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The Michigan Daily - Thursday, September 30, 2004 - 9A
DETROIT
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Detroit.
It is possible to get to Detroit
from Ann Arbor without a car, but it
requires a costly cab ride.
"I would probably go to Detroit
more to see some concerts if I
could get there easier," LSA fresh-
man Callie Worsham said. "If you
don't have a car here, it's hard to
get there."
Worsham owns a car, but she
doesn't bring it to campus because
of limited parking. For students
like her who don't have cars on
campus, getting to Detroit is often
expensive.
"It would really save me money
if I could use public transportation
instead of taking a cab," Rabinowitz
said. "Especially when I want to get
to the airport."
Opening new modes of trans-
portation to the airport is a major
consideration of the study, Palombo
said.
A projected 22 percent increase
in households and 15 percent
increase in jobs in the Detroit area
points toward increased air traffic,
making better transportation to the
airport a necessity, according to the
assembly.
"It would be great to have a route
between Detroit and the airport,
which would probably be part of
the route from Ann Arbor," Hughey
said.
The Michigan Union Ticket Office
sells reserved seats to the airport for
$13 roundtrip and $8 one-way on the
Michigan Student Assembly's air-
Bus service.
However, this shuttle only runs
prior to scheduled University
breaks.
MSA President Jason Mironov
said the assembly is contemplating
putting together an extended pro-
gram in the same vein as airBus.
"It would give students from the
Detroit metro area a better way to get
home for holidays and other things,"
Mironov said.
Improving the program has been
discussed at an MSA meeting, but is
not even in the planning stages yet,
Mironov said.
MARRIAGE
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changed forever, our nation must enact a constitutional
amendment to protect marriage in America," Bush said in
February when he announced his backing of the U.S. mar-
riage amendment.
He proposed the amendment after courts in Massachu-
setts and California began allowing gays to marry earlier
this year.
Kerry countered in his Democratic convention acceptance
speech "let's never misuse for political purposes the most
precious document in American history, the Constitution."
Both candidates are opposed to gay marriage, but Kerry
back civil unions at the state level. Their differences over an
amendment may become a key issue the presidential elec-
tion.
These ballot initiates mly increase turnout among pro-
Bush voters, putting the president over the top in states that
are closely contested.
More than dozen states, including Michigan and the bat-
tlegrounds of Missouri, Ohio and Oregon, have succeeded in
placing gay marriage amendments on the ballot.
Battleground states may swing into Bush's win column
come Nov. 2 if voters come to the polls to vote against gay
marriage and for the president.
Many states have laws defining marriage as a union
between a man and a woman, but they are open to judicial
review by the courts. Amendments to the constitution would
prevent overturns by courts.
ANIMALS
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creatures are able to feel pain. "By
choosing fish we're not choosing any
more ethical of an option than chick-
en or pigs or cows," he said.
Shapiro also addressed the issue of
economic waste caused by the meat
and egg industry, saying that a cow
must be given 16 pounds of grain to
produce one pound of beef. "None
of us would leave the water on when
we brush our teeth or throw away 20
plates of pasta," he said, "But when
we eat meat that's the same thing."
Roughly 70 percent of grain and
50 percent of water consumed in the
United States are used by the meat
industry, according to the Audubon
Society, a conservation organization.
Shapiro's lecture was titled "Ethical
Food Choices in an Age of Agribusi-
ness" and sponsored by the Michigan
Animal Rights Society. The society is a
University student group that provides
information about vegetarianism and
veganism, volunteers at the humane
society and farm animal sanctuary
and holds campaigns to raise aware-
ness for animal-related issues.
In contrast to Shapiro's opinions,
the Center for Consumer Freedom
says the animal liberation movement
does not seek to improve animals'
lives and wants to place unnecessary
restrictions on ordinary people.
The event included a graphic video
of slaughterhouse procedures titled
"Meet Your Meat" and narrated by
Alec Baldwin. Shapiro said these
images are repellent to us but repre-
sent the daily suffering of animals in
so-called "factory farms."
LSA senior and MARS member
Zahrah Kahn said the event brings
realism to day-to-day food choices. "I
think in a lot of situations people are
not aware of what goes on behind the
walls of the slaughterhouse," she said.
Kahn said she decided to become a
vegetarian in her freshman year of high
school, when her class visited a slaugh-
terhouse. After the experience, she was
unable to eat meat. "It didn't take a lot
to change me," she admitted.
After exploring the realities of ani-
mal agriculture, Shapiro addressed the
topic of how individuals could make a
change. He admits to being "the anti-
Christ" to vegetarians in his teen years,
enjoying foods like pork chops and
Popeye's chicken. When he saw a video
of a pig being killed in a slaughterhouse,
Shapiro's attitudes changed.
"I had this little awakening and real-
ized animals care about their lives," Sha-
piro recalls. "I thought to myself, 'What
type of person do I want to be?' "
"Being a vegetarian or vegan is a
way to make the world a better, kind-
er, gentler place for both humans and
non-humans," Shapiro concluded.
MARS member Bernie Fischlowitz-
Roberts, a student at the Gerald R. Ford
School of Public Policy, discounted the
stereotype of vegans as unhealthy eat-
ers. "A lot of people think if they eat a
vegan diet they will be somehow defi-
cient," he said. "But in America diseas-
es of excess are the problem."
He also said vegans, who base their
diet upon whole grains, legumes, fruits
and vegetables, have a significantly
lower incidence of heart disease than
non-vegans. "I like my chances as a
vegan."
LSA sophomore Alex Dimitrov said
he attended the event to learn more
about food choices and the reality of the
animal industry. "I want to know how
I could be eating more progressively,
he said. "I think (vegetarian eating) is
better for the global community as a
whole."'
Democratic presidential candidate Jahn Kerry speaks at a rally yesterday after ardiving at Fart L~auderdale Hollywood Inter-
national Airport in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Bush and Kerr lto debate
on foreign policy tonight
DEBATE
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tant in shaping and reinforcing voters'
views of each candidate's character.
"I think the overall demeanor of the
candidates is going to be important,"
Jacobs said. "It's going to be how they
lay out their issues, how they present
them, if they have a clear plan."
Raghavan said Kerry's "East-Coast,
elitist" reputation will be hard to shake,
given the wide differences between the
two candidates' speaking styles.
"While George Bush has the same
background, he always comes across
as this common cowboy type," she
said. "That always seems to resonate
with the American people for some
reason."
Although Kerry has more debat-
ing experience, Raghavan said, the
average voter may not respond well
to his "more intellectual approach to
the issues."
"t think George Bush will try to
go with his usual simplistic strategy
of repeating the same things over
and over, which has proven effective
for him in the past," she said. "But
I think that John Kerry has a higher
level of thinking, which might actu-
ally hurt him."
Students who want to watch the
debate in a group setting have at least
two options. The College Democrats
and College Republicans are each
holding events tomorrow night, and
both are open to non-members.
The College Democrats and the
Washtenaw County Democratic
Party will be sponsoring a debate-
watching pairty, featuring an appear-
ance by State Sen. Liz Brater (D
- Ann Arbor) and entertainment by a
Cuban jazz band, from 7 to 11 p.m. at
the Cavern Club on 210 S. First Ave.
The College Republicans will be
watching the debate in the Anderson
Room of the Michigan Union at 9
p.m. Jacobs said the group plans to
hold a joint event with the College
Democrats for the third debate on
Oct. 13.