NEWS The Michigan Daily - Thursday. Januarv 6 - 3A - - I.v . -, 1 . tA11 {. Ilj I I lUt VACAj, JCAI IULAI j yi .dn ON CAMPUS Korean pottery acquired for Art Museum Nearly 250 works of Korean pot- tery were acquired last month and are being shown at University's Museum of Art until July. 24. The pieces of pottery were crafted by Bruce and Inta Hasenkamp, who are from California, and include ceramics, metalworking, paintings and other decorative arts. Art museum hosts final installment * of African exhibit In the final installment of the Muse- um of Art's exhibit "Masterworks of African Art", curator Michael Kaan will be showing art from the Yoruba, a people of southwest Nigeria and the Republic of Benin. The exhibit, which began Nov. 13, will continue through May 8. The exhibit is open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. MSA sponsors website for cheaper books To provide textbooks at a cheaper price, the Michigan Student Assembly sponsors DogEars.net, a website that allows stu- dents to exchange their textbooks with other students across the nation. Currently, 2,883 students are regis- tered under the website and 1,61 text- books are listed, ready for sale. There are no advertisements on the site and the website also includes books from 43 other colleges. Students can go to www.dogears.net to register and begin browsing for books to buy and sell. CRIME NOTES Trespasser escorted out of restricted area On Tuesday night, a trespasser was found walking into a construction site near Palmer Drive parking structure. He was contacted by the construction staff and told to leave the premises. Upon arrival, the Department of Pub- lic Safety reported that the trespasser had already left the area. THIS DAY In Daily History Economics Dept. shrugs off building fire Jan. 6, 1982 - Two weeks after a fire burned through the Economics Building over winter break, staff found that most of the interior contents of the building did not survive the destruction. Some professors were forced to . relocate classes and the department had to reschedule its courses. But despite the damage, faculty and students said the University had handled the disaster well as most classes were not canceled. The fire occurred on Dec. 24 at 10 p.m. and was fueled in part by how being nearly entirely constructed out of wood. Firefighters did not put out the fire until Christmas Day. The cause of the fire was undetermined. Robert Darvas, a local consulting structural engineer, estimated the cost to reconstruct the building with the same model at $2.5 million. CORRECTIONS In yesterday's article "Regents OK new academic building plans" on Page 1A, University spokeswoman for Facili- ties and Operations, Diane Brown was misquoted as saying the new academic building on Thayer Street did not con- tain major research bases, or areas where research is done. The article should have said Brown Theme semester focuses on Middle East New semester aims to educate students more on the region By Melissa Ackerman For the Daily For students who have been curious about the Middle East, the School of Literature, Science and the Arts is here to lift the veil. Students will have a number of opportunities to learn about the Middle East, from mastering the art of Ara- bic calligraphy to learning the fundamentals of Islam. In an effort to show the more personal side of a region that some Americans consistently view as a hotbed of violence, religious fanaticism and ter- rorism, LSA's winter 2005 theme semester pres- ents "Cultural Treasures of the Middle East." "This is a wonderful opportunity for the (Uni- versity) and Ann Arbor communities to gain a fuller appreciation of the Middle East's rich and diverse heritage," said Mark Tessler, vice provost for international affairs and director of the Inter- national Institute. The aim of this undertaking is to focus on Mid- dle Eastern culture rather than politics by offer- ing a wide variety of courses as well as events. Included are film series, lectures, exhibits at university museums, and concerts in conjunction with the University Musical Society's Arab World Music Festival Series. Marcia Inhorn, director of the Center for Mid- dle Eastern and North African Studies, said the theme semester is "all-inclusive" in terms of how it encompasses region, time-span and medium. It strives to include as many Middle Eastern coun- tries as possible. "We tried to make this very inclusive and broader than just the Arab world to include Iran, Turkey and Israel, as well," said Inhorn. Christine Fergus, a MENAS graduate student, said misconcep- "It is hard tions abound about the various cultures and ethnic groups of this aWay fror region of the world. "It is hard to break away of the Mi from the view of the Middle East as monolithic - all des- as monoli ert, all Arab, all Muslim - desertall even for me, someone who'sal gone abroad," Fergus said. all Muslin "Even the term Middle East is detrimental, because it tends for me, so to lump all these different peo- ples together and continues who's gon stereotypes. That is why this theme semester is so exciting. It has the possibility to erase stereotypes," she added. R Theme semester events span various subjects, ranging ancient art forms such as mystic Sufi music to the Lebanese experimental singer, Sam Shalabi, hail- ing from the Montreal underground music scene. "We in the U.S. don't know enough about this region of the world," Inhorn said. "Our goal is to open up people's minds to the Middle East." Inhorn said that many other centers across the country are similarly focusing on Middle Eastern culture, in lieu of the politics. Applications to the Middle Eastern and North African Studies masters program have doubled since last year, and job openings in fields related to the Middle East also have doubled. After the conclusion of Winter semester, LSA will have two semesters which focus more on the natural sciences, and another semester centered to break n the view ddle East ithic - all Arab, n -even )meone e abroad." Christine Fergus Rackham student upon the social sciences. Fall 2005's, "100 years beyond Einstein," sponsored by the Departments of Physics and Chemistry. The theme semester will focus on scientific research and progress since Einstein's landmark publicationa hun- dred years ago of a series of papers concerning physics which revolutionized the sci- entific world. For the Winter 2006, a col- laborative effort by numerous university departments and museums will look at biologi- cal evolution from a variety of disciplines ranging from pale- ontology to psychology and philosophy in a theme semes- Cultural treasures Theme semester events From today to June 5 the Museum of Art will host an exhibit exploring the art of writing in the Middle East. On Jan. 12, Middle East- ern artist Sam Sharabi will performa fusion of Middle Eastern music with Western format the Lydia Mendels- sohn Theatre at 8 p.m. Starting Feb. 4 and con- tinuing throughout the year, the Kelsey Museum will host an exhibit examining the early arts in Iran, looking at the period before the devel- opment of writing. More general information on the theme semester can be found at www.lsa.umich. edu/sa/theme/middleeast/ Information of courses for the theme semester can be found at www.lsa.umich. edu/cg/ ter that will be titled "Explore Evolution." Finally, academic year 2006-07 will look at, "The Theory and Practice of Citizenship: from the Local to the Global," sponsored by the LSA Dean's Office and other faculty members. These theme semesters will also promote their goals through lectures, courses and outreach pro- grams. i Jobs come easier for bilingual students By Eboni Mack For the Daily Many undergraduate students at the Universi- ty are concerned about what is in store for them after University life, as it is often difficult for students to find that ideal job right out of col- lege. But many students are discovering that con- centrations in a second language, particularly in Spanish, give them an edge in the applicant pool and enhance their undergraduate experiences as well. Maria Dorantes, a language assistant and lec- turer in the University's Department of Roman Languages, said there are benefits in many career fields for language concentrators. "Students who do know a foreign language would be compensated (because they have more credentials)," Dorantes said. "The workplace continues to be multicul- tural," said Terri LaMarco, associate director of employer relations in the University's Career Center. The more exposure you have with differ- ent cultures, the more you are able to be com- fortable, to better contribute and relate readily within the workplace, LaMarco said. Recently, Spanish is a language that has aided students in connecting with their very first jobs. Students like LSA junior Allison Ewing are finding that having a Spanish concentration will eventually be beneficial in their search for a job. Ewing, who wants to go into education, said she wants to use her Spanish speaking abilities for traveling and to possibly teach immigrants - a demographic that Ewing said usually miss- es out on opportunities due to lack of teachers trained to assist them. Susanna Coll, a University lecturer who teach- es intermediate levels of Spanish, said Spanish is comparable to English because you can go to many countries and speak the language and it opens a lot of doors professionally. To Ewing, speaking Spanish is more than just Approximately 500 million people speak Spanish worldwide and it is the second most used language among speakers of more than one language according to the Abanico School of Spanish. learning a language. "Being able to speak another language allows you to communicate with people that you nor- mally wouldn't communicate with." She also said there is a culture behind the lan- guage that promotes an interest in other things. Another benefit is that students can apply the language they have learned by studying abroad, Coll said. She added that in studying abroad with knowledge of the country's language, students can see the world with different eyes, offering them a new perspective on life. As there is a great number of students that choose to study another language, the Univer- sity offers a program called International Career Pathways, which is a fall study abroad program that educates students on how to find career opportunities abroad. According to CollegeBoard.com, an organiza- tion that helps students find a college, Spanish is extremely valuable for business and government careers. Other critical jobs for Spanish speak- ers are banking, social services, translating and international student exchangeprograms. According to the Abanico School of Spanish, an organization that helps students study the language in Spain, approximately 500 million people speak Spanish worldwide, making it the second most used language among speakers of more than one language. Despite death rate, internationi aid to Congo decreases WASHINGTON (AP) - The skies over Asia are being darkened these days by an abundance of relief- bearing cargo planes, reflecting the huge outpouring of international sympathy and support in response to the tsunami crisis. But in eastern Congo and other regions of Africa afflicted by humanitarian hard- ship, people might reasonably ask, "How about some relief for us?" The crisis in the Democratic Repub- lic of the Congo is widely viewed as the world's deadliest. A study released Dec. 9 by the New York-based International Res- cue Committee reports that 3.8 million people in eastern Congo have died since 1998 and that about 31,000 continue to die monthly as a result of continuing conflict. However tragic the fallout from the Much of the instability in eastern Congo stems from the presence of thousands of Rwandan Hutu rebels who took part in the genocide against Rwandan Tutsis in 1994. The region is rife with cross-border and ethnic tensions. About 11,000 U.N. peace- keepers are deployed there. The mortality data for the IRC study was collected between January 2003 and April 2004. It found that 1,000 people a day died in excess of normal mortality. Almost half were children under 5 killed by disease and malnutrition - an out- growth of a destroyed health care system. There are obvious differences between the eastern Congo's misery and that of the tsunami's target area. The latter is generally at peace while the Congo remains riven with conflict, impeding humanitarian assistance. David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World, a Indian Ocean tsu- nami may be, the number of victims will not be com- parable to those in Central Africa. As of yesterday, the tsunami death toll was about 150,000. Led by a $500 million commit- ment from Japan, some $2 billion has been pledged thus far for the tsunami's victims. According to the IRC study, inter- national humani- tarian aid for Congo I "I'm baffled why there a similar le of solidarit- or concern the people the Congo 1 , : 1 .. as to Christian pro- development group, isn't says Congo is get- kvel ting short shrift. "The world is not overreacting to the tsunami but for is underreacting to misery in other of places," he said, citing Congo as an ." example. He added that the chard Brennan slower-paced accu- mulation of victims ational Rescue in Central Africa, ittee specialist compared with the Indian Ocean rim, has meant less international attention - and less humanitarian aid. - Ri Intern Comm was $188 millionl - $3.23 per person - 2004. The U.S. Agency for International Development spent $54 million on Congo Beckmann also believes race may be working against the Congolese.