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One hundred seven years of editoriafreedom
Wednesday
September 9, 1998
McGwire Vhits No* 62, passes M
ST. LOUIS (AP) - Without a doubt or an asterisk,
Mark McGwire and his mighty swing broke Roger
Maris' home run record last night - and with plenty of
games to spare.
No. 62 was not a trademark McGwire moonshot, but a
*r to left, a 341-footer that barely cleared the wall and was
his shortest of the season.
McGwire connected with two outs in the fourth inning off
the Chicago Cubs' Steve Trachsel for the historic homer,
punctuating the chase that reinvigorated the sport and capti-
vated a nation.
McGwire was so caught up in the moment that he missed
first base as he rounded the bag and had to return to touch it,
pulled back by coach Dave McKay.
From there, McGwire got handshakes from every Chicago
i elder as he trotted home to history and a hug from catch-
cott Servais. Cubs right fielder Sammy Sosa, who has 58
home runs, ran in from right field to hug McGwire and give
his rival a high-five.
McGwire was mobbed by his teammates at home plate,
where he hoisted his 10-year-old batboy son Matt high into
the air. McGwire then ran into the seats to hug the family of
Maris, whose 37-year-old record he had just broken.
Before the game, McGwire held the bat that Maris used to
hit his 61st and rubbed it against his chest.
"Roger, I hope you're with me tonight," McGwire said.
He was, indeed.
As the ball cleared the left-field fence, there was no scram-
ble to retrieve it because it landed in an area where no fan
could get it.
Tim Forneris, a ground-crew worker, picked it up and later
gave it to McGwire.
"Right when it hit off the bat, I knew it was going out and
it went right over the sign," he said. "There was a bunch of
ground-crew guys on the wall. But I was right on the edge
and I said, 'That ball is mine."'
After McGwire finished celebrating with his teammates
and the Maris family, he grabbed a microphone to address the
sellout crowd of 43,688, which was still standing and cheer-
ing.
"To all my family. my son, the Cubs, Sammy Sosa. It's
unbelievable," McGwire said. "Thank you, St. Louis."
McGwire, who appeared anxious in grounding out on a 3-
0 pitch in the first inning, hit his solo shot on the first pitch at
8:18 p.m. CDT. It triggered an I1-minute delay. baseball's
biggest midgame celebration since Cal Ripken broke L ou
Gehrig's consecutive games record in 1995.
The home run, despite its short distance, surely will rank as
one of the biggest in history, up there with the ones hit by
Bobby Thomson, Bill Mazeroski, Hank Aaron. Carlton Fisk,
Kirk Gibson and Joe Carter.
The 34-year-old slugger also did it at home, just like he
wanted. The Cardinals begin a five-game road trip today and
McGwire wanted to share the moment with the fans and city
he has embraced since Oakland traded him to St. Louis on
July 31, 1997.
McGwire did not get an immediate chance to add to his
total, which includes 15 home runs in only 21 days. His next
time up, Trachsel intentionally walked him, and McGwire
See MCGWIRE, Page 9
AP PHOTO
Mark McGwire lifts his son, Matt, into the air last night after
hitting his 62nd home run of the season.
BAC I<
Day one
ends
By Adam Zuwerink
Daily Staff Reporter
When alarm clocks buzzed for first-
year students across campus yesterday
morning, they brought the realization
that classes finally had begun.
"I was anxious to finally get it start-
ed," said LSA first-year student Carrie
silver.
My roommate and I "were like
stressed last night," said LSA first-year
student Renee Graef. "We were really
nervous about going to class."
To ease the first-day tension, many
new students made sure to find the
locations of all their classes a few days
efore the term begins.
"I looked for them ahead of time,
which helped a lot." said LSA first-year
student Faith Roof. "I just wish there
were more signs to point you were to
go.
Once at class, many students said
they felt the first day went as well as
could be expected.
"it was really a comfortable experi-
ence" said LSA first-year student
Linnaea Eberts. "I wasn't overwhelmed
by the large class size."
0 But the first day of classes didn't
completely pass without a hitch.
"Ten minutes wasn't enough between
classes. I was sitting in Great Books
(class) waiting for it to end because I
had to go to Dennison and run up six
flights of stairs." Graef said. "I was late
for my class."
For some students, the initial shock
of a larger workload gave them a quick
nd painful reminder that they are not in
high school anymore.
"The classwork is harder - a lot
harder." Graef said.
But quite a few students expressed a
general level of satisfaction with their
first experience in large lecture halls
with college professors.
"I felt that it would be easy to talk
TO
HE
BOOKS
U' drops 2
plases in
rankings
By Nikita Easley
Daily Staff Reporter
Dropping two places to number 25, the
University rounded off the top tier of the
U.S. News & World Report annual col-
lege and university ranking list.
The University tied with the
University of California-Los Angeles,
Tufts University and Carnegie Melon
University in this year's university rank-
ings, released this past month.
The slip drops the University into the
fourth place position among public uni-
versities. Before this year, the University
was ranked second only to the University
of Virginia.
University spokesperson Julie
Peterson said no matter how high the
school rates, the University does not take
the ranre syioulv.
"I here are many more factors to a
University than its rank," Peterson said,
adding that she does not expect the fall in
the rankings to affect the University's
reputation or applicant pool.
For the past 12 years, U.S. News &
World Report has ranked colleges and
universities as a "service for thousands of
students looking for a university," said
Celeste James, director of Media
Relations for the magazine.
Among the factors used by the maga-
zine in the ranking process are alumni
donation, graduation rate, academics,
tuition costs and quality of life. The
University ranked 126th in the alumni
donation category and 25th for gradua-
tion rate.
Although the magazine thrives on
being a resource for college-bound teens,
some uni- 1998 College
versities are
skeptical of Rankins
the method-
ology used 1. Harvard
to create the 2. Princeton
ranking. 3. Yale
"The U.S. 4. MIT d
News rank- 5. Stanford
ings take a 6. Cornell
number of 7. Duke
measures 8. U. of Pennsylvania
and assires9.California Institute of
and assign Technology
weightings
in order to
determine 25 Michigan
the quality
of universi-
ties
Provost Nancy Cantor said in a written
statement. "Only if you agree that those
particular measures capture the quality of
an institution, should you accept the
rankings without question."
One criticism of the U.S. News system
is that much of the ranking is done by
college administrators from around the
nation.
"Colleges should be ranked by their
peers, not an outside institution." said
Terry Denbow, vice president for uni-
versity relations at Michigan State
University.
A school's ranking does not necessar-
ily mean that the university or college did
not meet its mission, Denbow said.
He added that despite the high regard
some people place on rankings, people
are realizing that they are not every-
See RANKINGS, Page 9
ADRIANA YUGOVICH/Daily
to (my professor)." Roof said. "I
like being able to walk out of the
big lectures whenever I want, but
still have the smaller discussions
available."
For those students who do feel intim-
idated by talking with their professors,
the Office of New Student Programs
offers The University Mentorship
Program.
Designed as a place for first-year
students to interact with people in
their chosen career field, the
Mentorship Program offers students
a support group where they can
receive first-hand experience from
older students.
"It's a support group for first-year
students," said University
Mentorship Program assistant
Jennifer Kushnir. "We try to match
See SCHOOL, Page 9
ABOVE:
Students wait
in line for
books at
Shaman Drum
Bookshop
yesterday.
RIGHT:
Education
first-year
student Erin
Combs tries
to find her
way around
campus
yesterday.
ITD adjusts basic
computing services
New morning-after pill package sparks debate
By Melissa Andrzejak Service does not plan to offer the drug. to the pill in emergencies is generally a "The more men and women knovw
Daily Staff Reporter "In general the pills have been used positive alternative, health care advisers about it's availability, the more they wil
A new twist on contraception has after the fact. If we prescribe it (ahead should "promote condoms so that stu- be able to use it effectively" Long said
been thrown into the mix of birth con- of time) as a contraceptive, it is a failure dents won't have to use the pill." "The use of emergency contraception nc
trol measures. in our health education efforts," said Others expressed concern that only prevents pregnancy, but reduces th
The controversial "morning-after Caeser Briefer, a doctor at University increased popularity in the drug may number of abortions as well."
pill" is again in the spotlight, this time Health Services. cause a more light-hearted approach to The morning-after pill is a combina
w
d.
le
By Amit Pandya
Daily Staff Reporter
In response to students' dissatisfaction
with the University's computing pack-
age, the Information Technology
Division has improved its basic comput-
ing services.
Starting this semester check this, stu-
dents will receive 400 pages of free print-
ing - 280 more than last semester.
Other notable changes include 10
megabites of institutional file system
space and e-mail storage space, five and
seven more than last year, respectively.
For students dialing into the
University's system, the package offers
100 hours of in-state dial-in time - 20
more than last semester.
"Technology is no longer an option in
the successful pursuit of an education -
it is a way of life, which students and fac-
ulty are demanding be available," said
Linda Green, a marketing manager for
ITD.
Students, including member's of the
to accomplish course goals," said Green.
Students made it very clear winter
term that they needed more technology
services - specifically increased dial-in
time, e-mail file storage space, printing,
and IFS space - if they were going to be
successful, Green said.
Students and ITD officials then went
to the Office of the Provost, which
increased its funding when to ITD to pay
for the improved services.
Provost Nancy Cantor "is committed
to supporting ITD's'ability to provide
appropriate levels of necessary services
and ITD is committed to ensuring levels
of reliable services significantly above
what ITD was able to provide at the
beginning of the year," Green said .
Barry Rosenberg, a former MSA rep-
resentative who worked on the improve-
ments, said he's "thrilled" with the pro-
ject's outcome.
"The unlimited off-peak and 100
hours of peak dial-in will help off-cam-
pus users; said Rosenberg, a Medical
with a marketing angle to make using
* pills easier and less confusing.
The new kit, called PREVEN, is
composed of four birth control pills, a
pregnancy test, and instructions.
It may be marketed to women as a con-
traceptive to have on hand in case they
have unprotected sexual intercourse.
Traitionallv the mnornine-after nill has
Briefer said that the "morning-after
pill" does not protect against sexually
transmitted diseases.
"My hope is that students at the
University would be intelligent enough
to recognize that there are a lot of risks
(associated with intercourse) other than
pregnancy," Briefer said.
Most students agree that although the
sex.
"Sex is a very serious thing' said
LSA first-year student Aja Lawson.
Use of the drug in common practice
could "send out the wrong message,
especially to children."
Although the popularity of the drug
has grown during its five years of avail-
ability, health care professionals are
tion of four birth control pills, taken in
a specialized sequence, to prevent fer-
tilization. The pills must be taken with-
in 72 hours of intercourse.
Although Planned Parenthood
already allows pre-emergency access to
the morning-after pill for its registered
patients, use of the drug as a regular
method of birth control has not been
I