NEWS The Michigan Daily - Friday, January 21, 2005 - 3 . ON CAMPUS Observatory open house today Angell Hall Observatory will hold an open house hosted by the Student Astro- nomical Society today on the fifth floor of Angell Hall from 8 to 10 p.m. Planetarium shows will run every 20 minutes. Tours will be available and are free. K-Grams hosts Literacy Night The children's literacy program K-Grams will be holding a Literacy Night from 7:15 to 10 p.m. in Crislei Arena. Comcast is helping to sponsor the event and will donate $1 to the program for every person that attends. The cost is $3 for children and $5 for adults. New work by A&D students featured The Work Gallery, at 306 S. State Street, is featuring "(Our)Selves," an exhibition by Art and Design undergradu- ates James Arndt, Mary Paul and Emily Squires through Jan. 29. CRIME NOTES Ambulance called for student at East Quad An ambulance was called to East Quad Residence Hall for a student, possibly under the influence of alcohol and cocaine, who was going in and out of consciousness yesterday morning, according to Ann Arbor Police Depart- ment reports. Windows at auto lab vandalized for second time Two windows were broken at the Wal- ter E. Lay automotive lab at 1231 Beal Avenue the Department of Public Safety reported. The same windows had report- edly been broken two weeks earlier and were since repaired. DPS said the incident was case of malicious destruction. University service van backs into car A caller reported to DPS last week that he backed a University service van into a blue Volkswagen Jetta in a park- ing lot at 1202 Kipke Ave. THIS DAY In Daily History Regents take on housing crunch Jan. 21, 1978 - After years of reject- ing recommendations for additional student housing, members of the Uni- versity Board of Regents said they acknowledged the shortage and vowed to grapple with the problem in the following few months. "Regents are now regarding the housing situation as very serious," said Regent Sarah Power (D-Ann Arbor). Although the regents were faced with dorm occupancy well over capacity, what options they could Stake remained an open question. Informed observers said added housing space would not come in the form of new construction; dorm rooms from converted office space in West Quad Residence Hall and hotel rooms in the Michigan Union were considered more likely possibilities. Housing officials estimated the cost of a new 500-student structure would be close to $8 million. That sum would mean either an increase in room and board fees of about $30 per year for the near future or a general tuition hike of about $7 per student. "Students want more University housing," student Michael 'Synk said. "But not if it's at the cost of higher hous- ing rates." SOLE shifts focus to 'U' contracts withl Coca- Cola By Carissa Miller Daily Staff Reporter While awaiting the University's response to its wage disclo- sure campaign, Students Organizing for Labor and Economic Equality hopes to rally other student groups on campus to gain support for the Killer Coke campaign, an effort to pressure the University to cut its ties with the Coca-Cola company for alleged human-rights violations. Last year, SOLE organized an ongoing protest with the goal of pressuring the University to disclose the wages paid to workers by companies it has contacts with. In December, members of SOLE held a demonstration accusing the University of using sweatshops to manufacture clothing carrying the University's name. University spokeswoman Julie Peterson said the University's Committee on Labor Standards and Human Rights is handling the University's work on these issues. "President Mary Sue Coleman feels that this is a valid issue, but she also feels that the advisory committee is the proper mechanism for moving forward," Peterson said. Lisa Stowe, a member of the committee, said it is moving for- ward on its labor standards work. "We are conversing with and working through external organizations, like the Fair Labor Association and the Work- ers' Rights Consortium, to deal with our licensees," Stowe said. "We have also drafted a letter to President Coleman that outlines our strategy." Jory Hearst, a member of SOLE, said the group is now working on building an alliance with like-minded organiza- tions for the Killer Coke campaign. "Amnesty International and Environmental Justice have already joined the effort," Hearst said. He added that SOLE is also in the process of drafting a proposal to the Michigan Stu- dent Assembly to show that students support ethical purchas- ing decisions at the University and hopes to offer the proposal by the first week of February. Hearst explained that the University's Code of Conduct for licensees - which applies to all vendors and their subcontrac- tors - demands that the companies with which they do business adhere to certain human-rights standards. But Hearst said that because Coca-Cola subcontractors, such as Panamco, have broken the basic humanitarian rights of workers in Colombia, the com- pany is in breach of four areas of its contract with the University: health and safety, nondiscrimination, abuse and harassment and freedom of association. At a panel discussion Wednesday on labor rights in Latin Amer- ica, an event that was part of this year's Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Symposium, Hearst discussed the alleged human-rights violations committed by Coca-Cola's subcontractors. "The root of the Killer Coke campaign lies in the number of union leaders killed in Colombia, eight in the past 15 years, and (the) many more examples of harassment, torture and abuse," Hearst said. "Colombian workers and union members of SINAL- TRAINAL, (their union) have asked for students to be active in this campaign, which is why we are working on it." Lauren Heidtke, another member of SOLE, said the group is asking the University to not do business with Coca-Cola until it upholds the code of conduct by taking action against the alleged human-rights violations of their subcontractors. "We feel that Coca-Cola is responsible, and that is why the Uni- versity should act,' Heidtke said. "SOLE is asking MSA to vote in favor of the University not renewing their contract" Though SOLE's MSA proposal focuses on workers in Colom- bia, it also mentions other areas where reports of violations by Coca-Cola and its subcontractors have appeared, such as Africa and India. In addition to its efforts with the Killer Coke Campaign, this semester SOLE hopes to promote student involvement in the national SweatFree Communities Campaign. SweatFree tries to guarantee that all apparel and products bearing the University's name were not produced in sweatshops. "Part of last year's efforts was to get the University to ask licens- ees to disclose the wages they pay their workers," Heidtke said. "They never gave any information and we are still asking for that. This effort is now part of the SweatFree campaign." JOEL FRIEDMAN/Daily Two crosswalks recently constructed on Plymouth Road make crossing the street easier and safer. Soon there will be a series of medians and a traffic signal to prevent accidents like the one that killed two University students last year. Plymout Road medians to be f1n Karl Stampfl Daily Staff Reporter Plans for improving crossing safety for Plymouth Road will be complete by this summer, said officials in charge of the con- struction project. The plans have been in the works since two University students were killed while crossing the street more than a year ago. A new traffic signal is scheduled for the intersection of Traverwood Drive and Plym- outh Road and will probably be completed1 by mid-April, said Homayoon Pirooz, a proj- ect engineer who is assisting the construction1 of the intersection. Materials are expected to arrive soon, and then construction workers1 will begin putting everything together. "The light will have a push-button to buy time for pedestrians to get across the street," he added. Construction on medians, or "pedestrian refuge islands," will begin in the summer, Pirooz said. The estimated five medians are intended to give walkers a place to stand when cross- ing the street. Because they are raised, they will keep people out of the way of traffic, Pirooz said. They will range between 100+ and 800 feet in length and will be covered ished by with grass, making the street look like a bou- levard, Pirooz said. The space they will take up on the five-lane road was previously used for left-turn lanes. "We really hope to see people use marked crossing points," Pirooz said. "But if not, the raised medians are also be there." The entire project will cost between $250,000 and $300,000, Pirooz said. Up to this point, $70,000 has been spent. The traf- fic light will cost about $100,000. Already, two designated crosswalks have been created on Plymouth between Nixon Road and Murfin Avenue. The crossings have illuminated signs and additional lights that span over the road, allowing drivers to better see people crossing the road. In addition, the speed limit has been reduced from 40 to 35 miles per hour. Pirooz said he hopes people will notice the new limit and obey it. "It doesn't mean pedestrians don't have to watch for cars or cars don't have to watch for pedestrians," said Pirooz. Teh Nannie Roshema Roslan and Norha- nanim Zainol were killed by a vehicle while crossing Plymouth on their way home from attending an evening prayer at the Islamic Center of Ann Arbor, prompting the Ann Arbor City Council to consider improving the summer The City Council took the crossing's safety into consideration after an accident killed two University students last year. crossing safety of Plymouth Road. It was ini- tially uncertain whether City Council would approve the construction, but it approved the stoplight and medians in early 2004: "There are some folks who wanted the stoplight right in front of the mosque where the students were killed," said Council- woman Leigh Greden (D-Ward 3). "Others thought the intersection of Traverwood and Plymouth was more appropriate." Greden said he was among those who thought putting the light in front of the mosque would be illogical because it is private property and there is no intersec- tion there. He added that there were already plans to put a stoplight at Traverwood and Plymouth. 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