t lie Ak Weather Today: Partly cloudy. High 24 Tomorrow: Partly cloudy. Hig . Low 6. h 22. One hundred nine years ofeditonalfreedom Wednesday January 26, 2000 1t x ( ) k . Hopwood Study indicates increased stress axarrds honor students By Marta Brill Daily Staff Reporter Engineering first-year student Alissa Kass was hanging out with friends at a party when she heard a *tory that inspired her to take up her pen and write. The tale that emerged, which she titled "Keeping Anna," is the story of a young girl learning to live with the hor- rific scars caused by running through a plate-glass window. "Keeping Anna" - part of a collec- tion of three short stories written by Kass - won an esteemed Hopwood Award in the category of underclass- man fiction. The awards were presented yesterday afternoon by English Prof. Nicholos Delbanco at Rackham Auditorium. Following the award ceremony, fic- tion author Sue Miller read excerpts from her most recent work. Miller has written six novels, including "Inventing the Abbots" and "While I Was Gone." Miller "was very interesting. She writes about seemingly ordinary things, but the detail she uses to Olescribe them is phenomenal," Kass said. Essay-winner Maggie Smith, an LSA first-year student, said she was "captivated" by Miller's reading and added that she enjoyed hearing an author read from her work, rather than give a lecture. "Nana," Smith's winning essay, was an account of how her grandmother's death profoundly affect- ed her family. English Prof. Marjorie Levinson was One of the judges in the poetry section of the contest. She said the submissions this year covered a wide range of sub- jects and points of view. Levinson said she had a difficult time choosing the best collection of poetry. from the submissions, but some poems stood out more than others in their "representation of thought." "I was drawn to wit, humor and a *ophistication. Something other ~han an uncritical, unconscious emersion in their subject," Levinson said. In total, more than $5,600 was awarded to University students through the Hopwood contest. In the under- classman contest, first-year students or sophomores could win from $300 to $1,000 in the category of essay, fiction or poetry. Essay winners include Smith, LSA ophomore Jonathan Brenner, and LSA rst-year student Ben Yan. In addition to Kass, LSA sophomore Eseohe Arhebamen, LSA first-year stu- dent Gordon Jimison and LSA sopho- more Lindi Watts took home awards for their fiction writings. Poetry awards were given to LSA sophomores Kristi McGuire, Jane Fox and Cherisse Montgomery. Other awards given by the *opwood Program at yesterday's cer- emony included the Academy of American Poets Prize-Graduate, Academy of American Poets Prize- Undergraduate, the Bain-Swiggett Poetry Prize, the Michael Gutterman Award in Poetry, The Roy W. Cowden Memorial Fellowship and the Louis and George Piranian Scholarship. By Hanna LoPatin Daily Staff Reporter First-year college students are facing records levels of stress, according to a recent study released by the Higher Education Research Institute at the University of California at Los Angeles Graduate School of Education and Information Studies. Thirty percent of the 364,546 students responding to the 34th annual American Freshman Survey said they feel "frequently overwhelmed by all I have to do." The survey was conducted prior to classes and during the summer. Although the study included respondents from 683 two and four- year universities and colleges, University stu- dents did not participate in the study. LSA first-year student Thomas Smyly attrib- uted the stress to increased pressure to suc- ceed. "There's just pressure from society to do New students feel pressure well," Smyly said. "There's an expectation that's never been there before to get a good job and make a good living." Survey results also reported that women tend to feel more stress than men. Thirty-eight per- cent of women reported feeling stress, com- pared to 20 percent of men. Survey Director and UCLA education Prof. at UCLA'Linda Sax explained that the varying levels of stress may be attributed to the differ- ent activities that men and women pursue. "Women spend more time on study, clubs, groups and volunteering," she said. "Men spend more time on recreational activities like partying, exercising and video games." UCLA Student Psychological Services Director Harold Pruett said with equal oppor- tunity increasing society has placed pressure on women to fulfill a dual role. "More and more women have gone to col- lege," he said, "yet there's still somehow a sub- tle and not-so-subtle implication that they're to be caretakers as well." While the report released on Monday high- lighted the findings of increased stress, Sax said the most striking item in the study was the fact that 39.9 percent of responding students said they were "frequently feeling bored in class." Sixty-two percent, an increase of two percent from last year, said they frequently or occa- sionally arrive late to classes. "They're viewing college as a means to an end," Sax said. Students are "not as focused on college for the knowledge they'll gain." Pruett said the reported disinterest may be explained by the fact that the study is conduct- ed prior to the beginning of college, when seniors in high school are often bored with school. "I'm not sure how much it reflects the attitude of a student coming into the university," he said. University of Michigan Engineering first- year student Britt Smart said she was less inter- ested in school at the end of her senior year. "Once I got accepted, I wasn't interested in learning," she said. The survey also showed an increasing inter- est in the arts and humanities. Reaching its highest level in 27 years, the percentage of students planning to major in the humanities reached 3.1 percent. Students planning to major in the fine arts reached a 22-year high of 5.4 percent. - U-Wire contributed to this report. Double Vision1 guilty By David Enders Daily Staff Reporter Zachary Marwil, an LSA sophomore, pleaded guilty yesterday to shooting a fraternity pledge with a BB gun in December. While in Circuit Court Judge Ann Mattson's court today, Marwil reversed his previous plea of innocence, admitting to one count of illegal discharge of a firearm without malicious intent - a misdemeanor. Marwil had been accused of shooting a pledge of Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity, where he is an active mem- ber, in the groin during an alleged hazing incident. Fraternity members told Ann Arbor Police officers they thought the gun was not loaded as Marwil alleged- ly pulled the trigger six times before it went off. See SHOOTER, Page 2 SAM HOLLENSHEAD/Daily LSA first-year student Howard Chen walks past the Shapiro Undergraduate Library in yesterday's frigid temperatures that hovered In the 2s Thost of the day. New de-icing liquid safe, non-corrosive Ice-Ban angers some students, faculty F By Caitlin Nish Daily Staff Reporter It's known by students and teachers as the foul-smelling, brown liquid on classroom and residence hall floors. But Ice-Ban, a by-product of corn milled to produce alcohol, is being used by the University as an ecologi- cally friendly substitute for salt to free students from the hassle of slip- ping and sliding en route to class. Ice-Ban "is gross to see and you don't want to put your bag on it. All the classes are covered with brown stuff," LSA first-year student Elizabeth Herr said. "Maybe (the University) could place more mats at the doors to the building. They have some, but they don't work very well," Herr added. University Custodian Nancy Antosiek said Ice-Ban has even cre- ated extra cleaning duties. "I have had a hard time keeping up," Antosiek said. "One girl fell and hurt herself because it was so slippery. We put up caution signs because everyone has been bringing it in," she said. Although it may be an eye-sore and cause extra work for the University's custodians, Ice-Ban rep- resentatives contend the de-icer is not harmful to metal equipment, fab- ric or people. "Ice-Ban is non-corrosive and bio- degradable so it will not attack metal," said Mark Weber, a sales representa- tive for Ice-Ban America Inc. "It is currently used as cattle feed in its orig- inal state. With the absence of chlo- ride, it is less aggressive for carpets." Weber also said that the compo- nents of Ice-Ban are non-harmful and a person could technically con- sume it. "I've eaten it and it doesn't taste that good, but you can eat it," he said. University's Supervisor of Forestry and Horticulture Marvin Pettway said although the University still uses sodium chloride, common- ly known as rock salt, on campus streets, Ice-Ban now covers all side- walks and driveways. "There has been a great deal of structural damage because of sodium chloride and we are (using Ice-Ban) to lessen the damage to the infra- structure," Pettway said. He also said some of the concrete posts in the plaza between the Chemistry Building and the C.C. Little Building have been rotted through because of the use of sodium chloride. Sodium chloride is still being used on city streets, but Ice-Ban is used in conjunction to increase the salt's effectiveness. "Ice-Ban makes salt work to a See ICE, Page 2 SAM HOLLENSHEAD/I The salt pictured here is being replaced by Ice-Ban, an environmentally safe substance that has been a bother to students, faculty and staff across campus. MSA proposes amendments to Code of Conduct B-School to develop online course program By Usa Kovu Daily Staff Reporter The Michigan Student Assembly spent most of its meeting last night in heated discussion concerning proposed amend- ments to the University's Code of nary system. The first point of discus- sion was whether to add that faculty and staff should also be held responsi- ble under the Code in addition to stu- dents. This amendment passed. Students' Rights Commission Chair * FT Knowledge will team up with the Business School to offer Web-based courses By Karolyn Kokko Daily Staff Reporter Those in the business world who wish to con- tinue taking business classes will soon be able to do so online soon. FT Knowledge, a division of the interna- tionnl media rmnanhwhichhas holdilng "This is a wonderful opportunity to underpin our leading 'position in the multi-billion dollar global market for executive education, combining Michigan's reputation and academic expertise with our international infrastructure and interac- tive open-learning skills," said Pippa Wicks, FTK's chief executive officer, in a written state- ment. Executive programs are for individuals who cur- rently hold jobs, but wish to take business courses, which can last from three days to four weeks. SomeP of the most nonu~lar bus'iness classes~ on { EU