Racism
pervades
black student
life
By EUGENE PAK
First in a five-part series
In dormitory cafeterias the separation
is visually striking: Black students sit
with black students; white students sit
with white students.
Laws relegating blacks to separate,
often inferior, public facilities and
institutions were repealed more than 20
years ago, but a separation along racial
lines is still evident today - both
nationwide and at the University.
Many say the separation occurs not
because of racism, but merely because
students stick with friends who share
common interests.
Marvin Woods, president of the Black
Student Union, said, "People get together
based on their common interests and not
so much physical similarity, even though
that does play a part in it."
The separation of black and white
students "is a combination of a little bit
of negative feeling against the other
group and each group having its own set
of interests and cultural values," Woods
said. "It's more cultural interest than
racial animosity."
Nevertheless, it is clear that many
black students feel alienated from the rest
of the University community, both
socially and academically.
Both minority and majority students
must reach out to each other if any
substantial cultural interaction is to take
place, said Eunice Royster, director of the
Comprehensive Studies Program, which
provides academic assistance for minority
students. She added, however, that it may
be necessary for white students to take the
initiative.
"It's very hard for you to be black in
this world and not know about white
(culture), but you can be white in this
world and not know about blacks,"
Royster said.
Part of the problem stems from a
cultural clash. Many of the black
undergraduate students on campus are
from Detroit, while many white students
are from the surrounding suburbs or
northern areas of Michigan where few
blacks live.
In 1985, 81.1 percent of black
undergraduates were from Michigan
(compared to 71.1 percent for white
students), and a great majority of these
students came from the southeastern part
of the state. Of the 176 black Michigan
freshmen in 1985, 109 came from Wayne
County.
Thus, even before they arrive on
campus, many white and black students
have not interacted with students of other
backgrounds.
Rejection
Black students who have tried to
interact with other students have faced
resistance, rejection, and even fear.
At a racism teach-in held last month at
Alice Lloyd, Francis Matthews, an LSA
sophomore from Detroit, said sometimes
people seem afraid of him. "Sometimes
I'm walking and people look back; and
they start to walk faster or duck out of the
way.
"I love being black. I'm proud of it,
but at times it makes you feel negative
about yourself. It tends to make you
think for no good reason at all about who
you are. I'm thinking, 'Do I have to keep
on taking things like this?"'
Another student recalled an incident
last year, when someone threw a full beer
See 'U', Page 2
Ninety-seven years of editorial freedom
VOLUME XCVII- NO. 107
ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN - MONDAY, MARCH 9, 1987
COPYRIGHT 1987 THE MICHIGAN DAILY
NCAA bid!
'M' boils Purdue in
"l
improbabi
By RICK KAPLAN
Murphy's Law says everything
that can go wrong will go wrong at
the worst possible moment.
Everything that happened
Saturday at Crisler Arena turned
Murphy's Law upside down.
Everything that could go right
did go right at the best possible
moment, as the Michigan
basketball team massacred No. 2
Purdue, 104-68. With a win in the
final game of the regular season,
the Wolverines wrapped up fifth
place in the Big Ten, but more
importantly, clinched a berth in the
NCAA postseason tournament.
Michigan opens the tourney against
Navy Thursday at Charlotte, N.C.
"That was the third team that we
beat that was in the top five in the
country when we played them:
le victory
Syracuse, Iowa, and Purdue," said
Michigan coach Bill Frieder. "And
The Michigan men's
basketball team opens the
NCAA tournament Thursday
against the United States Naval
Academy. The East Regional
game will be played at
Charlotte, N.C. The time is
still undetermined.
Navy (26-5), the Colonial
Athletic Conference champion,
is led by senior center David
Robinson, a consensus All-
American.
I'd say it was a decisive victory."
HOW DECISIVE was it?
With 12:51 remaining in the game,
Purdue forward Todd Mitchell sank
See SENIORS, Page 8
Daily Photo by SCOTT LITUCHY
Wolverine guard Garde Thompson celebrates with fans after Michigan's 104-68 win over Purdue on Saturday. The victory assured the
Wolverines of an NCAA berth.
Students
may get
aid in
choosing
Classes
By MARTIN FRANK
LSA students could soon be
required to select a major with the
help of a concentration advisor,
,who would then show the student
what courses within the department
would best suit the student's
interests.
LSA's Curriculum Committee
last week passed a motion to
encourage students to "think of
their educational goals and relate
them to specific courses," said
LSA's Dean for Long Range Plan-
*ning and Curriculum Jack Meiland.
The plan may be effective within
one year, if the concentration ad-
visors can come up with a way to
implement the plan, Meiland said.
The committee approved the
plan because of its concerns that
students were just fulfilling their
requirements for a concentration
without completely seeking out
courses in that department that
*would benefit them.
"It is helpful for students to stop
and think of what they want to do
with their concentration and how
they plan to go about it. It
encourages students to (plan ahead)
and take more of an active role in
their concentrations," said LSA's
Director of Academic Services and
Counseling Charles Judge.
Judge said he would poll the
Wore than 100 advisors to find out
East Quad hosts
20th
Women
By VIBEKE LAROI
and MICHAEL SCHECHTER
Two women successful in the
United Nations highlighted and
symbolized the "Celebration of
International Women" last weekend
at East Quad.
UN Assistant Secretary General
Mercedes Briceno of Venezuela'
spoke to a group of about 80 on
"Third World Women and Social
Change" in the keynote address of
the 20th annual Women's Weekend
Friday night.
And Sohair Soukkary, Deputy
Chief of the UN Development
Fund, addressed the situation of
Arab women, and more specifically
women of her own country, Egypt,
in yesterday's endnote address.
THE CURRENT internat-
ional crisis among indebted dev-,
eloping countries is affecting
women in very specific ways,
Briceno said, by bringing men into
competition with women for low-
paying jobs.'
In overcoming this crisis,
"women are still often perceived as
the beneficiaries of development,
Weekend
the group for whom things are
done," Briceno said.
"There will be no development,
however, without power sharing,
and there will be no power sharing
without fundamental social chan-
ge," Briceno added.
"This is a matter of international
concern. This is also a matter where
you, men and women at the
University that looks to the future
and sets its horizons globally, will
be playing a crucial role as change
agents."
BESIDES modern economic
factors, ancient traditions inhibit
women's rights in some countries.
The divine "Islamic Law" -
proclaimed by Mohammed in the
seventh century - has provisions
for divorce, marriage, and up to four
wives, and is still effect in Egypt
today, said Soukkary.
"Because it is divine, the family
structure is ensured to be unchanged
and this is where the real struggle
of women in the Arab world lies,"
she said.
Under the laws, women are
second class citizens. Many still
wear veils, submit to arranged
marriages, may not leave the
country without the written consent
of their husband, and must live
with their father, uncle, or brother
if their husbands divorce them, she
said.
When she was 14 years old,
Soukkary was forced to marry but
was determined to study and
struggle to "be somebody." It took
her seven years get a divorce, after
she stealthily came over to the
United States. Here she raised her
three sons, who are currently in
medical school, and got a bachelor's
degree in English Literature.
The Women's Weekends began
20 years ago amidst the liberal
movements of the 60's by the
Campus Coalition for Women.
"Our goal is to get closer to
equal representation and to open
people's eyes a little bit to the fact
that women have just as much
talent and can do just as well in
professions and the arts as men,''
said Kristina Larson, chairperson of
publicity for the event.
INSIDE
MSA needs student support to
affect meaningful changes.
OPINION, PAGE 4
The Vienna Symphony Virtuosi
played an enjoyable concert last
Friday.
ARTS, PAGE 5
The Michigan men's swimming
Doily Photo by GRACE TSAI
UN Assistant Secretary General Mercedes Briceno speaks to an audience
of about 80 last weekend at East Quad. Briceno addressed women's
issues.
Bigfoot vies for MSA seats,
vows to increase student power
By MARTHA SEVETSON
First in a five-part series.
"My major goal in office would
be to increase students' bargaining
position in relation. to the rest of
the University," said Michigan
to increase student power on cam-
pus is to gain student support for
MSA. "The only way to get the
backing of the students is to do
things that they like," he said.
The Bigfoot platform includes
plans for improved communication
with the student community.
Daily.;
The Bigfoot party opposes MSA
involvement in non-campus issues.
Newblatt said assembly discussions
of these issues do not reflect student
opinion and may alienate students.
"Most students I talk to are
appalled to hear MSA is talking
I Ma Am