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April 07, 1997 - Image 1

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Michigan Daily, 1997-04-07

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It

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News: 76-AILY
Advertising: 7640554

One hundred six years of editorlifreedom

Monday
Aprl7, 1997

reacts to death of beat poet Allen insberg

By Brian Campbell
Daily Staff Reporter
Controversial beat-generation poet and coun-
terculture icon Allen Ginsberg died in his New
York apartment Saturday at the age of 70, short-
after being diagnosed with liver cancer.
insberg, whose revolutionary and sexually-
explicit verse often received tepid reactions from
academic critics, became a national figure not
only through his poetry, but also in his social and
political activism.
"It's a loss. He was absolutely a major poetic
and cultural figure in America in the 20th centu-
ry," said Karl Pohrt, owner of Shaman Drum
.

bookstore, where Ginsberg ,
often gave readings of his -
work.
Ginsberg remained s
closely involved with the
Ann Arbor community
through his relationship
with the Tibetan Buddhist r
Temple, which sponsored
his many readings given
at Shaman Drum and Hill Ginsberg
Auditorium.
Pohrt said Ginsberg had a liberating influence
on poetry by writing in a colloquial form similar

to poet Walt Whitman.
"I think he will be remembered for returning
poetry to its vernacular roots, to ordinary
speech, in the tradition of Walt Whitman," Pohrt
said.
LSA senior Sandra Kang said she liked
Ginsberg's poems because they were
unique.
"I read his poetry in high school," Kang said.
"It was different and very sexual. I had never
read anything like that before."
LSA senior Sonia Park said she didn't like
Ginsberg's anti-establishment verse or the beat
generation's views on women.

"I respect him as a poet, but I really didn't like
his style,' Park said. "The beats were a little
misogynistic, so I tend not to read them that
much."
Ginsberg dropped out of Columbia
University and joined Jack Keroauc, William
Burroughs and others to form the beat gener-
ation, an anti-establishment literary group that
protested '50s conformity and pre-dated the
civil rights movement and youth uprising of
the '60s and '70s.
The beat generation emphasized free sexuali-
ty, drug use, Eastern religion and improvised
writing styles resembling jazz rhythms.

"He was the beat generation," said Sarah
Alvarez, RC sophomore. "He'll be remem-
bered with Kerouac and Burroughs - I don't
think any of them will be remembered sepa-
rately."
Pohrt said Ginsberg had a unique place in
American culture.
"I can't imagine anybody else who can take
his place and I think that be will be sorely
missed by anyone who cares for the written and
spoken word," she said
Religious services were held last night for
Ginsberg at the Ann Arbor's Tibetan Buddhist
Temple.

LGBPO.
alummi
reflect on
0
iemoies
By Ericka M. Smith
Daily Staff Reporter
Ten Michigan alumni returned to
campus Saturday to reflect on their
experiences as homosexual students at
the University.
The panel discussion was one of
many events scheduled to celebrate the
Lesbian Gay Bisexual Programs
Office's 25th
Anniversary. The office
r 40 celebrated the occasion
with a two-day sympo-
sium, titled "Pasts,
Presents and Futures."
Alumnae panel
member Laura Sanders
said the University
community has a
unique attitude toward homosexual
"I've always experienced the U of M
as an exceptional place to be gay. But I
can tell you it's not always been that
way;" said Sanders, who now works
with LGBPO.
One panel member, Maureen
O'Rourke, said she remembered being
a lesbian student at the University dur-
ing the '70s.
"There was a lot of interest into
Were we fit into the University and
how much we wanted to fit in,"
O'Rourke said. "We were really proud
at that time and very radical.'
A rainbow striped flag, which sym-
bolizes the gay rights movement, was
draped on the wall of the Michigan
Union's Pond Room behind the panel
members as they shared their memories.
"It's only appropriate that we com-
memorate this milestone in our exis-
nce by assessing where we stand as a
ople, what we can learn from our his-
tory, and how we can affect the times
that lay ahead," said LGBPO Director
Ronni Sanlo in a written statement.
Panel member Esther Newton, a
1968 University graduate, said that
when she was a student, her biggest
fear was being "found out" by the
administration.
"The whole setting was different"
,ewton said. "You hoped that you would
otbe discovered and kicked out."
1982 University graduate Chris
Kolb, who now serves as an Ann Arbor
city councilmember, said his time at the
University was not easy.
"I was ousted from my fraternity
because they found out 1 was gay,
Kolb said. "I really found out who my
friends were."
Other members of the panel talked
about ways in which the University
*uld prepare students for the future.
"I would hope the U of M could
serve as a training ground for people
who are going back to the Detroit area
to make it a safer place for people who
are gay, lesbian and bisexual," said
Michigan alumnus Alan Hergott.
Panel member and 1995 University
graduate Angela Head got an opportu-
nity to thank the rest of the panel for
elping to make the University "an
sy place to be gay" in recent years.
"I'm glad that my stay here was kind
of easy;' Head said. "I wish now there
had been a lesbian, gay and bisexual

group of color."
Assistant Medical School Dean Jayne
Thorson, a 1983 graduate, said that after

iHash Bash
dras crow
Ale pi erain

By Ajit K. Thavarajah
Daily Staff Reporter
Unrelenting afternoon showers did not
deter the roughly 3,000 people who
crowded the Diag to hear speakers sing
the praises of the marijuana leaf and blast
the government for trampling their rights
at Saturday's 26th Annual Hash Bash.
Adam Brooke, an organizer for Hash
Bash, said he was happy with the
event's turnout Saturday afternoon.
"I'm really proud of the people who
came out here today," Brooke said. "I
don't know how anyone can question
our dedication. Rain, sleet, snow, hail
can't stop us."
Elizabeth Hall, a Department of
Public Safety spokesperson, said 38
people were arrested on campus, main-
ly for unauthorized vending and open

alcohol containers.
"If they were caught possessing mari-
juana, they could be prosecuted underthe
law, which sets a maximum (of) one year
in prison and a ... fine," Hall said.
Other police departments that
patrolled the event included the
Washtenaw County's Sheriff's
Department, the Michigan State Police
and the Ann Arbor Police Department.
"A little rain can't stop freedom,"
said marijuana legalization advocate
Marvin Marvin. "They shouldn't be
able to stop us from doing what we
want with our bodies and our lives."
Ann Arbor Mayor Ingrid Sheldon
said the event sends a poor message to
the youth of the city.
"We have a serious problem here in
See BASH, Page 2A

MARGARET MYERS/Daily
Aaron Buyssens, Erik Justice and Tara Absence, who is smoking a cigarette, came all the way from Saginaw to enjoy Hash
Bash.

U

w

Greek Week juggles
service with Carnival

By Jenni Yachnin
Daily Staff Reporter
Yesterday was a day of 10-foot-tall jugglers,
free goldfish, cartoon characters and buckets of
candy.
The Children's Carnival, held at Scarlet
Middle School in Ann Arbor, offered children
and their parents a day of free activities and
prizes as a part of Greek Week's Community
Day.
"The carnival provides a free, fun and safe
day for the Ann Arbor community," said
Jennifer Kruer, Greek Week community ser-
vice co-chair. "It is a gift for us to give back to
the community."
Teams of sororities and fraternities submitted
ideas for different games based on their own per-
sonal favorites from childhood, said Karen

Lareau, Greek Week community service co-chair.
Games included Bozo bucket, ball toss, lol-
lipop pick, fishing for fun, ring toss, guess the
number of jelly beans, shoot-o-rama and tic-tac-
toe with prizes ranging from candy to live gold-
fish.
"I think the best part about today is that
everyone gets to come out and do something
for the community, so they see the University
is getting involved," said LSA first-year stu-
dent Linda Bassett, a Chi Omega sorority
member.
The event is a good way for some of the
younger kids to meet college students and possi-
bly encourage them to go on to higher education,
Bassett said.
Cristina Steele, an LSA junior who is
involved in the University's Big Sib program,

Eileen Melers, a student at Abott Elementary School, learns to spin a ball on her fingertip at the Greek
Week carnival yesterday, the largest community service event of the week.
brought her 9-year-old little sib to the carni- n't cost a lot of money."
val. Sanne Krummel, an Ann Arbor resident,
"I think this is a great opportunity," Steele said. attended the carnival with her family and said
"It's hard to find things to do with them that does- See GREEK, Page 2A

Ki ,.pORr SC
hGroup honors Ki' ndeath
1 r with marc for racia unity

By Alice Robinson
Daily Staff Reporter
Pedestrians stopped in their tracks,
apartment residents stared from their
balconies and motorists beeped their
horns.
Some may have thought they were
re-living a scene from 30 years ago, as
hundreds of people marched through
Ann Arbor streets Friday night bearing

The Unity Rally for Racial Justice,
organized by the Interfaith Council for
Peace and Justice, began in Wheeler
Park and proceeded to First United
Methodist Church on State Street. Ann
Arbor police held up traffic for the
marchers as they walked and sang a
variety of uplifting songs, including,
"This Little Light of Mine."
"We're surprised at how many people

candles and
singing "We Shall
Overcome" to
commemorate the
29th anniversary of
the Rev. Martin
Luther King Jr.'s
assassination.
Some, like
School of

Ann Arbor is
not typical of
Michigan towns. f
- Jane Rosenbrough
Canton resident

showed up.
But this
would be the
place' said
Canton resi-
dent Jane
Rosenbrough,
as she
marched on
South Fourth
Street. "Ann
Arbor is not

veterans.
"It brings back old memories
because I lived in the '60s. This is kind
of a deja vu;' Rosenbrough said.
Thom Saffold, who helped organize
the march and rally, said he hoped the
event would keep King's message in the
spotlight.
"Personally, I think it's important to
commemorate not only the birth of
King, but his death because he risked
his life and he paid the ultimate (sacri-
fice), and it's ironic because we have
not yet listened to him as a society," he
said.
"We miss out on the revolution of
values, the revolution of society that he
dedicated his life to," Saffold said
Following the half-hour march, par-
ticipants gathered in First United
Methodist Church's spacious pews for
spontaneous group singing and a pro

Education senior -
TQ;ir Gnm i

._ r A.. .. ...

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