The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Wednesday, November 24, 2010 - 3
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Wednesday, November 24, 2010 - 3
NEWS BRIEFS
EAST LANSING, Mich.
Magic Johnson to
give Michigan State
commencement
Michigan State University says
former basketball star Earvin
"Magic" Johnson will be one of
three speakers for the school's
December commencement ceremo-
nies.
The ceremonies are to be held
Dec. 10-11 at the Breslin Center.
The East Lansing school said
yesterday Johnson will speak at
the 10 a.m. ceremony on Dec.11 and
also receive an honorary doctor of
business degree.
Also at that ceremony, Detroit
Symphony Orchestra music direc-
tor Leonard Slatkin will receive an
honorary doctorate of fine arts.
The other two commencement
speakers are General Electric Co.
Chairman Jeff Immelt and Indiana
University political science profes-
sor Elinor Ostrom.
LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas
Arkansas man sues
TSA for invasive
full-body scans
An Arkansas man has filed a
federal lawsuit against the Trans-
portation Security Administration,
claiming that the agency's new
screening rules are detrimental to
his "emotional, psychological and
mental well-being."
Robert Dean filed the lawsuit
Monday in federal court in Little
Rock, even though the Little Rock
National Airport does not yet have
the full-body scanners that have
drawn criticism throughout the
' country. Dean's lawsuit asks a fed-
eral judge to issue an injunction
stopping the TSA from conducting
full-body pat-down searches and
using the full-body imaging scan-
ners.
The lawsuit claims that the
new practices violate Dean's civil
rights and his Fourth Amendment
right protecting against unlawful
searches and seizures.
TSA says it does not comment on
pendinglitigation.
SAN ANTONIO, Texas
Former priest
accused of hiring
hitman
In a murder-for-hire case wor-
thy of a Dan Brown novel, a Roman
Catholic priest has been arrested
on charges that he solicited a hit
man to kill a teenager who had
accused him of sexual abuse.
Authorities said John Fiala first
offered the job to a neighbor, who
blew the whistle and helped police
arrange a sting. They said Fiala got
as far as negotiating a $5,000 price
for the slaying before investigators
moved in.
The 52-year-old clergyman
was arrested Nov. 18 at his sub-
urban Dallas home and jailed on
$700,000 bond. In April, he was
named in a lawsuit filed by the
boy's family, who accused Fiala
of molesting the youth, including
twice forcing him to have sex at
gunpoint.
The abuse allegedly took place
in 2007 and 2008, when Fiala
was a priest at the Sacred Heart
of Mary Parish in the West Texas
community of Rocksprings, a rural
enclave known for sheep and goat.
herding.
The family's lawsuit also named
the Archdiocese of San Antonio
and Archbishop Jose Gomez, alleg-
ing that church leadership should
have known Fiala was abusive.
GREYMOUTH, New Zealand
Rescuers begin to
dig for abandoned
minors after blast
Rescuers have drilled through
to the main tunnel at the New Zea-
land coal mine where 29 miners
were caught in a methane-fueled
explosion last week. They have not
been heard from since.
The drill hole, reaching 530 feet
(162-meters), into the mine has
broken through, causing "hot air
and gases to rush up," Pike River
Coal Ltd. chairman John Dow said
today.
Rescuers began immediately
sampling gas rising from the hole,
located near where some miners
were working when the blast hap-
pened on Friday. Rescuers plan to
put a video camera down the hole
to look for signs of the missing
miners.
- Compiled from
Daily wire reports.
HOUSING
From Page 1
ideas and what we have to say."
The submitted proposal recom-
mended that returning students
be given the option to select a
roommate of the opposite gender
or unidentified gender for Fall
2011.
The proposal also included
results from a campus survey that
indicated that the majority of resi-
dence hall residents support open
housing, as well as student anec-
dotes supporting the initiative
and information on other insti-
tutions that offer gender-neutral
housing.
MSA passed a resolution in
December 2009 urging the Uni-
versity to support a gender-neu-
tral housing option. In April, the
Residence Halls Association also
voted to support the initiative.
At last night's meeting, New-
man also fielded questions about
the possibility of re-introducing
Saturday night meals in the din-
ing halls - one of the main cam-
paign platforms of the MForward
party and of MSA President Chris
Armstrong during last winter's
election cycle.
CLINIC
From Page 1
said. "Your physician may not be
as readily available."
By communicating with a
patient's primary physician, Rice
said clinic officials can arrange
for care for the patients over the
course of the school year and into
the summer. In addition, the clinic
could also arrange for care after
graduation.
Rice added that University
specialists encourage students to
educate themselves and take own-
ership of their disease so that they
can remain in control of their IBD
and ensure their success in col-
lege.
Members of the Crohn's & Coli-
tis Student Initiative, a support
group made up of undergraduate
and graduate students, have pro-
moted the clinic within the group
as a valuable resource for manag-
ing inflammatory bowel condi-
tions.
LSA senior Elan Green, the
club's president, said in an inter-
view with The Michigan Daily last
month that students with Crohn's
or ulcerative colitis may not be
aware of the resources available
for them on campus. Green said
"I think it's very clear that
there's a sizeable portion of stu-
dents who are here on the week-
end who really would like to see
Saturday night dining," Newman
said in an interview after the
meeting. "And so we want to work
with the students to figure out
how we can do that."
Newman and Trevor Grieb,
president of the Residential Hall
Association, said MSA members
and other interested students cur-
rently have limited options for
working on the Saturday night
dining initiative. Grieb said the
proposed changes to the budget
would have to come from an RHA
committee, requiring "unprec-
edented" action from University
housing residents.
Currently, only current resi-
dents in University housing can
attend RHA meetings, so this pro-
cedure would exclude the major-
ity of MSA members - many of
whom live off campus.
Newman noted that $35,000
would have to be re-allocated for
Saturday night dining to be suc-
cessfully implemented.
"We can provide Saturday
night dining, we just need to make
choices," she said.
he hopes to raise awareness about
these resources.
"We've been able to help pro-
vide support for each other ... and
also provide information," he said.
A student - who wished to
remain anonymous to protect the
details of the illness - has vis-
ited the clinic once for a check-
up. Despite a considerable wait
prior to beingseen by a doctor, the
student is grateful for the clinic's
presence on campus.
"Being away from home, it's
nice to have a place to go (for
treatment) on campus," the stu-
dent said.
The student added that she
plans to visit the clinic again soon.
Rice said the clinic has poten-
tial to grow in the months to come
and may be able to expand its
hours of operations and its num-
ber of staff. Currently, he said the
clinic sees about eight patients per
morning.
"Our goal is to include a nutri-
tionist to address specific needs
related to IBD and nutrition," he
said.
Rice, who added that he would
like to see a behavioral psycholo-
gist available, said he envisions
the clinic as a "one-stop shop" for
affected people in the University
community.
Obama pledges to defend
S. Korea from N. Korea
Obama: U.S. will
stand 'shoulder to
shoulder' with ally
WASHINGTON (AP) - Presi-
dent Barack Obama yesterday
pledged the United States would
stand "shoulder to shoulder" with
South Korea after what the White
House branded a provocative, out-
rageous attack by North Korea on
its neighbor. Its options limited,
the U.S. sought a diplomatic rath-
er a military response to one of the
most ominous clashes between
the Koreas in decades.
"South Korea is our ally. It
has been since the Korean war,"
Obama said in his first comments
about the North Korean shelling
of a South Korean island early yes-
terday. "And we strongly affirm
our commitment to defend South
Korea as partof that alliance."
Working to head off any esca-
lation, the U.S. did not reposi-
tion any of its 29,000 troops in
the South or make other military
moves after North Korea fired sal-
vos of shells into the island, set-
ting off an artillery duel between
the two sides.
The president, speaking to ABC
News, would not speculate when
asked about military options.
Obama called South Korean
President Lee Myung-bak later
Tuesday night, saying the U.S.
would work with the interna-
tional community to strongly con-
demn the attack that killed the
two South Koreans and injured
many more, the White House said.
The White House said the two
presidents agreedtoholdcombined
military exercises and enhanced
training in the days ahead to con-
tinue the closensecurity cooperation
between the two countries.
Obama assured Lee that "the
United States stands shoulder to
shoulder with ourclose friend and
ally, the Republic of Korea," the
White House statement said.
"President Obama said that
North Korea must stop its pro-
vocative actions, which will only
lead to further isolation, and fully
abide by the terms of the armi-
stice agreement and its obliga-
tions under international law," the
statement said.
The U.S. has relatively few
options when dealing with the
Pyongyang government. Military
action is particularly unappeal-
ing, since the unpredictable North
possesses crude nuclear weapons
as well as a huge standing army.
North Korea exists largely outside
the system of international finan-
cial and diplomatic institutions
that the U.S. has used as lever-
age in dealing with other hostile
countries, including Iran.
North Korea has also resist-
ed pressure from its major ally,
China, which appears to be ner-
vous about the signs of instability
in its neighbor.
"We strongly condemn the
attack and we are rallying the
international community to put
pressure on North Korea," Obama
said in the ABC interview, specifi-
cally citing the need for China's
help. Obama said every nation in
the region must know "this is a
serious and ongoing threat."
An administration official said
yesterday evening that U.S. offi-
cials in Washington and in Beijing
were appealing strongly to China
to condemn the attack by arguing
that it was an act that threatened
the stability of the entire region,
not just the Korean peninsula.
ART
From Page 1
enth Street and Miller Road, and
will be recognized at the park's
reopening in the spring.
City Council member Sabra Bri-
ere (D-Ward 1) said that when she
voted on the Chapter 24 Public Art
Ordinance to implement the Per-
cent for Art program in 2007, she
did not anticipate what the pro-
gram would cost.
She added that the first project
has been "expensive" and "contro-
versial."
"Certainly I didn't know that in
three years there would be more
than $2 million put aside for art,"
she said.
Briere said there are concerns
with the program beyond expense,
adding that with so many tastes to
satisfy in the city someiay ques-
tion where their money is going.
"Expensive is perhaps the most
important part here; art is con-
troversial, and it's not always a
matter of taste - but what you do
with the money is important," she
added.
Briere said she's also not in favor
of the program's latest proposed
project, a water piece designed by
German artist Herbert Dreiseitl
which is to be placed outside the
Police Municipal building. The
project has been given a budget of
$750,000 pooled from funds set
aside from capital improvement
projects since 2005.
Briere argued against the art,
saying that a piece like the planned
Dreiseitl water art structure
wouldn't benefit the city.
"To me, that's not worth hav-
ing in place for twenty or thirty or
forty years. I would not go out of
my way to see this," she said.
Briere added that though she
would never go against the con-
cept of public art, the community
should be gaining something that
is "consistently demonstrable"
from the projects. Briere added
that the $2 million that has been
pooled for art projects so far has
the potential to go further as fund-
ing for construction projects.
"I firmly believe in public art
but I think how this has been
structured is a mistake, it's struc-
tured to take money out of funds
that I'm not really certain can go
to public art," she said.
But, Sue McCormick, Ann
Arbor public service administra-
tor, said that the Dreiseitl instal-.
lation, which features a "green"
roof that collects storm water that
the Police building accumulates,
would be worth the money.
"This particular piece of art is
going to be a landmark piece of
art," she said.
"Given the nature of the art
installation and the worldwide
renown of this artist, I think that
this range of cost is commiserate
with the type of art installation
that it is," she added.
McCormick said that the
money being allocated to this
project has many different fea-
tures, from the artist fee to
the reservoir for the rainwater
underneath the building.
"This isn't just a bronze sculp-
ture," she said.
Council member Stephen Kun-
selman, (D-Ward 3) said that
the funding recommendations to
develop the Dreiseitl public art
project were given to city staff by
the city attorney, but were kept
from other council members. Kun-
selman added the funding for the
Dreiseitl public art project is com-
prised of revenue from utility bills,
and that therefore city residents
deserve to see tangible results.
"I think that public art is good
for our community, but I don't
believe that we should fund it in
such a way that is illegal," he said.
"And until the city attorney pro-
vides a public opinion, I have to
assume that it's illegal."
Kunselman said that his senti-
ment is shared by few others on
council. He said that especially in
times of fiscal distress, it is hard
for him to hear that the city coun-
cil doesn't have enough money
when a large sum is going toward
public art.
He said he thinks that the
money could be allocated to more
pressing issues facing the city, like
homelessness.
Parker said she understands the
council members' concerns, but
she hopes they'll give the program
time to make an impact.
"Since we haven't really fin-
ished one project - we started
with a pretty big one - I don't
blame them for thinking this isn't
working," Parker said. "But I say
that we should finish the one proj-
ect anid see what they think."
SWEETLAND
From Page 1
tutors and students to view the
document at the same time in
addition to communicate via text,
video or audio.
According to Anne Gere, direc-
tor of the Sweetland Writing Cen-
ter, developing SyncOWL was a
"collaborative idea" that utilized
the resources of the entire cen-
ter. She added that it was part of
a series of efforts to incorporate
media into writing.
"We offer courses in blogging
and lots of different approaches to
using media in writing, we intro-
duced an electronic system for
making our appointments, so this
is sort of the next logical thing,"
she said.
The SyncOWL is a revision of
the original OWL program, which
allows students to submit papers
online and receive corrections and
an explanatory letter in 72 hours.
Peer tutor and LSA junior
Joshua Brady said with the OWL,
there's a "barrier" between the
writer and tutor because they
don't get the opportunity to inter-
act with each other during the edit.
"When you're actually doing
an OWL session, it's really hard
because you don't know how the
person is going to react to what
you're saying," he said. "So you
can offer comments but you don't
know if they're going to under-
stand what you're saying or maybe
you're not reading it the way they
meant to say it".
According to Brady, the Syn-
cOWL makes up for the OWL's
shortcomings because it offers the
convenience of the OWL with-
out compromising interaction
between the tutor and writer.
"There are back-and-forth con-
versations, so it's basically like a
normal tutoring session, but it's
just online," Brady said.
"The SyncOWL is more con-
venient for (the writer) because
they don't have to come into the
tutoring center, but they still get
the human interaction over the
computer, where it's easier (for
the tutors) to ask them things like
'What did you really mean here?"'
he continued.
According to Gere, Sweetland
has been able to "reach many stu-
dents" via the SyncOWL so far.
"Certainly we are getting a very
positive response," she said
Both the OWL and SyncOWL
make the Writing Center more
accessible to students because
they don't have to physically visit
the center to get help. However,
these online resources don't offer
any more flexibility for the tutors,
because they still have to work
from the center during their shifts,
Brady explained.
LSA sophomore Sarah Awad
said she's used Sweetland's walk-
in appointments for help with
many of her papers. She says that
they are a great resource for Uni-
versity students and admires the
fact that they have taken such a
proactive step to accommodate
student preferences.
"I think there is a small draw-
back, because it gets complicated
when you reference things in your
paper and it will probably be more
formal than when you are sitting
and talking to a tutor in person,"
she said. "But it is a step up from
the OWL."
However, she said one draw-
back might be that students
become entirely dependent on the
online resource.
"The only issue it might cause
is that students might get lazy and
assume that it is always available,
like put off writing papers until
later knowing that they won't have
to go to the office to get it edited,
and so Sweetland has to be really
clear about its online times," she
said.
LSA sophomore Sadie Besl
said despite the convenience, she
doesn't plan on using SyncOWL.
"I've only ever used the walk-
in appointments and they worked
well for me," Besl said.
Both Brady and Gere said they
agree that the SyncOWL would
never be able to replace the per-
sonal peer tutoring that students
can receive at the Sweetland Writ-
ing Center.
"We would always have face-
to-face as an option - justbecause
you send e-mails to your friends
doesn't mean you don't see them in
person," Gere said.
"I know you can talk over the
SyncOWL, but there's just some-
thing unparalleled about coming
into the center and interacting
with people in person - you can
put the paper in between you and
both (tutor and student can) write
on it and stuff," Brady added. "I
don't think it can ever go online
completely because a lot of people
do like coming in."
WATER
From Page1
systems," Berki said. "We've got-
ten lots of inquiries from students
wanting to put more of these on
campus.
Berki said the stations, which
allow users to set their water bot-
tles under a spout and not have to
tilt the bottle to refill, makes using
a re-usable bottle less of a hassle
for students.
"They like having the abil-
ity to fill up their containers and
not have to attempt to fill it up
at a water fountain," Berki said.
"It also tastes a little cleaner to
them."
The water, which comes from
Ann Arbor, used in the refilling
stations is municipal water that is
tested 5,000 times annually by the
city, according to a plaque next to
the refill station in Angell Hall.
The plaque lists some numbers
detailing the effects that using
bottled water has on the environ-
ment. Bottling water produces
levels of carbon dioxide similar to
the energy usage of 193,000 sin-
gle-family homes, according to the
sign. This amount of energy con-
sumption is also equal to carbon
dioxide emissions from 433,000
cars.
The plaque also notes the eco-
nomic repercussions of single-use
water bottles. The production
of single-use water bottles for
domestic consumption in one
year is equivalent to the energy of
17 million barrels of oil, the sign
states.
The refill stations are part of
a larger University goal to make
campus greener, Berki said. In
conjunction with the University's
Graham Institute, the Office of
Campus Sustainability has been
working on an initiative called
Integrated Assessment.
"It's a project to set long-term
sustainability goals for the cam-
pus," Berki said.
The program consists of profes-
sors and graduate students who
work in seven teams, each with
a different area of focus - build-
ings, transportation, purchasing
and recycling, land and water,
energy, culture and food
John Callewaert, director
of the Integrated Assessment
program, emphasized that the
program is making significant
strides when it comes to student
involvement.
According to Callewaert,
there have been "over 160 appli-
cations from students interested
in participating in the program."
LSA senior Elise McGowan
said she much prefers the new
water refill station in Angell Hall
than the regular water fountains.
"It's fun, it's fast, you can walk
by, fill it up, and go," McGowan
said. "There should be more of
them."
McGowan said she enjoys see-
ing the number of bottles being
saved every time she uses the refill
station. McGowan added that she
finds the stations easier to use
than typical water fountains.
"You don't need to worry about
tilting your bottle and only getting
it half full," she said.
The Office of Campus Sustain-
ability has plans to install more
refill stations around campus,
Berki said, specifically in places
where buildings tend to be more
reliant on bottled water.
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