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wwwmichigandaily.com

Friday
March 30, 2001

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School

ruling thrusts

Snto natinal

potlight
Jackson
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By Mob Sprow
Dally Staff Reporter

ABBY ROSENBAUM/Daily
Tommy Amaker, Michigan's new basketball coach, formally
accepted his position at a press conference at Crisler Arena
yesterday.
New'M' hoops
coach Amaker
meetshi~s team
BIchael Kern
Sports Editor
After Tommy Amaker was announced yesterday as the
next coach of the Michigan men's basketball team, junior
forward Chris Young quipped, "If he wasn't going to be a
coach, he could probably be a politician"

Amaker certainly had all
"I'm hoping I
-n stay here
as long as Bill
Martin and the
rest of the
administration
will have me."
- Tommy Amaker
Michigan basketball coach

of the right answers for the
media.
When asked if Michigan
would be used as a stepping
stone toward a job at Duke
when legendary coach and
Amaker's mentor Mike
Krzyzewski retires, the new
coach rebuffed the sugges-
tion.
"I don't think you ever
look at Michigan as a step-
ping stone to anything,"
Amaker said. "I'm here, and
I'm hoping I can stay here as
long as Bill Martin and the
rest of the administration
wants me to stay."
When asked if he minded

Two days after the Law School's
race-conscious admissions policy
was struck down by a federal judge,
the Rev. Jesse Jackson stood on the
steps of the Harlan Hatcher Graduate
Library yesterday and encouraged
students to fight the ruling.
"This is another great movement
now. It's Ann Arbor. It's this campus.
It's your day. Don't let the confeder-
ates turn back the clock. This is the
American flag - one America, one
people," Jackson said, speaking about
U.S. District Judge Bernard Fried-
man's opinion handed down Tuesday.
"Affirmative action is not a minority
issue, it is a majority issue"
Jackson, founder of the
Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, rallied
hundreds of students who filled the
Diag in support of affirmative action
and to show the courts that Fried-
man's decision will not be accepted
by the University.
"Keep making America better and
better. ... We are a better nation
because of this University," he said.
"Here you stand multi-racial, multi-
cultural. Brother King would be
proud of you."
He said race should be a deciding
factor in admissions because univer-
sities use other fundamental factors
like legacy. "Legacy is a factor. Gen-
See JACKSON, Page 7

Affirmative action
debate heats up on
Talk of the Nation'___

ABBY ROSENBAUM/Daily
ABOVE: The Rev. Jesse Jackson
rallies hundreds of students
gathered on the Diag yesterday.
BELOW: NPR's Juan Williams
hosts a debate among University
of California Prof. John
McWhorter, Michigan Law
School Dean Jeffrey Lehman and
Center for Individual Rights
attorney Larry Purdy.

that he would be playing second fiddle to Lloyd Carr and the
football team, Amaker expounded about the example that
Michigan football set for college programs everywhere.
"It's more than just winning, it's how they win," the new
coach said. "There is no better example for our basketball
team than our football team"
just as Rick Pitino's wife's wishes to return to Kentucky
have been the deciding factor in his signing with
Louisville, Amaker's wife, Stephanie Pinder-Amaker, may
be the biggest reason he is in Ann Arbor.
"I really don't make the decisions. (If you want to know)
the reason I'm here, you should probably be asking her all of
the questions," Amaker said. "She made the call."
Amaker left Seton Hall under difficult circumstances. The
announcement came suddenly and caught many of his for-
mer players off-guard. The Pirates held a team meeting with
their, former coach yesterday to say goodbye. More than a
few tears were shed.
"It's unfortunate. I think we all recognize it is part of the
la cape (of college basketball)," Amaker said. "I tried to
get up and get a haircut before I got on the plane this morn-
ing, and I was told by -my barber, 'Well Coach, the fact is
that maybe people are upset and disappointed, but it beats
the heck out of people throwing a party that you are leav-
ing.'
"So that's one good way of looking at it."
During Amaker's introductory speech yesterday, the team
stood behind their new coach, smiling with approval. Amak-
er met with the team for the first time for about an hour
b e the press conference, taking the time to get to know
on another.
"We are familiar with him, junior Leon Jones said. "He
See AMAKER, Page 7

By Anna Clark
DailyStaffReporter
The timing couldn't have been bet-
ter.
Although National Public Radio
had been planning for months to host
an affirmative action debate in a live
broadcast from the University's cam-
pus, yesterday's program came just
two days after the Law School's
defense of race-based admissions was
rejected at the district court level.
Hundreds of University students,
faculty and community members
flocked to Rackham Auditorium to
see "Talk of the Nation" host Juan
Williams mediate an intense debate
between two of the major parties in
the case - Law School Dean Jeffrey
Lehman and Larry Purdy, an attorney
for the Center for Individual Rights,
which is challenging the school's
race-conscious admissions policy.
John McWhorter, an associate pro-
fessor of linguistics at the University

of California's Berkeley campus,
joined the discussion as a staunch
opponent of race-conscious admis-
sions.
"Affirmative action has bean the
most divisive racial issue in America
over the last quarter century,"
Williams said as he introduced the
program. "At the center of the debate
has been the University of Michigan."
Purdy began the discussion by
reflecting on the recent decision in
the case, made Tuesday by U.S. Dis-
trict Judge Bernard Friedman.
"We think that Judge Friedman has
issued a powerful reaffirmation of the
right of an individual to be judged on
his or her merit," Purdy said.
McWhorter echoed Purdy's idea.
Being black himself, he said he is
frustrated that he can not avoid being
a beneficiary of affirmative action.
"Low standards means low perfor-
mance," McWhorter said. "Affirma-
tive action is a fancy way of saying
See NPR, Page 7


SPRING'
AHEAD!
I.
Daylight Savings
Time begins
at 2 a.m. Sunday.
Eln m n In n I

Cultural events on
tap this weekend

Detroit Project the
largest in its history

By Hanna LoPatin
Daily Staff Reporter

By Maria Sprow
Daily Staff Reporter

For the past 28 years, thousands of
people from around the country have
traveled to campus for the annual
Ann Arbor Pow Wow "Dance for
Mother Earth."
More than 1,000 of the nation's
top Native American dancers,
singers and drummers come to com-
pete for cash prizes at the event,
sponsored by the Native American
Student Association. The show is
expected to attract 10,000 students
and residents to Crisler Arena this
. mnlr amn

who will be competing tomorrow, is
coming all the way from Barrow,
Alaska. They will be part of the
Grand Entries, parades that feature
all the performers and are the most
entertaining parts of the weekend for
most attendees, Mexicotte said.
"The Grand Entries are very
impressive. All the dancers come in.
Saturday afternoon after the first
Grand Entry is sort of one of the
more popular times for people to
come," she said.
The Grand Entry times are today
at 7 p.m., tomorrow at 1 and 7 p.m.
and Sunday at 1 p.m.
Thy Pow Wowwillhe o tnr neof

More than 1,700 students have
signed on to give up a Saturday of
studying or watching TV for a day of
community service in Michigan's
largest city. In its second year of
operation, the Detroit Project has
managed to triple its number of par-
ticipants from last year's 400 to sur-
pass its goal of 1,500.
Detroit Project publicity coordina-
tor Kate Sterken said she is happily
baffled by the large increase in num-
bers. "I don't know how we did it,"
said Sterken, an LSA junior. "Who
knows - it could be even bigger
next vear"

the group held community service
activities all year long, Foley said.
She said she suspects word of mouth
is responsible for the large sign-up.
"A lot of people got really excited,"
Foley said.
Activities have been going on all
year, but tomorrow is the Detroit Pro-
ject's opus.
Student volunteers will split into
50 different sites in conjunction with
16 local service organizations. Foley
said the list of activities range from
paftting a mural to planting trees to
leading a field.day at a nearby ele-
mentary school.
It's important "to connect the Uni-
versity to the Detroit community,"
Fnlev aid. "We have alot of

PSA is holding their third annual
dinner and show tomorrow begin-
ning at 5:30 p.m.
The dinner features Persian food
from Reza's Restaurant in Chicago
because Michigan lacks Persian
restaurants, said PSA board member
Rea Rreakectnne

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