2 - Tuesday, February 26, 2013
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
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AALL TIED UP
Bringing Uganda to Ann Arbor
Robert Wyrod is an assistant
professor in the Women's Studies
Department and has focused his
academic career in sociological
research on gender and sexuality
in the developing world, specifical-
ly Uganda. He graduated from the
University in 1989 with a degree in
cellular and molecular biology and
received his doctorate in sociology
from the University of Chicago in
2007.
What classes are you teach-
ing this semester?
I teach a large lecture course
on the global AIDS epidemic, and
I teach just a really small seminar
for juniors who are going to do an
honors thesis their senior year. the students in my AIDS class.
If you could teach any class
at the University, what class
would you teach?
I have to say that I really like
the global AIDS epidemic course
I'm teaching right now. It's nice
because it builds on my research
experience, but it also draws on
my undergraduate education in
the sciences. It gives me a chance
to bring together science issues,
social science issues and stuff
surrounding arts and culture. It's
a pretty neat class, and it's really
challenging because you don't
feel like you're an expert in any-
thing. I've been really happy with
Can you tell me a little bit
about your research?
I'm a sociologist. I do eth-
nographic or anthropological
research in Uganda. I've spent
about a year and a half doing
fieldwork in one slum community
in the capital, Kampala, and I've
been looking at how conceptions
of masculinity in this community
are changing in relation to the
AIDS epidemic, so whether or not
the AIDS epidemic has made peo-
ple think any differently about
what it means to be a man in this
African context.
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NATASH AJANARDAN/Daily
Art & Design freshman Sophie Kelly constructs a
cardboard shelving unit using only zip ties to connect
the pieces at the School of Art & Design Monday.
CRIME NOTES
Drug theft
WHERE: University
Hospital
WHEN: Sunday at about
4:35 p.m.
WHAT: A patient attempt-
ed to steal medicine from a
drug box in the Emergency
Department, University
Police reported. He was
caughtbefore he could
sucessfully steal the drugs.
CAMPUS EVENTS & NOTES
Pin the tale Tea time
if EIif
)OA
New words
WHERE: Modern
Languages Building
WHEN: Sunday at about
9 a.m.
WHAT: Graffiti done in
spray paint was found on
the outside wall of the
building, UniversityPolice
reported. The time frame
of the incident is unknown
and there are no suspects.
WHAT: As part of the
Week of Pinspiration, stu-
dents are invited to pin
inspiring quotes and pic-
tures to bulletin boards. The
goal is to motivate others.
WHO: Center for Campus
Involement
WHEN: Today from 8 a.m.
to 11 p.m.
WHERE: Michigan Union
Stolen identity Watch yourself Depression
WHERE: University WHERE: 300 Block of East
Hospital Hoover Street con erence
WHAT: Students are
invited to come and sample
teas from across the globe.
Information about the teas
such as health benefits and
history will be discussed.
WHO: Center for Campus
Involement
WHEN: Today from 4 p.m.
to 6 p.m.
WHERE: Michigan Union,
Pendelton Room
Muggin' it
WHAT: Students can
decorate their own mugs
and learn about easy
dessert recipes that can
be made in the mug for
the Week of Pinspiration.
Demonstrations of recipes
will be provided, and
attendees will get to sample
the desserts.
WHO: Center for Campus
Involvement
WHEN: Today at 6 p.m.
WHERE: Michigan Union,
U-Club room
Horsemeat was found in
IKEA meatballs made in
Sweden, BBC reported.
The meatballs have been
recalled from several Euro-
pean countries where traces
of the meat were found. The
first tainted meatballs were
found in the Czech Republic.
The Syrian civil war
has claimed 70,000
lives according to
recent estimates. What
should Americans do?
>> FOR MORE, SEE OPINION, PAGE 4
Iceland is attempting to
ban all porn, the Asso-
ciated Press reported.
the Icelandic government
said the movement is to pro-
tect children from seeing not
only graphic sexual images,
but also intense sexual imag-
es of extreme violence.
EDITORIAL STAFF
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a
0
0
WHEN: Sunday at about
5:50 p.m.
WHAT: A patient's check
and ID were reported stolen
sometime between Feb.
17 and Feb. 24, University
Police reported. The crime
was reported by her son.
Another family member is a
possible suspect.
WHEN: Sunday at about
3:20 p.m.
WHAT: Two vehicles
were involved in a traffic
accident, University Police
reported. There were no
injuries to the drivers
involved and damage to
the vehicles is currently
unknown.
WHAT: The 11th Annual
Depression on College
Campuses Conference will
be held. New research find-
ings, programs and coping
mechanisms that are not
destructive to students will
be the main topics
of discussion.
WHO: Depression Center
WHEN: Today from 1 p.m.
to 6:30p.m.
WHERE: Rackham
Graduate School
MORE ONLINE Love Crime Notes?
Get moreonline at michigandaily.com/blogs/The Wire
British cardinal will skip
upcoming papal conclave
Syria gov't says it's prepared to
hold talks with opposition
Britain's highest-
ranking Catholic
leader recuses himself
VATICAN CITY (AP) - In a
season of startling change for
the Catholic Church, the lat-
est break with tradition was as
unexpected as it was a wake-
up call to the 115 men who will
elect the next pope.
Britain's highest-ranking
Catholic leader resigned and
removed himself Monday from
the upcoming conclave, saying
he did not want allegations that
he engaged in improper conduct
with priests to be a distraction
during the solemn process of
choosing the next leader of the
church's 1.2 billion-member
flock.
It was the first time a cardi-
nal has recused himself from a
conclave because of personal
scandal, according to Vatican
historians.
The Vatican insisted that
Pope Benedict XVI accepted
Cardinal Keith O'Brien's resig-
nation purely because O'Brien
was nearing the retirement age
of 75 - not because of the accu-
sations.
But O'Brien himself issued
a statement Monday saying he
would skip the conclave because
he wanted to avoid becoming
the focus of media attention at
such a delicate time.
"I do not wish media atten-
IOt I MI4Nk t l 1th I R IA5IM I H M I LAMLUIU' tion in Rome to be focused on
me - but rather on Pope Bene-
BEST ORE? dict XVI and on his successor,"
BES 'UB? said O'Brien, who had been
archbishop of St. Andrews and
iEST .. i BAR Edinburgh. "However, I will
pray with them and for them
kEST ORE- that, enlightened by the Holy
lEST ' /"4BESi Spirit, they will make the cor-
rect choice for the future good
IZZA ~ BESi of the church."
Through his spokesman,
AIR AST? O'Brien has contested allega-
~ lions made Sunday in a British
newspaper that three priests
.1i FS A t omionts tod e ain alleg-sh
and a former priest had filed
complaints to the Vatican alleg-
ing that the cardinal acted inap-
propriately with them.
There were no details about
the behavior, and the Observer
8 9 newspaper did not name the
priests. It said the allegations
71date back to the 1980s.
The cardinal's action comes
in the wake of a grassroots
campaign to shame another
cardinal, retired Los Angeles
Cardinal Roger Mahony, into
refraining from participating
1 3 7 2 9 because of his role protecting
sexually abusive priests.
Mahony, however, has defi-
5 2 4 antly said he would participate
in the voting for the new pope.
4 7 3 1 6 The difference boils down
to the fact that O'Brien him-
self was accused of improper
behavior, whereas Mahony was
shown to have covered up for
8 other priests who raped and
molested children.
'SThat distinction has long
shielded bishops from Vatican
sanction.
Armed rebel groups
halt boycott on Rome
political conference
BEIRUT (AP) - Syria said
Monday it is prepared to hold
talks with armed rebels bent on
overthrowing President Bashar
Assad, the clearest signal yet that
the regime is growing increas-
ingly nervous about its long-term
prospects to hold onto power as
opposition fighters make slow but
persistent headway in the civil
war.
Meanwhile, the umbrella
group for Syrian opposition par-
ties said it had reversed a deci-
sion to boycott a conference in
Rome being held to help drum up
financial and political support for
the opposition. Walid al-Bunni, a
spokesman for the Syrian Nation-
al Coalition, said the move came
after a phone call between the
group's leader, Mouaz al-Khatib,
and U.S. Secretary of State John
Kerry.
Al-Bunni told pan-Arab broad-
caster Al-Arabiya the decision
was made based on guarantees
al-Khatib heard from Western
diplomats that the conference
would be different this time. He
did not elaborate. The boycott
had put the group at odds with its
international backers.
The Syrian talks offer, made
by Foreign Minister Walid al-
Moallem during a visit to Mos-
cow, came hours before residents
of Damascus and state-run TV
reported a huge explosion and a
series of smaller blasts in the cap-
ital, followed by heavy gunfire.
State-run news agency SANA
said there were multiple casual-
ties from the explosion, which it
said was a suicide car bombing.
Britain-based activist group the
Syrian Observatory for Human
Rights said the explosions tar-
geted a checkpoint, adding there
were initial reports of at least five
regime forces killed and several
wounded.
The talks proposal marked
the first time that a high-ranking
regime official has stated publicly
that Damascus would be willing
to meet with the armed opposi-
tion. But al-Moallem did not spell
out whether rebels would first
have to lay down their weapons
before negotiations could begin- a
crucial sticking point in the past.
The regime's offer is unlikely
to lead to talks. The rebels bat-
tling the Syrian military have
vowedto stop atnothingless than
Assad's downfall and are unlikely
to agree to sit down with a leader
they accuse of mass atrocities.
But the timing of the proposal
suggests the regime is warm-
ing to the idea of a settlement as
it struggles to hold territory and
claw back ground it has lost to
the rebels in the nearly 2-year-
old conflict.
Opposition fighters have
scored several tactical victories
in recent weeks, capturing the
nation's largest hydroelectric
dam and overtaking air bases
in the northeast. In Damascus,
they have advanced from their
strongholds in the suburbs into
neighborhoods in the northeast
and southern rim of the capital,
while peppering the center of the
city with mortar rounds for days.
Monday night's explosion
struck about 800 meters (yards)
from Abbasid Square, alandmark
plaza in central Damascus. It was
followed by several other smaller
blasts thought to be mortar shells
landing in various districts of
the capital. The explosions and
subsequent gunfire caused panic
among residents who hid in their
apartments.
On Thursday, a car bomb near
the ruling Baath Party headquar-
ters in Damascus killed at least 53
people, according to state media.
While the momentum appears
to be shifting in the rebels' direc-
tion, the regime's grip on Damas-
cus remains firm, and Assad's fall
is far from imminent.
Still, Monday's offer to nego-
tiate with the armed opposition
- those whom Assad referred to
only in January as "murderous
criminals" and refused to talk
with - reflects the regime's real-
ization that in the long run, its
chances of keeping its grip on
power are slim.
Asked about al-Moallem's
remarks, U.S. State Department
spokesman Patrick Ventrell said
the offer of talks was a positive
step "in the context of them rain-
ing Scuds down on their own
civilians." But he expressed cau-
tion about the seriousness of the
offer.
"I don't know their motiva-
tions, other than to say they
continue to rain down horrific
attacks on their own people,"
Ventrell told reporters in Wash-
ington. "So that speaks pretty
loudly and clearly."
If the Assad regime is serious,
he said, it should inform the U.N.
peace envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi of
its readiness for talks. Ventrell
said the regime hasn't done that
yet.
Andrew Tabler, a fellow at the
Washington Institute for Near
East Policy, called the offer "a
sign of weakness."
"I think everybody knows,
including Bashar Assad, that they
(the regime) can't hang onto the
whole country," Tabler said.
Mustafa Alani, an analyst
with the Gulf Research Center
in Geneva, said the regime has
"reached the conclusion that
they are heading toward a major
defeat eventually, and this is the
right time to negotiate."
"They are not losing miles
every day, but they are losing
substantial ground every day. So
the regime is not genuine (in its
offer) because it has changed, it's
genuine because it is responding
to a major shift in the balance of
power on the ground," he added.
Alani cautioned, however, that
the regime is also eager to keep
the idea of talks alive in order to
forestall any Western decision
on arming the rebels. As long as
the possibility of negotiations is
still on the table, the U.S. and the
European Union - which have so
far provided only non-lethal aid -
will be reluctant to open the flood
gates on weapons for the opposi-
tion, he said.
4
H'