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One hundred six years of editor'i/lfreedom

Friday
January 31, 1997

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COmpleting the I
Neal wraps
u interim
presidency
By Heather Kamins
a Katie Wang
Dai y Staff Reporters
When Homer Neal jets off next
month for Switzerland after stepping
down as interim University president,
he will remember officiating at gradu-
ation, welcoming the class of 2000 and
eating his weekly Blimpy's burger.
That's a "triple on plain, with pepper
jack cheese, mayo, mustard, ketchup
and relish."
oday marks the last day of Neal's
p idency and he will trade in his suit
and tie for a laboratory coat Monday to
return to more familiar surroundings
- his physics lab. The move signals
the end of a seven-month transition
period for the University and the begin-
ning of a new era under President-
select Lee Bollinger.
"I hope I will be remembered as a
person who was able to step in at a del-
i point in the University and help
v the transition between the 1th
and 12th presidents," Neal said.
About one year ago, the Board of
Regents selected Neal as the interim ,
successor to former President James
Duderstadt, who resigned June 30,
1996.
Neal, the University's first African
American president, began his tenure
last July.
"As an individual, I don't feel any
d rent from anyone else," he said. "If
you ask if a Hispanic or black student"
noticed that the interim president is
black and that motivated them to do
certain things in their life ... then yes, I
certainly am (proud)."
Neal earned his doctorate in physics
from the University in 1966. He served
as the chair of the physics department
for six years before being appointed
vj president for research in 1993.
e said his interim presidency was
limited by the inability to commit and
set lasting goals for the future.
"It is somewhat difficult - if not
impossible - for an interim president
to make long-term plans for a universi-
ty," Neal said. Interim University President Homer Neal listens at a Michigan
During his time as president, Neal final day of Neal's tenure as University president.
was confronted with a variety of salient
issues, including the future of the B
Medical Center, the University's com-
iMent to diversity and the campus
ett di est acd t e c m ut ,js iment as the board searched for the
next president.
"I think he will be perceived as a per- By Heather Kamins house Jan. 10, tray
son who provided a bridge from and Katie Wang eling light and onl)
Duderstadt to Bollinger and provided Daily Staff Reporters bringing his vol
stability," said Provost J. Bernard Closing a year of revelations, shake- umes of books t
Machen. ups and lawsuits, Lee Bollinger will decorate the empt)
Immediately after moving into the officially take office Monday as the shelves.
president's seat, Neal faced the task of 12th University president. Since he arrived
mitigating the effects of downsizing the Bollinger is no stranger to the he has met with ok
Wlical Center. Last April, citing the University. Before serving as provost of friends and listener
pressures of managed care companies, Dartmouth College, he spent seven years to faculty and stu
Medical Center officials announced as dean of the University's Law School. dent leaders in a
they would have to trim $200 million After a rigorous yearlong search, the effort to reacquain
from the budget within the next three University Board of Regents selected himself with th

See NEAL, Page 2 Bollinger from a group of four finalists University.
.service to be the next president. For the past wee
Inside: Faculty praise Neal's Bollinger moved into the president's attending a confer
Page 3.
0 Sihe £Itdtpu &itlg
For most Daily readers, today is probably just a normal
day of The Michigan Daily. It looks the same, it sounds
the same, but starting Monday, the people that work so
hard to put it out each day will be different. For us, the
exiting editors, we're leaving behind a place that has
meant long hours, tough decisions and a lot of memories
in the past year. We've strived to fairly report, cover and
* comment on the University, its people and the events that
transpire here. And in the past year, we've found that one
of the most valuable roles the Daily serves is to provoke
thought and encourage students to use their voices.
Leaving The Michigan Daily tonight, we want to wish
our sucessnrs good luck - Josh. Jodi. Anu. Laurie. Will.

----- - --- - - -

quation

Applications
down around

nation,
By Heather Kamins
Daily Staff Reporter
Following a surge of applications to
the University's undergraduate schools
at the beginning of the decade, a nation-
al trend has brought a drop in applicant
rates this year.
LSA Dean Edie Goldenberg
announced the University's applicant
rates for the class of 2001 were signifi-
cantly lower than in past years. The find-
ing was presented to the LSA executive
committee at the start of the month.
"The applicant
rates are not as
down as they
were a few weeks We an
ago," Goldenberg
said. "But they concerne
are down across - Th
the country.
Admissions are Undergradu
not down. Early
admission is at a
rate that is equal to last year."
Undergraduate Admissions Director
Theodore Spencer said he estimates
that this year's applicant rates are down
4-5 percent.
"(Applications) are slightly down, but
the deadline is Feb. 1. We always keep it
open for a few days," Spencer said.
"We are concerned, but we are not
where we think it is time to press the
panic button," Spencer said. "We
receive 20,000 applications and we
only enroll 5,000.
"We do not think that the quality of
applicants has diminished in any way."
Associate Dean for Undergraduate
Education Lincoln Faller said the
decline in this year's University appli-

U,
cant rates may be part of a national
trend.
"The drop might be the consequence
of an increasing trend," Faller said.
"Applications have been inching up
over the last few years. This may just be
part of the continuing tendency," Faller
said. "Where in the past students may
have made 10 applications, this year
they may only be making eight."
Other top universities around the
country also reported a decline in the
number of applications they have
received this
year.

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e
ua


m

M a r l y n
McGrath Lewis,
director of admis-
1 5MM sions at Harvard
odore Spencer University and
Radcliffe
ate admissions College, said
director Harvard
U n i v e r s i t y
received 18,165 applications last year,
but this year they expect only 16,600
applications.
"The only thing that I can put my fin-
ger on is that I think it could be the
effect of the binding early admission
programs," Lewis said.
"Last year Yale, Princeton and
Stanford offered binding early action
and early decision programs," she said.
"By definition if you get in (under these
programs), you have to go. We will
never even see your application."
Marsha Lynch, chair of the counsel-
ing department at Grosse Pointe South
High School, said the University's
application decline is probably not a
See ADMISSIONS, Page 3

Decision on Baker
JOHBG5Osyspurs legal debate

JOSH BIGGS/Dawy
Student Assembly meeting last November. Today marks the
k ' re

ly t
10
d,
Id
d
a-
at Bollinger
e
k, Bollinger has been
ence on the implica-

tions of the First Amendment in Israel.
He is scheduled to return to town today.
"It's wonderful to be back," Bollinger
said. "Every day, I run into people I've
known and haven't seen for a while. It's
a very special time for me."
Bollinger's presidency will mark the
end of a transition year that has seen
three different presidents in the second
floor office of the Fleming building.
The shuffle began with the resig-
nation of former President James
Duderstadt last June. For the past
seven months, Homer Neal has
served as interim University presi-
dent.

By Jeffrey Kosseff
Daily Staff Reporter
An appellate court's dismissal of the
groundbreaking Internet case involving
a former University student has elicited
mixed reactions from everyone from
First Amendment advocates to legal
experts.
On Tuesday, a panel of judges from
the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
upheld the dismissal of a case involv-
ing former University student Jake
Baker. Baker, who was charged with
interstate transmission of threats over
the Internet, was arrested two years ago
for posting a story on the Internet
involving the rape and torture of a
classmate.
The 2-1 decision has evoked emo-
tions in both supporters and opponents
of the court's decision.
"Ultimately, it means the U.S. Court
of Appeals recognizes that free speech
must be protected at all costs," said
Ilona Cohen; president of the
University chapter of the American

Civil Liberties Union.
But many people were not enthusias-
tic about the decision.
"I think the tragedy of this case is the
interests of the woman who was victim-
ized has been lost," said Susan McGee
of the Domestic
Violence Project of
Washtenaw County.
Others concur
that during the past
few decades, while
women's rights have
advanced, victims'
rights have not.
Gloria Allred, the
Baker attorney for the
family of Nicole
Brown Simpson, said domestic vio-
lence and stalking have not been top
priorities of law officials and police.
"A lot of the problem is district attor-
neys are not treating these as senous
crimes" Allred said. "With stalking,
often the cases don't get prosecuted
See BAKER, Page 7

AIDS week aims to boost awareness

By Brian Campbell
Daily Staff Reporter
The AIDS Memorial Quilt may be the most poignant
expression of the theme "Remembering Lives ... Educating
Minds," but it is only one of the events for AIDS Awareness
Week, which begins tomorrow.
"We hope to increase awareness about the epidemic of
AIDS and to support individuals living with the disease,"
said Polly Paulson, sexual health education coordinator at
University Health Service. "We hope to get the message to
the student population in terms of prevention and transmis-
sion of HIV/AIDS."
Paulson said she expects student turnout at the events to be
high.
"We have a lot of student organizations that have pulled
together to nlan all of the events." Paulson said. "We expect

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