News in brief

October 23, 2006 —

Civil Rights Initiative to be debated Tuesday

There will be a second discussion on the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative Tuesday, Oct. 24 at 7 p.m. in the Alan W. Ott Auditorium of the Regional Education Center.

The panelists will be debating the initiative that will appear on the Michigan ballot next month during the Nov. 7 elections.

If passed, the initiative would amend the state constitution to ban programs that include preferential treatment that is based on race, gender, color, ethnicity, or national origin for education or contracting purposes.

Panelists will include racefreezone.com contributors Gregory Brodeur and Diane Carey, Executive Director for the Bay City YMCA Anita Bowden, and Associate Vice Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs at the University of Michigan John Matlock.

Erik Trump, SVSU associate professor of political science, will moderate the discussion.

The forum is open to the public and free of charge. The events are sponsored by SVSU's Office of Diversity Programs and the SVSU chapter of the American Council on Education for Women in Higher Education.

An estimated 300 people attended the University's previous panel discussion held on Oct. 4.

For more information, contact the Office of Diversity Programs at (989) 964-4068.

Author's lecture focuses

on religious issues in politics

Alan Wolfe, author and editor of several books including The Transformation of American Religion and An Intellectual in Public, will be giving a lecture entitled "Who's Afraid of American Religion?" Thursday, Oct. 26 at 9:30 a.m. in the Rhea Miller Recital Hall.

Wolfe's discussions have been known to focus on cultural and religious issues in American politics. Wolfe also touches on the search for national identity and the aspirations for greatness that have shaped American history.

Comical student play opens this weekend

The student-run Work N' Progress is putting on the show Sylvia Friday, Oct. 27 and Saturday, Oct. 28. The show will begin at 8 p.m. both nights and will be held in the Black Box Theatre.

Senior Chad Helmer is directing the show about a middle-aged man who is in mid-life crisis--primarily on a professional level.The man finds a stray dog named Sylvia and brings her home one day, much to the dismay of his wife.

The farcical play deals with how Sylvia begins to replace the man's wife as the "other woman" through many comical scenarios and the growing distance between husband and wife because of it.

Tickets are on sale in the SVSU Theatre Department Office (C184) for $5. For more information about tickets, call (989) 964-7473.