2B - The Michigan Daily - SPORTSTuesday - Tuesday, January 16, 1996 _ __ Athlet-Departmentshould follow Unversity s attempt at dversity NATIONAL COLLEGE For 10 years now, America has celebrated the birthday of slain civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The holiday to me is a reminder of progress. Not just previous progress, but progress that still needs to be made. As part of the University Sympo- sium yesterday at Hill Auditorium, University President James J. Duderstadt spelled out the growth of students and faculty of color at Michigan. He said that the Univer- sity is at its highest enrollment of minority students ever - 25 percent. While other universities, particu- Aarly the University of California system, look to axe affirmative action programs, Duderstadt, to his credit, has stood firm on his pledge to the Michigan Mandate, the University's commitment to diversity. Some say that affirmative action programs are unfair discrimination and that society should go back to the way it used to be. If we went back to the way things used to be, I think we would all be in trouble. Mass riots, lynchings, cities on fire and other acts of violence are the way things used to be. Michigan has shown itself to be a leader in affirmative action pro- grams and deserves some praise. There is one area, though, that Michigan ANTOINE cannot applaud itself. There is Pits definitely a Stop lack of people of color coaching and administrating the school's athletic teams. What makes this so hard to believe is the sheer number of minority students at the University that participate in athletics. If you ever have a chance to look at a Michigan football or basketball program, you'll find something - quite remarkable. Look at the team rosters and you'll find a large number of minority athletes. But turn to the pages with the Univer- sity coaches and athletic administra- tors and you'll find very few African Americans. It's all right for the University to have minorities such as Chris Webber, Desmond Howard, Jalen Rose, Tyrone Wheatley, Tshimanga Biakabutuka, Maurice Taylor and others to be out on the field or court; however, there are few people of color in the front office. This is no different than the rest of the sporting world, where it's OK to have minorities on the field but few make it into coaching and management. That doesn't make it all right for Michigan to do it. Of the 24 head coaches at the University, a mere two are African Americans. You find few other minorities working in the athletic administra- tion office. The Athletic Department takes great pride in the strides it has made to come under compliance of Title IX, the Gender Equity Act. The See PITTS, Page 7B 1 { 2 1 I I Atlantic Coast Conference Conferencet Wake Forest 3-0 Georgia Tech 3-0 N. Carolina 3-1 Clemson 2-1 Virginia 2-2 N.C. State 1-2 Florida State 1-2 Maryland 0-3 t Duke 0-4 Overall 10-1 10-7 12-3 11-1 7-5 10-4 9-4 6-6 9-6 Atlantic 10 Conference Overall East Temple 4-0 Massachusetts 3-0 Rhode Island 1-1 St. Bonaventure 1-3 St. Joseph's Fordham West Virginia Tech G. Washington Xavier Dayton Lasalle Duquesne Big East 7 Georgetown Syracuse Pittsburgh Seton Hall Miami Fla. Rutgers Providence Big East 6 Connecticut Villanova Boston College St. John's Notre Dame West Virginia 0-1 0-3 2-0 2-0 2-1 1-2 0-2 0-3 7-6 14-0 9-4 5-7 4-5 2-9 9-1 8-3 6-6 9-5 3-10 5-7 Big Sky Montana Montana St. Boise St. Idaho St. Weber St. Idaho Northern Ariz. Eastern Wash. Big West Santa Barbara Long Beach St. Utah St. San Jose St. U.C. Irvine Nev.-Las Vegas Pacific Fullerton St. Nevada New Mexico St Conference U Red Division Ala.-Birmingha So. Mississippi Tulane South Florida White Division Memphis Louisville N.C. Charlotte Blue Division Cincinnati Marquette St. Louis DePaul Ivy League Pennsylvania Harvard Dartmouth Princeton Brown t. SA im Conference Overall 3-1 6-6 Oregon Washington Stanford Southern Cal Arizona Oregon State Washington State Arizona State 2-1 2-2 2-2 2-2 1-2 1-2 1-3 0-3 9-5 9-4 8-4 9-6 11-3 3-9 8-4 5-6 2-1 2-1 3-2 2-2 2-2 2-3 2-3 1-2 1-3 7-5 8-7 4-9 5-6 5-7 6-7 3-10 8-5 4-8 -i- . BASKETBALL STANDINGS Ball State 2-2 6-6 Conference Overall Kent T-3 7-5 2-0 12-3 Ohio 1-3 6-9 2-0 10-5 Central Mich. 1-3 4-8 2-0 6-8 Akron 0-4 3-9 2-0 5-7C 0-2 8-7 Pacific-10 Conference 0-2 5-7 Conference Overall 0-2 3-10 UCLA 4-0 11-3 0-2 2-11 California 3-1 8-4 Southeastern Conference Conference Conference Overall 2-1 2-1 1-2 0-3 12-5 8-6 7-5 7-6 East Kentucky Vanderbilt South Carolina. Georgia Florida Tennessee West Alabama LSU Auburn Mississippi St. Arkansas Mississippi Conference Overall 4-1 14-2 4-1 13-2 3-1 8-3 3-3 7-6 2-4 8-6 1-3 4-8 1-5 8-6 Conference Overall 6-0 14-1 5-1 13-2 4-2 11-3 1-3 7-5 0-5 5-7 0-5 5-7 4-0 2-2 2-2 1-2 1-2 1-3- 31 2-1 2-2 2-2 2-2 0-3 Overall 13-1 1l-5 8-4 10-3 6-7 7-6 9-3 9-5 14-3 10-3 9-5 5-7 3-0 11-2 2-1 10-6 2-1 8-5 Men's volleyball drops 5-set match to Western Michigan 3-0 1-1 0-3 0-3 Conference 3-0 3-1 3-1 2-1 0-2 0-2 0-2 0-2 11-0 9-3 8-5 7-7 Overall 4-5 10-5 8-5 9-5 5-8 4-8 4-10 3-8 Southwest Conference Conference Overall Texas Tech 2-0 '12-1 Houston 2-0 7-6 Texas 1-1 8-4 Rice 1-1 8-5 Baylor 1-1 6-8 Southern Methodist 1-1 5-8 Texas A&M 0-2 8-6 Texas Christian 0-2 9-7 Western Athletic Conference Conference Overall Big Eight Conference Conference By Mark Snyder Daily Sports Writer Exp'erience is the root of success - most of the time. But that is not the case with the Michigan men's volleyball team. Saturday night, the 1996 version of the Wolverines began to focus its en- ergy on the new season. Michigan faced Western Michigan looking to make a respectable show- ing, but it far exceeded those modest expectations. The Wolverines pushed the Bron- cos to the limit with a five-set thriller, culminating in a narrow Bronco vic- tory. Saturday was supposed to be a chance for Michigan to see what kind of team it had and to begin feeling its way as the Big Ten season approached. Saturday's defeat was more of a vic- tory. Western Michigan finished in the top five at last season's national cham- pionships, and returned all of its start- ers this season. Michigan was clearly overmatched but came through with a strong showing nonetheless. The Wolverines fell 16-14, 10-15, 15-11, 11-15, 15-9. Michigan played Western tougher than the players ex- pected. "The team looked really good and they played a lot better than we ex- pected," assistant coach Chad Sticlstra said. "We had them down 14-5 in game one and played solid in games two, three and four." The Wolverines return only one starter from last season's team, which finished fifth in the Midwest regional last year. Despite lacking experience, the squad is primed to compete in one of the most difficult conferences in the nation. The Big Ten is headed by perennial national powerhouse Michi- gan State, and tough from top to bot- tom. Illinois returns a strong team so the battle for supremacy is a tight race. Michigan's second-place confer- ence finish last year is reason for hope. Although most of the starters did not return, the high finish gives them a goal to match. "As soon as we get consistency, we should be one of the top teams in the Big Ten," captain Jamie Reynolds said. And that is no small feat. The Spar- tans bring their powerhouse to Ann Arbor this Wednesday night to face the Wolverines in their first confer- ence match. One reason for the lack of matches that these athletes have played in is the nature of the sport. With the exception of the East Coast, most of college men's volley- ball teams compete as a club team. The players attend a tryout and must earn a spot on the team year after year. The lack of scholarships hinders the cohesion from year to year. The team is a combination of new- comers mixed with a few returning players, but there is one constant. Michigan coach Kent Booker teaches fundamentals and controls practices. Because recruiting is not a part of his job, Booker is able to concentrate his efforts on the matches. Reynolds is the president of the team, and is responsible for making the schedule that the team follows. His dual responsibility of captain com- bines the leadership aspect onto the court. The sport allows everyone an equal opportunity to show off their talents despite not offering scholarships. These Wolverines are out to show their experience may make them more hungry than stale. Oklahoma Kansas Missouri Kansas State Iowa State Nebraska Oklahoma State Colorado 2-0 1-0 I-0 2-1 1-1 1-1 0-2 0-3 Overall 10-4 12-1 11-4 11-4 12-4 12-4 9-4 5-8 Yale Columbia Cornell Mid American Conference Eastern Mich. 4-Q Toledo 3-l Bowling Green 3-1 Western Mich. 3-1 Overall l1-1 10-5 8-4 5-7 San Diego St. Utah Colorado St. Fresno St. New Mexico BY U Texas-El Paso Wyoming Hawaii Air Force 4-1 3-1 3-1 3-1 3-2 2-2 2-3 1-3 1-4 8-4 11-3 9-4 9-5 13-2 8-5 10-4 7-7 4-9 Miami Ohio 2-2 10-2 4-4 4-9 Added offense may keep The Great One' in Los Angeles after all CHICAGO (AP) - Wayne Gretzky says the addition of two players who can provide much-needed offensive punch should be enough to keep him with the Los Angeles Kings. Speaking after almost a week of ru- mors that he is being traded - rumors the Kings deny - Gretzky said all talk will be laid to rest this week. He and his agent, Michael Barnett, are scheduled to meet with new team owners Edward Roski and Philip Anschutz today. "We're going to meet and we'll know after that," Gretzky said after Sunday's 5-2 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks. "After (today), it'll be a lot better for everyone. It's a little (distracting) for everybody right now -'the team, my teammates, myself. It's not a fair situa- tion. Hopefully, after (today), it will be rectified." Gretzky has said he'd likely leave Los Angeles unless the club made a commitment soon to bring in proven players to try to win the Stanley Cup. "I haven't changed my thoughts or picture," said Gretzky, who led Edmonton to four NHL championships before the blockbuster trade that sent him to the Kings in 1988. "I'd just like to win. It's as simple as that." He told the Los Angeles Times he believes the addition of two solid play- ers would make the Kings contenders in a Western Conference that is not strong beyond Detroit and Colorado. "We don't have a 50-goal scorer," he said. He did not specifically mention any such players, but he did name Detroit's Paul Coffey, a former Kings teammate and close friend, as his wish for an offensive-minded defenseman. Coffey was traded in 1993.. The leading career scorer in NHL history, Gretzky had been limited to 13 goals this season, but has 52 assists to stand fourth in the league's scoring race. In his career, Gretzky has 827 goals and 1,744 assists for2,571 points - all top figures in league history. Gretzky, who becomes a free agent this summer, has said he'd prefer to go elsewhere if Los Angeles decides to rebuild with young players. Gretzky himselfhas continued to send mixed signals about whether any d"s were in the works, while publishe& - ports said that moves have been made. "I don't put any stock in all thexru- mors," he said. "But, as they say, where there's smoke, there's fire." On Saturday night, St. Louis Blues general manager-coach Mike Keenan said his organization is "very inter- ested" inacquiring Gretzky. Also on Saturday, The Toronto Sun reported a deal with St. Louis r Gretzky was "virtually done" and ,at Los Angeles would receive five prom- ising players and draft picks. T-he Toronto report, which cited unidenti- fied sources, said theplayers were.Chris Pronger, Roman Vopat, Craig Johnson, Patrice Tardif and Denis Chasse. Gretzky, who'll earn $6.5 milion this season, is expected to cost a new team up to $9 million per year. r Keenan said Gretzky, who turns 35 on Jan. 26, isn't expected to retire i1 after the 1997-98 season. - {l STUDENTS! 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