One hundred ten yea feditonrlfreedm ti NEWS: 76-DAILY CLASSIFIED: 764-0557 www.michigandaily.com Tuesday April 17, 2001 VLOMEMUUmwE-P-m --,- :I I. A r the kist issue of The Michi an" Daily, forth winter term. '- The Daily will bein 'ublcation of the Summer nApril3 prior to returning next fall in its 111th year. $2 By Hanna LoPatin Daily Staff Reporter gas not likely this summer - The editors ead about the memorable moments that have aected the University during the t four years in the Daily s Graduation Edition. Page 1C Gas prices are expected to go up again this summer, but experts say it is unlikely that this year's rise will mirror the price explosion that occurred last summer. Prices usually rise in the summer as spring and summer are known as the "driving season." More people drive in these months, often taking longer trips than in fall and winter. The laws of supply and demand lead to higher costs. Also affecting gas prices this year is the clos- ing of one of the four Midwestern refineries in January. University economics Prof. Richard Porter said gas contains special additives during the summer and is more expensive to make, further adding to costs. Porter added that gas prices always reflect oil prices, and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is often responsible for rais- ing the costs. The organization would like to raise prices even more, he said, but is receiving complaints from Europe where oil is rarely pro- duced domestically. "There are too many things that Saudi Arabia depends on us for to slap us in the face," he said. Jacob Bournazian, an economist at the U.S. Department of Energy, said Michigan may have already seen the worst, with gas prices rising 20 cents in the past month. "The expectation is the market should settle" he said. "I expect prices to ease in a couple of weeks." While there are many factors that have con- tributed to a rise in costs including gas stocks at 10 percent less than they were at this time last year, Bournazian said a lot is happening that ben- efits the market. Crude oil stocks are high and many oil refiner- ies are coming off their maintenance periods and going back to full utilization. The increase in supply will help to level off the prices, he added. "I don't expect it to be that dramatic of a rise as last summer," Bournazian said. An unexpected shutdown of a major pipeline caused gas prices to increase to over $2 a gallon last summer. Also, the Environmental Protection Agency changed the type of gas used in the country. Porter said that companies' ill preparation for the changeover also contributed to the spike. Both Boumazian and Porter said the rise in gas prices should not exceed $1.60 or $1.70 per gal- lon. "The price of gasoline is still about as cheap as it's been this century," Porter said. A price jump "isn't going to hurt anybody," he said. "I don't see people rushing out to stop buy- ing SUVs." First-year Law student Joe Bernstein said a jump in prices might have some good and bad aspects to it. "It could be a problem for a lot of students who want to do traveling this summer, like take road trips," he said. "But (prices) are not high enough to discourage people from taking road trips. People can still afford it." 'U'takes steps to welcome minorities atEIZaboth Kassab ily Staff Reporter For hundreds of under-represented minorities, an acceptance letter from the University is the culmination of years of recruitment efforts by various groups associated with the University - but the work does not stop there. Once minority high school students e accepted to the University, more 'forts are made to ensure that they enroll, and after enrollment the Uni- versity community continues its efforts, striving to provide an environ- ment that keeps students from leaving before graduation. From student groups to University- related outreach programs to alumni clubs, a network of people undertake the task of showing under-represented minorities "that higher education is not impossible as sometimes it seems;" said LSA sophomore Celso Cardenas. Blacks, Hispanics and Native Amer- icans are identified as under-represent- ed minorities, and recruiters target these groups because statistics show they are the least likely to seek a col- lege education. Hispanic students are the youngest and fastest-growing part of the popula- n, and yet they are among the least ely to attend college. Donney Moroney, coordinator in the Office of Multi-ethnic Student Affairs, said she worries that this trend will lead to a country in which a sizable Hispanic population will not be repre- sented in the leadership of society. A two-way exchange brings middle and high school students to Ann Arbor from around the Midwest to expose them to a college environment. Classes d other programs take University ents to targeted communities as tutors and mentors. The programs are aimed particularly at under-represented minorities to let them know that higher education is a realistic option even if none of their relatives have attended college. Programs continue through high school and the college application ocess. "Admissions only accept students that we think will be successful," said Jim Vanhecke, senior assistant director of undergraduate admissions. "We try to step up minority recruitment to ensure that we have a diverse class" Once qualified students have been accepted to the University, the task shifts from convincing them that high- er education is necessary to persuad- ing them that the University is the right place. *0 "We try to recruit as many of our underrepresented individuals as per- sonally as possible," Vanhecke said. He pointed to the annual Spring Wel- come Day that attracted approximately 800 prospective students from around the country to be introduced to the campus this year, one of the largest turnouts ever. Volunteers also make personal tele- cone calls to under-represented minority students who have been accepted to answer any questions the prospective students may have. "Michigan is not behind anyone," Vanhecke said. "From what I can see, we are at the forefront of recruitment." However, the University does have One Fine day Rise in campus crime common at end of year By Juelyn Nixon Daily StaffReporter LSA sophomore Elaina Hauk said recent assaults have caused her to ques- tion safety on campus. "It all sounds weird. It's not some- thing that just happens," she said. Department of Public Safety spbkes- woman Diane Brown said in the past few months there has been an increase in campus crime, including assaults, although the rise is not out of the ordi- nary. "Toward the end of each semester all crime in general tends to go up - as stress increases and the time living among people wears people down. And that happens year in and year out," she said. The incident that has garnered the most attention this semester was a sex- ual assault reported April 3 by a female student in West Quad Residence Hall. In the middle of the afternoon, the student was allegedly sexually assault- ed when two men in black ski masks entered her room. While one assaulted her, another stole property from her room. Brown said the evidence of the assault investigation will be submitted to the Washtenaw County Prosecutor's Office next week. "They will determine if it is prose- cutable case. They will either authorize an arrest or they can choose not to authorize and the case would end," she said. Brown said if a warrant is autho- rized, DPS would arrest the suspect or work with the suspect's attorney to turn him in to authorities. "Perhaps, before, people thought you had to get in a big fight or something or a fistfight, but now realize unwanted touching can be considered an assault," she said. On April 4 another assault was reported in West Quad-when three women entered a resident's room unin- vited. DPS turned over its evidence to the city prosecutor last week and is waiting for them to determine what the next course of action will be. "We had both parties on site ... and got them in questioning that night," Brown said. "The time frame between witnesses can be shorter since you know who all the witnesses are. LSA sophomore Margaret Kovacs was unable to contemplate how an assault could take place in a high-traf- fic area of West Quad during the after- noon. "I don't see how it could happen. There were a whole bunch of people walking around," she said. DPS released a second crime alert on April 10 after a student reported See CRIME, Page 8A History Prof. Sidney Fine stands with his wife of 58 years, Jean, after his final lecture yesterday. "Thank you, as representatives of the thousands of students whom I have taught that have made my career and life so enjoyable," Fine told his History 467 class as he capped a 53-year career at the University. MSA takes up local, international issues By Carrie Thorson Daily Staff Reporter Treasurer Josh Samek was one of many Michi- gan Student Assembly members who, at last night's special meeting, posed the question "Where do we draw the line?" This question was in reference to the three controversial resolutions the assembly passed last night regarding divestment in Burma, the New Era hat company's alleged use of sweatshop labor and intelligent design creation theory in schools. Although these resolutions were pertinent to the University in some way, assembly members questioned how involved MSA should be in mat- ters of state, national and international govern- ments. The first resolution opposed Michigan House Bill 4328, which would require students be taught not only that evolution is an unproven the- ory, but that life is the result of the "purposeful, intelligent design of a creator." "The sponsors of the bill do not understand what is meant by a scientific theory," Rackham student John Solum said. Solum was one of sev- eral graduate students in science who came to the meeting to speak for the resolution. "There should be an avenue in the classroom to maybe be able to talk about creation," LSA Rep. Omari Williams said. Another resolution asked the University to withdraw any money it has invested in companies that do business with the government of Myan- mar, which is accused of perpetuating human rights violations against its people. "I pay tuition to the University of Michigan and I do not want that money to support human rights abuses and military dictatorship," LSA freshman Mara Neering said. Aside from passing these resolutions, the assembly created the Campus Improvement Taskforce Initiative but tabled the creation of a Greek Relations Taskforce until next fall. They also distributed money garnered from student fees to student groups for the second time this semester. "MSA has never done a second funding cycle before, and that's absolutely amazing," said Presi- dent Matt Nolan. LSA Rep. Rob Goodspeed moved to adjourn the meeting after old business, forcing the voting on MSA code amendments to be postponed until next fall. "We were going to discuss code amendments that could be controversial," Goodspeed said. "I wanted more assembly members present and interested." When the meeting began there were slightly more than enough members to legally vote on resolutions, and by the time the meeting was adjourned, only the minimum voting block remained. "I was disappointed that we adjourned," Nolan said. " But what we did do tonight was great." See MSA, Page 8A i1ncinnati mayor lifts curfews as city settles- CINCINNATI (AP) - Promising to make police more accountable, the mayor lifted a citywide cur- few yesterday that helped end days of rioting over the police shooting of an unarmed black man. "Now that the disturbances have subsided, they must never occur again," Mayor Charles Luken said. "We have an opportunity for a new Cincinnati." However, the mayor did not lift a state of emer- gency, which allows him to impose curfews and other restrictions. than $200,000 in the worst racial unrest in Cincin- nati since the 1968 assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. The streets were mostly quiet over the weekend, and city officials had hoped to lift the curfew because it was hurting businesses. The curfew was scaled back to 11 p.m. Sunday to allow more time for Easter celebrations. Joining Luken at a news conference were reli- gious, business and community leaders who have , I _