gov. Mark Racicot, chairman
of the Committee to Re-
elect President Bush, and u -
Massachusetts Gov. Mitt We thnk
Romney rallied volunteers to be a C1o
at the grand opening. The
campaign has more than We're not g
16,000 volunteers in the tke any vo
state. "We think this is
going to be a close election. granted....
We're not going to take any dete
vote for granted," Smith rmined
said. "We're determined to MiChlgan"
win Michigan," she added.
But Bush faces an uphill
battle in the state. Former
Vice-president Al Gore won Spokeswoma
here in 2000 with a majority
of the vote. A Republican presidential candidate
hasn't taken the state's electoral votes since George
H.W. Bush was elected in 1988. Michigan current-
ly sends 17 electors to the Electoral College.
To add to the Bush campaign's worries, pre-
sumed Democratic nominee Sen. John Kerry of
Massachusetts has enlisted the aid of Michigan's
most prominent politicians, Gov. Jennifer
Granholm and U.S. Sens. Carl Levin and Debbie
Stabenow
Smith offered several strategies the campaign

lIl
se
g(
)b

will use to undermine Kerry's campaign promises.
"We will go back to John Kerry's record," Smith
said, citing alleged inconsistencies in the senator's
voting patterns. Smith said the president's re-elec-
tion campaign will continue to characterize Kerry
as a big spender. The Bush campaign recently esti-
mated the cost of Kerry's proposals at-$1.9 trillion.
By this estimate, Smith said, Kerry will be
forced to raise taxes across the board. Kerry has
said his policies would only require raising taxes
among the wealthiest Americans. Smith said
Bush's campaign will focus
on the economy and the ter=
s srorism threat.
3 election. The Southfield office has
employed nine full-time
oing to staffers since December.
to for The grand opening was a
purely ceremonial function.
Ve're "It was a good opportunity
to Win to rally the troops," Smith
said.
The Bush-Cheney cur-
rently has headquarters in
-Merrill Smith nine states. The Michigan
-C office was the fourth head-
Bush-Cheney '04 quarters to open in three
days. The campaign inau-
gurated its Pennsylvania and West Virginia headi
quarters Tuesday and officially opened its
Florida office the next day. Racicot also hosted
the ceremonies in Charleston, W Va., and Talla-
hassee, Fla.
Smith said the regional offices are important in
coordinating the campaign's grassroots efforts.
The Bush campaign faces formidable competi-
tion on the local level from Kerry, who benefits
from the grassroots organization of his former
opponent, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean.

JUL FR:UMAN/Uaily
LSA freshman Michael Lacher (left) and LSA senior David Golanty of Witt's End, an
improv comedy group, perform during their show "Rocket Sauce" at the Arena
Theater in the Frieze Building Saturday.


BIASES
Continued from Page IA
tions go overboard and unjustly taunt
an ethnic or social group.
"It's just mocking people to get
laughs," LSA senior Josie Najor said.
Regardless, the stereotyping hasn't
stopped. As a result, many in minority
communities say now it's become all
too common to see on TV effeminate
male homosexuals, Asians who
always know karate and the typical
black man from the ghetto - all
comedic exaggerations to spur a
laugh.
But earlier this month, the April
issue of Details Magazine, a fashion
publication, asked readers if an Asian-
American male featured in a story
was "gay or Asian."
Members of the two communities
are now in an uproar, saying they are
fed up with the joking, calling for the
entertainment industry to reform its
portrayal of minorities.
"If we don't speak out now, it's
never going to end," Fu said.
Many Asians and gays across
America have taken offense at the
wisecrack, demanding Details Maga-
zine make an apology while rescind-
ing the April issue and firing the
writer of the article.
The magazine issued a public state-
ment saying it regretted the publica-
tion of the article and will print an
apology in the May issue.
Yet minority student organizations
such as the UAAO said they still don't
feel an apology is enough, and
demanded that TV executives crack
down on stereotypes in the entertain-
ment industry by pulling shows like
"Banzai" off the air.
The groups say it's not just an issue
of being ridiculed in front of an audi-
ence of millions, but a larger problem
of stereotypes being taken as truth by
viewers.
"Some people just think it's not a
big deal. But a lot of people already
think these stereotypes though. And
they'll continue to think these
stereotypes if they continue," Fu
said.
Gays are frequently the brunt of the
entertainment industry's jokes, lead-
ing the industry to sensationalize the
gay community in TV shows and
movies, said Clay Ming Kwong,
spokesman for the Gay and Lesbian
Alliance Against Defamation.

"Most of the time, that sensational-
izing is negative ... and that causes
(gays) to be portrayed inaccurately,"
Kwong said.
Both Kwong and Fu also said they
worry that viewers may subconscious-
ly take the stereotypes in entertain-
ment as truth and added that they
cringe knowing viewers may continue
laughing at those stereotypes without
caring about the negative effects.
"I don't think it's necessary to
stereotype at all. Viewers who laugh
(at those stereotypes) are just being
ignorant and not confirming what
they are laughing at," Fu said. Instead,
Fu said viewers might adopt those
stereotypes and assume them to be
accurate.
Those stereotypes become especial-
lydangerous for viewers who,,ocn't
normally interact with other ethnic
groups or for children who don't yet
understand that stereotypes are
untrue, Fu added.
She said that's why it's imperative
shows like "Banzai" cease so that
viewers can realize that people of
other ethnic and social groups are no
different from them.
Rather than trying to pull television
programs off the air, Kwong said
GLAAD tries to engage in talks with
entertainment companies.
In response to the Details Magazine
article, GLAAD plans to pitch future
story ideas to the publication, which
will depict a more positive image of
homosexuals.
But while some action is being
taken, many students said they see no
end to the use of ethnic and sexual
stereotypes in the entertainment
industry.
Engineering sophomore Calvin
Cheung said the entertainment indus-
try has no reason to stop using stereo-
types since ratings are as high as
they've ever been. People are just too
entertained by the stereotypes, he
added.
"Not enough people care. They are
usually not a part of the other cultures
being stereotyped. So they are enter-
tained," he said.
Everybody likes to watch these pro-
grams, Engineering sophomore
Clinque Brundidge said.
"The general public likes to see
stereotypes. It makes ratings good,"
Brundidge said.
"Maybe that's what they like to
think of minorities."

CHARGES
Continued from Page 1A
a BB gun because a BB gun uses
metal pellets, whereas my client's
gun contained plastic pellets,"
Shea said. But DPS has continued
to call the weapon in question a
BB gun.
Spork said, BB guns look very
similar to real guns. "These play-
guns look very real. If you were
standing 20 feet away, even just six
feet away, you wouldn't be able to
tell the difference," Spork said.
He added that both Washtenaw
County and the state include BB
guns in the category of dangerous
firearms or weapons.

CHALKINGS
Continued from Page 1A
in the future if a pattern develops
or if the hate crimes are repeatedly
committed.
"(Hate crimes) create a hostile
environment for students, so we
want to keep a record of this hap-
pening," Garrett said. "In this par-

ticular case,'it's unlikely or almost
impossible for us to know who did
it, but it's also worth documenting.
If we don't document them, people
will think these things don't hap-
pen. It helps to remind us that yes,
we need to keep doing this work
because there are people who want
to be- homophobic and hurtful to
other people," she added.

Corrections:
An article on Page 1 of Friday's Daily should have said University
President Mary Sue Coleman said she would respond soon to a commit-
tee's request that the administration disclose the wages of factory work-
ers making University apparel.
Please report any errors in the Daily to corrections@michigandaily.com


Recipient
Mary Sue Coleman
President

University of Michigan

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Wednesday
April 14, 2004, 4:00 p.m.
Hale Auditorium

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