The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Monday, March 21, 2011 - 5A
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycomMonday, March 21, 2011 - 5A
QUAKE
From Page 1A
his friends and family in Tokyo.
At first, Matsushima said he
wasn't sure if the images he saw
were real.
"It was really hard to take in,"
Matsushima said. "It took me a
couple of hours justto grasp what
was going on."
Matsushima said he eventual-
ly learned that his family is safe,
but was very anxious while wait-
ing for the delayed delivery time
it took for an e-mail to reach his
" mother.
In frequent communication
with his family, Matsushima said
he's learned that though they
had stocked up on rice and other
foods before the disaster, Tokyo
is now running out of food. His
family's home is also affected by
planned power outages - which
also cause a temporary loss of
heat - so that power can be
diverted to the northern part of
the country.
Though Matsushima and
people his age have experienced
earthquakes before, he said he
feels his age group was more
affected by this quake than the
older generation.
"This is the first time for all
the people my age to experience
something this devastating,"
Matsushima said.
From a young age, Matsushi-
ma said his school held earth-
quake and fire drills, but even
with this preparation, he said his
friends were still unprepared for
the level of destruction.
"The thing is, it really hap-
pens; we have earthquakes, so
we have drills," he said. "But we
actually do that in real life too."
LSA senior Kenta Hayashi,
an international student at the
University, said he also clearly
remembers drills from his kin-
dergarten class in Tokyo. Though
his family has since moved to
Taiwan, he said he has friends
and extended family in Japan,
who are safe but shaken by the
disaster. He added that amid the
initial shock, there is still civil
order and no reports of looting.
Matsushima said he believes
the reason for the lack of panic
stems from the Japanese culture
of respecting others.
"We're basically educated to
RHA
From Page 1A
hope to establish regulations in
time for the 2012 election.
"Now we're just ready to get a
permanent policy in place, get input
9 from anyone who is interested and
t would be affected by this policy,
and move on quickly," Jones said.
Currently, only an interim policy
is in place, Jones said. Anyone liv-
ing in a residence hall is allowed to
knock on doors within that hall to
campaign for candidates or discuss
any other political issues. Jones
said this policy placed limitations
on political activities within the
residence halls during this past
November's elections since stu-
dents who don't live in a residence
hall aren't allowed to canvass in the
building.
This interim policy will expire
at the end of the semester, at
which point the residence halls
will return to the previous policy
which only allows members of the
Michigan Student Assembly or
Voice Your Vote, an MSA commis-
sion that advocates for students to
vote, to canvass in the residence
halls, Jones said. She added that the
College Democrats and the ACLU
respect other people andto think
about ourselves second and oth-
ers first," Matsushima said.
Matsushima said he has seen
this awareness of helping others
extend across Twitter feeds, with
his friends re-tweeting basic first
aid and emergency information.
In Kyoto, people of all ages
are bucketing to raise money for
those affected by the disaster,
Resnick said. She said she the
city has seen an influx of people
seekingrefuge from the radiation
and lack of food in the northeast.
These refugees are almost indis-
tinguishable from Kyoto citizens,
Resnick said.
"Sometimes it's hard to tell
them apart from ordinary people
because they don't look any dif-
ferent," she said. "They act the
same; it's just that they're here
because they feel that here's a bit
safer."
But even as students in Japan
help garner funds for the victims,
Hayashi said he and his friends
don't truly know how to help the
victims of the disaster.
"There's a lot of sense of hope-
lessness among the younger
generation because they want to
help but don't know what to do,"
Hayashi said.
He added that he believes
because the older generation
lived through the destruction of
World War II, they're able to help
younger people cope with this
disaster.
With her program canceled
and her return to Michigan on
Wednesday, Resnick said she
and others in her program wish
they could stay to help with relief
efforts. She said she still feels
safe in Kyoto, and this is an unex-
pected end to her program.
"I think we're all kind of feel-
ing shocked and wondering why
(the program is canceled)," she
said.
Resnick was part of the Kyoto
Consortium for Japanese Stud-
ies headed by Columbia Univer-
sity. However, the University
also canceled its undergraduate
study abroad program in Japan
for the semester since the U.S.
State Department issued a travel
warning to the country. The Uni-
versity has a policy not to host
international study programs
in nations that have U.S. State
Department travelwarnings.
The 10 University undergradu-
believe that a representative from
any registered student organization
should be able to campaign in the
residence halls.
"We really thought it was impor-
tant that we set upa working group
to get the ball rolling on putting
into place a better permanent poli-
cy," Jones said.
The resolution passed last week
doesn't propose a new policy, but it
does establish a working group to
discuss the situation and potential
policies, Jones said. She added that
it's important to get this dialogue
started since people were unsure
of the canvassing rules in the 2008
and 2010 elections.
Business sophomore Trevor
Grieb, president of RHA, wrote in
an e-mail interview that the asso-
ciation supports the working group
so that a permanent policy can
eventually be adopted. He added
that RHA doesn't support one pol-
icy over another.
"Some representatives wanted
no political activity in the dorms,
others welcomed as much politi-
cal activity as possible, as long as
security was still strictly managed
within the halls," Grieb wrote.
Jones said the University has
been willing to engage in discussion
about potential policies, adding
atesbstudying in Japan are com-
ing back to the United States and
will be able to enroll in classes in
Ann Arbor, according to Fitzger-
ald. The six University graduate
students who are also in Japan
this semester will decide inde-
pendently whether to stay in
Japan or return to the United
States, he said.
Resnick said the prevailing
feeling in Kyoto is that the coun-
try will recover from the devas-
tation.
"I think that now the main
feeling is a sense of we can
rebuild and there is hope," she
said.
Here in Ann Arbor, Hayashi
said the Japan Student Associa-
tion - of which he is internal vice
president and Matsushima is a
member - painted the rock with
the phrase "Pray for Japan" on
Friday and is making wristbands
and T-shirts to fundraise money
for the Red Cross in Japan. The
group is also fundraising by mak-
ing origami cranes and area busi-
nesses have agreed to give money
to the group for every 1,000
cranes they create.
But even with these efforts and
his own donations, Hayashi said
he wishes he could do more. He
added that he felt strange on St.
Patrick's Day amid the celebra-
tions in Ann Arbor while people
in Japan were suffering.
Though Matsushima's mid-
term studying was affected by
constantly monitoring the situa-
tion, he said he and many of his
friends who are studying abroad
at other universities outside
Japan feel guilty about going
about their daily lives. But he said
he hopes to take the education
and skills he learns here to help
Japan when he returns in May.
"We kind of feel guilt about
us being happy and having fun,
leading ordinary lives, doing
homework, while our friends
in Japan are migrating to the
West and going to supermarkets
in search of food and trying to
donate whatever they can to the
East," Matsushima said. "We
think we kind of have to live on
and try to get whatever we (can)
from the life we're having here
because we're going back in the
future."
- The Associated Press
contributed to this report.
that ACLU decided to collaborate
with RHA to give University Hous-
ingstudent feedback.
"They really wanted input from
RHA since that is the organization
that represents students living in
the residence halls," she said.
University Housing spokesman
Peter Logan wrote in an e-mail
interview that the residence halls
are seen as the private homes of
students living in them.
"University Housing has not
allowed open access to the halls for
door-to-door canvassing because
it would compromise the privacy
and security of the residents - not
unlike someone enteringyour home
and knocking on your bedroom
door to advocate a candidate, an
organization or a cause," he wrote.
University Housing isn't push-
ing for a particular policy in the
working group and will continue
an ongoing discussion on the topic
since student opinions are valued
in the creation of Housing policies,
Logan wrote.
"We want to know what the
RHA, as representatives of our
resident students, feel is useful and
appropriate for the housing com-
munities and their residents, as
well as what would be practical for
Housingstaffto manage," he wrote.
Holocaust survivors share
their stories with students
More than 40
survivors, 250
attendees gather at
Hillel luncheon
By KIMBERLY PAGEAU
Daily StaffReporter
Zygie Allweiss was only 12
years old when the Holocaust
began, but he vividly remembers
breaking stones everyday at a
labor camp in Poland and seeing
his uncle and two aunts shot in
the back of their heads by Ger-
man soldiers.
Allweiss was one of more
than 40 Holocaust survivors,
who came to tell their personal
accounts at the 4th annual Con-
ference on the Holocaust at the
University of Michigan Hillel
yesterday.
Organized by the Children of
the Holocaust Survivors Asso-
ciation of Michigan and the
University's Hillel, the confer-
ence had 250 guests, who were
assigned to sit at tables where
the survivors individually
shared their experiences during
World War II. After the confer-
ence, students were asked to sign
a pledge to tell the survivor's
story in 2045 - the 100th anni-
versary of the liberation of the
Auschwitz concentration camp.
LSA junior Haley Volk, a
co-chair of the event, said she
decided to get involved with
Holocaust commemoration
because her grandparents were
survivors. In high school, she
worked with her grandmother
to record and her grandparents'
experiences.
"When my grandfather
passed away, we realized that
nobody had ever recorded his
story," she said.
Volk said she thinks it's
important for students to hear
the stories firsthand from a sur-
vivor instead of simply learning
the facts about the Holocaust.
"It's one thing to read it in a
textbook, but it's another thing
to hear it firsthand and to hear
it from the person who actu-
ally experienced it," Volk said.
"While we have the opportu-
nity, while the survivors are still
alive, we should definitely take
advantage of that."
Another survivor who spoke
to a table of students at yester-
day's event, Gerry Kraus, was 6
years old when the war began.
Born in Berlin, Kraus spent
the duration of the war hiding
from Nazis. Initially, he stayed
with relatives living near Berlin
but had to leave after a Nazi SS
officer moved in with them. He
spent the remainder of the war
living in various bombed out
buildings, he told the group.
"By my wits and some good
fortune I managed to survive
living in and around Berlin," he
said.
He said even after the con-
clusion of the war, he struggled
with reliving the past and had
difficulty moving on.
"I have been torn between
wanting to go on with life and
leaving the past behind me and
feeling an obligation to those
that survived," he told the table
of attendees.
Mark Webber told the stu-
dentsat his table the story of how
he escaped to Russia to avoid the
war. He recounted dealing with
the remnants of anti-Semitism
in Poland, which led to the mur-
der of his parents a year after the
close of WWII.
LSA freshman Natasha Nanus
said the survivor she spoke with
emphasized the importance of
valuing your life and others'
lives.
"Our survivor stressed that
we are all individuals and that
we have to take our lives into
our own hands," Nanus said.
"We have to make a promise to
ourselves not to hurt any other
human being."
POWWOW
From Page 1A
Pasfield, a senior member of
the powwow committee and a
member of the Bay Mills Tribe,
said in an interview before the
event that she enjoys the pow-
wow because of its ability to
bring people together.
"To see people from differ-
ent nations, different tribes and
different parts of the country
is the most special part ..." Pas-
field said. "No matter what's
going on at the campus or in
life, Native (American) stu-
dents at the University of Mich-
igan can be counted on toput on
this really incredible powwow
for the community, bringing
people together under a com-
mon cause."
At the event, dancers moved
in circles formed around
drums Pasfield compared to
"the size of a standard dining
room table." She said every
movement made during the
course of the powwow, includ-
ing the dancers' circular
motions, is symbolic and rep-
resentative of a larger cultural
theme. The dancer's circular
motions represent the circle
of life, a thematic element in
Native American culture,
Pasfield said. Even the direc-
tion from which the dancers
entered the circular arena, the
east, is derived from the direc-
tion in which the sun rises
every morning.
Yvonne Moore, a longtime
powwow attendee, said the
drummers live a life free of
alcohol, drugs and adultery
because when they play their
drums, they pay homage to
the Earth and to their cul-
tural roots.
Aside from the artistic
displays, two issues arose
throughout the course of
the event - racism against
Native Americans today and
the tension that exists between
the University and NASA.
Representatives from the
Michigan Coalition Against
Racism in Sports and Media
had a table displaying various
Native American racial slurs
in common products and the
media today - like how sports
teams frequently use the name
"Redskins." The organization
sends memos to school boards
and regents of various universi-
ties, requesting that the derog-
atory slogans, mascots and
imagery be removed, according
to Todd Linder, a member of the
organization.
Though the University held
the event for many years at
Crisler Arena the powwow
moved to Saline Middle School
three years ago.
Rick Schott, a longtime
Mother Earth Powwow secu-
rity and event coordinator,
said one of the reasons for the
venue change was due to ten-
sions stemming from the Uni-
versity's policy of requiring
tribes to provide evidence of
ownership or affiliation with
the artifacts in the Univer-
sity's Exhibit Natural History
Museum in order for them to
be returned to the tribes. Fol-
lowing the Native American
Graves Protection and Repa-
triation Act, which was cre-
ated in 1990 and updated in
March 2010, institutions that
receive federal funding are
required to return Native
American artifacts to their
original owners.
Schott said the University's
process of requiring proof of
affiliation "upsets and saddens"
him because he thinks many
tribes cannot meet the Univer-
sity's requirement.
University spokesman Rick
Fitzgerald wrote in an e-mail
interview that the Univer-
sity has a "moratorium" on
any research with NAGPRA
remains and has contact-
ed tribes affiliated with the
objects still in the University's
possession to inform them of
their possible claims. While
waiting for a response from
tribes, Fitzgerald wrote that
the University will hold onto
the objects in a "ritually appro-
priate way."
LSA junior Alys Alley, who is
a member of the Pokagon Band
of Potawatomi Indians and a
senior member of the powwow
committee, wrote in an e-mail
interview that she would "like
to see more institutional sup-
port from the University for
Native (American) students,
especially when it comes to
recruitment and retention."
"We are at a critical time
where our incoming classes of
Native (American) students are
getting smaller and smaller,
and I hope that this problem
can gain more attention and
resources from the University,"
Alley wrote.
Despite the politics and
change in locations, Martin
said the powwow is stilla mem-
orable and enriching experi-
ence.
"It is one of the greatest days
of the year, and something
everyone should experience
in their life, whether Native
American or not," Martin said.
"After 39 years, it is just as spe-
cial now as it was on day one."
I
Please join us for a special presentation by
Drew Westen, PhD
Professor, Dept. of Psychology and Psychiatry, Emory University
Personality and Depression in College Students:
Opportunities for Early Intervention and Treatment
Tuesday, March 29, 3:00-4:00 pm
Rackham Auditorium, 915 E. Washington St.
No charge for attendance-Open to the public
Dr. Westen's major areas of research include
personality and personality disorders in
adolescents and adults, psychotherapy, and
political psychology. His book, The Political
Brain, has had a wide influence internationally.
This lecture is presented as part of the U-M Depression
on College Campuses Conference. No registration
is required to attend Dr. Westen's lecture.