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One hundred sy years ofeditorialfeedom
Wednesday
April 16, 1997
ore praises Detroit's empowerment zone
0 Gore lauds economic
revitalization of cities,
return to community
By Jeffrey Kosseff
Daily Staff Reporter
DETROIT - Vice President Al Gore
mixed humor with praise for Detroit's eco-
nomic progress yesterday when he spoke at
the White House Community Empowerment
Conference.
"Communities are rising again from the
ashes," Gore said at the first annual confer-
ence, citing Detroit as an example. "We need
to trumpet the successes of local heroes."
The local heroes to whom Gore referred
include entrepreneurs, companies and banks
that have helped revitalize 15 empowerment
zones nationwide by creating business dis-
tricts in rural and urban areas struck with
poverty.
The empowerment zone in Detroit was the
site of a former Cadillac factory. When the
factory closed, many people lost jobs and the
neighborhood deteriorated - until the feder-
al government declared it an empowerment
zone.
Through block grants, tax incentives and
priority consideration in federal programs,
the federal government encouraged small
and large businesses to move into the area.
"The greatest untapped markets anywhere in
the world are right here at home," Gore said.
Gore also announced a new initiative of the
Clinton administration yesterday - empower-
ment contracting.
"This will provide special preference to
buildings in empowerment zones when it
comes to government contracts," Gore said.
Gore noted some problems that empower-
ment zones must overcome, including racial
and ethnic boundaries that prevent maximum
expansion possibilities.
"It's like trying to run a marathon with a
100-pound weight on your back," Gore said.
Gore also said the government should lend
support to financially stable suburban areas to
ensure they continue to prosper.
"Now one of the challenges we face is to
reconnect the different parts of our problems
and our solutions," Gore said. "Maybe it's time
to focus more on the areas that already have
infrastructure."
Moving away from the serious topic of
economic problems in Detroit, Gore also
joked about the prospects of a Gore adminis-
tration, given President Clinton's recent knee
injuries.
"I'm only one kneecap away from the presi-
dency," he said.
Gore said Detroit should serve as a model
for the nation and Detroit Mayor Dennis
Archer should be seen as a great leader in the
empowerment zone project.
"Hope has always powered Detroit,' Gore
said. "I think Mayor Dennis Archer is the Tiger
Woods of empowerment zones."
Archer said Detroit's progress is evident in
comparing it to the city of 10 years ago.
"It is not the city you see today" Archer
said at the conference. "Everybody rolled up
their sleeves and wanted to make a differ-
ence. We've really had a rejuvenation of our
city:'
Secretary of Agriculture Dab Glickman, a
University alumnus, said that while empow-
erment zones are important in urban areas,
rural towns also benefit from them.
"Rural America faces the challenge of
remoteness," Glickman said. "Geography
shouldn't be a hindrance to development. I
am proud of the changes underway in our
rural empowerment zones."
Also present at the conference was Secretary
of Housing and Urban Development Andrew
Cuomo, who said he is proud of the people
behind empowerment zones.
"You have done a phenomenal job," Cuomo
said to the audience of empowerment zone
business owners. "This system, America, does
work"
See GORE, Page 2
MARGARET MYERS/Daily
President Al Gore speaks In Detroit yesterday at the White House Community Empowerment
onference. Gore cited Detroit as an example of an improved city.
Dormer
A Taxing Task
Former
'U'
)rovOst to
erve as
Rice dean,
Heather Kamins
aiyStaff Reporter
After 18 years of service at the
University, former University Provost
GilbertaWhitaker is returning to his
a mater.
Whitaker, who earned his bachelor's
degree in economics at Rice University
in 1953, has accepted the dean position
at the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School
of Administration at Rice. Whitaker is-
set to take office July 1.
Rice Provost David Auston said he is
"extremely excited" about Whitaker's
arrival.
"I think it's just
terrific "Auston
said. "It's unfortu-
nate for the
University of
Michigan, but it's
very fortunate for
us. It's great that
he's a graduate of
Rice. In some way
it's like he's coming
Whitaker home:'
usiness Dean Joseph White said
h s sorry to see Whitaker leave the
University, but believes Whitaker is
an excellent candidate for the -Rice
position.
"I think Gil is a great choice to be
dean at Rice' White said. "It's his
alma mater. Gil brings an enormous
amount of experience to his position
at Rice. Rice is very fortunate to
attract him."
Ouring the past year, Rice appointed
a task force to develop a vision and cre-
ate a plan of action for the future of the
Jones School.
The steering committee, headed by
Auston, produced a list of ways to
improve the school in anticipation of
hiring a new dean, Auston said.
The list includes becoming nation-
ally accredited, developing an execu-
tive MBA program, building new part-
hips with the surrounding
ston business area and strengthen-
ing and increasing the faculty and stu-
dent body. It will be Whitaker's
responsibility to make these goals a
reality,,Auston said.
"He's an outstanding administrator,"
Auston said. "He's a scholar. He's had
extensive experience. We are certainly
aware of the outstanding work he did
at the University of Michigan.".
0 fier spending more than 11 years
dean of the University's School of
Business Administration, Whitaker
served as University provost from
September 1990 to August 1995.
Chemistry Prof. Thomas Dunn, out-
going chair of the Senate Advisory
['n +mi I I;nt ivreit trAf girs vsidcI
attorney to
join NCAA
By Katie Wang
Daily Staff Reporter
The University's former top attorney
has found a new client to represent.
Elsa Cole, former general counsel for
the University, has been selected to fill
the position of gen-
eral counsel for the
National Collegiate
A t h l e t i c
Association. Cole
said she announced;
her resignation two
months ago so that w
President Lee
Bollinger could -
select his own'
administrative team. Cole
Elizabeth Barry and Daniel
Sharphorn have shared the position of
interim general counsel since March.
"Elsa Cole comes to the NCAA with
great experience in university adminis-
tration and an excellent understanding of
the issues the Association has to con-
front," NCAA Executive Director Cedric
Dempsey said in a written statement.
Cole, who is on vacation this week,
was unavailable for comment.
Vice President for University
Relations Walter Harrison said he was
delighted to hear that she was selected.
"It's an absolutely perfect choice;"
Harrison said. "1 have worked with Elsa
on a lot of matters and have always
found her to be insightful, sensitive and
forceful in developing positions for the
University to take."
The announcement of Cole's new
position is laced with irony in light of
the' Michigan basketball team's recent
run-ins with the NCAA. Last month,
the Athletic Department admitted to
See COLE, Page 2
AP PHOTO
Karen Barnes, a processor at California s Fresno Service Center of the Internal Revenue Service, stamps the time and date
on incoming tax forms yesterday, the last day to file tax forms this year.
Work-study aid
may be tax-free
DIAG GETS BOWLED OVER
By Jeffrey Kosseff
Daily Staff Reporter
If a proposal by U.S. Rep Joe
Knollenberg becomes law, about 3,500
University students' paychecks will be
a little larger.
The bill, which was proposed last
week, would make work-study earnings
free from federal income tax.
"Tuition costs are rising faster than
most incomes," said Knollenberg (R-
Bloomfield Hills). "This is a way to
ease that burden."
As President Clinton continues to
promote plans to expand the Hope
Scholarship and Pell Grant programs
to help lower-income students,
Knollenberg said work-study pro-
grams also aid middle-income stu-
dents who need assistance in paying
for college.
"We hear a great deal about the vari-
ous scholarship programs"
Knollenberg said. "But you don't hear
about those folks caught in the cracks.
This is creating a level playing field
between scholarship students, grant stu-
dents and work-study students."
Knollenberg said that although
some may say his proposal will cause
the government to lose money, the
onvernment will benefit from it in the
Knoll enberg 2s8s)
said.
Knollenberg entsi n
said he hopes Ofck'tud
there will be
bipartisan support trdnts in
for the proposal. tr-study -
"It should have
support from both
Republicans and Democrats,"
Knollenberg said.
Vicki Crupper, interim assistant
director of the University's Office of
Financial Aid, said that while the pro-
posal is intended to benefit students, it
does not have a large effect on most of
them.
"Most students who work work-study
do not earn enough for which they are
required to pay tax," Crupper said.
Under current laws, people who
are claimed as dependents may
deduct up to $4,000 from their tax-
able income.
But some work-study students said
the extra money every week would be a
pleasant surprise.
"I really think it would help me out,"
said LSA sophomore Michael
Anderson, who participates in a work-
study program in the Media Union.
Engineering junior Jason Beck, who
Bowls
piling u
in protest
By Marisse KiniShaplro
For the Daily
Empty bowls are piling up on cam-
pus and throughout Michigan in protest
of Gov. John Engler's denial to request
a waiver of the work requirement for
federal food stamps.
Ann Arbor's chapter of the Bertha
Capen Reynolds Society launched a
statewide drive to collect thousands of
empty bowls, which they plan to pre-
sent to Engler at a rally in Lansing on
May 28. The local campaign began on
the Diag on Monday and will continue
until 2 p.m. today.
Social Work graduate student Kevin
Lindamood, a BCRS event organizer,
said he believes that collecting empty
bowls will send a powerful visual mes-
sage to the governor.
"We were concerned about the lack
of coverage around the issue (of wel-
fare reform) and we were looking for a
symbol that would represent the 50,000
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