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NEWS: 76-DAILY
CLASSIFIED: 764-0557
www.michigandaily.com
Tuesday
April 3, 2001
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Mecate OKs
Mc ain bill
Grad schools get high ranks
m staff and wire reports
The Senate approved landmark leg-
islation yesterday to reduce the influ-
ence of big money in political
campaigns, capping a fierce, six-year
struggle that catapulted Sen. John
McCain to national prominence.
The 59-41 vote sent the measure to
the House, where a tough fight is
pected even though similar bills
e been approved twice in recent
years. Beyond that, President Bush
has not said definitively whether he
will sign the bill, and, if the measure
is approved, a court challenge to its
constitutionality is a certainty.
"He'll look at it when it reaches his
desk. It's still going through the leg-
islative process," said White House
spokesman Scott McClellan.
Supporters hailed the Senate's
tion as a signal that campaign
ance laws are likely to be changed
for the first time since the Watergate
era. Passage will "put a lasting mark
on the record of democracy," said
Sen. Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, the
leading Democratic supporter.
"I asked at the start of this debate
for my colleagues to take a risk for
America," said McCain a few
moments before the roll was called.
"In a few minutes, I believe we will
do just that. I will go to my grave
deeply grateful for the honor of being
part of it."
Not everyone was pleased with the
outcome.
"The bill is fatally unconstitution-
al" said Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-
Ky.), who fought to the end against a
bill he has long opposed as an
infringement on free speech. In addi-
tion, he said, "The underlying theory
is that there is too much money in
politics, in spite of the fact that last
year Americans spent more on potato
chips than they did on politics."
A group of more than 60 lawyers
form around the country have pub-
lished and circulated a letter through
the Brennan Center of Justice at New
York University claiming that the bill
is indeed constitutional.
University of Oregon Prof. Garrett
Epps was one of the law professors to
sign the letter. He said that a former
Supreme Court ruling on Buckley v.
Valeo established a precedent for
restricting the amount of money a
person can donate to a campaign.
But other provisions will tangle up
See SENATE, Page 9
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JOYCE LEE/Daily
Students walk past the Lurie Bell Tower on North Campus yesterday afternoon. The University's College of Engineering is ranked fourth in the nation, according to
rankings published yesterday by U.S. News and World Report. The college was tied for fourth place last year with the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Four
'
programs make top five
Law schools
reassess use of
By Whitney Elliott
Daily Staff Reporter
Four University professional schools are
among the nation's top five in their respective
fields according to U.S. News and World
Report's annual "Best Graduate Schools" rank-
ings published yesterday.
The University's School of Public Health is
third in the nation. The School of Information
tied for third in the nation with Syracuse Uni-
versity and the University of Pittsburgh. The
College of Engineering and the School of
Nursing are both fourth.
Five other University professional schools
are in the top 10 schools in the nation. The
School of Education is seventh; the Law
School tied for seventh with the University of
Virginia; the School of Public Policy tied for
seventh with Carnegie Mellon University, the
University of Southern California and the Uni-
versity of Texas - Austin; the Medical School
is the ninth-best research-oriented medical
school and the Business School is ranked 10.
College of Engineering Dean Stephen Direc-
tor said that although ranking systems all have
room for a wide amount of error, the college is
happy to stay at its fourth place spot in the
nation, a place it shared with the Georgia Insti-
tute of Technology last year.
Director also said there are objective and
subjective parts to the ranking system U.S.
News and World Report uses.
"We have a lot of research going on. We're
in high demand by students," Director said of
objective qualities that contribute to the rank-
ing.
Director added that subjectively, because the
college has an outstanding faculty, they are
ranked highly by other deans from around the
nation.
Medical School Dean Allen Lichter said the
medical school is composed of "leaders of aca'
demic medicine in the nation. We are absolute-
ly one of the very, very top schools in the
country."
University Vice President for Medical
See RANKINGS, Page 9
LSA
By John Polley
Daily Staff Reporter
"The answer," wrote U.S. District
Judge Bernard A. Friedman in last
week's decision on the University's
Law School admissions, "is not to
*ain the unconstitutional racial clas-
sification, but to search for lawful
solutions, ones that treat all people
equally and do not use race as a fac-
tor. One such solution may be to
relax, or even eliminate, reliance on
the LSAT."
In the wake of Friedman's decision
and similar affirmative action rulings,
law schools are increasingly scruti-
nizing the use of the Law School
Admissions Test in admissions. As
*al pressure mounts for law schools
to abandon affirmative action pro-
grams, admissions officials are con-
sidering new ways to maintain
student diversity.
The Law School Admissions Coun-
cil, the organization that administers
the LSAT, has urged law schools in
recent months to reassess the empha-
sis placed on LSAT scores, aiming to
* ange admission norms.
"We've been concerned for some
time about the historic over-reliance
on the LSAT that many law schools
have had," said Ed Haggerty, a
spokesman for LSAC.
"Essentially, what some schools do
is place too much emphasis on the
LSAT score and numbers alone,
rather than looking at the whole stu-
dent," said Haggerty. "We're asking
law schools to rethink their use of the
LSAT score, so that the score is
placed in the proper perspective."
To this end, LSAC introduced a
five-year, 10 million dollar effort in
December called the "Initiative to
Advance Education on the LSAT."
The program, the largest in the histo-
ry of LSAC, was approved in
response to concerns of law schools
about student diversity in the face of
recent court rulings.
In addition to training and educa-
tion for admissions officials, the pro-
gram aids the "Alternative Models
Implementation Project," an effort to
encourage broader admissions crite-
ria. By reducing the emphasis on cri-
teria such as LSAT scores and grade
point averages, the program hopes to
provide law schools with legal meth-
ods of encouraging campus diversity.
According to a written statement
released by the council, the project is
currently researching an application
method that offers candidates "the
opportunity to provide information
about their lives and experiences that
might be of particular value to admis-
sion committees seeking the greatst
diversity in their classes."
The Boalt Hall School of Law at
the University of California at Berke-
ley, whose affirmative action program
was ended by California's Proposition
209, followed such a course in 1997.
Soon after Proposition 209 was
introduced, the school changed its
admissions statement to allow for
See LSAT, Page 9
College students target
of new. meningitis bill
By Louie MeizIIsh
Daily Staff Reporter
Following the deaths of several Michigan
students and one student's multiple amputa-
tions due to meningitis, a state legislator has
introduced a bill to combat the spread of the
disease that would make college students
responsible for being vaccinated.
The bill, introduced by Rep. Lauren Hager
(R-Port Huron), would require that all stu-
dents at Michigan's private and public col-
leges receive immunizations against
meningitis prior to living in on-campus hous-
ing.
Hager said he became aware of the issue
when he was contacted by Ed and Pat Wiginton
of Marysville, who lost their 14-year-old son
Jason, to the disease in 1998.
Students living in close quarters, such as in
residence halls, are believed to be especially
susceptible to the disease.
Hager was also contacted by Michigan
State student Adam Busuttil, who contracted
meningitis in October 1999. He has since had
to have the tips of seven of his fingers ampu-
tated.
"Something needed to be done because I
wouldn't want to go through what I went
through again," Busuttil said.
Hager said there were two main reasons for
his introduction of the bill.
First, "to raise awareness of meningitis as a
disease that has to be looked at very seriously,"
and second, "that people realize a vaccine is
available."
For students who wish to be exempted
from the requirement, the bill allows them to
sign a waiver after the college has provided
them with, according to the bill, "detailed
information on the risks associated with
meningococcal disease and the availability
and effectiveness of immunization to the
adult."
It does not, however, mandate that the univer-
sities offer the vaccines at no charge.
"It is not correct for the Legislature to put
another unfunded mandate on the universities,"
Hager explained.
He added that while this is an important
issue, he did not favor funding such a proposal
at the present time.
University of Michigan Housing Director
said he was unfamiliar with the proposed legis-
lation and could not comment.
The University Health Service offers a
meningitis vaccine for $75.
- The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Bollinger, students chat
about diversity, lawsuits
DA.VICKAZ/Daily
A recent study conducted by the American Lung Association
of Michigan found that nearly 25 percent of women over the
age of 18 smoke.
Smokig riky,
tempting at 'U'
By Courtney Crimmins
Daily Staff Reporter
If a student smokes one pack a day of Camel Lights, nor-
mally priced at $4.20, that student will have spent $1,533 on
cigarettes in a year. A recent study revealed that the number of
young adults smoking cigarettes is on the rise and women in
particular face increasing smoling-related health problems.
In information released by the American Lung Association
of Michigan, nearly 25 percent of women over the age of 18
smoke. As a result, 5,600 women smokers in Michigan will
die this year.
"I have worked in other areas like University of Arizona
and University of Illinois, and there is definitely more
smokers here than anywhere else," said Dustin Desnyder,
manager of Scorekeepers Bar and Grill on Maynard Street.
The prevalence of smoking in Michigan has caused
Michigan's lung cancer death rate to be 2 percent above the
national average. Lung cancer has become the leading cause
of cancer-related death among women, surpassing breast
cancer. In Michigan, about 45 of every 100,000 women
have lung cancer.
A study conducted by the British Faculty and Institute of
By Jacquelyn Nixon
Daily Staff Reporter
At the request of the Michigan Student Assem-
bly, University President Lee Bollinger met with 20
students yesterday in a fireside chat in the Michi-
gan Union to discuss alumni participation on cam-
pus, affirmative action and segregation.
Vice President for Student Affairs E. Royster
Harper said those students selected to participate in
the chat were chosen hoth because of their interests
concentrations within the University. Fireside chats
with the president have existed for three years in an
effort to hear students' concerns first-hand.
LSA junior Kym Stewart said she wanted to
know how Bollinger became an advocate for affir-
mative action. He credited the 1954 Brown v.
Board of Education decision for defining diversity
for the community..
"Brown vs. Board of Education is one of the
most important decisions in our society" Bollinger
said. "It set in motion changes in our society ...
i
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