One hundred eight years ofedtorzfreedom News: 76-DAILY Display Ads: 7640554 Classified Ads: 76440557 Tuesday September 29, 1998 '%. '2 '" Student fees vary across J~gTen 0 Student governments use funds for wide range of campus programs By Jennifer Yachnin Daily Staff Reporter University students pay a $5.69 fee ' the Michigan Student Assembly ach semester, but students at other Big Ten universities have different systems of funding student groups and activi- ties. Unlike many other Big Ten schools MSA does not receive funding directly from University allocations. "We're a lot more autonomous than other student governments," MSA President Trent Thompson said. MSA fees are allocated to about 200 eident groups. The assembly's ability to distribute funds provides student groups relative- ly easy access to funding. "I would think the administration would like to see a tighter grasp on who gets funding'"Thompson said. "There's a lot of smaller student groups who probably wouldn't get funding on other campuses." The differences in budgeting *tween schools, Thompson said, are often a reflection of the programs stu- dent governments support. "They do the a lot of the program- ming for their schools," Thompson said. Michigan State University students pay several student fees each semester, including $10 to the student govern- ment, which supplies students with legal services, inexpensive copying ser- vices, meeting and conference space *d interest-free, one-month loans of $100. The Associated Students of Michigan State University also pro- vides funding of $46,000 per semester to registered student organizations, who are eligible for allocations of $3,000 per semester. In addition, ASMSU has 18 activity departments that provide $80,000 per A ester in funding. Nate Smith-Tyge, ASMSU assembly chair, said students are given the option of paying for the services. "Student fees are refundable within two weeks of the start of the semester, but then students are not able to use ASMSU benefits," Smith-Tyge said. The student fees have to be re- approved by students in an ASMSU election every two years, Smith-Tyge said, but the ASMSU fee has not fluc- tuated at all during the past several ers. Several Big Ten universities have low or no student government fees, but students usually pay a student activities fee, which is often steep. Students at Pennsylvania State University pay a $36-per-semester stu- dent activities fee as part of their tuition. The money is distributed in var- ious ways - but not to the Penn State *ident government. "Our student government is com- pletely self-funding," said Brian Olivo, undergraduate student government vice-president for Penn State. "We raise funds through internal furdrais- ing." The two main fund raisers, Olivo said, include student government-spon- sored bus trips to major cities during Thanksgiving, winter and spring breaks and a student activities calendar. Through these activities, the student vernment raises about $20,000 a year, Olivo said. The student government does some See FEES, Page 5 Bollinger speaks on key issues President discusses funding, affirmative action suits By Paul Berg Daily Staff Reporter University President Lee Bollinger outlined his goals and positions on an array of issues yesterday in a speech at the first meeting of the Senate Assembly this semester. Bollinger told the members of the faculty's gov- erning body - which held its meeting in the Rackham Amphitheater - he does not intend to settle the two lawsuits filed challenging the University's use of race in the admissions process, which were filed in the in the Detroit U.S. District Court last fall. The lawsuits, filed by white applicants who were not admitted to the College of Literature, Science and the Arts and the Law School, allege the schools dis- criminate in their admissions policies. "Diversity - racial and otherwise - is crucial to a contemporary education," Bollinger said. "We view this as a matter of deep principle and do not see a way to pre- serve this principle and even other side.' Bollinger said he wants the assembly's help in increasing funding to the University. The University needs ample funding in order to remain competitive with prestigious private insti- tutions, he said. Bollinger said that in recent years, these private institutions have seen gains of 15 to 20 percent in revenue annually, while the University has gained only six or seven percent. The difference in revenue affects the University's ability to compete with private col- leges in many categories, Bollinger said. "These private institutes are offering salaries 45 percent higher than the University can," Bollinger said. "We really believe that faculty compensation is inadequate in some departments." To decrease this gap in revenue, Bollinger sug- gested multiple courses of action the assembly could help the administration pursue. "It is very important to recognize that the University has very diverse sources of revenue,' Bollinger said. Bollinger criticized the state government for spending more money on correctional facility expenditures than on higher education. Bollinger said that by making the benefits of education well known while promoting an acade- See BOLLINGER, Page 7 Bollinger come close to the urncane blat a ..int oGulf Coat PASCAGOULA, Miss. (AP) Hurricane Georges plowed into the Gulf Coast yesterday and then parked there, pouring rain at an inch-an-hour pace before weak- ening to a tropical storm for what could be a long and ruinous stay. Winds dropped to 55 mph, 20 mph below hurricane strength and down from a high of 110. New Orleans was spared the catastrophic direct hit that many in the Big Easy had feared. But that was little comfort to the thousands who hud- dled in shelters from Florida to Louisiana and were expected to remain there for days. Outside, all was chaos - trees ripped from the ground, windows sucked from their frames, floods roaring down roads. "In some areas, there's water to rooftops and 4 to 5 feet of water in many other homes. I've never seen anything like it in more than 50 years," said Jackson County admin- istrator George Touart, after a tour of Pascagoula, where 15 inches of rain fell overnight. Forecasters said up to 30 inches could fall by the time the storm clears out sometime in the middle of the week. Flash flood watches were issued for much of Mississippi and Alabama through today. Parts of Florida were also under flood watches. Nearly 10 inches of rain fell in Mobile, Ala., in a 24-hour period ending yesterday evening. Since Saturday, Munson, Fla., was deluged with 25 inches of rain; Bay Minette, Ala., 14.5 inches and Leakesville, Miss., 8.3 inches. National Guardsmen waded through chest-deep water, See HURRICANE, Page 2 wET 7 ,.., Stu den ts closely watch storm damage By Michael Grass For the Daily Many University students and faculty have turned their attention to weather updates as Hurricane Georges made its way through the Caribbean this week. Now it has continued into the Gulf Coast of the United States, and stu- dents and faculty are wondering if the powerful storm will affect their friends and loved ones who may be in Georges's path. Elizabeth Kievit, a research fellow in the radiation-oncology division of the University's Medical School, planned to marry Eric Dunkers, a post-doctorate fellow of internal medicine at the University, in Key West, Fla._ this past Saturday. "No one really knows where they are or if they, even actually got married," said Mary Davis, a radiology-oncology research assistant. Many of Kievit's relatives traveled from her native county of Holland in the Netherlands to Key West to attend the wedding, Davis said. The couple may be now enjoying their honeymoon in Jamaica, but "we haven't heard from them since before they left," Davis said. Though most of South Florida escaped the full force of Georges, LSA first-year student Josh Juran called his See IMPACT, Page 2 AP PHOTOS ABOVE: Residents of the Orange Grove Project in Mobile, Ala., carry children out of flood waters yes- terday after the Mobile River could not handle Hurricane Georges' rainfall. RIGHT: A satellite Image of the hurricane as it heads into the continental United States. Cantor says 'U' has a diverse role today Lending a helping hand lappy Birthday to man Today marks 108 years of news and "editorial freedom" for The Michigan Daily. The Daily has evolved over the years, Just as the students and the campus have changed. The Daily staff, however, remains as committed to bringing news and perspective to the By KatIe Plona Daily Staff Reporter In the Rackham Graduate School building where she pre- viously served as dean, Provost Nancy Cantor joked to an audience of nearly 100 people that her job as the University's second-in-command and top woman administrator is not fun. Confronting and impacting some of the most complex and intense issues that face modern society - especially at a major institution such as the University - isn't supposed to be fun, she said. But that difficulty doesn't mean the job isn't inviting and worthwhile. Rackham Dean Earl Lewis invited Cantor to deliver the second of a four-part Rackham lecture series focusing on American values. "I can't think of a topic more important for this University and all major research universities than to think about American values;" Cantor said. After serving as the University's chief academic officer for slightly more than one year, Cantor said her job requires her to play a diverse role in society and have responsibilities to different communities of people. Cantor asked the audience of mostly faculty members and The three contexts Cantor named were thinking about the University as a great research university, the difference between centralized and decentralized communities on cam- pus and the scholarship of social and personality psychology. As a major research university, Cantor said, the University demonstrates both its public and private interests and respon- sibilities. Major research universities "are really grand, societal experiments,' Cantor said. She added that the University com- bines several domains, including public, research and higher education, placing it in a unique position to impact society. "We don't want to be owned," Cantor said. "Yet, we know that we have a sense of responsibility outward." The University also has a desire to Canto' link the many communities on campus and in Ann Arbor to each other, while still allowing each to maintain a sense of autonomy, Cantor said. "How do we do that dance between the whole and its ,I ,I I DAVID ROCHKIND/Daily r