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One hundred seven years offeditorialfreedom
Tuesday
March 10, 1998
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would
make
boosters
liable
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Mike Spahn
aily Staff Reporter
The state House of Representatives is consid-
ring a bill that would make individuals liable
damages they cause through relationships
university athletes.
The bill's sponsor, Rep. Kirk Profit (D-
psilanti), said the proposal would create a min-
um $10,000 penalty for anyone who interferes
ith "a prospective advantage" of a university's
thletic department.
Profit said the bill grew out of reports from
oaches including Bo Schembechler that agents
un rampant on university campuses. Last year's
Nlegations that Detroit booster Ed Martin gave
y and gifts to Michigan men's basketball
layers also prompted Profit to propose the bill,
e said.
"This is the culmination of a decade-long effort
to get control over the people that are most culpa-
ble, namely boosters and agents," Profit said.
Profit said the bill probably will deter individ-
uals who are considering tampering with ath-
letes at public universities. A civil liability law of
this kind will give universities some leverage in
their dealings with individuals who tamper with
university athletes.
"This will hopefully have a deterrent value,"
Profit said. "It exposes people to financial risk
and a sanctioning process - then perhaps
they'll think twice before interfering."
Universities would be able to file lawsuits
against wrongdoers if this bill passes, Profit
said. By doing this, the universities could com-
pel the accused to give testimony about the
alleged affairs between athletes and boosters.
Cynthia Wilbanks, associate vice president
for government relations, said the bill would be
another tool for investigations into allegations of
wrongdoing in university athletic departments.
"It's an approach that could be useful in situa-
tions where the University wants to get informa-
tion from individuals who interfere," said
Wilbanks, the University's Lansing lobbyist.
Wilbanks said the bill would not be the
University's first option in investigations, but it
would provide an advantage for universities in
their dealings with boosters and agents.
"At the heart is an effort to get to the bottom of
allegations against universities," Wilbanks said.
Steve Webster, vice president for governmen-
tal affairs at Michigan State University, said he
hopes universities would not have to use this
measure.
The bill "is a preventative measure. We hope
we'd never have to use this," Webster said. "I
can't imagine any of us in Michigan ever using
"At the heart is an effort toget to the
bottom of allegations against universities"
-- Cynthia Wilbanks
Associate vice president for government relations
this."
Bruce Madej, assistant athletic director for
media relations at the University, said he thinks
this bill could help universities if it is used cor-
rectly.
"If this law is enacted, it would be a tool that,
ifjudiciously used, could help out university ath-
letic departments across the state," Madej said.
Wilbanks said investigations by both MSU
and the University into allegations of wrongdo-
ing within their athletic departments have left
the schools "frustrated by the inability to get
information," and this action will hopefully
relieve some of that frustration.
Profit said the University spent $250,000 on
legal fees as a result of the NCAA investigation
into possible wrongdoing by the athletic depart-
ment in the Martin case. The bill would defer
these types of costs to other parties,
"That type of cost would be recoupable in this
type of action," Profit said.
See BILL, Page 2
Nations
gree on
ugoslavia
sanctions
os Angeles Tmes
LONDON - Concluding a pro-
nged, often-heated debate, the
fed States and five European
ns agreed yesterday to take lim-
:ed punitive measures against
'ugoslav President Slobodon
/ilosevic for his armed crackdown
i the Serbian province of Kosovo
nd warned him to seek a political
olution to the crisis immediately or
ace more sanctions.
U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine
lbright and representatives from
tain, France, Germany, Italy and
ia agreed to impose an immediate
an on the sale to the regime in
telgrade of heavy police equipment,
uch as armored vehicles and riot pro-
action gear, and to ask the UN.
ecurity Council to consider a compre-
ensive arms embargo against the
4ilosevic government.
They also urged the international
ar crimes tribunal in The Hague,
erlands, to investigate the Kosovo
nce under its mandate to prose-
ute war criminals in countries that
nce were part of the Yugoslav federa-
on. Yugoslavia is now made up only
f the republics of Serbia and the much
raller Montenegro.
Russia refused to support two addi-
onal sanctions against Milosevic
greed to by the other five: a denial of
isas to senior Serbian and other
ugoslav officials responsible for the
ssion in Kosovo, which erupted a
and a half ago, and a moratorium
n government-financed export credits
r trade and investment with
elgrade.
Russia, however, did join the others
warning Milosevic to take a series of
,ecific steps "to stop the violence and
rgage in a commitment to find a
olitical solution to the issue of
osovo" within 10 days or face a
e on all his country's foreign
~sets.
The six nations, known simply as the
ontact Group, have assumed respon-
bility for monitoring the uneasy
eace that settled over the former
ugoslav federation just over two years
o with the signing of the Dayton,
~hio peace accords.
Yesterday's meeting came 10 days
Rer Milosevic ordered a brutal, large-
ale police crackdown that targeted
*c Albanian separatists in Kosovo.
er ian authorities said the violence
ft more than 50 people dead, but
nofficial reports have placed the
eath toll far higher.
Although yesterday's action repre-
mts a reversal of what had been a
radual easing of Serbia's international
olation in the wake of the war in
osnia-Herzegovina, it is more a sign
ternational disapproval and future
t than of immediate new hard-
lips for Milosevic. Only the suspen-
on of export credits, which could
imper his efforts to sell off state-
wned industries, is expected to have
iy immediate substantive impact.
Minority
applications
rise for '98
* The number of prospective minority
students applying to the University is
up by 13 percent from last year
By Katie Plona
Daily Staff Reporter
Despite the two lawsuits targeting the University's admis-
sions policies that could threaten the future diversity of the
University's student body, minority applications for next year's
incoming class are on the rise, University officials said.
The number of black, hispanic and Native Americans
applying to be part of next fall's incoming class is up 13
percent from last year, according to a Detroit newspaper
report.
But University officials say it is impossible to tell
whether the increase in minority applications is related to
the two lawsuits filed last semester against the College of
Literature, Science and the Arts and the Law School claim-
ing that the schools' use of race as a factor in the admissions
process is unconstitutional.
"Some prospective students have mentioned the
University's commitment to diversity," said Lisa Baker, asso-
ciate vice president for University relations, adding that
although the lawsuits may have made the University's stance
on diversity and affirmative action more visible, its policies
have been long-standing.
Some applicants said the lawsuits had little effect - either
positive or negative - on their decision to apply to the
University.
"The lawsuits were really just the butt of jokes," said
Luke Palnau, a high school senior at Ypsilanti High
School who is awaiting a decision about his application to
the University.
Lester Monts, associate provost for academic and mul-
ticultural affairs, said speculators "should be very careful
that (they) not tie everything that happens with admissions
to this lawsuit."
While University officials estimated last month that over-
all applications to the University were up by nearly 20 per-
cent, the latest numbers show that applications have
increased by 10 percent, still making this year's total one of
the highest in recent years.
Along with the lawsuits, several other events that
occurred during the past year have thrust the University
into the national spotlight, including the Michigan foot-
See APPLICATION, Page 2
JOHN KRAFT/Dadly
LSA sophomore Bert Nahmad and Engineering sophomore Kunal Bhalia go over a newspaper's men's college basketball bracket yesterday.
Tourney week
- the best there Is
You can have Ohio State
weekend, you can have
the week of the Rose
Bowl, you can even have Spring
Break. They don't compare.
They don't even come close.
This is, without a doubt, the
best week of the year.
The NCAA Men's Basketball
Tournament starts Thursday,
and as any basketball fan
knows, the weekend that fol-
lows holds the greatest multi-day
sporting event in existence. From
the very second Pat O'Brien takes
the podium on Thursday morning
to the minute he staggers off it in a
basketball marathon-induced daze
late Sunday night, there are more
great moments and amazing finish-
es than a hundred Super Bowls
could ever produce.
But the part of this week that
makes it so great - the part that is
almost as much fun as the actual games -
takes place well before the first game tips
off. It's the part that thousands and thousands
of people on this campus alone have already
participated in during the past two days.
The picks. The pools. The beloved brack-
et of 64.
Let's face it, March Madness wouldn't be
nearly as mad were it not for the Sunday-
nightto-Thursday-morning frenzy that
we're smack in the middle of and that, for a
See ROSE, Page 7
ROSE
Rose
Beef
Candidates
shake
party lines
By Gerard Cohen-Yrignaud
Daily Staff Reporter
Tired of party politics and bickering, a
surprisingly large fraction of the stu-
dents seeking office in next week's
Michigan Student Assembly elections
have decided to abandon party affilia-
tions and run as independents.
LSA junior Ryan Friedrichs is run-
ning for MSA president as an indepen-
dent, having rejected the financial
backing of the Michigan Party and the
Student's Party.
"It was a tough decision," Friedrichs
said. "A lot of people said, 'you can't do
it without a slate.' The feedback that
I've gotten has been really wonderful."
Of the 70 candidates running for MSA
positions, 30 are independents, more
MSA
M taL
en 1 -- Ist c
Candidaes for
representative
Independent: 30
Students' Party: 15
Defend Affirmative
Action Party: 12
New Frontier
Party: y
Michigan Party: 6
was elected last fall as a member of the
Students' Party. "I think people are sick
of the old party antagonism but the idea
of a group of candidates getting togeth-
er to share ideas and resources is still
there and still makes sense,"
What many find objectionable about
the party system is the fact that the par-
ties basically have the same stance on the
issues, Friedrichs said, but the real differ-
ence lies in the ideas they bring forth.
"The Student's Party and the
Michigan Party are not ideologically
opposed," Friedrichs said. "They turn
off more people to the MSA. I think if
you have independents running the
assembly, no representative will feel
less a part of the process."
Other representatives stressed the
Regent
Power to
campaignl
next fall
By Jennifer Yachnin
Daily Staff Reporter
University Regent Philip Power (D-
Ann Arbor) announced Saturday he
will seek a second full term on the
University Board of Regents in the
upcoming November elections.
"Even though I served on the board
I1 years ... the job is not done yet,"
Power said.
The eight-year terms of Power and
Shirley McFee (R-Battle Creek) end
this year. McFee has previously stated
she will not seek another term in office.
Power, who is currently the senior
r I