--LOCAL/STATE
The Michigan Daily W nesday, March 18, 1998 - 5
.A2 City Council
surveys citizens
on funds dispersal
Lines in the Sand
Study examines
benefits of single-
sex education
By Peter Meyers
Daily Staff Reportcr
The Ann Arbor City Council is
spending $50,000 to survey every
household in the city, including student
residences, to find out how they think
city money should be spent.
Despite the fact that most University
students reside in Ann Arbor temporar-
ily and many live in campus housing
sand therefore don't pay property taxes,
Councilmember Chris Kolb (D-5th
Ward) said student responses are still
valuable to the survey.
"I believe that students are residents
of the city and that hearing from those
households is just as important,' Kolb
said.
The survey will help city coun-
cilmembers decide where to cut ser-
vices or garner new funds, as decreas-
ing property tax revenues could put
constraints on the budget in the future,
said Councilmember Tobi Hanna-
Davies (D- Ist Ward).
In 1994, the state Legislature passed
Proposal A, which prevents cities from
reassessing properties so that they can
be taxed at their actual value. Unless
properties are sold, their official taxable
value will increase at or below the rate
of inflation.
"Because of Proposal A, property tax
revenues are decreasing. Gradually, city
revenues are not going to keep up with
inflation," Hanna-Davies said.
"It also depends on whether the
University purchases significant
amounts of land or not!' Hanna-Davies
said. University property is not subject
to the property tax, so additional
University property will reduce the
city's tax base.
S['Hanna-Davies said the survey is not
expected to have much of an effect on the
$75 million budget proposal forthe 1998-
99 budget, which will be discussed by
council on April 20. It would only affect
this budget "if there's some information
(on spending) we didn't anticipate."
"We have a balanced budget every
year!' Hanna-Davies said. "It's impor-
tant to know that this is not a crisis.:
Alan Burns, the city budget director,
said that, in general, citizens don't
know about how much money the city
spends or where it all goes.
"My view is that citizens probably
have a very limited view of what the
budget is like! Burns said. To alleviate
this, the survey includes detailed in'or-
mation about the annual cost of each
city service - from garbage collection
to city park maintenance.
City Administrator Neil Berlin said
all the completed surveys are expected
to be returned to the city within the next
two weeks. The results are scheduled to
be analyzed before council reviews the
budget.
City officials conducting the survey
are concerned that it only will be
returned by certain segments of the Ann
Arbor population.
"I think its more likely that people
who enjoy form-filling -- academical-
ly oriented people - --will fill it out,"
I lanna-Davies said.
To ensure that the results of the
survey are accurate, the city has
contracted the University's Institute
for Social Research to conduct a
vaidation study.
Steven Heeringa, the director of the
division of surveys at the ISR, said this
limited study will randomly send 1,200
Ann Arbor homes altered questionnaires
that will use more forceful language to
encourage their recipients to return them.
Kolb said the city council would
receive an analysis of both the larger
survey and the validation survey. Kolb
said similar surveys done in other com-
munities have usually found the results
of the two questionnaires closely mirror
one another.
* AAUW Educational
Foundation study
challenges traditional
view of K-12 education
By Christine M. Paik
Daily Staff Reporter
The prevalent view that K-12 sin-
gle-sex education for girls is better
than .coeducation is being chal-
lenged by prominent scholars in the
field, according to a new study by
the American Association of
University Women Educational
Foundation.
Education Prof. Valerie I ce was
among the 15 researchers who par-
ticipated in the roundtable discus-
he report shows mixed results:'
I )aag saai "ome findings show n
benefI;s.of i, le-sex education for
fnmales. some do. our report makes
he coiclusion that oter factors may
x crx xel be contributing .
I SA 'irst -year student Kathy-
A ugust, x ho attended an
fenile high school for four years,
said she enjoyed her experience .
both in terms of academics aid
social life.
'in the long run, it was probably
beter for me personally." August
said. "Appceirance isn't an issue, and
SoI just concentrate on learning.
The classroom is more open, and
you can ask questions and not feI
nilmidated."
Arugust said
::
N
.
L }4S.
._ uu... ..... . . 4': :iv .
'-s.' SN
sion that was the
report. Lee con-
tributed her
paper, titled "Is
Single - Sex
S e c o n d a r y
Schooling a
Solution to the
Problem of
G e ni d e r
Inequity'?'
Lee would not
comment on the
study.
Pamela Haag,
senior research
associate for the
A A U W
E d u c at i on a I
Foundation, said t
fOLuncdation of the
"Youfg can't t
"o ftsay overall or.i
gene ral tha
single-sex
environment
work betterfo
girls.- Pamela Naagi
Senior Research Associate for
AAUW Educational Foundation
the all-female atmoj-
phere encouraged
her fellow students
to participate in
classroom discus-
s0iL.
"I could see that
someg irls weren't as
intimildated," Aug"ust
said. "They felt they
were able to speak
freely, and they didn't
W orry about making
an impression."
LSA first-year stU-
dent Anne Ward said
the environment in
her all-female school
raised her self-
ALSQN CANTER/Daily
The Loseling Monks construct a one-day mandala sand painting at the
Jewel Heart Store in Ann Arbor yesterday.
Fatalities often
involved alcohol
REGET
Continued from Page 1
ence on the board would ensure that
student concerns are addressed.
"By not having a student regent,
we're leaving the administration and
the regents unchecked," said Ferris
Hussein, an LSA sophomore and
independent candidate running for
MSA president. "These regents are
the CEOs of corporations and other
officials. Who are they to run our
school'?"
Regent Shirley McFee (R-Battle
Creek) said she would not accede to
stu-dents'demaids for atotuing student
regent.
"I need to know how the students
propose to fit a student on the Board of
Regents," McFee said. "I need to know
what their authority would be. I would
be against haxing a student (regent)
with full power unless the student was
clected to the board.'
Attempts to pass a bill in the state
L egislature to aniend the state constitu-
tion to allow for student representation
on the board will probably fail. said
TFrent Thompson, an LSA junior run-
iiing, for MSA president on lthe
Students' Party ticket. Tihe state ballot
proposal is the only option remainin,,
Thompson said.
"We have tried the lecislative
process, Thompson said. "This is the
only xay we can get a student regent. I
think it's one of the most important
things MSA will ever do."
Other candidates said the decision to
raise student fees ultimately resides in
the hands of voters today and tomor-
row.
"T he students need to decide whether
they feel the fee increase is something
that wi II benefit their education:' said
Albert Garcia. an L SA sophomore run-
ning as an independent candidate for
MSA vice president. "Students should
only vote yes or no if they truly under-
stand the importance of having a
regent."
Student Recent Task Force leaders,
wxho are pushing the fee increase, main-
tain that the Urniversity Board of'
Regents affects every aspect of stu-
dents'educations.
"The University is where wxe go to
school, said SA sophionmore Brai
E lias, an MSA representative. "Our
lives, in no small part. are governed
by the regents. Every other Big Ten
school gives students the chance to
govern their lives and the
University."
the popular belief that single-sex
education is better for female stu-
dents, and that "the benefits are very
conditional."
"There has been a policy debate,
which tends to generalize about the
research," Haag said. "You can't just
say overall or in general that single-
sex environments work better for
girls."
The report includes findings that
contradict previous beliefs of sing(le-
sex education. It concludes that sin-
ic-sex environmenits do not eimi
hate sexism and that elements of' a
good education, such as small class-
es and focused curriculum, produce
successful students - regardless of'
whether they attended single-sex or
coeducational schools.
lie study questions
esteemni.
"As fmr as arades are concerned, I
don't think goiig to an all-girls school
really made a difference:' Ward said:
But I think I did gain more confi-
deuce. I feel that I wasn't judged as
much.'
Ward said the study's findirqgs,
which stated that the benefits of sin-
gle-sex education for females varied
dependiing on the student; seem cor-
rect.
"It really does depend on the per-
son. " ard said. "Where's the type of
p~erson that f'eels comfortable' not
matter xxwhat group they're in, and
then there are those that are shy
aroutd the other sex.
"I was more timid, and going to an
all girls environment brought me out of
my shell,' Ward said.
LANSING (AP) - The most com-
prehensive study of Michigan's snow-
mobilers in two decades found that
alcohol played a part in the deaths of
more than half of those who died in
accidents between 1993 and 1997.
It also found that snowmobile riders
supported stronger safety measures,
*ncluding more training programs and
tougher law enforcement.
But most said they were not worried
about riding on public roads - even
though almost half the people who died
in snowmobile accidents died on coun-
ty or state roads.
The study by Michigan State
University researchers polled 1,508 res-
idents and out-of-state visitors who
bought state snowmobile trail permits
in 1995 and 1996. It also looked at 147
Sleaths in snowmobile accidents from
the end of 1993 to the spring of 1997.
Of those deaths, 55 percent involved
alcohol, according to police reports. So
far this winter, 47 percent of deaths
from snowmobile accidents have
involved alcohol, said Department of
Natural Resources Lt. Suzanne
Koppelo.
By comparison, 36 percent of high-
way deaths in 1996 were alcohol-relat-
ed. Koppelo said part of the difference
could be explained by the inherent safe-
ty features in an automobile.
"At least in a car, you're afforded
some protection, particularly in newer
models with air bags," she said. "On
snowmobiles, it's you and whatever
object you collide with at whatever
speed that determines your luck."
This year's mild winter has done lit-
tle to reduce snowmobile fatalities.
Koppelo said 38 people had died in
snowmobile accidents this season; 11
people have been killed since March 9.
"It appears everyone was anxious to
get out for the last snow of the season,
and obviously forgot the rules of the
road," she said.
Most of the fatal wrecks studied in
the report - 61 percent -- involved
one snowmobile, and 48 percent took
place on public roads rather than snow-
mobile trails.
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