Miami Hurricane, October 08, 1993

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■ REPEAT PERFORMANCE: Only a specially designed goalpost will grant FSU the win. See Opinion, page 4.
ACCENT
■	Looking for something a little out of the ordinary to read? Miami's New Times is trying to provide that alternative.
See Accent, page 6.
■	You don't have to be a fast speaker to say a lot. In fact, somepeople are talking up a storm without saying a word.
See Accent, page 6.
students
attacked
By LIAM FITZGERALD
Contributing Editor
The UM residential college security system received a harsh blow Saturday night when a 27-year-old man in a wheelchair entered Mahoney Residential College at about 8:30 p.m. and pulled a knife on two UM students in their dormitory room.
The man, Johnny Morales, also allegedly caused $625 of damage to the students'
Rroperty. Public Safety officers approached lorales at the University Metrorail station later that evening and issued him a trespassing warning. Officers also gave Morales a copy of the reported property damages.
Morales found UM sophomores Ryan Martin and Matt McManus in their room after attending the Miami-Georgia Southern football game Saturday afternoon.
Morales knew the students because the three are in a handicapped basketball league together. He found out where the two students lived and went to their room to retrieve a compact disc Martin and McManus had taken when the three met on the Metrorail earlier in the day. Martin said
JULIAN PRIESTMAN/Staff Photographer
" ®ECyR,TY: Students must run their Cane Cards through the security device located at the doors of the residential colleges to get in.
they took the CD as a joke, and planned to return it on Monday when they saw Morales.
When the students opened the door, Morales began screaming and threatening the students with bodily harm, said Martin, who was punched in the face by the "psycho,” as Martin called him, before Morales pulled out a two-inch blade.
“I was totally helpless to a man who had gone totally nuts,” Martin said. ”1 was shot in the same kind of situation, so I figured I was done for. He grabbed the CD and trashed the room. He was yelling all kinds of things and threatening us with physical violence when he pulled out the blade.
"The threats were kind of empty, because he left soon after and said he’d get
Minority students:
UM not meeting needs
us back for what we did and that he would kill us,” Martin said. "I was just glad to have him out of the room, as was my roommate."
Martin called the Department of Public Safety and reported the incident to Public Safety Officer Alex Silva.
If Martin or McManus do press charges, they can file for aggravated assault, battery and criminal mischief. Police impounded the answering machine tape, which recorded the threats that Morales made against Martin and McManus. The $625 in damages was attributed to a broken telephone, $200, and answering machine, $75, sunglasses, $150 and $200 in miscellaneous charges.
Martin said what irks him more than the
See page 2! SECURITY
immmr
Following is the racial and ethnic breakdown for new freshman students in 1991 and 1992. Percentages for 1993 new freshman are unavailable.
By DANIELLE PARKS
Hurricane Staff Writer Though aggressive in its recruitment of minority students, many say the University of Miami falls short of meeting these students’ needs once they enroll here.
"You can do an excellent job of recruiting, but what happens if the financial aid, housing and food fail to create a sense of belonging?” said Joanne Nottingham, director of Minority Student Affairs. “I don’t get the impression that students feel included.”
Sydnia Crosbie, president of United Black Students, said she agrees.
“There is not much to be done to make black students feel a part of the University,” she said.
Crosbie said black student organizations are under-funded and other campus groups, like The Miami Hurricane and WVUM (90.5 FM), have not been successful in making black students feel
welcome or appeal to their interests.
"Part of the perception here is that because black students aren’t marching, everything is fine, which is not true,” Nottingham said.
Outside sources are also saying UM doesn't measure up. A newly published book. The UH) lies! Colleges for African-American Students, studied more than 3,000 institutions nationwide, addressing many of these same issues.
The University of Miami was not included in its recommendations, though three other Florida schools were. The University of Florida, Florida A&M University and Stetson University were said to actively support black students’ needs.
"UM is dedicated to continue enhancing the life of African-American students,” William Butler, vice president for Student Affairs,
See page P! MINORITY
Black Hispanic Asian
White Un-
Known
1991; there were 1,851 new freshman
■
1992; there were 1,790 new freshman
JEFFREY M. BROOKS / Graphics Editor
Fall semester could bring new major
By KARLA I. GUADAMUZ
Hurricane Staff Writer
Whittington Johnson, UM associate professor of history, said he remembers when he tried to implement an African-American Studies major in the 1970’s.
li Was no dilm'uit hack Chen," Johnson said. “We did not have the right faculty and the University was not ready for it.”
Times have changed and in the fall UM could become one of three universities in the state to offer African-American Studies as an undergraduate major. The College of Arts and Sciences will vote on the proposed major Nov. 9.
Florida A&M University in Tallahassee and the University of South Florida in Tampa also offer an African-American Studies major.
See page 2! MAJOR
Will the caged bird still sing?
CHRIS BERNACCHI/Photo Editor ■ BIRD'S EYE: A trap awaits birds next to a tree between the Merrick and Memorial Buildings. The birds are tagged for research and then released.
ByMAIA STERNBAUM
Hurricane Staff Writer
By the tree directly south of the Memorial Building there is a small cage blocked off with red marking tape. The tree is surrounded by Department of Fish and Wildlife Service warning signs stating that tampering with the area is a crime.
Bert Pooth is studying the song patterns of mockingbirds and how these patterns change over time. The experiment, through the Biology Department, is part of Pooth’s doctoral thesis at UM.
“All birds are caught alive, banded with plastic colored bands for identification and released unharmed,” Pooth said.
Pooth said he hopes to catch 50 adult male mockingbirds, since those are the ones who sing.
He said 25 mockingbirds, including young birds and female birds, have already been caught.
"Mockingbirds are extremely common on our campus, which makes them an ideal bird to study,” Pooth said.
How are students and faculty reacting to the capture of the mockingbirds?
"As long as the birds are not harmed, then it’s OK,” said senior Jose Baron.
“The more we understand about animal communication, the more we will understand about the animals' role in the ecosystem, and hopefully, ours as well," said Dana Krempels, biology professor.
Pooth said he hopes to conclude his study in two years.
WVUM signs off the air, prepares for power boost
Empty air allows for training
By ANNETTE J. GALLAGHER
Managing Editor
WVUM-90.5 F.M., the Voice of the University of Miami, went off the air at 7:45 a.m. Wednesday to allow for the installation of a long-awaited power increase.
Jason Gordon, program director for WVUM, said the station will be off the air for four to seven days while the upgrade is in progress.
Scheduled for next week, the power increase was moved up for several reasons.
Gordon said he instituted a new disc jockey training program which requires three weeks instead of the usual one week; however, the DJs were ready for practice sessions in the studio earlier than anticipated. Because the station needs to be off-air for this practice time, the power increase was moved up to take advantage of the break.
“If we didn’t act to maximize our power now, we were eventually going to be boxed in, especially since our frequency is so close to that of Channel 6," said WVUM Faculty Adviser Paul Driscoll.
UM students voted to fund the power increase in the spring of 1992. When in effect, the boost will triple WVUM's power and double its listener range, Gordon said.
"It took a lot as far as getting our engineering consultant in here and getting University electricians to get everything ready," Gordon said, “but I think it’s about time."
What can loyal listeners expect from the new, more powerful WVUM?
AMY LEIS/Asslstnnt Photo Editor
■ OFF THE AIR: Jason Gordon, WVUM program director, is getting a couple days off. The radio station is putting up the antenna for its power increase.
“We’ve got more power, so we need to be more professional,” Gordon said. “We’re the only station in this market that plays this kind of music. That situation has a lot of potential, but since we are the only one, if we don’t do it right, people will notice.
“Our DJs are being well-trained and we’ll sound good,” Gordon said.
Steve Friedenberg, sports director, agreed.
"We’ve been talking about improving our quality and professionalism for a long time," Friedenberg said. “It’s our chance to see if we’re ready for prime time. It’ll be a challenge, but I think we’re ready.”
scrutiny
By DARIN KLAHR
Hurricane Staff Writer With the Coral Gables Zoning Code’s definition of “family” coming under constitutional question, City Attorney Robert Zahner has decided to re-examine the terminology.
“The City Attorney wants to do research on the wording of the definition of ‘family’ in the zoning code,” Assistant City Manager Sandy Youkilis said.
Youkilis verbally advised Code Enforcement Supervisor Alan Richman to hold off on any enforcement of code violations at 4951-55 Ponce De Leon Blvd. University of Miami students living in the off-campus duplexes face possible eviction because they do not comply with the one family per unit zoning code restriction, Zahner said.
“IZahner] wants to look at the definition of ‘family’ to see if it needs updating,” Youkilis said. He did not know what type of "updating" it needed, and Zahner did not comment on this matter.
M. Donald Drescher, the attorney for the duplex’s owner, Richard Berndt, said the city's difficulty is a serious issue.
“It is hard to find an ordinance that satisfies the requirements of due process and the legitimate needs of the city,” said Drescher. "And those legitimate needs are important.”
Doubts about the constitutionality of the code have been raised by both Richman and Drescher.
Benton Becker, a professor of political science at UM and a con-
atitutional lawyer, said the code could violate the tenants' riftht to privacy.
“The code requires the landlord to verify that the tenants are families in accordance with the code,” Becker said. “The only way the landowner is to make that determination is to inquire that of his tenants, and the right of privacy in the United States Constitution would prevent him from doing so.”
Becker said this right of privacy is derived from the Supreme Court case Griswold v. Connecticut.
"That case established the right to privacy,” said Becker. "Justice William O. Douglas wrote that this right falls under the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 9th, 10th, and 14th Amendments."
A resident of a second student duplex that falls under the same zoning restrictions said he thought there was another constitutional problem.
“(The code] cannot be enforced because it is so vague,” he said. "The definition of family simply says ‘head of household.’ That is unconstitutional, because you cannot have a law so vague and so open to interpretation.”
He said that if the city tried to evict him, he would fight it with a lawsuit. “They would back down against a lawsuit, because they know they would lose,” he said.
Becker agreed that the code may be too vague for enforcement.
“The First and the Fourteenth Amendments require statues be certain, clear and unambiguous," Becker said. “With respect to this statute, the government can enact regulations or housing codes that are reasonable and justifiable.
“Can the city of Coral Gables vocalize a valid and justifiable reason for the code requirement that all tenants comply with their definition of ‘family?’ ” Becker asked. “These are valid issues."
“What we need is the interpretation from the City Attorney,” Butler said.
Zahner said that the zoning code “would not allow three or four students to lease the place.” "Someone would have to establish themselves as the head of the household," Zahner said. “1 don’t know how [students] could set up a head of household. If you were to go into the facts of these cases, you will find this is not true. They share their expenses. It would be very easy for the government to pierce that veil.”
“We’ve considered the person who signed the lease as the head of the household,” Drescher said. The attorney did say that the tenants don’t have a lease, though, at this time.
Zahner said he’s heard constitutional arguments like Drencher's before.