The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, January 19, 1994 -3 .Inheated exchange, D'Souza, Walters debate need for multiculturalism By LARA TAYLOR DAILY STAFF REPORTER Heated words were thrown back and forth in a debate sponsored by LSA Student Government last night at Rackham Auditorium. Dinesh D'Souza of the American Enterprise Institute and Ron Walters, professorof political science at Howard University, grappled with the question of multiculturalism in society and in American education. '"The dominant group in America today is the white majority," Walters said. "It is this group that has the politi- cal power. The attitudes that this ma- jority holds has power, and institutions must deal with the impact of these attitudes." Walters went on to say that univer- sities, such as the University must "provide the resources to learn about cultures other than Western cultures and allow people to learn about the root of their culture.' D'Souza offered a more conserva- tive viewpoint. "We are more color conscious than ever now," he said. "Schools do not teach Isaac Newton because he was white. We learn his concepts of phys- ics, and his race does not take away from that." D' Souza added that the only way to progress was to "create laws and rules that appeal to the common good, not to a specific minority group. You can't fight white power with Black power. You can't fight old bigotry with new bigotry." Michael Cushie, LSA Student Gov- ernment member and event coordina- tor, said he felt the debate was very successful. "We wanted to use a public forum to address multiculturalism, especially in a curriculum," he said. "The purpose was to challenge the mind and open various ways to think of this issue."' He pointed out that D'Souza has written extensively on race and sex issues affecting college campuses. Walters has been a staffer for the Con- gressional Black Caucus and was deputy manager of the Rev. Jesse Jackson's 1984 presidential campaign. He added that Walters fought with the University's Black Student Union for recognition of Martin Luther King Jr. Day several years ago. "So both are very qualified and very interesting speakers," Cushie said. Walters and D'Souza became more heated as the debate continued. D'Souza said, "The multicultural movement believes that Western cul- ture is bigoted and oppressive. When schools teach other cultures, they tend to look at them as alternatives to West- ern cultures. I believe schools should teach other cultures, but teach them objectIvely, w ith all their own bigot- ries and problemns. not as oppressed by western society." Walters took a deep calming breath before answering. "We can't ignore over half of the world. There is a need for respect of other cultures if we are to deal with other cultures on an eco- nomic basis. We cannot ignore these cultures in the name of content. We need to teach students about other cul- tures and get perspective from these cultures."* TFf e i nts S*tude feel Y} i 3- } f F "C '.::4iiiiiiir 2 }'?, j L M, z, 4 : 4 Y at. M t of ake Y. P By TEDRA WHITE FOR THE DAILY Monday's earthquake, which claimed at least 34 lives and caused -millions of dollars in property damage, *has touched the lives of many Univer- sity students thousands of miles from home. Overwhelming feelings of fear and terror filled students from the southern California area upon learning of the massive destruction and the many lives that had been taken. Concern for loved ones sent stu- dents scrambling to telephones. Sev- eral students panicked after not being *able to contact family and friends. "The lines were disconnected not allowing any calls in, only outgoing calls," said LSA sophomore Stephanie Seibel. Seibel has friends who attend the- University of California at Los Angeles she has still not heard from. Some students, after getting through, were anxious to find out if family members and friends had sur- 'vived the frightening experience. LSA sophomore Chris Mordy said, "My family's fine. I was relieved that ev- eryone was alright." Engineering sophomore David Miller learned his family's situation was not as good. "Everything that you could imagine falling over did; there was broken glass all over the kitchen and bathroom. Some of my neighbors' roofs have collapsed," Miller said. Craig Forrest, a southern Califor- nia resident whose brother is at the University, felt the quake first-hand. "There have been 40 or more large aftershocks, but it seems to be dying down," Forrest said. Although he and his family were' not affected by the quake, Forrest is aware of the inconve- niences they will face traveling due to the severe damage to the freeways. The fear of losing loved ones is one of many feelings students have faced during this tragedy. Many students have experienced sadness over the destruc- tion of the quake and feel sorry for those who must try to put their lives back together. O e dr s e ,,ne efr State , of the Stat LANSING (AP) -- Gov. John Engler promised to keep criminals be - hind bars and put welfare recipients to Ii a r for this gubernatorial election year last night. j N "ded on In his fourth State of the State ad- dress, Engler boasted the state was leading the national economic recov- sub stan ce ery because of his lower tax policies. "yfins ihgni ak"h said after reeling off a string of positive economic statistics. of spe,'ech Engler sounded upbeat while re- minding voters of his accomplishments. LANSING (AP) .- Republi-~ He claimed to have brought the state cans applauded Gov. John Engler's back from the brink of fiscal disaster by State of the State address last night. eliminating a $1.8 billion budget deft- asrcflectiveofMichigan'simprov- cit while cutting taxes. igcniin hl eort The governoralso delivered astrong cingecodih utionchiw hleDm ias sales pitch for a March 15 vote on a creindnwasnjutluingmisti oe proposal to raiserelcinbdoanptmscnt. the sales tax too6I "1 thought it was a good speech;. percetfromper-the trend in Michigan is upward,"., center isaid Sen. William Van cent.nrtr(RJnio) "The ballot ~Rgnotr(-eio) plan is the right 'It's the Engler agenda for the plan. It'sbetter fora fal l campaign." said Rep. Lynn job roviers.Bet-Jondaihi (D-Okemos) and a candi- ter or ome-wn-date for cgovernor. ers. Better for "1 don't think I've ever heard a~ families. On speech that was more of a reelee- March 15, a 'yes' Engler tion speech," said former U.S. Rep. vote is better for Michigan," he said. Howard Wolpe, a Democratic gu- Engler criticized as a disaster the bernatorialcandidatefMrmLansing.: alternative to the ballot proposal. That's W'olpe said angler was trying: an income tax increase that will go into to overcome his reputation as a* effect if voters reject the tax increase. "tremecndously divisive, and con- "Thanks to your actions last year, frontational force" in state politics. Michigan children will benefit from "The issue is not the speech he. historic reforms of our schools and the gave. The issue is the way he gov-. way we pay for them," he said. erns," Wolpe said. Council approves measure, to tow cars after 4 tickets, AP PHOTO A Los Angeles resident wades through a sea of groceries, in the wake of Monday's earthquake, which killed at least 34 and cost millions in damage. Angelenos without. power, water after quake LOS ANGELES (AP) - Under skies as bright and blue as ever, South- ern Californians confronted a changed world yesterday. The defining features of this eegon's life - water, power and free- *ways - were suddenly uncertain. In their place: long lines, hellish com- mutes and constant earthquake after- shocks. A 16th body was found inside a flattened apartment building in Northridge, near the epicenter of Monday's powerful earthquake, bringing the death toll from the quake to 34. *6 "The days ahead will also be rough for us," Mayor Richard Riordan warned Angelenos, even as he praised them for a cool-headed response to the crisis. "Let's all stick together." A snapshot of a region in crisis yesterday: Many offices, schools and stores were closed, and workers were urged to stay home. The closure of four of the nation's busiest freeways still made commuting a frustrating adven- ture. Aftershocks, some as strong as 5 on the Richter scale, continued to jolt the region. About 100,000 homes remained without power, and between 50,00 and 100,000 were without water, al- ,most all of them in the hard-hit San Fernando Valley. The Department of Water and Power said it could be a week or more before water was re- stored. About 20,000 people were camping in parks, the Department of Parks and Recreation said. About 100 building engineers and inspectors fanned out across the damaged area, but no preliminary es- timate on the number of buildings damaged was immediately available. More than 2,000 National Guard soldiers were mobilized; many could be seen patrolling the San Fernando Valley, guns at their sides. After a dusk-to-dawn curfew, police reported about 75 arrests over- night for crimes such as robbery and curfew violation. California Governor Pete Wilson said it would take up to a year to rebuild fallen bridges that carry Inter- state 10, the Santa Monica freeway, over surface streets in Los Angeles. Several hundred thousand people a day use the Santa Monica Freeway, making it the nation's busiest high- way. Near the fallen bridges yester- day morning, traffic crawled on Fairfax Avenue at a rate of about four blocks per hour. MSA agrees to go to arbitration with AATIU, 2 0-10 By RONNIE GLASSBERG DAILY STAFF REPORTER Mediation is better a than a lawsuit. That's the decision members of the *Mchigan Student Assembly came to during last evening's meeting. The as- sembly approved a resolution agreeing to mediation with the Ann Arbor Ten- ants Union (AATU) 20-10 with two abstentions. The pro-student tenant organiza- tion has struggled with the assembly since September when MSA consid- ered cutting AATU funding almost cmpletely. 0* -The assembly, which provides the AATU with $24,000 or half of its yearly budget, put the money in an escrow account after a dispute over MSA's annual appointments to the AATU Board of Directors. AATU's bylaws give the assembly the authority to ap- point four of the nine-member AATU board. AATU staffer Pattrice Maurer said the bylaws of AATU permit the assem- bly to appoint only one MSA represen- tative and three students to its board. When MSA appointed three of their representatives to the AATU board and one other student, the AATU board refused to allow the MSA reprentati ves to serve on the board so the assembly froze AATU funding. In response to this, AATU filed three separate lawsuits with the Central Student Judiciary (CSJ), the court for the University student body. The MSA constitution forces the assembly to abide by all decisions of CSJ, which spends most of its time settling MSA election disputes. The mediation resolution states that MSA will agree to enter into arbitration at the Washtenaw Center for Dispute Resolution contingent upon written confirmation that the AATU will agree to abide by the results of the arbitration and upon AATU dropping all CSJ law- suits. Also, the resolution states that MSA will accept the decision of the arbitrator provided that AATU drops all lawsuits. Public Health Rep. Meg Whittaker, who proposed the resolution, said there will be no cost for the mediation, which is funded by the Michigan legislature. Not all assembly members saw, mediation as a solution. "I think going to arbitration is a bad idea," said LSA Rep. Jacob Stemn, who is one of the three MSA representatives who AATU refused to seat on its board. "In the past three years all the board members on the AATU have been MSA reps." Business Rep. Devon Bodoh said Stern opposed arbitration for other rea- sons. "What I hear out of Jacob (Stern) is fear. I sense he fears this because he knows he's wrong," Bodoh said. "The fact of the matter is we have to go through with arbitration. We shouldn't be playing this childish game ... and screwing all the tenants." Maurer said AATU is glad to be entering into mediation, but said she feels it is unfair, for AATU to have to lose its leverage of an additional law- suit before going into mediation. By JAMES NASH DAILY STAFF REPORTER Starting this spring, the worst news for parking violaters won't be slipped under windshield wipers. It will be stuffed in mailboxes. A deluge of notices will soon be mailed to drivers who have accumu- lated four or more unpaid parking tick- ets. Some 9,000 parking "scofflaws" will learn their vehicles are next in line for towing under a plan approved by the Ann Arbor City Council last night. A proposal by Councilmember Larry Hunter (D- 1st Ward) for an am- nesty program failed for lack of sup- port. Hunter said he may later reintro- duce his proposal. After an hour-long discussion, councilmembers approved the towing resolution in a 7-4 vote. Drivers with four or more unpaid tickets will be towed under the plan, which will be implemented in March. Currently, drivers who have accu- mulated six unpaid tickets are towed. Councilmember Robert Grady (D- 3rd Ward) introduced an amendment to allow low-income drivers to pay off their debts in phases. Grady said he proposed the amendment in the spirit of "equity and fairness to people." Grady withdrew his amendment after several councilmembers objected. "What about fairness to people who pay their parking tickets?" asked Councilmember Julie Creal (R-4th Ward). I U Corrections Minister Rasul Muhammad did not promote non-violence in his speech Monday at'the University. . photo of Ruth Ellis was incorrectly attributed in yesterday's Daily. *Alethea Gordon said this year's symposium did not focus on the activism of opressed groups but on multiculturalism and she emphasized that BSU was not protesting this year's theme, "'American Culture' or 'America - The Multicultural' ?" This was incorrectly attributed in yesterday's Daily. BINDERS, KEEPERS. Group Meetings U~ East Quad support group for lesbians, gay men, & bisexual people, call 764-3678 for info. U~ Juggling Club, Michigan Union, Anderson Room D, 7 p.m. SNinjutsu Club, IM Building, Room G21, 7:30-9 p.m, U~ Rotaract Club, Mitch's Place, 9 Ministry, 801 S. Forsest, 6-7 p.m. (soup supper preceding); evensong, 7 p.m. U~ May Department Stores- Fa- mous Barr, sponsored by Ca- reer Planning and Placement, Michigan Union, Room 1209, 10-4 p.m. U~ KGB Archives: The Struggle Rights, School of Education Building Lounge, 7 p.m. Q1 Writing Your Reseme, spon- sored by Career Planning and Placement, North Campus Commons, Boulevard Room, 5:10-6 p.m. U Writing Effective Cover Let- ters, sponsored by Career Plan- "'I r ! ., j 00 / v IE i'iu a i-, ~ i I&U V UL~ ~U~ 4CL1ILl (AT