One hundred ten yeah ofeditorafinedom
NEWS: 76-DAILY
CLASSIFIED: 764-0557
www.michigandaily.com
Thursday
February 8, 2001
~ _____
4rofessor
presents
data from
race study
Daily Staff Reporter
DETROIT - As UCLA sociology
Prof. Walter Allen testified yesterday on
what life is like for minority students in
predominately white schools, including
the University and its Law School, per-
ps no one in the courtroom was lis-
tening as closely as fellow witness
Chrystal James.
Nodding repeatedly at Allen's conclu-
sions, James,
. who had just
dMI6SINS testified on her
ON "tRIA experiences as
,~. ~ ~ one of two
black student
students in her
class at
CLA's law school, obviously agreed
ith much of Allen's testimony before
U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman in
the University of Michigan Law School
admissions trial.
In a study of the University's Law
School and its four "feeder" schools
- schools that send the greatest num-
ber of students to the Law School -
Allen concluded that there is an
Anhealthy racial climate present at the
'chools, there exists a number of insti-
tutional barriers that impede the suc-
cess of minority students and that
minority students and their white peers
compete on an uneven academic play-
ing field.
Furthermore, Allen said, it "came
through very clearly" that the climate at
the schools is characterized by white
privilege and, more specifically, white
male privilege.
I A student in a predominantly white
nvironment, he continued, is under
extra burdens that their white peers do
not have, such as being the targets of
overt and covert racism.
These factors, he further explained,
lead to minority students feeling inferior
and isolated, resulting in lower academic
achievement.
James, who received her undergradu-
te degree at Stanford University, testi-
ied that Proposition 209, which
eliminated affirmative action in Califor-
nia, has had detrimental effects for
minorities in the University of Califor-
nia system.
"Don't let what happened in Califor-
nia happen here," she said.,
James said she was an excellent stu-
dent until she entered law school at
UCLA. But because of the covert
racism she faced, such as not being
called on in her classes, she said she was
Oot able to fully become engaged in her
coursework. "I felt very silenced in that
classroom," she said of her civil proce-
dure course.
Also, she said, being constantly
viewed as a race rather than a person
took an enormous emotional toll on her
and consequently her grades.
"Every day I have to force myself to
go to school," she said. "It's like taking a
*attering every day."
James' testimony, Allen said, "con-
firmed many of our findings."
In essence, he said, minority students
have two jobs: being a student and con-
structing a social environment for them-
selves. Also, minority students are
under the other burden of having to act
as a representative for their race or work
to change other's perceptions of race.
"We have to recognize that those are
very difficult and challenging forces,"
Wlen said.
These forces are especially intense in
law school, Allen said, when students
"are much more invested in competing"
against each other. Therefore, the racism
becomes more prevalent, such as minor-
ity students not being invited to join
study groups because they may be per-
ceived as intellectually inferior.
For both witnesses' testimony, the
,enter for Individual Rights retained
heir standing objection, saying such
testimony is irrelevant to the questions
of the court.
CIR Chief Executive Officer Terry
Pell said the testimony yesterday made
clear that "the double standard (admis-
sions policy) makes these problems
4'U,
code of
conduct revised
By Anna Clark
Daily StaffReporter
After more than a year of tweaking and
reworking, University President Lee Bollinger
accepted 40 of the 47 revisions to the Student
Code of Conduct recommended by the Student
Relations Advisory Committee.
The changes were a fusion of two proposals
from the Michigan Student Assembly and the
Civil Liberties Board.
SRAC Chairman Alphonse Burdi, a biology
professor, said the changes were long overdue.
"This'is coming after a year of hard work,"
Burdi said. "I'm proud of the committee for
being so open on something that is so embed-
ded and meshed in the lives of students."
Among the more notable alterations is the
renaming of the Code as the Statement of Stu-
dent Rights and Responsibilities. Other
changes include:
If more than one student is charged for the
same incident, the students may choose
whether they have the same arbitration instead
of a Resolution Coordinator making the deci-
sion for them.
Details and results of past cases will be
available to the student panelists and resolution
officers to ensure consistency with the treat-
ment of similar incidents.
E If a student is being charged in a criminal
or civil case for the same incident the Universi-
ty is investigating and wants to delay the Uni-
versity process, the student may now appeal the
previously automatic suspension which was
imposed until the external case was finished.
The complete list of code changes, which
will take effect July 1, is available online at
www.umich.edu/~oscr
The revised Statement adapts the former
Code's role as a governing document for Uni-
versity student behavior on and off campus. It
is intended to create "the best learning environ-
ment for our students," according to a written
statement from University Vice President for
Student Affairs Royster Harper.
Harper sent an e-mail to all students detail-
ing some of the Code changes last night.
Keith Elkin, director of the Office for Student
Conflict Resolution, which implements the State-
ment, emphasized that the document is grounded
in educational principles.
"This is to get students to really think about
their behavior in a community and to see how it
affects the community," he said. "The other
aspect is safety. We need to protect the communi-
ty members."
Students can submit written complaints about
other students to the University's Office of Con-
flict Resolution, Elkin said. After extensive inves-
tigation, OSCR may decide that a student is in
violation of the Statement and take action, which
may involve a hearing before a student panel.
See CODE, Page 7A
I
EnOler budget
cal o spending hike
By Louie Meizlish
Daily Staff Reporter
After a year that saw a 6.5 percent
increase in state appropriations for
Michigan's 15 public universities, Gov.
John Engler's proposed budget for the
upcoming year recommends only a 2
percent funding increase for higher
education.
State Budget
Director Mary
Lannoye will '.
present Engler's
budget proposal,
for fiscal year
2002 today at the
state Capitol in
Lansing.
State Sen. John Schwarz (R-Battle
Creek), who chairs the Senate Appro-
priations higher education subcommit-
tee, said yesterday that the higher
education budget is expected to include
only a 2 percent across-the-board
increase. Engler's recommendation last
year called for a 2.5 percent increase.
Schwarz expressed "cautious opti-
mism" about the proposal and said the
final figures usually are higher than the
governor's initial recommendation. "We
can take the governor's numbers and
massage them and then get some num-
bers that we can work with," he said.
University of Michigan President Lee
Bollinger last October requested a 7
percent increase from the state, up from
the 5.7 percent increase allotted to the
University during the current fiscal year.
Cynthia Wilbanks, University vice
president for government relations, said
it is too early to speculate on the amount
of next year's tuition increase, which
depends heavily on state funding.
"It is too early to tell what recom-
mendations we're looking at because
we are only in the beginning stages of
appropriations," she said.
Kelly Chesney, spokeswoman for
the Department of Management and
Budget, said Engler's higher education
proposal will retain the tier system that
was first introduced two years ago.
The system groups the 15 public uni-
versities into a number of tiers, which
each have minimum per-student funding
floors. The University of Michigan has
been in the highest tier both years.
Chesney said the governor also
wants to repeal the tuition tax credit,
which gives a credit to parents of stu-
dents attending a university that keeps
tuition rate increases below the rate of
inflation. Because inflation has
remained so low in recent years, even
the smallest tuition increases have not
been able to meet that requirement.
"It has not been as effective as we
wanted it to be in restraining tuition
and making college more affordable,"
Chesney said.
Sen. Alma Wheeler Smith (D-
Salem Twp.), whose district includes
See BUDGET, Page 7A
.I
ft
Wo~i ------ V---- A--- /D----
Economics sophomore Jasmina Chhabra talks on her cellular phone yesterday afternoon in Espresso Royale Cafe.
Study flaoils to link cell
phones with cacucer.
i
The daily grind
By Kristen Beaumont
Daily Staff Reporter
A study performed by the National Cancer Institute indi-
cates that cell phones are not likely to cause brain cancer
while warning that the findings are not conclusive.
The results show people who use cell phones do not
have an increased risk of developing brain tumors. In
addition, there is no evidence to suggest the risk of
tumors increases with phone use or that brain tumors
occur more frequently when a phone is used on one side
of the head.
Most University students who are avid users of cell
phones do not feel they are at risk for cancer. Some even
said the idea of cell phones causing brain cancer is
ridiculous.
"I think people who do worry about it are weird. A lot of
things are going to kill me before my cell phone," said
Meghan Rohling, an LSA senior. "It was never a concern."
In the study, NCI collected information from partici-
pants including how long they have used their phones
and how frequently they use them. Information about
specific phones the participants used was not collected.
"We don't see any evidence that cell phones cause
brain tumors," Peter D. Inskip, principal investigator for
the study from NCI's Division of Cancer Epidemiology
and Genetics, said in a written statement. "But if an
increased risk of brain tumors occurs only after five
years or more years, or only among very heavy users,
this study would probably not detect it."
It is difficult to make a conclusive statement about cell
phone health risks because brain tumors usually take 10 to
20 years to develop and most people in the United States
have only used their phones heavily in the past five years.
"In my opinion, based on the results of this study
and on the lack of theoretical evidence, it is highly
unlikely that cell phone use increases the risk of
See CELL PHONES, Page 7A
DAVID KATZ/Daily
Ann Arbor Pioneer High School sophomore Mark Naimowicz watches his friend,
Ann Arbor Forsythe Middle Schooler Jesse Stolar, "grind" in front of Dennison.
Carr announces 22 new
recrits for 2001 season
By Jon Schwartz
Daily Sports Editor
At a press conference yesterday for
college football's signing day, Michi-
gan coach Lloyd Carr announced the
commitments of 22 recruits for the
upcoming football season.
and they've been well-coached."
In recent years, the suspense of
signing day has been somewhat lost
due to the extensive coverage of the
recruiting process on the Internet.
What was once an anxiously antici-
pated day is now simply the time when
recruits can officially declare commit-
"From a coaching standpoint, I look
forward to working with them, watch-
ing their development and hopefully
building them into a championship
team,"he said.
Recruiting analysts from around the
country have Michigan's class ranked
in the top five nationwide and five of
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