ol'on up
The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, January 9, 2001- 7
Sec. of Labor nominatioi
brngs rticimo uh
AP PHOTO
4vMover Scott Cuccaro works to load a moving van with personal items belonging to President-
elect George W. Bush and his family, from the Governor's mansion in Texas.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP)-- President-elect had abided
Bush stuck by his embattled labor secretary coming. Th
nomination yesterday, declaring "I've got dence ofav
confidence in Linda Chavez" despite the reve- Knowing
lation that she had sheltered and paid an isle- against the
gal immigrant in her home. after smug
Bush, who said he learned of the case Sun- statutes, no
day night, indicated he was not swayed by aliens staya
opposition to her confirmation. "I strongly But forI
believe that when the Senate gives her a fair money to a
hearing, they'll vote for her," he said. she was dri
The president-elect faced barrages of ques- controversy
tions on the subject on two separate occasions She already
yesterday, 12 days before his inauguration. le unions and
said of Chavez, "I firmly believe she'll be a ments on su
flne secretary of labor." the minimu
Democrats promised a vigorous examina- At the st
tion of the case. Sen. Edward Kennedy of Zoe Baird's
Massachusetts, the top Democrat on the coin- was deraile
tnittee considering the Chavez nomination, illegal imm
called the new information "very troubling." Chavez w
Bush aides were reviewing FBI interviews came to lig
with Chavez and the immigrant, Marta Mer- tion in 199
cado, as well as their own discussions with most of the
Chavez, to determine whether the nominee ing the Zoc
"
Amencan to
buy TWA
ST. LOUIS (AP) - American Airlines reportedly will
announce plans this week to buy financially troubled Trans
World Airlines Inc., a proposal that would mean the end of
TWA, the oldest continuous line in American commercial
aviation.
Spokesmen for the carriers and other interests involved
declined to comment on reports in The Washington Post
and The Wall Street Journal of a complex deal that could
clear the way for antitrust approval of United Airlines'
pending takeover of US Airways.
According to the Post, TWA plans to file for Chapter
1 bankruptcy protection tomorrow, the third time it has
done so, as a precursor of the takeover by AMR Corp.'s
American Airlines. The takeover would be announced
that day.
In a brief statement yesterday, TWA said the airline
"is always receptive to legitimate business overtures
and is open to consideration of business combinations
that will be beneficial." But the statement said TWA
does not comment on discussions unless an agreement
is reached.
American spokesman Tim Doke said American also
doesn't comment on rumor or speculation. "We are talk-
ing to lots of folks about lots of different things all the
time," he said.
TWA was founded July 13, 1925, as Western Air
Express, and merged five years later with Transcontinental
Air Transport to form to Transcontinental and Western Air,
or TWA.
The company changed the name without changing the
initials in 1950, when then-owner Howard Hughes made it
Trans World Airlines.
by the law and had been forth-
hey said so far there was no evi-
violation.
ly housing an illegal immigrant is
law, but authorities usually go
glers who violate "harboring"
it people who let undocumented
at their homes.
Chavez, providing shelter and
Guatemalan women - she said
ven by compassion - has added
to her quest to win confirmation.
was-being strongly criticized by
some Democrats for past state-
ch issues as affirmative action and
in wage.
art of the Clinton administration,
nomination for attorney general
ed because she had employed an
igrant as a nanny.
as critical of Baird when that case
lht. Discussing the Baird nomina-
3, Chavez said on PBS: "I think
American people were upset dur-
e Baird nomination that she had
hired an illegal alien. That was what ypset
them more than the fact that she did not pay
Social Security taxes" on the nanny's wags.
Bush's aides said Chavez helped Mercado
for charitable reasons. Chavez told The Wash-
ington Post:
"If someone came to me needing shelter
and needing a helping hand even under the
same circumstances, I would try to 1lp
them."
According to several Bush aides, Chavez
told his advisers she did not know Mercado
was in the country illegally until the womani
had left her home. Mercado said in pubi-hed
reports that she tolo Chavez of her illeg.sta-
tus three months after moving into her ho141c.
"The exact date of that has not been er-
mined, at which point she actually did'tow
that information," said Ari Fleischer, a Bush
transition spokesman.
An Immigration and Naturalization official
said that if Chavez knew Mercado was uidoc-
umented she might well have been in vi'la-
tion of the itnmigration law, which caties
fines starting at S2,000 per charge.
ADMISIONS
'dontinued from Page 1
based on the perception of an undesirable atmos-
phere.
it is understandable for them to be afraid to
come here if, for example, they were to be with
gst a few other African Americans in their enter-
ing class," Karsh said.
Despite the March 1996 U.S. 5th Circuit Court
of Appeals decision in Holip oodo i State ofTexvas
to stop the use of affirmative action at the Univer-
sity of Texas at Austin, the university's law
shool has still been trying to attract minority
students, said Shelli Soto, dean for admissions at
the university's law school.
"We've been working the past few years since
:Hopwood to develop programs and initiatives,
that are within our legal constraints, that move
' ward achieving diversity," Soto said.
These programs and initiatives include pre-law'
ohsitutes at schools that have a high minority
enrollment like University of Texas at El Paso and
alumni scholarships aimed at minority students.
A voter-passed initiative in Washington
restricted public institutions, including the Uni-
4zyersity of Washington, fiom using race as a fac-
tor in 1998.
University of Washington Law School Associ-
ate Dean Richard Kemmert said the 1998 initia-
tive and others like it hurts public schools in that
they loose intelligent and diverse students to pri-
vate colleges that use affirmative action.
"Before, we were able to admit quite qualified
minority students that maybe wouldn't have
stacked up numerically to white students, but
now that has been completely eliminated," Kem-
mert said.
But some schools tend to be vague in how race
is incorporated into the admissions system.
Yale University, ranked No. I in the nation by
U.S. News and World Report in 1999, has a 30.6
percent minority enrollment and still uses race as
a factor in admissions, said Director of Admis-
sions Jean Webb.
"We do consider race as one factor in our
admissions process," Webb said. "It gives us the
freedom to choose the best students for our law
school."
Each applicant to Yale Law School has to go
through a process of "reads": The dean or direc-
tor of admissions reads an application first and
then two or three faculty members also read the
application. Any reader at any stage in the
process can include the applicant's race as a fac-
tor in his or her decision, Webb said.
MEDIA
re
AP PHOTO
This group of wrecked Ford Explorers was shipped to Corpus Christi to be
used in a lawsuit against both Ford Motor Co. and Bridgestone/Firestone inc.
Ford, xplorer
owner settle suit -
BABYSITTER NEEDED: For 22 month
old boy. Weekend evenings and some days.
Flexible hours, good pay. Looking for
someone who is eiergetic, enthusiastic, and
loves kids. Transportation a pins and
'd~edncs rq. 95-634ask fur Annmarie.
'ABYSITTER/MOTHER'S HELPER
needed in home for 1 yr. old & 3 yr. old. 5-10
hrs./wk. Hrs. flexible. 994-9817. Andrea.
Babysitter/Nanny needed in my SW Ann
Aubor home. 2.5 days/week. Transportation
and references required. Call 662-4739.
CARE FOR MY CUTE 6 MO. old baby in
jpy west side home Wed and Fri mornings.
Car required. Good pay. (734) 930-1970.
CAPE FOR MY SWEET baby in my Ann
C m'op home, 10-15 hrs./wk. Good pay,
xible hrs. Infant exp. preferred. Call 662-
6824.
CHILD CARE needed in our home. 10-15
hrs/wk. Flex. sched. 1 mile from campus.
Please call 761-1306.
CHILDCARE NEEDED for infants in oar
.home. F'.exible hones and wages. Please call
Carolyn at 734-668-0948.
NEED HELP caring for twin girls. Flex. 9-
12 hrs/wk., n-smkg., ref req., 734.663.6544.
NEEDED- ENERGETIC STUDENT to
help 2 young girls with creative activities 2-3
afternoons/wk. Girls are ages 9 and 11, and
joy sports, drama, music, dancing,
Wioking, crafts, and others. Must have own
transportation. References, experience as a
nanny pref. $11 per hour. Call 647-7369.
RESPONSIBLE, caring person " needed.
Work afternoons 8-12 hrs/ week (2:30-6pm)
and get paid for 20! 2 boys (5&7), west side
of Ann Arbor. Must drive. Dan 669-7606,
663-0152, danschul@umich.edu,
dschu@hciasachs.com
RESPONSIBLE, RELIABLE, non-smoker,
for child care (1 child) on Thursdays 9AM-
PM. Westside Ann Arbor. References, car
quired. 663-4585
WE ARE LOOKING for a responsible
person to provide child care for one child one
Bahamas Party
Cruise 279
5 Days "Most Meals.-Free Parties "Includes Taxes
lJamaica $439
aNightsAir &Hotel"Save$150onFood& Drinks
Cancun $399
7NightsAir&Hotel FreeFood &30HoursofDrinks
springbreaktravel.com - Our 14th Year!
1-800-678-6386
Spreit Pre k !
Panama City Beach,
Florida
San~dpiper
PeaC60VC ~Sert
1-800-488-8828
www.sandpiperbeacon.com
nouce1'.nt
Continued from Page 1
"Things have never been this good"
in terms of race relations, said Steven
Holmes, citing a recent New York
Times poll. But, some panel members
offered a contradictory view - that
there is room for improvement in cov-
ering race issues.
"I don't think it's an overstatement
to say race remains the nation's most
vexing problem," Boyd said.
The media is accustomed to covering
race in the United States in the context
of conflict, Boyd said. What began as a
genuine battle in the South for civil
rights evolved into something much
more elusive. Covering race today is
"definitely less stressful and consider-
ably safer," said public affairs specialist
Moses Newson. formerly a reporter for
African American Newspapers in Balti-
more. Newson recounted how he and
two other black reporters and a photog-
rapher were "attacked, beaten quite
badly" when they attempted to cover the
desegregation of Little Rock's Central
High School.
White newspapers consistently
ignored or covered up race issues.
"They would not cover race. They
would not cover anything outside their
zip code," said author and Pulitzer
Prize winner David Halberstam. "It
drove us crazy."
Black newspapers covered the early
civil rights movement.
"Most black papers lived hard and
died young, said Gene Roberts, former
managing editor at the New York Times.
Roberts added that the average life span
of a black paper was nine years.
When papers in the North recog-
nized the civil rights movement,
"change was inevitable," Roberts said.
The results were critical to the success
of the civil rights movement. The
attention brought the movement to
America's living rooms in such a way
that it could not be ignored, he said.
But after the initial explosion, there
was no defined battle to cover. "Race
as a journalistic story was not quite as
sexy," Boyd said.
The issues have changed. Wide-
spread institutional inequality is no
longer the focus of the media or its
American audience.
Delaney attributed this shift in atti-
tude in part to "racial fatigue."
Steven Holnes agreed. "The country
is tired of black people. I don't think
people are tired of Hispanics or Asians,"
he said. This shift has colored the
media's coverage of race in recent years.
But the fight is not over, said
Wilkins. Black children, he said, are
.still being killed - "maybe not
'boom, you're dead' but 'boom, we're
not going to educate you."' The pan-
elists agreed affirmative action is one
of the mtore explosive stories today.
Websites on the Internet devoted to
race relations are the modern equiva-
lent of the South's black newspapers
last century, picking up issues that the
networks overlook, said Chicago Tri-
bune columnist and editorial board
member Clarence Page.
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (AP)
- A woman paralyzed in a rollover
crash of a Ford Explorer with Fire-
stone tires reached a settlement yes-
terday under which Ford and
Bridgestone/Firestone agreed to
make public thousands of pages of
internal memos and reports.
"We're talking about an incredi-
ble, locked-up vault of informa-
tion," said Mikal Watts, a lawyer for
43-year-old Donna Bailey. "This
case will go a long way toward
uncovering some of the secrets
around these tire failings."
Bailey, a former rock climber and
weightlifter who was paralyzed
from the neck down in a wreck last
March, had sued the companies for
more than S100 million.
Under the settlement, she also
received an undisclosed sum of
money - "enough to take care of
her for the rest of her life," Watts
said.
The documents prove Ford
knew about the rollover problems
as early as 1989; that a 1995
Explorer redesign did nothing to
stabilize the vehicle's structure;
and that Bridgestone/Firestone
was long aware of its tire's fail-
ings, said Roger Braugh, another
lawyer for Bailey.
As part of the settlement, the
companies also promised to analyze
the failings of 300 tires, many of
which were not among the 6.5 mil-
lion recalled in August, Watts said.
Ford has long blamed Firestone
tires for at least 200 fatal crashes
leading up to the August recall.
Bridgestone/Firestone, in turn, ja
blamed the Explorer's design.
Bridgestone/Firestone spokes-
woman Christine Karbowiak said in
a statement that the company was
pleased to settle because "protract-
ed litigation would serve no useful
purpose.
Bailey was injured after t'he
treads peeled off a Firestone tire,
causing her friend's Explorer to roll
over. 1The tire was not among thcse
specified in the recall.
Yesterday's settlement does not
indicate there were problems with
tires that weren't recalled, Kar-
bowiak said.
Bailey's lawyers believe they
have documents that the National
Highway Traffic Safety Administra-
tion never requested from the com-
panies.
The lawyers said the new analy-
sis and release of documents could
spur the recall of additional Bridge-
stone/Firestone tires, and could
prove that defects were more wide-
spread than the companies have
admitted.
"This is defiitely a victory," said
Joan Claybrook, president of tOe
consumer group Public Citizen.
"When they get all this data
together, I helieve it's going to show
there needs to be a better recall."-
Bailey insisted public disclosure
be included in the settlement agree-
ment, her lawyers said.
INTRODUCTORY ZEN meditation course,
5 Thurs. eves. 6:30-8:30, begins Jan. 11. Zen
Buddhist Temple. 734/761-6520.
,f
year old Friday mornings from 1030 to 1:30.
Person should have experience in child x
development. $10 per hour. Maybe more roommates
hours. Please call after 1:30pm 647-1595.
tickets & travel
ROOMMATE WANTED for 4 bdrm. appt.
1131 Church Street 663 8979
0 DIRECT! #1 internet based company -oii.s
offering WHOLESALE Spring Break
packages by eliminating middlemen! ALL
Destinations! Guaranteed lowest Pricet
1-800-367-1252 www.springbreakdirect.com
s SPRING BREAK- Nassau/ Paradise Island,
k Cancun, and Jamaica from $449. Air, Hotel,
Transfers, Parties, and More! Organize small
group- earn FREE trips plus commissions!
C" Call -800-GET-SUN-1