eather onight: Clear and windy, ow 13. omorrow: Partly sunny, igh 34°. I wei r One /undredfrve years of editorialfreedom Untt f Tuesday March 26, 1996 t j .-I Law pr Group's four proposals tackle school's racial atmosphere y Heather Miller Staff Reporter embers of the Ad Hoc Committee n Issues of Race, Gender and Sexual- ty gathered in Hutchins Hall yesterday o tabulate results from an open roll call f Law School faculty on the issue of he school's racial atmosphere. The roll call, submittedto faculty mem- ers Thursday, is a response to four pro- osals the committee presented to faculty ndadministrationin ameetinglastweek. proposals came in the aftermath of a written racial epithet directed at assistant Law Prof. Lance Jones during spring ifs. say 'no' to proposals break. Many students said they believe this attack is an example ofthe prevalence of racial problems in the Law School. The four proposals include appointing a Director of Diversity, creating a Stand- ing Committee on Educational Environ- ment, conducting an independent, out- side review of the Law School, and hiring more minority faculty members. Law second-year student Amanda Smith said the committee believes a roll call is "the best way to gauge sup- port for the proposals." "Faculty members often rely on col- lective responses, so it's therefore diffi- ,cultto gauge support," Smith said. "We wanted to give faculty members who supported us a chance to voice their support publicly." Law second-year student Kaethe Hoffer said the open roll call also dem- onstrates to the faculty that these pro- posals are important. "We wanted to make it clear that our proposals deserved response," she said. Law third-year student Cynthia Rincon agreed. "What's more important to us than a 'yes' or 'no' is to be responsible enough to address the issue," Rincon said. The roll call asked faculty members to check a box indicating a "yes" or "no" in support of all the proposals. Failure to mark the ballot was consid- ered a "no." Responses were due by noon, yesterday. "These proposals demand permanent additions to the Law School adminis- tration," the ballot read. "The Ad Hoc Committee recognizes that faculty and administrative support is vital to the implementation of these changes." The committee posted the response of each faculty member outside Room 100 in Hutchins Hall. Thirteen faculty members voted yes; 33 voted no - which included faculty members who did not respond - and 20 faculty members commented on the proposals, but did not specifically sup- port or reject them. Jones said he supports the proposals and believes they can improve the at- mosphere of the Law School. "By and large, I believe in these pro- posals," he said. However, Law Prof. Edward Cooper rejected the committee's ideas. "The issues are very complicated," See RACE, Page 2 SARA STILLMAN/Daily Law student Jeannine Bell discusses goals, issues and plans at a meeting In Hutchins Hall yesterday. The Ad Hoc Committee on Issues of Race, Gender and Sexuality met to discuss the racial atmosphere in the Law School. LENDING A 'U' students wait n line for rking mom By Will Weissert Staff Reporter As if working three jobs, taking a course at the University and raising a family on her own weren't hard enough, the last thing Rosemary Metz needs is to camp out for more than two weeks to get her daughter into high school. But with the generosity of a small group of University students, Metz's round-the-clock commitment to getting her daughter Liza into Community High School's class of 2000 is no longer a nightmare. University students Becky Bliss, Jason Blazar, Francine Cartwright, Jon Boezinger, Rachel Holmes, Renee Marie 4czek, Jae-Jae Spoon and others were quick to answer z's call for help during a class Thursday night. "I was a wreck when I went to class that night," Metz said. 'I voiced my problem, but I never expected this turnout. The response was so wonderful." Metz and her family have been waiting in line around the clock since March 17 at the Ann Arbor Public Schools' Balas Administration Building on State Street. The marathon camp- out is to ensure that her daughter Liza, who is currently an eighth-grader at Emerson Middle School, will be able to attend Community High School next year. "The whole process that she has to go through is a little iculous, but out of principle students volunteered to help out a working mom," said Bliss, an LSA junior who volun- teered to wait in line for the Metzes yesterday afternoon. "I was surprised so many students responded as fast as they did." The Metzes were hoping to be one of the lucky families whose names were drawn last Thursday in a lottery that distributed 50 of the 100 slots available for incoming first- year students. But their name was not drawn, and now there is nothing left to do but wait in line until April 1, when the final 50 slots l be given out based on students' position in line. See LINE, Page 2 ,.{' MSA hopefuls focus on campus parking By Laurie Mayk Daily Staff Reporter Charged hundreds of dollars in parking tickets and circling Angell Hall for hours, students have learned the hard way that parking space is sparse on campus. Several candidates for the Michigan Student Assembly include plans to increase stu- dent parking availability as part of their platforms for this week's election. "Students are picking up the short end of the stick here in terms of where they get to park," said Fiona Rose, Michigan Party presidential candi- date. Rose said she has contacted students, Univer- sity administrators, campus housing and the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority to dis- cuss the possibility of building new parking struc- tures on campus. Rose suggested designating ar- eas across the street from Palmer Field, behindthe Student Publications Building and the current lot on South Forest Avenue for the structures. While several candidates suggested including a parking space in the room-and-board package sold to students who live in residence halls, Housing Public Affairs and Marketing Manager Dana Fair said space is tight and under Univer- sity control. "Housing would like to have a hand in that, but it is more-or less dictated by the University as a whole," Fair said. Unless the University Board of Regents is will- ing to fund the project, implementing a student fee to raise the money for a new parking structure is an option, Rose said. Independent presidential candidate Geoff Tudisco said a student fee for that purpose would be acceptable only if students have the option of deciding whether to pay it each semester. Tudisco also suggested the University charge a quarter each hour or half hour for parking to finance the building's first few years. Students' Party presidential candidate Jonathan Freeman said the first priority in solving the problem should be to convince the administration of the need for student parking, not to charge students. "I don't think that charging students first is the best way to go," Freeman said. The Students' Party platform includes an initia- tive to open staff and faculty lots for free student use after business hours. "This would help make the University a little safer," said Olga Savic, Students' Party vice presi- dential candidate. "Instead of parking in a dark neighborhood, they can park in a lighted parking lot." The Wolverine Party has targeted the staff and faculty parking lots as a possible solution this past year, said Wolverine Party presidential can- didate Andy Schor. Wolverine Party member Bryan Theis organized a group of students who "observed staff-paid parking lots and observed how may parking spots were empty each day," Schor said. As a result of this study, the University con- verted several of these parking spaces into meter spaces, Schor said. The Wolverine Party sug- gested limiting restricted parking hours to 8 a.m.- 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. "This is something where we have to convince the administration to let go of faculty-paid park- ing," Schor said. No other parties who have candidates running for MSA posts addressed student parking in their platform statements. SARA STILLMAN/Daily LSA junior Becky Bliss is one of seven tudents volunteering to wait in line for Rosemary Metz. The cold weather drove many to wait inside their cars. Behind her Is the make-shift camp set up by families. I I TA training strives to improve quality of'U' education By Jodi Cohen Daily Staff Reporter While undergraduate students often com- plain about their graduate student instruc- tors, evaluations show there is not much difference in the way students rank their professors and GSls. "There doesn't seem to be any gross differ- ence between how graduate student in- structors and faculty are ranked," said Lincoln Faller, LSA associatet dean for undergraduate education. "On aver- age, I don't think we are teaching badly here by the estimation ofstu- I dents." But Faller also said that not all classes re- In Undei ceive complimentary evaluations. "I do know that I oc- casionally see instances Yeserday: Livlnga where the teaching is *Today: Graduate ins not at all satisfactory," *Tomorrow: Languag he said. "That is the case eThursday: Communi sometimes of people *Friday: The influenc not being appropriately mentored as teachers." -. «_V.++ - --(iTirrnia by graduate students in it. They didn't find it useful," Faller said. "It was hard to have a program that met the needs of students in all the departments. "What you need to know to teach a lab course is very different from what you need to know to teach a history course." The Center for Research on Learning and Teaching will continue to help departments with their training sessions. "There are some de- partments that do excel- lent TA training right now So Qand others do very little," said Connie Cook, the di- rector ofCRLT. "It is our job to help them create or enhance TA training pro- tz grams.", graduate. The math and English departments have long- ati o n standingprograms,which haveservedasmodels for ning programs other disciplines, Cook ructor training said. study initiatives Cook agreed that de- y service learning partmental training will of technology be more effective because classes require different types of skills. The following were winners at last night's 68th Annual Academy Awards in Beverly Hills, Calif.: Best Picture: "Braveheart" Best Actor: Nicolas Cage, "Leaving Las Vegas" Best Acts Susan ndon, "Dead IfanWalking" Best Director Mel Gibson, 3"Bravehear Best o Actor: Kevin Spacey, "The Usual Suspects" Best Supporting Actress: Mira Sorvino, "Mighty Aphrodite" Best Original istr age n ity ice SARA STILLMAN/Daily Graduate Student Instructor Audril Pallanytsia (right), who teaches political science, discusses a paper with Engineering first-year student Ala Saket. attended CRLT workshops. "You want to do as much as you can generally, but there is a lot of practical experience you can get Faller said continual development for in- structors at all levels can make a department more cohesive. Ma.th department instructor Patricia Shure I