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Vol. Cl, No. 25
Bush may
*support
tax on
wealthy
WASHINGTON (AP) - Presi-
ent Bush suggested for the first
me yesterday that he would accept
higher income taxes on the wealthy
"at some level" as part of a $500 bil-
lion, five-year deficit reduction com-
promise.
Bush voiced a new readiness to
bargain with Congressional
Democrats on the long-divisive tax
issue after signing a temporary
spending bill that ended a three-day
government shutdown.
Although he declined to discuss
details, Bush clearly indicated he
could support a compromise cou-
pling higher taxes on the wealthiest
Americans in exchange for the cut in
capital-gains tax +rates that he has
See BUSH, Page 2
Ann Arbor, Michigan -Wednesday, October 10, 1990 T,,",7hat10
x Debate over
diversity classes
shifts to students
by Shalini Patel
Daily Staff Reporter
The controversy generated from a
three-year debate about a proposed
mandatory class on diversity is not
likely to subside with the require-
ment's passage.
The requirement has encountered
both kudos and criticism from Uni-
versity students since its approval by
the LSA General Assembly on
Monday. With a vote of 139-90, the
assembly passed the requirement
which will go into effect for first-
year students in 1991. Students will
be able to choose from a number of
courses that address racism and eth-
nic intolerance.
"I think it's great because a lot of
people would ignore a lot of issues
otherwise," said LSA senior Nicole
Susser. She referred to the narrow-
mindedness of some students as a.
reason for the class. "It would get
people to confront issues they
wouldn't ordinarily."
Part of the criticism of the
mandatory diversity class stems from
what some students say is the elimi-
nation of choice.
"People should choose," said
Chad Reidler, a first-year LSA stu-
dent.
Reidler added that since Univer-
sity students deal with a diversity of
ethnic and racial groups everywhere
on campus, such a class is unneces-
sary.
While the Michigan Student
Assembly (MSA) does not have an
official stand on the diversity re-
See DIVERSITY, Page 2
.sSANTHONY M. UMULUally
Theresa Lukenas of Channel 2 asks LSA sophomore Andrew Sale, "Should a racism class be mandatory?" Sale
said that the class would be a step in the right direction, but he's not sure that it should be required.
.English department approves requirement changes 44 to 1
by Amy Quick
The Department of English Lan-
guage and Literature approved a pro-
posal October 1 which would change
the requirements for English majors
if the College Curriculum Commit-
tee passes it.
The English Department ap-
. roved the proposal with a 44-1
ote, after three to four years of dis-
cussion, said English Department
Chair Dr. Robert Weisbuch.;
"(The revised requirements) will
reflect the change in discipline in the
field of English over the last 20
years," said Weisbuch.
Under the proposal, concentrators
would not be required to take the
three core classes or the Senior Sem-
'nar. Instead, they would take one
class in literature before 1600, two
classes in literature before 1830, an
American Literature class, and a New
Traditions course.
Another prerequisite, English 239
Approaches to Literature, would also
be added to the existing English 240
Poetry prerequisite. "The class will
give a sense of the questions that lit-
erary scholars ask on their way into
the major instead of at the end of the
concentration," said Weisbuch.
Senior Seminar courses also will
no longer be required. However they
will still be available to students,
said Weisbuch.
Weisbuch said that if the pro-
posal passes, it would cause no
problems for current majors.
Core I (English 355) would
count toward the pre-1600 require-
ment, and Cores II and III (English
356 and 357) when combined with
the existing pre-1800 requirement
would fulfill the two new pre-1830
requirements.
The newly-revised courses are not
the same as the current course re-
quirements, but the broadly histori-
cal Core courses which have existed
since the mid 70s will still be of-
fered, said Weisbuch.
The change would give students a
much broader range of elective
courses, so that students would have
the option to take a class that con-
centrates on one specific work or
take the survey Core I class which
covers literature from the same pe-
riod.
Weisbuch said that the old sys-
tem has worked "wonderfully." The
number of English concentrators
jumped from 300 in 1980 to its cur-
rent 911. However, Weisbuch said
that the department had a sense that
thought this would wake everyone
up in a nice way. It's always good to
change the curriculum once in - a
while to keep it fresh," said Weis-
buch.
English concentrators had mixed
'Cores I and Ill were getting stale for
students and teachers. We thought this
would wake everyone up in a nice way. It's
always good to change the curriculum once
in a while to keep it fresh.'
-Dr. Robert Weisbuch, Chair of English Dept.
it was time for a change.
"Cores II and III were getting
stale for students and teachers. We
reactions to the news of the possible
change.
LSA Junior Leslie Kollin said
New 'U' provost
settles into post
by Beth Halverson the office filled by an interregnum
In July, after only 18 months as
he University's provost, Charles
est accepted a job as President of
Massachusetts Institute of Technol-
ogy (MIT), leaving the position
empty. The Board of Regents
quickly appointed a new provost,
Gilbert Whitaker, who assumed the
position on Sept. 1.
As provost Whitaker is the Uni-
versity's Chief Budgetary and Aca-
demic Officer. This involves over-
seeing the seventeen deans of the
University's schools and colleges,
the associate vice-presidents, and the
vice-provosts.
The quickness with which the re-
gents acted in choosing a successor
was unusual. "Normally the search
for a provost can take six to eight
months," said Whitaker, "but this
time the president simply went back
to the files of its previous provost
search (18 months ago) and looked at
the old candidates. This was to speed
up the process and to avoid having
provost. I just happened to be one of
those candidates," he said.
the core classes were positive be-
cause they forced her to become ex-
posed to authors and works that she
would not have read otherwise,btit
she's not sure that the new require-
ments are a good move.
"The core classes had huge peri-
ods crammed into a class, but I'm
afraid (under the proposal) there may
be more gaps," said Kollin.
LSA junior Wendy Walters said
the proposed changes are great. "The
core courses covered too much and I
like the idea of letting teachers teach
what they want and let students take
what they want," she said.
She also liked the addition of the
American Literature requirement,
saying, "I mean, how many of us
can relate to Chaucer?"
Saddam
says Iraq
has new
missile;
by The Associated Press
Saddam Hussein announced yes-
terday that Iraq had added another
missile to its arsenal, and he said it
could be launched "against the tar-
gets of evil when the day of reckon-
ing comes."
He made it clear he was referring
to Israel and the U.S.-led forces
massed in Saudi Arabia to deter fur-
ther Iraqi aggression following the
invasion of Kuwait.
Iraq has other missiles that can
travel hundreds of miles and it was
not clear what the significance of a
new one would be.
Saddam appeared to use the occa-
sion to try to exploit the deaths
Monday of 19 Palestinians in
Jerusalem to whip up support for his
seizure of Kuwait.
U.S. armed forces took to the
airwaves yesterday with live broad-
casts, and rock 'n' roll blared across
the Saudi desert.
The first song on Desert Shield
Network FM 107 brought the troops
a little closer to home - The
Clash's "Rock the Casbah" about a'
fight over "boogie sound" in a tradi-
tional Middle Eastern city.
The Pentagon said the Navy con-E
tinued to search for eight Marines
whose two helicopters disappeared:
Monday over the North Arabian Sea
during a training exercise. Rescue
teams located debris from one of the
aircraft on Monday, but no bodies.
In other developments:
A U.S. Embassy official in
Baghdad said that a U.S.-chartered
Whitaker
Since becoming provost,
Whitaker's first priority has been to
learn more about the job. "Trying to
learn the job comes first on my
agenda this year," said Whitaker. "I
am here to help the University's fac-
See PROVOST, Page 2
Dave Noles, a driver of Michigan's winning solar car in the first-ever GM Sunrayce USA, addresses a group of
prospective members for next year's race. Noles anxiously awaits November's World Solar Challenge in
Australia where he will again drive the Sunrunner. .
Daily alleges
BSP secretary
broke '' rules
by David Schwartz
Daily Opinion Editor
Documents received yesterday by the Daily indicate that
the secretary to the University's Board for Student Publica-
tions has committed at least two violations of University
policy.
Members of the Board, who were assembled last night
for their monthly meeting, refused to listen to evidence of
the alleged wrongdoing.
WvA-r. nthi1;n -,h- n ae n mnlnveti by the Rnard
Daily debate moves
& *' \behind closed doors
by Sarah Schweitzer
Daily Staff Reporter
The Board for Student Publica-
tions turned its public meeting yes-
terday into a closed executive ses-
sion, forcing 25 Daily staffers who
had come to air their grievances re-
garding Board Secretary Nancy Mc-
Glothlin to leave.
Daily editors and staff have been
angered by McGlothlin's recent han-
dling of various Daily policies, par-
ticularly those regarding deadlines. A
fr.- na~r A:+~.rial ,acnm - n+ 17
tioned, the meeting would be closed
for an executive session. Rosenthal
cited a letter from a University attor-
ney which said closing a meeting to
hear grievances about personnel is
typical University policy. .
Finkel protested, saying Daily
staffers should have the right to air
their concerns before the Board, and
that the people most qualified to do
so were other Daily editors who had
researched various complaints. One
area Finkel did not explicitly refer to
was McGlothlin's use of University