TODAY Cooler, maybe showers; High: 45, Low: 33. TOMORROW Mostly chilly, cloudy; High: 40, Low: 30. I . t Un, t MET doesn't pay. See OPINION Page 4. One hundred and one years of editorial freedom Vol. CII, No. 49 Ann Arbor, Michigan - Monday, December 9, 1991 C ,py",flfi Holocaust ad raises national concern about anti-Semitism " "._ " .., . . ..,.,L , .. .B " . ...L .... .... .. .... n. m n n nn n n r r ~ n n n fi n n t t n e r by Gwen Shaffer Daily Higher Education Reporter The Holocaust revisionist adver- tisement recently distributed to a number of college newspapers alarmed many people and brought to the surface growing concerns that anti-Semitic sentiment is gaining widespread acceptance. The increase in anti-Semitism is attributed to a number of factors, including the Arab-Israeli conflict, domestic economic decline, and the reunification of Germany, many people actively involved in the issue said. To date, five college newspapers have printed the advertisement written by the Committee for Open Debate on the Holocaust (CODOH), which claims that the Holocaust never happened. The Daily Texan at the University of Texas at Austin is planning to run it next month. About 10 other student newspapers received the advertisement but de- clined to run it. After printing the advertise- ment, called "The Holocaust Con- troversy: The Case for Open De- bate, members of the Jewish com- munity reacted by organizing pro- tests on the campuses. The political climate is ripe for "racist ideologies" from groups such as CODOH and people such as Republican presidential candidate David Duke to appeal to more and more Americans, said Jeffrey Ross, director of the department of cam- pus affairs and higher education at the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith (ADL) in New York. ADL statistics show that big- otry on college campuses nation- wide has increased dramatically in the past decade. In 1984, six inci- dents of anti-Semitism were re- ported, while more than 100 were reported last year, Ross said. Hank Greenspan, a professor who teaches a course at the University on Holocaust survivors, said attitudes toward Jews have not changed that much since World War II. Greenspan said 40 percent of Americans participating in a survey said they believe Jews have too much power. "There is a well-established im- age of the Jewish person behind the scenes, pulling the strings. Jews have been made to represent the as- pects of humanity that we fear," Greenspan said. Many students are wondering why CODOH is targeting college newspapers, instead of bigger city newspapers, if it wants to reach the largest audience possible. "If you wanted to put an ad in The New York Times, it is very costly," Ross said. "But if you put an ad in The Michigan Daily, The New York Times writes a story anout it and you get a tree ad. But Bradley Smith, director of CODOH and the author of the ad- vertisement, said he is targeting student papers to reach an audience capable of maintaining "an open mind on the subject" of debate. "If you lived for 50 or 60 years, you have been inundated with the or- thodox view on the Holocaust," Smith said. "When students are at a university, it is a time when they are questioning things." Mark Weitzman, associate direc- See REVISIONISM, Page 2 RC lecturer resigns citing lack of rights by Erin Einhorn Daily Staff Reporter Residential College (RC) Lec- turer Jenifer Levin will leave Ann Arbor because she says the way the University community views ho- mosexuals has prevented her from living up to her full potential. "We're all so much less than what we could be," Levin said. Just as we employ only a tiny portion of the human brain, she said, our lives occupy only a small corner of the space they really deserve to fill. "I'm a woman. I'm a writer. I'm an American," she said. "I'm all these many, many, many other things - and so are we all. And the sooner we can all be, safely, every- thing that we really are, the better community we are going to have, and the better this country - and this world - is going to be." Levin and her spouse of five years, Julie DeLaurier, will return to New York City shortly. "We both decided the best protest that we, individually, at this point could make on behalf of the gay community at the University of Michigan, was for me to resign and specify exactly why," Levin said. A Nov. 22 letter of resignation Levin sent to 13 faculty members and ad- dressed to RC Director Herb Eagle expresses Levin's complaints, frus- trations and reasons for not return- ing next semester. "My reasons for doing so," read A dog's eye viewA Yuma, a seeing-eye dog, takes a break in the Services for Students with Disabilities office Friday. . CROL/Dally Feminist author Friedan will speak at Rackham the letter, "are connected directly to this institution's so-called non- discrimination policies (or lack thereof); for they have impinged most intimately and destructively on my life and on the life of my spouse." The two women came to the University two and half years ago with intentions of settling in a new area and building a home. DeLaurier, a professional actress, wanted to finish her undergraduate degree, Levin said. After waiting the necessary year required to declare Michigan resi- dency, DeLaurier applied to the University. But because her mar- riage to Levin was not considered valid, her residency was denied. She could not use the relationship as proof of her intention to remain in the state on a long term basis. The women could not afford to pay out-of-state tuition. "It is my understanding that, in other cases where a faculty mem- See LEVIN, Page 2 S oviet republics form new al lian ce MINSK, U.S.S.R. (AP) - The Soviet Union's three Slavic re- publics - Russia, Byelorussia and Ukraine - formed a new alliance yesterday in an agreement that ap- pears to strip Mikhail Gorbachev's central government of its remaining power. Creating a new "commonwealth of independent states" with its capi- tal in Minsk instead of Moscow, the agreement states that the Soviet Union "as a subject of international and geopolitical reality no longer exists," reported the Tass news agency. Full texts of the documents were not immediatelyavailable, but excerpts carried by Tass said no power would be left for Gor- bachev's government, which Russian President Boris Yeltsin already had stripped of nearly all its functions d and resources. d See SOVIET, Page 2 by Purvi Shah 0 Daily Staff Reporter The recent controversy surround- ing the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas provided Betty Friedan, au- thor of The Feminine Mystique, leader of the '60s feminist move- ment, and tonight's speaker at Rack- ham Auditorium, an avenue to ex- press her thoughts about women and the workplace. "That was interesting that she just got national coverage. She was the woman to be chosen to say any- thing on the feminist viewpoint of sexual harassment," said LSA sophomore Ann Kaufman, a member of the University Activities Cen- ter's Viewpoint Lectures. Viewpoint Lectures, the sponsor of Friedan's lecture on "Gender Is- * sues: Today and Tomorrow," regu- larly brings speakers to campus to discuss contemporary issues. The group recently brought speakers including Black civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton and sports announcer Chris Berman. Friedan will speak for approxi- mately an hour and then audience members will have the opportunity, to ask her questions. Members of Viewpoint Lectures argued that despite a generation gap, Friedan remains an authority on to- day's women's movement and gen- der issues. "She's been working still for the Equal Rights Amendment. She's still a very prominent figure in women's issues," said Sejal Mistry, an LSA sophomore. "She does speak at college cam- puses. She was not only a leader of the feminist movement in the '60s, she's also a scholar," Mistry added. "She'll definitely be able to express some provocative ideas." Kaufman said that Friedan can provide "strong, substantial" com- ments on the current women's movement, but believes the people who have the most to learn from her lecture will not be the first to attend. "I don't know if people will go voluntarily if they don't know how influential she is," she said. "They have a chance to ask a question of the most influential woman that can hold her own." Viewpoint Lectures member Travis Langenkamp agreed, saying, "Even if you don't know who Betty Friedan is, you'll come away with the knowledge of what the feminist movement was and has become." See FRIEDAN, Page 2 Write -a-th o n UGUU 1V'R/Dai A student reads over a petition before signing it during the Amnesty International Write-a-thon in the basement of the Union Saturday. Lecturer of love leaving, says he needs to reflect by Karen Sabgir Daily Staff Reporter Pilot Program Lecturer Luis Sfeir-Younis will conduct his final classes at the Univer- sity this week as he prepares to move to Venezuela next term. Sfeir-Younis, who received his doctorate at the University and was formerly in the Soci- ology department, has taught courses on the sociology of love and intergroup conflict dur- ing his nine years of teaching. The resignation surprised and disappointed many colleagues. "He's going to leave a big hole in the Uni- versity because of the many things he did here," said Tom Gershick, who has taught with Sfeir-Younis for more than five years. "He is a role model for many students, partic- ularly students of color." Sfeir-Younis said one reason he is leaving is to help his brother's business in Venezuela. The corporation provides technical and con- sulting support for the Venezuelan govern- ment and Sfeir-Younis will take on a manag- ing position there. However, Sfeir-Younis also said he needs a break from instruction in order to write about his experiences as a teacher. "I need to take time to reflect, I need to take time to breathe. I'm not burnt out or an- gry, I just need a year or two to write about it, reflect, and improve the course." Sfeir-Younis said that a one-year sabbatica would be ideal, but his request was turne( down. "I have a million things that I want t write about but I just don't have time." His course on intergroup conflict is gearec at increasing understanding between differen ethnic and racial backgrounds. "Just like the students are touched by it, I am touched by i See SOCIOLOGY, Page 2 O it Mideast talks to resume tomorrow amid squabbles WASHINGTON (AP) - Israeli negotiators arriving here yesterday said they accept an Arab proposal to start peace talks tomorrow, but new one room, the Arabs were demanding two separate rooms. It was the latest in a string of seemingly petty wrangles clouding to start immediately but the Arabs refused, citing today as a day of mourning for hundreds killed in the four-year Palestinian uprising whoever wants to negotiate seriously will find serious people on the other side of the table." The latest hitch concerned an "Consensus is the name of the game," he said. Palestinians view that approach as Israel's way of denying their existence as a separate IK- u I1