One hundred nine years ofeditorialfreedom Unti NEWS: 76-DAILY CLASSIFIED: 764-0557 wwwmichlgandaily com Tuesday March 28, 2000 M,} ,y State Rep. to fight for tier system Tn budget By Hanna LoPatin Daily Staff Reporter The Michigan House of Representa- tives began their spring recess just days after receiving the Senate- proved budget for the Fiscal Year W 1 last week, but the chairwoman of the House higher education subcom- mittee, is already saying that some changes need to be made. Rep. Sandy Caul (R-Mt. Pleasant) announced Friday that she disagrees with the Senate's removal of the tier system in their budget proposal. The tier system - championed by Caul and her Republican colleagues in the subcommittee *the Fiscal ar 2000 budget - 2oov t groups univer- Michigan sities into five Higher levels based Education; on a self- Budget Pointing the way Religion major to be suspended Students who want to concentrate in religion must declare by April 14 By Jon Fish Daily Staff Reporter University students intending to pursue religion studies as their major will need to do so by April 14 because the concentration will be suspended for two years. Robert Owen, associate dean for undergraduate education, said the Pro- gram in Religious Studies "cannot readily meet its obligation to offer the courses that are required for students who are concentrating." A suspended concentration means the PIRS will not be accepting any new concentrators into the program until the suspension is lifted. But the department will offer courses to non- concentrators and those already declared. Those wishing to pursue a degree in religion after the April 14 deadline can do so through the Indi- vidual Concentration Program, which allows students to build their own pro- grams. Faculty within the department and other outside experts will be reviewing the department during the course of the suspension. LSA Dean Shirley Neuman and the LSA College Executive Committee made the decision based in part by rec- ommendations made by PIRS Director Prof. Donald Lopez, Owen said in a written statement. "In recent years, PIRS has had diffi- culty offering a number of important courses, especially seminars required of all concentrators. For several years there has been an insufficient number of faculty permanently attached to the program, requiring it to rely excessive- ly on part-time instructors," Owen said. "Professor Lopez has recognized that there are a number (of) faculty ... located in various LSA departments whose scholarships and teaching inter- ests lie in the area of Religious Stud- ies, but whose courses have not been integrated into PIRS," Owen said. The actual decision to suspend the concentration was handed down yes- terday, and while the actual review of See RELIGION, Page 2 reported eval- uation of the student. education costs per Sen. John Schwarz (R-Battle Creek), *o heads the Senate higher education subcommittee, removed the tier system and replaced it with an across-the-board floor funding level of $4,700 per stu- dent. All of the state's 15 public univer- sities, except Grand Valley State, reach the floor funding level. Grand Valley State, which was given a floor funding level of $4,500 due to its fast growth in student popu- lation, also received the highest per- at increase of the budget with a 14.4 cent recommendation. But Caul and the administration of Gov. John Engler worry that the pro- posed removal of the tier system will put back into the higher education budget the politics they wanted to eliminate when they created it in 1999._ Caul spokesman Matt Sweeney said Caul "agrees with Gov. Engler that there's a historical disparity between Sools in higher education." "Schools that had either the chair or even members in the (higher educa- tion) committee have benefited in the past," he said. As term limits force the change of committees heads, Sweeney said Caul believes the tier system would "set a precedent so that every year there is not a new school bumped to the top." Sweeney said he does not believe the Senate plan shows any favoritism Oause it upped the governor's 2.5 percent recommendation by so much. See BUDGET, Page 2 ISN 2pane addresses By Jacquelyn Nixon Daily Staff Reporter JESSCAJOHNSO~N/Duaily Art and Design junior Elizabeth VanderVeen puts up a sign leading to the Wave Field sculpture by Art Matters on North Campus yesterday. Suspect arrested in taCost Rica killings By Jodie Kaufmanr Daily Staff Reporter A 16-year-old suspect was identified late Sun- day night in the murder of Ann Arbor resident Emily Eagen and her friend Emily Howell of Kentucky. Eagen had been in Costa Rica for several days visiting Howell, who was studying abroad from Antioch College in Ohio, when their bodies were discovered on a highway March 13 many miles from their severely burned rental sports utility vehicle. As of yesterday, the family could only report that one suspect had been arrested. Eagen's father, Charles, said the U.S. Embassy has informed the family of the arrest of the 16-year- old male suspect. "I have no idea when more information will come, it comes when it comes and it is painfully slow," Eagen said. Officials at the U.S. State Department's Office of Central American Affairs said yesterday that the arrested minor was in possession of a gun that is a ballistic match to the bullets found in the bodies of Howell and Eagen, who was expecting to attend the University in its non-degree pro- gram next fall. The State Department also said additional sus- pects are being investigated. This case and-the October murder of an elderly couple, also in Costa Rica, has caused Department officials to inform travelers of potential dangers which target innocent trav- elers. The State Department offers potential travelers a lengthy informational recording for Central See SLAYINGS, Page 2 Rogers declares bi'*d for } Congress By Jeremy W. Peters Daily Staff Reporter MARJORIE MARSHALL/Daily David Konkle, energy coordinator for the city of Ann Arbor presents "Global Warming: A Campus Response" as part of Earth Week yesterday in the Henderson room of the Michigan League. Earth Week integrates environment, politics By Yael Kohen Daily Staff Reporter Each year students from many countries worldwide travel to the University for their college education. They encounter varying rees of culture shock while having the i ernal struggle to assimilate or keep true their culture. Finding ways to integrate with American culture is the most difficult aspect for most international students, so over the years stu- dent cultural organizations have formed. The International Student Network, com- prised of students from India, Hong Kong, Japan, Ukraine, Turkey, Korea, Kenya, China Bosnia, seeks to unify these organiza- s and promote the importance of learning about other cultures to students. ISN President David Ng said, "we would like to bridge international students with each other to form a community. We need to increase mutual understanding among cul- tures in order to break down stereotypes and State Sen. Mike Rogers, who is known on Michigan college cam- puses mostly for sponsoring a bill which requires all registered voters to vote in the city of their perma- nent address, announced yesterday his candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives. Rogers' bill, which was passed into law last year, has drawn consid- erable criticism from students and politicians alike because it requires students living away from home to return to their permanent address to cast a ballot. The law is now the subject of an American Civil Liber- ties Union lawsuit. Many have suggested that the bill is aimed at drawing student sup- With a focus on integrating the environ- mental as well as economic and political factors that go into making the world a bet- ter place to live, campus groups are orga- nizing events to encourage environmental awareness. Although the nationally celebrated Earth Day is April 16, campus organizations have deemed this week Earth Week and are holding events to heighten environ- mental awareness.h Much of the h focus of the events has been to. integrate many dif- ferent factors that affect the environ- ment directly and indi- rectly, said SNRE senior Joseph Groenke, a member of the Environmental Issues Com- mission. Groenke said often times people are "too spe- cialized" in their ways of thinking about the environment. In an effort to further integrate these issues Campus Response," was presented by David Konkle, energy coordinator for the city of Ann Arbor. The lecture was divided into three parts - the science of global warming, which pertains to the imbalance created in the environment due to energy emissions. The second part of the series dealt with the mobilization of local governments to reduce global warming and search for cleaner and less consuming sources of energy. In the third part, Konkle discussed the direct impact students can have in the fight against global-warming. Konkle said the Kyoto Treaty is an effort on the part of some members of the United Nations which calls nations to bring a reduction in global warming emissions. He stressed the importance of stu- dents in the efforts to get the Kyoto Treaty passed through the U.S. Congress. Engineering freshman Doug Urquhart said he plans to become a chemical engineer and is interested in the effects of energy on global warming. Urquhart said the implications the environment and energy had on the economy was an interesting aspect on the issue and should be addressed. In another following lecture Catherine Badg- ley, director of the Environmental Studies Pro- JESICA JOHINSON/D aily Manish Chopra, Indian Student Association president and Michigan League Program Coordinator Benita Murrel speak at the international dialogue. versity. Michigan League Program Coordinator Benita Murrel said "as a student, you have to get out of your comfort zone and make it a point to interact." I { 1 I