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Ann Arbor, Michigan

Friday, April 2, 2010

michigandaily.com

FINDING FACES

Survey shows
support for
gender-neutral
housing option

Engineering senior Amanda Herrick (left) and Rackham student Katie Ewing look at an exhibit featuring work by Jorg Syrlin the Younger at the University of Michigan
Museum of Art yesterday. The students were taking part in a scavenger hunt marking the one-year anniversary of the opening of the museum's new building.
ANN ARBOR BUSINESS
A 2
A2tanning salons prepare
for effcts of tax increase

67 percent of
respondents would
welcome option
By CHELSEY DAMBRO
For the Daily
Results of a survey recently
sent out to students to gauge their
views on gender-neutral housing
were released this week and show
that a majority of students support
the initiative.
The Gender Neutral Housing
Coalition - a committee formed
by student representatives of the
Residence Hall Association, the
Michigan Student Assembly and
other campus organizations - sent
out the survey to students living
in University Housing on March
17. The survey ran for a week and
ended on March 24.
Of the 9,545 students who
received the survey, 19 percent
responded. Out of the students
that responded, 38 percent said
they would select gender-neutral
housing as an*option. And while
67 percent responded that gender-
neutral housing would be a wel-
come option for the University
Housing community, 19 percent
disagreed. Out of the 1,785 respon-
dents, 91 percent said they identify
as heterosexual.
The survey asked other ques-

tions like how likely students
would be to return to University
Housing if gender-neutral options
were available. Of the students
who responded, 34 percent said
they would consider returning if
the option was available, while 52
percent said they remained indif-
ferent.
The survey also asked whether
students would choose a same-
gender roommate or a roommate
of a different gender. The major-
ity of students - 60 percent - said
they would choose a same-gender
roommate, while 15 percent said
they would choose a roommate of
a different gender.
Renagh O'Leary, chair of the
University's undergraduate chap-
ter of the American Civil Liberties
Union - which was involved in
the push for gender-neutral hous-
ing - said the results of the survey
match her expectations.
Gender-neutral housing advo-
cates created the survey knowing
that they would receive strong stu-
dent support, she said.
"I am optimistic about making
progress even before the school
year ends'to implement gender-
neutral housing more fully," she
said.
Gender-neutral housing has
been a much-discussed issue on
campus this year, and was a focus
of both the Michigan Student
See HOUSING, Page 7

Congress passed
10-percent increase
in tanning tax in
* health care bill
By NATALIE BERKUS
Daily StaffReporter
Amidst heated debate sur-
rounding health care reform,
health concerns about indoor
tanning have pushed legislators

to disincentivize the practice for
consumers nationwide - and
students and Ann Arbor tanning
salons are bracing for the effects
of the 10-percent tax increase.
The increase in the tanning
tax, which was passed as part of
the recent health care bill and
will take effect in July, reflects an
effort spearheaded by legislators
to discourage people from using
indoor tanning booths in light of
growing concerns that they cause
significant health problems.
Marianne Udow-Phillips,

director of the University's Center
for Healthcare Research & Trans-
formation, said that though tan-
ning salons are concerned about
the tax, she believes it will only
have a minimal effect on their
businesses.
"I just can't imagine that a
10-percent tax will make a dif-
ference in terms of the business,"
Udow-Phillips said.
Udow-Phillips added that the
tanning industry was likely tar-
geted for the tax because its lob-
bying forces are not as aggressive

as those in the cosmetics industry
that back procedures like Botox or
plastic surgery.
"I think (the government) had
a broader idea of taxing cosmetic
services previously, and frankly
the rest of the cosmetic indus-
try was better organized and got
most of it out of the bill," Udow-
Phillips said. "The tanning indus-
try was not as well organized and
didn't have as good of lobbyists."
Though Udow-Phillips said the
tax won't affect tanning salons,
See TANNING, Page 7

ARGO DAM
After months of debate, state
officials say dam can remain

State agency says
city must clean up
embankment for
I dam to stay open
By ALEX KIRSHENBAUM
Daily StaffReporter
Crews began clearing the Argo
Dam embankment yesterday,
after months of deliberation over
the dam's fate.
Last week, City of Ann Arbor
officials were given the go-ahead
from the Michigan Department

of Natural Resources and Envi-
ronment to keep the dam, which
allows for the creation of Argo
Pond, as long as the embank-
ment is cleared of trees and their
roots.
Controversy over the fate of the
dam began last August when the
Michigan Department of Envi-
ronmental Quality - now known
as the Michigan Department of
Natural Resources and Environ-
ment - wrote to City Administra-
tor Roger Fraser asking that the
dam be repaired or removed.
In response, the city hired a
consulting firm to evaluate the
status of the dam., The results

of the evaluation, which were
sent to MDNRE earlier this year,
found that the dam was "safe and
did not need repairs."
Though MDNRE is allowing
the city to keep the dam, accord-
ing to a March 24 press release,
the department doesn't complete-
ly agree with the firm's findings.
Accordingto the release, MDNRE
officials are still concerned about
the structural integrity of the
dam. The release also stated that
maintenance was still necessary
to keep the dam in place.
The required clean up began
yesterday, consists, for now, of the
See ARGO DAM, Page 7

UNIVERSITY HOUSING
Students decry odor emanating from Hill

Participants in the Street Soccer Project catch their breath after a short scrimmage held at Wideworld Sports Center yesterday.
In soccer games, volunteers see a
chance to improve homeless lives

Housing officials
say smell caused
by faulty
filtration system
* ByVANESSA NUNEZ
Daily StaffReporter
Students hitting the tennis
courts near Palmer Field this
weekend may be taking in more

than just the rays and the fresh
air - they could also be breath-
ing in a foul odor wafting across
the Hill.
Officials from University
Housing and the University's
Department of Occupational
Safety and Environmental Health
opened up the access point to an
underground filtration tank -
from where the officials say the
unpleasant smell is emanating -
on the Hill on Monday.
University Housing spokes-

man Peter Logan said this under-
ground filtration tank leads to an
interceptor where waste, water
and grease - from the dishwash-
ing machine and garbage disposal
inside the Hill Dining Center
- can flow through and sepa-
rate out food particulates from
the grease before it reaches Ann
Arbor's sanitary sewer system.
Though the tank is separating
out the waste correctly, Logan
said there is a problem with the
See ODOR, Page 7

Washtenaw County
street soccer team
aims to help local
homeless population
By RACHEL BRUSSTAR
Daily StaffReporter
Every week, a group of Washt-
enaw County residents and local
homeless people gather at Wide-
world Sports Center in Ann Arbor

for a fun and friendly game of soc-
cer.
The weekly games are part of
a program founded by Washt-
enaw County residents Sara Sil-
vennoinen, Linda Bacigalupi and
Jim Bastian in 2007, called the
Street Soccer Project Team. Bet-
ter known as SSPORT, the team
- comprised of residents of vari-
ous cities in the county and some
University students - aims to use
soccer and community building
to help the homeless participants
change their life situations.

For Ann Arbor resident Silven-
noinen, who has been playing soc-
cer her entire life, the organization
combines her twobiggest passions:
soccer and community outreach.
"Despite the struggles of work-
ing with people when they are
probably in their worst situations,
it is so rewarding to see where they
were compared to where they are
now and the progress that people
can make in their daily lives," Sil-
vennoinen said.
SSPORT is a branch of the
See SOCCER, Page 7

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