C41v i tirin *rnI Weather Tonight: Chance of light snow, highs in low 20s. Tomorrow: Highs in 20s, chance of snow. One hundred four years of editorial freedom Thursday February 9, 1995 ! is a' i'; ti !x: MEN= S 6 College tuition in state closer to By Zachary M. Raimi Daily Staff Reporter A proposal to make college tuition tax- deductible marched forward yesterday, pass- ing the state Senate without opposition, along with the rest of Gov. John Engler's tax cut plan. "I'm very pleased," said state Sen. John Schwarz (R-Battle Creek), a major player in the *ill's passage. "It's a way to give some recogni- tion to families who have a student in college." The proposal would allow a tax deduction for college tuition of up to $5,000 per year, for four years - if universities and colleges hold their tuition at or below the rate of inflation, as determined by the Consumer Price Index. The bill would allow deductions for both private and public higher-education institu- tions, but only a one-year deduction for com- munity colleges. State Sen. Alma Wheeler Smith (D-South Lyon), who represents Washtenaw County. proposed an amendment requiring'the state to match a school's previous appropriation level and base the yearly increase on the rate of inflation, but it was ultimately re- jected. Smith said in a written statement that she proposed the amendment because "this bill Inside Details on the tax cut plan that passed the state Senate. -- See Page 7. may be the only tax deduction that is predi- cated on the behavior of someone else - the colleges and universities." Without the amendment, students who attend schools that raise tuition above the rate of inflation, like the University did last year, would be hurt, Schwarz said, "but I don't see a lot of colleges and universities wanting to play that game. Jeing tax- deductible "Implicit in all of this is that the state Jerry Crandall, a spokesman for House appropriation will have in it adequate in- speaker Paul Hillegonds (R-Holland), said he creases annually so that it will not be difficult does not know when the House will debate the for the universities to keep their tuition in- issue. "The commitment from the speaker at creases at or below the CPI.' this time is to attempt to pass the governor's Schwarz said he could not predict how the package as it was proposed, keeping to that proposal might affect people in different tax $1.5 billion figure," he said. brackets. Schwarz said he thinks Engler will support In his State of the State address last month, the college tuition deduction bill. The governor's Gov. John Engler proposed a $1.5 billion tax oflice did not return phone calls yesterday. cut. The three-part proposal would raise Crandall said he is not sure whether the personal exemptions, cut the Single Business tuition proposal would pass in the House. Tax, and phase out the intangibles tax on "That remains to be seen," he said. "I don't interest and dividends. know at this point. ,MSA elects new external relations head By Amy Klein Daily Staff Reporter * By a vote of 18-16 Tuesday night, the Michigan Student Assembly elected Rep. Adam Clampitt to the position of external relations committee chair. There was one absten- tion. LSA sophomore Andrew Wright was recalled from the position last week after assembly members accused him of fraud. ERC vice chair Brooke Holley served as acting chair in the interim. Holley was "the only other representative to run for the vacancy against Clampitt, an LSA sophomore. She will *ontinue to serve as vice chair. Clampitt said he plans to involve the new private lobbying firm heavily in the assembly's activities. "Right now we need to focus on using the lobbyist. We need to really use him in the next few months before summer," Clampitt said. While Holley also emphasized the importance of in- creasing the lobbyist's role, she stressed the need to form contacts outside the University. "I think the lobbying thing was a great idea, but ietworking is also important. While networking sounds ike a bad term, I think it's good to get together with people that have other ideas," Holley said. Clampitt advocated continuing the assembly's rela- tionship with the city. "I think Andrew did a lot of good things in terms of the relationship formed with the city. I'd like to continue that relationship," Clampitt said. Wright said he was disappointed with Holley's defeat. "I wish Brooke would have been elected. I don't think Adam is qualified, and he hasn't shown up for a meeting 611 semester until last Sunday," Wright said. The Michigan Party originally considered Clampitt for vice chair this semester, but he was defeated in the party nominations. "He lost the party elections," Wright said. "I think that was the right decision then and I still think it's the right decision." Baker lawyer rebukes'U' on disloue STEPHANIE GRACE LIM/Daily The African tradition Haj Khalil from Naim Imports prepares his table for the Ann Arbor African American Fair in the Michigan Union Ballroom yesterday. The fair was sponsored by Minority Student Services and the Office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives. See Page 3 for details. By Ronnie Glassberg Daily Staff Reporter The attorney for the RC sopho- more suspended for posting a sexual torture story on the Internet said the University violated his client's rights by showing the story to the Michigan Student Assembly president. The University has refused to dis- cuss Jake Baker's case, citing the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act. But MSA President Julie Neenan told the assembly at Tuesday's meet- ing that Vice President for Student Affairs Maureen A. Hartford showed her a copy of the posting. "I have serious concerns about the legality of (Hartford's) actions." said David Cahill. Baker's attorney. "i think it's inappropriate and it calls into question FERPA." Hartford defended her action in allowing Neenan to see the story. "I thought it was important for the students to understand the nature of what this message was," Hartford said. "A document that has been sent to millions of people on the Internet, I don't believe is protected informa- tion and that's the only document Julie saw." The University will hold a closed hearing today at 1:30 p.m. for Baker on the sixth floor of the Fleming Ad- ministration Building. The linguis- tics-math major from Boardman, Ohio, was suspended last Thursday for a message he posted on the Internet. which included the name of a Univer- sity student. Baker's story describes the torture and sodomization of a woman. At the end of the story, the story's protago- nist douses her with gasoline and lights a match. University President James J. Duderstadt suspended Baker under Regents' Bylaw 2.01, which gives the president the power to maintain the "health, diligence, and order among the students." University spokeswoman Lisa Baker said the University did not vio- late the rights of Cahill's client by making the story public. "It's already in the public domain. It was on the Internet," she said. "It's already a public document." The University yesterday said it See BAKER, Page 7 Obscenity ofstory questioned By Cathy Boguslaski Daily Staff Reporter Last week's suspension of an LSA sophomore who published "slasher" material on the Internet has raised serious questions about the First Amendment and the In- formation Superhighway. The University suspended Jake Baker, an RC linguistics major, for publishing a torture-filled, sexu- ally explicit story on the Inte'rnet that included the name of another student. Baker was suspended un- der Regents' Bylaw 2.01, which gives University President James J. Duderstadt the power to main- tain the "health, diligence and or- der among students." However, Baker may not have violated any obscenity laws. The story Baker posted described two men breaking into a woman's apartment, tying her by her hair to a ceiling fan, torturing and mutilating her, as well as sodomizing her with a hot curling iron. The graphic details of the story. are.probably not enough for Baker to be convicted of obscenity, said Joan Lowenstein, a communications lec- turer at the University who teaches a course in First Amendment law. "You can buy this sane kind of stuff in Hustler," Lowenstein said. "It's been outlawed in some places, like Cincinnati, but it's still on sale here." The story appeared on a com- puter newsgroup that focuses on .sexually explicit material. Lowenstein said stories published on the Internet are held to the same standards as any other publication. The Supreme Court rule.d in Miller vs. California that,, to be consid- ered obscene, the work must ap- peal to the basest interests.and have no redeeming artistic value when judged by community standards. See OBSCENITY, Page 7 Price to head comm. dept., lead transition Interim chair holds 2nd meeting for students to discuss future concentration By Cathy Boguslaski Daily Staff Reporter The University has tapped Vincent Price, associate chair of the commu- nication department, to step up and tversee the troubled department's transition to a new focus on commu- nication studies. In January, a faculty advisor committee recommended sweeping changes to the current department of communication, including mov- ing all film and video production classes to the Program in Film and Video Studies, removing the Master's in Journalism Program from LSA, and discontinuing jour- nalism classes in LSA. LSA Dean Edie N. Goldenberg said Price will take the chair on July 1. "Prof. Price will recommend mem- bership for the department executive committee during the transition pe- riod and he will chair that committee. The department executive committee will oversee recommendations to re- vise the curriculum and will also serve as a search committee for new fac- ulty," Goldenberg wrote in an e-mail message. Price was a member of the advi- sory committee that made the recom- mendations for the department. He is on sabbatical and could not be reached for comment. Last night, the current interim chair of the department, John Chamberlin, hosted an informational meeting about the department's future for concen- trators and interested students. Several students expressed disap- pointment over the college's decision to stop offering journalism classes. "You work so hard in high school to get in here, to U-M," said Amy Tortora, an LSA junior. "Then halfway through they change it (the communication de- partment), and 1 wonder how future employers are going to look at that, how they will believe in you when your own school didn't, when your own school changed your program." Only about 20 students attended the meeting, which conflicted with a "Careers in Communications" pro- gram. Chamberlin said he was not aware of the conflict when he sched- uled the meeting. Juniors and seniors will be allowed to finish their concentrations under the current requirements. Sophomores will have the op- tion of finishing under the old or new concentration, but the advanced writing classes will not be given after winter term 1996, Chamberlin said. Some students said they are con- cerned because LSA will not offer practical skills, such as those taught in the writing classes. "Training people for their first job is not something liberal arts colleges generally take as their mission," Chamberlin said. He suggested that writing for student publications and internships could help prepare stu- dents for journalism careers. in .. t.. x5. ..3 r ._ . . x x r. r .":."_x .:f .i :. v~ "n f i "t-. .< . :-. :..Set: r,^. . ....., ...r...... .. .... ..... , c: c. a, } P t .v. ,... .U 0 2,0 -- - - - - - -------- t( A .,, . .s . . f N ' j, -- - - -, .. < 1_ A E'A i' r'v Today's deadline for dornmtory 'reapp' extended until Tuesday 4 a s:96 r A~aX 4, ' f - '. } I __ _. y _. By Spencer Dickinson Daily Staff Reporter For students who plan to live in the residence halls next year, today was the original deadline to reapply. While the deadline has been extended to next Tuesday, students who plan to live on campus next year have al- ready begun the reapplication pro- West Quad, Betsey Barbour and Helen Newberry. She cited printing delays for a University Housing publication as cause for the extension. Vera Baits Houses Office Man- ager Julie Markey said students who want to change halls must wait until current residents have made their room choices. fers since Lloyd is not open to juniors. Many first-year students choose to stay in the dorms their sopho- more years. Josh Bretz, now an En- gineering junior, lived in East Quad his first two years at the University. "1 liked the social environment," Bretz said. This year, he lives in an apartment .. .{'~ 3 ;< ,. .