NEWS

The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, October 11, 2005 - 3

ON CAMPUS
Dangers of obesity
to be discussed in
lecture today
Dr. Anjel Vahratian will be giving a
lecture today on the dangers of being
overweight and obese present to women
of childbearing age. The event is spon-
sored by the Institute for Research on
Woman and Gender and will be held
in room 2239 of Lane Hall.
Alternative Spring
Break to hold
meeting today
The leaders of Alternative Spring
Break will be holding a mass meet-
ing today from 7 to 8:00 p.m. in the
Dana Natural Resources Building.
Students are encouraged to find out
about what Alternative Spring Break
is, to learn how to apply to the pro-
gram and to meet some of the site
leaders for this year's trip. Applica-
tions are due on Oct. 21 at 5 p.m. and
can be submitted online.
Grad. student
information fair to
be held today
Today at the Michigan Union the
Division of Student Affairs and the
Career Center will be holding the
Graduate School Information Fair.
Graduate schools throughout the
United States will be in attendance
to provide students with informa-
tion on exploring their options, col-
lecting application information and
finding financial aid.
CRIME
NOTES
Ann Arbor Resident
Reports Sexual
Assault in Detroit
An Ann Arbor female reported on
Sunday afternoon she was sexually
assaulted in Detroit. She was treated
at the University Hospital Emergency
Room. Hospital security contacted the
Detroit Police Department Special
Victims Unit to advise them of the
possible assault.
Discharging of fire
extinguisher ruled
an accident
A fire extinguisher was accidentally
discharged Sunday night in Bursley
Residence Hall near an elevator on the
third floor. The incident was classified
as accidental property damage, instead
of malicious destruction, in the Depart-
ment of Public Safety crime log. There
was no indication of a fire, so DPS
suggested that somebody might have
knocked the extinguisher off its holder.
There are no suspects at this time.

Suspect followed in
hit and run
After striking a car on in the Maynard
Street carport, a silver model car with two
males more than 6 feet tall drove off on
Sunday night. The victim said he pursued
the suspect's vehicle, yet lost the vehicle
when it turned left on Liberty Street.
THIS DAY
In Daily History
Students want
more input in
Diag renovations
Oct. 11, 1994 - With renovations to
the Diag well underway, students are won-
dering why they haven't been asked for
their input with regard to the new plans.
Donna Erickson, a professor in the land-
scape architecture department says she
believes students should have more input
in the process, but doesn't know what the
best way to get that input would be.
In September, students in the Univer-
sity's landscape architecture department

Coming Out Week focuses
on building connections

By Laura Frank
Daily Staff Writer

National Coming Out Week is
about visibility.
The week's programs - includ-
ing today's rally on the Diag, a keynote
address by performer and author Anna
Camilleri and political discussions - are
meant to help LGBT students feel more
comfortable on campus and bring their
issues to the forefront of campus dia-
logue, said organizers of National Com-
ing Out Week events.
This year's events focus on the con-
nections between LGBT individuals
and many other groups within the Uni-
versity community.
LGBT students are not only members
of the LGBT community, but are also part
of a wide variety of religious and ethnic
groups said Jennifer Almquist, assistant
director for community development in
the Office of LGBT Affairs. It is impor-
tant that they be able to acknowledge all
facets of their identities and use campus
resources available to other communities
they belong to, she added.
For example, LGBT students should
feel comfortable visiting the Career Cen-
ter, and students of color should be able to
seek help in the LGBT Office, she said.
To encourage the celebration of mul-
tiple identities, the LGBT Office will
host Color Splash, a social gathering for
LGBT students of color, tomorrow.
The ultimate goal of these efforts is to
ensure that "people don't feel like they

have to be in one place or community.
They can be their whole self wherever
they are," Almquist said.
The separation between the LGBT
community and the rest of the University
is also a problem for campus activists,
said Jaya Kalra, an LSA sophomore and
co-chair of the Stonewall Democrats, the
LGBT caucus of the College Democrats.
"Because of the secluded nature of
what happens with LGBT (issues), there
is a lot of ignorance - not intentional
ignorance, but people just don't know
(what's happening)," Kalra said.
Specifically, many students on campus
do not fully understand LGBT efforts to
include the phrase "gender identity and
expression" in the nondiscrimination
clause of the University bylaws, she said.
Organizers hope National Coming Out
Week will provide a way for the entire
campus to learn more about this issue and
others affecting the LGBT community.
"We try to make programming that
will include people who might not usu-
ally be involved ... so they can see that
we're not aliens," Kalra said.
Even among LGBT activists, political
issues are not always well understood.
The Stonewall Democrats will host a
discussion tomorrow focusing on recent
court cases that have expanded protec-
tions for transgender individuals and
sanctioned domestic partner benefits. The
future of legal rights for the transgender
community as well as partner benefits is
uncertain; Kalra said the event will allow
LGBT activists to "talk about the insecu-

rities we have as a movement."
Overcoming personal insecurities is
also a major goal of National Coming
Out Week.
Although the campus as a whole has
become more sensitive to discrimination,
coming out is still difficult, said LSA
junior Mike Wright.
"Coming out is always an ongoing pro-
cess, and you never know how people are
going to react," he said.
College is an especially difficult time
for many LGBT students because it is
during this time that people often begin
the process of coming out, he said.
The programs and the strong pres-
ence of LGBT advocacy groups this
week help remind LGBT students
they are part of a supportive commu-
nity and hopefully allow them to feel
safe coming out, Almquist said.
To help students with the process
of coming out, the LGBT Office will
begin a support group tomorrow for
students who want additional assis-
tance and advice.
Organizers and LGBT commu-
nity members hope this week's pro-
grams will also help LGBT students
find their place in the larger com-
munity on campus and encourage
straight students to support their
LGBT peers.
"If (National Coming Out Week)
helps someone to come out of the
closet or some straight person to be
an ally, even if it's just one, it's mak-
ing a big difference," Wright said.

Arrest warrants issued over missmg $1 billion in Iraq

BAGHDAD (AP) - Iraq has issued arrest war-
rants against the defense minister and 27 other offi-
cials from the U.S.-backed government of former
Prime Minister Iyad Allawi over the alleged disap-
pearance or misappropriation of $1 billion in military
procurement funds, officials said yesterday. .
Those accused include four other ministers from
Allawi's government, which was replaced by an
elected Cabinet led by Shiite parties in April, said
Ali al-Lami of Iraq's Integrity Commission. Many
of the officials are believed to have left Iraq, includ-
GM tries to
negotiate
rising health
care costs
DETROIT (AP) - General
Motors Corp. has been negotiating
with the United Auto Workers for
months in an attempt to lower its
skyrocketing health care costs, but
those talks could be jeopardized by
Delphi Corp.'s bankruptcy, analysts
said yesterday.
Uncertainty over GM's situation A
caused its shares to fall $2.81, or
nearly 10 percent, to close at $25.49
on the New York Stock Exchange.
Shares of auto supplier Delphi,
which filed for bankruptcy on Sat-
urday, fell 76 cents to close at 36 4
cents. Cam
Standard & Poor's Ratings Ser-
vices also lowered GM's credit
rating deeper into "junk" status yes-
terday, from BB to BB-, a move that
could make it harder for the strug-
gling automaker to borrow money.
GM, which is Delphi's former par-
ent and largest customer, will likely
face price increases from Delphi and
also is at risk of a disrupted supply if
there is labor strife at Delphi plants,
S&P said.
GM and the UAW have been talk-
ing since early spring about ways E
to cut GM's annual health care bill,
which will grow to $5.6 billion this Michigan
year. 528 Sout
GM has suggested, among other (734)
measures, that hourly workers should T
pay as much for their health care as ~
salaried workers do. ,
The UAW has said it will consider
some ways to help GM but won't
reopen its contract with the auto-
maker, which is scheduled to expire
in September 2007.
Some industry analysts said the
UAW may be less willing to make
concessions to GM because the
automaker didn't prevent Delphi
from declaring bankruptcy, putting
Delphi's 24,000 UAW-represented
hourly workers at risk of massive
pay cuts.
GM spun off Delphi in 1999 but
left it with high labor costs, and
Delphi is expected to seek cuts in
wages and health care during its
restructuring.

ing Hazem Shaalan, the former defense minister who
moved to Jordan shortly after the new government
was installed.
For months, Iraqi investigators have been looking
into allegations that millions of dollars were spent on
overpriced deals for shoddy weapons and military hard-
ware, apparently to launder cash, at a time when Iraq
was battling a bloody insurgency that still persists.
In Baghdad, a suicide bomber detonated a car full
of mortars near an entrance to the fortified Green
Zone on yesterday, killing a U.S. soldier and six Iraq-

is in one of a string of insurgent attacks in which at
least 13 other Iraqis also died.
Gunmen opened fire on a convoy carrying del-
egates from the Arab League in Baghdad during
the organization's first visit to Iraq since the fall
of Saddam Hussein.
The league has met resistance from Shiite and
Kurdish leaders as it tries to piece together a rec-
onciliation conference with Sunnis. A policeman
was wounded in the shooting, but no one in the
delegation was hurt.

The violence comes five days ahead of Iraq's
key vote on a new constitution, which Kurds and
the majority Shiites largely support and the Sunni
Arab minority rejects. Sunnis are campaigning
to defeat the charter at the polls, though officials
from all sides have been trying up to the last min-
ute to decide on changes to the constitution to
swing Sunni support.
Whether the constitution passes or fails, Iraq
is due to hold elections for a new parliament on
Dec. 15.



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