The Michigan Daily - Tuesday. February 8. 1994 - 3 ...,., ....,.r._,_.........,.,... ..... .....v. ... .... _...4.... .,. . ,...,...... r ....., ... . J ... .v..... .. *Sikh community challenges 'U' s program LSA-SG to choose new rep. for MSA By MARIA KOVAC FOR THE DAILY About 20 members of the Sikh community carried signs outside the Rackham Building in a peaceful pro- test Saturday, claiming the Univer- sity had ignored their interests. The Sikh protesters organized the demonstration in protest of an aca- demic meeting of scholars from both within and outside of the University's Sikh Studies Program. The Sikh religion, rooted in the Islamic and Hindu faiths, originated in northwest India. The group, protesting while the meeting was in progress, claimed that while members were not invited, many of them had donated funds to the program. Lee Schlesinger, program direc- tor of the Center for South and South- eastern Asian Studies Program, said the protesters may have believed the conference was funded by Sikh Stud- ies Association, to which they had contributed. However, he said the three-day conference was sponsored by the University's International Institute, the National Institute of Punjab Stud- ies in New Delhi and the Asian Stud- ies Center of Michigan State Univer- sity. "(The protesters) assumed the money came from the Sikh Studies Association and therefore the com- munity at large should have been in- formed of the conference." Schlesinger added that due to the limited space, the Center for South and Southeastern Asian Studies de- cided to invite only those with aca- demic credentials. The protesters said their anger stemmed from discontent with the teachings of the University Sikh Stud- ies Program and the selection of mem- bers chosen to sit on the program's board as representatives of the Sikh community. . Gurmukh Singh said he contrib- uted $4,000 to the $400,000 fund used to provide an opening on the program's board for a Sikh commu- nity member. Singh and other Sikhs said they are dissatisfied with the man chosen by the University to be on the pro- gram board, Pushaura Singh - no relation to Gurmukh Singh. The protesters claimed that Pushaura Singh's views on the Sikh culture are not in accordance with those of other members of the Sikh community. Pushaura Singh said Sunday that the protester's claims were not justi- fied. "They have not sat in my class," he said. Gurmukh Singh is not only a fi- nancial contributor but also a con- cerned parent; his son is a University student in the Sikh Studies Program. But Singh feels the teachings of the program are questionable and insists it is "damaging toward the youth." He added that, "These teachings are turning (the younger) generation against us." Schlesinger said this is a sensitive issue that the center is trying to handle. Baldeu Singh protests the University's Sikh Studies Program Saturday. By RONNIE GLASSBERG DAILY STAFF REPORTER No, MSA's spring elections have not come early this year. But within the next week LSA Student Government (LSA-SG) will determine the newest representative to the Michigan Student Assembly. An LSA-SG committee will de- cide who will fill an open LSA posi- tion on MSA and then recommend it to approval to LSA-SG as a body. The seat opened after Scott Ferber, an LSA representative to MSA, accu- mulated the absence limit and was removed from the assembly. MSA Rules and Elections Chair BrianElliott said assembly members are removed after 12 absences. As- sembly members can obtain two ab- sences for each weekly meeting be- cause of a roll call at the beginning and end of the meeting. They also accumulate absences for not com- pleting one hour of MSA work during a two-week period. The MSA Rules and Elections Committee monitors absences and after 12 the committee automatically removes the faulted member from the assembly, Elliot said. LSA-SG Rep. Michelle Ferrarese, who chairs the LSA-SG appointments committee, will fill the position along with three other LSA-SG representa- tives. Ferrarese also serves as an LSA representative to MSA. After reviewing applications, the committee recommends a candidate to LSA-SG as a whole. "Pretty much the people they rec- ommend do get appointed, but the entire government does have the final say," said LSA-SG President Ryan Boeskool. The person selected will serve the remainder of Ferber's term, which ends in April '"Basically, it's completely up to (LSA-SG)," Elliott said. "It's left up to the student government because they're assumed to be the representa- tive body of that school." Those who have turned in applica- tions for the open seat are senior Jeff Alexander, LSA-SG Rep. Mike Christie Jr., Michigan Collegiate Coa- lition (MCC) Gov. Conan Smith and junior Dante Stella, Ferrarese said. All the current applicants have ties to the assembly. Both Christie and Alexander served as MSA representatives last term, but lost for re-election as Michi- gan Party candidates. As MCC gov- ernor, Smith attends the weekly meet- ings of the assembly, and is appointed by MSA. Although he does not hold an MSA position, Stella frequently addresses the assembly on a variety of issues. carefully and explained that Pushaura Singh's theories are based on a mod- ern school of thought. "Whenever you try to apply modern scholarly tech- niques to ancient religions people are going to disapprove. It happens in all religions," he said. The protesters were suspicious of a "hidden agenda" because of what they understood to be a closed-door meeting Saturday. Schlesinger said the conference was never closed but simply a meet- ing of scholars rather than the general community. "We were never going to check IDs or credentials at the door. ... We weren't going to turn away anyone," he said. Applicants expressed interest for a number of reasons. Alexander said he is planning on graduating April and would love to finish his college career on the assem- bly. Because of his campaign for LSA- SG vice president, Christie said he could not devote the time needed for his MSA campaign and lost for re- election by a narrow margin. "I wanted to get back involved with MSA," he said. While Smith said he has been in- volved in the assembly for a while, he has never held an MSA seat. He said, "We need to be doing more projects that involve students specifically." Stella said, "I'd like to bring a little bit of reform to MSA specifi- cally in the area of ethics." He said as a constituent he has little impact on assembly issues. As a member of MSA and LSA- SG, Ferrarese is familiar with all the applicants. "Unfortunately, I do know all these people and it's going to make it really hard to be objective," she said. Despite the work of the current applicants, Ferrarese said she would like the applicant pool to contain a broader range of people. "It's really a concern that there are no women or minorities applying for the position," she said. Ferrarese also said she would like to see people apply beyond those currently involved in student government. While Ferrarese said she wants to fill the position by the end of this week, students can still apply for the position in LSA-SG offices, located on the fourth floor of the Michigan Union. Surgeon General endorses bans on smoking WASHINGTON (AP) - The U.S. surgeon general and five of her predecessors endorsed legisla- tion yesterday to protect nonsmok- ers, through severe smoking re- strictions in virtually every non- residential building in the country. A tobacco industry representa- tive denounced the proposal asgov- ernment "social engineering on a vast scale." The conflicts expressed before the House Energy and Commerce health and environment subcom- mittee resembled debates years ago over the effects of tobacco on smok- ers. But this time, the issue was passive, or secondhand smoke. An Environmental Protection Agency report in January 1993 classified cigarette smoke as a can- cer agent more dangerous than ar- senic or radon. It said secondhand smoke causes 3,000 lung cancer deaths annually in adults and as many as 300,000 cases of bronchi- tis and pneumonia in children. "I say now, as I said nearly a decade ago, it is my judgment that the time for delay is passed," testi- fied Dr. C. Everett Koop, perhaps the best known former surgeon gen- eral. "Measures to protect the public health are required now." The current surgeon general, Dr. Joycelyn Elders, joined other witnesses in expressing concern over the effect of secondhand smoke on children. Hacker helps teens, parents deal with sex By RACHEL SCHARFMAN DAILY STAFF REPORTER "More teens have sex now and more do so openly," writes Sylvia Hacker bluntly in her straightforward guide to teens and parents, "What Every Teenager Wants to Know About Sex." With a background in Biology and a Ph.D. in contraceptive use, Hacker - a recent School of Nursing retiree and University professor emeritus - has collected her exploratory studies of young, mostly college-level adults into the guide which address the most popular questions adolescents have * about sex. In efforts to deconstruct the "my- thology which encompasses sexual- ity,",Hacker questioned sexually ac- tive college dormitory residents and visited Planned Parenthood clinics where she conducted in-depth inter- views with 20 men and 20 women. Battling what she termed to as the "head in the sand" contingent required dismantling many "antiquated," and "puritanical" ideals that many teens are taught by their parents. Often, says Hacker, these parents are in de- nial about the fact that their teen may be sexually active. "When their parents ask what we talk about, they are often shocked to hear how much their children know - and don't know - about sexual- ity, and how much they, as parents, don't know about what their kids are doing sexually." To close the generation gap, Hacker addresses parents' fears as well as those of her teen readers. "What's normal?" "What about con- traception?" "What about being gay?" and "What about love?" are among the chapter titles. The chapters are devoted to answering the most fre- quently asked questions, such as "How do you fake an orgasm?" "What if your boyfriend says 'you would if you loved me'?"and other often stress- ful inquiries. Hacker chose simple explanations for these and other complex ques- tions. Responding to the question, "How do you know when you're in love? she says, "Look for the FACCTS - friendship, ability to commit and compromise, trust and self esteem." Citing a "lack of defining what sexuality is" as one of the main prob- lems in dealing with adolescent rela- tionships, Hacker emphasizes in the book that sexuality involves more than intercourse - a misconception that she says often leads to hasty deci- sions. Hacker, in her efforts to end this confusion emphasizes that "Today parents can't afford to be ignorant of their children's sexual activity," con- sidering that "Today's teens aren't asking, 'Shouldwe have sex?' They're asking 'when (on which date) will we have sex?" Continuing her work in this field, Hacker has recently begun writing a bitweekly column for The Detroit Free Pressentitled, "Let's Talk About Sex." 'U' College Bowl members come home as 'winningest team in the '90s' By JESSICA CHAFFIN DAILY STAFF REPORTER ' College Bowl, the popular televi- sion quiz show of the 1960s and 1970s is still thriving, and the University's seam is living proof. Though the show is no longer tele- vised, schools from around the coun- try continue the tradition by compet- ing in regional tournaments. The University's team upset 22 teams from 12 schools to place first overall in a ournament held at the University of Wisconsin-Madison this weekend. The culmination of these lesser tournaments are Regionals and the Nationals, which are held annually. Western Michigan will host the Regionals the weekend of Feb. 25, while the Nationals will be held at the University of Florida-Gainesville in April. Last weekend's win came as no surprise, as the team has an impres- sive two-year record of 33-0 at Regionals, and 31-14 at Nationals. Team Captain Brian Kalt, an LSA senior and "Teen Jeopardy!" veteran, said this record makes it "the winningest team in the '90s." "We may not be the football team, but we're still proud to represent the school," Kalt added. The University's College Bowl program consists of nine players who are divided into two teams. The A team consists of five players, two staple members, and three who alter- nate in competition. The remaining four players comprise the B team. Team members are selected from the winners of the campus-wide Col- lege Bowl tournament held each fall. This year the team chose to draft an additional squad because it will be losing four senior players. LSA junior and B-team member John Motherwell said he enjoyed his involvement in the tournament. "This was a great baptism by fire to see how it really works, and we hope to carry on the tradition in years to come," he said. The talent of the University's team is certain. Team Coach Kevin Olmstead, an assistant professor of environmental engineering at the Uni- versity of Detroit-Mercy and future "Jeopardy!" contestant commented, "Coaching this team is really easy because I don't have to do much. They pretty much coach themselves." First-year Law and Rackham stu- dent David Frazee played College Bowl for two years at Stanford before joining the University's team. "I've been watching national tournaments for a number of years, and have been participating for three. This is the best team I have seen in that time." Frazee said. Amazing as it may seem, the team stressed the fact that it does not take the competition nearly as seriously as other schools, and that this is basically a recreational activity for its members. Group Meetings U American Movement for Is- rael, Hillel, 1429 Hill St., 7 p.m. U Amnesty International, Michi- gan Union, Welker Room, 7:30 p.m. U Arab-American Students' As- sociation, Arabic conversation hour, Amer's on State, 8:30p.m. U Chinese Student Association, Michigan Union, Room 2209, 7:30 p.m. U Folk Dance Club, ethnic line dancing (no partner needed), North Campus Commons, Atrium, 7:30 p.m. Q Saint Mary Student Parish, Catholic update, 331 Thomp- son, 7 p.m. U Southwest Detroit Student As- sembly Meeting, Michigan T T~ninj Rnntv 1 AAOQ0n Planning and Placement, 3200 Student Activities Building, 6:10-7 p.m. U Career Pathways in Econom- ics, sponsored by Career Plan- ning and Placement, Michigan Union, Kuenzel Room, 6-7:30 p.m. U Career Pathways in Political Science, sponsored by Career Planning and Placement, Michi- gan Union, Pendelton Room, 6:10-7:30 p.m. U High School Students in Bening and Taipei, speaker: Harold Stevenson, sponsored by the Center for Chinese Studies, Lane Hall Commons , noon. U Mary Morris, reading from her work, sponsored by the Depart- ment of English, Rackham Amphitheater, 4 p.m. Union, Room 1209, 9 p.m. U Starting Your Job Search, sponsored by Career Planning and Placement, North Campus Commons, 4:10-5 p.m. Q The Civil war And Reconstruc- tion: Revolution In The United States, sponsored by SPARK, MLB, Room B122, 7- 8 p.m. Q The Philippines After The American Military With- draw, speaker: Ben Bandico, International Lunch Forum, In- ternational Center, noon. Student services U 76-GUIDE, peer counseling phone line, call 76-GUIDE, 7 p.m.-8 a.m. Q Campus Information Center, Michigan Union, 763-INFO; 1 i I