LOCAL/STATE The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, November 1, 2000 - 3 MSA accepts committee nominations Texas A&M to end 93 year old bonfire tradition Texas A&M students will not build a bonfire this year, a tradition dating back to 1907. Keep the Fire Burning announced last Friday it would not build an off-campus bonfire because of time restraints and insurance prob- lems. KTFB formed after Texas A&M President Ray Bowen banned the Aggie Bonfire, an on-campus event, in May for two years. Last November, the bonfire struc- ture collapsed, leaving 12 students dead and more than 25 injured. KTFB organizers said developing an insurance plan took longer than expected, adding that this left little time to safely build the bonfire. NIU suspends 20 for alleged hazing Northern Illinois University sus- pended about 20 students last week after a fraternity member was tied naked to a tree and rubbed with human feces and urine. The university's judicial office banned students who took part or watched th incident. NIU Judicial Office Director Larry Bolles said many students suspended expected to graduate in December or had academ- ic scholarships revoked. Todd Mattran, a member of Kappa Ensilon Gamma frternitv. was found Wednesday tied to a tree, covered in waste, outside his girlfriend's sorority. KEG members said they did not think their actions were wrong but part of a tradition of fraternity mem- bers showing their love for sorority members, called lavaliering. The sorority's vice president said Mattran agreed to participate in lavaliering. Penn State forces removal of anti- Republican sign A Pennsylvania State University student's sign was recently removed from her residence hall window after an administrator complained it was offensive. Freshman Lavinia Lindsay said her sign, "The road to hell is paved with Republicans," should not have been taken down because of her First Amendment rights. Lindsay's residential adviser Alicia Krupa said she was following orders when she told the student to take the sign down. Krupa said she personally had no objection to the message. According to an Penn Stat RA hand- book, a special committee is supposed to decide when signs can be forced down. This particular case was not brought before the committee. Penn State Director of Residence Life Gail Hurley said if complaints are made against a sign, it does not mean the university can take the sign down. She said further investigation was necessary to deem whether the sign would be returned to Lindsay UC-San Diego races for money University of California at San Diego students, faculty and alumni raced last week to raise money for undergraduate scholarships. The fifth annual Chancellor's 5K challenge brought about 1,000 partici- pants looking to beat San Diego Chancellor Robert Dynes. Dynes and This wife, Frances Dynes-Hellman, -donated S25 for every person who bested him and for every woman who beat Dynes-Hellman. Dynes placed 123rd and Dynes- Hellman finished 22nd among women. The event raised about S178,000, an increase of $20,000 from last year. -Compiled by Daily Staff Reporter Robert Gola from U-1Wire reports. By Jane Krull Daily Staff Reporter Although a motion at last week's meeting failed to require all members of Michigan Student Assembly to dress in costumes for their meeting on Halloween, Vice President Jim Secreto celebrated the holiday by wear- ing pink wings and a rhinestone tiara at the meeting in the Michigan Union last night. Even with the festive spirit, the assembly discussed student group allocations and nom- inations from Campus Governance. During constituents' time, Dance Marathon Executive Director Vikram Sarma addressed the fact the Budget Priorities Committee has not yet finished allocation funds to students groups. "This strongly affects student activism on this campus," said Sarma, an LSA senior. "Student groups don't have the money they need to put on their programs." The hectic schedules of the BPC members is the reason the allocations were later than usual, BPC Chair Siafa Hage said. "We had trouble getting together due to it being a busy time of year due to mid-terms," Hage said, adding that the allocation recom- mendations are now finished and available at the MSA Website. Hage said there will be efforts to address it at next week's meeting. In committee reports, External Relations Committee chair Sarah Pray asked for the participation of the assembly in the Associa- tion of Michigan Universities Conference that the University will be hosting Nov. 18 and 19. Public universities in Michigan were invit- ed to attend - all have confirmed, except "We had trouble getting together due to it being a busy time of year due to midterms." - Siafa Hage Budget Priorities Committee chair Wayne State University. "The main goal of the conference is to create a lobbying platform to get Michigan students' con- cerns voiced in Lansing," Pray said: The assembly also unanimously accepted campus governance nominations last night. "The nominations appoint student mem- bers to various campus committees," Campus Governance Committee Vice-Chairwoman Liz Mullane said. "We had a large number of applicants this year and had to choose between many quali- fied students." Any University student could have applied to be nominated to the committees through an online application, Mullane said. Student General Counsel Alok Agrawal, ran last night's meeting for the third week in a row - not MSA President Hideki Tsutsumi. Tsutsumi said he might return to his role as chair as soon as next week. "I learned the specifics on how to run the meetings," Tsutsumi said. "I feel comfortable taking back my role." I I Planning the charge Hopwood awards offer money, prestige By Jen Fish Daily Staff Reporter Aspring authors or just poor college students who have a way with words can find extra cash at the University through the English Department's Hopwood Program. But those looking for the easy money should beware - former Hopwood winners are a presti- gious group, whose company includes playwright Arthur Miller and "Big Chill" director Lawrence Kasdan. The Hopwood Awards were established through a gift from 1905 alumni and playwright Avery Hopwood. Under the terms of his will, one-fifth of Hopwood's estate was given to the University to encourage creative work in writ- ing. First awarded in 1931, the awards give out about S100,000 every year, Program Associate Andrea Beauchamp said. There are three Hop- wood contests - the Graduate and Undergradu- ate Hopwood Contest, the Summer Hopwood Contest and the Hopwood Underclassmen Con- test. The Underclassmen Contest deadline is Dec. 7 and interested students can visit the Hopwood's Website for manuscript require- ments. Each contest is divided into different writing categories, including short story and essay writ- ing. While Hopwood winners like Elwood Reid, author of the Michigan football team novel, "If I Don't Six," have gone on to professional writing careers, many Hopwood winners have been tu- dents who simply like to write. Students do not have to be English concentra- tors to enter, as long as they have been enrolled in a writing course in the past year. "You don't have to be an English major and you might have a more interesting slant if you haven't," Beauchamp said. Some winners have been not even been full- time students. Two women in prison taking corre- spondence courses through the University have won the prize. In addition to the Hopwood Awards, the pro- gram also gives out a number of other fellow- ships and other writing awards. Some of these include a number of poetry contests with prizes up to S250. The Sweetland Writing Center is offering a new S1,000 prize to undergraduate students. Funded through a gift from the Contempo Com- munications Foundation for the Arts, the Call- away Prize has been established in the memory of community activist and columnist Mary Lou Callaway. More information on the Hopwood Program is available at wiwt.lsa. umich.eda/english/hop- wioo/hopiw'ood.htm or by calling the Sweetland Writing Center at 764-0429.- NORMAN NG/Daily Devon Tvaska, a graduate staff assistant for the Michigan Marching Band, helps coordinate the bands' moves during practice at Elbel Field. WRITE FOR THE DAILY CALL 76DAILY OR STOP By 420 MYNARD ST* Family leads pro- voucher fuin with $4.5 milo m /- j 49 ! JJJ s drew bill barrymore Murray LANSING (AP) -- Members of the DeVos family have contributed more than a third of the S12.9 million raised by the pro-voucher Kids First! Yes! campaign but other well-known business executives also have stepped in to help fund the campaign, accord- ing to campaign finance reports. Amway Corp. President Dick DeVos and his wife Betsy, former chairwoman of the state GOP, are among those leading the effort to pass the statewide referendum on the Nov. 7 ballot. The measure would require poorly performing school districts to offer vouchers that stu- dents could use at private or parochial schools Among the largest Kids First! Yes! contributors are Dick and Betsy DeVos, S550,000; his parents, Amway Corp. co-founder Richard DeVos and his wife, Helen, S2 mil- lion; and her mother, Elsa Prince, S2 million. The group opposing vouchers, ALL Kids First!, has raised S5.3 million over the course of the campaign, according to records filed Friday with the Michigan Secretary of State's office. Teacher unions and school administrators are among the group's most generous supporters. Among those contributing the most to ALL Kids First! were the Michigan Education Association and National Education Association, which have given about S5.4 million combined. The Michigan Association of School Administrators gave at least SI95,000. Besides getting help from the DeVoses, the pro-voucher campaign has received large donations from Wal-Mart heir John Walton, who con- tributed S2 million, and Domino's Pizza founder Tom Monaghan, who gave S-50,000. Amway co-founder and Chairman Jay Van Andel donated 525,000. Catholic dioceses across Michigan also contributed heavily. The Archdio- cese of Detroit gave about Sl.5 mil- lion, the Diocese of Lansing donated nearly S445,000 and the Diocese of Saginaw contributed S 156,000. I i .. s THE CALENDAR What's happening in Ann Arbor today EVENTS Michigan Roundtable Meeting, Topic: Affirmative Action, 5:30 p.m., Michigan Union MSA Cham- bers, 615-CM SA Community Service Commission Meeting, 6:30 p.m., Michigan 9614 Judy Collins Storytelling, Songs and Signing, 6:00 p.m., Liberty Bor- ders, 668-7652 Ann Arbor Support Group, 6:30 p.m., First Baptist Church, 512 E. Huron, Room 102, 973-0242 Meal and Discussion, 5:30 p.m., ty, 764-0351 Self-improvement Reading Group, 7:00 p.m., Barnes & Noble, 3245 Washtenaw, 677-6475 SERVICES I Campus Information Centers, 764- DfllyD'/D i i