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omorrow: Snow likely, high
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One hundred six years of editorlfreedom
Wednesday
January 22, 1997
$45
OK allocated for diversity programs
-Katb Wang
ay StaffReporter
With less than two weeks remaining in his
erm as interim University president, Homer
eal launched a new initiative Monday to pro-
diversity at the University.
e initiative, called the President's New
entury Fund for Diversity, will allocate
50,000 to new programs that will "accelerate
e University's progress toward the many-
aceted goals for diversity at the U-M."
"It is time to reach new understandings of
how work environments, living environments,
and learning environments are enriched when
diversity is productively engaged," Neal said. "If
we are to reach the highest levels of understand-
ing and action, our efforts must come together in
new and different ways so that the aspirations of
all members of the University are realized.
"With this fund, we will continue to address the
needs of our students and the citizens of our
state," he said
Guidelines for the allocation of the funds and
the programs will be established next month,
said Lisa Tedesco, presidential associate for spe-
cial programs and a Dentistry professor.
Although Neal will not be University president
once the fund begins operation, President-select
Lee Bollinger has lent his support to the initiative
and will continue to oversee its implementation.
"To me, it is inconceivable that an academic
higher education institution would not engage in
special efforts to ensure that women and minori-
ties are well represented in the institution and felt
that gender and race didn't matter," Bollinger said.
Michigan Student Assembly President Fiona
Rose applauded the initiative's monetary com-
mitment, but said there is still more ground to
cover toward achieving equality.
"I am positive about this initiative, but we
must remember the path toward equality is a
long one and this is one step of many that needs
to be taken, Rose said.
The funds for the initiative will be drawn from
the Presidential Initiative Fund, which serves as a
monetary resource for University presidents to
create and stimulate projects at their discretion.
Former University President James Duderstadt
used this fund to support the Career Development
Program for Women, a project he unveiled in
August 1994.
It was also Duderstadt who initiated the
Michigan Mandate and the Michigan Agenda
for Women, two programs aimed at increasing
minority and female enrollment at the
University. Since the Michigan Mandate was
launched in 1987, minority student enrollment at
the University has more than doubled.
Minority students now comprise 25.4 percent
See FUND, Page 7
A/LK III
continues
e dream S
By Alice Robinson
y Staff Reporter
When he was 5 years old, Martin Luther King III got his
first taste of national attention.
All because of one little speech.
"I have a dream that my four children will one day live
in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of
their skin but by the content of their character," his father
said to an energized crowd in Washington, D.C., on
Aust 28, 1963.
sterday, the second oldest child of the Rev. Martin
Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King visited campus to
help make the University's annual MLK Day symposium a
success.
King spent the afternoon addressing a crowd of about
135 people at the Alumni Center and later participated in
a dinner and dialogue with students at the Michigan
League. Twenty-five student leaders were invited to the
dinner, sponsored by the Martin Luther King Jr.
Committee for Health Sciences and the Office of Multi-
Ethnic Student Affairs. Martin Luther King
'zring the afternoon presentation, King stressed the need
for the continuation of his father's mission and pinpointed
problems that trouble him. He also briefly stressed the need
King said his father's three main concerns were poverty,
racism and violence in America. Referring back to his
father's famous dream speech, King emphasized the need to
make the "dream" a reality.
".Sometimes dreams come true, but in mtost cases dreams
are. something we go through when we are asleep, King said.
is father approached all people with dignity and kind- By Meg Exley
nW, King said. "Actually he was a friend to anybody. Daily Staff Reporter
Anybody he ever came into contact with," King said with a "One day is n
subtle smile on his face. message conveye
The younger King, former commissioner of Fulton day after the Uni
County, Ga., has worked to advance his father's ideals honoring Martin L
through the creation of various programs. During the late A coalition of
1970s, he represented President Carter's administration on from several m
humanitarian missions to foreign countries. In 1984, he cre- joined together to
ated the Africa Initiative, aimed at curbing starvation in faction with the s
Africa. the MLK Day symi
King now dedicates his time to Leadership 2000, an orga- Proclaiming y
tion that trains business leaders and elected officials on Without Diversil
l ership and diversity issues. encouraged to wea
During the 45-minute lecture, King urged college stu- over their mouth
dents to mobilize for change, citing examples of student their classes. This
activism from the civil rights movement. "The Freedom was a gesture me
Riders who rode buses in 1961 ... to desegregate inter- need to silence dis
state transportation nationwide were also students," King race issues among
said. administration.
"I think it's important to understand the power that you as Volunteers pass
students have in this country," he said. cloth and explana
In addition, King touched on other current issues includ- Hall from 9 a.m. to
iEbonics, affirmative action and the prevalence of vio- "gagged" students
See KING, Page 2 ly though handwri
N :
UP
Z @ 1Ik..
_ ;;
N _. ..
MARGARET MYERS/Daily
Ill signs an autograph to University alum and community activist Audrey Jackson at the Alumni Building yesterday.
tents protest
Wore diversity
ot enough" was the
d yesterday - the
versity's celebration
Luther King Jr.
University students
ulticultural groups
express their dissatis-
short-term effects of
aposium.
yesterday "A Day
ly," students were
r white strips of cloth
s and sit silently in
symbolic "gagging"
eant to illustrate the
shonest discussion of
both students and the
ed out the strips of
tory fliers at Angell
o 2 p.m. Many of the
communicated sole-
tten notes.
"The main point of the protest was
to simply confront the issue," said RC
senior Nora Salas, a member of
Alianza. "We wanted to demonstrate
to people who may think this is a
diverse place just how many people of
color they actually talk to in a single
day."
Engineering sophomore Lucy
Arellano expressed similar concerns.
"People on campus need to realize
what this campus would be like without
the people of color," she said.
Organizers of the "Day Without
Diversity" said they were concerned
that the annual MLK Day symposium
has become a masquerade for contin-
ued discrimination against communi-
ties of color at the University.
Organizers claim that the symposium
is simply a politically correct celebra-
tion of diversity, but fails to honor the
activism of Martin Luther King Jr. him-
See DIVERSITY, Page 7
Possible
arson hits
Mason
By Ajit K. Thavarajah
Daily Staff Reporter
A fire on the second level of
Mason Hall early yesterday morning
caused extensive damage and is sus-
pected to have been started intention-
ally.
The Department of Public Safety
and Ann Arbor Fire Department are
currently working together to discover
the origin of the fire, which damaged
the Office of Student Resource
Information.
"We are investigating it as an arson,"
said Elizabeth Hall, a DPS spokesper-
son.
The fire occurred at 3:45 a.m. and
was put out by 5:30 a.m., she said.
Flames destroyed the main Student
Resource Information office - a
branch of the Office of Student
Affairs - and Prof. Robert Wallin's
office.
"I was told by the Ann Arbor Fire
Department that a few individuals
had been seen in the vicinity and
were questioned but they had noth-
ing concrete," said Wallin, who
directs the LSA Checkpoint publica-
tion.
"The ceilings were burned out in
both offices. Luckily the fire was
mainly contained in my office and
the main office. Other offices only
See FIRE, Page 2
A CLUP
celebrates
landmark
decision
By Jeffrey Kosseff
Daily Staff Reporter
On this day 24 years ago, women's
rights activists scored a major victory
while pro-life advocates suffered a loss
- Roe vs. Wade.
Tonight, the University chapter of
the American Civil Liberties Union and
Students for Choice will celebrate the
controversial decision that defined
abortion as a woman's constitutional
right. State Sen. Alma Wheeler Smith
(D-Salem Twp.) will present a speech
about the case
and its impact.
"We want to
equate the stu-
dents with the
debate for repro-
ductive liberty,"
said Ilona Cohen,
president of the
University's
ACLU chapter.
In the 24 years Smith
since the land-
mark decision, abortion has become
one of the most debated topics in the
country. It has led to many non-violent
and violent protests - most recently
the bombing of an Atlanta abortion
clinic last week and an Oklahoma clin-
ic on Sunday.
"On one hand, we are commemorat-
ing the decision," said Students for
Choice President Stephanie Golden. "It
is reaffirming that abortion is still legal."
However, many people who original-
ly supported the Supreme Court's rul-
ing are changing their minds. Norma
JOSH BIGGS/Daily
Engineering senior Delano White gags himself in protest.
Awards honor alternative works
By Elizabeth Lucas
Daily Staff Reporter
Student protesters, car bombings and
a chair wired with dynamite were only a
few of the topics mentioned at yester-
day's Hopwood Underclassmen Awards.
These appeared in Elmore Leonard's
novel "Freaky Deaky" and they - as
well as Leonard - brought a very differ-
ent atmosphere to the ceremony.
"I don't think we've ever had a crime
novelist before," said Hopwood
Program associate Andrea Beauchamp.
"(The Hopwood Committee) wanted
to represent other kinds of writing,
rather than poetry, criticism or straight
fiction,' Beauchamp said.
Beauchamp expected that Leonard
would probably draw a larger crowd
than usual to the award ceremony.
"Pona1i k mw m wrk i expecant
Herron, an RC junior. "I forgot Elmore
Leonard was here, but it'll be interesting
to hear something that could be good"
As the ceremony began, English Prof.
Charles Baxter gave out 10 Hopwood
Awards and 15 awards in other contests.
Baxter is also the
acting director of
the Hopwood .
Program. j do
The Hopwood
Awards have been we y e
in existence since
1931, and were crime no
established befor e"
through a bequest
by playwright and -And
University alum -ood 4
Avery Hopwood. Hopwood Pr
T h e
I nderlassmen Awards were estah-
'1
r
ond-year student Rachel Wertheimer.
"He's so good at writing dialogue,
and when you hear someone read it, it
brings it out much more."
Al Stuart, an Ann Arbor resident and
former University registrar, also said he
was a fan of
Leonard's work.
"I like the
f think characters and
the really, really
or had a sparse prose. It
goes fast,'
Stuart said.
"And the stories
are always a
ea Beauchamp surprise."-
Whether he
tram assoc iate was providing
an example to
aSnirina writers or simply offering
I
I