NEWS The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, September 29, 2004 - 3 ON CAMPUS * Animal rights and agricultural to be discussed Paul Shapiro, the founder of a Wash- ington-based nonprofit organization called Compassion Over Killing, will hold a lecture today speaking on food production and the treatment of animals in the agriculture industry. The lecture, titled "Ethical Food Choices in an Age of Agribusiness," will be held at 7 p.m. in the Michigan Union Pendleton Room. It is sponsored by the Michigan Animal Rights Society. Prof kicks off series with speech on Mideast democracy Political Science Prof. Mark Tessler, director of the International Institute, will lecture tomorrow on the political, eco- nomic, cultural and social implications of democratization in the Middle East and other developing regions of the world. The lecture will take place at 7:30 p.m. in Room 1636 of the School of Social Work. * Dance troupes showcase eastern India styles Internationally acclaimed dancers will showcase traditional Eastern Indi- an dance in a performance tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. in the Mendelssohn The- ater. The program will feature pieces in the Odissi and Manipuri styles, with authentic music and costumes. The performance is a collaboration between Srishti Dances of India and Nandanik, a Manipuri dance troupe. Tickets cost $10 for general admission and $8 for students. CRIME * NOTES Passing vehicle dinged by golf ball A caller reported to the Department of Public Safety Monday afternoon " that their car was hit by a golf ball, that made a ding in the side of the car. The golf ball hit the car as it was driv- ing down State Street by the University Golf Course. Backpack, cell phone stolen from court in CCRB DPS reports that a student's bag was stolen from the Central Campus Recreation Building Monday evening. The bookbag, which was left out by a racquetball court, also contained a cell phone. DPS has no suspects. Two inmates escape, run toward hospital Two women escaped from the Arbor Heights Center, a co-ed, low-security juvenile rehabilitation facility next to the Nichols Arboretum, Monday eve- ning. The women were seen running down Washington Heights toward the University Hospital. THIS DAY In Daily History Traditions day teaches freshmen rites of passage Sept. 29, 1921 - The University scheduled its fourth annual Traditions day meeting in Hill Auditorium to give freshmen a chance to learn all of the school's important traditions. "The Varsity band will be there and demonstrate one true Michigan tradi- tion - pep," said Angus Goetz, presi- dent of the Student Council. Several cheers were also scheduled for the event. Al Cuthbert, a member Reporter charts effects of welfare reform The reforms were aimed at getting people off state support and into the work force, and stressed the importance of "personal responsibility," DeParle said. Nine million women and children were taken off the welfare rolls due to the restructuring of the welfare system. DeParle's book tracks three such women, Angie, Opal and Jew- ell, and their struggle to survive without welfare in urban Milwau- ing them into responsible adults. DeParle said he "didn't find it true in the real world." Instead he found that children were left to fend for themselves in neighborhoods populated by gangs and prostitutes. He added that many of the women who did find work still struggled to After the lecture. Sandra Danziger and Alfred Young, two public policy professors, participated in a panel discussion that praised DeParle's kee, Wis. "Angie had been on welfare for nearly 12 years when the Wel- fare Reform Act passed. Within six months, she was a full-time worker," DeParle said. He used her story to demonstrate what he believes to be the main success of the act - to get low-skilled work- ers jobs. DeParle's lec- ture, like his book, Angie had been on welfare for nearly 12 years when the Welfare Reform Act passed. Within six months, she was a full-time worker." -Jason DeParle Reporter, New York Times work. Danziger sup- ported DeParle's observations with a catalog of sta- tistics comparing the state of single mothers in 1995 and in 2000. She claimed that with the new welfare reforms in place, the poverty rate among uneducated single mothers dropped by just 8 percent. Young chal- lenged the myth that MIKE HULSEBUS/Daily New York Times reporter Jason DeParle speaks yesterday In Rackham regarding welfare reform. By Margaret Havemann For the Daily When she was removed from wel- fare, Opal was homeless, pregnant and struggling with cocaine abuse, but she decided to look for a job in a Wisconsin employment agency. Upon arriving there, Opal was told that the office did not provide walk-in advising and was asked to go home and schedule an appointment. Opal's story exemplifies both the strengths and weaknesses that New York Times reporter Jason DeParle sees in the 1996 Welfare Reform Act: The law encouraged the unemployed to look for jobs, but failed to create the proper institutions to help them in the search or to account for their children while they worked. DeParle spoke to an audience of about 100 graduate students last night in Rackham Amphitheater about his book "American Dream: Three Women, Ten Kids, and a Nation's Drive to End Wel- fare," in which he tracks the stories of Opal and two other women forced off welfare. In 1992 then-President Bill Clinton introduced his plan to "end welfare as we know it," a popular slogan of his election campaign. After four years of debate within the Republican-led Con- gress, the Welfare Reform Act was passed. dealt less with the policy-making side of the issue and more with the real-life consequences for the work- ing poor. DeParle said he "was a little skep- tical at the time" of Clinton's belief that "work brings dignity, work brings money, work brings structure." His main criticism of the effects of the act was that while it brought single mothers in the workforce, children were often left at home alone. Proponents of the act claimed that poor working mothers would become rolemodels for their children, thus shap- poor people are unmotivated to work, alluding to Angie's commitment to her job as a nursing home aid. Several members of the audience praised both the lecture and DeParle's book. "This book has Pulitzer Prize written all over it," said Guy Stevens, an audi- ence member and visiting scholar at the National Poverty Center, a University- based research organization. - William Schneider and Sarah Zarowny contributed to this report for the Daily. Earthquake rocks much of central California PARKFIELD, Calif. (AP) - A strong earthquake shook the state yesterday from Los Angeles to San Francisco, crack- ing pipes" breaking bottles of wine and knocking pictures from walls. There were no immediate reports of any injuries from the 6.0-magnitude quake and its more than 160 aftershocks. The quake was centered about seven miles southeast of Parkfield, a town of 37 people known as California's earth- quake capital. The town is one of the world's most seismically active areas, located on the San Andreas Fault. "Things were shaking so bad you couldn't tell where to go next," said Parkfield Vineyard owner Harry Miller, who grows 170 acres of wine grapes. "Trees shaking like brooms, and dust coming from everywhere." The quake tipped over about 300 cases of his wine, and five or six of Miller's buildings - including his home - were damaged. Most of his water pipes burst. The quake struck at 10:15 a.m. local time and was felt along a 350-mile stretch, as far north as Sacramento and as far south as Santa Ana, southeast of Los Angeles. The center was about halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco. The few residents of Parkfield - a half-dozen buildings on either side of a street in a valley surrounded by oak-studded hills - pride themselves on the area's seismic activity. Driv- The 6.0-magnitude quake shook the state from Los Angeles to San Francisco. ers into town pass a sign reading "Now entering the North American plate." "I'll take my earthquakes over those hurricanes any day," said John Varian, a lifelong resident and owner of the Parkfield Cafe, where food spilled out of the cupboards yesterday. A magnitude-6 quake can cause severe damage, though any problems are generally far less severe in remote areas and places like California with strong building codes. "This is earthquake country. It's a larger earthquake than what usually occurs, but it's not unprecedented," said U.S. Geological Survey spokeswoman Stephanie Hanna. Parkfield was shaken by six similar 6.0 earthquakes between 1857 and 1966. Countless smaller tremors constant- ly rattle the area, which is covered with just about every type of tool used to study quakes as part of a long-term research project. "This will probably be the most well-recorded earthquake in history," said Michael Blanpied of the USGS. AP PHOTO Jim Batson carefully walks across bricks In his living room after an earth- quake yesterday In Parkfield, Calif. New poll: Race for president tightens LANSING (AP) - The presidential race in Michigan has tightened again, with Democratic candidate John Kerry back in a near-tie with President Bush, according to a poll released yesterday. In the poll, commissioned by the news- letter Inside Michigan Politics and con- ducted by Marketing Resource Group of Lansing, 45 percent of the 600 registered voters polled said they back Kerry, while 43 percent back Bush. One percent back independent candidate Ralph Nader and 11 percent are undecided. The poll was conducted Sept. 20-24 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. "It shows some movement by Bush in the last couple of weeks," Inside Michi- gan Politics editor Bill Ballenger said. "I would have thought Bush would be get- ting killed right now ... but he's not." A poll conducted Sept. 15-19 by Lan- sing-based EPIC/MRA had Kerry at 48 percent and Bush at 44 percent, with Nader getting 2 percent and 6 percent undecided. Pollster Paul King of Marketing Resource Group said the fact that the num- ber of undecideds now is in double digits may indicate a lack of enthusiasm among some voters for either Bush or Kerry. "You don't see a lot of groundswell ' . :....:.........: .. ,r! . it.- .. .._.,.,.,;:_..:x+ ! w ,. __.::. _. t .;. ::::: :....:...:...... c: .., .. "k.,:. .... .rr1 . _ ... s_ ur i {: , >« ' "'' :; : , : ', . .