Miami Hurricane, April 22, 1994

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VOLUME 71, ISSUE 48	UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI, CORAL GABLES, FLA.	FRIDAY, APRIL 22,1994
Ring Theatre renovations bring new look, name
Changes needed, say students
By SHAUN WILEY
Hurricane Staff Writer
To match its upcoming new look, the Ring Theatre is also going to get a new name. By 1996, the Ring will be renamed the Jerry Herman Theatre.
Renovations on the Ring are scheduled to begin in January, 1995. The theater has had tne same stage structure since its construction in 1951. Changes to the theater include new floors, risers and improved technology. The stage and seats will transform to theater-in-the-round, thrust and proscenium set-ups, depending on what the production calls for.
"We needed to be more flexible,” said Robert Ankrom, chairman of the Theatre Arts Department.
Funding for the renovations is being provided in connection with the Cornerstone Campaign for the College of Arts and Sciences. The money was donated to the Ring by businessman Alvin Sherman and UM alumnus Jerry Herman.
Herman went on become the producer of Broadway classics like Mame, Hello Dolly, and La Cage Aux Folles.
Junior Carly Lesser, a theater arts major, said she thinks it is about time improvements were made.
“It has been frustrating watching as the new recording studio went up tor the School of Music, while we got nothing,” Lesser said.
Lesser said while famous alumni, like Bruce Hornsby, periodically give benefits for the School of Music, notable alumni from the theater department do nothing. Alumni from UM's theater arts department include Ray Liotta and Dawn Lewis.
While renovations are taking place, productions will be shifted to the James L. Knight Center in downtown Miami. That means shipping all equipment to the Knight Center, leading to more work and probably longer hours.
While the center is accessible by Met-rorail, some students said they do not think they would make the trip to see performances.
“It’s inconvenient,” said freshman Jill Dash. "You have to get on the Metrorail, then the mover. Downtown Miami is not the best place to be at night, even in a
group.
Freshman Tamica West said it would depend which show was being performed if she would go to the Knight Center.
“If it’s worthwhile, sure I’ll go,” said West. "Otherwise, it’s inconvenient.”
While student attendance at Ring productions is low, junior Randy Bobish said he hopes the changes in the theater will draw a bigger crowd.
“It’s hard to find an audience for theater in college,” Bobish said. “Hopefully this will bring people in.”
In the past, the Ring has received a lot of support from the community as far as attendance goes and Bobish said he doubts that will change with the different venue.
Lesser, however, said he doesn’t think that the renovations will increase student attendance.
"Students just don’t come,” Lesser said. “I wish they would show up, but they don’t unless they're forced to for a class/’ Renovations are scheduled to begin in January, 1995 and end in January, 1996.
SEAN HEMMERLE/Statf Photographer
■ CEREMONY: David Kingery performs at the rededication of the Ring Theatre Wednesday night.
Chemical reactions
■ MAD SCIENTIST: David Wiley plays chemist during organic lab Wednesday afternoon.
Earth Week speaker urges individual action
Ridding Dade of pollution not easy job
By MARIE MATO
Hurricane Staff Writer
The need to find a balance between the health of the environment and that of the economy was the subject of two presentations Tuesday night at Pearson Residential College.
Bernard Yokel, president of the Florida Audubon Society, and Peter Emerson, a senior economist with the Environmental Defense Fund, were guest speakers. More than 50 students attended the lectures, which were part of Earth Week at UM.
Yokel said current systems of protecting our natural resources are inefficient.
"Our ecosystems are in deep difficulty," he said.
He pointed out that since World War II, the United States both knowingly and unknowingly dismantled ecosystems in an effort to meet future needs, without realizing that to meet tomorrow’s needs the ecosystems have to be kept intact.
Yokel said the average person expects regulatory agencies at the state and federal level to protect natural resources. He said the problem is that regulation has failed for several reasons, including too much bureaucracy.
Despite this, Yokel said, Americans have made progress, adopting legislation like the Clean Water
See page 2! YOKEL
DARREN ARNS/Staff Photographer
■ ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERN: John C. Farina, chief of compliance in the enforcement division of the Metropolitan Dade office for Environmental Resources Management, spoke about recycling in Dade County at Stanford Residential College Wednesday night.
Environment, economy are related
By LORENZO PEREZ
Hurricane Staff Writer
As Chief of Compliance for Met-ro-Dade County’s Department of Environmental Resources Management (DERM), John Farina said he finds himself inundated with advice from “experts” who know the solution to South Florida’s environmental problems.
Invited by Earth Alert as part of its weeklong series of lectures for Earth Week, Farina spoke to a group of over 20 University of Miami students Wednesday night at Stanford Residential College, and he assured his audience that there are no simple answers.
“I can ask everyone here for their definition of pollution. Everyone would probably come up with something different, and each one of you would be right,” said Farina.
"The question, however, is what is the price you are willing to pay to clean for the environment. That’s where it gets crazy.”
While known as a regulatory agency, DERM also works to educate the community about pollution in South Florida. Applying what Farina describes as a "holistic" approach to environmental problems, the Department’s works with a broad jurisdiction.	,
“You can’t really specialize, because we specialize in everything.”
Farina’s duties include surveying
See page 2/DERM
$2 million donation not officially pulled
By JASON ZDANOWICZ
Managing Editor
Controversy raised over an advertisement in the April 12 issue of The Miami Hurricane has caused a great deal of concern over lost donations and support to the University of Miami.
The most notable donation put at risk was a $2 million gift to the Lowe Art Museum and the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Care Center by Sunglass Hut founder Dr. Sanford Ziff.
Ziff told The Miami Herald that he was putting his donation on hold because of the University’s decision to allow the ad to run, according to an article in the April 12 issue of The Herald.
The University, however, has not yet been contacted by Ziff about canceling the donation.
Conchita Ruiz-Topinca, director of Media Relations for the University, said many calls her office has received recently support the University’s decision.
"Now we’re hearing more from people who are in support of the University,” Ruiz-Topinca said.
She said the amount of money that was actually lost because of the advertisement was hard to determine because there is no way of knowing if people who said they were planning on donating money would have actually donated the money if the ad hadn’t run.
“I don’t know of anybody who has cancelled a pledge,” said President Edward T. Foote II. “I got a letter from one alumnus from far away who said that he was not going to give us any money.” Foote said the University checked to see if the alumnus had ever donated any money to the University and he had not.
Ruiz-Topinca said of all the callers, only Ziff had a clear commitment to donate money before the ad ran.
Ruiz-Topinca said the University has received angry calls from peo-
ple who said they supported the University in the past and that the University should not count on them in the future, but that there are no specific numbers on how many of them have actually followed through.
Paul Orehevoc, dean of enrollments, said he thinks it is too early to predict any impact the ad may have on future enrollment at UM.
"We’ve had several phone calls voicing concern, but we don’t have any feeling about a negative impact," Orehevoc said.
Al Williams, a ticket sales representative for the athletic department. said very few people have called to cancel season tickets as a result of the ad.
Williams also said ticket sales were usual for this time of year.
Rabbi Jaime Klein Aklepi, director of the Hillel Jewish Student Center at UM, said planning is underway for a series of events to continue the education programs launched as a result of the ad.
"There are going to be events planned in conjunction with Hillel and other interested organizations dealing with Holocaust education and prejudice reduction,” Aklepi said.
Aklepi said that the issue is far from dead. "Discussion is still alive and well,” she said.
Aklepi said she still thinks running the ad was a mistake.
“I still believe that nothing positive has come out of the ad,” Aklepi said.
Foote said he thinks the ad has strengthened people’s understanding of the atrocities of the Holocaust.
“In 25 years trying to serve two major universities I have not seen a week or so to equal the intensity of discussion of education about a major issue,” Foote said. "For all the pain, some good is already present and the education will continue."
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■	See what the stars hold for you.
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■ GREAT EFFORT:
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