e ic tpa1T t1 Ann Arbor, Michigan Friday, January 15, 2010 michigandaily.com INTERNATI0NAL EF[ORTS clinic, hospital to aid Haitian relief cause Concrete Cutting & Breaking, Inc. employee Bob Cook explains the process of using a diamond saw to remove a piece of a concrete wall from the original structure of the Law School's rear facade yesterday. He used the blade of the saw, which is covered in diamonds, to cut through the surface as part of renovations to the historic structure. REGISTERING FOR CLASSES Salled du Ee aheadache for Spanishmjr Nursing school founded by'U' prof. still stands in city ravaged by quake By CHELSEA LANGE For the Daily While governments and orga- nizations from nations around the world are quickly responding to the 7.0-magnitude earthquake that struck southern Haiti on Tuesday, the University community is also helping those in need. A Port-au-Prince nursing school - founded in part by a Univer- sity professor - is providing aid to many in the ravaged country and the University of Michigan Health System announced yesterday that it will be sending personnel to assist in the relief efforts. According to a message posted yesterday on the Health System's website, Ora Pescovitz, executive vice president for medical affairs, the Health System is forming a task force to develop a response to the crisis. "I have asked Tony Denton, COO of our Health Centers, to lead a task force charged with developing and enacting a Health System response, including providing medical and support personnel on the scene in Haiti, use of our clinical facilities in Ann Arbor and coordination of organized distribution of medi- cal and pharmaceutical supplies through established international medical relief channels," Pescovitz wrote. In addition to the Health System response, the Faculty of Nursing Science of the Episcopal Univer- sity of Haiti also has people aid- ing victims on the ground in Haiti. The school was co-founded by Ruth Barnard, a retired associate profes- sor in the School of Nursing. FSIL is still standing and has stu- dents working around the clock to assist the injured in the aftermath of the natural disaster, according to Barnard. "The yards are filled with peo- ple, and the students are caring for them," she said. The Pan American Health Orga- nization told The Associated Press yesterday that at least eight hos- pitals or health centers in Port- au-Prince, have collapsed or can't provide care. The organization also told the AP that other health cen- ters are "overwhelmed." FSIL, which opened Jan. 10, See HAITI, Page 7 k Long waitlists make completing major difficult, students say By CAITLIN HUSTON Daily StaffReporter Students trying to get into upper-level Spanish classes have had to face a formidable opponent - the waitlist. Though many classes across various subjects at the University feature waitlists in the double dig- its, the problem is especially acute in the Spanish Department. Due to restricted class sizes and the popu- larity of Spanish at the University, many students - including those majoring in Spanish - face diffi- culties getting into these courses. Students have been complain- ing in droves about the difficul- ty of getting into these courses with large waitlists, as the closed classes complicate the timeline for their major. Michele Hannoosh, the depart- mentchair of Romance Languages and Literatures, wrote in an e-mail interview that while the depart- ment does recognize the problem of over-enrollment, it has "been apparent for several years." She wrote that the classes are filling quickly due to the increas- ing popularity of Spanish, which, she wrote, has "more combined concentrators and minors than any department in LSA apart from Economics." See SPANISH, Page 7 MICHIGAN FOOTBALLs Coleman says she doesn't know LOCAL POLsTICS LSA senior to enter race timeline for NCAA investigation for county commissioner University president taking a wait-and- see approach Staffand Wire Reports University President Mary Sue Coleman told reporters last night that she didn't have any new information regarding the NCAA's investigation into the football team's potential practice time rules violations, according to The Associated Press. Before last night's Michigan men's basketball game against Indiana, Colemansaidshe doesn't knowwhentheNCAAwill inform the University of the investiga- tion's findings, but emphasized that she is not worried. "I want to see what the issues are and we'll deal with the issues," she told the AP. Though NCAA Vice President ofEnforcement David Pricewrote in a letter to Coleman in October that the University would be noti- fied of the NCAA's findings by Dec. 31, 2009, University spokes- woman Kelly Cunningham told The Michigan Daily at the end of the year that the University hadn't been contacted by the gov- erning body. "We haven't received word from the NCAA," Cunningham wrote in an e-mail to the Daily at the time. The NCAA has been investi- gating an alleged violation by the football team of NCAA restric- tions on, practice time and off season workouts. In late August, The Detroit. Free Press reported that several former football players described a practice schedule for the team that would violate NCAA rules. Shortly after, the University launched an internal investiga- See COLEMAN, Page 7 CUT TING THE FAT 'U' Health System bans trans fats After helping city councilmember get elected, Yousef Rabhi makes his own bid By DYLAN CINTI Daily StaffReporter For LSA senior Yousef Rabhi the, start of his political career was d little unorthodox. It wasn't until after he was arrested for participating in a protest in University President Mary Sue Coleman's office during his freshman year that Rabhi - a candidate for Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners - decided to formally get involved in politics. Rabhi and 11 members of the campus group Students Organiz- ing for Labor and Equality staged a sit-in in Coleman's office demand- ing that the University strengthen its code of conduct for apparel sup- pliers, according to an April 3, 2007 article published in The Michigan Daily. The protesters were arrested after refusing to leave the build- ing when it closed, the Daily article reported. "Getting arrested - it wasn't really a wakeup call, but afterward I realized there were other ways to affect change. Politics is one of them," Rabhi said. Rabhi plans to formally enter the Patient meals and hospital food courts no longer using substance By DARRYN FITZGERALD Daily StaffReporter Three years after New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg banned trans fat from his city, starting a national trend toward the elimination of the unhealthy substance, the University of Michigan Health System has unveiled its own initiative to stop the use of the partially hydrogenated oils inside Univer- sity Hospital buildings. Under the new guidelines, industrial trans fats have been eliminated from patient food programs and food courts inside Hospital buildings. Though talks about the ban began more than a year ago, the ban did not officially go into effect until the first of this year. Craig Luck, contract admin- istrator for Hospital Operations, said officials wanted to hold off on implementing the ban until they had all the information necessary to make an informed decision. "By no means did we delay intentionally," said Luck. "We wanted to do a lot of research, input, and further educate our- selves on the process." The ban was spurred in part by a pledge made in November 2008 by the Michigan Hospital Association to voluntarily elimi- nate trans fats. In response, Health System leaders formed a committee of See TRANS FATS, Page 7 LSA senior Yousef Rabhi plans to run for Washtenaw County Commissioner. Rabhi says he hopes he can galvanize students to get involved in his campaign. race for commissioner of Washt- Tuesday and is working to collect enaw County's 11th district. He signatures to ensure his place on formed a campaign committee last See CANDIDATE, Page 7 WEATHERR HI :35 TOMORROW LO: 23 GOT A NEWS TIP? Call 734-763-2459 or e-mail news@michigandaily.com and let us know. NEW ON MICHIGANDAILYCOM Hockey's Vaughan could be out this weekend. 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