Miami Hurricane, November 04, 1997

              reserve
VOLUME74, NUMBER!9
WWW.HURRiaNE.MIAMI.EDU
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4,1997
THE FAT UDY HASN7 SUNG
■ The University of Miami football team is still in the hunt for the Big East title after . defeating Arkansas State Saturday.
SPORTS, page 4
ABRA CADABRA
■ Accent Editor Zach Unterman interviews up and
coming artist Abra Moore at the Planet Pumpkin Party.
ACCENT, page 6
'RUSHIN' ABROAD
■ loin a UM student on her travels to Russia, where she gains an appreciation of the language she's been studying at UM.
OPINION, page 8
news briefs
WOLFE MEMORIAL TODAY
A memorial for Professor lerome A. Wolfe will be held at the Hillel Jewish Center today at 3 p.m.
Wolfe had been a professor in the department of sociology since 1971. He died on Oct. 20 of an undisclosed illness.
NINE UM BUILDINGS GET STORM-PROOFED
Grants totaling more than a half-million dollars will be spent in the upcoming year to protect University of Miami students, faculty and structures from injury, and to limit future storm losses.
Funding in the amount of $583,898 has been approved for the projects, which include storm-proof laminated windows or panels for four medical school buildings, a Coral Gables campus structure and several buildings at the marine school pampus.
Funding will be shared equally by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the University, said John Copenhaver, regional director of FEMA.
'Our hazard mitigation dollars, coupled with local contributions, will provide an improved safety factor for persons and equipment in these buildings in the event of a storm or other type of natural disaster,' he said
‘Hair’ causes concern
J.|. GAMA-tOBO / Photo Editor
FIAIR—RAISING REHEARSAL: Hair cast members (from left) Carolyn Morse, Rory Zacher, Sean O'Toole, Micheál Sargeant, Mark Kirschenbaum rehearse songs for the musical Hair which is set to open Nov. 14 at UM's Ring Theater.
■ Dade County School District requires parental consent to attend
By LUCY HOLMES
Hurricane Staff Writer
As theater students prepare for the opening of Hair this month, rumors are circulating that obscene language, nudity and the condoning of the use of drugs will keep a number of schools from the Dade County Public School District from attending the show.
The Hair ensemble includes a song called "Sodomy," with the lyrics. "Sodomy. Fellatio. Cunnilingus.	Pederasty.
Father,why do the words sound so nasty? Masturbation, can be fun. Join the holy orgy kama sutra everyone."
Characters appear partially nude on the stage and frequently discuss the use of such drugs as hashish, LSD, and cocaine.
According to Patricia Gross, director of Hair, the mention of such drugs is hardly surprising for the cast of hippies who are predominantly "on something."
David Alt. chair and program director of musical theater in the School of Music said he is anxious to dispel the concerns of DTPS
Alt said that he has had the similar responses from more than I (XX) invitations he has sent to area schools.
Schools have been concerned
about the show's contents because of their school board's recently introduced policy whereby teachers cannot encourage students to attend shows or films which contain nudity, foul language or implications of sex.
In response, Alt will be mailing consent forms to parents of the children attending. If they object to their children being present, they will be given a full refund.
One of the first shows to put nudity on the stage in 1967, Hair has a certain notoriety for
chflllenjtinji the CKiaHisImicnl
There is something which Gross deems exciting about art and believing that an artist must say what is in his soul, opening the door to a profound honesty
and subsequently facing the consequences. When art reaches public forums in this way, censorship becomes a factor. Gross said.
According to Gross, Hair is especially significant to the young generation. While celebrating its 30th anniversary, the musical glorifies the life of youth.
Hair explores the beauty of freedom from a generation disgruntled with the establishment during the Vietnam war.
Gross said, "The show is particularly significant to today's
yt>uih who have been likened to
children of the 60's, not only because of retro fashions but because they seem to be seeking a voice to say something about something."
‘El Nino’ poses threat
■ RSMAS studies weather system’s drastic effects
By KELLY GEISINGER
Hurricane Staff Writer
Scientists at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science have been studying for the past six months the phenomenon known as El Niflo/ Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and its effects on Latin American countries in order to predict both its onset and the losses it will cause.
ENSO caused $8 billion dollars of damage worldwide in the form of droughts, floods and fires in 1982. This year, its effects could be even more devastating.
"The wind circulation patterns change. As a result, location of warm water is displaced eastward in the tropical Pacific Ocean," said Guillermo
Podestà, a research associate professor at RSMAS' Division of meteorology and physical oceanography. "This causes
wind patterns and areas of high these changes cannot handle the precipitation to change all over extra, or lack of, precipitation." the world. The destruction hap- The researchers hope to edu-pens when the areas affected by ^ en$q • Page 2
Underage drinking a problem
■ Practice more visible this year, Foote says
By SARAH GUARNACCIA
News Editor
Recent alcohol issues at the University of Miami and other schools in the nation have raised concern for the well-being of students at
UM.
"Underage drinking is a problem, and abuse of alcohol is a problem at this university," said Patrica Whitely, vice-president of Student Affairs.
President Edward T. Foote II said that underage drinking is a greater problem at the University of Miami more so than last year.
"You have to keep in mind that two sets of factors are at play here that were not around a year ago," Foote said. Underage drinking "is much more visible than it was."
Issues of underage drinking hit the national news this year, when students from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Louisiana State University were found dead after binge drinking.
UM also triggered public interest and joined those schools in the news when the fraternity Sigma Chi was cited for violatio# of the University's alcohol policy, in rtNkion to alleged felonies by members of the « aptcr.
Like other schools, UM is now scrutinizing its policies on alcohol consumption, and for ! now has sanctioned the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity house alcohol and substance free. Sigma Chi is prohibited from hosting and participating in any fraternity related social events, as a result of alcohol violations.
"We are a part of a system going through self-appraisal. The events last year are troublesome," Foote said.
Since their own tragedy. LSU has imposed a campus-wide ban on alcohol, including fraternity and sorority houses.
Although some students admit that underage drinking exists on the UM campus, freshman Lucie Wood said that it isn't as had as other universities.
"Underage drinking is very apparent on campus, but it's not as bad as in other schools," Wood said. “For the most part, it is kept under control because people are responsible and keep drinking from being a public affair."
Administration discovered underage drinking within fraternity houses at UM, but some students say that that is not the only place it occurs.
For example, residential colleges do not undergo as much scrutiny as fraternity houses do, said senior Mike Perpall of Lambda Chi Alpha.
According to the UM's alcohol policy, students of age may consume alcohol within the confines of their rooms or apartments on campus This also applies to any fraternity house on the University not already prohibited from the use of alcohol.
Gregory Singleton, associate dean of students, said the policies in effect at this time are reasonable.
"I would hope that a fraternity and sorority and any student organization would use common sense. The rules are not going to change," Singleton said.
Kip Zutchel, associate director of risk management for Lambda Chi Alpha National, said that the problem of underage drinking can be addressed through education.
"I would admit that underage drinking is a problem on most campuses and that fraternities are not immune. I do feel our fraternity attempts to address alcohol issues through education,” Zurchel said.
See UNDERAGE • Page 2
Eaton to host UFO presentation tomorrow
■ Man claims an extra-terrestrial saved his life
By MARGARITA MARTIN-HIDALGO
Hurricane Staff Writer Eaton and Stanford residential colleges are sponsoring a lecture on unidentified flying objects (UFOs) and human-appearing extra-terresr trials (ETs). The presentation, scheduled for Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Eaton's lobby, will be given by Michael and Aurora El-Legion, who
claim they have had contact with ETs and have done extensive research on the matter.
Eaton resident assistants Keith Graziadei, Hector Nalasco and Terri Phelan, who organized the event, said that they feel there is a recent interest in ETs and programs like Wednesday's lecture give students an opportunity to explore the issue With experts in the field.
Michael said he has had many encounters with human-appearing ETs, including a visit aboard a spaceship, since his first experience at age 6 in California, when he "was drowning .. and
was saved by a human-appearing ET." Aurora said her first ET encounter took place when she was 8 years old, and she too has had several more since then.
The El-Legions are the directors of the Extra-Terrestrial Communications Network, an organization that has approximately 63,000 members in 65 countries. "(We) gather information about UFOs from organizations and people around the world. (Our goal) is to make tne public more aware that this reality does exist.. that this is
See UFO »Page 2