WE t ti Weather Tonight: Cloudy, chance of rain, low around 310. omorrow: Cloudy, low around 620. One hundred six' years of ednlorilfreedom Friday October 4, 1996 gg : t n M 9 P'i ICHIGAN 'S. 'CAT4-, O'Connor to speak to grads By Jodi S. Cohen Daily Staff Reporter Sandra Day O'Connor won't be accompanied by the eight other justices when she delivers her opinion at the University later this semester. Instead, as the commencement speaker, she'll give advice to about 2.000 members of December's gradu- ating class. The first female Supreme Court justice. nominated by President Reagan in 1981, O'Connor is one of four people who will receive honorary degrees on Dec. 15. "It's a great honor for Michigan to have Justice O'Connor as our commencement speaker," said Law School Dean Jeffrey Lehman. "Even the most abridged history book must note the courage and abil- ity that made her the first woman Supreme Court jus- tice." Already approved by the University Board of Regents. O'Connor will be among four people given honorary degrees. The other honorees include: Robert Altman, a film maker; John Pickering, a lawyer; and Vera Rubin. an astronomer. The University's honorary degree committee sifts through nominations twice a year- in November and April. The committee then makes its recommenda- tions and the University president picks the speaker from among those chosen. Assistant Dean of Graduate Studies Homer Rose, a member of the honorary degree committee, said O'Connor's nomination may have been considered more than a year ago, but was postponed until the upcoming graduation - the most convenient time for O'Connor to visit Ann Arbor. "The honorary degree committee doesn't approve people for specific commencements," Rose said. "The scheduling of who goes to what commencement is a completely different process. Interim President Homer Neal said O'Connor is scheduled to fly into Ann Arbor and out again on the same day - staying just long enough to deliver the address. Neal said, however, that he has written O'Connor a letter asking her to arrive earlier. l have written to her to see if she would come a day or two early to give a general colloquium," Neal said. adding that the event could be held in the Rackham Amphitheater. Neal said O'Connor has not yet responded to his letter and he isn't too optimistic about the chance of her arriving before commencement. "She is very busy and I'm sure it's hard for her to get out of Washington," Neal said. "The chances are probably less than 30 percent that she will come early." Associate Law School Dean Kent Syverud, who served as O'Connor's law clerk from 1984-85, said he was excited to hear she would be speaking at gradua- tion ceremonies, when roughly 20 percent of the University's yearly graduates will be honored. About 9,000 to 10,000 degrees are awarded each year. "She's at the moment at the center of the Supreme Court in the middle of some of the most difficult issues that the country is facing," Syverud said. See O'CONNOR, Page 5 ole ds new 'friends' n Detroit By Jennifer Harvey Daily Staff Reporter DETROIT - Prospective first lady Elizabeth Dole again left the podium behind and walked among members of the Women's Economic Club gathered at Cobo Hall yesterday. "This way I can also make new friends," she said. "I just hope the microphone holds out." 4he American Red Cross president and wife of Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole repeated her prac- tice of making a speech while walking. among the audience instead of staying on stage, a style she began at the Republican National Convention in San Diego in August. "Trust is a good way to sum this up," Dole said of the presi- dential race. "You can take it (Bob Dole) says he-is going to do Dole it. The visit to Detroit was Dole's second campaign stop of the . She spoke at a breakfast in Grand ids early yesterday. Dole was joined at the WEC lun- cheon by Gov. John Engler and other prominent Michigan Republicans. Engler said Dole is the best person to spread her husband's message. "Mrs. Dole comes here, takes Bob Dole's message and agenda and breaks it down in a very human way so people can see in their family and their busi- !s what it would mean to have taxes cut, government smaller and the bur- den of regulation reduced." Dole spoke about a number of issues, including trust, business oppor- tunities, drugs and crime. But taxes and economic opportunity were See DOLE, Page 5 ._ ... f -._. s _ ,. ,: 4: e MSA fees are fifth highest in Big Ten This is th Iidini a three-purt series on MSAs budgct. By Will Weissert Daily Staff Reporter $2.69. As part of a $20,000-plus tuition bill it hardly seems worth mentioning, but to the Michigan Student Assembly it is JULLY PARK,/Daly Primo Kang, owner of Blue Front Inc. convenience store, stands in front of the wall of fake IDs that he has confiscated from underage alcohol buyers. Underage dikn e ralive, desp ite 'U' polic-ing efflorts the most important - for now. It is the student fee MSA collected from each student to create this year's $205,000 budget. MSA currently collects the fifth highest student government fee in the Big Ten - and it soon may go tip. This November. students voting in the MSA elections will decide whether that figure should be increased by $1.50 to fund two student groups, Project Serve and the Network. figure on campus Student Go at Big Ten aa ~ C t Black Volunteer chance to vote to increase the student fee again - this time to provide addi- tional funding for MSA's budget. "We need more money for the MSA budget as a whole, our budget has not kept up with the rate of inflation and can't even cover things like our operat- ing costs." said MSA President Fiona Rose. The MSA budget has been operating under a surplus for v't Fees three years. The budget's status has Ichools mandated that the assembly rely on money left over from the previous year's budget, while at the same time budgeting to ensure a surplus for the next year. "It is not fiscally responsible to depend on money left over from last a .~~ year,"eRose said. 1W = o"We are still in the dark ages of student e have no fee fees for student JOSH WHITE/Daly government at Michigan - we've been so concentrated on keeping the fee low that we have allowed no healthy revenue growth for the assembly." Rose said MSA would need at least a 50-cent student fee increase to end the surplus spending. See FEE, Page 7 DPS, AAPD work together with campus groups to patrol parties By Anupama Reddy Daily Staff Reporter University students less than 21 years old may not have a difficult time getting alcohol and drinking at parties, but University and Greek officials have set up several road- blocks. Unlike the officers who patrol Michigan State University's campus, the Ann Arbor Police Department and the University's Department of Public Safety do not enforce a zero-tolerance policy for underage college drinkers. Instead, they share the responsibility of policing Greek par- ties with members of the Interfraternity Council and Panhellenic Association, who monitor parties as part of the system's Social Responsibility Committee. -We work closely with IFC to do a lot of prevention work," said AAPD Deputy Chief Craig Roderick. "The problem has improved tremendously." Former SRC member and University alum Abigail Jenkins said the partnership has been fruitful. Jenkins is an alum of Alpha Gamma Delta sorority. "We were policing our own parties - the Ann Arbor police won't do that." said Jenkins, who currently works in the Office of Greek Life. "We have this working relationship with the police where if we monitor our own parties, they won't come in'" Residence halls also play a role in alcohol awareness. South Quad's Coordinator of Residence Education Ellen Shannon said students are warned before they are sanctioned for an alcohol abuse. "(Alcohol) works against the mission of education," Shannon said. "Students come to college to gain information and knowledge. See DRINKING, Page 2 In addition, another ballot question may be in the works that would make the fee even higher. MSA's executive officers hope that in the near future, students will have a :l' frowns on dating class instructors By Heather Miller Daily Staff Reporter if you have a date with your instruc- tor this weekend. you may want to con- sider canceling it. The University addresses mutually *senting romantic and sexual rela- t ships between students and faculty, which includes professors and graduate student instructors, in its sexual harass- ment policy. "The policy doesn't prohibit these relationships. ... We don't want to say 'No, you can't do this,"' said Diane of the consent, conflicts of interest and unfair treatment of others." If a student and faculty member have a professional relationship with each other, the policy requires them to disclose the rela- tionship to an administrative supervisor. "With each sit- uation, we have to look at the dynamics to see what the "It ra«s4 questions the ethics of that relations) Engineering sophomore Becky Wulff said of relationships between students and faculty. "It's hard enough to find someone to date. If it happens to be your instructor, I'm all far it." H o w e v e r, Jordan said these -abo-ut relationships can lead to concerns al nature about favoritism, conflict of inter- est in the ability .L to fairly assess I9E the student's may have felt compelled to become involved in the relationship, she said. "There's a power relationship that can one: be exploitative of the student; two: can lead to inequality to the other students; (and) three: lead to false expectations about favoritism," said anthropology GSI Roxanna Duntley. "And finally I just think it's totally unethical. Other students also expressed con- cerns about faculty-student relation- ships. "It's a controversial (relationship) if students are dating the instructor in one I ii 2 -