LOCAL/S TATE The Michigan Daily - Monday, October 23, 2000 - 3A CRIME Regents approve appointment of *new director University alum Michael Waring begin his appointment as University Director of Federal Relations yester- day after his appointment was approved by the University Board of Regents at their meeting last Thursday and Friday. Waring, the vice president of gov- ernment relations for the National Association of Broadcasters, will also be serving as the director of the Uni- versity office in Washington, D.C. where he has been an active member of the University Club and the Alumni Association LSA government to hold open forum The President's Commission on Undergraduate Education will host an open forum sponsored by the LSA Student Government on Tuesday from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in Angell Hall Auditorium C. University President Lee Bollinger created the commission last year to examine the different components of the undergraduate experience and find ways to improve it. The commission hopes to gather a vast array of viewpoints through a question and answer session between commission members and students. The committee will examine infor- mation gathered from students and write a report to submit to Bollinger at the end of this semester. Wallenberg family member to speak Nina Lagergren, the half sister of Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, will speak at Rackham Auditorium on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. During World War II, Wallenberg saved the lives of tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews. Secretary General of the United Nations Kofi Annan's wife will also attend the lecture. U-Move Fitness offered during away football games On Saturday's without football games, U-Move Fitness will offer a Co-ed Cardio Challenge class for only S4. The class is scheduled flom I l a.m. to 12 p.m. in the Central Campus Recreational Building. To register for the class, call 764- 1342. Handmade paper on display until Dec. University Art assistant Prof. Patri- cia Olynyk has designed "Sticks, Pods, Bones: New Collage Works on Handmade Paper," now on display at the Institute for the Humanities Gallery until Dec. 15. The works use traditional Japanese materials and methods of design with alternative and digital processes of printmaking. Olynyk's work in the exhibition developed from her research in Japan and her interest in Eastern philosophy and mythology. The exhibit is free and can be seen Ifrom 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday through Friday. Music of British Isles, Canada, U.S. featured at hospital The Gifts of Art program at Univer- sity Hospitals will sponsor Music of the British Isles, Canada and the Unit- ed States by Glen and Judy Morn- ingstar on Thursday at 12:10 p.m. in *the Hospital First Floor Library. The friends of the University hos- pitals, grants, gifts and art sales help to sponsor the Gifts of Art pro- gram. Compiled by Daily Staff Reporter- Lisa loffan. Regents hear report on financial status * University's $3.4 billion endowment ranks 17th in the nation By Lisa Koivu Dailv StaffTReporter Money matters topped the agenda of Uni- versity administrators this month, as mem- bers of the University Board of Regents discussed issues pertaining to investments and state funding allocations. In addition to recognizing the University's Olympic athletes and honoring Ann Arbor Mayor Ingrid Sheldon, the regents were pre- sented with the Annual Report of Invest- ments, for the fiscal year ending on June 30. Chief Investment Officer L. Erik Lundberg presented the report, which said most of the University's financial assets were within the endowment funds, totaling S3.4 billion. This ranks the University at number 17 among all institutions across the nation, and fourth for public universities. The University received a 43.6 percent return on its portfolio for the fiscal year, placing the University in the top quartile of endowment portfolios, based on a survey of 279 endowments by Cambridge Associates. Chief Financial Officer Robert Kasdin said this has been a successful year financially and the University wielded extraordinary returns. Kasdin said although a committee of nine alumni advises the University on how to invest it's money, all final decisions are made regent guidelines and ultimate authority rests with the regents," Kasdin said. On Thursday University President Lee Bollinger announced that the University is seeking a 7 percent increase in funding from the state, up from the 5.7 percent granted for fiscal year 2001. "We are hopeful that in the coming year we will have the kind of.support from the state that will allow us again to restrain tuition increases and still have sufficient resources to perform at the level that the people of the State expect of the University," Bollinger wrote in a letter to State Budget Director Mary Lannoye. The funds are also needed to upgrade and improve technology usage at the University. Students "require a campus that is fully wired, and a faculty and curricula that use the new technologies and that can develop even newer technologies" Bollinger wrote. "Providing this is an expensive proposi- tion; our expenditures related to information technology are increasing by more than SIO million a year, and there is no end in sight," he wrote. More money would also go toward the Life Sciences Initiative, as well as supporting teaching and research programs in environ- mental sustainability and' enhancing residen- tial based initiatives for undergraduates. In total, the University is requesting an increase of S25.4 million in funds from the state. "No activity is more critical to our state's future than the development of its human capital, and the state-supported university system, including the University of Michi- gan, is vital to that task," Bollinger wrote. , stadlum by the regents. "Everything is done in accordance with 41 I. to visit campus By Carrie Thorson D aly Staff Reporter Friday was a banner day for 60 fifth- grade students from Henry Ford Ele- mentary School in Ypsilanti. "K-Day," an event sponsored by the K-grams program, brought these stu- dents to the University to explore cam- pus, see the Big House and get a taste of college life. K-grams, which was established at the University three years ago, pairs up college students with ele- mentary students in Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti and Detroit to exchange letters monthly. "We really see the excitement we generate for college," said LSA junior Jenny Bess, a K-Day organizer. The students first visited Michi- gan Stadium. As they rushed off the bus toward the stadium Friday morning all that could be heard were shouts of "This is so big!" and "This is so cool!" Engineering sophomore Elena Marin, K-grams director, began the day by leading the students in the fight song and "Go Blue" cheers. "This is really cool because my daddy's seen a game here before but I haven't," said 5th grader Adam Tr pp. Football players Charles Drake, Tad "This is really cool because my daddy's seen a game here but 1 haven't" - Adam Tripp Henry Ford Elementary School student ELUE WHITE,' Dvy Bob Moses, who was involved with the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee in the 1960's speaks at the Michigan Union on Saturday. Activist speaks on affrmative acio VanPelt, Larry Stevens and Aaron Richards spoke to the 5th graders about their favorite memories of col- lege and why it was "cool to go to school." After their comments, 5th graders asked the athletes questions about life on and off the field. "Does it hurt when you get tack- led?" 5th grader Marissa Sanchez asked. LSA junior Dina ElEssawi said although organizers worried about planning the event, it proved a suc- cess. "We were really worried about all of' the details of this event, but we have to remember that these kids are just so excited to be here. Some of them have never even been to Ann Arbor," she said. Janet Warner, a 5th grade teacher at the school, said the monthly letters have a positive influence on the stu- dents. "It's like getting gold when the kids get letters. I've seen them save the let- ters in special places and work very hard to make their own letters perfect," Warner said. Some kids who had never seen the University before said they thought college was one building, like their own school. Many of them were amazed not only by the size of college but everything it could offer them as well. "The football players were a big motivation. These kids are like little sponges, soaking up everything they can from this trip," Warner said. After touring the stadium, the 5th graders visited the Museum of Art and ate lunch in the Mary Markley dining hall before leaving. "The kids really just had a great time and learned a lot, and that was the purpose of it," said LSA junior Ani Shehigian, a K-Day organizer. "The teachers told us that this was one of the best field trips that the kids had ever been on," Marin said. "We all think the day was a huge success. By James Restivo Daily Staff Reporter For civil rights activist Bob Moses affirmative action is not the struggle of underrepresented minorities, but a collective effort of society. "Affirmative action has gotten framed as a situation of individuals." Moses said. "The question is what does society owe itself as a group." Nearly 100 students and communi- ty members filled the Michigan Union's Anderson Room on Saturday to hear Moses speak as a part of the 10-day Affirmative Action 102 events. Students said they were enticed to attend Moses' speech because of his involvement in the Student Non-vio- lent Coordinating Committee - a social action movement made famous in the 1960s --and his cur- rent aims to improve social equality. "I've heard of his involvement in SNCC as a very powerful initiator," Music and LSA junior Grace Edwards said. "I came because I wanted to hear his inspiration," she said. Early in his speech, Moses spoke about the problems that he has faced. "You see it more clearly when you see what society won't let you do," he said. Moses, who graduated from Hamilton College and received his masters degree in philosophy from Harvard University, started working in Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Harlem office in 1960. Moses was invited in .the summer of 1961 to work with the SNCC in McComb, Miss. His work focused on the voter registra- tion program, an attempt to ensure that every citizen in McComb had the ability to vote. "In the 60s, the vote was an orga- nizing tool in order to gain political action," Moses said. After his work in Mississippi, Moses fled to Canada to avoid the draft and eventually settled in Tan- zania with his wife to raise their four children. Returning to the United States in 1976, Moses began a new program, The Algebra Project, in 1982. The initiative focuses on teaching mathe- matics to minorities and other underprivileged students. Moses realized that t he pro- grams at public schools in Cam- bridge, Mass. did not prepare students for higher education apti- tude tests. ie said lie believes that mathe- matics is a key factor in limiting the advancement ofiminorities today. "We are in a shift from physical labor to technical thought," Moses said. "It requires people to under- stand the language that drives the world today ... and that language is first learned in Algebra," he said. Moses said formal mathematics education is not a requirement for most secondary education teachers and students in underprivileged institutions don't receive the back- ground they need to succeed. "The shift in technology has brought a new literacy and those who don't receive it will be serfs, outside of the world economically," Moses said. The program relies on peer groups, educators and high school students emphasizing the basic principles of mathematics literacy in order to improve critical think- ing. Moses was invited by the Coali- tion to Defend Affirmative Action By Any Means Necessary because of his active role in civil rights, said BAMN member Shan- ta Driver. "Bob Moses has made the central aim of his life addressing ways to keep struggles alive," Driver said. "We intend to build, to keep fight- ing, not to stop until full integration occurs." THE MICHIGAN AILY YOU CAN'T BEAT US, BUT YOU CAN JOIN US. CALL 76-DAILY THE CALENDAR What's happening in Ann Arbor today EVENTS "Constructing the Fifth Branch: Con- ..&+at . -ml nn .a nn . l ..rn Union Room 2105D ® "Sexual Harassment in Housing: Six Women Fight Back and Win." Sponsored by the Fair Robert Sabuda Reading and Sign- ing, Borders, 3527 Washtenaw, 677-6948