t idImulat Ninety-seven years of editorial freedom VOLUME XCVII - NO. 84 ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN - WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28, 1987 COPYRIGHT 1987 THE MICHIGAN DAILY Presi ent regrets Green thumbs Ann Arbor residents Betty Nix (left) and Hilda Manna glue and strap plants from all over the world onto sheets of paper at the University Her- barium. "We're quite a team," Nix said of the duo, which has worked Daily photo by SCOTT LITUCHY together for 12 years. The herbarium is one of the top ten largest in the nation, housing nearly 1.5 million preserved specimens. failed WASHINGTON (AP) - President Reagan said yesterday night that his failed effort to reach out to Iran and win the release of American hostages in Lebanon was his "one major regret" but he called on the nation not to be "obsessed with failure." With American military ships on the move in the Mediterranean Sea, Reagan, in his sixth annual State of the Union address, also vowed not to sit idly by "if our interests or friends in the Middle East are threatened ... by terrorist blackmail." He said it was not wrong to try to establish contact with a nation of strategic importance and "certainly it was not wrong to try tohsecure freedom for our citizens held in barbaric captivity. But we did not achieve what we wished, and serious mistakes were made in trying to do so." REAGAN SAID his adminis- tration had made progress on many fronts but "I have one major regret. "I took a risk with regard to our action in Iran. It did not work and for that I assume full re- sponsibility," Reagan said in his prepared text. While defending his initiative, Reagan did not offer any new revelations about the arms sale and later diversion of profits to Contra rebels in Nicaragua. WHILE PLEDGING to find out the facts and take any necessary action, Reagan said that "in debating the past, we must not deny ourselves successes of the future. Let it never be said of this generation of Americans that we became so obsessed. with failure that we refused to take risks that deal Reagan . speaks to nation Pro-Marcos revolt crushed MANILA, Philippines (AP) - Government troops and supporters of Ferdinand Marcos clashed outside a walled television station where mutinous soldiers held out yesterday after President Corazon Aquino announced she crushed their revolt. The coup attempt was the most serious effort by disgruntled soldiers to grab power since Mrs. Aquino became president in February. More than 160 rebel soldiers, about 50 pro- Marcos civilians and a few police held the complex housing Channel 7 and radio station DZBB. It was taken over in a pre-dawn coup attempt that included attacks on five military garrisons in which one rebel was killed and 16 were wounded. DEFENSE Minister Rafael Ileto said 271 conspirators had been arrested and at least 70 remained at large. Military chief Gen. Fidel Ramos said the mutineers were supporters of ex-president Marcos who wanted to destabilize the country before Monday's nationwide plebiscite on Mrs. Aquino's proposed constitution, which guar- antees her a six-year term. About 300 Marcos supporters gathered on EDSA boulevard late yesterday near the broadcast center, where they built bonfires, hurled stones at police and shouted, "We want Marcos, we want Marcos." TROOPS FIRED tear gas and smoke bombs at the crowd several times. The crowd fell back, only to regroup and continue taunting police and troops. Reporters saw at least six Marcos loyalists taken into custody. Marcos, who has lived in exile in Hawaii since he was deposed 11 months ago, said from his Honolulu home he wants to return to the Philippines "to try to stifle this bloodletting." He would not comment on allegations he was behind the coup attempt. His 94-year-old mother disappeared from her Manila hospital yesterday. Ramos said she had been taken to the Marcos family's home province, Ilocos Norte, indicating "a bigger scenario than just these attempted takeovers." He did not spell out the scenario but hinted broadly it involved the return of Marcos. BUT AIR FORCE Col. Oscar Canlas, the leader of rebels in the broadcast center, denied his group had links to Marcos. "We are fighting communism," he said in an interview with The Associated Press. could further the cause of peace and freedom in the world. "Much is at stake here and the nation and the world are watching to see if we go forward together in the national interest, or if we let partisanship weaken ,us," Reagan said. He added: "Let there be no mistake about American policy: we will not sit idly by if our interests or our friends in the Middle East are threatened, nor will we yield to terrorist blackmail." CONCLUDING HIS remarks on the subject, Reagan said, "Now, ladies and gentlemen of the Congress, why don't we get to work?" Democratic congressional leaders, responding to the president in their own televised remarks, said they were willing to cooperate with Reagan but that he must first answer questions about the sale of arms to Iran and whether he intended to swap arms for hostages. See REAGAN, Page 3 Anthro. professor tells of adventures Proposal threatens language loafers By WENDY SHARP He's not Indiana Jones, but he has travelled to a village unseen by any outsider and slept in a hut with rats and tarantulas. He is also one of the most popular anthropology professors at the University. In his classes, Conrad Kottak waves his hands and raises his voice as he tells about his experiences during trips, including a journey to Madagascar, a large island off the southeast coast of Africa. Kottak was the first anthropologist since 1927 to do a systematic study on the island. His 1965 field work on the Betsileo tribe concentrated on the evolution of various cultures on the island. During his 14-month visit, Kottak observed a tomb ceremony in which the natives worshipped their ancestors by taking bodies from their tombs, re-wrapping them in cloth, and then dancing with the bodies before putting them in a new tomb. When asked how the ceremony affected him, Kottak shrugged his shoulders and said it didn't faze him. While Kottak enjoys storytelling in the classroom, he is reserved during a private interview. He won't readily recall experiences - like the time he narrowly escaped death when his car almost went off a cliff in Madagascar because of slippery road conditions. Roy Rappaport, president of the American Anthropological Association and an anthropology professor at the University, has known Kottak since -he was a Pro file freshman at Columbia. "Despite the fact that he's quite witty, the feeling is that this is a very solid, responsible guy that doesn't do bizarre and outrageous sorts of things," he said. Kottak's interest in anthropology began "when my fourth grade teacher talked about tribes in the Amazon." The fascination never left him. During his freshman year in college, he pursued other interests, but See PROFESSOR, Page 2 By MARTIN FRANK The LSA Curriculum Com - mittee yesterday discussed a proposal to deny students credit if they get below a C minus in either a fourth semester language course or English 125. No action was taken. Currently, students can get credit for grades as low as a D minus. The proposal's proponents hope it would force students to take their classes more seriously. "If the University is dedicated toward excellence, then why are certain individuals allowed to slip through?" said Ann Vanek, cur - riculum committee member and LSA senior. Committee members decided they needed more information on issues, including the "cutoff' grade and people's opinions, before they could continue their discussion. Curriculum committee co- chairperson Jack Meiland said he does not expect any changes to be recommended for a few months, if at all. Any recommendation would then have to be sent to the LSA Executive Committee. The issue of the final semester's language requirement was brought up at the Jan. 12 LSA faculty meeting when at least two faculty members expressed concern that students were not applying them - selves in their last semester of language. T H E Y pointed out, as did required course in introductory com - position. At their January meeting, some said students who get a D in the course will not be prepared to take upper-level University classes. Vanek said more pressure should be put on teachers and students so they will not "blow-off' their final semester of language or English 125. At yesterday's meeting, com - mittee members also discussed a proposal by the LSA Committee on Counseling, who submitted three ideas to improve counseling. The ideas were: -to train counselors, so counseling would be more consistent; -to make counseling equal in status to teaching. The committee feels the two are inseparable, and -to coordinate the various types of counseling, in order to make the system more organized. INSIDE Daily Photo by DARRIAN SMITH Anthropologist Conrad Kottak, a University professor, has done exten- sive research on secluded tribes in Madagascar. Study abroad offers insights into other cultures Mike Fisch writes about the Forsyth civil rights march and what he learned about racism. OPINION, PAGE 4 The refurbished Michigan Theatre is. finally ready to be grandly opened. What's all the fuss about, anyhow? ARTS, PAGE 5 "We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our f exploring will be to arrive where J cta,,rte- an) knw ninre fnr "It is a living fairytale," recalled LSA senior Julie Jacobson. In Spain, LSA junior Edith Freilich and three Spanish friends different their junior year - they studied abroad. Jacobson and LSA senior Lisa Gursky studied for a year at the country. Although Gursky, Jacobson, and Freilich left to immerse themselves in different cultures, they came back 1. I