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One hundred seven years of editorrialfreedom
Thursday
November 6, 1997
Mil a
1111111 F!AIIIIIIIIII 111111111 m ill lam
I
Prop. 209
forces
Berkeley
& refocus
The Daily Californian
BERKELEY, Calif. (U-WIRE) -
With the U.S. Supreme Court's decision
to not examine Proposition 209, univer-
sity officials are now looking toward
solutions other than affirmative action to
maintain a diverse student body.
Both supporters and opponents of
*Position 209 cite outreach as the
most legal and promising mode of
retaining the enrollment of minority
students.
"Outreach is the foremost vehicle to
build an inclusive university," said
Antia Madrid, director of the Berkeley
Pledge Outreach Program. "A decade
of affirmative action might help, but it
does not help access. We still have seg-
regation in schools and poverty within
t state"
ome University of California at
Berkeley faculty members said that it is
unlikely affirmative action addresses
the problems plaguing minority enroll-
ment.
"(Outreach) focuses on the real prob-
lem," said Sandy Muir, a political sci-
ence professor at Berkeley. "How do
you fix inner-city schools and inner-
city problems? We need to make our
der-city schools universally good"
Muir applauded the Supreme Court
decision, saying that it was-a step in the
right direction for the United States, and
added that he did not expect the ban on
affirmative action to affect Berkeley.
"I don't think it will make a differ-
ence to the diversity of students," he
said. "I can't imagine the school with-
out diversity"
He also said that Proposition 209
es not stop the school from inereas-
outreach.
"Racial preference is not constitu-
tional in California, but affirmative
steps to bring students to campus have
not been unconstitutional," Muir said.
"That's what the Berkeley Pledge pro-
gram is all about."
"We've been operating as though the
law was in effect," Madrid said. "We've
been waiting for guidance in respect to
ruitment, but we haven't heard any-
yet."
The program, a $2.5 million project,
has now been in effect for a year and its
supporters say the results have been pos-
itive. It sends Berkeley students and
administrators into local public schools
to recruit and tutor local youth who
might not otherwise consider a school
like Berkeley a viable option.
"The major challenge is the equal
opportunity process so that all students
be in the pool and compete with
one another" Madrid said. "We should
have started this 30 years ago."
Blowing smoke
I
MSA asks
for course
evaluations
By Chris Metinko
and Susan T. Port
Daily Staff Reporters
The Michigan Student Assembly
took action yesterday to make public.
all the University departments' course
and instructor evaluations.
The assembly voted Tuesday to
request release of the evaluation data
under the Michigan Freedom of
Information Act.
"Students deserve access to course
evaluation data," said LSA Rep. Barry
Rosenberg, who submitted the FOIA
request for MSA yesterday. "These
evaluations promote quality teaching
and aid in CRISPing."
Rosenberg said the physics and math
departments did not publish any instruc-
tor and course evaluations for the Winter
'97 semester. The other departments'
evaluations are published on the MSA-
sponsored Advice magazine Website,
which publishes the responses that stu-
dents give on evaluations.
Mathematics Department Chair
Jeffrey Rauch said he was not aware of
the requests, but added that it is some-
times difficult even for other faculty
members to see the evaluations.
Rosenberg said that although the
scantron surveys are not perfect, their
purpose is to guide students in making
informed decisions while C RISPing.
In the published surveys, students
indicate their opinion about the overall
excellence of the course and instructor,
whether they learned from the course
and whether they had a strong desire to
take the class.
"These scantron evaluations are not
perfect, but their imperfections fail to
rationalize U of M's refusal to release_
data from certain departments,"
Rosenberg said.
The Michigan Supreme Court
recently ruled in two cases that certain
documents of public school employees
are not private and therefore are sub-
ject to FOIA. a law that requires releas-
ing documents from public bodies.
In Iirdhv u . Saranac CYmrnitni
School Hoard of Education, parents
requested personnel files of a teacher.
In Lansing Associatlion o/ Schiool
Administration v. Lansing School
Board of Education, a parent group
requested written performance evalua-
tions of nine principals.
The ruling affects employees at the
University because they also are
employees of a public institution.
Ann Arbor attorney Joan
Lowenstein, who specializes in com-
munications law, said that based on the
See FOIA, Page 2A
EMILY NATHAN/Daily
University student Brian Vivio eats a marshmallow dipped in liquid nitrogen on the Diag yesterday to celebrate
National Chemistry Week.
Cocaine abuse low on campuses nationwide
"Coke makes you use your senses
more. It s a verv sensual drug. This
makes your body feel good ... It makes
you think. It just makes you feel good...
It stimulates you.
- 33-year-old white female snorter,
quoted in the 1994 book "Cocaine
Changes: The Experience of Using and
Quitting."
By Alice Robinson
Daily Staff Reporter
Dr. Roger Weiss, clinical director of
a drug abuse treatment program in
Massachusetts, once interviewed a
man who sold his winter coat in the
middle of a "huge blizzard" for anoth-
er hit of cocaine.
"People have given up all kinds of
things for cocaine," Weiss said.
The "wonder drug" of the 1980s, as
termed by Sgt. Larry Jerue of the Ann
No. 2 In a three-part series
Cocaine: How popular is the stimulant?
Tomorrow
Heroin: is pop-culture's drug here?
Arbor Police Department, seems to
have lost much of its appeal.
Use of the drug among college stu-
dents has sharply declined since it last
peaked in 1985, when 17 ptrcent of col-
lege students surveyed for the Monitoring
the Future Study reported using cocaine
in the previous year. In the same survey in
1996, only about three percent of college
students reported trying cocaine during
the previous year.
Weiss said that cocaine use still
exists on college campuses, although it
is less common than before.
"It's got some prevalence. It's less
prevalent than it used to be, back in the
early '80s. There's still a good number
of people that use it," Weiss said.
Although cocai ne use has not
reachedl high levels at the University
in recent years, Department of
Public Safety records show an
increase in cocaine and crack related
arrests in the last three years -" from
one arrest in 1994 to six arrests so
far this year.
Four of the arrests made this year
were for possession of, cocaine. One
arrest was made for trafficking crack
and one arrest was made for possession
of crack, according to [BPS spokesper-
son Elizabeth Hall.
Powder cocaine, which is derived
from coca leaves, is first divided into
See COCAINE, Page 9A
Courtesy of the Ann Arbor Pole Departmen
About four ounces of powder cocaine, worth about $4,000-$6,400, was confiscat-
ed recently by the Livingston and Washtenaw Narcotics Enforcement Team.
Students
search for
'cheap fares
By Lee Palmer
Daily Staff Reporter
A roundtrip ticket to Paris for $99?
A $240 ticket to Mexico City? A $79
roundtrip ticket from Detroit to
Pittsburgh? Whether you are trying to
escape the Michigan winter, or a stu-
dent just trying to get home for the
holidays, how do you know if you are
getting the cheapest airline fare possi-
ble?
"The rule of getting a good deal is
to establish a good working relation-
ship with a travel agency you feel
comfortable dealingawith," said Liz
Meggison, manager of Council
Travel.
Council Travel is the only student
travel agency in Ann Arbor and the
largest and oldest student travel
agency in the world, Meggison said.
Because Council is part of the non-
profit Council on International
Educational Exchange, its primary
goal is to promote educational travel
and to find students the cheapest fare
available on any of the major airlines,
Date rape
n~ M n
druggrowsi
poplarity
By Alice Robinson
Daily Staff Reporter
Rohypnol, a tasteless, odorless drug that has been identi-
fied in connection with numerous sexual assaults on college
campuses nationwide, is on the rise at many universities,
warns the Department of Public Safety.
The illegal "date-rape drug" is often slipped into drinks
during parties or other social settings because it dissolves
quickly in liquid. The victim usually is not even aware that
the drug had been slipped into a drink. Rohypnol is similar
to Valium, but stronger than the tranquilizer.
DPS officials say that although no incidents of Rohypnol
abuse have been reported on campus, they believe the drug
could be present at the University..
DPS spokesperson Elizabeth Hall emphasized that inci-
dents involving Rohypnol on campus may be going unre-
ported. "DPS has not received any reports of the use of
Rohypnol, but we can only report what's reported to us," she
said.
LSA sophomore Aruna Ari, who is an on-call volunteer
at the domestic violence center SAFEHouse, said she
learned about the drug during one of the organization's
training sessions. "It's been around for a couple of years,"
she said.
Ari said she takes steps to decrease her risk of coming
:-t -.n ..:am xvith ..e dritz "I .inn't in It o r -i;ki no t
Warning tips
The Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center
advises students to take the following precautions:
* Try to go to a party or event with a friend; be
accountable to each other.
* Accept only closed-container drinks; recognize rohyp-
nol can be used in alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks.
* Stand with your hand over your beverage when not
drinking.
Never leave an opened drink with anyone, not even
with friends.
Monica's Rape Treatment Center to kick off a national edu-
cation campaign advising college students about the dangers
of Rohypnol and other date-rape drugs, warning them to
exercise more caution in social settings.
In her kick-off speech at the Medical Center in Santa
Monica, Reno described an "alarming increase" in the num-
ber of Rohypnol cases reported across the nation and
referred to crimes involving date-rape drugs as "especially
sinister."
Gregory King, director of special projects for the U.S.
Department of Justice, explained that Rohypnol may pro-
duce amnesia-like effects, making it impossible for victims
to remember what may have happened before and after
ingesting the drug.
"A woman can be raped using Rohypnol and wake up the
next morning and not remember what happened," King
said.
King also pointed out that Rohypnol evaporates from the
body quickly, making it difficult to trace.
LSA junior Stephanie Glover, who is a resident adviser in
West Quad, said she worries about the drug possibly affect-
ing the first-year students and sophomores that live on her
fourth-floor hall.
"As an RA, all of my residents are females," Glover said.
"They're all freshmen and sophomores ... they go out a lot
and I've thnohtihot it ha~nnmninto them"
Randy Butler (left) helps Mel Myers (right), an LSA senior, plan his trip to
Spain at Council Travel.
"Council is definitely the best place
to go to find cheap tickets home," Lin
said. "Two years ago they also helped
me find a roundtrip ticket from
Detroit to Milan for $360."
Laura Ramm, a graduate student at
Eastern Michigan University, said she
visits the Ann Arbor branch of
Council from Ypsilanti because the
travel agents are so helpful.
"I've had really great experiences
with Council," Ramm said.
Airline ticket info.
Council Travel Agency: 1220 S.
University, 998-0200, Website:
http://www.ciee.org/travel/
index.htm
Boersma Travel
Student Union: 663-7575
AESU Flights:
http:///www.aesu.com/flight.html
(800) 638-7640 for travel to
Europe only
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