iran ai One hundred nne years ofedhtorialfreedom NEWS: 76-DAILY CLASSIFIED: 764-0557 wwwmichigandaily.com Friday March 17, 2000 ..: . . . . _ . _ _ _, _ _ w .. k _.. t. ; xy^i K' 4 i Halberstam ._ :. T to speak at graduation ® Pulitzer Prize winner chosen to speak at Spring Commencement next month 9y Anna Clark Daily Staff Reporter From long days serving as a war correspon- dent to writing sports, novels, and critical pro- files on John F. Kennedy, David Halberstam has earned the description of a "journalistic jack-of-all-trades." The Pulitzer Prize-winning author and jour- nalist will share his stories, experience and knowledge with the Class of 2000 when he speaks at Spring Commencement, Vice Presi- dent and Secretary of the University Lisa Tedesco said yesterday. Halberstam was approved as the commence- ment speaker by University President Lee Bollinger. He's one of six candidates recom- mended to receive honorary doctoral degrees at the ceremony. Halberstam, who lives in New York City, was out of town and could not be reached for comment yesterday. His wife Jean said the offer to speak at the University's graduation is "a great honor." "He thinks this is one of the great universi- ties of the country," she said. "It's one that sep- arates us from Europe. They don't have a true people's university there." In his long career, Halberstam's writing has touched on a startling variety of topics, from politics to sports to history. His 1998 book "The Children" tells the story of eight black college students in Tennessee in the heat of the Civil Rights Movement. Six months later, Halberstam demonstrated his range of expertise in "Playing for Keeps: Michael Jordan and the World He Made." The New York Times Book Review said Halberstam "delivers ... insight, balance, analysis, an assemblage of pertinent anecdotes ... Halberstam's achievement is that he writes as a credible reporter." But it was his book "The Best and The Brightest" that Halberstam called his "signa- ture book," saying it changed his life and gave him independence. Halberstam was also an editor of "The Best American Sports Writing of The Century" anthology. Halberstam is one of six candidates for hon- orary degrees. Pending approval Monday by the University Board of Regents at its monthly meeting, other recipients will be William Ferris of the National Endowment for the Humanities U.S Ambassador to Norway David Hermelin, historian and musician Bernice Johnson Reagon, screenwriter and film producer Lawrence Kasden and 1999 Nobel Prize-win- ning physicist Martinus Veltman, a former University professor.. House raises research funds for universities By Yae Kohen Daily Staff Reporter The U.S. House of Representatives has included in its Fiscal Year 2001 budget plan a $1 billion increase to the National Institutes of Health, as well as upping National Science Founda- tion funding. Basic research - projects that aim to increase knowledge in scientific fields and not a final product - is an important factor in University funds. University Assistant to the Vice Pres- ident for Research Lee Katterman said during the past 10 years the University has generally received between 1.5 per- cent and 2 percent of federal allocations for research. Last year the University received almost $200 million for the NIH. That amount comprises 40 per- cent of the school's research funds and more than $42 million in NSF funds, which total 8 percent of the University's research funding. "There's a lot of good evidence that the economic prosperity ... can be attributed to the new technology that was done by basic research 15 to 20 years ago," Katterman said. According to the House plan, a $1 billion increase in NIH funding - a 5.6 percent increase from last year - would fall more or less within President Clinton's budget recommendation. NSF funding would increase by a total of $500 million after compromises See RESEARCH, Page 2 'M' faces Omaha in CCHA semis By tehaie f Social Work second-year student Kenya Arnold loads books Into 4 shopping cart in the lobby of the Shapirq Undergraduate Ubrary yesterday. 'Protesters check out 3,000 books Daily Sports Editor When Nebraska-Omaha coach Mike marching toward the semifinals of the conference tournament in their first year in the league. It is a story that top- seeded Michigan coach Red Berenson hopes will not have a happy ending By Robert Gold Daily Staff Reporter Group upset with han s Each day University stu-. dents, faculty and staff check out about 300 books from theO Shapiro Und1ergraduate Library. But yesterday a group of gradt dents borrowed nearly 3,000 books in 1 three hours. The 50 students checked out the books t how the University administration han conflict between the Students of Color C and the senior honor society Michigamua. The group, Graduate Action Alliance, return the books this morning, group woman Mari Hashimoto said. "This was the best way we thought v express our frustration with Bollinger i L a Union tower occupation uate stu- administration as a whole,"she said. Library emplo' ess than University spokesman Joel Seguine said the three computers ar administration does not plan to release an official for studying" was o protest response to the protest. said. dled the Hashimoto said the group wants the administra- The library cou Coalition tion to address issues beyond Michigamua such as Haar said, but she drops in minority enrollment and the quantity of need the books for plans to minority faculty. "I understand (t spokes- Members of Graduate Action Alliance sorry about the e checked out 3,000 books and took about 2,500 their fellow studen we could more from the library's stacks between about 9 semester. People ar and the a.m. and 11:40 a.m, Shapiro Undergraduate Library Head Linda TerHaar said. After Graduate Action Alliance members checked out the books, they packed them into shopping carts and moved them into a U-Haul truck. yees scanned the books using nd any "person borrowing books given priority in line, TerHaar uld handle the extra work, Ter- was concerned for students who studying. he group's) need to protest. I'm ffects this protest will have on nts. This is a critical time in the re doing research."- See PROTEST, Page 7 Kemp stepped into his first time in 1996, he was presented with only a small desk and a phone. The program, which was a year from starting, had no schedule and no players. What it did have was a sold- out season at the 8,314-seat Omaha Civic Center. And Monday, In when they returned an home to host the THIS WEEKEND JoE Louis ARENA The CCHA Tournament Semifinalgame 1: Friday5 p.m. Michigan (26-84) vs. Nebraska-Oaha(15-18-7) Semifinal game 2: Friday 8:30 p.m. Michigan State (25-104) vs. Notre Dame (16-17-8) Final: Saturday 7:30 p.m. Tickets for all games are still available. nside: CCHA award winners nnounced. Page 10. after his team faces Nebraska-Omaha tonight in that semi- final. The Mavericks share an arena with the Creighton bas- ketball team and other events put on by the city of Omaha. This week the Center was host- ing a farm imple- ment show, so the workers at the arena office for the CCHA conference tournament play-in game the following evening, the sev- enth-seeded Mavericks had one more thing: A great story to tell about thought it would be a good decision to remove the ice sheet from the Center after the Mavericks' last home game See HOCKEY, Page 7 Ferris State student dies from drinking By David Enders Daily Staff Reporter "You cn't have a i Shamrock express *Doctors confirmed yesterday that alcohol poisoning caused the death of a Ferris State University student Wednesday morning. The employees of Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids determined that Stephen Petz, a 19-year-old freshman from Gaylord, had a blood alcohol content of 0.42 percent at the time of his death. Brad McCue, the Michigan Ste University student who died in 1998 after drinking 22 shots, had a blood alcohol content of 0.44. In Michigan a person is considered legal- ly drunk if they have a blood alcohol content of .10 percent. Petz is said to have consumed the worse thing happen to you than having a student die." - Ted Halm Ferris State University spokesman lic Safety. KCL is an unofficial frater- nity, located off-campus, and is not sanctioned by the University Three other pledges and several KCL members were at the party with Petz, city officials said. He was taken to the hospital at around 7:30 a.m. Wednesday when KCL members were Higher ed bill moves to floor By Hanna LoPatin Daily Staff Reporter The Michigan Senate Appropriations Committee reported the higher education portion of the Fiscal Year 2001 budget to the full Senate on Wednesday "substantially the way we wrote it," said State Sen. John Schwarz (R- Battle Creek), chairman of the higher education subcommittee that M g recommended a 6.9 percent Higher increase in funds for the University. Education The increase was determined Budget after University President Lee Bollinger testified to the subcommittee in late February that the University would need an additional 5 percent to 6 per- cent in state appropriations in order to restrain tuition n. r- 5,. :~ . " .,r AM