NEWS
The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, November 22, 2005 - 3
ON CAMPUS
Tickets for ride to
airport available
Students who need a ride to the
airport for Thanksgiving break can
purchase airBus tickets for $7 at the
Michigan Union Ticket Office. Stu-
dents with tickets will get a ride to
Detroit Metro Airport.
Students can also purchase $10
tickets from other locations on
North Campus, Central Campus and
the Hill. Students can swipe their
Mcards at locations where tickets
are sold.
The service is provided by the
Michigan Student Assembly
Schedules are at http://www.msa.
umich.edu/services/airbus.php.
Pianist to perform
on North Campus
Jin Ju will be playing during a
free event titled "Masterclass" at
5:30 p.m this evening in the Brit-
ton Recital Hall of the E.V. Moore
Building.
Speaker to talk on
first Thanksgiving
Tobias Vanderhoop, member of
the Wampanoag Tribal Council,
will discuss the first Thanksgiving
from a historical and Native Ameri-
can perspective.
Alice LLoyd Hall to
host drawing class
Free figure drawing sessions will
be held from 7:30 to 9 p.m. in the
Art Studio of Alice Lloyd Residence
Hall. Beginners are welcome.
CRIME
NOTES
Shapiro trash can
fire extinguished
A trash can outside of the Sha-
piro Undergraduate Library was
reported to be on fire Sunday night.
A Department of Public Safety
officer was called to the scene and
reported that a cigarette tossed into
the garbage had not been properly
extinguished.
Man found asleep
in 'U' Hospital OR
A man was found sleeping in the
operating room of the University
Hospital yesterday, DPS reported.
He was given a warning and escort-
ed off the property.
THIS DAY
In Daily History
Int'I students fear
spies on campus
Nov. 22, 1984 - Fears and suspi-
cions of spies on U.S campuses have
now reached the University.
When a Taiwanese student who
was studying at the University was
discovered dead upon returning to
his home country, reports of spy
activities on campus surfaced.
Several Taiwanese students and
staff claimed their peers were
reporting their activities back to the
government in Tapei, Taiwan. They
alleged the Taiwanese government
murdered Chen Wen-Chen because
of information leaked to Taiwanese
officials regarding his activities in
the United States.
University officials have refused
to take action on anonymous allega-
tions. In addition, because interna-
tional students fear for their families
back home, they are unwilling to
publicly testify.
Other universities are taking the
problem of campus spies more seri-
ously.
At Carnegie-Mellon University,
where Chen taught statistics, Rich-
ard Cyert, the university's president,
decided to confront the issue. He
launched a "harassment hotline" for
students to communicate informa-
tion about suspicious activities to
the proper authorities.
"I do think there is less (spy) activ-
ity as a result," Cyert said, referring
Become an activist in winter 2006
By Laura Frank
and Ruth Neuman
Daily Staff Reporters
How do you stop genocide?
A new sociology class on the conflict in Dar-
fur may give students interested in activism a
better idea of how to answer this question.
The class, a collaboration between the
Department of Sociology's Organizing for
Social Change program and the group Stu-
dents Taking Action Now: Darfur, will be
offered for the first time next semester.
The class will be taught by student members
of STAND. Organizers said the course seeks
to provide an in-depth history of the conflict
in the Darfur region of Sudan, as well as tech-
niques for encouraging international action to
end the conflict.
Since early 2003, Arab militias in the Dar-
fur region of western Sudan have attacked
non-Arabs in a conflict that has left tens of
thousands dead and displaced more than two
million individuals. Many voices in the inter-
national community accuse the Sudanese gov-
ernment of supporting the ethnic cleansing of
non-Arabs by Arab militias.
In February 2004, the U.S. Congress, as well as
former Secretary of State Colin Powell, declared
that the actions of the Arab militias constituted
genocide, although the United Nations and some
human rights organizations have not acknowl-
edged that genocide has taken place in Darfur.
The U.N. defines genocide as an attempt to
destroy in part or in whole a religious, ethnic
or national group. Under the 1948 U.N. Con-
vention on Genocide, the member nations of
the U.N. must take action to stop genocide
wherever it occurs.
STAND and other campus groups believe
decisive action is necessary. These groups are
working to promote awareness of the situation
on campus and campaigning for legislative
action by the U.S. government.
"There's a hope among people that geno-
cides are a thing of the past, but they're not,"
said LSA junior Alison Barrall, founder of the
University's chapter of STAND. Barrall will
serve as one of the teachers of the class.
Last semester, STAND focused its efforts
on encouraging Michigan Democratic Sens.
Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow to spon-
sor the Darfur Peace and Accountability
Act, which would authorize the president to
aid the African Union in relief efforts in the
region. The measure - which was sponsored
by Levin and Stabenow - passed the Senate
in a unanimous vote Friday.
Lacking a concrete goal to work toward
this semester, the group has had difficulty
inspiring students to become involved, said
RC junior Lauren Boland, who will teach the
proposed class with Barrall.
To renew interest and mobilize students on
campus, STAND has partnered with Project
Outreach in the Department of Sociology to
develop a class that will energize a core group
of students for work on the Darfur issue.
"(The class will) give them a stance on which
to base their activism," Barrall said. "It's real-
"We're an influential country, and if we were to press them
- the U.N. or Sudan -- then something would be done."
- Lauren Boland
Residential College Junior
ly important for activists to have a significant
knowledge of what they're in support of."
The main focus of the class will be urging
the Bush administration to take action against
the government of Sudan, organizers said.
"We're an influential country, and if we
were to press them - the U.N. or Sudan -
then something would be done," Boland said.
The Department of Sociology first pub-
licized the class last week in an e-mail to
STAND members. Student response to the
class has been overwhelmingly positive, said
faculty sponsor Ian Robinson, co-chair of the
Lecturers' Employee Organization.
"Within 24 hours, we had 34 people who
said they want to be part of it," Robinson said.
"I've never seen anything like that before."
Students active in the Darfur campaign said they
hope the class will build on ongoing efforts to raise
awareness and stop the genocide in the region.
On Thursday, the University chapter of
Amnesty International, STAND and the Mus-
lim Students' Association held a Sudan Day
of Action on the Diag to raise awareness
about the genocide and encourage students to
take action on the issue. The groups collected
signatures for a petition demanding that the
Bush administration lead an international
movement against genocide in Darfur, said
MSA political chair Shimaa Abdelfadeel.
On Nov. 8, the Michigan Student Assembly
passed a resolution calling on the University
Board of Regents to formally declare that the
University will not invest in Sudan because of
links between the Sudanese government and
Arab militias that target civilians.
LSA senior Mike Forster, former External
Relations Committee chair for the assem-
bly, who sponsored the resolution, said it
was meant to, "send a message that we care
about issues outside of campus." The Univer-
sity does not have any investments or plans to
invest in companies operating in Sudan, Uni-
versity spokeswoman Julie Peterson said.
Class organizers hope the course will
address both students' desire to help and their
lack of knowledge about the issue.
"We're trying to find out what we can do so
that in the end we don't have to stand back and
say we did nothing," Boland said.
CU,
accepts
1%~01
niansion
Offer
M The mansion, built
by the Village of
Dexter's namesake,
once housed runaway
slaves and presidents
DEXTER (AP) - The University
said yesterday it has accepted a $1.5
million bid from the Dexter Area
Historical Society and Museum to
purchase a 162-year-old mansion
that once hosted two U.S. presidents
and many fugitive slaves.
The university has owned Gordon
Hall, a white mansion on an about
68-acre site that overlaps Washt-
enaw County's Webster and Scio
townships, since 1950. The school
has been considering selling it for
many years.
GordonsHall is on the National
Register of Historic Places.
Proceeds from the sale will be
used to fund need-based financial aid
spholarships, the University said.
The 9,900-square-foot mansion,
with its 22 rooms and numerous
porches, was built in 1843 by Judge
Samuel Dexter and is considered
one of the most significant exam-
ples of Greek Revival architecture
in the state.
Dexter was the first chief justice
of Washtenaw County in 1827 and
planned the nearby village of Dexter
in 1830.
At various times, Dexter and wife
Millisent entertained presidents
James Polk and James Buchanan
at the home. The Dexters also gave
shelter to escaped slaves seeking a
path to freedom on the Underground
Railroad.
ALEX DZIADOSZ/Daily
Ann Arbor Mayor John Heiftje speaks at a meeting between student representatives and landlords in Michigan Student Assembly chambers yesterday.
Students skz out on lease-date mee t1)1g
ORDINANCE
Continued from page 1.
circumvent the ordinance.
Ehn said that the ordinance is harmful to land-
lords and students because any government-imposed
restrictions will create a greater perceived demand for
housing resulting in fiercer competition.
"The ordinance is telling a business that they can't
conduct business the way the market is run," Ehn said.
"This is the same as restricting a retailer from putting
up Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving."
Campus-area landlords said the ordinance imposed
unfair restrictions on personal freedoms.
"We don't like the pressure either, ... but what I'm
more concerned about is a restriction on (business),"
said Lelahni Wessinger, a campus landlord.
Mark Hannaford, a representative from Campus
Management Realty, said he was surprised by students'
sudden support for legislation that imposed restrictions
"The ordinance is telling a business that they can't conduct
business the way the market is run. This is the same as
restricting a retailer from putting up Christmas decorations
before Thanksgiving"
- Alice Ehn
Executive Officer, Washtenaw Area Apartment Association
on personal liberties. He pointed to the overwhelm-
ingly negative student reaction to the recently proposed
ordinance that would ban couches on porches, which he
said was also a personal-freedom issue.
"Maybe students will rethink their stance on that
next time it comes around," Hannaford said.
The discussion, organized by University Director
of Community Relations Jim Kosteva, brought the
two parties together for the first time yesterday after-
noon to discuss the proposed lease-date ordinance in
the presence of the mayor. The meeting was held in
the Michigan Student Assembly chambers, with the
intention of better accommodating students, though
they only needed three chairs.
CONNERLY
Continued from page 1
Opponents of MCRI have charged
that Michigan residents who signed a
petition to end affirmative action were
told they were actually supporting race-
based policies when signing.
Smith and the other picketers also
encountered resistance from a group of
students protesting BAMN. The most
vocal pro-affirmative action group at the
University, BAMN has often been criti-
cized for its tactics.
LSA senior Matthew Gage, who pro-
tested BAMN, said it is possible to raise
awareness for affirmative action without
using violence.
"BAMN sees affirmative action as
the way to go about further integrating
minorities into society, but we see other
ways to accomplish this," Gage said.
"They think we're racist. But the mind-
set should not be that (they) need extra
points to make it."
tions of affirmative action with Wu.
"There is an academic gap - let's
admit that," Connerly said. "But we have
to close the gap not by applying different
standards to different people."
But Wu said that when you take into
consideration the stereotypes of dif-
ferent minorities - such as the Asian
"model minority" stereotype - and the
varying quality of different school dis-
tricts, the standards cannot be equally
applied. Affirmative action is needed to
counteract stereotypes of women and
minorities, Wu said.
"We shouldn't characterize affir-
mative action as a handout," Wu said.
"No one is in favor of discrimination
on any basis." Wu added that affirma-
tive action is consistent with the Civil
Rights Act of 1964.
"It will make (the act's) claims a real-
ity and ensure that people can study
where they want to study and live where
they want to live," he said.
In addition to the planned dialogue,
ence members' questions regarding the
use of legacy preferences and point sys-
tems for college admissions, as well as
their outlook for the future of race rela-
tions in America.
Wu said that while he is optimistic
about the nation's civil rights progress,
he also realizes that affirmative action
is a necessary yet insufficient step in the
fight to eliminate the continuing racial
disparities in America.
"We as a nation believe our institu-
tions should be inclusive, but the ques-
tion remains as to how to attain these
ideals," Wu said. "We must rededicate
ourselves again and again to a diverse
democracy."
But allowing government interven-
tion on the basis of racial preference is
not the answer, Connerly said.
Affirmative action presumes that
minorities need the extra help without
giving them the chance to meet the stan-
dards, Connerly said.
"It is inappropriate for the gov-
citizens. My government shouldn't dis-
criminate for me or against me," Con-
nerly said. "You can fuzz it up and call
it diversity or affirmative action, but it is
racial discrimination."
FAIRFIELD UNIVERSITY
brings you the Wld
Choose your time:
January Intersession
*Florence, Italy
Spring Break
SFlorence
Fall or Spring Semester
" Florence
" Galway, Ireland
Summer
* Galway
* Florence or Padova, Italy
* County Clare (Ireland)
B risbane, Australia
Managua, Nicaragua
Manaua
St. Petersburg, R ssia