One hundred ten years ofeditorfdlfreedom
r Y
CL" "
NEWS: 76-DAILY
CLASSIFIED: 7640557
wwwmichigandaily.com
Wednesday
November 15, 2000
m CXJ,4 NO. a ... ,:" , ., ,w.. " ?i .. .. .:.~ t >~" ' ,. s. .°" z..xriAd^&,a, e'er 'eCS . ?<" r3 ,sd: . N" io;,..,, ", s. ^,F.t +39a E .t ,sr,5;
POO
Admission
trial to gt
started in
ODetroit
By Jon Fish
and Usa Koivu
Daily Staff Reporters
Bush
by
300
1
Florida
The wait may soon be over.
After three years of gathering evi-
dence and legal maneuvering, the law-
uit challenging the use of race as a
ctor in admissions to the College of
Literature, Sciences and the Arts is
headed to its first hearing in federal
court.
Judge Patrick Duggan will hear oral
arguments for summary judgment
tomorrow in federal district court in
Detroit. Last spring, both sides submit-
ted motions for a summary judgment
- in which the judge is asked to make
a decision on the case based on sub-
itted evidence without going to trial.
History
The suit was initially filed Oct. 13,
1997, by the Washington, D.C.-based
Center for Individual Rights on
behalf of two white applicants,
Patrick Hamacher and Jennife Gratz,
who claim they were unfairly evaluat-
ed under the LSA admissions
process.
CIR filed a nearly identical case in
December
1997 chal-
lenging the
A admissions
system for
the Universi-
ty's Law
School.
Since then, the case has been sub-
ject to numerous delays. In August
998, the Sixth Circuit Court of
ppeals in Cincinnati allowed the
entrance of the intervening defendants
after Duggan initially denied the inclu-
sion of the third party.
The law
University Deputy General Counsel
Liz Barry said the case is not about the
University's specific admission
processes but the law that was used to
nstruct those policies, specifically
the 1978 Supreme Court ruling in the
case of Regents of University ofCali-
fornia v. Bakke.
In that case, the high court ruled the
use of racial quotas as unconstitution-
al, but Justice Lewis Powell wrote in
the opinion that attaining diversity is a
compelling governmental interest.
CIR chief executive officer Terry
Pell has told The Michigan Daily that
his case is watertight, based on a firm
nstitutional argument.
Pell contends that the use of race in
admissions is discriminatory toward
whites and therefore unconstitutional,
but the University intends to use the
Bakke case to justify their policies and
prove diversity is beneficial to students.
The intervenors agree with the
University but assert that affirmative
action is necessary to correct past
1iscrimination.
Third parties
The intervenors are comprised of a
coalition of civil rights groups and
Detroit high school students. To be
allowed into the case, they had to
prove they had an interest in the law-
suit and neither the plaintiff nor the
defendants would adequately represent
their interest in the case.
In addition to gaining the support of
e intervenors, a number of other col-
ges, corporations and other groups
have thrown their weight behind the
University's defense. Last month, 20
Fortune 500 companies - including
Microsoft, Intel and Kellogg - filed
an amicus brief, or friend of the court
brief, in support of the University's
admissions practices.
Barry said this support adds another
unique dimension to the case.
* "The fact that practically every sec-
tor of society has weighed in demon-
strates how much is at stake and how
much respect people have for the Uni-
versity, it's policies and its defense of
the policies;' she said.
Officials at both the Law School
nA I 'ZA An nt disnuite that raic is
Short weeks, late classes guide scheduling
By Samantha Ganey
For the Daily
perfect schedule begins with classes at 10
a.m.
For those looking for help in selecting classes,
the LSA Academic Advising Center is one place
"I go by time - not professor. I
To LSA senior Stanton Jones the school week try to balance out harder classes
should only be four days long, with ones that are easier and have
"I always try not to have classes on Fridays," more group work," Harris said.
he said. "I thought a class about coral
Jones is one of many students who try to short- reefs was low key. I thought we'd
en their week by only scheduling classes for see pictures of Australia and
Monday through Thursday. scuba diving. But you learned sci-
LSA sophomore Melissa Harris said the entific names of coral," she said.
S-TUDENr
.f,
to turn.
"We provide a breadth of infor-
mation and let students make
choices," Academic Advising Cen-
ter Director Alice Reinarz said.
Reinarz said advisers encourage
students to "back up, examine
interests and then choose classes."
student clubs, read through online course
guides, use advisers in each residence hall and
visit the Peer Academic Advising Office,
which has old exams and peer advice readily
available.
"I go to Wolverine Access and look at course
availability and descriptions- -- if they're there,"
LSA sophomore Amanda Hopkins said.
"And I talk with friends about what they're
interested in."
See CLASSES, Page 7
Reinarz said she hopes students seek out
Leadership
election
By Jane KruII
and Johanna Wetmore
Daily Staff Reporters}
After Michigan Student Assembly President Hideki
Tsutsumi stepped away from his job of chairing the Tues-
day night meetings for three weeks earlier this semester,
Regents to vote
on construction
items, Harper
By Carrie Thorson
Daily Staff Reporter
At this week's meeting of the University Board of
Regents, the board will vote on an administrative rec-
ommendation to name E. Royster Harper as the perma-
nent vice president for student affairs.
"As for me, voting on Royster Ilarper will be the
most important issue of Thursday's meeting," said
Regent Kathy White (D-Ann Arbor). "I strongly sup-
port her."
If approved, Harper, who served as interim vice presi-
dent for student affairs and dean of students, will be the
only executive officer to remain from the tenure of for-
mer University President James Duderstadt, who
resigned five years ago.
Harper, recommended by University President Lee
Bollinger, has the support of other regents as well.
"I think she's a terrific person and she'll serve well in
that capacity," Regent David Brandon (R-Ann Arbor)
said.
The regents will also approve honorary degree recipi-
ents. When approved, one of these recipients will be the
keynote speaker at winter commencement.
Author Elmore Leonard is being recommended for a
M~l
SA
4,}Sc+ f"
..
J.. .
many students were left ques-
tioning the assembly's leader-
ship.
While Blue Party candidate
Jessica Cash said she believes
Hideki is not the most experi-
enced MSA president, she
thinks the current leadership
situation in MSA is a learning
experience.
"It's making reps step up
from their normal duties," she
said.
Fellow Blue Party candidate
Ben Whetsell does not see it as a
JOYCELELL/Daily
LSA sophomore Doug Teitz, who is running for a representative spot on the
Michigan Student Assembly, speaks with LSA and Music sophomore Matt
Henninger and LSA sophomore Brett Altman in West Quad yesterday.
MSA candidates not
worr4fied aboutf raud
Part three in a three-
part series on the issues
in the assembly's
election
By Johanna Wetmore
Daily Staff Reporter
The online student government
elections site for the LSA Student
Government, University of Michigan
Engineering Council and Michigan
seems to take a lot of motivation to
vote," said Michigan Party leader
Doug Tietz, who is running for one
of the 21 open representative spots
on MSA.
Blue Party candidate Jessica Cash
said she agrees and believes in the
I
nrnblem with leadershin but rather that MSA is not
t