Why E... Michigan baseball sweeps Illinois. 'ee SPORTSmonday Page 1. 1£. t WETE TODAY Chance of t-storms; High: 64, Low: 50. TOMORROW More showers; High: 54, Low: 42. Since 1890 Vol. Cl, No. 133 Ann Arbor, Michigan --Monday, April 15, 1991 GEO endorses tentativ ( for this by Stefanie Vines Daily Faculty Reporter Members of the Graduate Employees Organization (GEO) have endorsed a three- day work stoppage from Wednesday through Friday if contract negotiations with the University remain deadlocked. Following Friday's failed negotiating session in Detroit, members of the Univer- sity and the TA union's bargaining teams will meet again today with a state mediator. In addition to preparing for today's me- diation session, GEO bargainers spent the weekend tallying the results of a member- ship vote on the latest strike proposal. Sixty-five percent of the GEO members voted in favor of authorizing the union's steering committee to call for a strike, while 35 percent opposed the proposal. GEO bargainer and steering committee member Corey Dolgon said the proposed work stoppage hinges on the University. "At this point the University needs to make a decision on whether or not they want a work stoppage or whether TAs should have a decent contract," he said. Dolgon added that GEO bargainers will not concede to the University at today's mediation session. "We've gone down as far as we will go. (Today) depends solely on whether or not the University decides there should be a work stoppage." Chief University bargainer Colleen Dolan-Greene said she didn't want to pre- dict how today's mediation session will go. "I don't feel comfortable predicting how long mediation will last. If both sides in mediation are making progress then (a work stoppage) won't happen," she said. If the union and the University cannot reach an agreement through mediation, then either side could request a state fact-finder to evaluate both positions. But Dolan-Greene said due to state bud- A strike week get cuts, the Michigan Employees Relations Council (MERC) has declined other groups' requests for a state fact-finder. "At Eastern Michigan University, bar- gainers for the clerical workers and EMU requested a fact-finder and MERC declined. But if the University and GEO felt we needed a fact-finder, we could probably hire someone," she said. Dolan-Greene could not predict if GEO and the University will need a fact-finder. "Fact-finding is a useful technique if you have a difference of opinion on facts. But it 'If both sides ... are making progress then (a work stoppage) won't happen' - Colleen Dolan-Greene University Bargainer is hard to say whether GEO and the Univer- sity will be at that point." Dolgon believed that part of the prob- lem was the University's reluctance to ne- gotiate. "For the three months we've been nego- tiating, the union has consistently moved in order to bargain in good faith," he said. "But (the University) has not come to the table to bargain, they keep saying,'We will not move, we will not move."' GEO President Chris Roberson said the steering committee will decide whether or not to authorize the proposed work stop- page at the GEO membership meeting Mon- day night or Tuesday . GEO organizer Ingrid Kock said mem- bers should prepare for a strike. "The strike will probably be passed at the membership meeting. We want members to be as pre- pared as possible," she said. Kock said additional actions have been discussed including withholding final grades. Former Iranian resident, Kobar Akhbar, now living in Detroit, holds her child during the Muslim rally on the Diag Friday. Musli ms protest Zionism, rally for Palestinian rights by Bonnie Bouman "U.S. Generosity, Zionist Atrocity!" protesters chanted in objection to Israeli treatment of Palestinians as the Islamic holiday Ramadan neared its end Friday. Eighty protesters, some dressed in traditional Islamic robes, circled the Diag chanting before gathering for a rally in support of the Palestinian upris- ing. "Israel for many years has been prop- agating false facts, and trying to con- vince people and the world that the Palestinian land they are occupying is their land," said community member and rally organizer Nasr Hassan. Hassan said he hopes to dispel the media's Muslim stereotype. "They try to show us as oppressors when actually it's the opposite," Hassan said. He also asserted that Muslims oppose U.S. for- eign policy, not American people. Speaker Dr. Sami Aryan, a leader in the national Islamic Committee of Palestine, spoke on the treatment of the Muslim people, especially of Palestinians in Israeli-occupied territo- ries. "They've been deprived of their land almost 40 years," Aryan said, "and the world stands by and watches." Aryan explained that many people in See MUSLIMS, Page 2 J U.S. troor final Iraq RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) - The final withdrawal of American combat troops from southern Iraq began yesterday, 88 days after the United States launched its massive offensive to drive Saddam Hussein's forces from Kuwait. American troop strength in the region - which had peaked at more than half a million - has now dropped below 300,000, the mili- tary said yesterday. U.S. officers said the pullout of- ficially ends the occupation of southern Iraq, but that American warplanes will remain in the air to protect the withdrawing ground troops. They spoke on condition of anonymity. The officers estimated there were at least 40,000 American troops, perhaps more, in southern Iraq, but they could not give a pre- cise figure. They said a division-sized force Is begin Ipullout of 10,000 to 15,000 troops would temporarily remain in the newly es- tablished demilitarized zone until a 1,440-member U.N. peacekeeping force is in place. The other U.S. troops will re- turn as soon as possible, the U.S. of- ficers said. The zone reaches six miles into Iraq from the Kuwaiti border, but U.S. officers said this is a technical point and that the troop movement essentially will end the U.S. occu- pation of Iraqi territory. Military sources said President Bush issued the withdrawal orders to hasten the American pullout to avoid being dragged into Iraq's civil war for a prolonged period and risk further American casualties. Iraqi war dead were believed to number in the tens of thousands, but no figure was ever released. Students to protest Playboy today' by Jeannie Lurie Daily Staff Reporter Members of various campus groups will rally on the Diag at; noon today to lead a protest against Playboy's campus recruitment for its "Girls of the Big Ten" issue. From the Diag, protesters will march to the Campus Inn, where Playboy is holding interviews. Members of the Feminist Women's Union (FWU) decided to organize the protest after they found out that Playboy would visit the University, RC first-year-stu- dent and FWU member Melissa Danforth said. About 15 people, including stu- dents representing campus groups such as SAPAC and the Positive Image Theater Troupe (PITT) at- tended a planning meeting last Wednesday, LSA senior and union member Lisa Schwartzman said. "People were angry about the objectification of women's bodies, Playboy's defining women's sexual- ity, and the way pornography con- tributes to violence against women," she said. Schwartzman added, "the whole point is to show all sorts of women are accessible to men - even intelligent women." LSA junior and SAPAC member Mark Israel said he went to the or- ganizational meeting because he was "infuriated with Elizabeth Norris' comments that a woman's appear- ance in Playboy is an affirmation Helping out the war victims RISTOFFERGILLEIi Sophomore Michael Dorsey talks to passersby Juliana Carlson and Andrei Dorenbaum about emergency medical relief for Iraqi civilian victims of the Gulf War as he takes donations and hands out fliers. East Quad weekend examines women's sexuality by Jesse Snyder Daily Staff Reporter Baseball hats, American flags, and condoms are masculine. Ear- rings, teddy bears, paper hearts, Madonna, and George Michael, on the other hand, are feminine. That's what about 30 students in East Quad thought yesterday when asked to rank each object according to its gender, as part of a Women's Weekend discussion titled "Who Both men and women attend variety of events Defines Your Sexuality?" East Quad's 24th annual week- end, which began last Thursday, con- tained many such discussions, as well as films, plays, and speeches on women's sexuality, this year's theme. After the objects were ranked, the students were asked to examine the origin of their own personal concepts of gender. "Where do these concepts come from?" asked RC first-year student Ilana Greenfield, one of the discus- sion coordinators. The answers ranged from televi- sion and the media, to the nfluence of parents, schools, and friends. The group also discussed gender roles in heterosexual and homosex- ual relationships, in athletic compe- tition, and in the business world. In another discussion on Satur- day, the history of the female body image in art and the media was traced in a panel discussion titled "Women's Body Image in Art and the Media and its Relation to Eating Disorders." Beth Genne, an RC lecturer, pointed out how the historical paintings of Venus depict her as hav- ing smooth skin, no cellulite, and symmetrical features. "Anybody who tries to imitate this ideal is doomed to failure," she said. Genne said women throughout history have been painted to con- form to the sexually reclining Venus:aodel. See WEEKEND, Page 2 Sunken oil tanker could lead to an 'ecological catastrophe' a GENOA, Italy (AP) - Rocked However, patches of oil washed The Haven exploded Thursday, "Now we have to crass our fin- about 240 feet deep off the resort