2 il IWt One hundred four years of editorial freedom I Russian troops storrepub I; Newsday * MOSCOW -Russian troops surged into the breakaway republic of Chechnya yesterday in an effort to stamp out a three-year-old separatist rebellion by leaders of the volatile, oil-rich region. As columns of tanks and troops streamed in from three directions, Chechen leader Dzhokhar Dudayev warned that the action could turn the entire North Caucusus region of southern Russia into a bloodbath. Russian television reported that as many as 40,000 troops were in- volved, and news agencies said late last night that at least one of the three columns had come within a dozen miles of Grozny, 40 miles inside the Chechnya border. The Itar-Tass news agency said warplanes appeared over the outskirts of the capital and that * bomb explosions were heard there. Two brief clashes were reported, with local news saying four people had been killed and more than 10 wounded. The reports could not im- mediately be confirmed. Officials from the Russian Defense Ministry insisted the troops would not storm Grozny, a city of 400,000. The two sides were scheduled to negotiate today in Vladikavkaz in the Russian region of North Ossetia. In Moscow, the action was criticized by politicians from all but the most hard- See RUSSIA, Page 2 Conflict may be a long one Los Angeles Times MOSCOW - Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin has never been known to shy away from conflict, but in sending troops yesterday to subdue the fiery Muslims of the breakaway republic of Chechnya, he may have picked the nastiest fight of his life. Consider his opponents. Chechen men tend to feel un- dressed without their side arms. They wage protracted blood feuds among. their powerful clans. The very name of their capital city, Grozny, means "terrible" or "thunderous" in Russian. The best-known Russian line about the Chechens, written by 19th century poetMikhail Lermontov, is, "Thecruel Chechen is crawling up the riverbank and sharpening his knife." When Chechen Foreign Minis- ter Shamsedin Yusef said yesterday that "they cannot kill every Chechen; there are more than 1 million of us,, and every one of us will fight," it did not sound like empty rhetoric. Of course, Caucasian daggers are no match for the might of a former superpower. But even if the See WAR, Page 2 Feli =avi d MOLLY STVENS/Daily A little girl breaks a pinata at Friday's Posada celebration. See story, Page 3. U'revamps commercement By LISA DINES Daily Staff Reporter Returning to a former tradition, the University will hold a combined spring commencement for all under- graduates in Michigan Stadium. Provost Gilbert R. Whitaker Jr., said the stadium ceremony allows a single, more prominent commence- ment speaker to address all graduates. "I think, by and large, all the un- dergraduates want the chance to hear a big-name speaker so a combined commencement makes that possible," he said. University alum and cartoonist Cathy Guisewite addressed graduates at last year's LSA spring commence- ment. The University will announce this year's speaker in early April. Since 1989, University policy has been that each college or school hold its own commencement. During this time, LSA has held its ceremony in the sta- dium. Prior to 1989, commencement was a University-wide event for all undergraduates and graduate students. Departing from policy, Univer- sity-wide ceremonies also were held in1991 for President George Bush and 1993 for First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton. In addition to Bush, President Lyndon Johnson addressed graduates in 1965. Vice President for University Re- lations Walter Harrison said the Uni- versity switched to single college cer- emonies because "a lot of graduates of small colleges wanted a smaller setting ... and the commencements were getting a little rowdy." See SPRING, Page 2 University announces MLK Day activities S Symposium on student activism to be led by BSU head By ZACHARY M. RAIMI Daily Staff Reporter After more than 10 months of preparation, the University's Martin Luther King Day Symposium Plan- ning Committee released its sched- uled events today. The events will take place during the week of the late civil rights leader's birthday, Jan. 16. This year's theme is "Conflict and Communities: The Struggle for Ra- cial Justice." Michael Jones-Coleman, coordinator of MLK Day, said the theme was selected to study the "role conflict has in any functional com- munity (and how to work) through these conflicts for the betterment of the community." Benjamin L. Hooks, former direc- tor of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, will be the keynote speaker. There will be two performances by singing groups and three panel discussions. In a highly publicized event last year, the Black Student Union (BSU) boycotted the symposium, because in part they said that the University was placing too much emphasis on aca- demic programming, and too little on the activism the day was founded upon. "The 1994 Martin Luther King symposium fails to honor the history of activism out of which the sympo- sium was created," wrote last year's BSU speaker Alethea Gordon in a letter that was published in The Michi- gan Daily last January. The University has added an addi- tional symposium to focus on student activism. "The Legacy of Student Ac- tivism at the University of Michigan" will focus on the history of student protest in the civil rights movement. Nina Smith, speaker of the BSU, is scheduled to moderate the discus- sion. A few of the members of the original movement are scheduled to speak at the panel. The University began observing the holiday in 1989, after pressure from the third Black Action Move- ment (BAM). The original BAM be- gan in 1970, and the second one was formed in 1975. Their purpose was to pursue solutions to issues concerning Black University students. Reached by telephone yesterday evening, Smith would not comment. In an interview with the Daily in October, Jones-Coleman said the com- mittee is not planning within an aca- demic or activist framework. "We're trying instead to develop a very strong See MLK, Page 2 'U' students protest Prop. 187 1 arrested A man digs a grave at the Muslim cemetery of Alifakovac, which overlooks Sarajevo yesterday. bSerbs hijack U.N. convoy; strikes e ed The Washington Post ZAGREB, Croatia - Bosnian Serb forces hijacked a U.N. fuel con- voy at gunpoint and announced they were banning the U.N. operation from escorting aid across their lines, U.N. officials said yesterday. Michael Williams, chief spokes- man for the U.N. mission in the Balkans, charged that the Serbs' re- newed harassment of peacekeepers was an attempt to provoke an incident with the United Nations. A U.N. official said officials were considering calling on NATO to re- spond with overflights or airstrikes, but fears were so high that the Serbs would respond by killing U.N. soldiers that "basically our hands are tied." In Sarajevo, U.N. military spokes- man Col. Jan-Dirk Merveldt said Bosnian Serb soldiers grabbed three fuel tankers in a Danish convoy as it attempted to enter Sarajevo Saturday. The action came after several days *in which it looked like Bosnian Serb forces were easing pressure on the United Nations. Last week, after Brit- ain and France threatened to with- draw their peacekeepers, the Serbs See BOSNIA, Page 2 By KATIE HUTCHINS Daily Staff Reporter About 200 people rallied on the Diag and marched to the Federal Building Friday afternoon to protest California's Proposition 187. One stu- dent participant was arrested. The protest was organized by M- STOP-187, a coalition of University student groups who are fighting Proposition 187, a recently approved California initiative that restricts ac- cess to public services for illegal im- migrants. "We're just trying to show that there's people up here in the Midwest that care," said LSA sophomore Angelo Cisneros of Sigma Lambda Beta, the Latino fraternity. Proponents of the law argue the restrictions would deter the influx of illegal immigrants into the state - particularly from Mexico. Among the social services that would be denied are non-emergency medical and pub- lic education. The law currently is being chal- 32 students win Rhodes From Staff and Wire Reports LOS ANGELES -A record num- ber of women were named Rhodes scholars yesterday for the third straight year, again outnumbering men in the competition for prestigious scholar- ships to attend Oxford University. Eighteen women and 14 men will head to Oxford next fall, with plans to pursue studies in engineering, medi- cine, politics and theology, among other subjects. Seventeen women were named scholars last year and 16 women in 1992. The competition - created in 1902- was first opened to women in 1976. The program's criteria include high academic achievement, integ- rity, leadership and athletic prowess, See RHODES, Page 3 For a list of Rhodes scholars nationwide see Page 3. lenged in the courts. The march began with a rally on the Diag at noon. The students chanted slogans including "People united will never be defeated" in Spanish and marched to the Union, Cisneros said. The marchers continued north on State Street and down Liberty to the Fed- eral Building to hold a rally there. Several shivering students said they were surprised with the turnout, considering the cold weather and pending finals. "I was really impressed in spite of the snow and the sleet and the cold," said M-STOP-187 member and So- cial Work grad student Sara Shuffler. Sociology grad student Mike Dreiling of the Student Labor Action Committee and the Graduate Employ- ees Organization, two groups that at- tended the protest, said he was im- pressed with the "remarkable sense of solidarity across different student groups" who gathered "to show that this kind of political scapegoating is See RALLY, Page 2 Now TV Over the weekend, Detroit's television stations did some network flipping. More changes will follow when Channel 50 joins the new Paramount network and Channel 20 signs on with Warner Bros. Was: Channel 2 Now: Channel 62, which is cable number 13 in Ann Arbor. Top Shows, some with new times: The Late Show, 11 p.m. 60 Minutes Murphy Brown Northern Exposure 48 Hours Picket Fences Was: Channel 50 lNow: Channel 2, which is cable bnmber 2 in Ann SArbor. Top Shows: Melrose Place The Simpsons NFL Football Martin New York Undercover' The X -Files Networks change channels By KELLY FEENEY Daily Staff Reporter Were you confused last night, un- able to find "60 Minutes" on televi- sion? Did you find it surprising that the "NFL on Fox" was on Channel 2? Well, couch 'taters, you'd better get used to it. CBS and Fox Broadcasting have changed channels in the biggest net- work realignment to hit the Detroit area. Channel 2 (WJBK-TV) has switched from CBS to the Fox net- work and formerly independent Chan- nel 62 (WGPR-TV) will now broad- cast CBS programs. Former Fox af- filiate Channel 50 (WKBD-TV) will become part of the Paramount net- work, which begins in mid-January. Channel 2 had been home to CBS for more than four decades. Yet this past summer, Rupert Murdoch, owner of Fox Broadcasting, made a bold See NETWORKS, Page 2 FUN IN THE SNOW 'U' begins national search for By RONNIE GLASSBERG Daily Staff Reporter The University has begun a na- tional search for a new secretary of the University - the principal liaison between the administration and the Board of Regents. "The position serves both the ex- ecutive officers and the Board of Re- gents. He's responsible for preparing the agenda for the board meetings. A lot of that stuff is important to the. legal record of the University," said Jon Cosovich, deputy to the presi- dent, who will head the review of applications. The position opened with the sum- mer retirement of Richard L. Kennedy, who also served as vice president for government relations. Since then, Harold R. Johnson, dean of the School of Social Work from 1981-1993, has Iaan cirvr nn an n .ntarn IOci - secretary management," Cosovich said. "Ob- viously, it is very important that the person knows something about the issues in higher education." Regent Rebecca McGowan (D- Ann Arbor) said the position is criti- cal to the University. "If done right, this is an important, although not exclusive, vehicle for the communication of ideas between the members of the Board of Regents and the people responsible for man- aging the University," McGowan said. "Part of their job would be to look at every issue that comes up before the University that is on a regental level." The secretary is responsible for developing close working relation- ships among the executive officers See SEARCH, Page 2 IN-SIDE a sI s .. . I.} te. . . .