ItaI One hundred ten years of edtoriazlfreedom 4,u NEWS: 76-DAILY CLASSIFIED: 764-0557 www michigandally corn Monday April 16,2001 i r ยง 5 ? .0' 4 l a q t- 3 I National conference in the By Mara Sprow Daily StaffReporter When the Rev. Jesse Jackson came to Ann Arbor for a rally in support of affirmative action following U.S. District Judge Bernard Fried- man's ruling striking down the University's use race as a factor in admission to the Law ool, he challenged students and the Universi- ty to become active members and leaders of a new civil rights movement. Jackson specifically asked campus leaders to hold a national civil rights conference this spring, as well as participate in a national march on Washington next year. Rising to that challenge, members of the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action and Inte- gration and Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary are making preliminary plans to host the conference, planned for June 1-3. Though the dates were announced a few days ago, representatives of several schools, including Colorado State University, the University of Cal- ifornia at Berkeley and the University of Penn- sylvania have already reserved spots at the conference. Other schools expected to send rep- resentatives to the conference are the University of Texas, where the Hopwood v. Texas decision banned the use of race in admissions; the Univer- sity of Florida, which recently held a rally to protest Gov. Jeb Bush's One Florida Initiative that would end the use of race in admissions there; and the University of Virginia. "These are schools we have been in contact with in the past and we expect to keep in contact with in the future," said Rackham student and BAMN member Jessica Curtin. BAMN has sent an e-mail invitation to campuses across the coun- try. "We've made contact with people we've never had contact with before," Curtin said. The announcement urges young leaders to provide a "new, progressive vision and leadership to the nation." The conference is expected to include anywhere from 30 to 200 students from around the nation who act as civil rights leaders in their own areas, Curtin said. "If we can get even one or two people from every school that is taking a part in the new civil rights movement, then they can go back with new ideas and be organizers at their school for this fight," Curtin said. The purpose of the conference is to take grass- roots campaigns at universities and nationalize them by allowing movement leaders to share their ideas and strategize ways to overturn the decision against the University of Michigan Law School and the Hopwood decision. The conference will also be a key to planning a national march in Washington - tentatively scheduled for either January or February - tied to either Martin Luther King Jr. Day or Black History Month. "This is not going to be primari- ly an educational kind of conference;' Curtin said. "It's going to be a 'What do we do next?' kind of conference." Curtin said another march could be scheduled for October in Cincinnati, where the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals is scheduled to hear the case works against the Law School. The Rainbow/PUSH coalition, founded by Jackson, is promoting the conference. BAMN is hoping Jackson will be in town for at least part of the event, especially the opening rally June 1. Other groups organizing or supporting the event are the Michigan Student Assembly, School of Social Work Student Union, African American Alumni Association, Project SERVE, Alpha Phi Omega fraternity and the Defend Affirmative Action Party. MSA signed a list of supporters against Fried- man's ruling and passed a resolution in defense of affirmative action. "The assembly has time and time again supported affirmative action and this was just another step in that direction," said See CONFERENCE, Page 2A 'I 'I . - - r _ - r:, F ' Part of Diag to be blocked off for Naked Mile By Marva Sprow Daily StaffReporter The University plans to block off parts of the Diag tomorrow during the traditional Naked Mile run, but officials still cannot predict the path participants will take - and how much jurisdiction the Ann Arbor Police Department will have to make arrests for indecent expo- sure, as they have threatened. "We are going to make all the arrests necessary to shut it down;" said AAPD Sgt. Michael Logghe. Department of Public Safety spokes- woman Diane Brown said the sidewalks that will be blocked for safety purposes and to protect a newly planted oak tree will be those between the Harlan Hatch- er Graduate Library and Haven Hall and the sidewalk between the Museum of Art and Tisch Hall. "That's where it gets narrow" Brown said. In order to block off the sidewalks, the University will be extending the construction fencing that normally sur- "We are going to make all the arrests necessary to shut it down." - Sgt. Michael Logghe Ann Arbor Police Department rounds them. Parts of the Diag not equipped with construction fencing that can be extended will not be blocked off, Brown said. "We can't just erect blockades to erect blockades;" Brown said. "There is no construction at the arch so it will not be blocked." The West Hall arch will still be open for students, as well as the sidewalk between Mason Hall and the Kraus Nat- ural Science Building. The traditional path of the run is from See NAKED MILE, Page 2A LSA freshman Paul Knupp attempts to pull an all-nighter studying for finals in his Mary 'Sle ep a t a wpreo.,mi"um1 By Karen Schwartz Daily Staff Reporter LSA senior Dana Freeman doesn't mind pulling all-nighters to complete classwork, but she dreads seeing the sun rise after a long night, and morning, of work. Freeman, like many of her peers, sometimes finds herself working through the night and sleep- ing the next day. "It works out better because I do better work when I stay up all night. ... I do my best stuff dur- ing crunch time," Freeman said. She added that though she gets tired toward the middle of the night she doesn't mind all-nighters. "It means I'm in trouble for the next day, but I take naps;' she said. Interim University Health Service Director Robert Winfield recomm nighters and stressed the in able to organize one's thoug ing finals time. "It's wise to get at least sot he said. "It's a balance which individual between how much ing nighttime hours versus h not being able to focus during He added that although the for one night of missed sle without sleep adds up. "Arbitrarily, people should four hours minimum each n preferably more;" Winfield sai R.C. freshman Jennifer Ch nighters to a combination of a minute to study and having a b rMarkley Residence Hall Room. during fnalstime ended against all- "I have other stuff to do during the day," she nportance of being said. "I sometimes don't see how I could have ghts, especially dur- done it earlier. And some nights you have a lot to do and just don't expect to sleep." me sleep each night,' Chua said she finds all-nighters a necessary evil is different for each because she knows how important sleep is but h can be learned dur- needs to get her work done. how much is lost by "I was just always raised with the idea that you daytime exams." don't go to bed until your homework is done;' she e body can make up said. "I don't think it's a good idea to stay up con- ep, multiple nights sistently but every so often I don't think it's that bad." City to present budget tonight By James Restivo Daily Staff Reporter d try to get three to night during exams, d. ua attributes her all- waiting until the last busy schedule. LSA senior Dan Leonard said he doesn't pull all-nighters and he doesn't plan to start. "I just try to organize my time well enough so that I don't have to stay up all night;' he said. "I think it's a bad idea because you can't do anything effectively the day after." Linebacker accused of assaulting girlfiend By Jacquolyn Nixon Daily StaffReporter Michigan sophomore linebacker Shantee Orr stood mute on charges of third-degree criminal sexual assault in Washtenaw County District Court after an alleged incident involving his former girlfriend last month. Third-degree sexual assault, a felony, involves penetration and is by punish- able up to 15 years in prison. Orr was barred from having contact with his alleged victim and released. A prelimi- nary hearing is set for May 9. Football coach Lloyd Carr acknowl- edged in a written statement the severity In bloom 'Senioritis' may prove costly to high schoolers By Jane Krull Daily Staff Reporter Rashawanda Talbert, a senior at Grand Rapids City High School, said she, like most of her classmates, has contracted a case of senioritis. "I've been sleeping in and going to class late" Talbert said. "I've slacked, but not to the point where my grades are that bad." Senioritis is commonly known as the phenomenon of high school seniors slacking in their studies after they have gotten their college acceptance letters. This problem can be severe for many students, who if their grades become too bad, can have their college admissions revoked. University spokeswoman Julie Peterson said there are about a dozen cases of revoked admissions to the University each year due to a significant drop in grades. Senioritis has become such a national concern that the U.S. Department of Education launched the National Commission Two months after Mayor John Hieftje presented his annual "State of the City" address asking for a 4 percent cut in all departments, City Administrator Neil Berlin will present the 2001-2002 bud- get proposal tonight to the City Council. The proposed budget recommends a gross of $215.4 million and allocates $90.4 million to the general fund. The general fund - up 0.18 percent from the 2000-2001 fiscal year - covers rel- atively all basic services, including the police and fire departments and street maintenance. The remaining funds are distributed into debt service, trust funds and other various service funds. "The fiscal state is that we are trying to change directions," Berlin said. "We are trying to place a greater emphasis on capital projects and creating a long-term sustainable level of operating expenses while trying to move into a position where in future years there will not be significant upward movement - there will be some downward movement on the property tax." City taxes will not be raised, though additional funds are made available from the rise in the average residential value by 5.6 percent. Instead of raising taxes the city was forced to make cuts in virtually every department, with person- nel taking the biggest cuts at about 72 percent, Berlin said. The city hopes to reduce its labor force by about 55 peo- ple by offering a better retirement plan for city workers to avoid layoffs. "The hope is that there would be suf- ficient retirement so there wouldn't have to be any layoffs," Berlin said. "It would enable people who were qualified for full retirement or early retirement to retire under a different formula - and in some instances benefit people." Budget Director Alan Burns said he has already spoken to many of the unions and so far does not foresee big problems with the personnel cuts, though more groups will be spoken to in the upcoming weeks. The police and fire departments will take the biggest cuts, with more than 30 positions expected to be eliminated. Hieftje said city services will not go down in quality because the current police and fire departments are signifi- cantly larger than they need to be. He attributed much of this to the Universi- ty's Department of Public Safety and said DPS takes about 90,000 calls every year that used to go to the Ann Arbor Police Department. "If they're doing that many calls that we used to have to do I think there is adequate room in the police budget and manpower situation to make some changes," Hieftje said. The budget calls for $728,000 to be carried over from the previous year's general fund, which the council original- ly expressed concerns against. "The council basically said that they wanted a budget that didn't increase taxes and See BUDGET, Page 7A 2001-2001 Ann Arbor city City Administrator Neil Berlin will present the budget to the City Council tonight budget proposal Full-time equivalent positions to be cut: BRETT MOUNTAIN/Daily Recommended gross: Recommended net: $215,444,781 $166,584,311 Total: Police: 55 8 I I II I 'I