NEws The Michigan Daily - Thursday, September 30, 2004 - 9A DETROIT Continued from page 1A 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 Continued from page 1A 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 Continued from page 1A 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 Continued from page 1A 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.