LOCAL/STATE
The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, November 17, 1999 - 3
rIGHER
,DUCATION
C-Berkeley
tudents vote
own fee change
Pudents at the University of
alifornia at Berkeley voted to reject
e Bridging Equity, Athletics and
eceational Sports referendum,
tended to increase student fees in an
ort to fund women's sports. The
crease would allow the university to
mply with Title IX, a federal man-
terequiring equal funding for men's
d womens athletics. Nearly 62 per-
nt of voters opposed the referendum,
*-38.2 percent voted in favor of
creased fees of $132.40 next year,
ith increases in the fee during the next
e years.
The additional fees would have been
ed to expand and renovate the UC-
ekeley Recreational Sports Facility
d the some of the school's outdoor
cilities.
Passing the referendum would have
vA the athletic fund $13 million in
i onal funds.
arvard aging
pecialist resigns
Jeanne Wei, a Harvard Medical
hool specialist on aging, resigned
t eek from two administrative posi-
ns after questions about the misuse
grant funds arose.
Wei resigned as director of the
*1' s division of aging and as the
:a of the division of gerontology at
ith Israel Deconess Medical Center.
tse will maintain her role as an
sociate professor at Harvard Medical
hool.
Her resignation follows a federal suit
inst her and BIDMC claiming a
isuae of research funds.The suit orig-
atedwhen a scientist working with
e was accused of not using grant
y according to the reward's
quirements.
egent suggests
tudents pay for
lot damages
A- regent at the University of
olorado at Boulder is suggesting that
udents foot the bill for damages
*d by riots. The regents were
ecifically referring to riots that
urred on Oct. 31, when a police
icer was hit by a rock and suffered
ull fractures.
Colorado Regent Jim Martin sug-
sted at a University of Colorado
oard of Regents meeting last week,
at the school's student government
ould pay for the estimated $100,000
mages.
J-Boulder Chancellor Richard
yyny argued that there is no way of
owing how many students were
volved in the riot since no arrests
.ve been made in connection with the
dts'
tudent evicted for
_ lst messages
Hanover police evicted Dartmouth
r Peter Cataldo from his room in
chff Residence Hall last week after
other student reported anti-Semitic
urs on the message board to
artmouth Safety and Security.
Dartmouth junior Charles Gussow,
ho'- fives two doors away form
ataldo, found racist slurs written on
issew's message board last
/ednesday morning, written with a
rverase maker on Gussow's message
Cataldo, who served as president of
is class as a first-year student, also
llegedly confronted Gussow with
cist slurs just before he was evicted.
heslurs written on Gussow's board
fre' among many that Cataldo had
litgedly written since last month.
Gussow is currently living in the
lanover Inn and did not admit or deny
eriti ng the slurs or personally threaten-
Cataldo. When asked about the
Cataldo, if found guilty of the slurs
nd threats can be punished under the
arassment clause of the college's
tandard of Conduct and by state law.
- Compiled bv Daily StaffReporter
Jewel Gopwanifrom U-Wire reports.
Burslec resident accused under Code
By David Enders
Daily StaffReporter
A preliminary hearing scheduled to be heard
today in the Washtenaw District Court for
Mark Watkins, an LSA sophomore accused of
sexual assault, has been postponed until Dec.
1, while an investigation into the allegation
under the Code of Student Conduct continues.
A female Bursley Residence Hall resident
accused Watkins, who also lives in Bursley, of
fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct in an
alleged incident that occurred Nov. 2. The pre-
liminary hearing was rescheduled at the behest
of Watkin's lawyer, Mark Satawa. Satawa
declined to comment on his reasons for
requesting the delay, saying only "Mr. Watkins
looks forward to the criminal justice system
working the way it should and being vindicat-
ed by the justice system."
Satawa also said Watkin's plea of not guilty,
first entered at his arraignment on Nov. 3, has
not changed. He also confirmed that Watkins
is being charged under the Code - the
University's internal disciplinary policy.
Vice Presient for Student Affairs .
R oyster Harper could not be reached last night
for comment.
G wyn Huls wit, irt ake coordinator for the
Office of Student Conflict Resolution, has
previously outlined OSCR's policy concerning
sexual assault cases for The Michigan Daily.
Sexual assault allegations between students
living in residence halls have varying conse-
quences, depending on the way the complaint
is filed, Hulswit said.
After a complaint is filed, OSCR reviews the
case to determine its relevance under the Code. If
the accused student is found to be in violation of
the Code, an investigation follows, she said.
"There are no general punishment guidelines for
such a case," because it is "determined depending
on the facts of the case;' she said.
Rolland Sizemore, the Washtenaw County
prosecutor who is handling the case, could not
be reached for comment.
Conviction of fourth-degree sexual criminal
conduct, or forced fondling, carries a maximum
penalty of two years in prison and a $500 fine.
Club sports plan on ballot
By Jeannie Baumann
Daily Staff Reporter
A ballot initiative in the
Michigan Student Assembly fall
election today and tomorrow could
change the assembly's funding
process for club sports.
The initiative calls for each stu-
dent to pay an additional $0.25 for
the winter semester and the fall
semester of the next academic
year. The collected total of
$18,000 would be the first step in
creating an endowment for club
sports.
Students currently pay a $5.69
student fee per semester to the
assembly.
"MSA currently funds out of the
(Budget Priorities Committee) to club
sports," BPC Chair Glen Roe
explained. "But we noticed a greater
need for funds than what we could
provide."
Roe said club sports teams made
requests this term totaling
$71,339, but the committee could
only allocate $8,750. He said this
amount is an inefficient use of
funds. Since that money does not
come close to meeting club sports'
needs, putting that money toward
other students groups with lower
allocation requests would be a bet-
ter use of the money.
MSA President Bram Elias said he
hopes establishing a club sports
endowment
will expand
athletic oppor-
tunities to
more students. 1 lI
"Our hope
istat no stu-
dent is
denied the "
opportunity
to participate
in club sports
m e r e I y
because they cannot afford it. The
goal here is: If you're able to play,
and you want to play, then you get
to play," he said.
If students vote to support the
ballot initiative, Roe explained that
the University Board of Regents
must still approve the use of a sep-
arate fund for club sports.
"It's contingent upon a number
of people in the University approv-
ing it," he said. Roe plans to make
a presentation to the regents during
their meeting Friday.
Although the $0.25 increase in
student fees would last for only
two semesters, the endowment is
intended to be a self-supporting
permanent source of funds.
But Roe said "targeted fundraising
efforts" will add to the endowment.
Engineering junior Anne
Kiedrowksi, a member of the
water-ski team, supports the ballot
initiative.
"I think it's a good idea. In order
to stay competitive, we have to buy
a new boat every year. Without the
support of MSA and club sports,
we wouldn't be able to fund the
activities that we do," she said.
"Any help we can get is really
appreciated."
Michigan Rifle Team member
Neil McNeight, an LSA junior,
said the initiative will further facil-
itate the ability for club sports to
operate."It'd be nice to have
increased funding and potentially
bring more people in," he said.
ALLSON CANTER/Daiy
The newly-opened parking structure located at Washington Street and Fourth Avenue
will help curb distress from the loss of spaces in the South Forest Avenue structure.
In1stallation of
meterso to begin
By Robert Gold
Daily Staff Reporter
Fifty-eight parking meters lining
Church and Hill streets will convert
previously unavailable street space into
parking spots under a resolution
approved by the Ann Arbor City
Council on Monday.
Councilmembers unanimously called
for the installation of the meters, in
anticipation of the parking shortage that
will result from the closing of the South
Forest Avenue parking structure.
The city plans to begin installing the
meters in January - the same time the
parking structure closes for demolition.
The South Forest Avenue parking
structure currently has more than 250
parking spaces available. The comple-
tion of a new structure on the same plot
of land is expected to house 875 vehi-
cles and is projected for completion in
18 to 24 months, said Ann Arbor
Director of Public Services William
Wheeler.
For many students, the loss of the
structure will be an inconvenience.
LSA senior Steve Horvath, who
parks his car in the structure, said he
drives into the area to drop off his
daughter at school each morning.
"I will have to make plans for alter-
native parking, which I don't think will
exist," Horvath said.
Downtown Development Authority
Board Member Maria Harshe said the
board attempted to lease privately
owned land for a'temporary site but was
unsuccessful.
"We're in the homs of a dilemma.
There isn't a whole lot of land available
for temporary parking," Harshe said.
City Councilmember Joe Upton (R-
Ward II) said the loss of parking in the
south campus area not only causes
problems for students; its also a hassle
for local residents. -
"I am really concerned. It's going to
have an impact on South University
businesses," Upton said, adding that
customers may avoid the area because
of parking hassles.
"It is seen right now as the only oppor-
tunity to preserve some parking for shop-
pers coming into that area," Upton said,
referring to the parking meters.
Cynthia Shevel, owner of Middle
Earth, located at 1209 S. University
Ave., said local businesses will have to
"bite the bullet" and become more cre-
ative. Shevel said some businesses on
South University Avenue can focus on
the large number of students who pass
the area en route to campus.
City Councilmember Tobi Hanna-
Davies (D-Ward I) said the city was
unable to lease private land for parking.
She said the parking meter solution will
not eliminate the parking shortage but
will "help that part of town keep going.
"No other good option has worked
out for customers ... who need short
term spaces," Hanna-Davies said.
For some local businesses, the loss of
parking is especially hard.
Binh Psam, owner of Saigon Garden
restaurant located at 1220 S. University
Ave. and adjacent to the parking struc-
ture, said he expects to lose about half
of his customers in January.
"It really affects the whole area. They
will put a lot of people out of business,"
Psam said.
Psam said he fears that he will lose a
large amount of his customer base
because many customers will favor
restaurants with nearby parking
options.
"You forget about the restaurant for
two years, " Psam said. "If you build
another one, it doesn't matter," he said,
referring to the planned new structure.
Hanna-Davies added that students,
local residents, and others will need to
increase their dependence on walking,
bicycling, carpooling and using the city
and University bus systems.
"People are going to have to park far-
ther and walk into town anyway," she
said.
The city has attempted to alleviate
some of the parking shortages through-
out Ann Arbor with the establishment of
the Get Downtown Program, said, Lara
Thomas, program coordinator of the Ann
Arbor Chamber of Commerce. The plan
includes a free bus pass for all downtown
business employees. 'fhomas said she has
distributed 7,500 passes.
The city has undergone other con-
struction efforts to improve parking. A
new structure on Fourth Avenue and
Washington Street opned to the public
last month.
The Maynard Street structure cur-
rently is under repair.
MSA
Continued from Page 1
Penn State's Undergraduate Student Government.
At Purdue University, 8 percent of the student body
voted in April 1999. "It was a middle number. About 12
percent of students voted three years ago, and we had a low
of 4 percent going back even further," said Joe
Archdiacono, a Purdue student government representative.
Archdiacono relates the rise in voter turnout during the
past few years to Purdue's switch from paper ballots to
online voting.
"We are now completely electronic. In the first year we
switched, there was a significant increase from 4 percent to
12 percent,' he said.
Sherer said that in last winter MSA election, a large per-
centage of votes came from online polling. "We have taken
down a number of paper polling sites. We have them only
at Angell Hall and Pierpont Commons now," he said. "I
don't think that we'll ever get rid of paper sites completely
because there is always the concern that we'll alienate vot-
ers who don't feel comfortable voting online."
But Shapiro said online voting has made voting much
easier far students at Illinois. "We've made it more acces-
sible to vote. We used to vote by paper ballot, but we vote
online now. The university puts a link on their home site. If
you get a really competitive election, you can get 20 to25
percent online. Most students go online every day, so if you
have a flashing link, they might be inclined to vote."
But not every school has claimed success with online
voting. In student government elections at the University of
Wisconsin at Madison last fall, 7 percent of students voted,
up four percentage points from the previous year.
"We switched to online voting, but it is not worth it for
the amount of money spent. There were a lot of computer
glitches" said Tshaka Barows, a representative on the
Associated Students of Madison.
At Wisconsin, the cost of switching to Web voting was a
one time fee of $20,000.
"We still have the opportunity for paper voting, but now
with web voting, it will cost only $400 each election. I'm
sure it costs quite a bit more for paper polling," said Eric
Huston, chair of the student government's student judicia-
ry.
"Online voting is definitely more efficient. It is a better
way to keep track of things - people can make mistakes
when counting. It is a lot easier for students and for us" he
said.
,
w
What's happening in Ann Arbor today
GROUP MEETINGS
-j nesty international Mass
Meeting, Michigan Union, Pond
Room, a$p.m.
EVENTS
U "Blood Battle between U-M and
OSU," Sponsored by Alpha Phi
Omega, Michigan Union, 1-7
p.m.
. "Drug Abuse and the Family" pre-
sentation by Talk To Us,
Sponsored by Hillel and the
Housing Division, School of
Nursing, 12 p.m.
J "Honor Thy Children" lecture by Al
and Jane Nakatani, Rackham
Auditorium, 6:30 p.m.
U "The Taiwan Option; Engagement
or Isolation" lecture by J. David
Singer, Sponsored by Alpha Phi
Omega, Haven Hall, 5th Floor,
12-1:30 p.m.
0J"World AIDS Day Fair," Michigan
Union Ballroom, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.
SERVICES
L) Campus Information Centers, 764
INFO, info@umich.edu, and
www.umich.edu/-info on the
World Wide Web
D Northwalk, 763-WALK. Bursley
Lobby,8 p.m. 1:30 a.m.
J Safewalk, 936-1000, Shapiro Library
Lobby, 8 p.m.-2:30 a.rm.
J1999 Winter Commencement
Information, www.umich.edu/
-gradinfo
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