t I a tti ws: 76-DAILY vertlslng: 764-0554 One hundred seven years of editoridfreedom Wednesday November 19, 1997 Ih e Showdown U' to limit housing options I ff .-OF 3DAYS o Michigan vs. No. 4 Ohio State Saturday, noon (ABC) side: Ohio State's head coach says his m is ready for the match-up. Page 10 Ca r kalist for coach of te year Alan Goldenbach ily Sports Editor ki~igan head football coach Lloyd a as one of six finalists for the Paul ear" Bryant Coach of the Year Award. An official announcement of all final- ts will come today from the presenters the award, the National Sportscasters d Sportswriters Association, at a press nference in Houston. The award, named after the leg- dary coach at Alabama, Texas A&M, entucky and Maryland, will be pre- r.. Dec. 11. Bryant was the second- inningest coach in NCAA Division 1 story. This marks the first time in his coaching career that Carr has been named a finalist for the honor. The other five finalists are Mack Brown of North Carolina, Jim Donnan of Georgia, arr Tom Osborne of ebraska, Joe Paterno of Penn State and >eTiller of Purdue. All six men have led ams that are among the nation's top 25, id Brown, Carr, Osborne and Paterno's ansare in the top 10. Paterno is the only finalist who is a revious winner of the award, capturing eknor in 1978, 1982 and 1986. l arr wins, he will follow Bo chembechler as Michigan recipients F the award. Schembechler won it in 969, his first year as coach of the lolverines, when he led Michigan to a [ctory over Ohio State and a trip to the ose Bowl for the first time in five ars - the same scenario that Carr pes plays out this weekend, when the olverines host the Buckeyes. A lichigan victory would give the V~rines their first undefeated, ntied regular season since 1971. Arizona State's Bruce Snyder won te award last year after leading the un Devils to a surprise trip to the Rose owl as Pac-10 champions. By Janet Adamy Daily Staff Reporter University Housing will deny upperclassmen the option to live in traditional residence halls in an effort to alleviate a housing crunch ihat jammed nearly 1,000 first-year students into lounges and converted triples in September. Beginning this year, juniors and seniors who wish to remain in the residence halls will have four hous- ing options: Baits, Cambridge, Fletcher and Oxford Housing, none of which provide meal services. The new system will give priority to incoming first-year students, who will be guaranteed spaces in one of the campus' "traditional residence halls" - those that typically house undergraduates and have cafeterias. "The rationale is that these are the newest mem- bers of the community, the youngest without the most experience ... and that an on-campus hous- ing experience, at least for the first year, is a criti- cal part of the college experience," said Alan Levy, director of public affairs and information for University Housing. Levy said the change is necessary in order to accommodate the increasingly large incoming Mlasses of the past seven years. The size of the first-year class has jumped from 4,755 in 1990 to 5,534 in 1997 - an increase of nearly 20 percent. "That has never been a planned increase," Levy said. "We have done everything we can do short of adding a new building ... but the growth of the freshman class has outpaced our ability to add new spaces to the system." This year, Housing accommodated the increase by putting 900 students in converted triples and 34 students in residence hall lounges that were tem- porarily converted to rooms. Under the new system, students wishing to return to residence halls as sophomores will be forced to enter a lottery rather than having the option of reclaiming their same room. Levy said housing will make exceptions for resident advi- sors, Residence Hall Association officers, some scholarship students and select residence hall stu- dent employees. Levy said housing will also give priority to students wishing to participate in living- learning programs. Maureen Hartford, vice president for student affairs, said the new system returns to a similar sophomore lottery that existed during the 1980s. "In terms of finding places to live, it's the See HOUSING, Page 2 Reunited in Detroit A2 native Ken Burns to speak at graduation AP PHOTO Chinese dissident Weil Jingsheng visits with his nephew Sabastian and sister Wei Shanshan yesterday at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. For recent developments on his condition, see story on page 3. A cMcademi ersiyexamined By Heather Kamins Daily Staff Reporter Winter commencement will bring distinguished historian and filmmaker Ken Burns back to Ann Arbor. Burns, who was raised in the city and attended Ann Arbor Pioneer High School, has been highly praised for his true-to-life storytelling in his docu- mentary series "The Civil War," "Lewis and Clark" and "Baseball." He will be the keynote speaker at the graduation and will receive an honorary degree. Former president and CEO of the U.S. Committee for UNICEF Gwendolyn Clavert Baker and chemist Richard Smalley will also be awarded honorary degrees. University President Lee Bollinger said it is a great pleasure and honor to welcome Burns. "He is really an extraordinary film- maker and performs this extremely important role of mediating between high scholarship and public under- standing of the field," Bollinger said. Through his films, Burns has attempted to interpret historical moments and present them to the pub- lic. History Prof. Maris Vinovskis, who served on the honorary degree advising committee, said Burns will be able to share this with the gradu- ates. "The academic class graduating in December is very privileged," he said. "He can instruct them on how to use the best of the academic knowledge they learned in college and how to make that accessible to the public." Former History Prof. Thomas Collier, a Civil War scholar, said Burns' depiction of the war in his doc- umentary was "beautifully" done. "It brought out the feeling of the Civil War," he said. "They were very different people than us. I think that is the strongest part of his show. By using letters and real music from the time, he made you feel like you were back there." Collier said that Burns' combination of artistic skill and deep sense of his- tory makes him an excellent candidate to speak to the 1997 winter graduating class. Bollinger personally chose Burns as the speaker from a list of committee- recommended candidates. For the spring 1997 commencement ceremony, choosing a speaker wasn't as easy. The University had difficulty finding a keynote speaker so Bollinger was then named in accordance with University tradition to invite new pres- idents to address the graduating class. Bollinger said he is relieved not to be the keynote speaker in December. Engineering senior Pike Sowle, who will graduate in December, said that he has heard of Burns, but only remembered him after his roommate mentioned the baseball documentary. "I'm a little bewildered as to what the relevance of a baseball documen- tary maker is to me, Sowle said. "One of the things you look forward to is hearing from someone you really admire or look up to. If you don't get that, then oh well." Sowle said some of the past speak- ers have impressed him, while others, like Bollinger, would have been a dis- appointment at his own commence- ment. See GRADUATION, Page 7 By Katie Plona Daily Staff Reporter During the second forum of a four- day symposium zeroing in on affirma- tive action, about 175 members of the University community gathered last night to discuss and question the social policy's signifi- cance in academia. Four speakers- addressed the audience, bringing to light both individual and shared views regarding affir- mative action and relat- ed topics. Philosophy Prof. Peter Railton said the strongest argument for affirmative action is that it assists higher education institutions in efforts to recruit students from different locations - but not nec- essarily geographic ones. "To find these pools of talent, we need to have some way to look beyond simple num- bers," Railton said. Railton prefaced this viewpoint by noting vari- ous talents, including those possessed by rural students and inner-city students, that may be over- looked if students are admitted to universities based solely on grades and test scores. Until inequalities in society no longer exist, affirmative action is nec- essary, Railton said. History Prof. Maris Vinovskis said the University should recognize the need to broaden the range of opinions represented on campus. "This is a surprisingly homogeneous group of academics," Vinovskis said. In addition to admissions practices, Vinovskis said the University can cre- ate greater equality by improving other areas, including financial aid and K-12 education. "What are we doing to the poor when the only thing we are giving them is loans?" Vinovskis asked, suggesting an increase in grants would better aid eco- nomically disadvantaged students. "I don't think we have a commitment (now) to helping the poor." See FORUM, Page 2 Five parties vie for MSA seats, control SA request r evaluations auses tension Suswn T. Port aily Staff Reporter The Michigan Student Assembly successfully obtained pre- ily unreleased course evaluations last week, but MSA's iforts to publish certain instructor evaluations have left hard elings with some faculty members. Lew Morrissey, the University's Chief Freedom of formation Act officer, said that since some departments ready released evaluation results, it would be inconsistent to flow others to withhold data. "Under the FOIA act, no exemptions excluded that kind of rformation," Morrissey said. "There is no basis in withholding he information for many courses when already they are out here' * early November, MSA submitted a Freedom of nformation Act request asking for the release of course evalu- tion data submitted by students for classes taught during the vinter '96 semester. While most departments released evalua- ons, others --including the math and physics departments - ept the evaluations confidential. The newly released information consists of student respons- s to four evaluation questions that solicit student opinions on nn.. a inam tre Recycle routine By susan t.Port Daily Staff Reporter As candidates nervously wait outside polling sites biting frayed nails and blowing on cold hands, the future of the Michigan Student Assembly rests with student voters. Those flocking to the polls today and tomorrow will have five parties and a wealth of independent candidates from which to choose. The Defend Affirmative Action Party, Liberty Party, Michigan Party, Students' Party and the United Rebels Front are all vying for 23 open assembly seats, eight of which are open in LSA. MSA President Mike Nagrant said the Students' Party platform consists of four core promises: creating a fall break, extending graduate and law library hours, revising the University- wide speaker series and placing a stu- dent on the board of regents. Nagrant said a fall break would help alleviate pressure from students. "The idea is students go for too long from September to November without a break" said Nagrant, whose party is running 14 candidates. "There seems to be higher rates of alcoholism, which is a direct relation to students becoming very stressed out." Nagrant also said the Students' Party WVin t r E ae t io n IJOTEJ N b r t h a n d 20th Whre to vote NortCampus: Media- Union. B