Weather Tonight: Cloudy with chance of snow. Low 15°. Tomorrow: Snow likely. High in upper 20s. d loan 4 qoppapy One hundred six years ofeditorialfreedom, Wednesday January 8, 1997 "r'" ' _. ; . , , ,, I 'tYstudent mugged near local 4TM By Anupama Reddy Daily Staff Reporter A male, University student was mugged close to campus early Monday morning after withdrawing money from an ATM. LSA senior Bryan Freeman said he had withdrawn $20 from the NBD automatic teller machine near Cava SJg on South University Avenue when two men attacked and robbed him. He said he was assaulted at 1 a.m. on the corner of Church Street and South University Avenue. Freeman said he reported the inci- dent to the Ann Arbor Police Department and was taken to University Hospitals for the treatment of his cuts and bruises. "The worst thing that happened was I ad eight surgical staples on the back Uy neck," Freeman said. Hospital officials said Freeman came to the emergency room early Monday morning. According to The Ann Arbor News, AAPD reports state that witnesses saw a third man flee with the two assailants after the-attack, which occurred in the 1100 block of South University Avenue. greeman, 22, said the men took $20 tfn his wallet, which was retrieved outside the Taco Bell restaurant on East University Avenue. The incident began shortly after he withdrew money from the ATM, Freeman said. "I started across the street and walked towards Good Time Charley's," Freeman said. "I was going to Touchdown (Cafe), and then someone from behind me, * I didn't know, asked me what time it was," he said. Freeman said he glanced at his watch, told the men the time and turned See MUGGING, Page 7A State pols si1n new OMAlaw t Two bills allow largely closed searches, regent participation Minority faculty numbers climb By Janet Adamy D~aily Staff Reporter The University's faculty is more diverse than ever with minorities now making up 15.4 percent of the total instructional faculty, according to figures released yesterday. . Up from 15.1 percent last year, the 1.9-percent increase in minor- ity faculty members in 1996-97 is I part of a 31.3-percent increase during the past five years. cerned Interim President Homer Neal - said he finds the trend "to be quite noted.I encouraging.'-- "This is the result of the work of many individuals on campus and they are to be commended," Neal said. "Maintaining a diverse faculty, student body and staff must clearly continue to be one of the University's priorities." Vice Provost for Multicultural Affairs Lester Monts attributed only part of the increase to the Michigan Mandate -- a plan established in 1987 to link social diversity with academic excellence. Monts said most of the credit should go i tle cone that we're ~gbetter. " rof. Thomas Dunn SACUA chair "We're particularly co to deans and professors of schools and colleges rather than to the central adminis- tration. "These are the folks that sat around the table and reviewed the dossiers of applicants and I really think that they deserve a lot of praise," Monts said. Despite the increase, Monts said the University is still losing a number of minority faculty members. oncerned with the effort that retain those faculty," Monts said. Monts said the University needs to work towird adding more Native Americans and Latinosias to the faculty and even out the high concentration of minonty faculty members in the humanities and social sciences. Prof Thomas Dunn, chair of the Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs, said he's not "alto- gether delighted" with this year's increase, which repre- sents an addition ofjust 12 minority faculty members. "i'm a little concerned that we're not doing better," Dunn said. "If you look down the track about five years, population demographics predict that minorities will make up 50 percent of the population and we've got a long way to go before the faculty looks like that." Despite a 2.2-percent decrease in the number of black faculty members, Music Associate Dean Willis Patterson said his school has more black faculty members than any college or university in the country, excluding historically black colleges and universities. See FACULTY, Page 7A On the Rise The percentage of minority faculty at the 'U' has risen 3.1 percent since 1991. Lsl% 15.4% 10- -- the University puts forth to recruit minority faculty, but we need to put forth an equal amount of effort to 5 "96 Daily graphic I Court rules 'U' not bound to pay papers' By Jodi S. Cohen and Jeff Eldridge Daily Staff Reporters The University Board of Regents kicked off the semester yesterday by once again defending its actions in court - and this time securing a ruling in its favor. In an ongoing series of presidential search-related lawsuits between local newspapers and the Board of Regents, the newspapers yesterday asked for about $27,495 in attorney fees and court costs related to the court's November decision in their favor. But Circuit Court Judge Melinda Morris ruled that the newspapers were "untimely" in their request for attorney fees and should have filed the motion within the time allotted after her deci- sidn. "I'm going to deny it," Morris said in her ruling, adding that the plaintiff could have requested payment soon after Morris' ruling that barred the University from conducting parts of the presidential search in closed ses- sions. Lawrence Jordan, the newspapers' attorney from the law firm of Seelegson and Jordan, argued that attorney fees for Open Meetings Act cases should be given on "a mandatory basis." Jordan contended that under the state's Open Meetings Act, the plaintiff is entitled to payment for court costs and attorney fees if the court rules in its favor. - He was uncertain whether the news- papers would appeal the decision. In the wake of a series of court rul- ings against the University, General Counsel Elsa Cole said she is "very pleased" with the most recent decision. "It was an untimely motion," Cole said. "Under the court rules for pursu- Board seeks inquiry into papers' lawyers By Jodi S. Cohen Daily Staff Reporter After a lawsuit pushed the University's presidential search into further public view, the Board of Regents has requested an investigation into the lawyers who represented the news- papers' claims. The board voted 8-0 at its December meeting to ask the Michigan Attorney Grievance Commission to investigate the conduct of the law firm of Dykema Gossett, whose attorney, Jonathan Rowe, represented The Detroit News, the Detroit Free Press and The Ann Arbor News in the lawsuit. The board also is asking for an investigation into the conduct of attor- neys Bruce Wallace and Charles Borgsdorf and their law firm of Hooper, Hathaway, Price, Beuche & Wallace - who represented Dykema Gossett when the University moved to disqualify that firm after the first court hearing last October. Since the law firms of all three attorneys have represented the board Morris in past and ongoing legal matters, the regents contend that the firms violated the Michigan Rules of Professional Conduct when they took on a case against the University. Rowe, president of the Washtenaw County Bar Association, represented the newspapers in their October lawsuit that claimed the University's plans for the final stage of the search - which resulted in the selection of Lee Bollinger as the next University president - violated state laws that require searches be conducted in public. The regents claim Dykema Gossett acted unethically by taking on this lawsuit since the firm was representing the University in other matters. But Dick Soble, an attorney involved in Rowe's disqualifi- cation hearing before Circuit Court Judge Melinda Morris, said Rowe did not act unethically. "It's my view that Jon Rowe committed no ethical viola- tion in his representation of The Ann Arbor News," Soble said. "It's unfortunate that the University made a decision to accept the ruling of Judge Morris in requiring them to con- See ATTORNEYS, Page 2A Jennifer Harvey Daily Staff Reporter New legislation spurred by the University's legal battles now allows Michigan universities to conduct large- ly closed presidential searches with sig- nificant regent involvement. At the very end of Michigan's 88th Congress, state lawmakers passed two bills that relaxed previous restrictions search privacy. The legislation permits regents to be involved in the early phases of the search, exempts certain materials from being subject to the state's Freedom of Information Act, and requires a 30-day waiting period prior to a final presiden- tial selection. The bills were passed close on the heels of a lawsuit filed by The Ann Arbor News, Detroit Free Press and e Detroit News against the Wiversity, forcing the final stages of the recent presidential search to be pub- lie in compliance with the state's Open Meetings Act. "It's a compromise piece of legisla- tion, but it's a great step forward," said Walter Harrison, vice president for University relations. "At least now we have guidelines for the next presiden- tial search." Atate Sen. John Schwarz (R-Battle eek) sponsored both bills. "It's a big improvement over what recent court cases have mandated," Schwarz said. "Basically it says university presiden- tial searches are not subject to the Open Meetings Act until the final candidates ,Ae a WARREN ZINN/Daily Back to school LSA sophomore Zerrick Lake of Detroit moves back into South Quad yesterday. Many students returned to campus yesterday into their dorm rooms and apartments after the winter break ended. Classes resume today for most students. ing such a motion,t past." O'Connormo the time was long Gingrich re-elected as House speaker speaks to 1,300 'U' graduates By Meg Extey Daily Staff Reporter Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor predicted that the University graduates could "look forward to fame and fortune" in their futures. O'Connor was the keynote speaker at winter commencement, held Dec. 15 at Crisler Arena. Only about 1,300 of 2,000 graduates participated. Honorary degrees were awarded to O'Connor, filmmaker Robert Altman, lawyer John Pickering and astronomer Vera Rubin. "I thought that she was a very impressive speaker," said graduate f litii Tnrc a n -tira c;ipo ad The Washington Post WASHINGTON - An apologetic Rep. Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) was re- elected House speaker yesterday after a frantic lobbying campaign that con- vinced all but nine House Republicans that his ethical violations should not deprive him of another term. Gingrich won with three votes to spare in a dramatic, hour-long roll call as 216 of the 225 House Republicans voting supported him. House GOP leaders - including Gingrich himself - worked to the end to round up the votes needed to make him the first Republican re-elected speaker in 68 years. Four GOP lawmakers voted for other candidates and five voted "present." House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt (D-Mo.) won the votes of 204 Democrats and independent Rep. BernardS anders (Vt .) Followina tradi- Republicans who reluctantly supported him and his regret to the entire House for his past behavior as his mother, wife and daughters watched from the gallery. "For those who agonized and ended up voting for me, I thank you," Gingrich said in his 20-minute speech. "Some of this frankly,. I brought on myself.... To the degree I was too brash, too self- confident or too pushy I apolo- gize, To whatev- er degree and in Gingrich any way that I brought contro- versy or inappropriate attention to the House. I anolopize." Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor predicted a bright future for University graduates at Crisler Arena on Dec. 15. though starting at the bottom usually means lower pay, no perks and an unim- pressive title, it's a good place to devel- op skills and earn respect. Though she graduated third in her class from Stanford Law School, she ca ha r;irst;nh nffr mas a nmiti;nn ac alone, nations benefit when people cooperate and work together. "No other nation has the level of vol- unteer spirit that we have here in this country," she said. She urged graduates to pass this spir- it on to others - iawwll asnractice it I C