Poetry Center to hold Awards reading this Wednesday
Arizona Daily Wildcat

The University of Arizona's Poetry Center will hold its Annual Contest Awards reading Wednesday at 8 p.m. in the Modern Languages auditorium.

The Academy of American Poets and the Poetry Center sponsor the annual contest. To be eligible for entry, a person must be a full-time UA student in the spring semester.

Sherwin Bitsui and Alison Hoffman, winners of the Academy of American Poets Prize, will be featured reader; along with Matt Rotando and Adam Chiles, winners of The Margaret Sterling Memorial Award, and Grant Simpson, winner of the Poetry Center Prize.

Also featured will be professional musician and composer Guillermo Saenz as he assists the readings of corridos (ballads) from winners of the Bilingual High School Corrido Contest.

The reading is free to the public with an informal reception following shortly afterward.

Marilyn Manson shock rocker

Marilyn Manson hit with wrongful death lawsuit
Associated Press

Shock rocker Marilyn Manson defended himself against claims that he was responsible for the death of a woman after a party at his mansion last year.

Jennifer Syme, 29, died on April 1, 2001 when she was flung from her Jeep Cherokee after hitting at least three parked cars.

"After Jennifer was sent home safely with a designated driver, she later got behind the wheel of her own car for reasons known only to her," Manson said in a statement issued through his Posthuman Records Management label.

A wrongful death suit filed Tuesday in Superior Court by Syme's mother claims Manson was negligent in "instructing the woman to operate a motor vehicle in her incapacitated condition."

Maria St. John is seeking unspecified damages and attorney fees.

The lawsuit alleges that Manson, whose real name is Brian Warner, gave Syme drugs before she was dropped off at her home. She got into her car, with the intent of returning to Manson's home, according to the lawsuit.

Art stirs a controversy at San Jose State U.
U-Wire

A proposed art piece for the Martin Luther King Jr. Joint Library at San Jose State University has segmented the Chicano/Latino community, dividing the culture.

The piece in question, "low-rider tables" by artist Mel Chin, would be placed on the fourth floor of the library.

"Three low-to-the-ground reading tables with customized chairs will be painted in airbrush metallic colors, to commemorate the low-rider-car culture of Latino youth in California," the design proposal stated.

A mock-up poster is also shown, illustrating a woman in shorts, and a sleeveless, midriff-baring top. The woman is leaning over a low-rider table, in place of a low-rider vehicle in the illustration.

According to the proposal, a local low-rider-car customizing shop, selected from a community competition, will paint the artwork.