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Monday
September 10, 2001
w f. i f? a r
'How to be Gay'
class avoids controversy
By Rachel Green
Daily StaffReporter
A University English course that conser-
vative groups decried as immoral use of
taxpayer money is again meeting this
semester but without the heated debate that
surrounded it last year.
English 317, "How to be Gay: Male
Homosexuality and Initiation," was
attacked last fall by Republican candidates
for the University Board of Regents, who
argued that state money should not be spent
Police use
tear gas to
quell riot
"ptomoting" homosexuality.
But Prof. David Halperin said he had no
doubts about re-listing his class in this
fall's course guide.
"The course did enough of what I wanted
it to do that I thought it was worth trying,"
Halperin said.
Halperin said he believes last year's
course helped to bring attention to gay cul-
ture and its impact on literature.
"It moved my own thinking along in
important ways and I learned a lot from the
students in the class," he said.
When Halperin's class was listed in the
Fall 2000 course guide, the American Fam-
ily Association of Michigan complained
that tax dollars were funding a class they
said was morally objectionable. University
Regent Dan Horning (R-Grand Haven)
publicly condemned the class, even after
secretly sitting in on the first meeting of
the class for observation.
Gary Glenn, president of the American
Family Association, said his group took
aim at the course because it promotes a
"dangerous lifestyle."
Glenn said he spoke with a member of
University President Lee Bollinger's staff
last year and was under the impression the
class would not be offered again.
"I feel we were misled," Glenn said.
"We continue to believe that it is wrong
that Michigan taxpayers, the overwhelming
majority of which believe homosexual
behavior is wrong, are being forced
through their tax dollars to pay for a class
that promotes such deadly behavior."
University spokeswoman Julie Peterson
denied that anyone told Glenn the class was
canceled.
Halperin said the class is not designed to
convert students to homosexuality but
rather to allow them to study the topic in an
academic setting.
Halperin also defended the course's title,
which some people felt was too explicit
and inflammatory.
"I didn't choose it to get attention, I
chose it for the sake of truth in advertising.
It's exactly what the class is about,"
Halperin said.
See CLASS, Page 7A
Law School
applications
at WMU
2 officers hospitalized
when gathering of 2,500
people gets out of hand
KALAMAZOO (AP) - A party
in a student neighborhood turned
violent early yesterday morning,
with revelers damaging cars and
other property and sending two
police officers to the hospital,
police said:
Kalamazoo Department of Public
Safety Lt. Douglas Geurink said 21
people were arrested for charges
ranging from inciting a riot to
assaulting a police officer. He said
46 others received citations for
underaged drinking and other mis-
demeanors.
The disturbance started around
midnight Saturday when neighbors
complained of noise in a largely
student neighborhood, Geurink
said. The area "has a history of
having excessive noise and under-
age drinking," he said, but has had
few problems in recent years.
The disturbance was not on the
campuses of Western Michigan
University or Kalamazoo College,
which are located nearby.
Police estimate about 2,500 peo-
ple were gathered in- the streets
when some began damaging street
lamps,. signs and other public prop-
er ty and set fires in the streets.
Kalamazoo Police responded but
were pelted with rocks, bottles,
sticks and other flying objects.
Other agencies were called in,
including the Western Michigan
University Department of Public
Safety, the Kalamazoo County
Sheriff's Department and Michigan
State Police.
About 55 officers in riot gear
dispersed the crowd with tear gas,
Geurink said.
"Nobody kind of realized what
was going on and all of a sudden
comes this wall of riot police spray-
ing Mace and tear gas," Western
Michigan student Kevin Wordelman
told Grand Rapids television station
WOOD-TV
"People were just running,
screaming down the street, terri-
fied. If they didn't have a house to
duck into like we did, I don't know
what happened to a lot of the peo-
ple that were just stuck out in the
street," he said.
Two Kalamazoo police officers
were taken to Bronson Methodist
Hospital, where they were treated
and released for leg and hand
injuries.
Geurink said the majority of offi-
cers were hit with objects, but they
were protected by helmets and
shields
No one else was injured, Geurink
said.
Three police cars were damaged,
along with other city and private
W property, but Geurink said no cost
estimates were available yet.
Officers had the melee under
control by about 3:45 a.m., Geurink
said.
Police don't know what prompted
the disturbance.
Police are using videos taken at
the scene to try to identify more
suspects.
"We are going to do everything
possible to identify those that broke
ris
By Elizabeth Kassab
Daily Staff Reporter
by 20%i
BRETT MOUNTAIN/Daily
Women line up outside the Alpha Chi Omega house yesterday for the first day of fall Sorority Rush. Rushees choose
the three houses they would most like to be in by Sept. 23 and find out the following day..whether they received a bid.
lr R
By Kristen Beaumont "We are looking to expand our numbers this year."
Daily Staff Reporter Sorority Rush officially began yesterday with the first of
After a decade-long slump, U.S. law
schools recorded a 5.6 percent increase
in the number of applicants this year,
according to a preliminary report
released by the Law School Admission
Council.
The number of applicants to the Uni-
versity of Michigan Law School
increased by roughly 20 percent, said
Dean Jeffrey Lehman. The number of
overall applicants and the number of
minority applicants rose by about the
same percentage, Lehman said.
The Law School Admission Council
reported though the number of minority
applicants increased nationwide, it did
not keep pace with the overall number
of applicants.
The figure of 20 percent places the
University far above the national
increase and ahead of the Midwest's
increase of 17.9 percent, which was the
highest of any region in the United
States.
"The special excitement about this
law school I think has to do with a vari-
ety of things," Lehman said. He added
that "world-class" faculty and programs
have won the University's Law School
recognition.
Lehman said the attention garnered
by the lawsuit challenging the Law
School's admissions policies may also
be a factor.
"I think that the fact that we have
stepped forward and taken a leadership
position on this issue has attracted a lot
"The choices our
admissions officers
have to make
become that much
more difficult every
year."
-Jeffrey Lehman
Law School Dean
of positive attention among students
who appreciate the value 'of studying in
a diverse environment;' he said.
Lehman speculated the growing
interest in law schools across the nation
can be attributed to a number of factors.
The larger number of applicants may
be an "echo of the baby boom," as
boomers' children are reaching their
20s, he said.
In addition, a national mood of
increased interest in public service may
in part fuel the growing number of
applicants to law school, Lehman said,
adding that students may see a career in
law as one way to contribute to the com-
munity.
He also suggested that students who
would have normally applied to law
school instead jumped on the dot-com
bandwagon in the 1990s, when law
school applications fell by one-third
nationwide, according to the study.
See LAW SCHOOL, Page 7A
F
For the first time ever, University buses will run from
residence halls to fraternity houses to accommodate stu-
dents interested in rushing as they attend open houses next
Sunday.
Dan Fanton, vice-president of recruitment for the Inter-
fraternity Council said a large number of recruits are
expected.
"We had 422 new members initiated last year," he said.
four sets of mixer parties that make up the rush process.
The first set of mixer parties concludes today.
"The girls have a chance to find the houses where they
feel they belong;' said Kirsten Wendela, vice president of
recruitment for the Panhellenic Association.
Stefani Peppard, an LSA sophomore, said she wanted to
wait to rush until she was able to devote more time.
"I now know better where I will fit in because I knew at
See RUSH, Page 7A
Rivers won't shy
away from 2002
fight for 5th term
By Loule Meizlish
Daily Staff Reporter
Although incumbents almost always
win congressional re-election cam-
paigns, Rep. Lynn Rivers may have a
tough fight in 2002.
Rivers (D-Ann Arbor), who plans to
seek re-election to
her fifth term in
2002, has several
hurdles to clear.
With Michigan:
losing one con-
gressional seat, the<
Republican n
majorities in the
state Legislature
have crafted a
redistricting bill Rivers
that places the hometowns of Rivers
and long-time Rep. John Dingell (D-
Dearborn) in the same district.
The bill is expected to pass the Leg-
islature in the next few months.
If she does not move from Ann
Arbor into another district, Rivers
would face Dingell in the Democratic
primary next August. '
Democrat on the Energy and Com-
merce Committee.
But Rivers said last night she
doesn't plan to move and she definitely
plans to seek re-election, no matter
who her opponent is.
"Whatever district I run in, Ann
Arbor's going to be a part of it," she
told members of the University's chap-
. ter of College Democrats.
Rivers said after the meeting she
also expects Democrats to prevail in
adjusting the districts to secure her a
safer seat. The party is currently chal-
lenging the redrawn districts with a
lawsuit in U.S. district court in Detroit.
Since Republicans control both cham-
bers of the Legislature, the governor's
office and the state Supreme Court,
Rivers' chances of re-election may
hinge on her party's ability to argue its
case in court.
"This one is very clearly a partisan
gerrymander if it puts six Democrats
into three seats," she said. "This is about
getting through the line-drawing what
they couldn't get in the ballot box and
we're hoping the courts see it that way."
During her speech to the College
DAVID KATZ/Daily
Nursing sophomore Lindsey Balzhiser gets a meningitis vaccine last week from Mary
Mommoser of the Michigan Visiting Nurses. More clinics are offered this week.
'
offers meningitis vaccines
College freshmen living in residence
halls are at a greatly increased risk for
the deadly form of the disease
By Lisa Hoffman
and Stephanie Schonholz
Daily Staff Reporters
University health officials are strongly urging fresh-
man to receive the meningococcal meningitis vaccine,
which is being offered on campus this week.
Though the University hasn't seen a case -of
meningococcal meningitis since 1995, the death of 14-
officials said.
Meningococcal meningitis appeared more frequently
in college freshmen living in residence halls than any
other group of college students, with an incidence rate
of 5.1 per 100,000 compared to 1.7 per 100,000 among
undergraduates, according to a recent study in the
Journal of the American Medical Association.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention rec-
ommends that incoming college students should be
educated and shown the benefits' of receiving the
meningococcal vaccine, which eliminates the risk of
infection from certain bacterial strains. Still, most col-
leges and universities, including the University of
Michigan, don't mandate freshman to have the vaccina-