NEWS The Michigan Daily - Friday, September 23, 2005 - 7 FIRE Continued from page 1 identified the porch as the area of origin. Brenner said it still was under investigation what caused the fire. Whether or not a couch on the porch fueled the fire, the incident has reinvigorated the noto- rious couch-on-porch ban ordinance that came about two summers ago. City Council member Joan Lowenstein (D- 2nd Ward) said she was willing at the time and still is now to go along with the fire inspector's recommendation that couches are a fire hazard. "We don't know for certain what started the fire, but there is no question in my mind that having these very flammable couches on porches is a bad idea," she said. Mayor John Hieftje said the incident has not changed his original opinion, but if there was new evidence he would take it into consideration. "This was a very serious incident, but someone would have to prove the couches on a porch are more likely to burn than couches in a living room," he said. Business senior Rishi Mukhi, who lived at the house, said none of his housemates had renter's insurance, but some of them are covered by their parents' homeowners insurance. In their panic, many of the residents grabbed little more than a few belongings such as a pair of shorts, cell phones, wallets or keys. LSA senior Kyle Polasek picked up a laundry basket with clean clothes on his way out. He was able to supply his half-dressed roommates, including one roommate who was wearing only a towel, with clothing. With few belongings surviving the fire, Mukhi said the Red Cross gave them a debit card, which they used later that day at Steve and Barry's to buy clothes. He said the Red Cross also arrived on the scene early on with blankets, food and toiletries. Along with the Red Cross, The University has tended to many of the students' needs. University spokeswoman Julie Peterson said the University has contacted all the students' instructors, granting them financial assistance to buy back many of their lost belongings and is in the process of helping them find tempo- rary and permanent housing, Mukhi said Dean of Students Sue Eklund even showed up at the hospital to reassure them that the University could provide them with necessary assistance. Even though a new house has not been chosen, Mukhi said his housemates hope to find a place where they can all live together again. "We want find a place together. If any- thing, this brought us a lot closer togeth- er," Mukhi said. LIAISON Continued from page 1 part. He said he thought the idea probably should have gone through ERC originally. "(We) felt more comfortable doing it as a committee than handing the responsibility over to the assembly as a whole. That's our specialty - local politics and state politics - that's what we do," Forster said. MSA and City Council have had strained relations in the recent past. The council has passed and considered several ordinances that students have opposed, most notably the proposed ban on .porch couches and limitations on street parking that are seen as anti-student. The dispute climaxed in August when then-MSA Rep. Stuart Wag- ner handed City Council members ear plugs and sarcastically told them that, with the aid of the plugs, they would no longer have to listen to students. "Historically, students have not been well represented in City Council," said Levine. "It is my hope that creating new venues and channels for communication will lead to the implementation of policies that will benefit all students." Levine said he was pleased with the ERC's decision to tackle this problem. He said in the future he hopes MSA will know when Council is discussing issues that affect students and will be able to organize a response. This could include finding out about less-publicized meetings when City Council discusses important issues. "This position is vital in assuring that we're setting the tone and letting them know that students are members of this community," Wiggins said. "There are issues that affect us and our lifestyle, and we need to be aware of 4ose so that we can speak up for or against them." Wiggins added that up until this point, he believes Council members had exhibited a complete dis- regard for, if not hostility toward, the student population. The ERC will interview potential candidates for the position at its meet- ing next Thursday in the MSA cham- bers at 7 p.m. and elect the liaison later that night. ASSAULT Continued from page 1 dialogue about hate crimes and make the Univer- sity's efforts to combat them more transparent. University spokeswoman Julie Peterson said it is not yet clear what steps the University will take, but that they will probably involve the Office of Communications, which will work to share infor- mation about hate crimes. Although the timeframe has not yet been defined, Peterson said, "We're working on that very rapidly." Stillman said the faculty is not yet satisfied, but that the administration's initial response is a step in the right direction. "As a full response, though, it's not satisfac- tory," she said. "(Coleman) is president of the University. She needs to address not only campus climate, but curriculum." Stillman said more coursework on diversity is needed, adding that the current race and ethnic- ity requirement is inadequate on its own because not many courses teach about Asian culture. She characterized the problem as "unevenness." "If the administrators are proclaiming an insti- tutional commitment to diversity, they must be held to it," she said. In her eight years at the University, Still- man said, there has never been a commission to study or assess the status of Asian-American students, faculty or staff. "It is a widely known fact that in the Fleming (Administration) Building, there is not a sin- gle professional administrator who is Asian," Stillman said. "The only Asians in Fleming are clerical staff." Lester Motts, associate provost for academic affairs, one of the recipients of the letter, wrote a personal letter to the faculty in response. He promised to set up a meeting to discuss the experience of the University's Asian commu- nity. He also said the two students who com- mitted the crime would be brought to justice, but did not specify how. Stillman said an article in Wednesday's Michi- gan Daily spurred the group to send the letter. She said faculty members were particularly sur- prised to hear that many other Asian students had similar experiences of racially based abused. Stillman said prejudice against Asians is wide- spread, though not always as extreme as last week's incident. It is common, she said, for people to pull back the skin next to their eyes to mock the shape of an Asian's face and to make disparaging remarks about Chinese food or chopsticks. Even faculty don't escape anti-Asian prejudice - peo- ple often condescendingly compliment Stillman on her English, she said. "And I'm a faculty member - hello?" she said. The group of faculty that sent the letter plans to meet tomorrow morning to make further plans to decrease the number of hate crimes on campus. They will discuss holding a town hall meeting sometime next week to get the problems out in the open. The United Asian American Organiza- tions, an umbrella group overseeing Asian student groups on campus, discussed how to react to last week's crime in their general meeting yesterday. Ideas include creating a forum for all cultural groups to air their grievances and holding a vigil to draw atten- tion to the situation. During Wednesday's meeting, about 50 or 60 students relayed their experience with racism on campus, UAAO finance chair Christopher Ng said. Ng stressed that last week's crime was not unfamiliar to him or other UAAO members. "There are times where I just walked out of class where people will say, 'Hey, go back to China,"' Ng said. He added that a common concern of stu- dents at the meeting was also when people compliment them on their English - as if they are surprised that they are able to speak the language properly. The administration has done an adequate job preventing racially motivated crimes aimed at Asians, Ng said. He compliment- ed multicultural programs in the residence halls, but said the University should do more to educate freshmen on diversity and fund student groups that emphasize diversity. Stillman said that the problem is not con- fined to'Asians, but that prejudice against the racial group is underreported in the media. She said that it does not draw as much attention as bias against other groups because Asians are typically referred to as "overrepresented" minorities, especially in a campus setting. She says that this perception masks the truth about racism against Asians. TROTTER. Continued from page 1. "I don't think people realize how many offices are inside (the facility), and a lot of organizations don't know how to take advan- tage of that," she said. Ast result of the renovations, Trotter House will now host 12 student organizations. Cur- rently, only three groups - the Gospel Cho- rale, the Korean Students Association and the Asociacion Latina Alcanzando Sueno - are based out of the center, but other student groups have the opportunity to apply starting in November. Students and other members of the commu- nity will have the opportunity to see the com- pleted renovations this Saturday at the Trotter Community Festival. The festival, which replaces the center's Taste of Culture event, is intended to provide an environment conducive to cultural exchange and interaction. STRONG Continued from page 1. was a satisfying position. "It's an excellent role in an excellent organization both within the University of Michigan hospitals and health centers and health system, which also includes the medical school and M-CARE," Strong said of his CFO position. "I've enjoyed my col- laboration with senior leaders in the hospi- tals and health centers." -' ' -C' ~*CC the michigan d CAMPUS CLEANERS: PROE Dry Clean- ing & Ldry. Free summer storage. 1305 S. University next to Campus Rental. 662-1906. ENGLISH LESSONS: First one free. Credentialed teacher: 20 yrs. exp. All levels. Call Ruth Crawford @ 734.997.8890. THESIS EDITING. LANGUAGE, organiza- tion, format. 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