'I
MLK DAY
"Service
projects
honor
MLK
By Kristin Wright
Daily Staff Reporter
Participants -in the philanthropical
..efforts of Project Serve hoped to give tan-
-gible meaning yesterday to the theme of
the University's celebration of Rev. Dr.
WMartin Luther King, Jr. Day, "Why We
Can't Wait"
Project Serve members and other
University students came together in an
efforts to continue Project Serve's annual
community service drive.
Jennifer Johnson, a member of
Project Serve's Campus Programming
Division, said the theme of the service
project, "Acting On a Dream," was
inspired by a speech given by Coretta
Scott King, emphasizing the impor-
tance of realizing the goals of her late
husband.
"The point is to honor him in a way
that carries out his dream," Johnson said.
Three hundred students and site lead-
ers from Project Serve assembled in the
Chemistry Building for a brief com-
memoration of the holiday and then
split into groups to go to various sites in
Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti and Detroit.
FocusHope, the Ronald McDonald
House, Latino Family Services and
-.Recycle Ann Arbor were among the 26
organizations that volunteered yesterday.
Johnson said that sending students to
The Michigan Daily- Tuesday, January 20. 1998- 3A
Tribune columni1st.
reflects on struggle
to eliminate racism,
JOHN KRAFT/Daily
Julie Wong and Heidie Savin help to knit a sleeping bag for Knitwits. The non-profit group will donate the finished products to
the homeless of Ann Arbor. Working with Knitwits was just one of many Project Serve volunteer events held yesterday.
By Lee Palmer
Daily Staff Reporter
Insisting that audience members in a
packed Hale Auditorium crowd keep
their "eyes on the prize,' Clarence Page,
a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for
the Chicago Tribune, at "A Drum Major
for Justice," a program sponsored by the
School of Business Administration.
Kofi Bruce, president of the
Business school's student government,
introduced Page as an accomplished
journalist and timely speaker to honor
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
"Today we look back on our nation's
history and renew our daily struggle of
fighting racism," said Bruce, who
detailed Page's accomplishments as a
member of the Tribune's editorial
board, a regular panelist on Black
Entertainment Television's weekly
news panel program "Lead Story;" and
a biweekly commentator for National
Public Radio's "Weekend Edition
Sunday"
Page, who mixed humor, personal
narrative and historical perspective in
his talk, said that "Dr. King provided a
model not just for us, but for the rest of
the world:'
Page added that just by the audi-
ence's presence at his speech, they were
"living King's dream."
Bonnie Brereton, a comparative reli-
gion professor at Eastern Michigan
University, said she has noticed a more
diverse climate in Ann Arbor since she
graduated from the University in the
late 1 970s. She said she considers the
MLK Day programming an integral
part of honoring this diversity.
"It's good to see so many students
here," Brereton said. "I wasn't sure if so
many students would be interested or
not."
Medical student Peter Thomas said-he
was struck by Page's powerful delivery.
"I especially enjoyed Mr. Pag's
satirical review of the historical pres-
ence of racism and race relations,"*
Thomas said. "He was satirical vet
insightful of the irony and hypocrisy
that exists on an everyday level in
American society."*
After reading excerpts from King's
famous "I Have a Dream" speech, Page
connected the time of King's activism
to his own experiences with racism.,.
"I was four years old when I first
learned the rules of race,' said Page,
speaking of a white-only amusement
park he could not visit.
Page was seven when he first heard
the word "segregation." His father
explained that the signs over the public
water fountains referred not to the color
of the water but to the race of the peo-
ple allowed to use the fountain..
Page said he has noticed that
Americans either believe that we "ain't
made no progress" or that we have
"made all the progress we need to make."
Page finished by offering several "pre-
scriptions" to help cure the racism epi-
demic in the United States, including
acknowledging the problem, creating
honest dialogues between the races-and
insisting that whites actively fight racism.
different sites makes it possible for stu-
dents to feel more involved in the events
surrounding MLK Day.
"We try to get a more narrow focus on
issues because it's more involving for stu-
dents' Johnson said. "This is more for
students who, have really never done
community service before. It's to let thenm
try it out and see how they feel:
The Indian-American Student
Association and the Muslim Student
Association expressed the importance
of cultural unity by joining together for
Knitwits, a community service project
officially known as the Bedroll Project
for the Homeless.
"I think it's really cool that they have
these kinds of days. I wish they hap-
pened more often:' said LSA junior
Sonia Mathews. "It's bringing different
groups together on campus."
Knitwits is a group of University stu-
dents, alumni, faculty and other volun-
teers that provides toiletries and sews
bedding for the homeless. All supplies
for Knitwits are provided by donations
from the community.
Knitwits staff member Tina Smith
said she was impressed with the student
participation during yesterday's holiday.
"I think it's absolutely wonderful?"
Smiith said. "This is the best turnout we've
ever had and we've only done it twice"
Students transformed drapes donated
by the Michigan League into bedrolls
for the homeless. They removed linings
from drapes and then sewed sheets,
thick blankets and padding in its place.
Inside the bedrolls, Knitwit members
placed T-shirts and assorted toiletries,
then tied the bundle with two men's ties.
Other students at the Knitwits site
made maize and blue mittens and scarves
for the homeless out of fleece scraps.
LSA, junior Nick Pittman said he feels
a sense of accomplishment for using the
day to participate in an activity with such
great meaning behind it.
Athletes conduct experiment
to display effects of racism
500 student-athletes
participate in
segregation activity
By Erin Holmes
Daily Staff Reporter
University athletes were given the
opportunity to experience segregation
first-hand at Cliff Keen Arena yester-
day.
As part of a program consisting
of short skits and monologues pre-
sented by 35 student representatives
from a variety of varsity sports, the
audience of about 500 student-ath-
letes were seated according to
height.
The tall and short athletes who
attended were allowed to sit in the front
of the arena, while those who were
"average" height were pushed to the
back.
During the event, those sitting in the
front were treated to lollipops and soda,
while those in the back sipped from
cups of water.
Michigan football player Terrence
Quinn, who helped produced yester-
day's program, said the event aimed to
remind students of the adversity black
people have faced.
" 1 am sure the experiment will
change some minds about what really
went on during Martin Luther King's
struggle' Quinn said.
Athletic Director Tom Goss-said the
program gave athletes an opportunity
to share with each other what segrega-
tion is all about. He added that similar
events should be sponsored at least
three times a year.
Aaron Walter, a Michigan
wrestler, said all members of his
team were encouraged to be present
at the event.
Walter said the event would be a
good way to show the negative side of
segregation, but he admitted he did not
feel that racial tensions were high
among University athletes.
"There's no real separation in the
athletics here because there's so
many minorities involved," Walter
said.
In addition to the segregation
experiment, the program highlighted
events from King's life, and silhouet-
ted athletes and faculty who were
personally involved in the strugg!Q
for equality during the '50s and '60s.
Dwayne Fuqua, a track athlete W140
gave the closing remarks, said 0tt
black athletes still face an up-hill
climb.
"When people see a black athle
representing a predominately while
university, they assume that's the
only reason they're there:' Fuqua
said.
"They don't see black athletes the
same as they see whites:' Fuqua
said.
Greg Malicke, a Michigan hockey
player, said while he has never been
closed-minded in his athletic career,
the program still opened his eyes.
"It got to me when I couldn't drink
soda and had to get water instead"
Malicke said.
Fuqua ended the program by point.-
ing out that "there are a lot of forms of
segregation -- it's not just color any1
more:'
JOY JACOBS,/Daily
-,John Trudeli, former chair of the American Indian Movement, spoke on the nature of raising consciousness and how humans
*have lost perception of reality over time. Trudell noted that he wants to believe but "finds a lie in the word."
Minonty rights activist lends
*theories on the spirit of life
By Susan T. Port
Daily Staff Reporter
University students and Ann Arbor
residents crammed into the
Mendelssohn Theatre on Saturday night
,to hear John Trudell's provocative
address on the essence of the human
>spirit.
Trudell first becamie prominent as an
'activist for minority rights. He was the
chair of the American Indian
Movement from 1973 to 1979. His
often-explosive activist efforts have,
among other things, earned him a
17,000-page FBI file on his exploits.
Trudell's lecture began with the idea
that humans are the children of the Earth.
"We are all the descendants of tribes
- each and every one of us," Trudell
said. "The being part of the human
*being is the spirit."
Trudell emphasized that through evo-
lution and the appearance of Europeans
in America, human beings have lost their
identity and their "perception of reality:'
LSA junior Shanon Muir said Trudell
raised many salient points.
"I thought it was very entertaining,
very poignant:' Muir said. "He said a
lot of great things about spirituality. I
really appreciated that."
Trudell said that somewhere in our
pasts, people understood the spiritual
nature of life. But now "the other part of
reality said the earth is no longer the
important thing." Trudell added that peo-
ple have lost their relationship with Earth.
It is seen as just a piece of property,
Trudell said.
MLK Program Coordinator Tara
Young said she really enjoyed listening
to Trudel l's speech.
"He is so deep,"Young said. "A lot of
it was smarter than I am."
Young said Trudell maintained his
sense of humor during the lecture.
"I know for a fact people drove at least
three hours to see him:' Young said. "He
is a strong part of Native American histo-
Trudell said people look at power and
authority as status. He said people see
power as being something to attain
rather than something to find within
themselves.
"Let's look at power and authority"
Trudell said. "We are conditioned to
believe that whoever gets the most
money has power. That's not true.
Whoever gets the most money has access
to authority. not power, authority"
Local resident George Roman said
he anxiously awaited Trudell's speech.
"I think he was passionate in his speak-
ing," Roman said. "There was a lot of raw
truth in the things he said that we are not
used to:'
Trudell encouraged audience mem-
bers to think more and believe less.
"When we believe we no longer
think:' Trudell said. "We lose all our
objectivity. We no longer see."
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