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The Michigan Daily - Monday, April 19, 2004 - 3A

Assault in Church
Street parking lot
lands victim in ER
Department of Public Safety crime
logs show a caller reported that he
was assaulted by several men varying
in height from five to six feet tall
early Saturday morning. The assault
occurred off campus on the third floor
of the Church Street parking structure.
The suspects fled the scene and the
case is currently under investigation.
The victim was taken to the Universi-
ty Hospital's emergency room for
facial injuries.
According to DPS, such assaults
usually occur after people leave the
bars and arcade on South University
Avenue and return to their cars. Gener-
ally, these assaults do not involve col-
lege students.
Assault victim's
friends fight with
suspected attacker
A man in Alice Lloyd Residence
Hall reported to DPS that he was
assaulted early Friday morning. As the
victim was being treated for injuries,
his friends located and assaulted the
suspected attacker. Pepper spray was
used to break up the fighting and the
suspect was taken into custody. Every-
one else involved fled the scene and
the case is under investigation.
Student arrested
for possession,
intent to sell drugs
A student in Alice Lloyd residence
hall was arrested on Friday morning
for violating the controlled substances
act, according to DPS reports. The stu-
dent was found in possession of nar-
cotics with the intent to sell. He was
later released from custody because the
substance needs to be tested to deter-
mine whether it is a narcotic.
Woman in Betsey
Barbour arrested
 on warrants
DPS crime reports show that on Sat-
urday afternoon, a woman who was not
affiliated with the University was taken
into custody because she had misde-
meanor warrants out for her arrest. She
was found in the basement of Betsey
Barbour Residence Hall and was later
turned over to the Ypsilanti City Police.
Tools stolen from
Taubman Library
On Saturday afternoon, it was report-
ed to DPS that a tool belt and various
construction tools were stolen from the
Taubman Medical Library. The value of
the stolen property is currently
unknown and there are no suspects.
Paintball supplies
vendor forced to
leave Diag
DPS crime reports show that on
Thursday morning, a person had set up
a table on the Diag and was selling
paintball supplies. A DPS officer
directed the vendor to pack up his sup-
plies and move off of the Diag. Also

Thursday morning, a person on the
Diag was found with a paintball gun,
according to DPS crime reports. The
individual was warned not to trespass
and was advised to leave the Diag.
BB gun may have
hit Markley window
A caller in Mary Markley Residence
Hall reported to DPS on Thursday
night that someone might have shot his
window with a BB gun sometime dur-
ing the last few days. It is undeter-
mined whether a BB gun caused the
damage and there are no suspects.
Trash cans believed
to be thrown from
Mo-Jo bathroom
DPS crime logs show that a caller
reported hearing two loud bangs
outside his window in Mosher-Jor-
dan Residence Hall early Saturday
morning.
The caller said that when he investi-
gated the noises, he found two garbage
cans on the ground outside. He added
that when he went up to the fourth
floor men's bathroom, he saw that the
window screens were ripped off, the
windows were open and the trash cans
were missing.
Man yelling out

Senior citizens,

'U'

close generation gap

By Aymar.Jean
Daily Staff Reporter
Activists have aged since the
days when college students wore
tie-dyed tunics, donned peace sym-
bols and sported long locks with
pride. A group of local activists
consists of a few University stu-
dents and another atypical demo-
graphic: senior citizens.
Over the past two semesters, the
Students And Seniors Alliance has
met weekly, originally hoping to
change the world, although the focus
of their mission has since narrowed
to one groups of people living in
Ann Arbor.
Now the group seeks to improve the
relationship between the University
and University Living, an assisted liv-
ing facility for the elderly on South
Main Street near Briarwood Mall.
The SAS Alliance includes a few
University students who conduct
community activism, but an impor-
tant part of the project involves
forging intergenerational relation-
ships. It is "a very local, close-to-
home activism" that involves
"taking control of your own envi-
ronment and shaping it to be what
you'd like it to be," said Abbie
Lawrence, a social work and sociol-
ogy graduate student who coordi-
nates the group.
University Living founders Dean
and Sari Solden said they created
the facility to foster a culturally and
educationally rich environment for
seniors, which they had not seen at
other nursing homes and assisted
living facilities.
"I saw that there wasn't creativity
in the health care field," Dean Sol-
den said.
In 2001, the Soldens opened Uni-
versity Living, where senior citi-
zens can live in their own
apartments relatively independent
of nurses.
They attend lectures, take classes,
form clubs, hold formal discussions
and even participate in University
research. Their objective was to cre-
ate a social environment, rather
than an institutional one, Dean Sol-
den said.
But to accomplish this goal, a close
relationship with the University was
essential, Solden said. As a sign of
this relationship, emeritus Prof.

SHUBRA OHRI/Daily
University Living resident Matt Trippe talks while LSA sophomore Bill Masch and University Living resident Loraine Erhard
listen at the University Living senior citizen home Thursday.

But when the group decided to
focus on education - and when
one resident mentioned that educa-
tion is not only for young people -
the Alliance chose to increase the
University's involvement at Univer-
sity Living.
While students and seniors have
sought to improve an institutional
relationship, they have also forged
personal relationships. The relation-
ships have become close, Erhard said.
"I know everyone, and everyone's
friendly," LSA sophomore Bill
Masch said. "I've changed a lot,
and I've been changed a lot."
"I know so many people here. I
feel comfortable here, and I don't
even live here. I love this place,"
LSA senior Cecilia Hernandez said.
Integral to the group's mission is
a belief in the value of intergenera-
tional relationships and a belief that
each generation has a responsibility
to take care of the other.
During the first few sessions, the
Alliance discussed improving their
community through intergenerational
cooperation and civic participation.
Two meetings ago, the group
debated which generation should
bear the responsibility of caring
about important social issues.
Lawrence presented two scholarly
articles, one holding students
responsible and one holding the
elderly responsible.
One scholar assumed the elderly
have time to care about other gener-
ations and about society. But "time
is the thing that we need more;"
Erhard said.
"I think students have time to care
too," resident Dorothy Stetson added.
In the end, most agreed that each
generation should help the other.
"I still think it's a mix. I don't
think there's any one group of peo-
ple that's solely responsible," LSA
freshman Brittany Bogan said.
"I think everybody should get
involved in the needs of our socie-
ty," resident Sy Krauth said. "That
seems to me to be a necessary part
of the democratic system."
Students and senior citizens hope
their mission will continue, even as
this semester comes to a close.
"These are the people that are going
to change the relationship," Erhard
said, surveying the room before
leaving a meeting two weeks ago.

Richard Adelman works as director
of University relations for University
Living, but he mainly conducts an
intergenerational study with students
in the Undergraduate Research
Opportunity Program. Adelman is the
former director of the University's
Institute of Gerontology.
The SAS Alliance has labored to
realize Solden's vision. During the
fall and winter, the group has made
strides in their quest, as they have
lobbied to bring more students to
the facility.
Group members are seeking the
help of professors in the Ginsberg
Center for Service and Learning,
and two professors have expressed
interest in bringing the center's par-
ticipants to University Living.
The Alliance spoke with Project
Outreach, a Psychology 211 class
interested in placing students at the
facility in the fall. In mid-May,
Lawrence will meet with two nurs-
ing professors also interested in
placing students.

Because some residents can take
classes but cannot make it to campus,
students developed a list of at least 18
professors to invite to speak in a "Vis-
iting Professor Lecture Series."
But the alliance has had difficul-
ty achieving this goal. Some chal-
lenges the group faces include
finding the time to do activist work,
combating fatigue and coping with
scheduling conflicts.
Despite their successes, students
and senior citizens recognize that the
work must continue into next year.
"This is ongoing work. It's not
something that can be done imme-
diately. But we've made great steps
so far," Lawrence said.
At first, the founders intended
that the interaction between the
center and the University involve
mainly research activity - where
professors would research assisted
living - but then the more person-
al, intergenerational component
increased in importance.
The Soldens tried to get every

University department to send stu-
dents and faculty to University Liv-
ing, but Adelman's UROP study
remains one of the stronger connec-
tions between the two institutions.
"To have as much interaction as
possible, I was hoping that this
would really be a haven for (retired)
professors and professors' spouses.
So every department was hoping to
get one professor or one grad stu-
dent to come here; because they're
all family," Dean Solden said.
"Your retired professors are still
part of your family."
Some of the residents are retired
professors, but not all are. For
example, Resident Loraine Erhard
is a retired pediatrician.
Before choosing its current mis-
sion, the alliance spent several weeks
considering more than 80 other
issues for community activism. Ideas
ranged from promoting literacy
among middle school students in
inner city Detroit to getting President
Bush out of office.

Falling Mich. revenues threaten Medicaid

LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Michi-
gan is struggling with Medicaid, its
health care insurance plan for about
1.35 million poor people.
Even as state tax revenues fell the
past four years, Medicaid caseloads
shot up 27 percent and costs rose 40
percent. The state now spends a
quarter of its general fund on Medic-
aid coverage - and more than $7
billion annually overall.
Virtually all state programs are
under increasing pressure. Spending
for higher education, for example, is
down14 percent since 2002. Payments
to local governments have been
slashed by 15 percent since 2001, lead-
ing to layoffs of police, shorter library
hours and fewer road projects.
Something must be done to limit
Medicaid's growth and bolster other
services, experts said.
"The stock market, tax cuts, prison
spending, the sluggish economy and
Medicaid have all contributed to the
state deficit. But Medicaid is the ele-
phant in the room," said Stuart Pater-

son, a senior research associate for the
Citizens Research Council of Michigan
and former state Medicaid director.
Virtually all of the $400 million in
tax increases Gov. Jennifer Granholm
has proposed on cigarettes, liquor
and inherited estates are earmarked
to close a yawning hole in Medicaid.
Yet another $200 million shortfall is
projected for this year's state budget,
and half of that is because of the
mounting Medicaid caseload.
"This is unsustainable," said Paul
Reinhart, who directs the state Med-
icaid program. "There is recognition
that something must be done."
The state nibbled at the problem
last year, cutting some Medicaid serv-,
ices, such as dental care, podiatry,
hearing aids and chiropractic pro-
grams for adults.
Those services were recently added
back into the budget by a Senate sub-
committee, although senators provided
no funding mechanism for the $27
million expense. Another proposal to
cut $13 million in home help services

The state now spends a quarter of its general
fund on Medicaid coverage - and more than $7
billion annually overall.

has been put on hold.
Granholm said her reading of the
sentiment of state residents is that it is
a priority to provide health care for
low-income people with disabilities,
seniors, children and pregnant women.
"I'm not willing to just lop 200,000
people completely off of health care,"
Granholm told the newspaper. "I think
that we have an obligation as a society
to protect the vulnerable."
But Granholm acknowledged that
if she can't convince the Legislature

to go along with "sin tax" proposals,
the state will need to make deep and
painful cuts in Medicaid.
"Then you will have more and more
people without health care and fewer
critical services provided," she said.
"People will have to make choices
about whether they want to provide
health care for seniors and children or
whether they want to provide prison
space for violent inmates, or funding
for schools, or police protection for
local communities."

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Corrections:
An article on Page 1 of Friday's Daily should have said the medians pro-
posed for Plymouth Road would run down the middle of the road for about
one mile.
Please report any errors in the Daily to corrections@michigandaily.com


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