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6 - The Michigan Daily - Orientation Edition 2006
Alleged hate crime alerts students
Regardless of the details of
alleged incident, campus leaders
say the event reflects a larger
climate problem on campus
.Sept. 26, 2005
By Rachel Kruer
Daily Staff Reporter
While the alleged felony of ethnic intimidation that
involved a University student urinating on two Asian
students continues to enrage student organizations on
campus, the suspects and their neighbors say the Ann
Arbor Police Department and the media have exag-
gerated the incident.
The AAPD reported that along with urinating on
an Asian man and woman passing by his apartment
on Sept. 15, the 20-year-old male suspect and his
roommate threw objects and screamed racial slurs at
the couple. University President Mary Sue Coleman
condemned the incident to the entire student body
last Thursday via e-mail after faculty members urged
the administration to take action.
But neighbors of the accused student are insisting
that no one was urinated on, no racial slurs were used
and no objects were thrown at the alleged victims.
"It seems that everyone - the police, the
administration and the student body - has
determined we are guilty without having heard
the facts. Now we have to prove our innocence
after being falsely accused of this event," the
20-year-old suspect said. Both of the accused
agreed to speak on the condition of anonymity
due to potential acts of violence that other stu-
dents might commit against them.
The Michigan Daily was unable to contact the
alleged victims, whose names have not been released
by AAPD. University administrators and other cam-
pus leaders were unwilling to share the information.
Stephanie Kao, a Business senior and co-chair
of the United Asian American Organizations, said
that whether the incident is true or not is beside
the point - it highlights the negative campus cli-
mate toward Asians students.
"A lot of us are angry about these racial slurs -
we're so focused on this issue of urination and beer.
It's beyond this issue at this point. This incident might
have been the catalyst, but we are trying to address
why these incidents are possible and what in this Uni-
versity climate makes it possible and acceptable for
racial harassment to happen,' Kao said.
She added that since the alleged crime was publi-
cized, UAAO has received numerous messages from
Asian students who said they were victims of racial
harassment on campus before.
The student suspected of urinating on the couple
said the night started off in typical fashion with only
him and his roommate hanging out on the balcony
playing beer pong. While an Asian couple walked by,
his roommate tossed a beer absentmindedly over the
side of the balcony.
The roommate insisted that it was a coincidence
that he threw the beer while the couple was walk-
ing by, but he said it was at least seven or eight feet
away from them.
Regardless of the outcome of the alleged felony,
many student organizations across campus are plan-
ning events to end racial prejudice on the campus.
The Michigan StudentAssembly has also prepared
a resolution that would allocate MSA funds and plan
events to educate students on hate crimes.
American Culture Prof. Amy Stillman was one
of several faculty members of the Asian Pacific-
Islander American Studies program that sent a
letter to University administrators on Thursday
urging them to take measures to stop racial harass-
ment on campus.
Although there have been efforts in past years
to educate administrators on (Asian Ameri-
can) community needs, it is widely perceived
that these efforts have been met repeatedly by
administrative indifference," Stillman said.
Campus
response
Asian student groups found APIA
Change, a group organized to devise
ways to improve the campus climate.
Following the alleged incident, APIA
Change began cataloguing incidents
of racial harassment toward Asian
and Pacific Islander Americans.
NAACP pushes for the Department
of Public Saftey to revise its crime alert
and event surveillance policies.
Expect Respect Campaign, a joint
project between students and adminis-
trators to centralize anti-hate resources.
President Mary Sue Coleman
condems the incident and calls for
clearer guidelines for complaints.
'U' launches bias and hate crime
hotline through Office of Institutional
Inequity, which also provides response
training.
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60
'U' suspends contracts
After the company misses charges of human rights violations. The company
deadlines for investigation, does not want the results of the investigation to be
,'s pedused against it in the suit.
the Uspurchasing In response to the University's decision, Coke
released a statement saying it is "exploring other
Jan. 5, 2006 ways that we might be able to conduct an addi-
By Jeremy Davidson tional credible, objective and impartial indepen-
and Karl Stampfl dent third-party assessment in Colombia without
Daily Staff Reporters incurring legal risks."
Coca-Cola spokeswoman Kari Bjorhus said the
After ten months of conflict, the University company is exploring several options for conduct-
decided Dec. 29 to suspend purchasing of Coca- ing an assessment, but she could not say whether it
Cola products following the company's failure to would be able to meet the Mar. 31 deadline.
meet a deadline set by the University's Dispute The DRB recommended in June that Coke
Review Board. adhere to a list of five deadlines spaced out over
The DRB, a committee in charge of review- the 2005-2006 academic year.
ing complaints against the Vendor Code of The Coalition to Cut the Contract with Coca-
Conduct, had asked Coke to choose an inde- Cola, a group of student organizations that has
pendent investigator to look into alleged led the effort to have the University cut its con-
human rights violations in Asia and South tracts with Coke, applauded the University's
America by Dec. 31. decision in a written statement last week.
In a letter dated Dec. 16, Coke said it would But the group said it is concerned that the Uni-
miss that deadline, due to what the company called versity still maintains Coke is acting in "good
"legal risks" stemming from a current Florida law- faith" despite allegations of environmental and
suit in which the company is defending itself from human rights violations.
Coke returns to campus
S'U' resumes purchasing after
company agrees to third party
audit, upsetting activists
Apr. 12, 2006
By Jeremy Davidson
Daily Staff Reporter
The University resumed purchasing Coca-
Cola products yesterday about four months after
it suspended its contracts with Coke because
the company wouldn't agree to an audit of its
alleged human rights violations.
Coke products will be back in vending
machines on campus within a few days.
The company has proposed two independent
investigations into its labor practices in India
and Colombia. The University accepted them,
drawing both ire and praise from students.
The University received a letter from Coca-
Cola on Monday that said the company is
working with two organizations to conduct inde-
pendent investigations, one to assess its practices
in Colombia and the other in India.
Since suspending purchasing of Coca-Cola
in December, the University has been working
with the company to find a mutually acceptable
third-party auditor.
The International Labor Organization, a branch
of the United Nations that upholds internation-
ally recognized human and labor rights, agreed on
Mar.24 to conduct an independent investigation of
the company in Colombia.
"We are committed to full cooperation,"
Donald Knauss, president of Coca-Cola North
America, wrote in a letter to the University.
The details oftheinvestigation have not been final-
ized, but will be determined in the next few weeks.
The decision to bring Coke back to campus has
outraged members of the Coalition to Cut Contracts
with Coca-Cola, a network of student groups.
"Coca-Cola has done nothing to comply with the
University's lauded code of conduct and has made no
effort to rectify any of the allegations against it. I have
lostallfaithinthisUniversity,"saidRCjuniorJuliaRis,
a former member of the Dispute Review Board, the
board responsible for advising the University's Chief
Financial Officer Timothy Slottow on alleged viola-
tions of the University's Vendor Code of Conduct.
I I I I
Need 1informa tion?
Veah, we've got that.
Campus Information Centers
Michigan Union
Pierpont Commons
764-INFO
www.umich.edu/info
Introductory Environment Courses
for first-year students
Environ 110:11Introduction to Global Change 1 (NS)(BS)
Environ 139: Environment, Sustainability and Social Change (FYS)
Environ 201: Ecological Issues (NS)(8S)
Environ 270: Our Common Future (Exci.)
PROGRAM IN THE
ENVIRONMENT
http://environment.Isa.umich.edu/environ/
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