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One hundred eight years feditorhzlfreedom

Thursday
March 18, 1999

i

Vol. CIX--,:N Mloigaft oally

I

S

LE

seizes

Bollinger's

office

Students protest sweatshop labor

itchae Grass
Daily Staff Reporter
More than 25 University students
occupied University President Lee
Bollinger's office in the Fleming
Administration building yesterday mom-
Iig and planned to remain there through
the night to demand that administrators
adopt a stronger set of labor standards in
the collegiate apparel industry.
he student activists refused to con-
, e talks with Bollinger and
University General Counsel Marvin
Krislov after the administrators offered
to meet with two of the group's leaders.
The students who led the sit in, all of
whom are members of Students
Organizing for Labor and Economic
Equality, said they want Bollinger and
Krislov to meet with the entire group,
which is camped out on the floor of the
Students
vie for
Msi seats
alone
By Angela Bardoni
Daily Staff Reporter -
Standing apart from the rest, the can-
didates running as independents for
seats on the Michigan Student
Assembly have their own ideas of how
a student government should operate.
Hoping to make positive changes in
dents' lives, the independent candi-
s stress the importance of a quality
academic environment -- including
implementing academic advising that
would be more helpful to students and
developing extensive training sessions
that will produce more qualified grad-
uate student instructors.
Some candidates said if they obtain an
MSA seat following elections next week,

president's office.
"We're done negotiating. We want
action," LSA junior Andy Cornell said.
Later in the evening, SOLE members
said they attempted to meet with
administrators, but had not heard back
from the them.
University spokesperson Joel Seguine
said talks could begin as early as this
morning.
The students "have definitely put on
the pressure," Seguine said.
SOLE and its affiliate organizations
on campuses across the nation have said
that current calls for tougher standards
in the collegiate apparel industry are not
strong enough.
The Collegiate Licensing Company
- the licensing agent that handles con-
tracts between manufacturers and the
University and 160 other colleges

nationwide - has been facilitating
talks with various schools to improve
working conditions and unfair labor
practices in the apparel industry.
The University reported more than
$5.7 million in revenue from the sale of
licensed merchandise last year, the most
of any school in the nation reporting
similar information.
"We will be here until our demands
are met," SOLE member Peter Romer-
Friedman told the participants of the sit-
in yesterday.
SOLE members said the University
needs to commit to full public disclo-
sure of the location and ownership of
factories and the living wage - a salary
factoring in local living conditions.
Referring to the living wage, Bollinger
said "it would be reckless for us to sign,
on to a concept that hasn't been tested.

"It is not the right thing to agree with
at this point;" Bollinger said.
SOLE members ran into the adminis-
tration building at 9:30 a.m. yesterday
and up the stairs to Bollinger's office.
Bollinger was in Lansing yesterday
for a meeting and Krislov, who had
been involved in the negotiations prior
to the sit-in, was in Flint, Seguine said.
"I respect all students and they have
been very helpful," Bollinger said. "It's
a very important issue. We're trying to
find the most constructive way to talk."
Seguine said the students would be
allowed to stay overnight in the presi-
dent's office.
"They will not be forcibly evicted,"
Seguine said.
Security officers said the building
will be locked and personnel will patrol
See SOLE, Page 5A


G.OING GREEN

DANA LINNANE/Dady
Ann Arbor resident Kerstin Cornell protests outside the Fleming Administration
Building yesterday as students occupying University President Lee Bollinger's
office hold a sit-in.
Budget clears
first hurdle

.1"4SA

they will try to
develop a better
system for eval-
uating GSI's and
lowering the cost
of textbooks.
Others said
they will stress
the importance
of making some

By Nick Bunklay
Daily Staff Reporter
Michigan's public universities may
be more inclined to keep tuition
increases under 3 percent next year
after the House Appropriations
Higher Education Subcommittee
revised and passed the higher educa-
tion portion of Gov. John Engler's fis-
cal year 2000 budget recommenda-
tion.
The committee's eight members
voted 5 to 3 yesterday to report the
budget bill to the full Appropriations
Committee, where it will be taken up
for consideration tomor-r
row. All three Democrats
opposed the bill, but
that's not an indication of
future partisanship on
the issue, said Engler
spokesperson John
Truscott.
University President
Lee Bollinger told the Budget1
committee last week that
the proposed increase for the
University would result in a tuition
increase of 4 to 5 percent.
Engler's proposal would give
Michigan's 15 public universities a
1.5 percent across-the-board
increase. Each university that
increases tuition by less than 3 per-
cent next year would receive a 1.5
percent bonus.
Bollinger said the University needs
a 3.5 percent increase to maintain
quality educational standards and
would have to raise tuition enough to
cover the difference, plus make up
for the $5 million that would be for-
feited by raising tuition more than 3

percent.
The amended proposal would add
the tuition-restraint money to univer-
sities' base funding - rather than dis-
tributing it as a bonus. The modifica-
tion means the extra 1.5 percent
would factor into the appropriation
universities would receive in next
year's budget.
"It's much more of an incentive for
the universities to hold tuition down,"
said Rep. Jon Jellema (R-Grand
Haven), a committee member. "Now
you don't want to lose that money as
much."
The original proposal
Oigan would have benefited the
state's lower-funded uni-
al versities and the change
was made partly in
response to Bollinger's
statements, Jellema said.
"That's something we've
been working on,"
oposal Bollinger said. "The best
result would be to elimi-
nate the tuition-restraint funds,'
Cynthia Wilbanks, the
University's vice president for gov-
ernment relations, said the change
helps, but still leaves room for
improvement.
"That, from our view, is a step in
the right direction," Wilbanks said.
"We've certainly advocated that posi-
tion."
Another aspect of the budget propos-
al groups the 15 state universities into
See BUDGET, Page SA
Inside: MSA goes to Lansing to lobby
for increased state appropriations.
Page 8A

Part three of a conveniences
four-part easily accessible
election series. to students.
The Independent
party candidate
Independents Jim Secreto, an
LSA first-year student, said he is con-
cerned with the lives of students and
wants to focus on politics at a local level.
"I may or may not be concerned with
UN sanctions in Iraq; however, I don't
think that MSA should be concerned
with national politics" Secreto said.
Although differing in the reasons
y they chose to run as independents,
the candidates said they do share a
common opinion - current issues
within the MSA party systems don't
coincide with their personal views.
LSA sophomore Marc Hustvedt, an
independent candidate, said he is against
the party system for several reasons.
"When you are a party representa-
tive, the interest of the party often goes
against the interest of the students"
See INDEPENDENT, Page 8A

DANA UNNANE/ Lily
Ashley's employees Jason Matter, an Art and Design senior, Diana Chrstoff, University alum and Bonnie Malcz, an LSA
senior, greet guests with St. Patrick's Day charm at the State street location yesterday.
Holiday blringsq. color,
fiestivities to c.amu

By Risa Berrin
Daily Staff Reporter
In addition to the dozens of
sesame and poppy seed bagels that
usually fill its shelves, Einstein
Bros. Bagels located on State Street
offered green bagels to its cus-
tomers yesterday - a sign that
many students were caught up in
St. Patrick's Day celebrations.
"Green bagels have swept across
the nation on St. Patrick's Day. Irish
people are excellent and they deserve
green bagels on Wednesday," said

Stephen Nadell, an Einstein's Bros.
Bagels employee, jokingly.
But Nadell said some customers were
turned off by the green bagels, which
they think are not visually pleasing.
"Some of the girls that come in are
hesitant to try the green ones," Nadell
said. "But the guys don't care what
the bagel looks like."
Touchdown Cafe, which opened at
7 a.m. yesterday, also featured green-
colored food items, including popu-
lar green-tinted beer. General
Manager Julie Hazimi said the green-

colored beverages were in high
demand all day.
"If it's green, the customers are
willing to drink it," Hazimi said.
Touchdown also gave away free
holiday paraphernalia - many T-
shirts, hats, garter belts, tattoos and
glow-in-the-dark buttons.
Dental first-year student Neha
Dalal wore her green hat from
Touchdown while walking around
campus. Dalal was at the cafe two
hours after its early morning opening.
See ST. PATRICK, Page 2A

Expert witnesses
discuss diversity

AAID to target fake
ID users in area bars

By Jaimle Winklr
Daily Staff Reporter
Students educated in high-diversity
institutions are better learners and more
effective citizens, according to a study
produced by University psychology
Prof. Pat Gurin.
Gurin's study is part of her expert
witness testimony for two lawsuits
challenging the University's use of
race in admission policies in the Law
School and the College of Literature,
Science and the Arts. The lawsuits,
filed by the Washington D.C.-based
Center for Individual Rights, claim
two white applicants were denied
admission into the College of

Literature, Science and the Arts and
one was denied admission into the
Law School based on their race.
"The most important thing is that we
have evidence that students with diverse
experiences in college become more
active learners and more thoughtful
learners, and are more prepared to func-
tion in a heterogeneous democracy," said
Gurin, who currently serves as LSA's
interim dean.
For a long time, educators have
assumed there are educational benefits to
diversity, Gurin said, but her research is
the first empirical evidence to support
that belief.
See LAWSUIT, Page 7A

State grant will allow
department to place officers in
campus eateries looking for
underage drinkers.
By Marts Brill
Daily Staff Reporter

The Ann Arbor Police Department recently
received a grant from the state government to
crackdown on underage drinking in area restau-
rants, AAPD spokesperson Sgt. Michael Logghe
said.
Logghe said the grant proposes that officers
be inside and outside restaurants and bars to
check customers' IDs.
Ann Arhnr -w. nlire have nt vet determned how

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