One hundred ten years ofeditoriafreedom
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Friday
November 17, 2000
..... . .....
I
ecounts
esume
ter court
05 n
ecision
,e Associated Press
Al Gore won his fight yesterday to
pand manual recounts in Florida as
struggled to trim George W Bush's
0-vote lead before the Republican
cretary of state certifies the
arathon White House race tomorrow.
OP lawyers asked courts to stop the
unting and "the disintegration" of
merica's presidential election system.
The vice president and his team
gressively defended the hand recounts
Democratic-leaning counties, laying
the ground-
work for
Gore's case to
continue the
vote-counting
he fails to pull ahead of the Texas
rnor this weekend - a prospect
tat advisers conceded was likely.
"The choice really is whether the vot-
are going to decide this election by
ving every vote count or whether that
ocess is going to be short-circuited
ithout all the votes being examined,"
ore said in a radio interview.
The Florida Supreme Court later
nded Gore a modest victory, autho-
g officials in Palm Beach and
ward counties to recount ballots by
nd. The effort, which officials said
ill take about six days, had been
alled on order of Secretary of State
atherine Harris.
"Our opponents on the other side
e trying to prolong this as much as
ossible," Bush running mate Dick
heney told Fox.
The ruling did not say whether any
otes found in the recounts can be
d to Gore's totals-the heart of a
gal clash that has thrust the presiden-
al campaign into limbo. All seven
rstices were nominated by Democ-
ts.
Within minutes, Palm Beach elec-
on officials decided to start recount-
g last night. After two full days of
unting in 86 of 609 precincts, Gore
ad gained 21 votes in Broward Coun-
the state's southeast coast.
[he Florida Supreme Court has
poken, the counts can continue," Gore
hairman William Daley said.
Bush supports the secretary of
late's weekend deadline and wants a
eclaration of a Florida winner after
te last overseas absentee ballots are
ue tonight at midnight.
"Once these votes are counted, we
ill know the final result of Florida's
lection and the nation's election," Bush
aign chairman Don Evans said.
n or lose, this election will be over."
Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who thus far
as been unable to deliver the state for
is brother, agreed: "Saturday morning
te'll know who won the site" he said
Democrats begged to differ.
Gore's attorneys asked a state judge
r Tallahassee to have hand recounts
flled into the election totals, even if
vote-counting isn't finished by
rht.
They argued that Harris, a Bush
upporter, acted arbitrarily when she
efused to update vote totals with the
esults of manual recounts after a
uesday deadline.
Bush looked to a federal appeals court
Atlanta to shut down the canvassing
'together, calling manual recounts
iaccurate and prone to political mis-
See RECOUNT, page 7
I ul
NEW Now
end
Judge could
issue ruling
next month
By Lisa Koivu
Daily Staff Reporter
DETROIT - A decision in one of the lawsuits chal-
lenging the University's use of race in admissions could
come sooner than expected after the judge in the case
appeared yesterday to lean toward forgoing a trial in
favor of issuing a judgment based on facts already sub-
mitted to the court.
After U.S. District Judge Patrick Duggan heard argu-
ments on two motions for summary judgment from each of
the three parties in the case - the Center for Individual
Rights, the University and a coalition of intervenors -he
said there could be enough information to avoid a trial. "I
don't know if there needs to be a
trial on the diversity issue," Dug-
gan said. "Both sides presented TRIA
the court with a large amount of
information on the issues."
The University is defending its
admissions policies by arguing
that diversity within the student body is a compelling gov-
ernmental interest.
If Duggan issues a summary judgment, he will decide
the case based on the submitted briefs and without any of
the sides presenting more issues in a trial.
All three parties met for the first time yesterday to intro-
duce their arguments, three years after the suit was filed.
In October 1997, the Washington D.C.-based CIR filed
a suit against the LSA challenging the University's
admissions policies on behalf of white applicants Jen-
nifer Gratz and Patrick Hamacher, who were denied
admission. CIR filed a nearly similar suit that December
against the Law School.
Although none of the sides presented full arguments,
See LAWSUIT, Page 5
NORfMAN NG/Daily
ABOVE: Center for Individual Rights attorney Kirk Kobol answers reporters' questions at the Federal District Court in Detroit yesterday.
BELOW: John Payton, an attorney representing the University, leaves the courthouse after the lawsuit trial hearing.
Ex erts: Q ick Summary
jugm ent not sursin
By Jen Fish
Daily Staff Reporter
DETROIT - When the lawsuits
challenging the use of race as a factor
in admissions were initially filed in
1997, the University found itself sud-
denly thrust into the national spotlight.
Now, just as quickly, the case chal-
lenging the policies of the College of
Literature, Science and the Arts may
be over after a single day of arguments.
After about three hours of court pro-
ceedings, Judge Patrick Duggan indi-
cated he was leaning toward issuing a
summary judgement - which would
end the case at the district level.
-I tend toa, gree the facts are not in
dispute," he said. During the hearing,
Duggan asked, "What's the factual
issue? Why do we need witnesses on
the value of diversity?" If Duggan
decides there are no factual disputes,
he would deem a trial unnecessary.
"It seems clear he has indicated he's
going to decide the motion in a way
that a trial may not be necessary,"
ACLU lawyer Michael Steinberg said
after the hearing. Steinberg is one of
the attorneys for the intervening defen-
dants who were allowed to enter the
case in August 1998.
The "diversity issue" Duggan
referred to is whether attaining greater
diversity is a compelling governmental
interest issue. In U.S. Supreme Court
Justice Lewis Powell's opinion in the
1978 Bakke v. University ofCalifornia
Regents decision, Powell argued the
importance of diversity to a university's
student body.
Georgetown Law Prof. Susan Bloch
said she was not surprised at the
prospect of having the case decided
without a trial at this level. "This is the
kind of case that often can be decided
with summary judgement," she said.
Wayne State Law Prof. Robert
Sedler said a trial is not necessary for
the matter at hand.
See REACTION, Page 5
Regents approve Harper, Bolinge s contract
By Anna Clark
Daily Staff Reporter
E. Royster Harper will officially assume the
position as the permanent vice president for stu-
dent affairs Monday, after the University Board
of Regents approved her appointment at their
monthly meeting yesterday.
Harper, who has served as interim vice presi-
dent since July 1999, was approved unanimously
by the board.
"A long search is culminating in this
moment," University President Lee Bollinger
told the regents. "It's my belief that there's no
more difficult job than being an interim any-
thing. But in every instance, not only has
Royster acquired distinction, but she's shown
enormous human sensitivity. It's a great plea-
sure for me to appoint Royster to this posi-
tion," he said.
Harper accepted the position saying she
was "both excited and honored. I have a com-
mitment for doing a quality job for the stu-
dents."
But during the public comments section of the
regents meeting students, alumni and staff
expressed their disappointment in Harper's
appointment.
"African Americans in administrative roles
should enhance the experience of other people of
color," said Jeffrey Harold, president of the Asso-
ciation of Black Professional Administrators.
"Sadly, that has not been the case with E. Royster
Harper."
Harold said he was disappointed with how
Harper "poorly treated" student organizations
and how students felt they "were not taken seri-
ously in meetings with her."
Harper had left before public comments to
attend the funeral of Engineering student Byung
Soo Kim, who died Monday morning because of
alcohol poisoning.
"It deeply saddens me that I have to feel this
disappointed on what should be a great day for
the African American community," Harold
said.
Sabrina Charles, an LSA senior and a member
of the Black Student Union, said the BSU didn't
support Harper's appointment.
Charles echoed Harold's statements that she
felt Harper didn't pay attention to the concerns of
See REGENTS, Page 2
.S. economy
redicted to
Rodle Kaufman
)aily Staff Reporter
The U.S. economy will continue to grow in the
ext two years but at a slower rate than it is cur-
ently expanding, University economists predict-
d vsterdav
Voter turnout
hits high mark
By Jane Krull
Daily Staff Reporter
After concluding the second day of voting, turnout in
Michigan Student Assembly fall elections hit its highest
numbers since 1998, Elections Director Eric Lund said.
The final voter turnout for this year's election reached
4,792, Lund reported.
LSA freshman Stephanie Allan said she was excited for her
first opportunity to vote in MSA elections."I really like to feel
like I have a voice in the actions that go on here at the Univer-
No.12 MICHO1AN VS.
OHIO STATE6
Ohio Stadium, Columbus
Noon tomorrow
ABC
THE OPPONENT:
Playing for the Big Ten title (or at least a
share of it) as they have so many times,
the conference's most storied rivals
square off.
TOMORROW:
The Wolverines got their defense in
decent order, surrendering just 11 points
to Penn State. A traditional but skilled
offense will test them in the Horseshoe.
CARRIE McGEE/Daily
Economics Prof. Saul Hymans speaks yesterday
morning in Rackham Amphitheatre as part of the
48th Annual Conference on the Economic Outlook.
i