It1 w~uv-~F rn Thursday November 4, 1999 Weather Today: Partly cloudy. High 55 Tomorrow: Partly cloudy. High . Low 27. h 58. One hundred nine years of editori lfreedom Ii ae I, I fnternet courses widely available By Jewel Gopwani ily Staff Reporter , It's midnight. A long day of work is finally over. Now it's time to hit the Internet and do some homework. t least that's the case for some, like Con, Mich., resident Wendy Derby who works full-time during the day and takes college courses online. At 35 years old, Derby is a junior at Eastern Michigan University. She's also the department administrator for nuclear Engineering and radiological sciences at the University. Through online courses, Derby has been further- ing her education to enhance her job performance. EMU initiated its online pro- gram in March 1998. This semester EMU is offering more than 40 courses on the Internet. YrrloiI tliei The school &1lofd~pdrl series dbOU charges the same tuition costs as it c ,es for the same course in a class- room and adds a $40 programming fee for each online credit hour. Instead of meeting in a traditional classroom setting, EMU online courses utilize audio and video lectures, online assignments, quizzes and exams as well as threaded discussion sections, where students leave their input on the Internet for students and instructors to give feedback. its fourth year, the Virtual University at Michigan State University offers about 40 classes almost entirely online. Co-Director of the Virtual University Lori Hudson said the purpose of the program is to help students learn new skills and upgrade the ones they have. Also available on the Internet are courses through Michigan Virtual University, one of Gov. John Engler's ir~tives. MVU offers 150 online courses through an alliance of 17 See ONLINE, Page 7A 'U' defends $89 price of vaccine LSA senior Payel Gupta celebrates Diwall at a gathering in Stockwell Residence Hall last night. The symbol seen in the background represents friendship, prosperity and quality of relations in the Hindu faith. Diwali rings"t innew year for Hindus By Krista Gullo For the Daily Sitting on white sheets covering the ground, more than 100 people gathered around the Pujari last night as he blew into a conch shell, symbolizing the beginning of tra- ditional Hindu prayers used to celebrate the Hindu holiday called Diwali. The Pujari - a Hindu priest - then conducted the Puja, the traditional Hindu prayer. University students marked Diwali together in the Blue Lounge of Stockwell Residence Hall, and many said they will go home this weekend to their families to celebrate with dinner and pre- sents. Diwali is one of the main festivals in India, and it marks the beginning of the Hindu new year. Medical second-year student Ashutosh Tyago said the event brought together different Indian cultures. He equat- ed India to modern Europe, a combination of many dif- FE STIVAL OF LIGHT ferent cultures. Hindu people from nearly every state in India attended last night's Diwali festival, ago said. Some students wore traditional Indiai clothes Salwar Kameez and Bindhis for women and Kuria Pajama for men - and others wore their ex eryday clothes. They took off shoes at the door to keep the room free from unsanitary contact. Sripada Raju, a former University research associate, served as the Pujari. Raju said Diwali is a festival of light and a festival of wealth and prosperity marking the new year. Diwali is a time for farmers to forecast their future crops and a time for bankers to settle transactions and begin accounts for the new year. "Essentially this festival is to affirm the resourceful- ness of human beings and enm ironmental harmony. It indicates interdependence of mechanical. botanical and See DIWALL, Page 8A By Michael Grass Daily Staff Reporter Although students who want the meningococcal meningitis vaccine at other colleges nationwide don't pay as much as the S89 cost that University students must pay, campus officials are more than willing to defend the University's price. "We believe 'that we are passing on the cost of the price in a fair fashion," interim Director of University Health Service Robert Winfield said. explaining that the process of estab- lishing the S89 cost of the inocula- tion is a little more complicated that it seems. The price UHS charges depends on a number of factors, including the manu- facturer's price and the cost of hiring additional nursing staff members. Winfield said that although the University did receive a discount on the nearly $80.000 worth of meningo- coccal meningitis vaccine doses ordered by UHS, schools like Michigan State University, where a greater number of students and staff were inoculated, received a larger dis- count -- one reason why some schools charge less. Meningitis is an illness that affects the brain and spinal cord and includes symptoms of fever, sever headache, stiff neck, sensitiv ity to light, drowsi- ness and nausea. Though treatable, some types of meningitis can be fatal. MSU sophomore Adam Busutill contracted meningococcal meningitis last month, prompting MSU to vacci- nate more than 14,000 students and staff members for free. Another case of the illness arose this weekend when Pennsylvania State University student Ryan Hockensmith showed signs and later was diagnosed in Champaign, Ill. Winfield said UHS gave about 650 vaccine shots to students last week and more than 93 inoculations yesterday. To follow the latest guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control calling on schools to provide more education about meningitis for their students, the University is mailing letters to students who live in residence halls, encourag- ing them to consider the option of get- ting the xaccine. Those students lix ing in residence halls have a higher chance of contract- ing the disease, Winfield said. A female student from Bursley Residence Hall was admitted to University Hospitals last month to be tested for meningococcal meningitis, but results revealed that the student had the less dangerous x iral meningitis. Winfield said the Uniersity is pre- pared with multiple emergency plans if more cases of meningitis arise and a mass immunization of the University community is necessary. If a student needs the vaccine and cannot pay the X89 inoculation cost, the Office of Student Affairs has an emergency fund set up to help allevi- ate student costs. Winfield said stu- dents in such a situation should con- tact Student Affairs or the University ombudsman. Although the meningitis cases have been limited, students nationwide are receiving the vaccine. See MENINGITIS, Page 2A Week raises Muslim awareness By Charles Chen Daily Staff Reporter early 40 students gathered last n t in Angell Hall Aud. C to listen to Tariq Colvin's presentation, "Protecting the Environment through Islam," one of several events designed to promote Islam Awareness Week. "Protecting the environment is a fun- damental concept responsible upon us as a community to take care of," said Sarah Mohiuddin, outreach community c * of the Muslim Students AMciation. The overall theme for the annual week is "Islam Serving Community." MSA is sponsoring the week's events in an effort to raise the campus com- munity's awareness of the Islam Speakers discuss issues facing Islamic relgon faith. MSA Vice President Zain Bengali said, "We wanted to bring a different perspective, of Islam to campus, showing that Muslims care about society. Colvin, who works with the Muslim Community Center in Ann Arbor and teaches at the Michigan Islamic Academy, stressed in his presentation that, "The priority given to the environ- ment is low." ness is a part of the Islamic religion, which focuses on teaching its members of the importance and duty of serving humanity. "It is important to have a sense of community, and every Muslim should be concerned about the environment," Mohiuddin said. Colvin's presentation incorporated more than just the importance of pro- tecting the environment but expressed many of the ideals ard purposes of the "We want to put forth that Islam is a multi-faceted way of life," Colvin said. "This religion is built for reality. It cov- ers all aspects of humanity." Colvin conveyed the importance of conserving resources and protect- ing the environment and how Muslims must use moderation as a part of their lives. "It doesn't matter how much change we have in the future, but what kind of change we have." Colvin said. Last night's presentation is part of a week of events centered around various issues, including domestic terrorism, human rights and con- fronting poverty. Islam Awareness Week will conclude tomorrow with a special prayer in the Blue Lounge of See ISLAM, Page 7A Environmental protection and aware- Islamic religion. New jerseys hit local. stores By Mark Francescutti Daily Sports Writer The secret's out. The new Michigan men's basketball uni- forms are on sale - days before the public was supposed to see them. The Michigan Athletic Department planned to unveil the new jerseys and shorts to the public at the Wolverines' Maize and Blue scrimmage - commencing about 20 minutes after the Michigan-Northwestern football game Saturday. Instead, replicas of the uniforms appeared on store racks, including those of Moe's Sport Shop on North University Avenue, almost a week early. Moe's owner Buddy VanDeWege said his shop received the uniforms late last week ands tirted selling them Mondav. The JEREMY MENCHIK/Daity University President Lee Bollinger speaks with students last night in the Kuenzel Room of the Michigan Union at the first of four fireside chats. Bollinger kicks off firsid chat series By Lisa Koivu Daily Staff Reporter Hot cider, a blazing fire and snowflakes falling presented a cozy atmosphere when students gathered around University President Lee Bollinoer vesterdav in the Kuenzel University," said interim Vice President for Student Affairs E. Royster Harper. "Students are also important to him and he wants to meet them. Setting up activities like this gives both a chance to interact and talk," Harper said. The event was organized by the - a - _____________________ I -