Miami Hurricane, November 23, 1999

              ■ Concert choir performance
The W R. Butler Inspiration Concert Choir is having Its annual fall concert on December 2 at B p m m the Coral Gables Congregational Church The concert will be featuring special guest Lisa Kemp, and Mark Taylor from
Love 94 will serve as the emcee Tickets are $2 for students and $5 for general admission and wlN be sold by choir members in the University Center Breezeway until December 1. The church Is located on DeSota Boulevard across from the Biltmore Hotel
■ International Thanksgiving Day
To provide a "home away from home" for international students the University's Intensive Language Institute will be holding the 16th annual International Thanksgiving Day m the courtyard of Allen Hall on November 24 af noon More
than 140 students will gather as some wiH be dressed m native atbre and bring food dishes from their respecbve countries International atu-dents at the University come from 40 different countries m Latin America. Europe, the Middle East, the Caribbean and the Far East
■ End of semester celebration
Students can celebrate the final day of classes at the Finals Fiesta, a celebration put on by the Department for Multicultural Student Affairs The party will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. on December 3 at the Barber s apartment In
Stanford Residential College According to the department, all are invited for a night of free food, music and tun. Finals Fiesta is an annual event from MSA. Following the party la the KAOS showcase taking place on the University Center Patio
■ Library to temporarily close
Due to safety reasons during demolition and construction work, the Otto G Richter Library wtH close from December 1B through to January 2. reopening two weeks before the beginning of classes tor the spring semester The building win be inacces-
sible for aN students. facuRy and staff. The mam entrance wi be relocated by January 3 and will be adjacent to the Dr Maxwell and Reva B Dauer Clock Tower scheduled for completion by the end of the year Any adMonal relocation wtH be made as needed.
UM panel
t. •	«
discusses human rights law
SAVE Dade fears repeal referendum
By Isabel Paez
Hurricane Staff Writer
The Miami-Dade County Human Rights Ordinance, prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation, faces a possible referendum for repeal according to George Kettlehohn of SAVE Dade (Safeguarding American Values for Everyone).
Kettlehohn participated in a discussion of the ordinance’s repeal held Thursday, November 18, at the University of Miami School of Law.
“the Christian Coalition denies that they have taken steps for a referendum effort but they have approached the commission to organist 4 referendum," he said.
The Human Rights Ordinance was fir$t passed in Dade in 1977 but was repealed in a public referendum after Anita Bryants “Save Our Children" campaign. The commission took up the issue again on December 1,1998 and passed the ordinance in a 7 to 6 vote.
Sophomore joshua Johnson, public relations director for UM’s Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual Community said, “I think the ordinance is absolutely essential for Dade county. People don’t understand that you don't have to be gay to be discriminated against, people just have to think you are. The only insult is that it took so long.”
Kettlehohn said that he didn’t feel like part of the community because he was gay and didn't feel that they had taken steps to consider the issue until the ordinance was passed on December 1.
Also present at the discussion was |orge Mursuli, chair of SAVE Dade, to talk about the organization’s efforts to build coalitions in support of the ordinance.
Mursuli said that he wanted to create a "safe environment” for the issue and to “give people the opportunity to ask those really ugly, uncomfortable issues." He said that people were afraid to talk about the issue of gay rights and his challenge was to get people to be honest about the issue.
“if you get somebody to be honest, positively or negatively, you have your foot in the door,” Mursuli said.
Mursuli explained that in talking to people his goal was not to get them to “wave the gay flag, but to know what people think and why they think that way"
See RIGHTS •"PageY“
■
Coral Gables, Florida
Since 1927
Votame 77, Number 22
WWW.HURRICANLMIAMI.EOU
Tuesday, November 23,1980
Bomb scares peak ! during test times
By Cartas Perez-Mendez
Humcane Stall Writer
In an attempt to frustrate midterms and final exams, bomb scares on cam -puses across the country are becoming more frequent, said Maj. Henry Christensen, director of Public Safety at the University of Miami Christensen said bomb scares vary from tour to eight per semester.
“This semester we have had five already,” he said last week “At peak periods we check specific moms prior to exams and post guards after the checks are made. Professors are also designating alternate locations for exams in the case of a bomb threat," said Major Christensen Even though it is not easy to track down the person who has placed a bomb threat, Major Christensen said “great strides have been made in immediately obtaining caller ID information.”
Many students may not realize the
how severe the punishment for placing a bomb threat is.
If caught, a student “would be charged with FSS 790.163, false report about planting a bomb or explosive, and if convicted, would be guilty of a second-degree felony, which would be punishable writh up to imprisonment for 15 years," added Major Christensen.
Jenny Diaz, 19, a sophomore, said that she’s never thought of placing a bomb threat to avoid a midterm or a final.
“Not only is it wrong, but students should be disciplined enough to study for their tests in advance," she said.
She said although she has overheard classmates joke about such bomb threats, she has never overheard any serious conversations about them.
The University has taken measures to appease the worries of students such as Diaz. It has released a bulletin outlining the steps you should take
teristics and emotional state
THE UM BOMB THREAT CHECKLIST:
Wwelhe bombs When it will go oft
•	The exact words exchanged over the phone
•	What type of device It Is.
•	Why the person is doing tins
•	Who the person is. should you be »The caller's sex, the person to age. voice charac-receive a bomb threat.
The bulletin defines a bomb threat as “any written, face-to-face or tele phone communication indicating that any expkisive device will be detonat ed.”
“When receiving a bomb threat by telephone,"continues the bulletin,“the employee should attempt to obtain as much information included on the Bomb Threat Checklist."
Other universities have taken similar measures.
Stanford University, for example, has gone as far as printing a “Telephone Bomb Threat Report Form” that empkwees are asked to fill out as soon as they receive a threat.
The last bomb threat on the UM campus was Wednesday at the Learning Center, Christensen said. The case is still under investigation.
KATIE WANLESS / Humcane Staff
WHO HAS THE BALL?: Hurricanes offensive lineman Martin Bibla, Eric Schnupp and Greg Laffere (79) and Rutgers defenders try to push the pile in the Canes 55-0 rout. Freshman Ken Dorsey and Jarrett Payton had big games for UM Read the full game story on Page 5.
Paralyzed player vows to walk again
Offensive
Ex-Detroit Lion brings ‘Thumbs Up’message to Wellness Center
By Chris Sobet
NewsEdrtor
As if it was second nature, former Detroit Lion Mike Utley used hand and arm gestures to a.ceqt the encouraging words he had for about 30 listeners Thursday night in a room upstairs at the George A. Smathers Student Wellness Center.
No easy task for a man who lay paralyzed, from the middle of his chest down, on the turf of the Pontiac Silverdome exactly eight years and one day earlier.
“I lost my left tricep, I lost my hands, then I lost my legs," he said, describing his November 17,1991 accident.“lt was like I stuck my whole body in a fire.”
A freak accident on the football field sent Utley into a wheelchair, but he still says playing the sport was the best
Explos
decision he ever made.
“It’s very true football put me in that chair,” he said. “But, I guarantee you it will teach me how to get out."
In February of this year, Utley took his first few public steps, with the aid of two of his football friends and his fiancee D a n i Andersen.
Besides chasing his dream of walking again, Utley, since the accident, has spent time promoting his foundation, established in 1992 to help people with spinal cord injuries.
The Mike Utley Foundation is based in Phoenix and oversees fund-raising activities that include a celebrity golf tournament and NFL-licensed mer-
MIKE UTLEY
“Thumbs Up"
See UTLEY • Page 2
ion
MHUPPOMIMn
nUiWICwUlvIllfw
WRAP-UP
PtfOTO GALLERY
Homecoming 1999 m pictures SEE PAGE 8-9
CLOSING
CEREMONIES;
United Black Students questions final results SEEPAGE 1
PARADE: Sexiest Politician Alex Penetas. Miami-Dade mayor, letums to campus SEE PAGE 7
ORGANIZED
CHEER:
Organizations put on Vietr own Cane Cabana shows SEE PAGE 7
GAME:
The beat moments from UM's 55-0 blowout against Rutgers SEEPAGE 10