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Ninety-six years of editorial freedom
Vol. XCVI - No. 14
Copyright 1985, The Michigan Doily
Ann Arbor, Michigan - Tuesday, September 24, 1985
Eight Pages
48
protesters arrested at sit-in
23 students, 1
prof
among those jailed
B 1'RAC 4 E G TT LIEB i
r
ny mun u1Ll
Special to the Daily.
PITTSFIELD TWP. - Forty-eight
demnstrat0rs, includinL at least 23
U11i> dUb, HUU g d V4b4
University students and one
professor, were arrested yesterday
during a sit-in protesting U.S. aid to
Central America in Congressman
Carl Pursell's Ann Arbor office.
The arrests came about six hours
For more coverage of the sit-in, see
page 6.1
after the protest, which attracted
about 100 chanting demonstrators,
began.
THE AFTERNOON'S events
followed in this order:
*4:55 p.m. - Two Pittsfield Town-
ship Police officers arrive at the
scene, read protesters the tresspass
act which states that they'll be
trespassing if they don't leave by 5
p.m. Police say they'll return to the
scene at 5:05 p.m.;
"5:15 p.m. - Police return to the
scene of the demonstration and tell
protesters that they will be arrested if
they don't leave the office;
"5:20 p.m. - Protesters, some
carried out of the office by police and
others walking out, are arrested and
loaded into a Washtenaw County
Sheriff bus and taken-to the Pittsfield
Township Police station;
"7:30 p.m. - All of the protesters
are released on their own recognizan-
ce. They will face a $50 fine and/or up
to 30 days in jail if charges are
pressed.
Pursell never arrived at the protest.
Ron Dankert,. owner of the building
which houses Pursell's office, called
the police.
"PROTESTING IS the only way
we'll stop our government from con-
tributing to the atrocities in Central
America," said Mark Weisbrot, an
economics teaching assistant one of
the protesters arrested. .
Yesterday's protest, was organized
by members of the Latin American
Solidarity Committee, the Humanity
Assistance Project for Independent
Agricultural Development in
Nicaragua, World Hunger Education
Action Committee, Society for a Sane
Nuclear Policy, and several church
groups.
THE PROTESTERS oppose the
Reagan administration's request for
$483 million to be appropriated to a
Foreign Assistance bill. The bill is ex-
pected to be voted on in congress next
week.
Pursell's District Coordinator Cyn-
thia Hudgins said that she doesn't
know for sure how the congressman
will vote on the bill. But she added
that judging by the way he has voted
in the past, it's safe to assume that he
will support the measure.
"Pursell has voted to support this
terror in spite of an overwhelming
majority of letters and phone calls
from his constituents opposing his
position on these issues. He has heard
from his constituents, but he, is not
listening. We therefore have no other
recourse than to protest," Weisbrot
said.
AND THAT is just what the students
and city residents did. They sang
peace songs:
"I'm going to lay down my war
books,
Down by the riverside,
Down by the riverside,
Down by the riverside,
I'm going to lay down my war
books,
See PROTESTERS, Page 2
Dail1y
photog
arrested
at p-rotest
By THOMAS MILLER.
Among the 48 people arrested
yesterday for trespassing at
Congressman Carl Pursell's (R-2nd
district) office was The Michigan
Daily chief photographer Dan Habib.
Habib, who was taking pictures of
the protest for the Daily, said he was
the first person arrested when the
See DAILY, Page 6
Daily Photo by DAN HABIB
Gaia Kile of Ann Arbor is carried onto a police van after protesting at Congressman Carl Pursell's office in
Pittsfield Township. Demonstrators protested Purcell's voting record on aid to the Contras.
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,.Students
welcome
signs of
autumn
By JENNIFER SMITH
The sight of t-shirt and short-clad students basking in
yesterday's warm sun might suggest summer is here to
stay, but less conspicuous glimpses of crimson leaves and
scurrying squirrels hint that autumn isn't far away.
In fact, fall officially began Sunday. Usually, tem-
peratures this time of year are about 10 degrees lower
than Friday's recorded high of 80, according to the
National Weather Service in Detroit.
FORECASTER Bob Snyder said he expects the current
warm temperatures to last a couple more days.
But for students who have alternately battled humid,
hot heat and rainy, chilly weather, the arrival of autumn
promises a refreshing change. Some are already enjoying
fall activities.
At Wagner Cider Mill along the Huron River in Dexter,
for example, Katherine Wagner reports that students and
canoers are flocking to the mill for freshly squeezed cider
and sugared donuts.
"IT JUST STARTED picking up last weekend," she said
recently. "It was sort of cool and we were really busy."
An occasional bike trip to the mill is a fall tradition for
Ellen Ramsberg and Carol Hoffer, both housewives in
Ann Arbor. The two women made their first journey
recently.
"The ride along the (Huron River) Drive is especially
beautiful when the leaves change," said Ramsberg, an-
ticipating the next few weeks as she purchased a half
gallon of cider and a bag of donuts.
University researcher Stuart Cohen, said his recent
visit to the Wagner mill, evoked childhood memories of
raking crisp, colorful leaves into big piles and then jum-
ping into them from an oaktree.
See LEAVES, Page 3
'Star tWars'
opposition grows
on
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Student lea..:'r:v::.................. : : rns rubbish. .. ... ..at.-'Cambridge" "" Y
By CARRIE LEVINE
When Sara Massarik decided to spend her
junior year at Cambridge University, she expec-
ted to find herself in a new academic environment
but she didn't think she'd face cultural differences
ranging from political views to garbage cans.
Like many of the 500 University students who at-
tend foreign colleges, Massarik, an LSA senior,
discovered that a year abroad means more than
studying in a strange land.
Pro file
directions to the sewer."
REALIZING later that the British use the term
"rubbish bin," the 20-year-old Dearfield, Illinois
native entered another store and told the clerk she
wanted a "rubbish bin." She left the store with a
garbage can.
"At the very beginning," she says, looking back
on that and other experiences, "I was always very
aware of being an American. There's no way you
can not feel different when every time you open
your mouth, it's so obvious that you are different.
"I don't mean just the accent either."
INDEED, A few days later, she started her
coursework at New Hall College, a school within
Cambridge University, not by walking in to a 100-
person lecture and picking up a syllabus, but by
meeting alone with a counselor whose first words
were: "All right, now that you've chosen to study
English literature, what would you like to read
first?"
Massarik stood agape. Not only did she have to
set her own reading lists, she wasn't required to
attend a large lecture or a discussion section. In-
stead she would meet independently on a weekly
basis with three professors who were experts in
the particular literary subjects she selected to
study. And rather than regular papers and mid-
terms she would be responsible only for three
standardized exams and a. single dissertation
which she completed last spring.
But Massarik adjusted to those unusual
academic standards, just as she slowly conquered
the cultural barriers that often left her on the out-
side of British jokes and the object of anti-
Americanism.
BY LEARNING British slang and tossing aside
her Levis and sweaters for more trendy clothing
which she continues to wear back here, Massarik
was able to fit into the Cambridge student crowd at
parties. But she found that it wasn't as easy to turn
casual acquaintances into lasting friends, largely
because she said the British keep to themselves
more than Americans. Although she grew close to
a few British students, Massarik said many of her
friends were other foreign students - from
Canada, Ireland, Scotland, and South Africa.
During breaks between school terms, Massarik
traveled with those friends across the European
continent, carrying her backpack on her shoulder,
using the train for transportation, and sleeping in
youth hostels and inexpensive hotels.
"You learn your own self-sufficiency," she said
of the traveliing. "I travelled all over Europe both
with friends and by myself. It's really the most
freeing experience you could ever have."
HER EXPERIENCE isn't unique, according to
See STUDENT, Page 3
By JERRY MARKON
Opposition to President Reagan's
"Star Wars" defense initiative has
grown on campus in recent weeks
along with a nationwide effort to
boycott University research on the
controversial weapon system.
Petitions disavowing support for
Star Wars research here are curren-
tly circulating in the physics and
.mathematics departments, and in the
College of Engineering. The petitions
have garnered over 30 signatures
from faculty members.
IN ADDITION, a similar petition
written by members of Campuses
Against Weapons In Space (CAWS) -
a recently-formed student-faculty
coalition - has produced "between
500-600" signatures from the Ann Ar-
bor community, according to Jane
Curschmann, a member of CAWS.
Nationally, anti-Star Wars petitions
are circulating on at least 37 cam-
puses. The petitions ask physicists,
chemists and engineers not to apply
for any of the 2.7 billion dollars
Congress has tentatively set aside
next year for Star Wars research.
The University has already
received federal funding for two
proposals to research Star Wars
technology, and has submitted four
other proposals which are still being
evaluated by the Strategic Defense
Initiative Organization in Washington.
rzmpus
LAST FRIDAY, the University's
Board of Regents passed a resolution
supporting professors who attempt to
secure "Star Wars" funds. The
resolution triggered a protest in the
regents room by students opposed to
University support of the project.
Physics Prof. Michael Bretz, who
started circulating the petition in his
department nearly two weeks ago,
said he is happy with the progress of
the signature-gathering effort thus
far. But he said it was "premature" to
judge the petition's ultimate impact
on "Star Wars" research.
Other professors who support the
petitions say they doubt the "Star
Wars" system's technological
feasibility, oppose its high price tag,
and fear its effects on the arms race.
MATHEMATICS Prof. Arthur Sch-
wartz, who has solicited 10 signatures
within the department, said that
"technically, it's very questionable
whether the Star Wars system is
feasible."
His specific doubts, he said, include
whether the massive computer
system planned for the project will be
able to function properly, and whether
"the lasers will be able to hit the
targets they're aimed at."
"It's very hard to do non-military
research because the research funds
are being monopolized by military
research," Schwarts said. "The
See OPPOSITION, Page 2
BUT IT WAS the unique curriculum, along with
the constant reminders that she was a
"foreigner," that strengthened Massarik's sense
of independence and self-sufficiency.
It all began even before she started classes.
Shortly after moving into a dormitory room at
Cambridge, the tall, dark-haired woman went
shopping for a trash can. Without giving the mat-
ter a second thought, she asked a sales clerk for a
"garbage."
"Well, the man looked at me like I was crazy,"
4 said Massarik. "I think he thought I was asking
TODAY
not pay the bill because Blanksten was dead. Every
month since February, the political science professor
sent Medicare the required forms protesting the
declaration of death. He said he also visited the Social
Security office near his home twice. But it didn't do any
big eyes and ears that jumped around a lot. They had
never before seen kangaroos. Several boxing mar-
supials wandered off from a circus in Czechoslovakia
and scared villagers in Fuzerkomlos, a town near the
Czechoslovakian border, the Vasarnapai Hirek
newspaper reported. "I saw a great beast with big eyes
INSIDE
DOD: Opinion looks at current
research projects. See Page 4.
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