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One hundred sx years ofeditoral freedom
Thursday
March 20,197
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Voting
Ploys dot
st day of
elections
3y Katie Plona
Daily Staff Reporter
Candidates for this year's open posi-
tions on the Michigan Student
Assembly stopped at nothing less than
mbing into beer cans and passing out
ices of pizza to grab the attention of
students passing through the Diag yes-
terday afternoon.
Probir Mehta, presidential candidate
for the Michigan Party, dressed in a
beer can costume that read "I'm Pro-
beer, are you?" at noon to show his
dedication to campus constituents.
"It was proof that I care about students
-that's how far I would go," Mehta said,
Mehta encouraged students to vote
*ile passing out sheets of paper
advertising the Michigan Party's slate.
"The most important thing is for people
to get their voices heard," he said.
Olga Savic, the Students' Party's vice
presidential candidate, said members
of her party handed informational fly-
ers and pizza slices to hungry students.
"What better way to get people to
listen?," Savic said, adding that it is
"actually kind of a sad commentary on
SA" that pizza slices are one of the
only ways to gain students' attention.
"Some students are interested and
want to find out more" Savic said.
"Some students just walk by."
Independent presidential candidate
Jessica Curtin said students with whom
she talked during the day seemed
responsive to her platform.
"We're finding a lot of people who
are excited when we say that we're
*ing to build a student movement,"
Curtin said. "We actually have things to
say -- not just pass out flyers."
See MSA, Page 8A
Justices hear case
on Net censorship
'The Washington Post
WASHINGTON - in the Supreme Court's first venture
into cyberspace, the justices seemed receptive yesterday to the
idea that the government should help shield children from sex-
ually indecent materials on the Internet. But they nonetheless
were skeptical about whether a broad new federal law aimed at
limiting computer pornography unfairly censors users of the
network that connects millions of people worldwide.
During a vigorous 70-minute session with two premier
legal advocates, the justices expressed uncertainty about how
to deal with the emerging technology and concern about how
much control Congress should have as it attempts to regulate
a growing sphere of public conversation.
The case, one of the most closely watched disputes this
term, immerses the high court in a complex and unexplored
area of free speech with potential implications for lawmakers
and parents, librarians and educators, and a multitude of
online businesses. While a capacity crowd filled the stately
courtroom yesterday, free speech activists and anti-pornogra-
phy advocates gathered in the rain and snow outside.
At issue is a law passed last year that makes it illegal to
transmit sexually explicit material to anyone under age 18
The law excludes from prosecution those who make a "rea-
sonable, effective and appropriate" attempt to keep indecent
material out of the hands of minors.
While some justices suggested yesterday that Congress
was stifling constitutionally protected conversations between
adults, it seems unlikely the high court will rule with the una-
nimity of the special three-judge panel that resoundingly
struck down the law last summer. Although the high court
could ultimately find that the Communications Decency Act
violates the First Amendment, the justices yesterday seemed
See COURT, Page 9A
Profs
"
decision
wil be uphel
By Greg Cox
Daily Staff Reporter
As the U.S. Supreme Court considers the legality of the
1996 Communications Decency Act, some University pro-
fessors expressed their own opinions on the Court' pending
decision and the issue of controlling information availableon
the Internet.
The act was blocked by a Philadelphia federal cour last
year. It would have threatened those who place "indecet"
materials on the Net where children might see them with up
to $250,000 in fines and two years in prison. The Clinton
administration is pushing for the Supreme Court to overturn
that ruling in its decision, which is expected by July 1:
The Supreme Court will most likely uphold the fidal
court decision to strike down the 1996 act, University pro*
fessors asserted. However, they also added that it is difficult
to predict what the Supreme Court will decide.
"I believe the First Amendment will prevail," said Law
School Prof. William Pierce. "It won't be a unanimousdeci-
sion, however."
Law School. Prof. Richard Friedman also said he believes
the decision will be upheld.
"It's hard to predict the Court, but I would not be surprised
in them upholding the lower court's ruling,' Friedman said.
See INTERNET, Page 9A
JONATHAN SUMMER/Daily
Independent candidate and LSA sophomore William Nicholson takes a break from
campaigning yesterday during the first day of MSA elections.
New allegations surface
ugarnst M' basketball
By Heather Kamins
and AJit K. Thavarajah
Daily Staff Reporters
Five Michigan basketball players
allegedly entertained a recruit at an all-
night hotel party that may have includ-
ed strippers, alcohol and illegal drug
Alexandria Tithof, a former
Michigan State University student,
claimed in the Lansing State Journal
earlier this week that she stumbled upon
a party on Feb. 17, 1996, where
Michigan players Maurice Taylor,
Robert Traylor, Louis Bullock, Willie
Mitchell, Ron Oliver and recruit Mattin
Cleaves attended.
The party took place just hours
Before Taylor's Ford Explorer flipped
ver while returning to the University,
with all six inside.
Tithof told the Lansing State Journal
that she smelled marijuana at the party,
which took place in the players' room at
the Omni Hotel in Detroit. Tithof told
the paper that at least one player was
drinking alcohol and several exotic
dancers were performing.
Vice President for University
Relations Walter Harrison said the
University investigated the incident
when it occurred and the players'
account contradicts Tithof's allegations.
"We certainly asked in our own
investigation what the party was like"
Harrison said. "Certainly what (Tithof)
is alleging is contradictory to what our
players have said. Certainly someone is
not telling the truth, and I am not in a
position to say who that is. We made a
fairly decent effort to find witnesses (at
the time of the investigation). But no
one came forward."
Harrison said the allegations most like-
ly do not violate any NCAA regulations.
"The issue for me is not what hap-
pened at the party," Harrison said. "Not
that I condone drinking. Students cer-
tainly have parties and do things I don't
approve of. That's part of being a stu-
dent. What's really bothering to most of
us is that the recent allegations differ so
much from our own players'. Clearly I
set great stock in telling the truth."
The University plans to submit these
recent allegations - along with other
controversial alleged incidents the bas-
ketball program has been accused of in
the past week - to the firm Bond,
Schoeneck and King, said Harrison.
"Right now we are not going to com-
ment any further on any new allega-
tions," said Senior Associate Athletic
Director Keith Molin. "The University
is going to let the law firm deal with
any new allegations and investigate to
see if a problem indeed exists."
President Lee Bollinger announced
Monday the firm will investigate all
credible claims against the basketball
program.
See ALLEGATIONS, Page 7A
Students
angereda
by quote
By Jeffrey Kosseff
Daily Staff Reporter
When University President Lee
Bollinger was quoted in the New York
Times last week as saying "social ide-
alism is dead or dormant" on college
campuses, many students disagreed.
But Bollinger said he was misrepre-.
sented and misquoted in the March 13
article.
"It is my belief we live in an era of
low public idealism as compared to
other periods," Bollinger said. "Across
the country I think college campuses
are affected by this character, but I did
not say students are apathetic."
SNRE senior Angie Farleigh, the co-
facilitator of Environmental Action,
said she has been organizing groups to ONA
write a letter to Bollinger informing University President Lee Bollinger angered students when he was q
him that they are socially aware. ing "social idealism is dead or dormant" in a March 13 New York TI
"I've spent the greater part of my_ ___- _
college life with social activism," pad their 401K's, not worry about the theme I was trying to ra
Farleigh said. "It made me upset. It poor." Many University stud
was kind of like he was giving up" Bollinger claims he never said that, are angered by his state
Bollinger also is quoted in the arti- either. as president, he re
cle as saying that the current economi- "The whole tone of it is not from University community.
cally stable period is viewed by most me," Bollinger said. "I never use the "As U of M preside
Americans "as a time to make money, word 401 K. It did not capture the See BOLN
Prodigy to graduate from
Medical School at 20
By Brian Campbell
Daily Staff Reporter
Oakwood Hospital in Dearborn will
be receiving young blood this summer
when 20-year-old University Medical
School graduat Anita Saluja joins the
staff for her residency.
Saluja, who entered the Medical
School at 17 and will graduate this
June, plans to be a dermatologist. She
said she is eager and slightly nervous
about moving from the classroom to
the hospital.
bers of this year's graduating class of
medical students, attended "Match
Day" - an annual banquet where stu-
dents are assigned hospitals for their
residency programs. The ceremony
was held at Ann Arbor's Clarion Hotel.
Saluja, who is president of the
Medical School's honors society and a
campus representative in the American.
Medical Association, said it was slight-
ly awkward for her, as a senior, to pre-
sent case discussions to older Medical
first-year students.
everybody, you get used to the differ-
ent age groups." Saluja said.
As a young girl, Saluja showed signs
of precocity while working at her par-
ent's souvenir shop in Sault St. Marie,
where her father let her sell store items
but dissuaded her from using a calcu-
lator. Instead, she performed the calcu-
lations in her head.
Her abilities flourished as she
became interested in chemistry and
biology. She left high school after 10th
grade while taking classes at Lake
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