NEWS The Michigan Daily - Thursday, December 9, 2004 - 3A ON CAMPUS SDean addresses global warming SNRE Dean Rosina Bierbaum will speak about "The Scientific Consen- sus on Global Warming" today at 1 p.m. in Room 126 or East Quad Res- idence Hall. Bierbaum was a former chief environ- mental science advisor to former Presi- dent Bill Clinton. The talk is part of a two-part series hosted by the RC science class Energy and the Environment. Skate for the Stars The UM Stars for the Make-A-Wish Foundation is hosting an open skate night from 8 to 10 p.m. today at Yost Ice Arena. There will be a live band playing and members of the Hockey team will be present. Tickets are $5 and a portion of the donation will go to UM Stars. Expert discusses U.S., Middle East relations History professor Juan Cole, an expert on the Middle East, will give a talk titled "Saving American from its Middle East Quagmire" today at 7 p.m. in East Quad Residence Hall in Room 126. CRIME NOTES Hinges, sprockets taken; backpack left behind Sometime between Monday eve- ning and Tuesday morning in the G. G. Brown Building, multiple mechanical objects were stolen from a backpack, although the backpack remained unmo- lested, according to Department of Pub- lic Safety records. The objects included hinges, sprockets, chains and gears and carried an estimated value of $40. DPS has no suspects. House votes $99.5 mil. for school aid LANSING (AP) - The Michigan House overwhelmingly approved moving $99.5 mil- lion from the state's general fund to its school aid fund to help resolve a projected deficit. The bill, approved 102 to 7, now goes to the Senate. It must be approved by the Senate and signed by the governor by the end of the year when the Legislature adjourns, or it has to be reintroduced next year. The transfer would help shore up the school aid budget that took effect Oct. 1 that econo- mists project is between $110 million and $119 million in the red. Republican legislative leaders said last week they wanted to address this year's school aid shortfall before adjourning for the year. But Rep. Mickey Mortimer (R-Horton) argued that lawmakers should wait on the transfer until after January's revenue estimat- HOMELESS Continued from page 1A don't go ahead." To protect their rights, the names of the children were not disclosed. The program is rewarding for both the children and the students, said Prof. David Scobey, director of the University Arts of Citizenship Program. "It gives something back to everyone involved," Scobey said. "The (college) students get the experience of dealings with homelessness and mentoring, while ' the kids get to work with college students. It builds a whole community."x Gordon-Gurfinkel, who founded the course three years ago and still teaches it, said the program focuses on getting the children's voices heard and involving them in the college community. "The kids have an experience with undergraduates that may break down ste- reotypes of how we see homeless kids and how they see students who are predomi- nately white, rich, older kids," she said. Next year, Gordon-Gurfinkel plans to accept more children from the wait- ing list, possibly including runaways and older kids. But not everything goes smoothly all the time - the children still struggle with the hardships of being homeless. Some children have tough situations in their day-to-day lives. Some are sexually abused, Gordon-Gurfinkel said. Others have come to the program with feces on their clothes, she said. The children often write about things they deal with on a daily basis on the streets and in the homeless shelters on which they rely, Gordon-Gurfinkel said. Gordon-Gurfinkel said she remem- bered a girl in this semester's program who came into the Telling It classroom in September and said, "I'm not a writer. I love art, but I'm not a writer." One day the girl started saying angry things. But Gordon-Gurfinkel said this became a turnin point in the girl's expe- rience with Telling It, as she shed her anger and allowed herself to vent. "She went from a sassy pre-teen to being excit- ed about writing, even getting the smaller kids involved," Gordon-Gurfinkel said. LSA junior Max Germain, a Telling It alum, found the experience so valuable that he came back for a second semester. Money would come out of general fund ing conference when they know how much the school aid fund is short. "This makes no financial sense to do this right now," Mortimer said. "We're just guess- ing." The legislation also resolves a deficit in the school aid fund for the budget year that ended in September. It would transfer a general fund surplus, expected to be about $20 million, to the school aid fund. House Republican Policy analysts expect last year's school aid fund to be about $20 million short. The legislation also prohibits intermedi- ate school districts from being reimbursed for their joint employ- "is mak ment arrangements with local districts unless the financial s Department of Education determines they increase do this rig efficiency or significantly save money. W e're just A handful of lawmak- ers voted against the bill M because of the ISD provi- sion, arguing that it would leave their intermediate school districts without a reimbursement they were expecting. Those voting against the bill were Lauren Hager es no ense to Dht now.... guessing" lickey Mortimer R-Horton of Port Huron, Doug Hart of Rockford, Bill Huizenga of Zeeland, Michael Sak of Grand Rapids, Barb Vander Veen of Allendale, Bill Van Regenmorter of Hudsonville and Mortimer. Rep. Artina Tinsley Hardman (D-Detroit) was absent yesterday and did not vote. The measure was added because a number of House members were worried that some ISDs are over-charging the state for their shared employment arrangements. MEAP change moves one step closer to reality LANSING (AP) - The state standardized test for high school juniors is a step closer to being replaced with a version of a college entrance exam. The Michigan House voted last night to send the five-bill package to the Senate for final approval. The House voted 99 to 10 on the main bill to replace the Michigan Educational Assessment Program test. The legislation doesn't specify a test to replace the MEAP test, but two of its three parts would resem- ble the ACT and an ACT work skills exam. Eleventh-graders would start tak- ing the test, called the Michigan Merit Exam, in the 2006-07 school year, according to the legislation. A sample group could begin taking it in the 2005-06 school year. The bills are strictly limited to the 11th grade MEAP test and wouldn't affect elementary and middle school students who take the exam. The House already approved a bill to supplement the Senate legislation by setting up qualifications for ven- dors hired to create the test, adminis- ter and score it. The bills approved yesterday night were changed by the House to require that social studies be a part The legislation didn't specify a test to replace the MEAP test, but two of its three parts would resemble the ACT and on ACT work skills exam. of the new test and require the state school superintendent to check that test questions are accurate. The Senate is expected to send the bills to Gov. Jennifer Granholm before adjourning at the end of the day today. Three House Democrats voted against the bill: Stephen Adamini of Marquette, Glenn Anderson of West- land and Jack Minore of Flint. Seven Republicans also voted no: Clark Bis- bee of Jackson, Sandy Caul of Mount Pleasant, Judy Emmons of Sheridan, Philip LaJoy of Canton, John Pastor of Livonia, John Stakoe of Highland and John Stewart of Plymouth. Democratic Rep. Artina Tinsley Hardman of Detroit was absent and didn't vote. Dog requested for bomb threat search One of DPS's two search dogs was requested for a possible bomb threat at Baker College in Flint on Tuesday afternoon. Officers brought the dog but found no problems at the college. Dance Building thefts reported Three people in the Dance Build- ing reported to DPS that they had been victims of thefts occurring Tuesday eve- ning. One individual reported the loss of a wallet, watch and cell phone, which had been left unattended in a coat pocket. Two escorted from Business building DPS found a man and a woman not affiliated with the University in the faculty lounge of the Business Admin- istration Building on Tuesday evening. Both were read trespass advisories and escorted out of the building. THIS DAY In Daily History Homosexual women complain of discrimination Dec. 9, 1973 - Members of the Gay Awareness Women's Kollec- tive (GAWK) filed complaints with the city's Human Rights Department against the owner of the Rubaiyat bar, Greg Fenerli. They charged him with discrimination against gay women. On numerous occasions Fenerli and the women have clashed over what he calls "their openly sexual behavior" since last May when the homosexual 1 women began congregating at the bar Too good to be true?? GREEKS Continued from page 1A gence. Pi Kappa Alpha already uses this waiver at all of its parties. "I think that it may be a good idea to help the problems that have been associ- ated with frat parties," said LSA junior Lisa Gluck, who did not attend the meeting. "But it's going to be difficult to enforce it." GENDER Continued from page 1A from this semester that would satisfy the requirement. Possible departments include: American culture, communica- tions, English, film and video studies, history, history of art, political science, organizational studies, the Residential College, sociology and women's studies. "Michigan is obviously dedicated to promoting diversity. We have one of the best women's studies departments in the country, and there are classes within the race and ethnicity requirement that focus on gender and sexuality," said LSA alum Avra Siegel, one of the students who started the initiative a few years ago. "They're recognizing the need to study these issues indirectly, but they're not making it official," she added. When the student committee presented its proposal to women's studies faculty on Monday, they received "a mixed bag of emotions," Cederberg said. Faculty mem- bers were concerned that the requirement would focus only on women's issues. They also expressed concern that the require- ment would overrun the small depart- ment with students who did not want to be there, sacrificing the intimate academic environment the program cherishes. While Cederberg said these are valid concerns, the academic advantages off- set any problems the requirement would New IFC members will be partially in charge of enforcing the social policy they adopted when their new members take office and the policy take effect next month. "There's a lot of pressure I'm putting on myself to get things done," said incoming IFC President Michael Caplan. "By no means is our commu- nity perfect. We're aspiring to keep building on the foundation that was built before us." eventually passed, but only after a failed attempt and contentious discussions. Unlike the race and ethnicity require- ment, no particular event spurred students to act on adding the new requirement. To the group's leaders, gender issues permeate everyday life, and part of a liberal arts education is to raise consciousness of these matters. But recent political affairs have added a sense of urgency to their cause, group members said. Ballot initiatives and court cases concerning gay marriage and possible challenges to abortion rights have brought issues of gender and sexuality to the nation's forefront. "Those are the kinds of things that we think are very important today and that people should be educated on, like they are educated on race and ethnic- ity," Malczynski said. Given the outcome of the gay mar- riage amendment in Michigan, there is an increased need to study these issues, group members said. "You can gain so much more insight into the way the world works," Siegal said. "I think they are essential to gaining a holistic liberal arts framework." But the passage of Proposal 2 ban- ning gay marriage and similar unions in November may indicate that the public is not receptive to studying sexuality. "The reason to be pessimistic is, again, this is a state school," Malczyns- .:.: