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Wednesday
April 9, 1997

ourt upholds
roposition 209

Bollinger announces plan

to

move out of Fleming

e Washington Post
S ANGELES - A federal
ppeals court, siding with opponents
f affirmative action, yesterday
pheld California's voter-approved
an on preferences based on race and
ender.
In a strongly worded decision that
eflected the politically charged nature
>f the issue, a three-judge panel of the
4h Circuit Court of Appeals in San
trancisco said there is "no doubt" the
*ure is constitutional.
The judges unanimously ordered the
ifting of a lower-court injunction
locking enforcement of Proposition
!09. The initiative last November, mak-
ng California the first state to attempt
o roll back affirmative action, bars
>referential treatment and discrimina-
ion in public hiring, contracting and
ducation.
"A system which permits one judge
ock with the stroke of a pen what
,;6,180 state residents voted to enact
s law tests the integrity of our consti-
utional democracy," the court declared,
-eferring to a Dec. 23 ruling by U.S.
)istrict Judge Thelton Henderson that
he initiative was probably unconstitu-
:ional.
Yesterday's decision is scheduled to
ake effect in 21 days, but affirmative-
iction advocates said they will ask a
wr panel of the 9th Circuit to con-
in e the ban on enforcement while the
:ase is appealed.
President Clinton said during a
White House news conference that if
states are precluded from taking special
measures to help disadvantaged people,
I think that will be a mistake."
Clinton, who argued against
Proposition 209 and had the Justice
Department oppose it on appeal,
did: "I think we'll all have to regroup
1 ind new ways to achieve the same
objective."
The judges emphasized that the
equal-protection clause of the 14th
Amendment was intended to end gov-
ernment discrimination based on race.
They said it would be paradoxical if
California voters had violated the
clause by requiring all people to be
treated equally and barring any prefer-
e based on race or sex.
'fter all," the ruling said, "the goal
of the 14th Amendment, to which the
Nation continues to aspire, is a political
system in which race no longer mat-
ters."
The panel stressed that women and
racial minorities constitute a majority
of the California electorate and said
Proposition 209 was a neutrally applied
law.

'U' feelings
, . ,
mixed after
decision
By Chris Metinko
Daily Staff Reporter
Students and University officials
were left with mixed reactions yester-
day after a federal court upheld
Proposition 209, an initiative that
allows voters to outlaw affirmative
action based on gender, race, and eth-
nic background.
"I'm not surprised, but I'm disap-:
pointed," said Susan Rasmussen,
University associate director of affir-
mative action programs.
"California is going to be the poorer
for it," said Rasmussen, who believes
race still plays a strong role in society
today.
Jimmy Myers, University associate
director of affirmative action pro-
grams, said that as many as 18 other.
states have similar legislature pending.
Some University students said they
agreed with yesterday's decision.
"(Voters) should have the right to
decide ...," said LSA first-year student
Joseph Freidman. "It shouldn't just be
out of the public's hands."
LSA first-year student Jami Shaw
said she believes that admissions poli-
cies around the country should be based
more on academics than race or gender.
"I think it should be just on acade-
mics. If you work hard, you can come
here," Shaw said. "You shouldn't get a
free ride for just being a minority."
Other students said they feel that
diversity is an important component to
an institution, especially one like the
University. These students had mixed
emotions on whether race and gender
should be considered in admissions
decisions.
"I think it's good because a lot of stu-
dents come from private schools where
they are not around a lot of different
types of people," said LSA sophomore
Mike Yarger, who added that "our soci-
ety is a melting pot" and said
University students should get accus-
tomed to different people and cultures.
"I have mixed feelings on affirma-
tive action," said Freidman, who
claimed that he knows students who
have been rejected from universities
because of affirmative action policies.
"But it maskes the University more
diverse," he said.

By Heather Kamins
and Katie Wang
Daily Staff Reporters
University President Lee Bollinger
announced yesterday that he plans to
move the administration team out of the
Fleming Administration Building and
into the center of campus.
The move will symbolize Bollinger's
desire to bring the administration closer
to the student body and to redirect the
University away "from a kind of cen-
trifugal force pulling them away from
their central functions," a philosophy he
emphasized yesterday during his first
major public address since taking office
in February.
"There has been some good work
done on planning for the University
campus, but we need a new master plan
for achieving a true sense of unifica-
tion;' Bollinger said. "More than a
bridge to the 21st century, we need a
bridge to Palmer Field.
"Never has a building (such as
Fleming) been more ironically named.
No University administration, at least
not one that seeks engagement, should
reside in such a bunker-like, repelling
structure," Bollinger said. "Therefore, I
would like to announce that I will soon
be looking for another office."
Details of the move have not yet been
finalized, Bollinger said.
But the news pleased many who
attended the annual Maclnally Lecture in
the School of Business Administration's
Hale Auditorium, where Bollinger made
the announcement.
"I think the central administration
should be on the main campus to feel like
a part of the community, said Regent
Andrea Fischer-Newman (R-Ann Arbor).
"I think the administration should be on
campus with the students - that's why
we're here, because of the students."
Bollinger said he hopes to focus his
presidency on bringing to light ques-
tions of intellectual character and direc-

tion in the University.
"I am committed to finding resources
available through reducing administra-
tive growth to redirect into the academic
core of the institution;' Bollinger said.
This includes, Bollinger said, aug-
menting the salary program, pursuing a
fundraising project directed at building
a University-wide fund for intellectual
enhancement, and changing a compo-
nent of the Value Centered
Management budget system.
The change in VCM would retreat to
the tuition-follows-enrollment system.
The University currently uses a policy
where the revenues are allocated to the
school in which the student is taking
classes.
"The point is everyone was comfort-
able with the tuition-follows-enroll-
ment system and this new system got
everyone wrangled," Bollinger said.
"Bureaucratization is one of the most
insidious evils for a university and ratio-
nalizing instead of trusting is the fastest
route to the bureaucratic mind," he said.
If Bollinger's plans to move out of
Fleming materialize, it would mark the
third time this century that the adminis-
tration has moved. Originally, from 1924-
1949, administrators were stationed in a
wing in Angell Hall before moving
across the street to the LSA building.
Administrators remained in the LSA
building from 1949-1966 until the Sally
and Robben Fleming Administration
Building was built. The administration
has resided at the fortress-like structure
since 1966.
"Designed for the express purpose of
creating a fortification against attack, its
Mondrian-esque skin masks a psycholo-
gy of fear and withdrawal," Bollinger
said.
University Planner Frederick Mayer
said contrary to the myth that the build-
ing was constructed to shield administra-
tors from student protesters, the architect
See FLEMING, Page 3

JOSH BIGGS/Daily
University President Lee Bollinger addresses members of the University community
yesterday at Hale Auditorium - his first major public address since taking office.


_ - -

NMU tests
new OMA
neasures
By Jeffrey Kosseff
Daily Staff Reporter
In the first test of the new state laws that apply to
Michigan universities' presidential searches,
Northern Michigan University officials met pri-
vately with candidates last night to begin the final
stage of their search - a process that may end up
in court.
The revised Open Meetings Act, which the
etc Legislature passed in December after the
University's controversial presidential search, has
not yet been applied to a search.
At NMU, there will be both public and private
portions of the final stage of the search, in which
the Board of Trustees will work to choose a pres-
ident from a narrowed-down list of five finalists.
The private sessions will include the trustees
reviewing application materials and interviewing
the candidates.
"It's totally legal," said Michael Clark, commu-
cations director for NMU. "A public body can
meet in closed sessions."
Clark said NMU's legal counsel advised the
board that under current OMA provisions, por-
tions of the search may be conducted in private.
But he said there will be many parts that will be
opened to the public.
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3 killed in West Bank rioting

HEBRON, West Bank (AP) - Jewish sem-
inary students shot and killed a Palestinian yes-
terday, sparking fierce riots in which Israeli
troops killed two Palestinians and injured
dozens. It was the West Bank's worst violence
in months.
The rioting in Hebron raged for more than
five hours, with hundreds of protesters hurling
stones and firebombs at the Israelis, who fired
back tear gas and rubber bullets.
In Jerusalem, Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu appealed for an end to the rioting
and warned that one more major terrorist
attack could scuttle the peace process.
Palestinian police tried to prevent the
protests from spilling over from the
Palestinian-controlled part of the city into the
enclave still held by Israel, where the shooting
occurred - only to be pelted with stones by
their own people.
The violence in Hebron - where 500
Jewish settlers live in uneasy coexistence with
130,000 Palestinians - came amid Arab dis-
may over the apparent failure of Monday's
Washington summit between President Clinton
and Netanyahu.
The prime minister, however, insisted that
"interesting ideas" on how to restart talks had
come out of the summit. Further progress, he
said, depended on the absence of further vio-
lence.
The escalation in the month-long crisis
deepened fears that prospects for peace are
dvine.

violates the OMA," said Herschel Fink, an attorney
for the Detroit Free Press, which along with The
Ann Arbor News and The Detroit News brought
suit against the University during last year's presi-
dential search that resulted in the selection of Lee
Bollinger. The newspapers claimed that planned
closed meetings between candidates and regents
violated the former OMA law - and a court order
forced the meetings to be open.
Fink said the Free Press is considering bringing
a suit against NMU.
"It's absolutely possible," Fink said. "I sent a let-
ter to NMU's attorney informing them it is illegal."
Fink contended that the clause allowing the
trustees to meet in closed sessions to review
applications does not apply to the Board of
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AP PHOTO
A group of Israeli soldiers in riot gear take cover behind a pillar in Hebron yesterday as a molotov
cocktail smashes into it.

Although yesterday's fighting was the
bloodiest, Palestinians and Israeli soldiers have
battled in the streets of the West Bank almost
daily since Israel broke ground March 18 for
the Har Homa housing proect in east

Aviv last month that killed three Israeli
women.
Clinton urged both sides to prevent the vio-
lence from stopping progress toward peace.
"We've just got to keep going;" he said yester-


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