2~'Elan ~ rn Weather Today: Cloudy. High 40. Low !Tomorrow: Sunny. High 49. 32, One hundred nine years of editonial feedom Wwednesday November 3, 1999 v F~ OHS urges students to get ileningitis shot 0 surprises By Adam Brian Cohen Daily Staff Reporter The University Health System's automated meningitis information line is quick to say "There is no outbreak." Despite one reported case of viral meningitis - the more common and less se type of meningitis - on campus, U has begun sending letters to stu- dents living in residence halls and'com- munity housing, encouraging them to get the $89 bacterial meningitis vaccination. UHS cites a surge of meningitis, both viral and bacterial, on college campus- es across the nation in the past few months as the cause for growing con- cern. According to UHS, the viral form of meningitis is serious, but rarely fatal. T bacterial form, which is rare, is m more dangerous. Bacterial- meningitis has appeared at Eastern Michigan and Michigan State universities in the last month. This past weekend, 21-year-old Pennsylvania State University student Ryan Hockensmith contracted bacterial meningitis and began showing symp- toms while in Champaign, Ill. He was covering Saturday's Penn State-Illinois football game for Penn State's student newspaper, The Daily Collegian. UHS began sending vaccination infor- mation letters out last week, said UHS interim Director Robert Winfield, after last week's meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices - a Center for Disease Control commit- tee that meets once every two years. ACIP changed its vaccination recom- mendation for college students. Winfield said, letters will gradually be sent out to all tenants in the resi- dence halls, fraternity houses and other students living in community housing. "We want everyone to know (the vac- cine) is available," he said. UHS is sending out a limited number of letters each day to prevent excessive demand for the vaccine in a short period of time, said University spokesperson Joel Seguine. UHS gave 650 meningococcal disease (bacterial meningitis) vaccinations last See VACCINE, Page 2 Council balance "" remains at 7-3 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 Ann Arbor City Council seats con- tested last night. Incumbent candidates Heidi Herrell and Christopher Kolb retained their seats in Wards III and V, respectively, while new- comers John Hieftje (D-Ward I), Dee Freiberg (R-Ward II) and Marcia Higgins (D-Ward IV) took control of the three remain- ing seats in preliminary results. 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 neighbor- hoods, community and people." The balance of power on the council will remain - seven Democrats and three Republicans, plus Republican Mayor Ingrid Sheldon. Sheldon said she was happy with the results because the Democrats did not win an eighth seat, the number needed to over- ride vetoes by the mayor. "I think the threat of veto adds an element of civility to coun- cil," Sheldon said. Not surprised by her loss to Dee Freiberg in Ward 11, Parma Yarkin said, "I stayed in the race 8ain, rain go away to make sure there was a respectable Democratic alterna- tive. I wanted to make sure peo- ple 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. SAM HOLLENSHEAD/Daily "I voted yes because I think it is important we preserve as much free land -as we can," O'Neal said. "We need to pro- tect it from development and protect 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 candi- date Marcia Higgins edged out Democrat candidate Lawrence See ELECTIONS, Page 7 ® Ward N - Dee Freiberg (R); Kurt Verhoff (R), Parma Yarkin (D) Ward iI - Heidi Cowing Herrell (D), Gabriel Quinnan (L), Tim Ralston (R) ® Ward IV - Marcia Higgins (R), Lawrence Kestenbaum (D), Stephen James Saletta (L) ® Ward V - Garry'Conrad Kaluzny (L); Christopher Kolb (D), BilKrebaum (Ref.), Michael Maylen (R) 'U' prof. studies racial tolerance Students mixed on ideas of diversity on campus SAM HOLLENSHEAD/Daily Doctoral student Sandy Tarbox walks across a rainy Diag yesterday when unusually warm temperatures dropped to a low of 45 degrees. Onlnl e cu rs s offer alternatives By Shomai TerrelongeStone Daily Staff Reporter LSA junior Monique Gifford awoke one cloudy, dim morning in March 1998 in her Mary Markley Residence Hall room to find a paper posted on the door with the phrase "two stupid bitches" and the word "nigger" along with two swastika symbols. Although initially upset, Gifford said this type of vandalism did not surprise her because she experi- enced a similar incident in her predominately white high school. "I was shocked but not panicking. I told my (resi- dential adviser) and immediately called campus secu- rity," she said. Despite the incident that Gifford experienced, she said she is now at peace because, "I see what is hap- pening to my people. This is something so small com- pared to what we're going through as a whole that I feel I have to be one of the people ready to make a change systematically." Systematic change is exactly the steps 11 college institutions have taken to improve the campus climate for minority students. The 11 institutions each were given $100.000 by Phillip Morris Companies. University Education Prof. Michael Nettles present- ed the results of his study last Saturday at a conference sponsored by the American Council on Education in Albuquerque, N.M. His audience consisted of various "provosts, faculty, administrators and program direc- tors from colleges and universities in the United States, India and some in South Africa," he said. The study, "Model of Diversity: Pursuing Tolerance in Colleges and Universities," examined race, gender and ethnic issues at 11 college campuses Bethune Cookman College in Daytona Beach, Fla.; Colby College in Waterville, Maine; Columbia College of Columbia University, Davidson College in Davidson, N.C.; Duke University; Haverford College in Haverford, Pa.; Long Island University in Brooklyn, N.Y.; Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Ill.; Northern Michigan University; Occidental College in Los Angeles; and University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh. Nettles studied the programs those institutions have embraced to encourage understanding and acceptance See STUDY, Page 2 By Jewel Gopwanl Daily Staff Reporter Imagine not having to make that trek out to Lorch Hall for an 8:30 a.m. lec- tubr getting credit for participation and not even attending one discussion session. It's all possible - on the Internet. While many students are becom- ing acquainted with academics online via their instructors posting lecture notes and homework assign- ments on the Internet, the concept of utilizing the Internet as a primary teaching tool is on the fringe of the University's academic curriculum. The School of Business ' Administration pioneered the U n ive rs i ty's' decent on Internet acade- mics with the Global MBA 011ie iilvPerSily Program. The PdI/Ofdpdrlserlesdbol program allows hfluliie o6oflieedu(d/i0i students in other countries to receive a master's See ONLINE, Page 2 MSA votes to support WRC east Lansing police end riot investigation By Jewel Gopwanl Daily Staff Reporter The task force investigating the riot th occurred at Michigan State University in late March concluded its search Monday when the final suspect police have been pursuing turn himself in to officers. The riot took place March 26 and 27 following MSU's lost to Duke in the semifinals of the NCAA men's basket- MSU Police Capt. Tony Kleibecker said the task force followed leads from videos of the riots, telephone tips and a Website featuring photos of the suspects. "The Website is very effective in a situation like this, in aiding the investi- gation of identifying people," Kleibecker said. He said the resources led the task force to finding about 133 of the individuals By Jeannie Baumann Daily Staff Reporter The Michigan Student Assembly voted to support the Worker Rights Consortium and defeated a resolution that called for a tuition freeze at last night's weekly assembly meeting held at Stockwell Residence Hall. The resolution to encourage the University to join the WRC passed, 29-1. MSA Vice President Andy Coulouris, who sponsored the resolu- tion, said that MSA's support for the WRC provides "an opportunity to have a large impact on something that affects us locally." The consortium examines the work- ing environment of companies that the extra points that (Students for Organizing Labor and Economic Equality) needs. SOLE has traditional- ly been really good at finding the pres- sure points on University administra- tion to affect change. Tonight we just helped them do that," Coulouris said. SOLE members attended last night's meeting to speak in favor of the reso- lution. "We're really pleased MSA is will- ing to support us," said LSA first-year student Susie Harter, a SOLE member. MSA Treasurer Suzanne Owen, who cast the only dissenting vote on the resolution, said the assembly should not rush into a decision about such a grave issue. a :: '. I