Weather Today: Mostly cloudy. High 6: Tomorrow: Fog. High 63. itllItan r *rnt 1. LOw 50. One hundred nine years of editonlkfreedom Monday November 22, 1999 Pield hz U NCAA championship win would have given Michigan its first women's team title 0David Roth ySports Writer BOSTON - Tenths of seconds deter- mined the fate of the Michigan field hock- ey team. Maryland edged Michigan in the NCAA Championship game yesterday, pre- venting them from becoming the first Michigan women's team to win a national title. With less than one second to play in the first half. Maryland freshman forward *isssa Messimer took a pass from sopho- nore forward Dina Rizzo and scored to give the Terrapins a 2-0 lead they. would never relinquish. Though the Wolverines will settle for cke falls short I second place in the NCAA Tournament, Michigan coach Marcia Pankratz feels the Wolverines gave Maryland all they had to offer, "We're proud of our team for continuing to fight after going down 2-0," Pankratz said. "They fought really hard to come back and make it interesting. It was a good hock- ey game, right down to the last second. What I'm most proud of is that we just went out and played as hard as we could. We're very disappointed, of course, because our players are all champions - they want to win - and to lose the last game is a tough one. Despite the second-place finish, this year as a whole has been the best ever for the Wolverines. This was the first time Michigan had made the NCAA Tournament in the field hockey team's 26-year history. The Wolverines' 20-win season surpasses their old record of games won in a season by four. The seniors leave a team that went 7-11 when they were freshmen with a 20-7 record, and as runners-up to the national champions. "I'm sure as time goes by, the seniors will reflect on what an awesome accomplish- ment it was to come in here and play in the championship," Pankratz said. "For the pro- gram, I think it was a huge stepping stone." Defender Ashley Reichenbach, midfield- er Erica Widder, forward Jocelyn LaFace, and goalkeeper Kati Oakes are the three seniors who leave the program after turning it into one of the nation's elite teams. "I couldn't have written the story any bet- ter than it has happened - slightly," Reichenbach said. "It's been a great four years and I have been able to be a part of something that's evolved and done a 360. See FIELD HOCKEY, Page 2A MARJORIE MARSHALL/Daily Michigan forward Jocelyn LaFace takes control of the ball during the Wolverines' 2-1 loss to Maryland In the NCAA Championship game in Boston yesterday, ----- i r 11 United in protest Record turnout; 20 percent vote 10,000 rally o*to cose Americas By Shomari Terrelonge-Stone Daily StaffReporter COLUMBUS, Ga. -- Thirty-five University students of the Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice along with an 'stimated 10,000 faith, labor and student aders from around the world traveled here to protest the U.S. School of Americas in Fort Benning yesterday. The 10th annual demonstration com- memorated the Nov. 16, 1989, killings in El Salvador of six Jesuit priests, their house- keeper and her daughter. SOA was founded in 1946 in Panama and was later relocated to Fort Benning, Ga. in 1984. The University students and protesters , leged that hundreds of thousands of Latin mericans had been tortured, raped, massa- cred and assassinated by SOA graduates. Ignoring threats of arrest, 5,000 protest- ers crossed onto Fort Benning property in ar See RALLY, Page 7A s By Caitlin Nish Daily Staff Reporter The Blue Party doubled its represen- tation on the Michigan Student Assembly to maintain its majority in elections held last week. University stu- dents elected 21 representatives to the assembly during two days of polling. Defend Affirmative Action Party members secured six of the 21 seats and all eight Blue Party candidates were elected. Independent candidates captured seven seats and no members of the Friends Rebelling Against Tyranny Party were elected. "Now that you're on MSA party affiliation means almost nothing. Personal consideration and individual conscientiousness means everything. The people who won, won because they're great individuals and have to vote that way," MSA President Bram Elias said. BP now holds 23 of the 49 assembly seats, while independent candidates hold eight seats and DAAP members maintain eight seats. There are four vacant seats on the assembly, which may be filled by appointment in com- ing months. The Students' Party, which did not enter any candidates in the fall election, holds six assembly seats. Voting reached a record high for the fall election. After a 15 percent turnout during the 1997 fall election and 10 percent voter turnout during the fall election last year, 4,727 students voted this year. Of the ballots cast, 4,632 votes were cast online, while 95 were paper ballots. "It's the best we've ever had in fall elections and it absolutely amazes me, especially without posters in Angell Hall. It shows that postering isn't nec- essary to win elections," Elections and Rules Committee Chair Mark Sherer said. MSA Vice President Andy Coulouris attributed the distribution of votes to DAVID ROCHKIND/ Daily ABOVE: One of 10,000 protesters Is escorted off Fort Benning property by Columbus, Ga. police yesterday in a demonstration against School of Americas. Most demonstrators were bused to a nearby park. BELOW: Actor and social activist Martin Sheen kneels in protest of SOA. Sides feud over SOA's role in Latin Americanatrocitie s By Shomari Terrelonge-Stone Daily Staff Reporter COLUMBUS, Ga. - Rufina Amaya witnessed the massacre at El Mozote in El Salvador on.Dec. 12, 1981, when the Salvadoran Army systematical- ly murdered more than 1,000 men, women and chil- dren. For seven days and nights, she said she hid alone in the hills near the small town, where she knelt down and prayed behind an apple shrub with no food or water. This past weekend, 18 years later in Fort Benning, Ga - dressed in a pink sweater, blue skirt and black sandals -Amaya described what was done to her as "a plan to instill fear and terror." She said the El Salvadoran government "killed innocent children." But what resonated with others this weekend dur- ing the annual protest of the U.S. School of the Americas in Columbus, Ga., where Ft. Benning is located, was more than Amaya's descriptive story of atrocity. It was her claim that the massacre would not have occurred if top Salvadoran military offi- cials had not graduated from SOA. Surrounded by much controversy throughout its more than 50-year existence, SOA has graduated about 60,000 Latin American and 1,500 American cadets, officers and government civilians. Critics refer to SOA as the "School of Assassins," holding the school accountable for the oppression, death and suffering of women, children and the economically disadvantaged in Latin America. But SOA supporters deny these allegations and say the school provides relevant military training and education to countries in Latin America and the Caribbean while promoting democracy and respect for human rights and cooperation between the mil- itaries of the western world. Supporters also say SOA teaches democratic values to the United States and Latin Americans who fill the school's class- rooms. SOA originated in 1946 in Panama as a Latin American Training Center during a time when the See SOA, Page 7A the appeal the different parties and can- didates have with University students. DAAP, he said, is largely responsible for the record voter turnout during the election because it brought out students to vote who normally would not have voted. Still, BP can rely on its wide appeal to students, he said. "BP has a broad appeal," Coulouris said, describing it as a "big tent" party. See ELECTIONS, Page 2A Chutes and ladders Indian fratei By Lisa Koivu Daily Staff Reporter 'irls in colorful salvar kamises - traditionil Iian dresses - danced around the Michigan Union Ballroom on Friday night, while others danced the Raas, a traditional Indian dance using sticks. All of the festivities were meant to bring students from various minority groups together. The dance followed a dinner in the Kuenzel Room of the Union that was hosted by a new nity hosts dinner, dance each other," he said. Event organizers invited two representatives from each minority organization on campus, and altogether nearly 55 students attended, represent- ing about 28 organizations. Ravi Maddipati, an Engineering junior and AIO external social chair, said the dinner was a chance for people to meet each other. "We often disassociate into our own cliques as minorities, and we forget about all that we can AIO also introduced its charity organization, ASHA, at the dinner. Asha, an Indian word that translates as hope, is a non-profit organization working to provide education to poor children in India. Sathyan Subbiah, a member of the ASHA chap- ter based in Detroit, said India has one of the largest illiteracy rates in the world, and ASHA raises money to fund initiatives to increase the number of literate people. I- 'rx -