One hundred nine years ofeditonridfreedom i ; . ., ,a NEWS: 76-DAILY CLASSIFED: 764-0557 www.michigandaily.com Monday March 20, 2000 a ._ a *Proposed law to curb mrso s NOW a 0 0 dea-n to Ste newborns By Jeremy W. Peters Daily Staff Reporter State Sen. Joanne Emmons is sponsoring a law she hoped would never be necessary. The legislation, currently before the Michigan Senate Judiciary Committee, .would provide new Onothers the option of releasing their newborn babies to the custody of the court without legal conse- quence. The law, Emmons (R-Big Rapids) said, is intended to curb the rising number of newborns aban- doned each year. "Newborn babies are being aban- doned and that is really a shame when so many people are waiting to adopt," Emmons said. Under the measure, mothers Would deliver their unwanted babies to any hospital, fire station or police station, and would not be subject to punitive legal action. The child would then become a ward of the court and could be reclaimed by the biological parents through a court hearing or most likely would be released for adop- tion. * The thrust behind the legislation came from similar laws that states such as Texas have enacted. The Texas law, which took effect last September, states that a mother can leave her child with an emer- gency care provider within 30 days of the child's birth and not be sub- ject to criminal prosecution. Texas state Rep. Geanie Morri- son authored the original abandon- -ment law that has influenced 23 Gther states, including Michigan, to take similar action. That law has moved into its sec- ond phase - titled the Baby Moses Project - which intends to educate Texas citizens about their rights under the new law. "We're hoping to educate the public as to the general scope of the problem," said Justin Unruh, direc- *or of the Baby Moses Project. Since the law was passed, three babies have been abandoned in Texas, he said. Because these babies were not left in the custody of an emergency care provider,I Unruh said he believes the mothers of these children did not know of the new law. "We feel these mothers didn't know this opportunity was there for them to utilize," Unruh said. "We're *rying to let them know that there is1 a better place for them to leave their baby than a dumpster." Emmons said it is not clear yet1 how old a baby could be under the Michigan law before it is consid- ered too old to be given up by the mother. Currently, she said, the billi states that the baby can be no older than 30 days but there is a strong See BABIES, Page 7AI Kids-Fair entertain *area yout By Elizabeth Kassab Daily Staff Reporter Dean B. Joseph White announces that he will not seek a third tern as B-School head By Caitlin Nish Daily Staff Reporter; Students, faculty and administrators alike were shocked and saddened by Thursday's announcement thit School of Business Admin- istration Dean B. Joseph White's decision to not stand for reappointment to his position. White will complete his second five-year term in the middle of 2001, concluding eleven years as the head of the school. "1 think a decade or so is a good long run for a dean at the University of Michigan. The busi- ness school is in really good condition and I think we will be able to attract a strong succes- sor to me," White said. University Regent Olivia Maynard (D- Goodrich) said she is disappointed by White's decision but understands it. "He has been a very positive part of the busi- ness school and the University," she said. "Cer- tainly it's a loss, but on the other hand I always honor someone's decision to go in different directions." In an e-mail message addressed to the busi- ness school community, White said he "had long planned to serve as dean for a decade. (Provost Nancy Cantor) and (President Lee Bollinger), as well as a number of faculty col- leagues, urged me during the last several months to consider continuing for a third term. This support, which I appreciate, caused me to re-consider my plans. But I have come to the conclusion that I should stay the course of pur- suing new challenges when my term ends next year." Bollinger said yesterday he urged White to consider another term. "This is Joe's choice, We both, Nancy and I, talked to him at length and urged him to stay if he really wanted to. But, I think 10 years is more than a fair commitment by a person to a deanship. He has done an outstanding job," he said. During his tenure as dean, White highly influ- enced the business school. Under his leadership, down the school has seen the creation of the William Davidson Institute, the Joel D. Tauber Manufac- turing Institute, the Frederick A. and Barbara M. Erb Institute and the Samuel Zell and Robert H. Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies; plus the physical expansion of the business campus. Throughout the past 10 years, annual expen- ditures on student scholarships have been dou- bled, the annual operating budget has grown from nearly $50 millionto more than $100 mil- lion and the school's endowment has increased from $40 million to $150 million. "The things (White) has accomplished don't go away when he goes away, they continue. His great contribution is that he has made this one See WHITE, Page 7A 'I feel good!' Icers draw ffth-se~%ed By Chris Grandstaff Daily Sports Editor It wasn't what it was hoping for before started, but yesterday the Michigan hockey news that it had received a fifth seed in the the weekend team got the East Region- al of the NCAA Tournament. Michigan, still smarting from Friday night's 7-4 upset at the hands of Nebraska- Omaha in the CCHA Tourna- ment, will face-off Saturday night in Albany, N.Y. against fourth-seeded Colgate for the right to play No. I seed Maine on Sunday. A dejected group of Wolverines gathered in the lockerroom of Yost Ice Arena yesterday to watch and wait for the seeding announcement, and when it On to Albany ® Fifth-seed Michigan faces fourth- seed Colgate in Round 1 of the NCAA Tournament. 3 Game 1: Saturday, 3:30 p.m. at the Pepsi Arena, Albany, N.Y. 9 For ticket information call: (508) 476-1000 Legendary singer James Brown pours out his soul to a sold-out house at Hill Auditorium on Saturday night. DANA IUNNANE/Daily Canddates discu ss- issues, platforis at MSAI debate came they didn't complain, but remained focused on the task at hand. "From a coaches perspective I feel fortunate that we have another chance coming off a loss," Michigan coach Red See HOCKEY, Page 3A By Lisa Koivu I Daily StaffReporter In the fourth}annual debate hosted by WOLV-TV, the University's student run televi- sion station, Michigan Student Assembly presi- dential and vice presidential candidates tackled topics the assenbly will be facing in the upcoming year. The debate began with the four vice presidential candidates in attendance --- Jessica Curtin from the Defend Affirma- tive Action Party, Sara Sweat from the Friends Rebelling Against Tyranny Party, independent candidate Jim Secreto and Elise Erickson from the Blue Party, stating why each thought he or she would be the best candidate. Curtin said she has been one of the most pub- lic leaders on this campus. "I've been on MSA for two years and served as the Peace and Jus- tice Commission co-chairwoman. I'm an inter- venor in the lawsuits. I want to be an official leader of the student government," Curtin said. From Curtin's seriousness, Sweat said she is running to "inject levity into MSA, because people take themselves too seriously." Secreto said he is able to understand what students want because of his work with the American Civil Liberties Union. Erickson said she serves as a liaison between the administration and students, representing students to the University Board of Regents. After the vice presidential candidates fin- ished speaking, the presidential candidates had a chance to debate topics including parking, tuition and a decline in minority enrollment. The candidates first discussed the pending Supreme Court case, The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin v. Scott South- worth, involving the use of student fees to fund campus groups. Wolverine Party candidate Rory Diamond said "if a student has a problem with funding, vote Wolverine." Kym Stewart from. the All Peoples' Party said if a student has problems with the way stu- dent fees are distributed to student groups; they should join groups with opposing ideologies. Blue Party candidate Glen Roe and indepen- dent Hideki Tsutsumi then attacked the lack of parking on campus. See DEBATE, Page 2A Inside: A complete run-down of parties. Page5A. Social Security Adlministration tries to educate students "Ready? Go!" At Business senior Raj Ramanan's mark, groups of University and elementary school stu- dents raced against each other to see who could build the tallest stack of Legos in a minute. The Dowers had to be able to stand on their own, and the winners got candy, from Ramanan and other students from the Michigan BBA Transfer Club, which took part in the second annual Kids-Fair at Crisler Arena on Friday. The BBA Transfer Club was one of more than 110 student groups at the fair, which was spon- ByIYaetKohen Daily StAf Reporter With many officials and politicians stressing the need to "save social securi- ty" many young people are left wonder- ing what the relevance of saving this system is to their lives. But with worries that the social security trust fund is going to be exhausted by 2034, Social Security Administration officials are trying to inform young people that social security is a pertinent issue that directly and presently affects them too. "This is an inter-generational pro- gram," said William Halter, deputy commissioner of the Social Security abled or survivors of a deceased relative. According to Social Security Admin- istration statistics show that one out of every four youths can expect to become disabled before they reach 67 years-old and one out of every six can expect to die before 67. In 1998, approximately 95,000 stu- dents between the ages of 18 and 19 received social security benefits averag- ing $470 per month, according to SSA statistics. "We've got indicators that a number of younger folks are concerned (about social security) but they don't have a full set of information," Halter said. Social security is somewhat of an LSA sophomore Chiao-Ju Chu protests China's military threats on Taiwan on the steps of the Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library on Friday. Students protest t Chinese threats' By Jacquelyn Nixon For the Daily Members of the Michigan Taiwanese Student Associa- tion stood on the steps of the Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library on Friday, the eve of the second election in Taiwan's history, protesting China's obstruction of Taiwan's democra- tic system. The protest formed in response to China's threat to use military force if Taiwan refused to unify. "This is not an issue of reunification, but rather an issue of imperialistic takeover. What China thinks will force us towards them is only pushing us away. Taiwan is not a part JOANNAPA INE/vaily Engineering sophomore Eric Beaser teaches elementary school student hantel Johnson to drive a solar car at Kids-Fair on Friday at Crisler Arena. schools. University students and elementary school students are paired up and exchange let- ters foi one year. Besides providing a fun environment for the i