ews: 76-DAILY dvertising: 764-0554 tits ti One hundred sixyears ofeditoradfreedom Tuesday September 16, 1997 . ... ;. ._ ' r /' .:R.. Tn ) ': w C ... d y ... a d ,d+'..vn Y' 'S ri 4 :... :. <.. r \. .N y r T;4v' 2.lG n':n. .k..,. .. 6'.&'S \.,, ;,... , .. ,,.,,;: .w, ., .. s... ' .. ., t r . x,.s.3. . , '. ' rn. i " ~~" :. :.... $ ,., tc ',e\ S h *; 'sa ," .,., n $ rar;.. m<< :,... : ;:r.:..: .: r Fk r¢ t 2 G. w,.. >....,. " ,., "> ..y 'f Y'., a:..,. .,w. $rv... a .k r s' ..: e b sw ..b* yy yy +t ...,. .:. I .. ~ 3... t ,. '. . .,:: ,r :;N: .:.... . ' a , ... 5. L. ..' M rx q "{ ir ,M t .. ..:: i lr ' r. '"'a Y . vr" £.. ,.. r .:.*. a 3' .. .. ~ .. .: ..., ,<...., , ,. . f a' o .. ,., u'a x.. 4. ro c,.,.c.\., Y l A r: ,. ~_,r n ,,,; c, )fi.,uaa ySF ~ ..>Y ir :e: , ¢: r ,.,, . 1' t f3yz .roy., 1:, ?r hv;: Y .rrS, rn^: ? !r. ,,. y"22 4 a> . '"j'R: . 6r ..tr, . .< + ,r , .. , '..alb'' .., n.., ?a,., . r d°a . n"A wr.... , ,5 .. ...., SACU Chris Metinko y Staff Reporter The Senate Advisory Committee niversity Affairs announced yesterday that * xplore the idea of placing both a Univers tudent and faculty member on the Board egents. At yesterday's meeting of the faculty's g< rning board, SACUA member Bunyan Bry *ntroduced the possibility of getting student a acuity members. "I've been thinking about this for a ko ime" said Bryant, an associate professor of n rl resources. "It's something that should oed into. Faculty and students can *n ved in building a community of shared g rnance." SACUA approved a motion in the meeti o hold a teleconference with officials at 1 niversity of California at next week's me FDA tills two diet drugs Popular fen-phen could cause heart damage for millions of patients ASHINGTON (AP) -Two of the nation's most popular diet drugs were pulled off the market yesterday after the government uncovered disturbing new evidence that they could seriously damage patients' hearts. The Food and Drug Administration urged millions of dieters to immediate- ly stop taking Redux, also known as dexfenfluramine, and Pondimin, also known as fenfluramine. Sndimin is one-half of the wildly p lar fen-phen diet combination; the other half, phentermine, appears safe when used by itself, the FDA said. But doctors said phentermine, the sole remaining prescription diet drug, has only mixed results - and they pre- dicted a surge of patients distraught both at the possibility their hearts were damaged and at losing their treatments. "We are anticipating lots of very des- p e patients that need help, said Dr. Jo Foreyt, an obesity expert at Baylor College of Medicine. "Obesity does kill," said Dr. Richard Atkinson of the American Obesity Association, who said many Redux and Pondimin users will regain their weight. The FDA asked Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories, which sells Redux here and whose parent company makes Pondimin, to withdraw the drugs See FDA, Page 7 E-mi a.ddcts fice long delays By Gerard Cohen-Vrignaud For the Daily Computer users all across campus recently have been faced with blank screens as they attempt to login to the University's e-mail server. t's been incredibly slow, said ool of Natural Resources first-year5 student Noah Levin. Just a few days ago, many students who logged into their Informational Technology Division accounts found B long delays in opening their e-mail D inboxes or folders. Sending and saving commands was es also delayed for some users. The prob- D lems led to some student discontent, to 4 the grumblings have been quieted by recent improvements in server per- ye formance. pa The slowdown in e-mail and other ot server services has arisen not out of w any specific system failures but rather from a whole slew of prob- 6t lems, said Cheryl Munn-Fremon, act- th in Aire-nor nf nneratios n Airpe.. i discusses additional regents ing. The University of California already has speaking members of the student body and faculty on their Board of Regents. SACUA members said they want to discuss the potential benefits and drawbacks of that sit- uation. "I think that is something we need to talk about," said Carol Loveland-Cherry, SACUA vice-chair. "I think it requires a lot of exploration. We're not clear what the ben- efits are." Both students and faculty members said they can definitely see the advantages of having rep- resentation on the board. "To have a student representative with a voice would be (great for) the student body, Rackham student Doug Noe said.' Matt Phillips, an Engineering junior, agreed with the idea but also offered a potential draw- back. "one of the real benefit is to establish a dialogue" - Carol Loveland-Cherry SACUA vice chair "Obviously, the benefit is that the students' view is from the student body's perspective," but, Phillips warned that, "if you get the wrong person, it could be a wasted spot.". Bryant said that "faculty and students could be an integral part of the discussion," and could offer additional insight. "It seems to me that student life and student culture is very different from faculty's lives and the administration's," Bryant said. "Same with the faculty. Faculty members have certain interests, and I think we have a perspective that I think could be very help- ful." Daniel Fisher, a professor of geological sciences, also said he believed there are ben- efits. "I think there's a possibilty it could provide an additional point of view," Fisher said. However, Fisher also said he hopes that the regents are already getting that point of view through different avenues to before making their decisions. Bryant said he believes the members could be an extremely valuable resource to the regents in making the University stronger. "We could come together, build a community that would enhance the power of the Board of Regents," Bryant said. Bryant also suggested that the Senate Assembly should open its committees to regents. SACUA Chair Louis D'Alecy, a professor of physiology, said that University President Lee Bollinger has the power to let people sit at the table during regents' meetings. However, a seat on the board does not give individuals the right to vote or participate in "gentle discussion;" D'Alecy said. Bryant said he supports the idea of at least having speaking members, if not voting mem- bers, on the board. SACUA has been trying to develop a better and more vocal relationship with the administra- tion, members said. "One of the real benefits is to establish a dia- logue," said Loveland-Cherry, a Nursing School associate professor. SACUA plans to discuss its ideas with Bollinger during next week's meeting. Bill proposed to eliminate affriative action hirin By Jeffrey Kosseff Daily Staff Reporter As the debate over affirmative action policies in Michigan continues, state Rep. Michelle McManus (R-Lake Leelanau) has proposed a bill that would revamp affirmative action policies in hiring, firing and promotions. House Bill 4457 would require that all changes in state hiring policies be approved by Michigan's Civil Rights Commission. "Under the bill, if a university or other state employer has a BOH DAN DAM IAN CAP/Daily LISA senior Amy Elforman leads a campaign during Festifall to hire University alumnus James Earl Jones to record the "CRISP lady" voice. The group hopes to collect 5,000 student signatures and then contact Jones and talk with the University administration. Stuents 'petition to hr Jams fEarlCllJon6es faor CRISP voluntary affirmative action poli- cy, it would need to be approved by the commission," said Jim Murray, McManus's legislative aide. "Some of the plans are so old that they do not meet current standards set by the courts." The bill is one of many being proposed by McManus that attempt to abolish affirmative action and minority preferences in Michigan. Most of her bills were referred to the Constitutional and Civil Rights committee, which is chaired by Rep. Ed Vaughn (D-Detroit). "She has introduced many bills that are anti-human family'"Vaughn said. "We will just have to see if ~ELI MO Affirmative action at the u OfM By Lee Palmer For the Daily "Luke, I am your father." "If this is not correct, please press I now." A petition already signed by more than 800 students is currently circulating on cam- pus requesting that University alumnus James Earl Jones become the official voice of the University's CRISP (Computer Registration Involving Student Participation) system. With two Tony Awards, two Emmys and an Oscar nomination for Best Actor, Jones is still probably best known to younger audi- ences as the powerful and haunting voice of Darth Vader. Now, instead of clearing up the mystery behind Luke Skywalker's family tree, if stu- dents organizing the petition get their way, Jones's distinct voice may inform students that Political Science I11 is closed. "Everyone who is enrolled at the University has to CRISP, and we thought, since we're such a big school, we shouldn't have an anonymous person's voice as our phone registration person, said LSA junior Jeremy Elman, who is one of 11 founding members of the James Earl Jones (JEJ) For CRISP Lady Task Force. After collecting the bulk of its signatures at Festifall and receiving approval from the Michigan Student Assembly, the group is optimistic about its mission. "If students really want it, and as long as JEJ is willing and the University is willing, I believe that it can really happen," said RC senior Shari Strauss, who said she got involved because the current voice of CRISP is "all right, but it's not James Earl Jones." If Jones were to record his voice for CRISP, it would not be the first time he has gone out of his way for his alma mater. In 1994, he returned to campus to present University ROTC awards and to be the first inductee of the ROTC Wolverine Battalion's newly established Hall of Fame. He has also come to speak and has held a book signing for his autobiography, "Voices and Silences." Jones also has recorded a Campus Day video for prospective first-year students, taught a one-time, two-hour master class for School of Music students, and worked as co- chair of the William and Clairbel Halstead Scholarship Endowment. See JONES, Page 7 those bills will be brought up for a hearing." It is the decision of the chair whether or not a bill receives a committee hearing. Vaughn said he is against the bills and thinks affirmative action programs need to be stronger in the state. If a bill is denied a hearing, the sponsor can bring the bill to a vote on the House floor. "I am a strong supporter of affirmative action," Vaughn said. "Affirmative action is too little, too late." Under the bill, affirmative action programs would have to be examined by the commission every five years. Rep. David Jaye (R-Macomb), a co-sponsor of the bill, said McManus's bill is a step in the right direction. "Her bill keeps out the affirmative action thieves for five years" Jaye said. "Putting a time limit on minority preferences is a good start." Jaye, who has long been an advocate of eliminating affir- mative action, previously proposed unsuccessful legislation in the state House that would completely terminate any affir- mative action initiatives. See MCMANUS, Page 5 MDS avoids royalties through self-serve copies ,y Ericka M. Smith aily Staff Reporter The hustle and bustle of the first weeks of class- got even busier this semester at Michigan ocument Service, as frustrated students lined up copy their own coursepacks. The longer hours of waiting are a result of a five- ar lawsuit against MDS by several publishing com- nies "because they were making a profit off of her people's work; said attorney Joan Lowenstein, ho specializes in communications law. A new interpretation -of the law by the federal h Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati allows e royalty-free copying of materials by individu- s nui ngthem for eduetional or research nur- copies their professors left with the store. So, students have to wait twice for their coursepacks this year: once to request the master copy, and again until their name is called to use a copier. Some larger coursepacks are copied by stu- dents from a computer operated machine instead of a manual copier. MDS owner Jim Smith said the company still provides some coursepacks at royalty rates but said he would rather keep the prices down. "They're wrong in what they're doing and it's harmful," Smith said. "We are not charging royal- ties (on materials copied by students). The royal- ties make it cost three times what it would:' The court ruling has not changed business for Is ed ,, , 1 i