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One hundred six years of editornifreedom
Tuesday
December 10, 1996
Hayden returns to activist territory
By Laurie Mayk
Daily Staff Reporter
Tom Hayden doesn't like to talk about the past
- but when he comes home to Ann Arbor, it
finds him.
Old friends and colleagues stumble in with
stories of the old days, admirers marvel at the
symbol of a generation and young activists want
t know what life was like "back in the '60s."
"My background is my background, but when
I go east, it's always on the foreground," Hayden
said.
When the California state senator returned to
his alma mater yesterday, talk immediately
turned to his work as founder of Students for a
Democratic Society, and as one of the "Chicago
Seven," a group of students arrested during
protests at the 1968 Democratic National
Convention in Chicago.
"The last time that I saw Tom Hayden was at
the Weatherman's War Council (in Flint)," said
Karl Pohrt, owner of Shaman Drum Bookstore,
where Hayden signed copies of his recent book
yesterday.
Pohrt and U-M Flint philosophy Prof. Richard
Gull remembered Hayden from that meeting,
and from his days as a "radical," mobilizing stu-
dents on college campuses across the country.
SDS founder Alan Haber said Hayden's advice
is "needed more than ever" today.
But it's not surprising the successful legislator
is looking to leave his youthful escapades for the
history books, Pohrt said.
"I don't particularly remember the '60s with a
lot of fondness" he said.
When Gull introduced himself to Hayden yes-
terday, he reminded him that almost 30 years ago
Hayden arranged for Gull and his wife to be in
the packed courtroom during the infamous "con-
spiracy trial" for the Chicago Seven.
"He was very nice and helpful about it," Gull
said. "There was some room in his family sec-
tion and we sat there all day."
Hayden chose to focus on the generations
before and after him, during an address to about
150 students and local supporters in the
Michigan Union's Pendleton Room.
"You have to count your blessings but not get
too content," he said. "If you get too fat and con-
tent and happy with what you've done in the
past, you'll never realize how alienated the next
generation is."
Hayden characterized youth activism in the
1960s as a result of a parent generation's refusal
to take a stand against war and injustice.
"A society that depends on young people to lead
the way is a society that's broken somewhere."
Although Hayden encouraged student audience
members to reverse apathy on campus, he warned
that they will be challenging a "system you can
participate, register for, vote in - but always after
election day, wonder why nothing happened.
"Nothing happened, my friends, because
nothing is supposed to happen," Hayden said.
Students are still disenfranchised from the
political process, but at least have access to the
"dysfunctional" system, he said.
California, where Hayden intends to run for
See HAYDEN, Page 5
JOHN IKRAFT/ Daily
University alum Tom Hayden fields questions from students yesterday in the Michigan Union.
Hayden, now a state senator from California, was a member of the Chicago Seven.
u-urjuE-or
Diversity not
enough for
'U harmony
By Alice Robinson
Daily Staff Reporter
At first, LSA sophomore Alicia Ivory thought
what happened to her was just an accident.
But then something made her change her mind.
"If it hadn't have been so blatant ... then I would-
n't have thought that he was spitting on me personal-
ly," Ivory said. Ivory, who is black, said she was spit
on by a white cyclist while crossing North University
Big Ten will
play tourney
Neal, Indiana pres. vote no
When
something
like that
happens to
someone,
0ou self6
dseem hits
rock
Aottom"f
-- Amer Zahr
LSA sophomore
Avenue last month.
On Thursday, Nov. 7,
Ivory was heading toward
the Chemistry Building to
take a midterm when she
happened to make eye con-
tact with a white man on a
bicycle, who smirked at her
"in a mean kind of way"
before spitting on her arm
and speeding off.
Ivory said the fact that
she did not know the man
who spit on her, combined
with his resentful manner,
made her think he had
racist motives. "I feel it was
geared toward me and since
he didn't know me ... it was
because of my race;' Ivory
said.
Despite University offi-
cials' claims of a commit-
By Will McCahill
Daily Sports Editor
Despite the protest of University
interim President Homer Neal, the Big
Ten will hold a men's basketball tour-
nament beginning in March 1998.
At its semiannual meeting yesterday
and Sunday in Park Ridge, Ill., the Big
Ten Council of Presidents/Chancellors
voted 9-2 in favor of a postseason tour-
nament. Indiana joined Michigan in
opposing the plan.
Vice President for University
Relations Walter Harrison said the
administration's decision to vote
against the tournament was based on its
concern for student-athletes.
"We have a long-standing position
that we oppose the elongation of sports
seasons, which are already too long,"
Harrison said.
"It's really creating a major problem
for student-athletes."
In a letter to the council, Neal out-
lined his reasons for voting against the
measure.
"(Because of recent NCAA reduc-
tions in scholarships) we are playing
more and more games and at the same
time reducing the number of student-
athletes who can participate," Neal's let-
ter said. Combined with the lengthy col-
lege basketball season, the reduction in
scholarships forces athletes to play more
and under greater pressure, he wrote.
"We do not need to further this trend
by addition of a post-season tourna-
ment."
Neal acknowledged the financial
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benefits the University stands to gain
from the tournament - which Big Ten
commissioner Jim Delany estimated to
be in the $500,000 range for each insti-
tution - but said they were not suffi-
cient to sway the administration's vote.
"I believe we must put the academic
well-being of our student-athletes above
potential income to our universities,
Neal wrote. "I fear that if we institute a
post-season tournament, the Big Ten will
send the regretful message that at Big Ten
universities, athletics (and the pursuit of
the dollar) take precedence over our most
fundamental academic mission. That is a
message we can ill afford."
Michigan coach Steve Fisher is in
favor of a tournament, although his
opinion of it became positive only
recently after many years of opposition.
Fisher said he originally opposed the
idea for many of the same reasons the
University administration is against the
tournament, namely because of the
detrimental effects it may have on the
academics of the student-athletes.
But after talking to members of his
team, and to new coaches who have
come to the Big Ten from conferences
with post-season tournaments who
See TOURNAMENT, Page 16
ment to multiculturalism and an increase in overall
minority enrollment this year, students and admin-
istrators alike are saying diversity doesn't necessar-
ily mean harmony.
Incidents such as Ivory's can be upsetting and
frustrating - so frustrating, in fact, that many stu-
dents don't report them.
Loren McGhee, president of the University's chap-
ter of the National Association for the Advancement
of Colored People, said apathy can set in when racial-
ly motivated incidents occur, causing an "I just want
to get out of here as soon as possible" attitude. She
said students are sometimes unmotivated to report
incidents, feeling that graduating and getting away
from the environment is the best solution.
Jeanne Harris, speaker of the Black Student
Union, said students often brush off incidents that
offend them instead of reporting them to authori-
ties. Harris said incidents often get little attention
LSA sophomore Alicia Ivory, who says she was spit on by a white cyclist last month, filed complaints with
the Dean of Students' office, the Office of Multi-Cultural Initiatives and the NAACP to seek justice.
' admissions still
brings best students
from others "unless someone like Alicia forces
them to take note."
Many student leaders said episodes of racial dis-
crimination can have a negative effect on a person's
sense of worth.
"When something like that happens to someone,
your self-esteem hits rock bottom) said Amer Zahr,
an LSA sophomore and president of the Arab
American Anti-Discrimination Committee. "The
thoughts that race through your mind make your
self-esteem hit rock bottom" he said.
'The ugly side of Michigan'
Conflicts between different racial communities
are bound to arise on any large campus, said people
See INCIDENTS, Page 7
Frantic students set
to face final frenzy
By Janet Adamy
Daily Staff Reporter
High school seniors in Michigan may
have a better chance of getting an
acceptance letter from a state university,
but officials at the University of
Michigan said admissions are "as selec-
tive as ever."
According to an article in yesterday's
Detroit Free Press, students' odds of
being accepted to a state school have
increased since 1986 from seven in 10
to eight in 10 since 1986.
Associate Vice President for
University Relations Lisa Baker said
the University accepted approximately
60 percent of applicants during the
1980s and now accepts just under 70
percent, despite reports that the
University's acceptance rate jumped
from five out of 10 applicants in 1986
to seven of 10 applicants for the 1996
fall semester.
University Director of
Undergraduate Admissions Ted
Spencer said the statistic does not
mean the University is easier to get
into than it was 10 years ago.
U-M Ann Arbor
Michigan State
Michigan Tech
Oakland University
Wayne State
Western Michigan
Rising Admissions
Percentage of applicants admitted.
1986 1996
54% 8
7 3% 81
"4%
84%
66%
By Jeffrey Kosseff
Daily Staff Reporter
Students waited for several hours
outside of the bustling Angell Hall
computing site to write term papers
yesterday - punishment for long-term
procrastination.
Others hit the books all over campus,
filling libraries and residence halls late
into last night as cold winds rushed
across the Diag.
Final exam season has arrived.
While many students admit to
acaniring tvnical bad habits, including
detrimental to a student's performance
on tests, the occasional all-nighter is
not unhealthy.
"If a student was a freshman or sopho-
more, it wouldn't do them any physical
harm, but they will feel stupid during the
test, said biology Prof. Eric Mann, who
teaches a class on immunology. "If they
stay up two or three times in a row, they
will become sick. It varies from individ-
ual to individual."
LSA sophomore Darwita Jaapar said
she normally stays up all night studying
during the week, and she does not let it
73% r
71% 82
-Source:Detroit FreePress
class rank, standardized test scores and
grade-point average of applicants have
improved over the past eight years.
While the increased acceptance rate
may have caused the University's rank-
ing to drop from the "most competitive"
to the "more competitive" category in a
number of books that rate colleges,
Spencer said the quality of the
University has not changed.
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