OF - Michigan Daily - FootbA Saturday - November 6, 9 CAMPtS NvEWs Council balance remains at 7-3 f 0. 0 0 0 No mber 6, 1999- Fo Edited and managed by students at the +M 4w HEATHER K~ University of Michigan lgtI Editor in 420 Maynard Street majority of theDae Ann Arbor, MI 48109 cartoons do not nep By Robert Gold and Shomari Terrelonge-Stone Daily Staff Reporters In an election that drew less than 12 percent of the 86,672 registered voters in the city, three Democrats and two Republicans took the five contested Ann Arbor City Council seats Tuesday. Incumbent candidates Heidi .Derrell and Christopher Kolb retained their seats in Wards III and V, respec- tively, while newcomers John Hieftje (D-Ward I), Dee Freiberg (R-Ward II) and Marcia Higgins (D-Ward IV) took control of the three remaining seats. Kolb said, "It feels great to be reelected to city council. Every couple of years we get reviewed by voters. I take nothing for granted. I stand for neighborhoods, community and peo- ple." The balance of power on the council will remain - seven Democrats and -'thvee Republicans, plus Republican Mayor Ingrid Sheldon. Sheldon said she was happy with the results because the Democrats did not win an eighth seat, the num- ber needed to override vetoes by the mayor. "I think the threat of veto adds an ele- ment of civility to council," Sheldon said. Not surprised by her loss to Dee Freiberg in Ward II, Parma Yarkin said, "I stayed in the race to make sure there was a respectable Democratic alternative. I wanted to make sure people had a good reason to vote 'yes' for parks." The parks proposal to which Yarkin referred - an additional .5 mill that would fund future parkland purchases - passed with 65 percent of the vote. University Medical Prof. Bob O'Neal said the parks proposal was one of the main reasons he decided to vote yesterday. "I voted yes because I think it is important we preserve as much free land as we can," O'Neal said. "We need to protect it from development and pro- tect the rivers. They're a resource that once we lose it we will never get it back." The night's most contested race belonged to the candidates of Ward IV Republican candidate Marcia Higgins edged out Democrat candidate Lawrence Kestenbaum by a mere 74 votes. Higgins, spending the evening at a benefit dinner, learned of her victory when Kestenbaum sought her ought for congratulations. "Larry Kestenbaum was very kind," Higgins said. "I didn't think it was going to be a cake walk." Kestenbaum said he is disappointed with the loss but happy with his cam- paign. "The response I got ... was really more favorable than I expected," Kestenbaum said. "I'm sorry I can't be on city council for them," he said, referring to those who supported and voted for him. "I think turnout was light and the weather was bad." Ward II Republican victor Dee Freiburg said she knows her life will become hectic but is ready for the chal- lenge. "I'm nervous. I really want to live up to the expectations of the voters," Freiburg said. Freiburg said her major goal is to improve and increase "neighborhood associations" throughout Ann Arbor. After finding out she won, Democrat Heidi Herrell said, "I am glad I won. I am looking forward to another two years to serve the city in .the Third Ward." First Ward Libertarian candidate Charles Goodman, who received II percent of the vote, said that it does not discourage him that a Libertarian has never been elected to the council. "It's very hard in a political system such as ours for someone who is not As you sit in Michigan Stadium, wait- ing for our team to continue its come- back and demolish Northwestern, take a look around you. What do you see? Yup, that's right - more than 100,000 people. Thousands of those people have lived in close quarters for the past few months. And the University has told those same people to get meningitis vaccines. They should be vaccinated immediate- ly, you think. Anyone who's at risk of con- tracting a deadly disease would be dumb not to take every precaution available. But there's a small hitch. The University, while it recommends meningi- tis vaccines to students living in residence halls, charges $89, and most insurance plans don't cover it. Most students don't have $89 readily available. Thus, the University is only making this potentially life-saving vaccine available to those who The value of saflCety? 'U must offer free meningitis vaccine SAM HOLLENSHEAD/Daily University faculty members Larry Radine and Glenda Radine vote Tuesday at Angell School on South University Avenue. can afford it. The University of Michigan, unlike other universities that have been exposed to meningitis - such as Michigan State University - will not give free vaccines. We find this appalling. Not only should the University recognize students' tight budgets, but it also needs to realize that the reason students are at risk of contracting meningitis is that they attend the University. Crowded living and learning conditions drive up the risk. So the University must take full responsibility to make sure nobody contracts bacterial meningitis. A few weeks ago, a student in Bursley Residence Hall contracted viral meningi- tis, which is not nearly as contagious as the bacterial strain. But students at nearby Eastern Michigan University and Michigan State University have contracted bacterial meningitis. There isn't a wall sur- rounding Ann Arbor that keeps out dis- eases, so we should all consider ourselves at risk. According to a study by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, six of the 88 cases of meningococcal disease report- ed among college students between September 1998 and June 1999 were fatal. tr n it ri a A n b c st b, A at ti7 with the two major parties to get elect- ed." While receiving little more than 20 percent of the votes in Ward V, Republican candidate Michael Maylen said his experience has convinced him to run again, probably in the 2000 elec- tion. "Tonight, the people of Ward V elect- ed two representatives," Maylen said. "I've gotten involved and I plan on stay- ing involved." -- Dai/r Staff Reporters Jeremy W Peters and Jon Zemke contributed to this report. Ann Arbor City Council Results Winners are in bold. D= Democrat, R = Republican, L = Libertarian, Ref.= Reform * Ward I Charles Goodman (L), John Hieftjc (D) * Ward If Dee Freiberg (R), Kurt Verhoff (R), Parma Yarkin (D) 9 Ward Ill Heidi Cowing Herrell (D), Gabriel Quinnan (L), Tim Ralston (R) 8 Ward IV Marcia Higgins (R), Lawrence Kestenbaum (D), Stephen James Saletta (L) S Ward V Garry Conrad Kaluzny (L), Christopher Kolb (D), Bill Krebaum (Ref.), Michael Maylen (R) Grading professors Midterm evaluations are useful ................ ...................... .......... ------------------- ---------- ----------------- --7 IN ...... .... .................. Xl -------------------------- - .. f }},.}y------}.v.u.{?i?-:"h:_::".v.^."_o::vv.:-.":ti4:y:i":"eT:v:":":"?::i{{i"::v..s...,:.".%r,._.ae.i":={:vs4;:sd{":a'"?_i{i"'?.'i{ii"::i"."e"L-i::":tiiv'":ii{%.ti":"??:i sa"":i ?:":ititi?-iv?:":"=cv:";;^:d":?"v*sv:X{tititititi{:.:4:::::v:;:ti{: :ti:ti!titi!"}iii: ii>ii:";i 4:iti"i:::4::v:i ..c.:.vv.:.?.".-..c"..v.vvu.^.*.".-'.t'v.c".A.v.,..:.:ve-......-.e....v... _......o ........... ... ...... .. .... Gto party. .............. ................. A s October comes to a close, the majority of students are busy studying for their midterm examina- tions. These are generally accepted (albeit reluctantly by students) as a fair assessment of how much learn- ing students have accumulated through the first half of a term. This is not a problem, but a question emerges every year: Why should students be evaluated at the midterm, but not professors and GSIs? At the end of each term, profes- sors hand out evaluations and the Michigan Student Assembly com- piles and publishes the data on Advice Online. Through the Website, students can see how students rated their teachers the previous semesters. This sort of feedback, while certain- ly not scientific, significantly affects which classes and teachers are sought after or avoided. Shouldn't the faculty have the opportunity to adjust midway. through the term? With each new year comes new information, and new students with vastly contrasting study habits and methods of learning and retaining information. And end-of-term evaluations aren't very useful for classes that are offered once every few years. Often, students take time to adjust to teachers, and vice versa. Information, Business and psychol- ogy Prof. Judy Olson said students know she's listening when The col- lects the data for all 88 students and presents it to them the following class period. Olson's system involves no num- bers, unlike the final evaluation. She asks simple questions to find out how the class is going. By the middle of the semester, many students have concerns in their classes, and waiting until the end of an entire term is not the best way to address the needs of the stu- dents. Economics Prof. Linda Tesar also hands out midterm evaluations. Tesar said that "waiting until the end of the term is really too late to do anything except make adjust- ments for the next term. And the problems in the follow- ing term could well be different." This is exactly why professors should take the initiative to conduct their own evaluations. Time is a precious commodity, but a small amount of work can lead to a better second half of the semes- ter. Olson spends between four and six hours collecting her students' data and preparing a summary for the class, but the information gath- ered is priceless. Midterm evalua- tions could consist of a few multi- ple-choice questions, or a typed response by the students on select topics. With more and more professors and discussion leaders undertaking this task, the quality of classes can only increase. Every professor and graduate student instructor should follow the lead of Tesar, Olson and many other professors by finding out how they're performing. The results may surprise them. But don't they want to know if their students give them a passing grade? After the A must avoid another K T he weather on May 9, 1998 was sunny Su and warm but Ann Arbor's atmosphere amer was much more heated. The city of Ann for it Arbor had given the Ku Klux Klan license City to hold a rally in front of City Hall. rallie Protecting the hate-mongers were anti-riot to su police and numerous yellow-clad volun- only teers to keep the peace. Dwarfing their Ann number were hundreds of protesters from In all over the Mid-West who had come to shou make sure that the Klan members' voices white would be drowned out. Behind fences and tion. barricades, Klan members spewed their to fre rhetoric of hatred, inciting the anti-Klan the I protesters to riot. Protesters threw stones unde and glass bottles at police and destroyed the the K fence protecting the hate-mongers. Police lent . used pepper and tear gas on the crowd, theat making eight arrests before the scene rallie passed. racist This incident has come back to the fore- citize front in lieu of the ongoing trials for the 01 anti-racist protesters. Such is the legacy of a visi the Ku Klux Klan in Ann Arbor. York Prosecuting these protesters does little in on an preventing such a debacle from occurring mask again. The Klan members instigated the riot cases with their speech, and the city bears some polic responsibility for not preventing the vio- gro1 lenCe. too l The Ku Klux Klan obviously does not ofi c: deserve the treatment the city of Ann Arbor becat gave it at the last rally though the mem- riots bers' rights mandate some of that treat- Th ment. Since its founding shortly after the a me Civil War, the KKK has been responsible is que for inciting and organizing countless racist to pro acts under the pretense of furthering the when cause of "white" people. The Klan is The responsible for thousands of murders, burn- First ins, lynchings, riots and other heinous right crimes against humanity. In its current induc form, since its resurgence in the 1970s, the wish hate-group focuses mostly on combating tion i racial and ethnic integration. return Ni nmlije's Tailgate Challeng ###....a... .....a . a.a. .aaa. a....... When was the last time you were paid to party? Now, the better your party, the better your chance to win great prizes from Michigan Live. This football season, we'll be at every Wolverines home game taking pictures of the best tailgate parties. We'll publish the cream of the crop and let you decide who is the king of the tailgaters. Check out the latest photo gallery and vote for your favorites at http://aa.mlive.com/tailgate/gallery. - MICHIGAN LIVE J? 4) J HEY MICHIGAN BASKETBALL FANS! How CAN THE ATHLETIc DEP THE BASKETBALL PROGRAM AND CRISLER ARENA WE WANT YOUR SUGGESTIONS. E-MAIL daily.letters@um If