Michigan State has been skirting the Open Meetings Act in its search for a new president. If MSU is successful, the University will surely follow suit in its next search. MUSKET has decided to take a new approach in its performance of "Anything Goes" tomorrow through Saturday at the Power Center. The biggest surprise of this year's NCAA tournament has been George Washington. The Wolverines take on the 12th seed in the West Regional Friday in Seattle. Today Foggy; High 48, Low 36 Tomorrow Warmer; High 54, Low 39 0c It One hundred two years of editorial freedom YI V . I I .10 AnAror Mc ian-W dnsdyMarh 4,99 © 99 Th Mchga Dil Court to rule on future of Russian pres. Sign of the times Signs and barricades slow traffic and close one lane of State Street yesterday. University crews are making the LSA Building and Angell Hall. The construction is scheduled to be completed by July 6. repairs in the steam tunnel that connects MOSCOW (AP) - Russians have embraced Western words like "democracy," "congress" and "president," but they are having trouble grasping the underlying con- cepts. The fight now in Moscow is less about constitutional fine points than about power, ambition and wealth, Russian reformers say. "We have one foot in the demo- cratic tradition, but one foot still in the totalitarian tradition," said Viktor Boriswuk, an expert in U.S. and Russian constittrional law and a consultant to the Congress of Peo- ple's Deputies. Facing a Congress that regularly amends the constitution to augment its own power, Yeltsin proposed a solution last Saturday that smacked of absolutism, "a special order of governance" that would allow him to ignore decisions by the legislature and the Constitutional Court. Rule of law is the heart of the is- sue, said Congress Speaker Ruslan Khasbulatov, a leader of the cam- paign to remove Yeltsin from office. "The conflict between the legisla- tive and executive authorities is not personal in character," said Khasbu- latov, who stood side by side with Yeltsin in resisting the attempted Communist coup in August 1991. But Khasbulatov's critics say he is driven by personal ambition and a desire to please lawmakers who want to keep their jobs as managers of state-owned factories and farms. Control of that property gives them wealth and power they would lose in a democratic, free-market system. The conflict, said former Com- munist Politburo member Alexander Yakovlev, concerns "property and ownership, as up to 95 percent of all property in the country is still owned by the state." The Congress opposes Yeltsin's efforts to allow private ownership of land and to transfer state-owned in- dustries and business to individual shareholders. The subordinate role of the court was evident afterbYeltsin appeared on television Saturday night to pro- claim emergency rule leading up to a national referendum on A aril 25. Within hours of Yeltsin's ad- dress, Chief Justice Valery Zorkin raced to the television station and appeared nationwide, along with some of Yeltsin's severest critics, to accuse the president of attempting a coup. Yeltsin's attorneys were never given a chance to argue his case. Yeltsin's aides said the president, unable to appeal to the court, instead would appeal to the people. And they said he would ignore any moves to oust him by a Congress he believes is trying to restore commu- See RUSSIA, Page 2 Students question SA proposal Forum fields student concerns about proposed quantitative reasoning requirement by Nate Hurley Daily Administration Reporter A forum on the proposed LSA quantitative reasoning requirement attracted a small - but concerned - group of students. The eight students who attended yesterday's meeting questioned fac- ulty and administrators on both the purpose and logistics of the pro- posed requirement. The proposal, which will be voted on at the April LSA faculty meeting, would require students en- tering in Fall Term 1994 to take a class that incorporated quantitative reasoning before they graduate. Some students questioned why the requirement is needed if 77 per- cent of LSA students already techni- cally fulfill it. "It seemed that the University was mandating another requirement that most people already take," said LSA sophomore Jeff Tack, a LSA student government representative. Faculty and administrators re- sponded by outlining the benefits to students and the diverse courses that would be designed to fulfill the pro- posed requirement. "We feel that, in a sense, the col- lege is not doing a good job in edu- cating people by letting them avoid quantitative ideas," said Mathematics Prof. Peter Hinman, chair of the task force. "We want to provide some courses that will make it easier for the math-avoiders to get back into See LSA, Page 2 Students protest Clinton Haitian policy by Scot Woods Daily Staff Reporter Angry University students will begin a hunger strike and publicity blitz today to protest the Clinton administration's refusal to admit HIV-positive Haitian refugees to the United States. "We want to call attention to the injustice and inhumane things that the Clinton administration is doing to Haitians at Guantanamo Bay," said Law School student Kathy Wordlaw, a spokesperson for the protesters. The fast begins at noon with a rally on the steps of the Law Library and will continue through next Wednesday, with events scheduled for each day. Protesters will wear black arm- bands bearing the number 264 to represent the number of Haitians being detained in Guantanamo, Cuba. Black pin-on patches will be available for supporters who do not participate in the hunger strike. The events are being organized by members of the Michigan Law School's Haitian Refugee Project and the Black Law Students' Alliance (BLSA). The protest began March 3 at Yale University, coincidentally where Clinton received his law de- gree. Students at Harvard and Brown then continued the protest for a week each. The protesters charge the Clinton administration with knowingly act- ing in violation of U.S. law. They claim that the administration's re- fusal to allow the refugees to apply for political asylum based on their HIV status is illegal. The Haitians have been identified as political refugees by the Immigration and Naturalization Service, Wordlaw said. Wordlaw said she works with Haitians in East Lansing who have already been admitted to the United States. They are awaiting processing for political asylum. The Haitians at Guantanamo de- serve these rights, she said, "The only difference is that they are HIV-positive." According to Wordlaw, under in- ternational law the Haitians can't be returned to Haiti because they have "well-founded fear" of political persecution. Students said the reason they chose a hunger strike was to parallel the hunger strike being held by the Haitians at Guantanamo Bay. The Haitians have been fasting since Jan. 29. Daniel Varner, BLSA vice-chair and a member of the Haitian See HUNGER, Page 2 Here is a tentative schedule of events this week related to the hunger strike and protest: Wednesday 3/24: Opening rally on the Law Library steps at noon; reception to follow at Haven Lounge Thursday 3/25: Film: "Killing of the Dream," a documentary on conditions in Haiti;. Law Quad; room and time TBA Friday 3/26: Telephone campaign to Senators and Representatives Sunday 3/28: Panel Discussion on Haiti by members of the National Lawyers' Guild; 9:30 a.m.; Hutchins Hall, Law Quad 'U' student selected to serve on March of Dimes national council Housing or Dance may affect Greeks by Jonathan Berndt Daily City Reporter The Ann Arbor Planning Commission tackled the tedious task of technical language n a proposed ordinance change that could affect the Greek system in its working session last night. The city officials are trying to eliminate loopholes and ambiguity in the proposal after more than a year- and-a-half of writing drafts and lis- tening to community input and complaints. "The main thing is the Planning Commission has been struggling with the issue of Special Exception Uses," said Karen Hart, the city's planning director. "There's been friction between neighborhoods and these particular uses (fraternity and sorority houses). The staff wanted to make the regulations more clear about what you have to do and when." Special Exception Uses are de- fined in the ordinance as measures taken by the Planning Commission to assure that proposed land uses are compatible with others in the area, the natural features of the site and availability of public services and facilities." Joe Foster, the fraternity coordi- nator at the University, said the pro- cess had seen concerns from the Greeks and the neighborhood residents. "We've been working on this for by Mona Qureshi Daily Feature Writer LSA first-year student Robyn Denson sips water from a March of Dimes glass. A March of Dimes poster child accompanies tennis star Andre Agassi on her dorm wall. Denson, who organized events such as Walk America, received the 1991 Volunteer Youth of the Year award and $1,000, but promptly donated the money to the March of Dimes. It comes as little surprise that Denson has recently been appointed to one of 15 posi- tions on the National Youth Council of the March of Dimes firth Defects foundation. An active resident of her Gainesville, Fla. hometown, Denson has been a force with the March of Dimes - a national vol- unteer organization aimed at preventing birth defects and infant mortality - since her sophomore year of high school. Denson said hr tn iur ivnlvrmnt with the nvni .,_- Hillary Clinton citizens of the year in Arkansas for their initiatives in birth defects research. One presidential success Denson dis- cusses is the lifting of the ban on fetal tissue research. Her responsibilities as a National Youth Council member include representing the March of Dimes at conferences and workshops, and coordinating activities at high schools. Denson will join the March of Dimes by beginning a national campaign for educational and fundraising programs for high school students. Denson has prior experience with orga- nizing. In high school she served as a chair for the Chain Reaction program, a part of the March of Dimes aimed at increasing the level of high school volunteers nationally. Denson has trimmed the number of ac- tivities she is involved in while at the T Tnivyrit in nrar n Atinc t on rmlan Eif - SHI LSA first-year student Robyn Denson, a member of the March of Dimes national council, works at her job in Ann Arbor. I I