LOCAL/STATE The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, February 21, 2001-- 3 * HIGHER ED BAMN prepares for Day of Action rally Penn State Dance Marathon breaks record for largest hug Last weekend's Pennsylvania State University Interfraternity Council/Panhellenic Dance Marathon not only set a new record of bringing in over $3.6 million for pediatric cancer but also broke the world record for the largest hug. The record was set Sunday when 1,271 people came together in one big circle and hugged for 10 sec- onds - twice. Brian Waksmunski, a morale cap- tain, said the idea was decided upon in October as something that the dancers could do and would bring good publicity to the event. At the time of the planning the record was at 462 people, but was later broken in December by 899 business professionals at a meet- ing. Finding the number of people for the hug wasn't hard, but the organiz- ing of 1,271 people into a single cir- cle during the 20 minutes they alotted for the task was extremely difficult, Waksmunski said. Last Thursday night, organizers held a run-through with 500 people in order to get the logistics of the hug. Website matches prospective students with best universities A new website is helping prospective graduate and under- graduate students to easily receive admissions and information about * eighty different colleges in about five minutes. Get-recruited.com has created the website in an effort to ease the admissions pains that many stu- dents experience. Students that visit the website fill out a questionnaire that asks for their academic history and achievement, proposed fields of study and college preferences. * The completed questionnaire is then forwarded to appropriate col- leges that match the students crite- ia. In addition, the website only for- wards questionnaires of students that meet the criteria set by the col- leges such as GPA and class rank said Dan Rosenfield, the website's communications director. U. Illinois limits sorority members at frat parties In order to further ensure the protection of sorority members and reduce liability, the University of Illinois Panhellenic Council passed the "Alcohol Free Resolu- tion" earlier this month that will go into effect in the the fall 2001 semester. The resolution includes a clause restricting that only one-third of a sorority's chapter may attend a social event at a fraternity house where alcohol is present. The new resolution is an extension of "Alco- hol Free 2000," an act that prohib- ited sororities from co-sponsoring events at fraternity houses when alcohol is present, said Panhellenic Council Vice President of Public Relations Laura Kuhn. Seventeen national headquarters of the 20 major sororities on cam- pus already passed this legislation, said Nicki Kurokawa, Panhellenic vice president of risk management. Even though the three of the sorority's national chapters did not require the resolution to pass, they must also adhere to the campus- wide policy. Kurokawa said sororities are still allowed to have parties at fraternity houses as long as alcohol isn't there. One of the resolution's main goals is to keep people out of situ- ations where trouble can happen, she said. - Compiled from U- WIRE reports by Daily Staff Reporter Jane Krull. By Maria Sprow Daily Staff Reporter Tomorrow's National Day of Action is coming at an opportune time for members of the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action By Any Means Neces- sary. The day, set aside as a way to promote and preserve the use of race in college admissions, comes just weeks before a decision is expected from U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman in the case against the Law School's admissions policies. "We want to impact the judge before he makes his decision, and he will be making his decision in the next couple weeks. We're in the strongest posi- tion we've been in," BAMN member Kate Stenvig said. BAMN has been participating in the Day of Action since February 1997 but attracted a record- breaking crowd Oct. 19 at the last Day of Action. Students from area high schools and universities, including Michigan State, Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan came to the October rally to support the University in its fight to keep affirma- tive action-based admission policies. For the upcoming Day of Action march, BAMN expects as many, if not more, students from area universities to show their support. "It should definitely be the biggest turnout of students because of the trial. People are definitely starting a wake up and look at the issues. They are realizing that it really does affect them," said Sten- vig, an LSA sophomore. But members of Multi-Racial Unity Living Experience at Michigan State University say midterms are keeping some students away from the Day of Action festivities. "We have put a lot of effort into the trial, and could not organize anything for Thursday," said Michigan State senior Tiffany Gridiron, a leader of MRULE. Gridiron added that some MSU students might make their way to Ann Arbor but that the East Lansing school has its own events planned. BAMN members are also expecting busloads of Detroit high school students to attend the march. High schools expected to have the biggest turnout are Detroit's Cass Technical and McKenzie high schools. "They know the importance of this case. They know that affirmative action will directly affect their life, and they want to make sure that they take this chance to be a part of history," said BAMN member Erika Dowdell, an LSA junior. Students from Cass Tech have been especially involved in the trials, sending a petition to Judge Friedman describing their schooling conditions. "You can't drink the water in the drinking foun- tain. There are cockroaches and rats and not enough books to go around, and it's supposed to be the best school in Detroit" said Stenvig. The rally is scheduled for noon tomorrow on the Diag. While the Day of Action is considered a national event, different schools around the country pick different days to rally. BAMN members hope the rally will show the University and the judges overseeing the lawsuits that students are in favor of race-based admissions. Dowdell said that the rally would act as "the court for University students to come and exhibit support." "This is an historic case. There was an over- whelmingly big number of students at closing argu- ments. Some couldn't even fit in the room. It made a huge impact on the judge," Dowdell said. Besides the march, there will be several speakers present on the Diag to talk about the importance of affirmative action to the University. "The more people know about it, the more people tend to be supportive about it. We hope people will be inspired to act and get involved. We're trying to use this opportunity to really fight for equality and really, really integrate education," Stenvig said. Decker pharmacy closure 3rd in six years on campus w By Kara Wenzel Daily Staff Reporter After hanging up a "pharmacy closed" sign more than a month ago, the pharmacy at Decker Drugs stopped filling pre- scriptions last week. "Financial reasons caused us to close. What it costs to staff and stock the pharmacy, versus what we make from it just didn't add up," said Lisa Aunins, Decker Drugs manager and pharmacy technician. The closing of Decker Drugs' pharmacy follows that of several other local pharmacies. Food & Drug Mart, Mindell's Pharmacy and Community Pharmacy have all closed in the past six years. "We tried to be competitive," Aunins said, "but we couldn't compete with the big chains and we had to fight with insur- ance companies to get payments for prescriptions all the time. " Decker Drugs, 320 S. State, has transferred its pharmacy clients' records to the CVS Pharmacy on South Industrial Highway. But some students said they do not want to travel off cam- pus to fill prescriptions. "A lot more students have come in to get prescriptions filled since Decker closed," said Gary Turner, owner of Village Apothecary, 1112 S. University Ave. "Our prices are lower than Decker's were and they will remain so. The price of your prescription will be higher or lower depending on your insurance. We accept over 300 insur- ance plans from all over the country so we have always been more competitive," Turner added.' .L Now that some area pharmacies have gone out of business, several students said they have turned to the University Healih Services pharmacy. But others claim they already knew U1(S was the least-expensive place to go. "I have been to Village Apothecary before, but with tloe insurance I have, UHS is the cheapest place to get my pre- scriptions," said Amy Wahlfield, an LSA freshman. Other students appreciate the on-campus location UHS pt- vides. "I just saw a doctor here and the pharmacy is right dow- stairs. I've never gone anywhere else so I don't know if this is the cheapest, but I've heard from other students that it is," said Charles Choi, an Engineering graduate student. "We have had a slight increase in students wanting to trans- fer their prescription records since Decker Drugs closed," said Gwendolyn Chivers, UHS chief pharmacist. The pharmacy at UHS makes an effort to keep the cost of prescriptions down, and Chivers said often times their pre- scriptions do cost less than other pharmacies. The price of prescriptions varies depending on the time length of the prescription and whether or not the medication is generic or a name brand, Chivers said. She added that UHS tries to use less-expensive generjc brands whenever possible unless a physician specifies othet- wise. At UHS, a dose of Penicillin that lasts 10 days will colt about $7.20, a package of birth control pills costs $12 and an allergy medicine such as Claritin is $70 for a 30-ddy supply. "We encourage people to compare prices and tell us if ouis are not competitive," Chivers said. JEFF HURVITZ/Daily Marliz Ortiz, a post-graduate student, works in a biochemistry lab at the Medical School reserching DNA yesterday afternoon. 3 Medical School departments awaiut Indepe ndenqce Cleaves murder suspect turns himself in FLINT (AP) - A man charged in the death of Herbert Cleaves, the older brother of Detroit Pistons rookie and former Michigan State star Mateen Cleaves, surrendered to authorities yes- terday. Flint Police Sgt. Al Carron said Jaroy Davis of Flint turned himself in at police headquarters yesterday morning. Davis, 19, is charged with an open count of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder and posses- sion of a firearm during a felony, Gene- see County Prosecutor Arthur Busch said. If convicted, he faces up to life in prison without parole. Authorities used several eyewitness reports to bring the charges, Busch said. At least three other suspects were still being sought. "There was more than one person who fired a gun, and several peo- ple witnessed the act," Busch said. "We had a lot of people in the cor- munity giving us information." Police said two vehicles stopped In front of a Flint home about 2 a.m. Sui- day and opened fire, shooting Herbert Cleaves, 27, in the abdomen. By Stephanie Schonholz Daily Staff Reporter Following the example of other universities across the nation, the University of Michigan Medical School will add three divisions to its medical department this sum- mer. This was the initiative the Uni- versity Board of Regents took when approving the separation of three departments from the Surgery Divi- sion last Friday. Effective July 1, the neuro- surgery, orthopaedic surgery and urology departments will become individual divisions of the Medical School. "Around the country medical schools in recent years have gone in this direction of recognizing differ- ent departments," said Health Sys- tem spokeswoman Kara Gavin. Gavin said splitting the depart- ments will make it easier for each to receive separate funds. "As far as research goes, a lot of money comes from the (National Institutes of Health) and other agencies. The divisions will receive more leverage when they go out to compete for grants, its not just a name change," Gavin said. But increased funding is not the only reason for splitting the depart- ments. "We view this administrative change as an opportunity to intensi- fy our efforts for improved patient care," urology section head and future department chair James Montie said in a written statement. Faculty from all three divisions expressed enthusiasm about the "Wel're hoping to expand the number of faculty like researchers." - Don Tomford Neurosurgery administrator split. "We're hoping to expand the number of faculty, like researchers." "The division is looking to gain at least two clinical and five to six research faculty members within two years," said Don Tomford, a neurosurgery administrator. Neurosurgery is currently recruit- ing new faculty, even though there are 10 clinical faculty members on staff as well as four research faculty to date. Medical professionals will be "much more apt to come if these divisions are on their own, rather than as part of a larger department," Tomford said. Tomford said the creation of the three departments as individual parts of the University Medical School helps recruit the best faculty in the country and brings a national presence to University. All three departments are ranked by U.S. News & World Report in the top 25 in the nation. Tomford was not worried that the UMS surgery department would suffer without the divisions. "The department of surgery is very well run, it will stand on its own," he said. -5 r I T Guaranteed growth never looked so good! 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