LOCALISTATE The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, November 4,
-Students design 6 posters for MLK symposium
1997 - 5
By Katie Plona
Daily Staff Reporter
Though the I Ith annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr. Symposium is two months away, students
can pick the event's central image today.
Sixteen posters designed by students in a senior
raphic design class stand on display in the Office
f Academic Multicultural Initiatives for the
perusal of members of the University community.
MLK Symposium Coordinator Tara Young,
who also is the program coordiantor for OAMI,
said the students were given very few guidelines
to allow for creative, individual interpretations.
Although many of the posters emphasize
varying interpretations of the symposium's
theme "Why We Can't Wait," Young said she
was impressed with the inventiveness of each
poster and will select the poster that receives the
most votes.
"I'm going to go with the will of the people and
the will of who comes in to vote,'Young said.
LSA sophomore Jane Kim said she was
impressed by the talent shown through the posters.
"I think there were some powerful ones," Kim
said. "I was like, 'Wow, I can't believe our Art
students did them."'
Young also said several of the posters are
being noted for their "direct" and powerful state-
ments. Some people find these illustrations
inappropriate, but others applaud the strong,
attention-getting message, she said.
"Dr. King's work is definitely (not) about
being safe, and some of these posters really
drive it home in a direct way," she said.
Kim, who is a student administrative assistant
for OAMI, said that although some of the
posters presented a more direct statement, they
were not necessarily inappropriate.
"I think it shows the weight of the situation,
and it goes along with exactly 'Why We Can't
Wait,"' Kim said.
Nursing senior Pam Bowser said that
although more direct posters are eye-catching
and affect many people, they might stray from
the focus of the symposium, partly because the
message may be misinterpreted.
"I think it is direct and to the point, but as far
as using it as advertising, I don't necessarily
think it is appropriate'" Bowser said.
Art and Design senior Dion Madrilejo, who
was one of the students in the Graphic Design 4
class who proposed a poster design, said he and
his fellow classmates had to research King and
his work to develop individual interpretations
for their poster concepts.
"I think he stood for unity," Madrilejo said.
"That's why it's so prominent in my poster."
Madrilejo's poster shows two hands, one red
and one green, joined together on a black back-
ground. These three colors are commonly asso-
ciated with black pride.
Young said January's MLK symposium may
take on a different tone or meaning because of
several events that have occured at the
University in recent months. In addition to the
lawsuit filed against the University last month
challenging admission policies, Young noted
swastikas drawn on the doors of several stu-
dents' residence hall rooms and the dqpiestic
violence situation that resulted in the death of
LSA senior Tamara Williams.
"I think this campus is a lot more anxious" she
said. "This is not a comfortable year, and it's a little
more different this year because of those thinh."
Members of the University community are
encouraged to rank their top five poster selec-
tions and evaluate each poster on display in the
OAMI office, which is located on the third floor
of the'Student Activities Building. The deadline
for voting on the posters is tomorrow at 5 p.m.
Anthropology
profs. debate
o rigin of humans
MSA to debate
affirmative action
By David Bricker
Daily Staff Reporter
Perhaps the most contentious
issue of biological anthropology
dominated a lecture given by two
University anthropoligists last
night.
For many years, anthropologists
agreed that modern human popula-
tions resulted from a gigantic
march of people out of Africa,
which culminated in the establish-
ment of different races of Homo
sapiens.
Anthropology Profs. Milford
Wolpoff and Rachel Caspari, who
spoke at Rackham West Conference
Hall, are leading the increasingly
popular charge against the Out of
Africa hypothesis, in an intellectual
clash that has become anthropolo-
gy's equivalent of the Battle of
Waterloo.
The book "Race and Human
Evolution: A Fatal Attraction,"
which Wolpoff and Caspari co-
authored, discusses an alternative
to Out of Africa known as the
Multiregional Evolution (MRE)
hypothesis. The theory states that
the races of modern humans
evolved within their respective con-
tinents at the same time.
Despite a growing body of evidence
supporting MR E, conventional wis-
dom has been slow to change.
"If you ask the average person off
the street, they'll tell you about Out
of Africa because it's easier to
understand," Wolpoff said. "It's
about 90 percent politics, and pop-
ular opinion is always behind the
research."
However, the dueling hypotheses
have some things in common.
"Everyone agrees that humans, for a
vast majority of their evolution, were
in Africa," Caspari said. "Everyone
agrees that about 1.5 million years
ago, people left Africa."
The fundamental difference
between the hypotheses is what hap-
pened next.
According to Out of Africa, modem
humans replaced anatomically archaic
versions in the areas where they set-
tIed, such as Asia and Europe. The
invaders drove their evolutionary pre-
cursors to extinction, replacing them.
MRE, however, is completely
opposed to the idea of this replace-
ment. It stresses continuity and the
idea that new forms of Homo sapiens
simply mated with older Homo sapi-
ens wherever they settled.
"It's very controversial and very
misunderstood material," said
Rackham student Nicole Berry. "I
appreciated the simplicity with
which they developed their argu-
ments."
An important by-product of the pop-
E Members will vote to
oppose or support 'U's
admissions policies
By Susan T. Port
Daily Staff Reporter
The Michigan Student Assembly
plans to take a stand on one of the
University's most controversial issues
- affirmative action - at tonight's
meeting.
Three resolutions pertaining to affir-
mative action are scheduled for debate,
including a proposed ballot question
about student opinion on affirmative
action for the spring MSA elections.
MSA members also are scheduled to
vote to support or oppose the current
University admissions policy and dis-
cuss whether race should be a factor in
choosing student athletes.
MSA President Mike Nagrant said
he is expecting a bigger student turnout
than usual at tonight's meeting.
"It's always good for constituents to
express their opinions," said Nagrant,
an LSA senior. "It helps make (repre-
sentatives) make a better decision in
(the students') favor."
MSA Vice President Olga Savic said
she's pleased that more students may take
an active role in tonight's meeting. It will
become apparent to students which rep-
resentatives are willing to take a stand on
affirmative action, she said.
"It's important to have constituents at
meetings," Savic said. "It allows them to
see people's real feelings about issues."
Engineering Rep. Dave Burden said
it's very important for students to come
to the meeting.
"I'd like to see a lot of people turn out,'
Burden said. "It's important if we have
both sides of the issue represented'
Burden proposed the resolution on
the ballot question asking if -race
should be taken into account in admis-
sions policies. He said it's important
for student views to be represented on
such an issue.
"I think students should decide it
directly" Burden said.
BRYAN MCLELLAN/Daily
Anthropology Prof. Milford Wolpoff lectured on human evolution at Rackham
West Conference Hall last night.
VOTERS
Continued from Page 1
turnout," Enright said.
Some people attribute the level of
local disinterest to the perception that
Ann Arbor is only a temporary residence.
"College students tend to be really'
apathetic. They don't feel that this is
where they live. They don't feel the need
to get involved in politics here,' Cohen
said.
"Until you become a taxpayer, you
don't have much interest in anything
except the national issues," said
Councilmember David Kwan (R-2nd
Ward).
Kwan, who is up for re-eldetion
today, also pointed out that many out-
of-state students prefer to stay regis-
tered in their own states and that many
other students are from other countries.
Councilmember Heidi Herrell- (D-
3rd Ward), who also is up for ro'eiec-
tion today, said she hopes for a large
student turnout,
"It's very critical for people to get out
and vote," Herrell said. "I know thre's a
great many students who have difficdlty
deciding whether to stay registered in
their hometowns or to register here.
Herrell said she would encourage
students to register in Ann Arbor. Four
years is a long enough to make Ann
Arbor a home, she said.
ular fascination with human evolution
is the concept of race. Unlike the con-
troversial two-year-old book "The Bell
Curve" the recent "Race and Human
Lvolution" strives to discount the con-
ception that the races are significantly
different genetically.
"The degree of variation within the
human species is remarkably low,"
Caspari said. "Our book helps to
explain how you can have difference in
the face of incredible similarity."
TIME
ontinued from Page 1
"Before the '70s, most schools
would go from September to June.
Students would go away for the hol-
idays and come back for exams. The
Michigan system is a system that
has been adopted by many other
Universities."
One of the drawbacks of the
University's condensed calendar are
the shorter-than-average breaks. The
University's vacations include a 5-
lay Thanksgiving holiday, a two-
week Christmas break and a nine-
day spring break - which adds up
to dramatically less time off than
students on average enjoy nation-
wide.
In early November, students are
already starting to gripe about the
lack of breaks at the University.
"I would prefer larger vacations
and a more extensive school year,"
said LSA first-year student Justin
Rathke. "A long spring break, espe-
cially."
Lincoln Faller, LSA associate
dean for undergraduate education,
said quality of education is the perti-
nent issue, not quantity.
"The measure of a University's
effectiveness can't just be attributed
to the number of days," Faller said.
Faller, who taught in the African
nation of Cameroon, said resources
can affect the amount of time spent
in class per year. Faller said stu-
dents spent 48 more days in class in
1914 than they did in 1993 because
books were less accessible than they
are now, and that students spent
more time scouring libraries in
search of materials. Such issues also
came into play during Faller's time
in Africa.
"Cameroon students spent about
30 hours a week in class, but that's
because books were in short supply.
Books are accessible here. Although
they seem expensive they actually
are cheap," he said.
It may seem natural to question
whether it's worth it for out-of-state
University students to pay up to
$26,000 per academic year, one of
the most expensive public school
educations in the nation, for just
135 class days.
But members of the University
community said an education in Ann
Arbor is worth every penny, regard-
less of total class hours.
"I think the classes are hard
enough that people are getting their,
money's worth in less time," said
LSA first-year student Chris Moffat.
"If they can cover the material in
less time, I say go for it."
LSA senior Matt Holtzman said
the intensity of University classes
makes students reach their capabil-
ities, although it does become tir-
ing.
"The rigorous schedule and
intense amount of reading makes
students apply themselves more,"
Holtzman said. "I wouldn't mind an
extra week of vacation to cool it off
a bit. It also lets the University have
spring and summer terms, allowing
students to graduate sooner."
Others schools nationwide act on
a philosophy that a short academic
calendar forces students to take
heavier class loads than normal. For
instance, Dartmouth College has
three regular trimesters plus a sum-
mer term that all sophomores are
required to attend.
"At many other schools you take
four to six classes per term,' said
Ellen Parish, assistant director of
admissions at Dartmouth. "Our stu-
dents take fewer and shorter class-
es."
One of the most unorthodox acad-
emic calendars is that of Colorado
College. There, students attend only
one class each term, although the
terms are about one month long.
Duderstadt said the idea of spac-
ing classes more evenly between
terms might have merit.
"My personal belief is that it
might make sense to take shorter
terms with fewer classes,"
Duderstadt said.
Since 1964, the national average
number of classroom days has dimin-
ished from 191 to merely 156 in 1993,
according to a recent study by the
National Association of Scholars.
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