One hundred nie years ofeditorialfreedom *rn t NEWS: 76-DAILY CLASSIFIED. 7640557 www~michigandaily.com Thursday September 7, 2000 U #F -- .,>n I Lawsuit postponed until late November ® Illness causes latest delay in admissions lawsuit facing LSA By Jon Fish Daily Staff Reporter US District Court Judge Patrick Duggan granted a motion to post- pone the proceedings of the lawsuit challenging the University's use of race as a factor in admissions at the College of Literature, Sciences and the Arts due to the illness of one of the University's lawyers. New system Slows access, irks students By Rachel Green Daily Staff Reporter Engineering junior Nishmant Ver- man had a close call this morning. After waiting nearly two hours yes- terday to access his schedule, he was able to print it just 30 minutes before his first class. "When I got to the prompt where I had. to choose which term I wanted to access, only Spring and Summer 2000 came up. I tried to call 764-HELP, but was line was busy," he said. Many students' biggest problem with the University's new online registration system is waiting for the computer to process informa- tion. Because Wolverine Access now ser- vices both student records and class registration, the overload of students accessing the system during the first few class days has caused delays, leaving many students unable to access their schedules when they are most needed. Linda Green, communications coordinator for Michigan Administra- tion Information Services, said more than 3,000 students used the new See WACCESS Page 2A 9 Oral argu- ments for sum- mary judgment, Ar\ originally scheduled for Sept. 18 in fed- eral court in Detroit, have been pushed back to Nov. 21. Last spring both sides submitted motions for a summary judgment, which is a decision based on evi- dence presented to the court without a trial. f a summary judgment is not granted, pre-trial hearings are expected to begin after Nov. 21. Liz Barry, University deputy gen- eral counsel, declined to comment on the individual and the particular sickness that caused the delay. Barry said the delay should not set the timetable of the LSA case to a similar time period already sched- uled for the lawsuit challenging the missions processes at the Univer- Wy's Law School. The nearly iden- tical suit goes to trial Jan. 15. "I don't think we can be in two courts at the same time," Barry said. The Washington, D.C.-based Cen- ter for Individual Rights, which brought the LSA case forth, also filed the suit challenging the Law School's admissions processes. Terry Pell, chief executive officer *the Center for Individual Rights, said it was "impossible to specu- late" how this delay might affect the other case. The LSA suit, originally filed on Oct. 14, 1997, has been delayed numerous times, primarily for the motion, denial, appeal and subse- quent approval to allow a group of intervening defendants into the case. Both sides seem to agree, however, t this delay is a reasonable one. "In light of the circumstances, we do not oppose this delay," Pell said. "Delays are not unexpected," Barry said. "We've already had sev- eral delays and we'll see how this checks out." Godfried Dillard, lead counsel for the intervening defendants, could not be reached for comment yester- 'y. Program allows tax-free savings for families BRAD QUINN/Uaily Oregon resident Jim Weber displays his religious beliefs on a sandwich boards during a theatrical preaching session on the Diag yesterday while service organizations recruited nearby. Service groups benefit from preachers' crowd By Michelle Poniewozk For the Daily Circle K Group volunteer Stephanie Hartshorn wasn't intimidated by the shouting and whistle blowing heard in the Diag yesterday. Although student groups took over the Diag for ServeltUp, an event allowing student-sponsored community service organizations a chance to recryit interested individuals for a number of ser- vice related activities, some unexpected campus preachers also used the venue to share their mes- sage. Hartshorn said students were initially distracted by the verbatious ministers, but student groupstsoon adapt- ed to the environment. "We used it to our advantage because there was a big crowd," Hartshorn said, explaining she walked through the crowd that had gathered for the preachers. Jim Weber from Oregon and Jeremiah Baldwin from California call themselves "bible believers" and are traveling to campuses across the country to preach. They blew whistles, held signs and bantered with stu- See PREACHERS Page 2A By Hanna LoPatin Daily Staff Reporter Michigan families will have the chance to put money into a state tax-free account to save for higher education when the Michigan Edu- cation Savings Program takes effect Oct. 1. The law, signed in June by Gov. John Engler, allows accounts to be opened with as little as $25 or as much as $5,000 a year. Participants in the program can withdraw a max- imum of $125,000 free from state taxes to be used for higher educa- tion. The law's sponsor, Sen. Mike Rogers (R-Brighton) said an indepen- dent firm to hold and manage the money will be announced next month. Individuals should be able to set up accounts by January. The account can be started at any time, put towards any type of high- er education and used for all educa- tion costs, Rogers said. Withdrawn funds will cover "room and board, fees, and comput- ers - excluding beer, unfortunate ly." Rogers said the program is not replacing the Michigan Educational See ROGERS, Page 12A Ameritech services becoming inadequate By Jodie Kaufman Daily Staff Reporter Cell phones are more than just a luxury on campus this fall - they've become a necessity for many students who are still waiting for telephone lines to be connected in their houses and apartments. "Some of my housemates bought cell phones, and we are now cutting down on the amount of lines we are getting," said Stephanie Morse, an LSA sophomore who called Ameritech early last month to request phone lines that have yet to be installed. Calling a few weeks ahead of time can help the wait, said Public Health graduate student Christina Lalama, whose landlord warned her to call in advance. But even the call-ahead plan hasn't proven worthwhile for some stu- dents. "Ameritech is currently facing challenges, and some areas are not currently providing the service we expect," Ameritech representative Jody Juckem said yesterday. "We are aware of the situation and we are responding as best we are able," she said. But that's not fast enough for students who expected to hook up their phones and comput- ers immediately after arriving in Ann Arbor. "Something needs to be done," said Law student Matt Ferrell. "This is horrible, and they are totally incompetent." Ferrell has had phone trouble since Aug. 10, and when Ameritech claimed it was fixed, they had actu- ally repaired another patron a block away. "I have thought about getting a cell phone, but I haven't gotten around to getting it. Plus I need Internet access," Ferrell said. Juckem said Ameritech is taking initiatives to help resolve complaints from dissatisfied customers. "We are working to improve relia- bility and speed of service," she said. Ameritech is currently spending over 2 million dollars a day on its Michigan network, a 39 percent increase in investment this year. Workers have been punching in many over- time hours as well, Juckem said. The company has blamed slow service partly on the large number of customers who all want service at the same time. Ameritech also suffered setbacks last month from severe storms which are still delaying repair and installation teams. Even students who understand that hun- dreds of others are in the same situation say they are frustrated simply because they have no choice but to use Ameritech for local phone service. "We have 7 girls sharing one line, which is ridiculous. We can't do it on our own, so we have to wait," LSA junior Danielle Wroblews- ki said. "Ameritech in Ann Arbor should pre- pare themselves better to accommodate students that are moving back." Students find new ways to buy books By Caitlin Nish Daily Staff Reporter While students were seen lining up outside lecture halls and classrooms yesterday, many were spotted queuing up on the sidewalks outside numerous cam- pus bookstores. "The lines look so much worse than they are, so it's not that big a deal to wait," said Brandi Wilson, an LSA sophomore. Although it may seem that the stores are as busy as ever, bookstore owners and managers agree that yesterday's volume of sales decreased from the first day of classes last year. "I think we had an earlier influx of students this year so we had earlier sales," Mark Farrell, manager JUSTIN FITZPATRICK/Daily LSA junior Jamie Kiss buys his books from LSA senior Zeena Monesa at Michigan Book and Supply. During this semester's book rush many students are using new ways to purchase books, such as online bookstores. It's a class for about 175 students but we had sold about 125 copies before classes started." Although the rush is not as bad as it has been in previous years, some bookstore owners are increas- 1,rzU lei -r hi n n- orniro ninnrancnatheir LSA senior Mandy Taylor, referring to the Web- ordered pick-up desk beneath the crowded lines of students weaving through the upstairs book rooms. "I've ordered online all three semesters, especially hir'n .cc~. I 'm anF(lvchcb nrr cncI havec ctin hnIr a ' mI . 1E " l