Prof. discusses Blacks' roles in writing, academia The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, March 14, 1989 - Page 3 Bill may protect rape survivors BY HEATHER HUNT Relating his experiences as a student, professor, and newspaper editor and publisher, visiting Prof. Robert Chrisman discussed Blacks' roles in academia and journalism last night at the Frieze building. Chrisman, editor and publisher of Black Scholar, addressed the University's chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists. To a crowd of 15 students, the University of California-Berkeley English professor stressed the importance in all forms of .writing - both with literature and newspapers. Chrisman said the newspaper "is a valuable experience because it forces one to write a quantity on demand." "There is a myth that writing is a divine and final word," he said "Indeed good writing comes from writing and rewriting." He also compared journalism to literature, saying journalism is a clearer and more direct form of writing. "The essence, the jewels of classical literature are covered probably within 20 pages," said Chrisman of Shakespeare. He added that "studying these lines is probably not realistic. It won't give you normative insight." In relating his experiences, he discussed a 1969 movement at San Francisco State College, where he once taught. During that time, he said, students opposed the introduction of a Black history curriculum. There was a six-month long strike by both students and faculty who opposed the curriculum, the longest strike in collegiate history. The San Francisco State College resolution implemented a school of Ethnic Studies whose program embodied a representative proportion of each ethnic group. Chrisman explained that after this strike, a rash of strikes throughout American colleges broke out. The reason there was protest against the curriculum was because they didn't want the realities of Black oppression to be taught. In the early 1970s, Christian said, books about Black history became a big trend, with the intention of further explaining Blacks' history and agenda. With the advent of television in the '50s, Black scholars saw a necessity to elaborate on news blips of Black events. The NABJ, which sponsored Chrisman's speech, was initiated last September and welcomes new members. tY LAURA COUNTS Rape survivors must struggle with emotional and physical trauma for the rest of their lives, but they may also face a more formal sen- tence - defamation of character suits. "There isn't a single person who comes in for counseling who doesn't say, 'I'm afraid to report it to the police because I may get sued for defamation of character,"' said Julie Steiner, director of the Sexual As- sault Prevention and Awareness Center. In recent Ann Arbor and Colorado cases, the defendant in a rape trial has filed a civil suit against the sur- vivor for defamation of character. The purpose of the suits, said Steiner, are to harass the victim into dropping charges. To stop what Steiner fears may become a trend, legislation has been introduced by state Rep. William Van Regenmorter (R-Jenison) and Sen. William Faust (D-Westland). Their bill would prohibit a defen- dant. in a criminal sexual conduct trial from filing a civil suit against the accuser until the criminal trial is completed. "Nothing will totally eliminate the trauma a victim faces in the prosecution of the case," said Karen Hammond, an attorney for Van Re- genmorter. "All we hope to do is make it less difficult." The bill, introduced to the Senate on Feb. 8, was sparked in part by a case last year when former Univer- sity student Griffith Neal filed a slander suit against the woman who accused him of raping her in his fra- ternity house. The charges, however, were dropped last June. The bill is intended to stop attor- neys from using a civil suit as a way of getting around Michigan's Rape Shield Law, said Nancy Maciag, special assistant to Faust. The Rape Shield Law prohibits questions about the victim's sexual past - with anyone other than the defendant - from being discussed during a criminal trial, but not a civil case. "When you go through discovery in a civil case, you can ask questions about sexual history which you can't in a criminal case under the Rape Shield Act," said Maciag. "The legal system is supposed to be used as a forum to resolve dis- putes and discover truth. Lawsuits are not supposed to be used as a method of intimidation," said Ham- mond. Hearings on the bill, currently in the Senate Judiciary Committee, have not yet been scheduled and pre- dictions on whether it will pass vary. Kevin Kraushaar, an attorney for the Senate Judiciary Committee, said some opposition may focus on technical problems, such as the exact wording of the bill, and questions on whether it violates due process. Chrisman Visiting Professor speaks on Blacks in Academia... MSA hopefuls 'turn up heat' at debate BY ALEX GORDON Students vying for the Michigan *Student Assembly's two top spots debated last night at the Union, try- ing to shed further light on the cam- paign's issues while making their party stand out. The most lively exchanges of the evening came as the candidates took advantage of a rebuttal period - sandwiched between two rounds of questions from panelists - to trade personal barbs. Student Power presidential candi- date Julie Murray used her entire five minutes to question Rob Bell of the Students' Choice party on the issues of racism and fiscal responsibility. She questioned Bell's ability to cope with racial incidents because of his role in rescinding an MSA resolu- tion to punish the pro-Israeli group Tagar for the alleged racist slogan "stop Arab terrorism" which ap- peared on the organization's model bus in the Diag last fall. Bell said earlier that Tagar did not have the "intent to discriminate" and called the actions Tagar took imme- diately after the incident "commend- able." He accused Murray and her vice presidential candidate Ahmar Iqbal of taking advantage of the incident to "make it the Arab-Israeli conflict on MSA." Frederika Bashir, the United Stu- dents (US) vice presidential candi- date, criticized all three parties in her closing remarks, standing behind the slogan it's "them against US." Bashir said she saw a contradic- tion between the Conservative Coalition party's pledge of increas- ing minority recruitment and its op- position to a "diversity" graduation requirement. She said Conservative Coalition wants to get minorities "in here" and if they can't deal with the University, "the hell with it." Aaron Williams, the Conserva- tive Coalition's presidential candi- date, promised that his party would work to implement a Korean lan- guage program, the only candidate to take such a stance. Vice presidential candidate Rose Karadsheh accused the other parties of "waving flags" about women ets. or minorities on their tick- "We are not going to discrimi- nate," said Karadsheh. "We are color- blind. We want to see you as you are." Murray, in her opening remarks, said there is "an institutional prob- lem with MSA that women and mi- norities just aren't getting involved." After being allowed to participate in the first debate last Thursday, Jesse Walker, a candidate for LSA rep. from the Abolitionist Party, said he was "angry" that he was not allowed to participate in the yester- day's forum. Four officers charged with obstruction of law People not 'hooked' on welfare, study finds BY DIANE COOK Contrary to the popular stereo- type that the welfare system in our :ountry is stagnating, researchers say the social supplemental income pro- grams are, for the most part, work- ing. "Most people are on welfare (Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), for example) for short pe- riods of time, usually one to one and a half years," said Peter Gottschalk, a professor of economics at Boston University. "It's a safety net." University of .Michigan re- searchers have come to similar con- 1,usions about welfare. Since 1968, a team at the Institute for Social Research has been following the ,conomic successes and failures of a representative sample of 5,000 American families on a study called the Panel Study of Income Dynam- ics (PSID). According to their findings, less than 8 percent of welfare recipients, r 2 percent of the U.S. population, were persistently dependent on wel- fare (AFDC, general assistance, and supplemental security income fund- ing). Martha Hill, a PSID principle investigator and University associate research scientist, has done consider- able inquiry on the trends of the children of welfare recipients, based on the PSID findings. "Further work is showing quite a bit of inter-generational change. There is a link, but not anywhere near the stereotype," said Hill. The state Department of Social Services confirms these optimistic trends. "A good portion of people are on (the AFDC) for a short time because of a loss of job or a change in household structure. They use it for what it was originally designed for," said Knud Hansen, assistant to the Director of Social Services. Hansen's statistics, based on point-in-time measures, showed sig- nificant drops in AFDC recipients. For example, the average of any given month for the number of re- cipients in Michigan in 1983 was 273,900. This figure steadily de- clined to the 1988 average of 212,900. In that same time period, 71.5 percent of the recipients were active cases for less than three years. "We have been in economic re- covery for six years. In the mid-80s, the caseload would be longer because of the job market," Hansen said. "From 1982 to 1988 we have had a continual drop in caseloads. We have seen no such percentages since the 30s. This signifies the economic re- covery is here." NILES, Mich (AP)-Three Niles police officers were arraingned yesterday on charges they attempted to plant marijuana on a suspect under investigation for drug 1possession, Berrien County officials said. "It's a serious matter,"County Prosecutor Paul Maloney said. "When police officers are suspected of criminal activity it deserves to be brought to the attention of the courts and in this instance it will be." Lt. Scott Campbell, 33, and offi- cers William Veal, 27 and Richard Huff, 26, were arraigned before 6th District Judge Daniel Dela in St. Joseph on charges of conspiracy to commit a legal act in an illegal manner, Maloney said. Campbell and Veal also were ar- raigned on conspiracy to obstruct justice charges, the prosecutor said. Each man faces a maximum five years in prison if convicted. as long as Palestinian culture is suppressed... BOYC OTT the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra's performance, JOIN US IN A CANDLE LIGHT VIGIL to protest Israel's denial of Palestinian human rights place: HILL AUDITORIUM time: Marc 14, 7:00pm -paid by PSC- HA PPY BICYCLE JIM'S 2 P R I X M-F 3-6 pm HOUR 1301 S. University Ux THE LIST What's happening in Ann Arbor today Speakers "The American Communist Party: From Revolution to Stalinism" _ Revolutionary History Series, B118 MLB, 7 pm. "How Can You Tell if a Machine is Thinking?" - Donald Davidson, UCLA, Berkeley, Rackham Assem- bly Hall, 4 pm. Reception follow- ing, 1512 Rackham. "Politics and Creative Literature ;Under Apartheid" - Dr. Es'kia Mphahlele, University of Witswatersrand, Angell Hall, Rm. C, 4 pm. "Islam and Artistic Freedom in Malaysia" - Mohd Anis Md Nor, 200 Lane Hall, 7 pm. "The Rise and the Fall" - Piotr S. Wandycz, Yale University, 250 Hutchins Hall, Law School, 8 pm. "Improvement of Calcium Trans- port in Sarcoplasmic Reticulum by Exercise Training of Senescent Rats", March 15, 1989 - Charlotte Tate, Ph.D., Baylor College of Medecine, 1033 Dental School, Sm. Aud. Kellogg Bldg., 12:10-1 pm. Meetings Huron Valley Spebsqsa Chapter - Union, 8 pm. Furthermore Book Release Party for Donald Mager - Poetry Resource Center, 7-8:30 pm. Office of Minority Affairs Presents Fireside Chat II - Kuenzel Rm., Michigan Union, 3-5 pm. Talk to Dean of School about recruitment and retention efforts. Jewish Learning Center Mini- Course in the Wisdom Tradition in Israel - Rabbi Robert Levy, Hillel, 7:30-8:30 pm. Palestine Solidarity Committee Sponsors a Candlelight Vigil - Hill Aud., 7 pm. Held on the per- formance of the Israeli Philharmonic to protest Israeli human rights violations. Peer Writing Tutors - 611 Church St. Computing Center, 7- 11 pm. ECB trained. Northwalk - Sun-Thur, 9 pm-1 am. Call 763-WALK or stop by 3224 Bursley. Safewalk - Sun-Thur, 8 pm-1:30 am; Fri-Sat, 8-11:30 pm. Call 936- 1000 or stop by 102 UGLi. Fnlmnvpr Prptn.,toi, t Vntr.. R Resume Service For high quality resumes, matching cover sheets and envelopes, depend on Kinko's, the copy center. U U. - m -in rt..l , :; . , I - -- I ~. Sa i I f I