LOCAL/STATE
The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, January 6, 1999 - 3A
HIGHER
EDUCATION
U. Minnesota
students get
permanent bed
A At the beginning of its winter quar-
er, the University of Minnesota moved
200 of its first-year students into its res-
idence halls after housing them in a.
local hotel for three months, The
Minnesota Daily reported.
This year, the university experi-
enced its highest first-year student
enrollment in 10 years.
Since it guarantees housing to all
first-year students who send in their
applications before May 1, the univer-
*ity had to accommodate some of its
overflow students in a nearby Days
Inn.
Expecting increased student enroll-
ment into the next century, the univer-
sity says it plans on adding more than
600 more beds in the next two years by
expanding current residence halls and
constructing new housing accommoda-
tions.
*Stanford provost
to resign in June
After six years as Stanford
University's provost, Condoleeza Rice
announced in December that she will
resign from her position as the institu-
tion's chief officer in June, according to
The Stanford Daily.
Stanford administration praised
Rice for, among other things, her
incredible dedication to undergraduate
#ducation, including her help in initiat-
ing such programs as first-year semi-
nars and humanities introduction
courses.
Although Rice was unexpectedly
appointed to the provost position in
1993 without any previous experi-
ence as a dean or a chair of a depart-
ment, she impressed ;nuch of the uni-
versity and achieved a high level of
p opularity among the students and
faculty.
Rice plans on temporarily leav-
ing Stanford to work in the private
sector, yet she said she wants to
return to the university to do
research and become a tenured polit-
ical science professor.
Electric vehicle
charging stations
Installed at UCSD
Recognizing the electric vehicle's
increasing popularity, the University
of California recently installed three
EV charging stations on its San
Diego campus, The Guardian report-
ed.
The university will provide the elec-
tricity for free for charging vehicles, a
rocess that can take up to eight hours
o complete.
UCSD reportedly hopes the install-
ment of the charging stations will
encourage greater usage of the electric
.vehicle, which is supposedly both
cheaper and safer to operate than the
conventional automobile.
As the demand for electric vehicles,
'which are currently only available to
lease, increases, UCSD says it plans to
install more charging stations on its
,ampus.
Survey: Iowa
Greeks drink less
b According to a recent University
-.of Iowa survey, fraternity and sorori-
Qty members drink to get drunk less
than non-Greek students, The Daily
Iowan reported.
Fifty percent of the Greeks
olled binge drink, compared to 60
percent of the other students sur-
veyed. Although the survey showed
fewer Greeks drink to get drunk,
most of the students polled still
viewed the Greek system negatively
in terms of responsible alcohol con-
sumption.
Even though a majority of Iowa fra-
ternities implemented an alcohol ban in
their houses this fall, 60.2 percent of the
students polled said they believe it to be
ineffective in binge drinking prevention.
The survey, released in
December, also said a smaller per-
centage of all Iowa students binge
drink than previously suggested in a
a 1997 study.
Although 63 percent of students in
1997 said they drank to get drunk, only
52 percent gave the same response in
the recent poll.
- Compiled by Daily Staff Reporter
Nick Falzone.
'U
graduates 2,000 at
winter commencement
By Jennifer Yachnin
Daily Staff Reporter
Nearly 2,000 University graduate and
undergraduate students received degrees
in December, and many graduates attend
the relatively small commencement
exercise on Dec. 20 in Crisler Arena.
"We all have someone to thank for
standing here in Crisler Arena," said
graduating LSA senior Jose Rivas.
Rivas thanked his family, friends and
professors for sacrificing and devoting
time to his education.
"If you take only one thing away
from this institution it is the belief in the
helping hand," Rivas said.,
University President Lee Bollinger
centered his speech on the black birds
that live on the University campus.
"We hope that your years here at the
University have been all that you want-
ed," Bollinger said. "More than anyone
else at the University, I am aware that
we have not done everything that you
wanted done."
Bollinger described the numerous e-
mail messages he receives from students
each day, including those regarding the
annoyance of the birds on campus.
He suggested students look at the
black birds through poetry and art,
comparing the birds droppings to a
Jackson Pollack drip painting.
Bollinger also said students should
"resist being beguiled by easy answers"
and warned against technology altering
education.
"We should not read a great book or
see a great painting and think we now
know it," Bollinger said. Education is
"an ever present and never ending con-
versation."
Bollinger stressed the value of con-
tinued learning after graduation.
"Try to deepen your relationships
with those you have come to know:
artists, poets...;" Bollinger said.
The University Board of Regents
also granted honorary degrees to David
DiChiera, founder and director of the
Michigan Opera Theatre and Chen
Ning Yang, physicist and Nobel Prize
Winner.
DiChiera said students should
attempt to stay involved with the arts
following graduation.
"What troubles me is that federal sup-
port for the arts is dismal," DiChiera said.
The United States is in the lower third of
all counties in the world for per capita
funding of the arts, DiChiera added.
"Maybe it is fear that makes us look
upon the arts with suspicion;' DiChiera
said.
DiChiera championed the arts as an
educational tool for students.
"The arts help young people
develop discipline, team work and
problem solving skills," DiChiera
said. "Incorporating the arts into
your life can also expose you to
diversity."
Opera music mixed into the conclu-
sion of DiChiera's address emphasized
the arts once more.
"Passions drove me and passion is
what I wish will drive you," DiChiera
said.
WARREN ZINN/Day
An Enginering graduate takes a drink from a bottle of champagne at last month's
winter commmencement ceremony.
Back to the books
Room named for Cohen
By Michael Grass
Daily StiffReporter
Months of controversy surrounding
the naming of an East Quad Residence
Hall reading room after RC Prof. Carl
Cohen have come to a close with
University officials deciding to name the
room after Cohen.
"We certainly deplore the attacks on
his personal character that have occurred
and regret that the decision making
process proceeded for the length of time
and in the manner it did," a joint written
statement from President Lee Bollinger
and Provost Nancy Cantor states.
The statement revealed many pieces
of information in the chain of events that
led to the debate surrounding the naming
of the room after Cohen, who has active-
-ly spoken out against the University's
use of race in admissions.
The naming of the reading room was
a fund-raiser for the Residential College,
of which Cohen was a founder. "When
donors were solicited, they were told an
anonymous donor' had already come
forward to contribute $10,000 to name
the room in honor of Professor Cohen,"
according to the statement.
The statement reveals that Cohen
himself was the original anonymous
donor.
Though Cohen said he could not
comment on the events that led to the
decision, he said he was "deeply hon-
ored by the decision the University made
and gratified by ihe support from many
students and staff.'
According to the joint statement, that
donation plus $13,000 more that was
raised did not meet the $50,000 needed
for name dedication.
Confusion arose about naming pro-
cedures and which University body had
control of the room itself. The plan to
name the reading room after Cohen was
revoked in October amidst the controver-
sy Though University officials deny that
decision was tied to Cohen's views on
race-based admissions, many students
speculated last semester that it was the
case. "As we have previously said, the
Residential College and (the College of
Literature, Sciences and the Arts), inad-
vertently and in good faith, mistakenly
thought that they had the authority to
name this particular space;' Bollinger
wrote.
It was found that Residential
Housing and the Office of the Vice
President for Student Affairs actually
controled the space. Those two groups
"over a year ago announced procedures
for naming residential facilities, accord-
ing to the statement.
Bollinger wrote that the Uiversity,
not Cohen, is responsible "for potential-
ly misleading donors in these solicibt-
tions."
Other students said they are frustra -
ed about the decisions that led to the
naming of the reading room.
"Every time I use my M-Card :or
attend a University football game,: [
know that the University's love and
admiration can be bought;' said Gre'gg
Lanier, LSA Student Government vice
president.
Due to the holiday break, the official
decision has not been able to be
addressed by LSA-SG. "It's something
that we'll look into, Lanier said.
Bollinger wrote the decision to final-
ly name the reading room was based on
two facts, one being the belief that
Cohen believes that the University made
"a moral commitment" to honor himn.
The second factor in the decision Was
based on the fact that a large portion of
the University community believed that
the naming of the room for Cohen was
revoked because of his views on race-
based admissions.
The administration wanted to "real-
firm the University's commitment to
academic freedom;' the statement said.
ADRIANA YUGOVCH/Daily
LSA sophomore Matt Hapeman searches for books at Sharman Drum Bookshop on
State Street yesterday.
Mar kiCyfire raises
safety concern1s
By Michael Grass
Daily Staff Writer
A small fire in Mary Markley
Residence Hall forced residents to
evacuate the hall early morning on Dec.
17. Some residents did not hear the fire
alarm and slept while the Ann Arbor
Fire Department extinguished the fire.
The fire was confined to a trash can
in a closet on the fifth floor of Markley's
Fisher House, said Alan Levy, Housing
director of public affairs.
AAFD ruled the fire accidental and
does not know how it started, AAFD
Fire Marshal Scott Rayburn said.
Rayburn said he suspects the fire may
have started from "someone dumping
cigarette butts into the trash container."
AAFD and Department of Public
Safety vehicles arrived on the scene
shortly after fire alarms were pulled at
2:30 a.m. Residents were allowed back
into building around 3 a.m.
When an alarm is sounded, "there is
an expectation that people will evacu-
ate," Levy said.
There were fewer students in the res-
idence hall than usual since many had
completed final exams and left for home,
which may have contributed to the fact
that some residents slept through the
alarm. Residents may not have checked
on their fellow hallmates, assuming they
may had left for the break.
Sleeping through an alarm "is pos-
sible to happen," Levy said.
In many halls, some residents are
designated fire marshals and are
responsible is to pound on doors to
make sure that everyone is evacuated.
"I was awakened by a girl running
down the hall screaming 'It's for real!
It's for real!'," said Music first-year stu-
dent Matt Murphy, who lives a floor
above the fire.
Without shoes and a shirt, Murphy
proceeded out of the building to an area
where students were gathering near the
Ronald McDonald House on
Washington Heights.
After discovering they would have
to stand out in the cold for a long time,
many residents wanted to return to the
building because they were not proper-
ly dressed. Murphy saw many residents.
like himself without shirts or proper
footware. Because of the cold weather,
"later, someone gave me a jacket,;
Murphy said.
It is a violation of Housing's
Community Living standards to ignore
fire alarms or try to return to a building
before the all-clear signal is given,
Levy said.
Violations are dealt with "on a case-
by-case basis," Levy said.
"I would hope that under (inclement
weather) circumstances, residential
staff members and security officers
would make a contingency plan to walk
to another building;" Levy said.
If a resident is caught pulling a fire
alarm as a prank their lease is terminat-
ed automatically. "It isn't a funny
thing," Levy said.
The last large fire to occur in a res-
idence hall broke out in South Quad
Residence Hall on April 20, 1997. That
fire, which gutted the room of
Michigan football center Steve Frazier
and tight end Aaron Shea, caused close
to $20,000 worth of damage. An alarm
clock wire running under a couch was
cited as the origin of the fire.
A fire of similar size charred a room
in Markley in 1995. Levy said that the
origin of that fire was traced to a meno-
rah candle.
Student
Would you like another chance to
SHOWCASE your organization and
recruit new members?
:4
It's your last chance to register for:
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the student organization fair
Winterfest takes place on:
Thursday, January 14
Michigan union
11 :OOam-4:O0pm
u Sponsored by:
Student Activities and Leadership
205 Michigan union
734.763,5900
.Y $ JQn of
® Correction: Michael Smith made the statement regarding research collections in the Dec. I1 edition of the Daily. This
was attributed to the wrong person.
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