One hundred ten years ofediftorilfreedom
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Monday
March 5, 2001
e t ,' ' ala 3 4 -
HIarvard choice
expected soon
From staff reports
The Harvard University presidential
search committee met twice in two
days last week but has yet to release
the name of a nominee, despite rumors
that an announcement is imminent.
The Harvard Crimson reported last
Tuesday that some members of the
search committee attended the bimonth-
ly meeting of Harvard's executive board.
The search committee then met at the
Boston Harbor Hotel for several hours
but did not conduct any interviews.
University President Lee Bollinger
was interviewed for the third time two
weeks ago in New York City and has
een rumored to be the committee's
op choice for the post.
Bollinger, who spent spring break in
London, was unavailable for comment.
LSA interI;JorS
dismisaed
By Jon Fish
Daily Staff Reporter
Student intervenors in the lawsuit challenging
the admissions policies of the College of Litera-
ture, Science and the Arts experienced a setback
last week when U.S. District Judge Patrick Dug-
gan dismissed the
argument that using
race as a factor in MiltdNS
admissions is a justifi- ON IIA:.
able remedy to past
and present discrimi-
nation.
In his opinion, Dug-
gan wrote that the intervenors failed to prove the
University's specific intent behind the admis-
sions policies was to remedy past discrimina-
tion.
"There is absolutely no evidence that minori-
ties were ever outright excluded from admission
to the University; nor is there any evidence that
the University's past admissions programs had a
discriminatory impact on minority applicants,"
Duggan wrote.
In December, Duggan granted summary judg-
ment in favor of the University, ruling that its
current system of admissions is legal, although
the "grid" system used from 1995 to 1998 was
not.
Duggan also wrote that achieving the educa-
tional benefits which result from a diverse stu-
dent body is a compelling government interest,
as outlined by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Lewis
Powell in the 1978 case, Bakke v. Regents of the
University of California.
University Deputy General Counsel Liz Barry
stressed that last week's decision does not affect
December's ruling.
"Both the intervenors and the University were
fighting to defend race conscious admissions
policies" she said. "We won that battle together
in December. This doesn't really take anything
away from that"
In this latest opinion, Duggan wrote that while
the intervenors presented "ample evidence that
minority students at the University have been,
and continue to be subjected to, racial hostility,
stereotyping, and isolation," this kind of evi-
dence is not sufficient to justify a race-conscious
system.
Duggan also said the intervenors' argument
that taking race into account is necessary to
counteract other admissions criteria which disfa-
vor minorities was also unproven. Because race
is one of many other factors that are part of the
same program, Duggan said, "there is no overall
discriminatory impact."
Godfrey Dillard, lead counsel for the inter-
venors, said they will appeal the decision.
"Obviously the court feels that people of color
don't have a contribution to make to the consti-
tutional debate of affirmative action," he said.
Dillard said he is confident the intervenors
could win any appeal, noting that both Duggan
and Law School case Judge Bernard Friedman
had ruled against the student intervention in
1998 but were overturned by the 6th Circuit of
Appeals later that summer.
Curt Levey, director of legal and public affairs
for the Center for Individual Rights, said Dug-
gan's latest ruling bodes well for the plaintiffs in
both cases.
The intervenors "were solidly repudiated by a
judge who has already showed he is supportive
See TRIAL, Page 7A
BREAKING AWAY
Finding a job
gets tough as
market slows
By John Polley
Daily Staff Reporter
In recent months, trends of slow-
ing manufacturing output, faltering
stock prices and rising unemploy-
ment have been cause for anxiety
among job-seekers. For some stu-
dents, especially those entering the
job market in the coming year, the
signs of a cyclical slowdown are
beginning to hit home.
"The hiring will slow, there's no
question about that," said economics
Prof. George Johnson. "People look-
ing for work around June won't do as
well as they did last June."
The effects of the slowing econo-
my have, in fact, already begun to
take their toll on post-graduate
employment. Waning confidence
among employers has led to shrink-
ing interview schedules, fewer cam-
pus visits and a reduced number of
job offers.
In the most drastic cases, employ-
ers have withdrawn offers that were
made to students earlier in the
recruiting season.
"I've heard-of that happening,"
admitted Cynthia Redwine, director
of the University's Engineering
Career Resource Center.
"In times like this, (employers)
just start to slow down in what
they're doing. Sometimes they're
trying to see if their needs are as
much as was anticipated. We're start-
ing to see that," said Redwine.
Such sentiment has been echoed
by the University's other principal
career centers.
"We have seen a general contrac-
tion in the number of interviews and
schedules across the board," said
Kathryn Rado, associate director of
the Business School's Office of.
Career Development. "They're just
looking at fewer students."
Rado also noted that business fail-
ures in the technology sector has
See JOBS, Page 7A
SAM HOLLENSHEAD/Daily
LSA senior Phoebe Leung tosses a ball to a child in Nogales, Mexico, last week. Leung, along with LSA senior Cici Malin (second from left) was on a trip with her
Sociology 460 class to study the issues of the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement.
Students find unconventional
ways to spend
By Maria Sprow
Daily StaffReporter
Mexico was a popular spring break vacation
spot for students, but not everybody went there
to party with their friends. Many students took
trips to help out communities and learn about
life in other countries.
Prof. Ian Robinson's Sociology 460 class took
a field trip to the U.S.-Mexico border to investi-
gate the affects of the North American Free
Trade Agreement - which regulates the flow of
goods and services between the countries - on
worker's rights, the cost of living and child
labor.
"NAFTA helps to create some of the prob-
lems that we saw there. Cities are growing very
fast and the government can't cope with it," said
spring break
Robinson.
Alternative Spring Break, another issues-
based way for students to spend their time off,
was a popular choice for those wanting to spend
spring break in an unconventional way by help-
ing people in 30 communities, including
Detroit, Harlem, Boston and El Paso, Texas.
ASB gave students the chance to volunteer in
different ways. Some volunteer opportunities
included tutoring at-risk children who attend
inner-city schools in St. Paul, Minn.; working at
soup kitchens and informational centers for peo-
ple living with AIDS in Detroit, New York and
Chicago; and working with physically and men-
tally disabled adults at Camp Fowler in
Mayville.,
One team went down to Little Havana, Fla. to
work with Cuban immigrants. They were given
Spring Break 2001
Several students suffer minor injuries
when a van headed to an Alternative Spring
Break site rolls over on an icy Iowa highway.
Florida and Mexico were among the top
vacation destinations for students wanting a
relaxing week away from Ann Arbor.
Page 3A.
opportunities to work in legal clinics, clinics for
Alzheimers patients and child day care centers.
"The best part was just listening to these peo-
ple tell their stories," said Andrea McDonald, an
RC 'ophomore who lead the team and worked
in the legal center. "We heard stories about why
they are here, how they got here, people floating
over on rafts."
Students were allowed to choose their site by
ranking issues that were most important to
them.
Other sites dealt with helping immigration
refugees, victims of domestic violence, environ-
See SPRING BREAK, Page 7A
ELLIE WHITE/Daily
The town-and-gown atmosphere of Ann Arbor often comes together on Main Street,
where restaurants and stores attract students as well as permanent residents.
U'ads quality of
life in Ann Arbor
Sunset at the Big House
Mardi Gras affords
24-hour party spot
By Samantha Ganey
Daily Staff Reporter
NEW ORLEANS - Without postal
service in New Orleans, University
students who attended Mardi Gras had
to wait until they returned home to
rave about the sunny skies, seafood,
and endless partying. The restaurants
and shopping in New Orleans
remained open for tourists, but munic-
inal services such as the postal service.
"Bourbon Street was definitely the
worst (or best) place for finding crazy
people," LSA senior Laura Shapiro
said about her Spring Break at Mardi
Gras with five friends from the Uni-
versity.
A wide range of entertainment from
live jazz and blues to karaoke and strip
shows on Bourbon Street offered visi-
tors the opportunity for something to
do at almost every hour of the day.
Many of the establishments were open
By James Restivo
Daily Staff Reporter
While most University students
spend four or more years living in
Ann Arbor, Susana Jara, an LSA
junior originally from Ecuador, said
there's another side to the city that
students rarely get to see.
"When the students are here, there
are lots of activities, but when stu-
dents are gone you see little things -
the nature, the buildings," Jara said.
Jara said Ann Arbor is a city which
accommodates University life well.
"It's a nice little city," Jara said.
"It's starting to get warmer so you can
walk around and absorb things."
The city, with a population of more
than 100,000, is also the temporary
city and the University have a mutual-
ly beneficial relationship when it
comes to the student body.
"There is no question that there is a
relationship between the quality of
life of the community (and the Uni-
versity) - it brings quality faculty
and students to the University,"
Kosteva said. "And the atmosphere of
the University makes a contribution
to the quality of life in Ann Arbor."
Ann Arbor ranked 52th on Morgan
Qunito's 2000 lisi of the safest cities
which is compiled from FBI reports.
This is up from 74th in 1999, yet
lower than the 11th place ranking it
received in 1996. -
Ann Arbor Police Sgt. Michael
Logghe said the city of Ann Arbor
ranks low in violent crimes, a little
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