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One hundred sax years of editorialgfreedom
Monday
February 3, 1997
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Clinton budget
proposes raise
for education
* Increase would boost Pell Grants by
25 percent; proposal calls for lower
student loan Interest rates
By Jeffrey Kossoff
Daily Staff Reporter
In efforts to guarantee higher education for every quali-
fied student, President Clinton recently announced amend-
ments to his proposed budget that facilitate education for
low-income families.
On a news conference last week, Clinton said these pro-
posals will "achieve our goal of making two years of college
education as universal as a high school diploma is today."
Clinton's budget would increase funding for Pell Grants by
25 percent, decrease the interest rate for student loans, add
300,000 work-study positions nationwide in a three-year
period, provide a HOPE Scholarship for the first two years of
college and allow a $1,500 college tuition tax credit.
Some University students who receive financial aid say
they support Clinton's proposals.
"I think this is wonderful news," said Michigan Student
Asembly President Fiona Rose, who met with Clinton and
Secretary of Education Richard Riley
last month to discuss student loan
default rates. "The cost of a college
education exceeds the reach of an aver-
age college student."
But some said Clinton's agenda for
reforming the higher education system
is neither financially responsible nor
fair.
"I agree that everyone should get as
much education as possible," said state
linton Rep. Jessie Dalman (R-Holland), who
chaired the House higher education
committee last term. "But my worry is that by opening the
floodgates to everyone under Clinton's proposal, college will
become more expensive. It would also eliminate any checks
and balances we have between the government and the col-
leges."
Dalman said that giving aid to all students might inflate
tuition rates, thus putting education further out of reach.
"Our biggest problem with access is the cost of college,"
alman said. "We have to look at the issue of fairness."
Many local U.S. members of Congress have endorsed
Clinton's proposal.
"In terms of providing financialvaid, it's a step in the right
direction," said U.S. Rep. Lynn Rivers (D-Ann Arbor).
Debbie Stabenow (D-Lansing) said the financial aid pack-
age will be effective because it assists both working-class
and middle-class students. She also said the Pell grants fit
the need of students who don't even have enough money to
benefit from tax cuts.
"I think the tax cuts make it available to middle-income
dents' Stabenow said. "For so many students, they don't
ye the available money to put down for school. That is
where Pell Grants and loans come in:'
Some education experts in Michigan saythey are enthusi-
astic about the higher education package.
"It targets all of the people who need the financial help,"
said Kathleen Straus, a member of the State Board of
Education. "It will benefit all of society in the longrundf
Some University officials are glad to see the tax credits
and the Pell Grant proposal.
"That is certainly a welcome proposal," said Tom Butts,
associate vice president for government relations. "It will
pefully have some effect on students' need to borrow so
-uch"
Rep. John Dingell (D-Dearborn) also said the college
credits are an investment in the future.
"Good education is a vital tool necessary for our youth
to be more competitive in the workforce," Dingell said in
a written statement. "I support President Clinton's propos-
al and will work with the administration so our children
have the opportunity for a better educational future."
But Dalman said the funding should be concentrated
on helping students earlier on in their educational
*reers.
"We need to do a better job on the K-12 system,' Dalman
-
1
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By Heather Kamins
and Katie Wang
Daily Staff Reporter
Two years ago, Lee Bollinger took the road that led him away
from Ann Arbor, but today as he begins his first day as University
president, he finds that the road once traveled has brought him
back again.
As Bollinger sits in the University's driver's seat, he finds him-
self steering one of the nation's largest research institutions, a
campus that has undergone a billion-dollar face lift and a student
body that is more diverse than ever.
"I feel a tremendous affection for this institution," he said in
his selection interview with the Board of Regents last October.
"It's one of the greatest of universities and colleges in the coun-
try, in the world, and there is just no question about it."
Bollinger was selected by the regents from a pool of four
applicants after a yearlong search process.
The blond-haired president, a learned scholar of the First
Amendment and an avid reader whose passions run deep for edu-
cation, said it is "wonderful" Ito be back.
"Everyday I run into peo-
ple I've known, but have not
seen for awhile," Bollinger I feel a
said. "It is a very special time
for me. There is so much to
learn.
"I have a lot of work to
do,"he said yesterday. "But it
is immensely exciting:'
Bollinger served as dean *
of the Law School for seven -Lee Bollinger
years before leaving to University President
become the provost of
Dartmouth College in 1994.
In addition to reuniting with old friends, Bollinger will now be
closer to his son, Lee, who is studying in the Law School. His
daughter Carey is an undergraduate at Harvard, and his wife
Jean, an artist, is. scheduled to move into the president's house
this month.
Before joining the University in 1973 as an assistant professor,
Bollinger was a clerk for Warren Berger, former chief justice of
the United States Supreme Court.
"It's going to be a great era," said Regent Rebecca McGowan
(D-Ann Arbor). "I'm excited, and he's ready to roll:'
See BOLLINGER, Page 5A
MARGARET MYERS/Daily
Bollinger Blo
Born: April 30, 1946 Academic Appointments: Dartmouth College provost,
Wife: Jean Magnano Bollinger July 1994-96
Children: Lee, 24, University Law School University Law School dean, 1987-1994
Carey, 20, Harvard University University Law School professor, 1976-94
Education: Columbia Law School, J.D. 1971 Clerkship: Chief Justice Warren Berger, United
University of Oregon, B.S. 1968 States Supreme Court, 1072-73
Novelist kicks off
heritage month events
By Susan T. Port
For the Daily
Novelist Beverly Jenkins says that lost
chapters of America's black history need to be
written into the history books.
Jenkins told this to students and Ann Arbor
residents at a speech Saturday that kicked off
African American Heritage Month. Jenkins, a
romance novelist, incorporates events and
themes of black history into her work.
"I thought if I could combine romance and
black history and do it in a special way, I
could teach history without you knowing it,"
Jenkins said.
Born and raised in Detroit, Jenkins worked
as a librarian before becoming a novelist.
"There are so many stories to tell,' she said.
Jenkins said there is a natural appeal in
romantic themes, and that black people often
don't see themselves as romantic subjects in
mainstream culture.
"I have always liked romance, mainly
because black folks do not get enough of it,"
Jenkins said. "Look at TV and movies and
you see very little romance."
Jenkins said historians often leave out
important parts of the black experience in
America. She said one of her goals as a nov-
elist is to fill in these gaps.
"According to American history, we as a
race, we came here as slaves, civil war saved
us, then we disappeared for a hundred years,"
African American
Heritage Month:
0 "Rise Up and Build," the 25th
Anniversary Celebration of the William
Monroe Trotter House, Friday, 7 p.m.
* "It Begins from Within," black women's
forum, Michigan Union, Kuenzel Room.
Feb. 9, 7 p.m.
"Challenges for the 21st Century - A
Review of the National Conversation on
Race and Gender Equality," Rackham
Auditorium, Feb. 11, at 7 p.m.
Jenkins said.
She said her love of 19th Century black his-
tory motivated her to bring it to life in her
novels. Jenkins compared American history to
the structure of a quilt.
"There is a segment of the quilt lost,
Jenkins said. "The pieces are slowly being
.woven into the fabric."
While she gave her lecture on the lost his-
See HERITAGE, Page SA
U' racism
suit nears.
end today
By Ericka M. Smith
Daily Staff Reporter
Both sides rested their cases Friday
in the civil trial charging that the
University and a Dental School super-
visor discriminated against three black
employees in a 1995 firing.
Former Dental School employees
Theresa Atkins, Delano Isabelle and
Dawn Mitchelle allege that racial
motives were behind their firing. The
University contends that: they were
dismissed for forging time cards.
Linda Vachon DeMarco, a Dental
School supervisor who oversaw the
dismissal of Atkins, Isabelle and
Mitchelle, took the stand in her own
defense Friday afternoon in District
Court Judge Donald Shglton's
Washtenaw County courtroom.
DeMarco said she didn't have racial
motivations for firing the employees.
"I needed them to get the work
done," DeMarco said.
During cross examination plaintiff
attorney George Washington claimed
DeMarco knew that former employee
Katherine Cardew was known to make
false accusations. Cardew reported the
time-card fraud to DeMarco in 1995.
He asked DeMarco how she could
believe the allegations of Cardew
when "you knew that you had an
employee who was a liar and had a
grudge against (the plaintiffs) and that
she was a bigot."
In other testimony, Custodial
Supervisor Clifford Sanders refuted
statements Isabelle made last Monday
accusing Sanders of being "prepped"
able Michgan n du
AIDS minority forum
starts awareness week
Make 'em laugh
106 Years of Tradition
By Ronny Wasser
For the Daily
The experience of being a minority
with AIDS was the topic of discussion
at a sparsely attended forum that
ness."
Anderson, a community activist
and vice chair of the state's
HlV/AIDS Care Council, is con-
cerned with the lack of "dialogue"
served to open AIDS
Awareness week yesterday.
While only three people
attended the Trotter House
event, titled "Experiences
of Colored People with
HIV/AIDS," panelists
John Barnes and Derrick
Anderson said they want-
areness
Fehr ary 1-8 Week
among the minority com-
munities.
"The epidemic is so dis-
proportional amongst the
community of color"
Anderson said. "Our com-
munity has not made a col-
lective noise ... We need to
come out of the closet
ed to educate other people on how
the disease affects minority commu-
nities.
"Harest hit are black and I atino
about AIDS."
Barnes, who is black, told personal
stories about his battle with AIDS and
the lack ofdialogue with other African
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