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One hundred six' years of editorzl freedom

Friday
October 11, 1996

----------- - - - - - ------

If I fi,'

ay TV
ctor talks
bout fame,
exuality
y Alice Robinson
)aily Staff Reporter
Sitting comfortably on a wooden stool,
ilson Cruz could have been talking to his
est friend about his so-called life.
stead, he was speaking to more than 100
le - explaining exactly what happened
lhen he revealed to his mother that he was gay.
"How could you do this to me?" Cruz said,
imicking his Puerto Rican mother's high-
itched voice.
Cruz, who played sexually confused teen-
ger Rickie Vasquez on the acclaimed ABC
rama "My So-Called Life," spoke candidly
ast night at Rackham Auditorium on his
xperiences coming out to his family and
eers and working on the set of "My So-
led Life."
epresentatives from the Queer Unity
roject and the Office of Multi-Ethnic Student
ifairs were on hand to welcome Cruz's visit,
high point for both Hispanic Heritage Month
md National Coming Out Week.
Dressed in a black turtleneck and black
eans, Cruz re-enacted with flair what hap-
ened when he came out to his father on
,hristmas Eve and was kicked out of his
louse. He offered this advice to the audience:
#there's a tree in your house - it's not a
ood idea" to come out to your parents.
"My So-Called Life" was the first television
-how to feature an openly gay teen-ager. Rickie
,ame out in the last episode in the series, which
as cancelled due to poor ratings.
Being selected to play Rickie forced Cruz to
-ome out to his family, because he would be
laying a gay character on T.V "I said 'great'
oh shit,"' of being told the show would be
icked up.
ruz wanted the public to know about his
al orientation when the show was running
ecause, "I didn't want it to seem like some-
hing I was ashamed of."
"My So-Called Life" was a turning point for
ruz, who did not expect the program to be
'ancelled so abruptly.
"We were always aware that we were in trou-
le ratings-wise," he said. "I would say that we
vere a bit surprised that it was canceled."
On the show, Rickie goes through some hard
t s, which are not entirely fictional, Cruz
said. "I lived on the streets for three months
before I did 'My So-Called Life."'

RA

warns about

3rd sex assault

By Anupama Reddy
Dailv Staff Reporter
The third sexual

assault in the past week

occurred at West Quad on Wednesday, according
to a newsletter sent out by the second-floor res-
ident adviser of Cooley Hall in East Quad.
The letter, which was given to residents yes-
terday, states that there were three known
instances of sexual assault on campus recently,
including an incident in a Bursley parking lot
Saturday and another in a South Quad room
Sunday.
The third incident, according to the Oct. 10
newsletter, "occurred outside of the West Quad
annex around 1 a.m. yesterday."
Two East Quad residents who live on Cooley
Hall said they both received the letter yesterday
in their mailboxes.
Music sophomore Jessica Martineau said the
resident adviser sent the letter out after rumors
circulated in East Quad about a serial rapist.
"Because of that false rumor, she wanted to
clarify what happened," Martineau said. "She
said there were no rapes, but only sexual
assaults"
Residential College first-year student Ryan
Sheriff said he received the same newsletter and
believed that the RA was writing the letter to set
the record straight about the rumor of the "East
Quad Groper."
"It says, (an incident) ... occurred outside of
the West Quad annex around 1 a.m. yesterday,"
Sheriff said. "The whole deal was there was a
rumor going around of a serial rapist by people
in my hall. She was trying to clear up the confu-
sion about it. Some people were concerned."
Joyce Wright. prevention education coordina-
tor for the Sexual Assault Prevention and
Awareness Center, said Wednesday's incident
had not been reported to SAPAC. University
spokesperson Julie Peterson said the
Department of Public Safety had no record of
the incident.
After two incidents of armed robbery, includ-
ing an attempted sexual assault, occurred in the
Ann Arbor area Tuesday, police detectives said it
is too soon to decide if the cases are part of a
trend.
"It all happened in the last few days," Ann
Arbor Police Department Sgt. Phillip Scheel
said. "It's too early to determine a pattern now."
At the same time, students on campus said
they are not changing their habits much.
"The way Ann Arbor is and the campus is,
there is always potential for (sexual assault),"
See ASSAULT, Page 7

RHA appoints'
task force to look,
at dorm security
By Katie Plona
For the Daily
The Residence Halls Association took action last
night against the recent rash of campus attacks by
creating a security task force that will try to make
dorm life safer.
"In a college town you deserve to feel safe and
secure, and that you have an environment that you
can really learn in," said RHA President Randy

Juip.
RHA unanimously voted
Security Act, which will
set the guidelines for the
task force. "Security is a
top priority right now.
Security is always a
concern," Juip said.
Tim Wright, chair of
the new task force,
explained that the task
force is going to come
up with a report for
RHA on the security

to pass the Residential
Key Issues
0 Guest check-in
® 24-hour lock-down
policies
® Efficiency of secu-
rity and emergency
phones
The installation of
card-reader machines
in all residence halls

SARA STILLMAN/Daily
Wilson Cruz, who played the character Rickie Vasquez on the former ABC drama "My So-Called
Life," spoke about growing up gay at Rackham Auditorium last night.

Cruz has been traveling around the country,
telling his story to college students.
"I've had three schools in three days," he
said.
Students said Cruz's presentation had a
strong impact on them. "I liked it a lot."'
said Business senior Jessica Walters. "He
didn't try and preach too much .. he just
spoke about his- expttience. lie's really
funny too," she said.
Cruz said Latino/a actors in Hollywood are
often typecast in negative or stereotypical
roles. "There aren't a whole lot of parts out

there being written for a young Puerto Rican."
unless you're a drug dealer, he said.
RC sophomore Neela Ghoshal, who is on
the QUP planning team, said Wilson makes
an important contribution to the gay commu-
nity.
"It's important to recognize successful queer
people. Wilson's an example of someone who's
queer and is -"ut a'id' who's actually made it:'
she said. "lie has a lot of intluence over people
.. especially young people."
Cruz will speak at noon today on the Diag as
part of National Coming Out lay.

recommendations that should be made to University
Housing concerning the security in and around all
16 residence halls.
Issues being addressed by the RIHA's task force
include guest check-in, 24-hour lock-down policies,
the efficiency of security and emergency phones,
and the installation of card-reader machines on all
residence halls.
William Zeller, director of University Housing,
said that any provisions made to current security
standards will be funded by students.through room
and board fees.
"We're working in their (students') best interests. I
think this task force and the RIHA will make the areas
in and around the residence halls safer," Juip said.
Juip expects the task force to be operating by next
Thursday's meeting, and to make its recommenda-
tions to RIHA by the end of the semester.
The task force will be conducting surveys in each
of the 16 residence halls with students, residence
hail staff and residence administrators on security
conditions.
"We're not pointing fingers," Wright said. "We'll
See RHA, Page 7


I


ext phas
residenti
o begin
* 300 names, top 5 to
be released to regents
Sunday
odi S. Cohen
Daily Staff Reporter
When the top five candidates for
University president are announced 9
a.m. Monday, the final stage of the
search is set to begin.
At a public meeting in the Fleming
Administration
Building, the
1 2 - memb er The
Preside n t i a I
e a r c h
v i s o r y
Committee will
reveal its five
recommenda- fOr
tions along with
a longer list of
about 300 peo -_
ple who applied
or were nominated for the position. Law
School Dean Jeffrey Lehman. chair of
C also plans to present select mate-
nals that the committee has collected on
the five recommended candidates.
The committee, appointed by the
Board of Regents, has been interview-
ing candidates, conducting background
checks and narrowing down the list

of
search

Monday

Search Committee, will then deliberate
publicly Wednesday and announce its
list of finalists.
"The understanding has always been
that these are five names an advisory
committee came up with," said Regent
Rebecca McGowan (D-Ann Arbor). "It
will form a good, strong starting point
for the discussion."
According to the process designed last
spring, regents can accept the commit-
tee's recommendations or amend them.
During the past week, last-minute
rumors about possible candidates have
circulated through the University's
campus and academia nationwide.
Radcliffe President Linda Wilson,
the former University vice president for
research, is rumored to be under serious
consideration, meaning that she may be
one of the top five.
Radcliffe spokesperson Lyn
Chamberlin would neither confirm nor
deny that Wilson had been interviewed
or that shte would reject a request to be
among the top five finalists.
"She is not, as far as she knows, been
actively solicited for the position,
Chamberlin said. "If and when that
stage comes along, we'd be happy to
think about it."
On-campus meetings with finalists
will begin Thursday. Each candidate is
scheduled to stay for about a day-and-a-

Business
grad school
'ranked 2 in
magazine
By Prachish Chakravorty
Daily Staff Reporter
The results are in, and the Michigan
Business School has proved itself -
again.
Fresh off the heels of being ranked
the No. I undergraduate Business
School in last month's U.S. -News &
World Report, the graduate B-School
received Business Week's No. 2 rank-
ing yesterday.
The University's graduate program
jumped from No. 6 last year. It was
ranked 12th in the March 1996 U.S.
News & World Report.
The University of Pennsylvania's
Wharton School topped the graduate
program list in Business Week
Northwestern University's J.L. Kellogg
School of Management came in third,
with Harvard University and the
University of Virginia placing fourth
and fifth, respectively.
"The big surprise was the University
of Michigan's four-place jump to the
No. 2 spot," said David Leonhardt, staff
editor at Business Week.
Unlike the U.S. News & World
Report rankings, the Business Week
survey does not look at average salaries
or test scores, Leonhardt said. Instead it
researches the opinions of students and
business employers.
"Our philosophy is asking the people
getting the education and the people

Into the woods
Joe Howard, caretaker of the Nichols Arboretum, takes a walk through through the Arb and enjoys the colors of the
season. Howard has a master's degree in landscape architecture.
ViolenCe in teen-age dating
Confronted at film screening

By Ann Stewart
Daily Staff Reporter
Each year millions of teen-age girls
-v nndnpcurt m n A4 T}1('ncimdc

adults, gathered to view the film pro-
duced by the Junior League of Ann
Arbor, Inc., and to hear speakers Susan
Miirnhv-Milno and George Iardner

ner's insecurities," Sheldon said. "That's
why these efforts are so important."
Joyce Wright, prevention and educa-
tion coordinator for the Sexual Assault


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