University of Iowa - Hawkeye Yearbook (Iowa City, IA)

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Ms FACES ' PLACES 0 EVENTS 19

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FACES - PLACES - E E TS arch started out with increased ten- sion between Mexico and the U.S. when the bodies of U.S. drug en- forcement official Enrique Ca- marena and his pilot Alfredo Zavala were found a month after they were kidnapped. Mexican drug traffickers were blamed for the murders. On March 10, Konstantin Chernenko was the third Soviet leader to die in 28 months. Mikhail Gorbachev took over the next day. At age 54, he is the youngest Soviet leader in sixty years. Back in the U.S., a song recorded by 45 of America's biggest rock stars calling them- selves USA for Africa was reach- ing its peak in popularity. All pro- ceeds from the record, called , We Are the World, were sent to Ethiopia to aid famine victims. In Ohio, privately owned sav- ings and loans were closed after with strong opposition from CBS who re- sisted his takeover. During the last two weeks of April, na- tional attention was focused on the tenth anniversary of the fall of Saigon - the end of the Vietnam War. Retrospectives in newspa- pers, magazines, and on television explored the events and legacies of iithe only war America ever lost. The end of April and the beginning of May saw protests against the South African gov- ernment's policy of Apartheid come to a head. Students on college campuses across a stop at a concentration camp to try smooth over the political riff that was c ated. In early May, a Chicago housewife canted her testimony in a 1977 rape ca Cathleen Webb disavowed her claim tl she was raped by Gary Dotson and he v released from jail after serving six years of sentence. As Ul students were wrapping up 1 spring semester, news of a huge fire Philadelphia shocked the country. The was started when a police bomb v dropped on a house occup 55 by a radical group called MO' 7 gg.- At least eleven MOVE memb were killed in the blaze and We are the world -+- We are the houses were destroyed, leav children - We are the ones to make afilif-if 0 0 7 250 people homeless. The FACES if PLACES brighter day so let's start giving. g,g.g lgggg g from WE ARE THE WORLD a S S 7 EVENTS reviewed here co , .. - serve either as a crash course those students who were the failure of a Cincinnati savings '- and loan caused depositors to start a run on withdrawals. This caused a temporary drop in the value of the dollar on the world mar- ket. The end of March brought news of the- worst epidemic of food poisoning in U.S. history. Contaminated milk from an Illinois grocery chain was blamed for 4,000 cases of salmonella poisoning in five midwestern states. ln April, media mogul Ted Turner proved the rumors right when he announced his bid for a hostile takeover of CBS. Turner offered S3 billion for 677, of CBS stock but was met l' tAbovei Gary Dotson walks with his mother Barbara Dotson outside the Markham, illinois courthouse, lAP Wirephotol iRighti Tip O'Neill, Speaker of the U.S. House of Re- presentatives, meets with Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gor- bachev. lAP Wirephotol the country urged those institutions to divest their stock in companies doing business in South Africa. The University of Iowa was no exception. May 2, 137 protesters were ar- rested when they refused to leave President Freedman's office in Jessup Hall. President Reagan's 10 day trip to Europe for an economic summit in West Germany was overshadowed by a controversy over one of his side trips. Reagan was scheduled to lay a wreath at a German military cemetary containing the bodies of Hitler's Waffen SS troops. The anger from American lews and holocaust survivors prompted Reagan to add , Q paying attention to world h. penings or as a reference for use in the fut since the current events of today will me up the history books of tomorrow. - Nancy Armentri tTop Righty Director of student employment at lumbia University, Robert Galliane, reads a cour' straining order to students protesting against schools ties to South Africa. CAP Wirephotol iRightJ lohn Kaderabek, perishable foods manager lewel Foods store dumps milk down the drain fol' ing a new wave of salmonella poisoning cases. Wirephotoi x 18 FACES 0 PLACES ' EVENTS

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llWe'll stay here until the University divests even if that means all summer RACISM IGNITES PROTEST t started out like so many noon hours had in the spring of 1985: a rally on the Pentacrest, opposing apartheid and calling for university divestment from South African Corpora- tions. This one, on May 1, featured members of the Writers' Workshop reading their own and others' poetry. By 1 P.M., the protesters had moved in front of Jessup Hall, and by 1:30, over 300 students had taken over the Presidents office on the first floor. uWe'll stay here until the University divests, vowed Andrew Sinning, 'Even if that means all summer. Sinning, like 20 others, wore a white arm band to show that he had been fasting since midnight April 28, in protest of University involve- ment in South Africa. Others wore black arm bands to support the fasters, or red bands to show they were willing to be arrested for their involvement in the set-in. lf they arrest us, said Craig Perrin, student senator, 'that will be the spark that touches off the entire campus. We're showing that we're not willing to continue profiting from apartheid. We don't want an education at the price of discrimi- nation. Dean of Student Services Philip Jones served as University spokesperson to the media in the ab- sence of President Freedman, who was attending a Regent's meeting in Ames at the time of the takeover. uThe University welcomes stating viewpoints as far as divestment is concerned, Jones said. 'However, it is not the role of the University to tell society what to do, and thus we're taking no political stand on this issue. When asked why the University was not taking a political stand on what many consider to be a thoroughly political issue, Jones offered no com- ment. Ul student Keith Royal, standing in front of the receptionist's desk in the presidents office, along with approximately 30 other students sitting on the floor and in chairs, explained why he was taking part in the sit-in. l'We need to make sure people don't forget fthe situation in South AfricaJ, he said. People took time to come here as a reminder. Mary Ann Witsgall said she was at the sit-in in support of the fasters. 'Ji think a lot of us are going to stay over night. Apartheid And approximately 100 students did just that. By noon of the next day, more than 300 students had joined a rally in support of the sit-in, encircling Jessup Hall, chanting and waving placards. Many people not involved in the sit-in did not understand the point of it. llBrandstadfs going to sign a bill against fapartheidJ, said one of the onlookers at Thursday's noon rally. 'lWhat's the point of all this? At the time of the takeover, Governor Brand- stad was considering a bill that would call for iowa divestment in those South African companies re- fusing to comply with the Sullivan Principles. This would result in 5500,000 of the 52.4 million held by the university in South Africa being withdrawn over a three year period. The Principles are de- signed to promote a higher degree of racial equa- lity in South African factories. l'The Sullivan Principles are simply not accept- able to us, explained Tricia Johnston, one of the participants in the sit-in. 'lThe Principles are illegal in South Africa, so they wouldn't really accom- plish anythingf' At the beginning of the sit-in, on Mayday, po- lice officials stated publicly that there would be no arrests. This was proved untrue when, after 26 hours of occupation, officers moved in and forci- bly removed protesters from the building. 137 students were arrested, most of them car- ried away by officers, taken to North'Hall, booked, and released on their own recogni- zance. The people who were taken into custody, said Russ Hagen, assistant director of the Office of Public information, Pwere impeding official university business and charged with criminal trespassing. They were arrested because they were walking around in the hallways at Jessup, and going in offices. Although the University did not press any charges, 'Because we have no police or court system of our own, said Hagen, the City of Iowa City did press charges, and scheduled a court date for all 137 demonstrators. After the police had completed their arrests, the crowd in front of Jessup dispersed. But wav- ing in the breeze was a reminder of those 26 hours: the banner that proclaimed the building was l'Stephen Biko Hall. - Ann Roan