NEWS
The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, September 13, 2005 - 3
ON CAMPUS U.N summit
Recycling, energy1 1 b
issues are topics at burdened b
10th Energy Fest j
The 10th annual Energy Fest
highlighting energy conservation
efforts on campus will be held
today on the Diag from 11 a.m. to
2 p.m. The festival will highlight
topics such as recycling, alterna-
tive energy, efficient lighting, elec-
tric-powered vehicles, and a bus
that runs on oil from French fries.
Students will have a chance to test
their conservation knowledge and
win prizes.
Student theater
group to hold
mass meeting
The RC Players, a student theater
group will be holding its mass meet-
ing today from 8 to 9 p.m. at the East
Quadrangle Residence Hall. The meet-
ing will provide interested students with
information about the group and its
upcoming season. Students do not need
to be part of the RC in order to partici-
pate in the group.
CRIME
NOTES
AAPD investigates
suspcious package
The Ann Arbor Police Department
responded to a call yesterday that a
package with suspicious markings,
possibly referring to the Sept. 11
attacks, had been left near the postal
boxes at Ann Arbor's federal build-
ing. The State Police Bomb Squad
was brought in, but no explosive
devise was found in the package.
The investigation of the incident has
been turned over to the FBI and the
Department of Homeland Security,
according to the AAPD.
Caller struck by
car, driver identified
A caller reported to the Depart-
ment of Public Safety Sunday that
she was struck by a vehicle that was
pulling out of a parking space in the
parking structure on Hubbard St.
Her boyfriend attempted to stop the
driver of the Jeep by banging on the
driver's window. The suspect driving
the car was identified and the case is
now under investigation. There were
no reported injuries.
Clothes taken
0 from residence hall
laundry room
Clothes were allegedly stolen form
a laundry room dryer in Little House
of the Mary Markley Residence Hall
Sunday. The caller advised DPS that
miscellaneous clothes, jeans and shirts
were taken. There are no suspects at
this time.
THIS DAY
In Daily History
Students meet
@ and organize strike
to protest tuition
increases
Sept. 13, 1973 - Last night the
Student Government Council met to
address the tuition strike proposed by
its president, Lee Gill.
Gill announced at the meeting that
University President Robben Flem-
ing and Vice-president for Academic
Affairs Allan Smith would meet with
him to discuss the tuition controversy.
According to Gill, 2,000 signatures
had been collected so far in support of
the strike.
The University argues that the fee
increases are necessary in order to meet
the commitments they've made to stu-
dent aid.
ut SGC members said they don't
believe this argument is valid. Instead,
they believe the University's goal is to
turn poor students against those who
disagreements
UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The
outcome of this week's U.N. summit to
tackle poverty and overhaul the United
Nations administration was thrown into
question yesterday because of serious
disagreements over the document that
world leaders are supposed to adopt.
After a weekend of lengthy talks by a
negotiating group of about 15 countries,
several ambassadors said there definitely
would be a document - but it would be
far less sweeping and ambitious than the
blueprint called for by Secretary-Gen-
eral Kofi Annan last March.
With some leaders already in New
York for tomorrow's opening of the
three-day summit, ambassadors were
still wrestling with the text of the lat-
est 39-page document on revamping the
United Nations to meet the challenges of
the 21st century.
Mark Malloch Brown, the secre-
tary-general's chief of staff, sought
to put an optimistic cast on the situa-
tion, saying negotiations seemed more
favorable than a few days ago because
"deadlines are starting to loosen
minds and positions."
"There's a threshold where we always
knew we wouldn't get the full loaf," he
added. "We've got to start counting slic-
es. Half or more will do at this stage."
The seven issues facing negotia-
tors were terrorism; a stronger Human
Rights Council to replace the discred-
ited Human Rights Commission; a new
Peacebuilding Commission to help
nations emerging from conflict; new
responsibility for governments to protect
civilians from genocide and war crimes;
disarmament and nuclear weapons pro-
liferation; overhauling U.N. manage-
ment; and the promotion of economic
development.
Annan also had urged the 191 U.N.
member states to agree on a plan to expand
the powerful U.N. Security Council, but
the negotiations became so contentious
the idea was shelved last month.
In the latest talks, a 32-nation "core"
group broke into even smaller groups
to try to come up with language that all
member states could agree on.
When negotiations stalled yesterday
morning, some countries called for issues
where there were still disagreements to be
eliminated from the document.
Faced with the prospect 9f human
rights, peacebuilding and other key
proposals being totally dropped if they
weren't agreed, Britain and other EU
countries put together watered-down
language that might get support from all
member states.
Those proposals were added to a
revised 44-page text, which already had
over 150 disputed passages.
The "core" group was going over the
draft line-by-line late yesterday, and the
General Assembly scheduled a meeting
today to take stock of the negotiations.
"We're going to be here as long .as
it takes," said U.S. Ambassador John
Bolton. "Reform is not a one-night stand.
Reform is forever. That's why we're going
to continue to work on it."
For many countries, which supported
a strong forward-looking document, the
prospect of a weak text was disappointing.
"There's been a lot of language which
didn't survive which could have led to a more
forward-looking document," said Brazil's
U.N. Ambassador Ronaldo Mota Sarden-
berg. "It's very much a document which
compiles ideas that were already there."
Chile's U.N. Ambassador Heraldo
Munoz said "we may have to go for the
lowest common denominator, which is
well below the expectation that Chile has,
and many other countries, but perhaps
that's the reality."
The United States and some members
of the Nonaligned Movement, represent-
ing 116 mainly developing countries,
traded accusations about who was being
inflexible.
Richard Grenell, spokesman for the U.S.
Mission to the United Nations, said after
a morning session yesterday that nego-
tiations on the Human Rights Council and
U.N. management had "both fallen apart"
- an assertion disputed by the ambassa-
dors for India and Egypt, which are promi-
nent voices in the developing world.
The United States and many European
countries want the Human Rights Coun-
cil to become a permanent body, with a
country's membership requiring approval
by two-thirds of U.N. nations. Grenell
said Egypt and China opposed that Mon-
day, and other diplomats said Russia did
as well.
"It's obviously troubling for the United
States because if violators are allowed to
stay on, and it's not a permanent body,
then the human rights soap box is not a
soap box at all," Grenell said.
Egyptian Ambassador Maged
Abdelaziz said his country favored a
council that would be a subsidiary body of
the U.N. General Assembly and the latter
should decide on criteria for membership.
The United States also is disappointed
many developing nations oppose giving
the U.N. secretary-general stronger pow-
ers, a change sought by Annan and by the
Western governments that are the biggest
donors to the United Nations.
Video game legislation passed
Lansing (AP) - Gov. Jennifer
Granholm signed two bills aimed
at keeping minors away from adult-
rated video games yesterday.
She plans to sign two more video
game bills later this week. The
laws:
Make it a felony to disseminate
video games that depict sexually
explicit matter.
Violators face two years in prison
and a $10,000 fine.
Bar retailers from selling or
renting ultra-violent explicit video
games that are "harmful to minors."
First-time violators face a civil
infraction and a $5,000 fine.
A third offense is a felony pun-
ishable by two years in prison and a
$40,000 fine.
Exempt parents or guardians
from disseminating ultra-violent
games to their children.
Require retailers to post a sign
that gives information about the
video game industry's rating sys-
tem. Violators face a civil infraction
and a $1,000 fine.
Make it an affirmative legal
defense that a retailer acted in good
faith when it sold to a minor who
showed what appeared to be valid
identification.
r U 1
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for more information call 734/998-6251
The University of Michigan College of Literature, Science,
and the Arts presents a public lecture and reception
I Bruce W. Frier I