1993-04-05; Central Michigan Life

              Monday, April 5,
Weather
MID
40s
LOW
30s
HIGH
TODAY
LOW
TONIGHT
Becoming
mostly cloudy
Ambience
Jazz group buzzes warriner
Yellowjackets perform at CMU workshop
Page 8
Sports
Get out the broom
CMU baseball sweeps four games
Page 10
Central
Michigan
h
VOLUME 75. NUMBER 78
MOUNT PLEASANT, MICHIGAN 48859
© 1993 CM LIFE
(517) 774-3493
16 PAGES
President listens to minority group
Plachta: 'I set up the meeting to get advice and commentary'
By Marjory Raymer
'A'»
Minority groups art* voicing
concerns ahout tin** minority cli-
mati* on campus to President
Leonard K.  Plachta.
Plachta m«*t with faculty and
staff last wi-ckcnd and plans to
do so again this week or early
m*xt   week
The Minority Student Advisory Council also will talk with
Plachta Wednesday with input
from minority students.
The two groups were asked to
meet with Plachta to give
minorities a chance to give sug
gestions on how to improve the
University's racial atmosphere.
"I set up the meeting to get
advice and commentary for suggestions on current issues with
race relations on campus,"
Plachta   said    "I   primarily   lis-
t IMU'd."
The Minority Student Advisory Council consists of representatives from every minority student organization on
campus.
Laura Conznies. coordinator
for the group, said she believes
thi" meeting will be effective.
hut   it   is only the first  step
"I think the meeting can he a
good start." said (Ion/ales,
director of Minority Affairs. "It
is effective to have communica-
t ion.
"I am hoping it will he beneficial for t he president to hear the
students address their concerns, and that it will he beneficial for the students to articulate their concerns."
Thursday morning. Plachta
asked Angela Haddad, affirmative action officer, to recommend some faculty and staff to
meet with him to discuss their
concerns Friday morning
On short notice, ahout 2.r>
faculty and staff met with the
president  for an hour.
"Basically the minority
faculty and staff met and discussed a number of concerns
and gave some suggestions to
improve the racial climate on
campus." (ron/ales said
Neither Plachta nor (ion/ales
would discuss specific concerns
brought up by the faculty and
staff.
Plans are in the making for
the group to meet  with  Plachta
See MEETINGS Pocje 2
OBU president
predicts hostility
if Dambrot stays
By Dee Sayers
a i      a ,ff v/Ven-r
Not all members of the Cniversity community share the opinion
thot adequate discipline was taken against basketball coach Keith
I )amhrot
Wilhert (hew president of Organization for Black Unity, said he
discussed the incident with students and the general consensus of the
African-American community was Dambrot should he asked to leave1
the Cniversity.
"There's going to hi* a lot of hostility if he stays," said Chew, Detroit
senior "It might he in his best interest if he resigns because of all the
hostility toward him however long he stays."
Stive (birk. assistant director for Minority Affairs, said he was not
satisfied with the Univcrsitv's decision.
See DAMBROT Page 2
| Tribal dancing, educational
programs highlight powwow
By Kelly Adams
fhe* fifth annual Powwow (Vlebrat ion brought
educat ion and entertainment to campus during the
weekend.
The Powwow, eo-sponsored by CMU. the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe and CMC's American Indian
Student Council, celebrated the history and tracli-
t ions of Native Americans.
Saturday's events included a community feast.
intertribal dancing and a three-speaker educational program.
The  Fifth  Annual Central  Michigan  University/Saginaw Chippewa Tribe powwow drew crowds of
hundreds to aid in the celebration of sovereignty through education or Saturday and Sunday.
Sunday brought about more music and intertribal dancing as well as a raffle giveaway and the
completion of the Powwow ceremonies.
Native American traders and vendors were busy
selling a variety of handmade arts and crafts
throughout  the weekend.
Paint ings, headed jewelry and moccasins were all
plentiful. However, Dream Catchers seemed toget
most  of t he at tention.
Dream Catchers are small branches bent into a
circle*.   Thev   have  a   webbing  inside*  and   feathers
See POWWOW Pacje 2
Culture,
tradition
provide way
of survival
By Kelly Adams
Some people travel for rest
and relaxation, but John Bailey
travels to educate* others and
help his people survive.
For nunc* than a decade*,
Bailey, a member of the (>dawa
Nation, has traveled across the
state* to serve as master of ceremonies at Native American Powwows.
Tradit ional ceremonies such as
powwows were* not as widespread
while Bailey was growing up.
"Tliis was taken away from us
by t he United States government
and the Christian religion." he
said.
Bailey. Traverse City resident.
said ho believes powwows like the
nru- CMC hosted this weekend
<_*,ive Nat ive Americans t he oppor-
tunitv    to    dispel    mvths    about
BAILEY Pacje 2
LIFE Photos Amy Swartout
Racial allegations constantly on mind of track members
By Robin Cook
The CMC women's track
team is suffering from problems
•stemming from alleged racial
incidents which happened three
v ears ago
Ihe women s track coaches,
Keela Yount and Kllen Carpenter, are current l\ under
investigation for incidents
involving four of their former
athlet'-s
Yount said she sees t he investi-
gat ion troubling the athletes
"They    get
upset when
t hey hear
t hese things."
Yount said.
"They get
upset about
the demands
these- ath
letes want."
As    part    of
last     Thurs-
Y°UNT day's on-
campus  rally,  students posted a
note on Yount s office door asking
CCIf I did any of those things, I'd be the first to
resign. I won't walk away from these things
because that's what they want.JJ
Keela Yount
for thi' firing of her, CMU men's       to     watch     what's     happening
basketball coach  Keith  Dambrot       because as a black person I don't
and Athletic Director Dave Keilitz
Thrower Nana Kwahi, Canada
sophomore*, said the* incident has
beeui quite distracting
"I think it's been a big disruption." she* said. "Its tough tor me
think  it's happening."
Thi* racial allegations also
have* alienated t fie athletes, who
have been  received around caui-
Despite this, she said the athletes have kept a positive* atti
t tide
"Their attitude's are very posi-
live'' Yount said "Truthfully. I
think this makes them fight a
1 it t Ie bit   harder."
Team member Mindy Hawley.
California sophomore, said she
sees this tearing Yount down,
though.
"You can tell on  her face,    she*
pus   with  dirty   looks  and  stares       sa
id     "Sh
shows    the    Sibils    of
for    participating   on    the   team
Yount  said
frustration anel being tired of ihe
whole sit uat ion."
Yount admits the* sit uat ion has
affected her, but she- is not  ready
t o  J_-.IV I-   Up
"I'm to the point that it makes
each clay extremelv frustrating,"
she said "I'm determined to see
t his t hmugh
Yount has been involved with
CMC athletics for IS years
I have a lot invested in CMU,
and I have- a lot invested in CMU
track/' she said. "I'm not going to
throw my program down the
dram
See TRACK f   . ?«   2
r
SERVING THE CAMPUS COMMUNITY FOR MORE THAN 70 YEARS