LOCAL/STATE The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, April 22, 1997 - eBollinger tackles new, old obstacles in first months of presidency BOLLINGER Continued from Page 1 Bollinger said. "Academic quality and excellence are really the things I am most interested in." The president's challenges extend from the operat- ing rooms in University Hospitals to the basketball team in Crisler Arena. Shortly after he took office, the Athletic Department admitted to committing two NCAA violations for its involvement with Detroit booster Ed Martin. Bollinger recently hired a private law firm to internally investigate press allegations about the basketball program. The new president also took action regarding anoth- er controversial issue -- salary packages for top admin- istrators. In reaction to controversy over secret salary deals made between former President James Duderstadt and several executive officers, Bollinger asked the regents 4t their February meeting for an endorsement of a pompensation plan for executive officers. Yet for Bollinger, one of the biggest obstacles is not paying his executive officers, but filling vacancies left as Duderstadt's appointees depart. "There are an unusual number of extremely diffi- -cult and complex situations that have arisen," Bollinger said. "The matter of building back up the administration and finding the right people to fill those positions, both have made things quite difficult." Two weeks ago, Machen announced that he does not plan to continue as provost after his term ends in August, leaving the second-high- est position at the University up for grabs. W ,'re Mal "This week I hope to announce an advisory prog essi committee to help me in looking for a new Oft areas provost," Bollinger said. "I hope we can fill that position in the next two addressed2" to four months' There are already two - Regent Shirley major search committees (R-Battle in progress for the posi- _(R-Battk_ tions of chief financial UJ ii ducting a search for a new general counsel to replace Elsa Cole, who stepped down in March. In addition to the other positions. Bollinger said he is also looking for someone to fill a "kind of chief of staff" role in the administration. Despite heavy obsta- cles, and the occasional king student protest, tBollinger's presidency has drawn accolades from many in the P University community. imwould give (Bollinger's presidency) an A+," said Regent Olivia Maynard (D- Mc Fee Flint). "Obviously there are a lot of tough issues Creek) out there. It's been a tough couple of months. He does it all with openness and a wish to dialogue." Regent Shirley McFee (R-Battle Creek) said she is happy with how the presidency operates. "We're making progress in a lot of the areas that need to be addresscd' MleFee said. "I'm very hopeful that we will be able to complete the searches expeditiously." Appeals court rejects Baker case officer and executive vice president for medical affairs. "For the CFO and EVPMA positions, there is a very high probability they will be filled by early to mid- summer," Bollinger said. Bollinger said he plans to wait until fall before con- Court denies government's request to hear charges From Staff and Wire Reports An appeals court has rejected the government's request to hear charges against Jake Baker, a former University student accused of breaking the law by sending computer messages describing the rape and torture of women. In January, a three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a 2-1 decision rejected the government indictment, which said the e-mail mes- sages amounted to illegally transmitted threats. The full court of at least 15 judges referred the Baker case back to the original panel. That panel last week reaffirmed its decision that Baker did not actually threaten the women. He described the rape, torture and murder of women to a correspondent on the Internet in Ontario. Douglas Mullkoff, an Ann Arbor- based attorney who represents Baker, praised the most recent court deci- sion. "I'm not shocked at all. I was expect- ing for the charges to be thrown out," Mullkoff said. "It's impossible for me to predict what is going to happen i Washington, but hopefully they will stop beating this dead horse and let hinl go on with his life." The dissenting opinion was writ- ten by Judge Robert Krupansky, wh said that the two men not only threatened women, but intimidateq women or young girls with "physi- cal harm as discussed in their plans." Sandy Palazzolo, spokesperson fot the U.S. Attorney's office in Detroit, said yesterday that any decision to appeal now rests with the solicitor geny eral's office in Washington, D.C. Baker was indicted after he sent 4 message Jan. 9, 1995, through a coma puter bulletin board. The message described the fantasized abduction and sexual torture of a woman with the name of a classmate, authorities said. A Michigan alumnus read the story and alerted University officials. w The appeals court upheld .l$. District Judge Avern Cohn% June 1995 dismissal of the indictment. Baker, who could have faced e years in prison, is now 22 and atterbs the University of Pittsburgh, where hie is majoring in computer science. "1 hope this can all end. I really can't say anything further about the matter:' Baker said, Voters may tackle death penalty question DETROIT (AP) - A state lawmak- ,er says he believes he is getting close to securing the 26 votes needed in the Senate to allow Michigan residents to vote on whether to restore the death penalty 150 years after it was abolished. "We're closer than we have ever been," said state Sen. Doug Carl (R- Mount Clemens), a sponsor of one of the five resolutions before the *egislature that would allow voters to ,ecide the question next year. But while Carl said he is close to get- -'4ng the two-third majority he would need i the Senate to get the question on a statewide ballot, he admits the question could face a more difficult battle in the House. Similar proposals in previous years have died before reaching the ballot. A growing number of Senate Democrats - including Minority Leader John Cherry (D-Clio) --- are warming to the death penalty, already legal in 38 states. "While I think there is some value in Michigan's tradition of not having it, I'd say I'm leaning towards supporting the death penalty" Cherry said. In a statewide poll in 1995, Lansing polling firm EPIC/MRA found 72 per- cent support among voters, a percent- age consistent with other polling in recent years, The Detroit News reported in a story published yesterday. "There are some crimes so heinous in nature that justice on more than one level requires this to be a potential penalty," said Sen. Michael Bouchard, a Birmingham Republican who has reintroduced a death-penalty resolu- tion. But others argue that the death penal- ty is barbaric and that innocent people could be put to death. 'States that have the death penalty are saying individuals can't kill, but society can. That sends the wrong mes- sace or at least a conflicting one," said Dan \Manville. an Ann Arbor attor- ney, who specializes in prisoner-rights eases and served three years in prison in the mid-1 970s. a n n w w wiw U N I V E R 5 1,t Y 0 F M I -C H I G A N r..r. r W i rr V=VARSITY C-CLUB WdNTRAMURAL [N0 thanks t the sponsors of our Rejection Letter Give Away... Charley's@SouthU. Noggins Hair Shop Michigan Union Bookstore Banana Republic Student Activities & Leadership Tower Records Wherehouse Records The Buckle President Tuxedo 3 r ...and congratulates our winners... 25 WOMEN'S TENNIS/V MEN'S TENNISN WOMEN'S OUTDOOR TRACK/V WOMEN'S TENNISN WESTLAFAETTEIN MEN'S TENNisN AT B!G TEN CH'AMPIONSHIP ErAST L ANSiNG:' MI WOMEN'S SOFTBALLNV AvoM"N ILD, 1)~ CIVPM WOMEN'S OUTDOOR TRACK/ AT PENN RELAYS WOMEN'S CREW/ AT MiDWESTS MADISON. W 27 WOMEN'S TENNISN AT BiG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS WEST LAFAYETTE, IN MEN'S TENNISN AT BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS EAST LANSING, Mi WOMEN'S SOFTBALL/V VS. INDIANA ALUMNI FIELD 1 00 PM Kimberly Agaton Andrew Phelka Kimberly Thomashow Randall Hirsch John Whelan Christopher Hargunanti Kristin Levi Wendy Ollinger Anya Rose Todd Rosenbiuth Sandra Kang Tony Kanluen Prizes can be claimed at the Office of Student Activities and Leadership (2209 Michigan Union) starting today. They must be picked up by May 2 or they will be forfeited. II I I .)f YOR f VF NTS REACH H R'V tc , t N 7f:F'«t7Ntt f .°- '. :a .4 Bear Stearns Congratulates T h e C la ss o f 1 9 Welcomes The IE Graduates To 0 Nicholas H. Steven M. G Thomas E. I b. And following ur Team: Barker oran [ight ,, 4 Todd R. Marcy Seth Shapiro llan CrnrFllor m