Racist Sparks Fly

A racist flier slipped under the door of a dormitory lounge where about 20 Black woman students were holding an informal meeting has caused concern over race relations this month at the University of Michigan.

An imitation of an Ohio hunting season notice, the flier announced an "open season" on Blacks, and went on to list "regulations" according to which the "hunt" should proceed, The Michigan Daily reported. The flier used derogatory slurs in referring to Blacks.

Because of the racist pamphlet, university officials requested that all residents attend an open meeting in the dorm. More than 100 students of both races attended the meeting.

"I am shocked and appalled that such an incident could occur in this `enlightened' age at this institute of higher education," wrote Building Director Paul McNaughton about the pamphlet, The Daily reported.

"The incidents that have occurred here are really shocking. I never expected anything like this to happen here," said one freshman at the open meeting. STANFORD

Dean Took His Own Life, Detectives Say

San Mateo County detectives have attributed the death of a Stanford dean, an internationally known geological scholar under investigation for child molestation, to suicide.

Earth Sciences Dean Allan Cox, 60, died late last month when the bicycle he was riding left the roadway an struck a large tree head-on. He tumbled about 100 feet off the road, where he died of massive head injuries, The Stanford Daily reported.

Cox was renowned for his studies confirming plate tec tonic theories of sea floor spreading and continental drift. His work showed that the earth's magnetic field had reversed. He received the highest honor for achievement in the earth sciences, the Vetlesen Prize, in 1971.

The dean was under investigation for allegedly molesting the 14-year-old son of a doctoral degree candidate who studied with him. The candidate has claimed that Cox continued his sexual involvement with his son, who is now 19, The San Francisco Chronicle reported.

The speed at which Cox was bicycling, the apparent lack of any other vehicle's interference with his travel, the angle at which Cox's head hit the tree, and the dean's not wearing a helmet, as was his custom, are among the pieces of evidence that point to suicide, detectives said. CORNELL

One Fewer Reason to Enter Academics

Faculty members at Cornell University are this month debating whether professors should be able to receive royalties from books they assign to students in their courses, The Cornell Daily Sun reported.

It is unclear whether professors are preferentially assigning their own books, said Dean of Faculty Joseph B. Bugliari. But the resolution drafted by a member of the University Assembly would require that professors turn over to a tax-deductible fund profits they make off royalties from books they have written and require for their own classes.

The resolution does not require that professors turn over profits they make when their colleagues at Cornell assign their books. Typically, professors receive 10 to 15 percent of the price of the first 5000 books sold, with increasing royalties for more books sold.

Six professors in Cornell's history department and seven in the government department have assigned their own books this semester, The Sunreported.

The issue will be resolved at a future meeting of the University Assembly. BROWN

Easy Come, Easy Go

What would you do if $25,000 mysteriously appeared in your bank account? Philip Strasos, a senior at Brown University knew what to do. He spent most of it.

Unfortunately for Strasos, Providence's Citizen Bank discovered its September accounting error while Brown students were away on Christmas break. When the senior returned to Rhode Island from his native Greece late month, he was welcomed by police with a warrant for his arrest, The Brown Daily Herald reported.

Police charged Strasos with obtaining money under false pretenses, but said the charge would likely be dropped if Strasos would repay the bank.

Strasos said he spent most of the $25,000--including a reported $6000 for a used Alfa Romeo--because he thought his parents had wired it to him from Greece. In fact, they had wired him only $4000 in September.

"If I believed that the money was not mine, I would not have used it to start with," Strasos told the Providence Journal.

"I'm just going to give [the money] back over the weekend to repay the bank and the error is going to be rectified," he said. PRINCETON

Princeton to Assess State of Humanities

Departing Princeton President William G. Bowen has appointed a committee to assess the strength of the humanities at the university and the effectiveness of distribution requirements in ensuring that all students receive a humanistic background.

The committee will submit a report this spring possibly recommending changes in Princeton's system of distribution requirements, The Daily Princetonian reported.

The committee will also address such issues as the lack of contact between freshmen and faculty and the small number of students who take courses dealing with cultures outside of our own.