a
NEWS
The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, December 14, 2004 - 3
ON CAMPUS
Engineering
society's open
skate to benefit
charity
The Biomedical Engineering Soci-
ety will have an open skate today
from 10 to 11:45 p.m. in Yost Ice
Arena. The event is not restricted to
members. The cost of attendance is
$2 or two cans of food, and proceeds
will go to a charity. Last year, the
society collected 150 cans of food.
For more information, contact Dhruv
Aggarwal at dsud@umich.edu.
Michigan Union to
host 'Great Union
Study Break'
The Michigan Union will host the
"Great Union Study Break' today at 8
p.m. There is no charge to attend. For
more information, contact Student
Activities and Leadership, Michigan
Union Arts and Programs or the Stu-
dent Organization Resource Center.
'U' Symphony
Orchestra to
perform at Hill
The University Symphony Orches-
tra will perform at Hill Auditorium
today at 8 p.m. Conductor Kenneth
Kiesler will lead the orchestra in a
program titled, "Mozart-Symphony
No. 32." Contact Rachel Francisco at
764-0594 for more information.
CRIME
NOTES
Hockey player
injured at Yost
A hockey player suffered a neck
injury in a game at Yost Ice Arena on
Sunday night. The player was trans-
ported to a hospital in a Huron Valley
Ambulance.
Suspects break car
window in parking
lot theft
Suspects stole speakers from a car
parked in a lot on 500 Thompson St.
The incident was reported to DPS at
about noon Sunday. In the process, a
window was broken.
There are currently no suspects in
the case.
Parking patron
spits on attendant
in spat
A person spit on an attendant
because of a dispute Sunday at the
Fletcher parking lot on 201 Fletcher
St., according to DPS.
The suspect has not been identi-
fied. The nature of the dispute is not
known.
THIS DAY
In Daily History
Power failure
produces mass
pandemonium
Dec. 14, 1961 - Darkness and pan-
demonium hit the corridor between
the lecture rooms of Angell Hall yes-
terday morning when a power failure
hit Central Campus. A mass of stu-
dents tried to extricate themselves
from the asphyxiating atmosphere of
cigarette smoke.
But all was in vain. The students
who had just been released from the
four pitch-black auditoriums were
caught in a human blockade that
refused to budge.
"For 15 minutes I was caught
there, fighting to get out, but when
I felt someone pinch me, then I had
no trouble finding an exit," one girl
said.
Not until the personnel at the Uni-
versity power plant checked to see
whether equipment was intact did the
1electricitv return
"I am concerned because it is hateful speech - it is a cowardly act."- MESA Director Patricia Aqui Pacania
Racist graffiti on stalls upsets students
By Magaly Grimaldo
For the Daily
Students using some of the bathrooms on the first
floor of Angell Hall have noticed and been upset by
racist graffiti on the stall walls.
Located in the women's bathroom next to the
Fishbowl and the men's bathroom near the Mason
Hall entrance, the graffiti includes offensive stereo-
types about Indian and Asian women, as well as
hateful remarks toward Arabs and Jews.
The graffiti includes sexually explicit and violent
language, along with expletives.
"This is a reaction of people who have dissat-
isfaction with multiculturalism," said Patricia Aqui
Pacania, director of the Office of Multi-Ethnic Stu-
dent Affairs.
"I am concerned because it is hateful speech - it
is a cowardly act. It goes beyond stereotypes and
creates ignorance. It goes against our values as an
institution," Pacania said.
While the graffiti angered many students, the
Department of Public Safety was unaware of the
racist remarks on the stall walls until Friday.
Department of Public Safety spokeswoman
Diane Brown said the University doesn't tolerate
any type of graffiti unless it is written outdoors
on a horizontal surface with chalk. Regarding the
violation of the graffiti policy in the bathrooms,
Brown said the University follows state law when
deciding a course of action.
Under Michigan law, a person who draws
graffiti on a surface can be charged with mali-
cious destruction of property. Depending on the
amount of destruction, a person may either be
jailed or fined up to three times the amount of
the damage.
"Custodians clean bathrooms everyday. They
clean what can be removed. When dealing with
graffiti, custodians must write a report to Risk Man-
"We are concerned about the students' safety and
where freedom of speech becomes a violation of
civil rights. We don't want anyone on campus to feel
unwelcome," Walesby said.
But the University wasn't the only once voicing
disapproval of the graffiti. Members of student orga-
nizations were also upset.
"Sexist, racist and anti-Semitic graffiti are not
acceptable in any circumstance, and these recent
examples in Angell Hall are no exception," said
Stephanie Chang, co-chair of the United Asian
American Organizations.
"It disturbs me on several different levels. One,
that people even feel the need to write about their
sexual experiences on bathroom walls. Second,
that people objectify Asian and Asian Pacific
American women as passive and sexual objects,"
Chang said.
Neal Pancholi, president of the Indian American
Student Association, said it was awful that students
still think this way, even in the diverse society that
the University has strived to create.
"These people hold society back because they are
placing blame on people who didn't have a choice to
be born where they were. They make blames with-
out having significance, and it only shows their own
ignorance," Pancholi said.
"The comments on these bathroom walls can-
not be taken as 'just comments' - it's a public
place, lots of people walk through there and any
comments like these affect the way people think
about women and specifically women of color. It's
important to remember that these comments are in
the public sphere and this is a campus community.
These comments shouldn't be considered in isola-
tion," Chang said.
The University has commissions that deal with
reports of hate crimes. These include the Office of
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Affairs,
DPS and the Office of Institutional Equity.
Graffiti scribbled on an Angell Hall bathroom stall yesterday.
agement, the University's insurance company. Risk
Management assesses the damage and then pays a
company to paint or replace the property," Brown
said.
DPStook photographs of the graffiti Friday to
check if it contained racist remarks.
"DPS took a report on the graffiti in the bath-
rooms and requested maintenance clean-up," Brown
said.
DPS reported the crime as malicious destruction
of property with a hate bias. "They don't have any
suspects," she added.
Brown also said building services is exploring a
material that can be applied to the bathroom stalls
to prevent the adherence of markers and pens on the
stall walls.
Anthony Walesby, senior director of the
Office of Institutional Equity, said the graffiti
statements were not something the University
supported.
City deficit could lead
to police, fire cuts
By Carissa Miller
Daily Staff Reporter
The city's need for cuts may lead to layoffs
of 20 people from the Ann Arbor Police
Department and the closure of a fire station.
Ann Arbor safety services could
potentially undergo more cuts thanks
to the city's budget problems, city offi-
cials say. The tentative cutback for the
2005-06 fiscal year is about $6 million
out of a $77 million general fund.
Unless the city can devise ways to
increase revenue, the fire and police
departments may have to make inter-
nal reductions in order to meet the
projected 5 percent cut being asked of
all city departments, said City Admin-
istrator Roger Fraser. Other segments
that could be affected are parks and
recreation, the 15th District Court and
community development.
City officials said budget recom-
mendations will not be proposed until
February or March, and it will take
until the end of May to resolve the
budget, which will become effective
in July.
The city's need for cuts means that
the Ann Arbor Police Department
may have to slash more than 20 jobs
in the force.
While University property is under
the jurisdiction of the Department of
Public Safety, the diminished AAPD
force would affect students who live
off campus, Police Chief Dan Oates
said.
"We can't lose people and deliver
the same services," Oates said. "There
are some services we wouldn't be able
to deliver."
Oates did not specify which ser-
vices would have to be discontinued,
emphasizing that the city has only
begun discussing next year's budget,
and everything is still speculative.
"Things are tough and we will deal
with it," Oates said. "No one is pro-
posing cuts in the police department,
or any department, yet. There are only
estimates and ideas on how to fix the
budget cap."
Discussions with the City Council
will continue for another month or so,
he added. "We are going to explore
many options concerning how to fix
the problem," Fraser said. "Cuts in
the fire and police (departments) are
not likely - that is the worst-case
scenario."
For the Ann Arbor Fire Depart-
ment, a 5-percent slash would result
in the closing of Station 3, located on
Jackson Road. Due to previous budget
cuts, Station 2 was closed in 2002, and
the minimum number of firefighters
on duty was reduced from 20 to 15.
"Ninety-three percent of my budget
goes toward personnel and salaries,"
Fire Chief Joseph Gorman said. "This
leaves around $800,000 to operate
stations, vehicles and machines. The
only option I have is to close a sta-
tion."
If Station 3 is shut down, firefight-
ers would need more time to respond
to emergencies in the entire com-
munity, including the University and
businesses on campus. The AAFD's
response time could increase by up to
eight minutes, Gorman said.
He added that he hopes a drastic
action like closing another station will
not have to be taken. "We are going
to be proactive and find solutions," he
said.
In the first week of December, city ew.t n
officials like Fraser, Gorman and
Oates met with the City-Council to x
discuss the financial situation and per-
form exercises to come up with ideas }...........
on how to fix the budget.
"It is too early to speculate on any-
thing," Gorman said. "But the retreat People walk In the Quartler in the Petit Charnplaln a Chilstma t
served as a catalyst to get people are tit yesterday in Quebec City.
thinking about it, at least."
dear
all
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o hanukkah
a christmas
a kwanzaa
graduation
my birthday
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Be part of it. Connect with SI.
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