1994-01-19; Central Michigan Life

              WEDNESDAY
H: +5 to 10
L: -10 to -20
partly sunny,
flurries possible
THURSDAY
H: +10 to 15
L: zero to -15
chance of
light snow
Revealed
Report author discusses Iran/Contra
Page 5
Reaching in
Humanitarian art on display
Page 8
In the minority
MAC has few black female athletes
Page 10
Central
Michigan
VOLUME 76, NUMBER 48
MOUNT PLEASANT, MICHIGAN 48869
*> 1994 CM LIFE
Diversity team
cancels visit to
Monroe district
(Bi7) 774*£4»|
By Jill Behnke
i  If r    Stdff Writer
A team of CMU (acuity and
students cancelled its Jan. 17
diversity conference to he presented to the Monroe Public
Schools teaching staff after the
district requested the team
delete their Gay and Lesbian
Issues workshop from the program.
The program. "Continuing Dr.
Martin Luther Kings Dream.'
was to be presented to school staff
members by Ivy Goduka. associate professor of human environmental services, and a team of
CMU faculty and students. The
conference included seven different sensitivity training workshops, including one on gay and
lesbian issues.
'The goal of the workshops was
to discuss the variety of oppressions in society/' stated a press
release from the team presenting
the conference "The team states
that it could not exclude a part of
its program without compromising the integrity of its philosophy.
The team regrets that the Monroe School Districts decision
forced it to choose between being
silenced or accepting a type of
discrimination which the workshops were designed to eliminate."
The   team   came   to  a   mutual
consensus. Goduka said.
"We couldn't go under these
circumstances," Goduka said.
The team is taking it positively.
This should have been expected,
but on the eve of the 21st century,
it is surprising and sad that we
should be showing so much
hat red against ot her humans. We
need to join hands and work
together to eliminate oppression.
We should be thinking about the
children, about empowering
them for the 21st century/'
A    second    conference,    which
was to be presented to other staff
member:
Feb
al
so    was
See MONROE Page 14
J
Frigid temperatures
call for precautions
By Tom Root
. it r   St,iff Wntor
S u h /. e ro t e m pe r a t u re s
fueled by the wind chill factor
and sweeping across Michigan
this week make exposure to the
outdoors a dangerous prospect.
Uncords for low temperatures
were broken Tuesday in Sault
Ste. Marie, Negaunee and Marquette, and the weather service
said temperatures in the Ixiwer
Peninsula will hover near five
below zero today but  winds
will make it feel like the temperature dropped to 40 or 50
degrees below  zero.
Outdoor activities in freezing
weather can result in frostbite
or hypothermia for people not
aware of the dangers, said Jeff
Khahir. director of emergency
medicine   at   Central   Michigan
See CHILLY Page 6
LIFE Photo John Elbors
After adjusting his winter face gear, Micheal Guthrie, Hastings
junior, was ready to face the sub-zero weather Tuesday afternoon.
( IFE Photo John Elbers
The sun was shining on the Martin Luther King March Monday afternoon as students and faculty sang
songs including, "We Shall Overcome," and "Over My Head," during the parade through campus.
CMU memorializes message
of peace in Freedom March
By Christine Welch
II- h  St,iff Writer
Anyone who thinks King's dream has been realized needs only to look at the country's social condi-
tions. according to Michelle Bonds-Thompkms, a
guest speaker after Monday's fourth annual Martin
Luther King Jr. Freedom March
About 60 students, faculty and community
members of all races walked from Foust Hall to
Bovee University Center in the opening event of
Martin Luther King Jr. Week At a reception follow ing the event. Thompkins, project director of the
"1 Have A Dream'' Foundation in Detroit, made the
crowd pledge to be the best possible they can be. feed
themselves knowledge and reach new goals.
Thompkins also asked everyone not to forget the
young people and to believe in education.
"Education is vour ability to take today and make
The purpose of the march is to reach King's goal of
equal rights not just civil rights, said Shawn
Mahone, co-chair of Committee Commemorating
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
"You don't just see blacks here." said Mahone,
Detroit freshman.
Students participated in the march for a variety
of reasons.
"I came out to help commemorate with CMU and
the community what King stood for and to foster
equality for all races." said Paul Benford, West
Bloomfiold senior.
All classes canceled
today due to weather
Engler: Michigan 'leading the way in national recovery1
By Brent Wehner
Gov. John Kngler promoted
good jobs, great schools, safe
homes and a higher quality of life
as the four cornerstones for a better future in Michigan Tuesday in
his State of the State Address.
"The growth of our state* and
the incredible potential tells me
that the state of the state is good
and getting better," Kngler said.
Kngler said   125.(KM) new jobs
have been created over the past
year, showing that "Michigan is
leading the way in national
recovery."
Kngler also made reference to
six tax cut soccuring over the past
t hree years.
\Ye tightened our belts and cut
our spending." Engler said. "We
solved the budget problem without gimmicks and without raising taxes.
"With    your    continued    help.
there is no stopping us in 1994."
He strongly encouraged voters
to vote "yes" for the ballot plan
when voting on K-12 school
reform on March 15.
The ballot plan is the right
plan." Kngler said "It is better for
homeowners, job providers and
families. It is better for Michigan."
Sen. Joanne Emmons, K-Big
Rapids, agreed with Kngler. "The
ballot proposal is the only way to
go. We have to stay competitive."
Kngler stressed quality education for every child. Tougher
standards, greater local control
and mole parent involvement
were his suggestions for school
reform
Kngler said he believes, by the
i>nd of the century, Michigan
public schools will be "the envy of
t he world.
"When we put quality first, our
children will be the best." Kngler
said
Kngler introduced his welfare
reform program by saying Michigan's plan to strengthen families
is a model for the nation.
His new initiatives include
improving successful social contracts by making participation
mandatory and instituting new
federal waivers to encourage
work.
See ADDRESS Page 2
LIFE
ON THE INSIDE
CALENDAR
2
MORE NEWS
3
VOICES
4
CMU HISTORY
6
ETCETERA
6
SPORTS
10
CLASSIFIEDS
12
cf Disaster
witnesses
recount
terror of
6.6 quake
Editors note: The following
indivuduals were contacted by
Life Staff Writer Christine Welch
through relatives living in the Los
Angeles area to get their first
ha ml experience of u hat it is like
fit survive a deadly earthquake.
By Christine Welch and
Jennifer Pawlowski
1 lf-h  Staff Writers	
"It was as bad as you can imagine." was the only way Judy
Smith of Los Angeles could
describe Mondays earthquake
measuring 6.6 on the Richter
scale.
Smith said she had just exited
Interstate 10 when the quake
came.
"All I could do was close my
eyes as 1 heard the concrete
behind me falling down," Smith
staid.
Smith said she was trapped in
western Los Angeles with no way
to return home, a place she was
uncertain even existed.
Highways    collapsed    and    at
ist 34 are dead from the quake,
which was centered in San Fernando Valley, 20 miles northwest
of Los Angeles.
Joe Kroninger, a homeless man
in southern California, said he
was asleep during the earthquake.
"I was on a boat for the first
time." Kroninger said. "I heard
all this clanging from the mast,
and then the boat jumped. At first
I thought it was just a big yacht
and went back to sleep. When I
woke up at seven, I saw the news
alM>ut the earthquake."
Kroninger said for the first
time in years, he felt like one of
the lucky ones.
~I don't have to worry about
how to get home . . .I'm already
homeless; I live on the streets,"
Kroninger said.
Kroninger said it was amazing
to watch the news and to see the
people of Los Angeles pull
together.
"I guess it was pretty appropriate that this happened on Martin
Luther King day," he said.
"Maybe this will show how equal
we really are."
While California has been the
unfortunate site of a number of
devastating earthquakes in
recent years, the likelihood of
Michigan residents experiencing
an earthquake is slim.
See QUAKE Page 13