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News: 76-DAILY
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One hundred eigh/t years of editoralfreedom
Wednesday
October 28, 1998
- ~ .'.e,
Secret societies pressed
to go co-ed
By Katie Plona
Daily Staff Reprter
Years of collegiate tradition may come to an
end next year, when two of the campus' gender-
exclusive "secret" honor societies will have to
lude both men and women among their ranks.
Frank Cianciola, assistant dean of students,
said he and Vice President for Student Affairs
Maureen Hartford recently told members of the
all-male Michigamua and the all-female Adara
that their exclusive membership practices violate
the gender equity clause of the Civil Rights Act of
1964, more commonly known as Title IX.
Although the co-ed umbrella group The
University of Michigan Tower Society has linked
the two organizations since 1979, Cianciola said
I separate groups' single-sex memberships -
w ich include only seniors - do not comply with
federal laws.
We "asked them to examine their membership
practices and to work toward some alignment for
... the following class'" Cianciola said. "They're
supposed to come back to us with their proposed
solution."
Michigamua spokesperson Joe Taylor, an
LSA senior, said the group still is trying to under-
stand its options under Title IX.
"We're just trying to make the right decision,
whatever that means," Taylor said.
Taylor said the group may decide to admit
female members to continue the group's official
ties with the University or may remain all-male
and sever its relationship with the University. This
would force it to move out of its nearly 100-year-
old secret room in the Michigan Union Tower.
Adara's spokesperson could not be reached for
comment.
Each year, both groups select about 25 male
and female University juniors, each, who have
been nominated by current members for their
achievements and service to the University and
the campus community. The members pull stu-
dents from various organizations, activities and
athletic teams on campus.
Michigamua was founded in 1902. Nearly 80
years later in 1980, Adam was born in response to
the demands of several women to either include
women in Michigamua or form a women's orga-
nization that mirrored it in structure and purpose.
The purpose of the Tower Society is to foster
friendships, maintain relations with the University
and provide a mentor network, among other objec-
tives, according to Tower Society documents.
Whatever Michigamua decides, Taylor said,
the situation is a difficult one for several reasons.
This year's members carry the weight of past
tradition and future direction. But Taylor said they
already have begun consulting with the group's
alumni and they are exploring all options with
University administrators.
"Being an all-male group is a lot of what we
are," he said.
Cianciola said administrators have discussed
the gender compliance problem with
Michigamua and Adana members in the past, but
the exclusive memberships have not changed.
Cianciola said if the groups fail to meet Title
IX compliance standards this year, they will face
consequences.
"Their association with the University will dis-
continue," he said.
This is not the first time the secret societies
have faced gender equity problems.
In 1979, at the same time the group of women
were trying to form their own group, Michigamua
faced a Title IX compliance problem. To appease
all three groups - Michigamua, the women and
the University - the Tower Society was formed
as an umbrella organization.
Because the two groups are officially separate
organizations, Cianciola said they do indeed vio-
late Title IX, despite the Tower Society unification.
Taylor said he could not comment on many
specifics about the Tower Society, including when
the group meets and what other members are in
the organization.
"The reason we call ourselves a secret society
is because we don't advertise what we do," Taylor
said, adding, however, that it does outreach pro-
jects in the community.
Both
parties
stress 'U'
funding
By Mike Spahn
Daily Staff Reporter
The struggle for the almighty dollar
a constant pressure for most in life,
the University is no exception to
the rule. From student aid to faculty
retention, money proves important in
every function of the University.
As a result, the fight for the state
appropriation is an annual battle, pit-
ting University administrators hoping
to improve their schools with state
funds, against frugal legislators, who
hope to spread the wealth and please all
constituents.
#unding for higher education has
ucome an increasingly important issue
during this campaign, with candidates
trading ideas and attacks about how
best to use the state's money.
While no candidate has advocated a
decrease in college and university
funding, they have not yet come to a
consensus on the best course of action.
Republican Gov. John Engler said he
plans to keep education his top priority
e returns to Lansing. While marked
by continuing increases in higher edu-
cation funding, Engler's administration
has been criticized for low appropria-
RM FjRjDEBAT
RC revokes
offer to
name room
for Cohen
By Erin Holmes
Daily Staff Reporter
A room by any other name may not be
as sweet.
Less than one month before the offi-
cial ceremony to consecrate a room in
East Quad the "Carl Cohen Reading
Room" after RC Prof. Carl Cohen, the
naming was revoked due to University
Housing Division policies.
The decision to pull Cohen's name off
the door of the room has created com-
motion among some who feel Cohen's
political stances played a role in the
decision.
Much of the contention surrounding
the naming of the room stems from
Cohen's role in two current lawsuits
attacking the University's admission pro-
cedures in the Law School and College
of Literature, Science and the Arts.
Cohen, a distinguished faculty mem-
ber and founder of the Residential
College, has openly opposed some of the
University's admission policies - pri-
marily what he calls race-based prefer-
ences.
In a statement issued to students and
faculty, RC Director Thomas Weisskopf
admitted that Cohen's views on
University race-based admission policies
are "opposed not only to those of the UM
Administration but to those of the great
majority of faculty and alumnae of the
Residential College."
But Weisskopf maintained that
Cohen's political opinions were not a
factor, and said the decision resulted
from Housing and Development con-
cerns.
"There are two key issues here,"
Weisskopf said. "One is the issue of the
fundraising and the other is the issue of
Housing's possessions of the room. Both
raised major concerns."
The decision to name the room after
Cohen, Weisskopf said, was generated
from a donation for the purpose from an
Plan set for
move from
Fleming
By Erin Holmes
and Katie Plona
Daily Staff Reporters
Only a little more than a year after his inauguration as
University president, Lee Bollinger is getting ready for a
big move - out of the Fleming Administration Building
and into Angell Hall.
Although Bollinger and his team have come up with
a workable plan, the actual move will not occur until at
least 2000.
The move will put him in the same building where
faculty teach and students study and he will be just a few
minutes closer to the heart of campus and his own South
University Avenue house.
"1 think the administration should be more centrally
located," Bollinger said, adding that the move has the
potential to be "very complicated."
Architectural plans are still in the works, but the bot-
tom two floors of Angell Hall, which now house the
College of Literature, Science and the Arts' administra-
tion offices, will become central administration space.
This area occupies the basement and first floor of the
building's north wing.
In his first public speech as University president in
March 1997, Bollinger announced his intention to move
out of the Fleming Building and into what he described
in a recent e-mail message to faculty and administrators
as "somewhat friendlier and more accessible quarters."
Bollinger said it is too early in the planning stages to
say which top administrators will move with him into
Angell Hall.
When Bollinger moves into their space, the LSA
administration offices will displace the anthropology
and statistics departments in the LSA Building and
those departments will make a long-needed move.
The move of the LSA administration offices will
"lead us to solve the long-standing problems of finding
better space for our academic departments of anthropol-
ogy and statistics," Bollinger said in the e-mail message.
Physiology Prof. Louis D'Alecy, a former chair of the
Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs, said
he thinks faculty members will literally take advantage
of Bollinger's new location.
Unlike the Fleming Administration Building, which
is not very approachable with its fortress-like exterior,
Angell Hall is more accessible, D'Alecy said.
"I think this will benefit the dynamics of the faculty
and administration relationship," he said.
Michigan Student Assembly President Trent
Thompson, an LSA junior, said he hopes Bollinger's cen-
tral campus location will give students more opportuni-
ties to have direct contact with him, through office
See ANGELL, Page 2
tion propos-
als.
"I signed
all of those
budgets, so
I did sup-
port them,"
Engler said
he many
budgets that
have aug-
Part
seven
of an
eight-
U~~ sees
li~mw~r L
mented his suggestion.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate
Geoffrey Fieger, the self-proclaimed
"greatest supporter of education there
is," said he will do what it takes to
maintain high levels of funding for the
university, which should then aid in the
jtrol of tuition increases.
Wvery year, the governor submits the
proposed budget to the Appropriations
Committee of each house. The commit-
tees then look into the proposal and tin-
ker with its make-up.
Last year, Engler proposed a 1.5 per-
cent increase for all colleges and uni-
versities, which was immediately
assailed by members of the commit-
tees. The house eventually settled on a
3-percent increase, which was less than
t University wanted, said Associate
Ue President for Government
Relations Cynthia Wilbanks.
Early this month Democratic Regent
candidate David Brandon and Regent
Dan Horning (R-Grand Haven) said
Fieger's proposal to eliminate the sin-
gle-business tax would cripple the
state's ability to fund higher education.
"I can't imagine what Geoffrey
Fieger is thinking when lopping off
h a big chunk" of the general fund,
andon said. The 32 percent reduction
in the general fund the regents project-
ed could cause a 20 percent or more
increase in tuition, Horning said.
"Continuity in the governor's man-
sion will help a lot more than the crazy
proposal Geoff Fieger is talking about,"
JESSICA JOHNSON/Daily
RC first-year student Ben Daniels stules in the new reading room in East Quad Residence
Hall yesterday. The room was to be named the "Carl Cohen Reading Room."
anonymous source.
Because the donation was not enough
to meet the University's minimum
amount for naming a room, further
fund-raising efforts were made through
LSA.
Recently, these fund-raising measures
were found to be in violation of naming
procedures.
Most importantly, Weisskopf said, the
reading room belongs to University
Housing, which has its own naming pro-
cedure that gives students the opportuni-
ty to be directly involved.
See ROOM, Page 7
Candidates face off on issues
Affirmative action and
health care come to
forefront in debate
By Josh Kroot
Daily Staff Writer
Mudslinging, personal attacks and
trucks driving through Ann Arbor
blasting Tom Petty hits have charac-
terized some of the political atmos-
phere leading up to the Nov. 3 elec-
tion.
Although somewhat overshadowed
by the recent antics of the state's lead-
ing gubernatorial candidates, the race
for the 13th congressional district
seat in the U.S. House of
Representatives also has been tumul-
tuous.
Last night's debate between incum-
Clinton scandal was discussed briefly,
as was physician- assisted suicide.
The debate, held in the Michigan
Union, was co-sponsored _ by
Michigan Student Assembly and
Voice Your Vote, a non-partisan stu-
dent organization dedicated to getting
students to the polls.
Rivers, who was elected to her first
term four years ago, repeatedly
stressed the record she has compiled
in that time. "I have delivered on my
promises," she said.
Rivers is pro-choice and pro-affir-
mative action. She supports the
option of physician-assisted suicide,
though she said she is ambivalent
about Proposal B, which would legal-
ize physician-assisted suicide in the
state of Michigan. She said she
believes the proposal would entangle
In stark contrast to Rivers' liberal
views, Hickey is a staunch conserva-
tive. He is pro-life on the abortion
issue and is opposed to the option of
physician-assisted suicide.
He said he believes affirmative
action needs "modifications," and
that job opportunities and university
admissions should not take race into
consideration. "We should work for a
colorless society," he said.
Hickey is the founder and president
of MediQuest Inc., a company that
distributes medical supplies. During
much of the debate, he focused on the
fact that he has never run for public
office before.
"I would be a fresh voice in
Washington," he said. Hickey railed
against "drug thugs" and gang mem-
bers. "We need to throw the book at
i