Ninety-nine years of editorial freedom
Vol. IC, No. 102 Ann Arbor, Michigan - Wednesday, February 22, 1989 Copyright 1989. The Michigan Daily
Protestors
Students question
editorial policy
say
Daily
is
anti -Jewish
BY LISA FROMM
About 200 students and faculty,
protesting what they called the
Daily's anti-Jewish editorial policy,
demanded an explanation for recent
Daily editorials yesterday during a
rally in front of the Student
Publications Building.
"The Michigan Daily expends
much of its time labeling others as
racist, always quick to condemn,"
first-year law student Ted Deutch
told the crowd during the 45-minute
rally. "We ask that the Daily now
look within itself. This time, the
Daily should condemn its own anti-
Jewish racism."
Chanting "Print facts not slander"
and "Pint the news don't bait the
Jews," the protesters marched from
Regents' Plaza to the Student
Publications Building, where the
Daily's offices are located.
But Daily Opinion Page Editor
Amy Harmon, a Residential College
junior, said many of the protesters
were mistaking the Daily's stance
against Zionism for anti-Semitism.
"The distinction people are failing to
make is the difference between
Judaism and Zionism," she said.
"We are critical of Israel's policies.
We are not anti-Jewish."
In response to the protest, the
Daily has set up a panel of six edi-
tors, who will meet March 9 with
Jewish leaders on campus "in an at-
tempt to understand and analyze their
grievances," according to a Daily
press release.
"We will listen to their con-
cerns," said Daily Editor in Chief
Adam Schrager, a Residential Col-
lege junior. "Then we will talk
about whether any changes will be
made internally."
The Daily's unsigned editorials
represent a majority of its Editorial
Board. Opinion Page staff members
must attend the two weekly board
meetings, while the rest of the staff
may attend the meetings if they
choose to do so.
Protesters cited three recent Daily
editorials that have criticized Zion-
ism and Israel's conduct in the Mid-
dle East as reasons for the protest.
A Nov. 1 editorial, titled "Kahane
Ban Token," said, "The original
premise of Zionism is that Jews and
non-Jews are incapable of living to-
gether harmoniously since non-Jews
are inherently anti-Semites... The
racist aspects of Zionism are un-
abated in the present day."
LSA senior Brad Kurtzberg, one
of five protest organizers, said the
demonstration was held to criticize
"editorial policydating back to last
semester," but he said the Nov. 1
editorial "sparked ideas that some-
thing should be done about it."
"The Michigan Daily's editorial
board has... contributed to an atmo-
sphere of bigotry toward Jews at the
University of Michigan," according
to the protesters' press release.
History Prof. Todd Endelman, the
director of the University's Judaic
Studies Program, addressed the
crowd.
"We live in an imperfect world
full of continual strife," he said.
"The Daily is obsessed with Zion-
ism; one would think that it's the
only conflict going on between two
groups."-
"One might argue that (the Daily)
couldn't be anti-Semitic because
there are Jews on the editorial
board," Endelman said. "There are
always Jews who want to separate
themselves from the Jewish com-
munity."
A group of students and faculty protest outside the Studentl
publishing anti- Jewish editorials.
s.T p aFStCA GREENEDalI
Publications Building yesterday. The group accused the Daily's edit board of
MSA(
BY ALEX GORDON
Money.
The Michigan Student
Assembly's got it, but it won't for
long if the assembly continues the
precedent set at its last two
meetings.
At last night's meeting, the
Assembly doled out more than
$13,000 out of its general fund to
various campus groups. These
allocations came on the heels of
MSA President Mike Phillips'
announcement last week that the
assembly has a surplus of
approximately $50,000 in its general
fund.
Phillips, however, said the
representatives have "been mostly
responsible" about how they allocate
the money. He attributed the large
number of requests for funding
directly to the surplus.
"We allocated a lot of money for
~pens 'rea sure
Groups flock to get
funds from surplus
chest'
good things. We really are
benefitting a lot of students around
campus," said Rackham Rep. Corey
Dolgan. "Because the assembly, and
specifically the executive officers,
have done such a good job managing
the budget this year, we were able to
fund a lot of important projects."
But Engineering Rep. Aaron
Williams said he was upset by the
assembly's actions. He felt many of
the groups that came for funding
were ones that in the past "would
never, ever approach MSA".
"When the chance for allotment
for all these other groups comes up
to (the Budget Priorities
Committee), there isn't going to be
any money left; that's not right,"
Williams said.
The BPC allocates funds to
student groups regularly through
hearings in front of an eight-member
panel. Last weekend, BPC allocated
$9,000 to student organizations.
The Assembly potentially could
have given away even more money,
but Engineering Rep. John
Coleman, noting the number of
MSA .members who had left the
meeting, called for quorum. A call
for quorum stipulates that at least 23
of MSA's 44 members be present. If
a quorum is not present, the meeting
may continue, but no official
business can be conducted.
- "I wanted to protect the rights of
all the students concerned," Coleman
said. "It's important to follow the
rules; if there's not enough people
there, there's not proper input."
The assembly gave the Peace and
Justice Committee $7,847 to fund
programs, including $4,000 for four
students to travel to the University
of El Salvador. The committee had
requested an additional $5,000 for
"aid from MSA for books and other
school supplies," but assembly
members voted against the additional
aid.
The students "pay us money to
work on issues directly" related to
them, Williams said in' defense of
cutting the original proposal for
Salvadoran aid.
In addition, the reconvened
University Council received $2,100
to help pay the salary of a council
mediator and for room < fees.
Iran
recalls
European
diplomats
BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Iran recalled all its ambassadors
from European Economic Commu-
nity nations while Britain expelled
an Iranian envoy yesterday, escalat-
ing diplomatic tensions over
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's
death threats against author Salman
Rushdie.
In supporting the retaliatory
measures taken by the European
countries, President Bush condemned.
Khomeini's death decree as "deeply
offensive to the norm of civilized
behavior" and warned that Tehran
would be responsible for actions
against American interests.
Iranian parliament speaker
Hashemi Rafsanjani called the EEC
move "a big mistake."
"The EEC decision... is a clear
sign which proves that the issue of
this blasphemous book... is a plot
designed by Western imperialism to
fight true Islam, " Rafsanjani said.
Although Rafsanjani was not
quoted as endorsing the death sen-
tence, his comments indicated Ira-
nian leaders were closing ranks in
the face of retaliation for Khomeini's
death call.
Iran's official Islamic Republic
News Agency said the diplomatic
recall was in response to Monday's
decision by the 12 nations of the
EEC to withdraw their envoys from
Tehran for consultations.
Grad. students allege police
harassment, demand apology
BY LIZ PAIGE
AND PATRICK ST AIG ER
Two Black University graduate
students, ordered out of a Detroit
suburb by two white police officers
last week, demanded a full
investigation and public apologies
yesterday from the city's mayor, po-
lice department, and the two officers.
While conducting research for the
University on Feb. 11, Rackham
graduate students William Neal and
Bobby Clark said they were stopped,
harassed, and ordered out of the pre-
dominantly white Allen Park neigh-
borhood without legal cause.
"Both William and I are totally
outraged by this incident and this
injustice," Clark said in yesterday's
press conference in the Michigan
Union Pendleton Room. "Why
should two citizens, of any race, be
denied their freedom and right as
Americans to walk down any street
they choose without being subjected
to such harassment?
"Moreover, why does the fear of
African Americans, particularly the
Black male, continue to exist in
white neighborhoods?"
Allen Park City Administrator
Dick Hubert said Mayor Gerald
Richards will respond today to the
students and to a letter sent to the
mayor by University President
James Duderstadt last week. He said
the mayor would not comment until
he knew more about the incident.
Allen Park Police Chief John
McKeever acknowledged the incident
yesterday, but said he would not re-
lease the names of the two officers
because the "implication that they
had done something wrong" would
then exist. He said he was not aware
of the demands for an apology.
The two students had been partic-
ipating in the 1989 Detroit Area
Study (DAS), a research project that
has been carried out in the Detroit
metropolitan area with University
cooperation since 1951.
Clark and Williams had been
listing the addresses of homes in the
Detroit area for future research when
the police stopped them.
University Political Science Prof.
Steve Rosenstone, who works with
the DAS study team, said Clark and
Williams were two of 32 students
conducting such research in the De-
troit area. "There were 17 pairs of
students and it only happened in
Allen Park to two Black men. Race
is an obvious concern here," Rosen-
stone said.
The students said the officers ap-
proached them at about 2:30 p.m.,
saying a resident had called the po-
lice.
When the officers asked them
what they were doing, the students
said they showed them their Univer-
sity photo identification badges and a
copy of a DAS letter previously sent
to the police chief informing local
police of their research activities.
"We showed them the letter. They
glanced at it. It is two pages and'.
they didn't even turn the page. Then.
they told us to leave the area," Neal
said.
See Police, Page 2
JESSICA GREENE/Daily
Bobby Clark, a Rackham student, speaks yesterday at a press confer-
ence in the Michigan Union. He and fellow graduate student William
Neal said Allen Park police demanded that the two leave the area in
which they were conducting a University-sponsored study.
'U' begins minority journalism workshop
BY VERA SONGWE
Minority students may have more opportuni-
ties to pursue journalism careers through the
University's Communication department, due to
a new program instituted by three local universi-
ties.
This summer, minority high school juniors
and seniors will participate in a two-week jour-
nalism workshop at the University. The work-
shop will offer classroom instruction, guest
School of Journalism. "The newspaper industry
has to be perceived by minorities as a place in
which they could work."
"This issue is a good example that the three
major universities can bind with the media
around an important issue and to help an impor-
tant problem," Soffin said.
"The percentage of minorities in journalism is
very low," said Marion Marzolf, associate chair
of the University's Communications Department
"The goal of the American Association of Speak out fo
News Editors is to try by the year 2000 to have on racism.
the same percentage of minorities in the news- See
room as there are in the community," said
Marzolf. Blues singer
Soffin agreed, saying, "This can't be done un- toight.
less students are attracted to these carriers before
they get into college and this is the major goal of Zac Pease
this program." Midhian wr