One hundred nine years ofed tonialfreedom
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NEWS: 76-DAILY
CLASSIFIED: 764-0557
www.michigandaily.com
Thursday
March 23, 2000
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JL iti
court rules against Southworth
By Jeannie Baumann
Daily Staff Reporter
The Supreme Court of the United States, in
the case of the University of Wisconsin Board
Regentsv. Scott Southworth, unanimously
edayesterday that public universities can
allocate to student groups on a content-neutral
basis.
"The First Amendment permits a public uni-
versity to charge its students an activity fee used
to fund a program to facilitate extracurricular
student speech if the program of its viewpoint is
content neutral," Justice Anthony Kennedy said
in the written opinion of the court.
The Associated Students of Madison, the
University of Wisconsin at Madison's student
government, collects about $445 per student in
fees and channels 20 percent of those funds
into student group allocations. Southworth
claimed that mandating this fee violated his
First Amendment rights because it required
him to support groups he ideologically, politi-
cally and religiously opposed.
Kennedy emphasized the importance of dis-
tributing the funds on a content-neutral basis.
"When a university requires its students to
support the extracurricular speech of other stu-
dents, all in the interest of open discussion, it
may not prefer some viewpoints to others,"
Kennedy said.
University of Michigan President Lee
Bollinger said he was pleased with the ruling
and believes the Court made the correct deci-
sion under First Amendment law. Bollinger, a
First Amendment scholar, said the decision
was consistent with previous rulings.
"The critical issue is, and this is similar to
what I've said here, is that we must never get
into a position where we are penalizing student
groups because of their beliefs. That can come
from not supporting as well as differential sup-
port," Bollinger said.
Southworth said he was disappointed by the
ruling but does not feel defeated.
"The referendum system is dead and that's a
victory for us," he said.
Referendums allow ASM, through a majori-
ty vote, to fund or defund student groups.
Kennedy said referendums undermine the prin-
ciple of viewpoint neutrality.
"The whole theory of viewpoint neutrality is
that minority views are treated with the same
respect as majority views," Kennedy said.
See SOUTHWORTH, page 2A
Senate to vote
on university
appropriations
y Hanna LoPatin floor funding.
aily Staff Reporter "It died for lack of support" Univer-
IN FULL SWING
r-
The Michigan Senate is expected
today to approve a 6.9 percent
increase in funding for the Universi-
ty as part of the Fiscal Year 2001
higher education budget recom-
mended last week by the Senate
Appropriations Committee.
k "We're going to pass it," said Sen.
ohn Schwarz (R-Battle Creek), who
chairs the Senate Appropriations
Higher Education Subcommittee. "It
will be going to the House
tomorrow."
The appropriations bill
includes removing the tier 2001
system that previously Michigan
grouped universities based H1Mh f
on size and enrollment and Budgt
replacing it with an across-
qe-board funding floor of $4,700 per
student.
Under the Senate's bill, all 15 public
universities are placed above the $4,700
mark - with the University at $9,876
- except for Grand Valley State Uni-
versity, which would receive $4,500.
"It's hard to get them there because
they keep growing so fast," said
Schwarz, who provided Grand Valley
with a 14.4 percent increase to make
p for the discrepancy.
The only challenge to the Senate bill
during debate yesterday was Sen. Leon
Stille's (R-Spring Lake) failed amend-
ment to include Grand valley in the
rr ,
sity of Michigan Vice President for
Government Relations Cynthia
Wilbanks said.
But, she added, "the general tenor of
the debate was that this was one of the
best higher education budgets to come
out in a very long time."
Sen. Alma Wheeler Smith (D-
Salem Twp.), whose district includes
the University, attributed the praise of
the bill to Schwarz. "A lot of that has
to do with the fact that (Schwarz) is a
chair who is very con-
cerned with getting the
right amount to the univer-
sities to keep tuition
r down," she said.
z: 3
Voter turnout
could reach
record high
By Lisa Kovu
Daily Staff Reporter
Election fever has swept the University. The Diag was filled
yesterday with candidates giving their final campaign push for
the ongoing Michigan Student Assembly elections.
The vigorous campaigning seemed to be successful, as the
total number of voters shortly after midnight reached a record
5,788 students overall - almost 15
percent of the University's student
population - as compared to the
5,714 total ballots cast in the elec- W '
tion for MSA last winter.
With the voter turnout initially
high, there are still many students
who don't plan on voting.
"I have no idea what the candi-
dates are standing for and I don't
want to make a random vote. This is Vote today at
partly my fault because I'm notww ote
involved in campus politics but also
partly theirs because they don't get their issues across," Engi-
neering sophomore Zack Chen said. "They pass out fliers say-
ing to vote for their party - but what does the party stand for?"
LSA sophomore Dan Miller said he has never voted and
wasn't sure if he would vote in this election. "I'm getting a lot
of free stuff though, and that might change my mind," he said.
The campaign of independent presidential candidate
Hideki Tsutsumi has influenced some students.
LSA senior Jeff Blank said he doesn't really care about
MSA, but he likes the dedication Tsutsumi has shown.
"The only reason I want to vote is because of Hideki. I've
been seeing him around since June and he is willing to talk
to anyone. It's fine for all of these other candidates to throw
two-day parties, but Hideki's been doing this for nine
months," Blank said. "I don't know him, but he's amusing
and persistent, and he seems to care the most."
See MSA, page 3A
in
Schwarz said the bill was
one of the best to come out
of the Senate. "We just
have to convince the House of that and
the governor," he added.
Considering that the Senate's rec-
ommendation goes well above Gov.
John Engler's proposed 2.5 percent
increase, that may be a problem.
Engler spokesman John Truscott
expressed concern when the budget
was first presented to the Senate last
week saying, "You can bet there will
be some significant changes made."
But Smith said that once official
numbers are finalized in May, Michi-
gan will have a $250 to $300 million
overall budget surplus.
See BUDGET, page 2A
Photos by PETEftCr~~UruUcj aldII
TOP: LSA freshmen Duke Kim and Omarn Williams, members of the Blue Party, campaign on the
railing of the steps to the Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library yesterday.
ABOVE: Mike Wilson, an MSA candidate for the Friends Rebelling Against Tyranny Party, shares
a root beer with independent presidential candidate Hideki Tsutsumi on the Diag yesterday.
Student regent fight over for now
By Robert Gold
Daily Staff Reporter
While the University of California Board of
Regents selected the university system's 26th student
regent last week, those on the Michigan Student
Assembly have abandoned all hope of obtaining stu-
dents representation on the University of Michigan's
highest governing body in the near future.
MSA President Brain Elias said all proposals
made by the assembly to create a student regent have
never been brought to the table by any regent.
"Every time we were told 'you're just not doing this
the right way,"' Elias said, referring to the adminis-
tration's response to MSA proposals. "For the life of
us, we can't figure out the right way."
.Regent Kathy White (D-Ann Arbor) said the
Michigan Constitution requires University Regents
be chosen in statewide elections and all candidates
must be nominated by their political party. The Con-
stitution also applies to Wayne State and Michigan
State universities. "The law says you have to win
your nomination," White said. "It's not up to the
regents who sits on the boards."
Elias said that in July 1998 members of the MSA
Student Regent Taskforce worked with specific
board members on a proposal to create a non-voting
student regent whose appointment would not break
state law. The student would have been chosen in a
special election by students.
White said the MSA president currently reports
monthly to the board about student stances on issues.
"We want student input not to disappear," White
said. "The MSA is a good place to start for student
opinion."
Elias added that the Student Regent Taskforce dis-
banded after the board rejected a proposal last fall to
form a student group to meet with regents before
See REGENT, page 2A
PETER CORNUE/Daiy
SNRE senior Amanda Edmonds speaks last night at a forum in the Dana Building
that addressed possible changes to the school.
tudents oppose
All that jazz
Golden dollars hit
local cash drawers
By Eddie Ahn and design, the coin is the most dis
Daily Staff Reporter tinctive in circulation, according t
-
t0
By Jon Fish
Daily Staff Reporter
A committee charged by LSA Dean
irley Neuman to explore how the
niversity can expand environmental
education to all students will have its
hands full, judging by the turnout last
night at a forum with SNRE Dean Dan
Mazmanian.
More than 200 concerned students
undergraduate SNRE program may be
merged into the College of Literature,
Science and the Arts to combat the
declining enrollment and budgetary
problems SNRE is facing. The prob-
lem, Mazmanian told the students, has
been "ongoing since about 1995" and
"budgetarily, we are on a downhill
slide."
But students argued passionately
that merging the undergraduate pro-
The golden age has begun.
The new "Golden Dollar" coins,
which the U.S. Mint began distribut-
ing in January, have made their way
into banks and cash drawers
nationwide.
The newest addition to r
U.S. currency is
designed to supple- "
ment coins and bills
currently in circula- -
tion.
"It's not designed too
dinlaci" the dollair hill.
the U.S. Mint. Sculptor Glenna
Goodacre designed the coin's front in
honor of Sacajawea, the Native
American guide on Lewis and Clark's
expedition. The reverse side of the
coin features a soaring eagle.
"It's a cool idea to put
Sacajewea on the face of
a coin," said Stephanie
tie Hill, a customer ser-
y vice representative at
z , National City bank on
tbl South University
Avenue.
tS': The U.IS. Mint has
I