NEWS The Michigan Daily - Thursday, March 9, 2006 - 3A ON CAMPUS Comedy skits about college life to be performed The University Unions Arts and Pro- grams is sponsoring a series of comedic skits about various aspects of college life. The event will be held at Michigan League today at 8:30. Admission is free. 'Control Room' to be shown at Lane Hall The Center for Middle Eastern and North African studies will be sponsor a viewing of the film "Control Room" and conversation with the director, Jehane Noujaim, today at 4 p.m.. "Control Room is a documentary about the American per- ception of the war in Iraq. The event will be held in room 2239 of Lane Hall. * Orientation theater group to hold,. auditions tonight Auditions for the Office of New Student Programs' repertory theater group, which performs for new student orientation ses- sions, will be held tonight from 7 p.m. to 10 pm. in Angell Hall Auditorium C. CRIME NO'TES Wallet stolen from North Campus Chemistry Building A wallet was stolen from the Chemistry Building on North Cam- pus Tuesday at about 7:30 a.m., the Department of Public Safety report- ed. The wallet was later recovered, but the credit cards had been used several times. 1 Suspect attempts to check into 'U' hospital with false identification Someone attempted to check into the University Hospital Tuesday at about 11 a.m. using a fake name and fake social security number, DPS reported. The per- son was trying to obtain medical care. Shoebox stolen from Couzens A shoebox was stolen from Couzens Residence Hall Tuesday at about 1:30 p.m., DPS reported. The shoebox was one of two delivered to the front desk earlier that day. THIS DAY In Daily History UGANDA Continued from page 1A crisis in Uganda. Bobby Bailey, one of three filmmak- ers who produced "Invisible Children," said he worked on the film because he understands the impact films can have on society. "Media shapes the way we view our lives," Bailey said. At the screening, organizers handed out cards asking for people to take part in the Global Night Commute. The commute, which is scheduled for April 29, will be a reenactment of the Ugandan children's commute. People in cities throughout the United States "If people s in thousan hopefully 1 step to enc war. Invisible Childr When they didn't find anything to film in Sudan, the filmmakers trav- eled south to northern Uganda, where the story of the "Invisible Children" revealed itself. In Uganda, the LRA targets 8- to 12-year olds and desensitizes them by forcing the children to watch others being killed, according to the docu- mentary. The tour group how up emphasized the message that ds, it will "awarenessisonly the first step." be the next They offered attendees ways ding the to take action. In addition to the commute, the team is request- -Joseph Bello ing that people en Team Member buy bracelets made by Ugan- dan women. The money raised will go directly to an edu- cational program so Ugandan students can acquire the equivalent of an Ameri- can high school education. The movement also asks that people use their creativity to protest the situation. For example, one student wrote a song. Another sold her horse to raise money. Bello and his group are in the sec- ond of three and a half months they are devoting to the cause of the children in Uganda. The tour has widely trav- eled through Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois and Indiana. There have been about 100 screenings since January, ranging from one to as many as 15 screenings a day. will walk a mile or two and then sleep outside for the night. Several members of Congress told the Invisible Children Team a couple weeks ago that if the commute were successful, Capitol Hill would take them seriously, organizers said. "If people show up in thousands, it will hopefully be the next step to ending the war," said Joseph Bello, a member of a group that is screening the documentary across the Midwest. On March 16, 2003 as the war in Iraq began, the three young Californian filmmakers left for Africa intending to document the genocide in southern Sudan. SSA senior Sola Olubusola (right) discusses Invisible Children with Sarah Shreves (left), a member of the touring team, after a screening of the film, a documentary about child soldiers in Uganda, at Hale Auditorium yesterday. Men's rights group seek ight to decline fatherhood Activists pursuing; to challenge the lack reproductive rights' a lawsuit of 'male NEW YORK (AP) - Contending that women have more options than they do in the event of an unintended pregnancy, men's rights activists are mounting a long-shot legal campaign aimed at giving them the chance to opt out of financial responsibility for raising a child. The National Center for Men has prepared a lawsuit - nicknamed Roe v. Wade for Men - to be filed today in U.S. District Court in Michigan on behalf of a 25-year-old computer programmer ordered to pay child support for his ex-girlfriend's daughter. The suit addresses the issue of male repro- ductive rights, contending that lack of such rights violates the U.S. Constitution's equal protection clause. The gist of the argument: If a pregnant woman can choose among abortion, adop- tion or raising a child, a man involved in an unintended pregnancy should have the choice of declining the financial responsibilities of fatherhood. The activists involved hope to spark discussion even if they lose. "There's such a spectrum of choice that women have - it's her body, her pregnancy and she has the ultimate right to make deci- sions," said Mel Feit, director of the men's center. "I'm trying to find a way for a man also to have some say over decisions that affect his life profoundly." Feit's organization has been trying since the early 1990s to pursue such a lawsuit, and finally found a suitable plaintiff in Matt Dubay of Saginaw, Mich. Dubay says he has been ordered to pay $500 a month in child support for a girl born last year to his ex-girlfriend. He contends that the woman knew he didn't want to have a child with her and assured him repeatedly that - because of a physical condition - she could not get pregnant. Dubay is braced for the lawsuit to fail. "What I expect to hear (from the court) is that the way things are is not really fair, but that's the way it is," he said in a telephone interview. "Just to create awareness would be enough, to at least get a debate started." State courts have ruled in the past that any inequity experienced by men like Dubay is outweighed by society's interest in ensuring that children get financial support from two parents. Melanie Jacobs, a Michigan State University law professor, said the federal court might rule similarly in Dubay's case. "The courts are trying to say it may not be so fair that this gentleman has to support a child he didn't want, but it's less fair to say society has to pay the support," she said. Feit, however, says a fatherhood opt-out wouldn't necessarily impose higher costs on soci- ety or the mother. A woman who balked at abor- tion but felt she couldn't afford to raise a child could put the baby up for adoption, he said. Jennifer Brown of the women's rights advo- cacy group Legal Momentum objected to the men's center comparing Dubay's lawsuit to Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court ruling establish- ing a woman's right to have an abortion. "Roe is based on an extreme intrusion by the government - literally to force a woman to continue a pregnancy she doesn't want," Brown said. "There's nothing equivalent for men. They have the same ability as women to use contraception, to get sterilized." Feit counters that the isuit's reference to abortion rights is apt. "Roe says a woman can choose to have inti- macy and still have control over subsequent consequences," he said. "No one has ever asked a federal court if that means men should have some similar say." "The problem is this is so politically incor- rect," Feit added. "The public is still dealing with the pre-Roe ethic when it comes to men, that if a man fathers a child, he should accept responsibility." Feit doesn't advocate an unlimited father- hood opt-out; he proposes a brief period in which a man, after learning of an unintended pregnancy, could decline parental responsi- bilities if the relationship was one in which neither partner had desired a child. 1T U-' Students Fly Cheaper spring break, study abroad & more Sample roundtrip Student Airfares from Detroit to: Washington, D.C. $150 Boston $201 Frankfurt $467 London $473 Dallas $201 Visit StudentUniver on major airlines to anda <4t 1 se.com for cheap stude 1,000 destinations acros around the world. 1 'U' issues plan for new co-ed facilities March 9, 1963 - State Rep. James Warner (R-Ypsilanti) introduced a reso- lution seeking legislative approval of the University's plans to build a new co- educational student housing center and separate cafeteria at North Campus in the House recently. Warner's package of resolutions would allow state universities and col- leges to build student facilities that will break even upon construction. The University's self-liquidating proj- ect would cost $3 million, but would. be financed through the revenue bonds based on charges passed on to students who use the facilities. Federal funds available for construct- ing living units may also be used. James Lewis, vice president of student affairs, said the down payment would come from the general housing funds. The co-educational living center, which currently lacks eating facilities, is still in the early stages of planning. This center will house about 500 upper-class and graduate students who do not want to have their meals included in their bill. The center will include several small buildings, which will offer small unit living with mostly single and double rooms. 4,i, SX Tokyo $879 ent airfares s the US SO * StudentUniverse.com ------------------------------- - L' i S4 ~.' ~ f f ?4 4 %/i u .A. whei e are Eu ugoing for gradua school?IT, BALTIMORE HEBREW UNIVERSITY ii I I 2 -A- Li 1 xa>a :s