One hundred eleven years ofedtorififreedom

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CLASSIFIED: 7640557
www michigandail y. com

Wednesday
December 12, 2001


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Fall b
Presidential search advisory
committee members may also
be announced tomorrow
By Elizabeth Kassab
Daily Staff Reporter

reak

up

to

University students will find themselves less
stressed out next fall if the University Board of
Regents votes tomorrow in favor of a two-day
study break every October.
In addition, an announcement of the members
of the presidential search advisory committee may

Inside: MSA votes to extend CCRB hours. Page 3.
------------------------------- - ------ -- --
come at tomorrow's regents meeting.
"People are being invited to serve" on the com-
mittee, said Regent Rebecca McGowan (D-Ann
Arbor). An announcement will be made when all
the positions on the committee are offered and
accepted.
Rackham Dean Earl Lewis heads the commit-
tee, which is to be comprised of seven faculty
members, two staff members, two students, two
alumni, and one representative each from the
Dearborn and Flint campuses.
The Michigan Student Assembly has been

actively pursuing a plan for a fall br
semester and has worked closely with
tration in planning it. Interim Provost
has recommended the proposal to the
are scheduled to meet at 1:30 p.m.
the Fleming Administration Building
MSA President Matt Nolan said t
would give students time to catch
relieve stress on campus and incre
health.
"The fall break project is really a
the fact that when students think o
want ... and work through the syste
set up and really dig in and put thoug

regents
eak since last University will recognize solid student concerns
the adminis- and is willing to address those issues," Nolan said.
Lisa Tedesco The regents have the final say in whether the fall
regents, who break will be incorporated into the academic cal-
tomorrow in endar.
"While they have the power to (reject the pro-
the fall break posal), there's no incentive for them to do it,"
up on work, Nolan said.
ase students' Regent Andrea Fisher Newman (R-Ann Arbor)
expressed concerns about the proposal at the last
testament to regents meeting. Regent Katherine White (D-Ann
ut what they Arbor) questioned whether athletic programs
m that's been would see the long weekend as an opportunity to
ght into it, the See REGENTS, Page 7


Al

FBI seeks
interview
subjects in
person
By Jacquelyn Nixon
Daily Staff Reporter
Officials from the U.S. attorney's
office for the eastern district of
Michigan yesterday began going
door-to-door to contact men who
failed to respond to interview
requests by the FBI as part of its
national terrorism investigation.
Gina Balaya, spokeswoman for
the U.S. attorney's office, said
those who did not respond to letters
from the FBI before Monday's
deadline will not be detained by
officials or face repercussions, but
officers will try to contact those
individuals in person.
Balaya said they will have the
same options as those who respond-
ed before the deadline.
"If the person is home and they
want to have an attorney present
first ... they can request to have an
interview later," Balaya said.
Nearly 75 percent of letter recipi-
ents in eastern Michigan have
responded to the letters, U.S. Attor-
ney Jeffrey Collins said yesterday.
According to Collins' office, 503
letters were sent two weeks ago to
men of Middle Eastern descent in
southeastern Michigan, 104 of
which were returned due to incor-
rect addresses. Officials are still
attempting to locate these men.
Collins' office said the FBI
gained information from 351 peo-
ple. Of that number, 242 men have
scheduled an interview.
Nine students and two University
employees have participated in the
interviews.
Nick Roumel, senior attorney for
University Student Legal Services,
said student interviews have lasted
about 45 minutes and that students
have not appeared to be targets.
"The FBI knows that the people
who are affiliated with our Univer-
sity are here on serious business.
They're not going to be involved in
anything illegal," Roumel said.
Officials have completed nearly
60 percent of the interviews and
hope to finish all interviews before
Dec. 21.

- aida

camp hs
link to.A2
TORNAK FARMS, Afghanistan (AP) - An issue of Avia-
tion Week magazine bearing the mailing address of an Ann
Arbor business was found yesterday among items strewn
about an abandoned training camp of Osama bin Laden's ter-
rorist network.
The magazine, a chemistry text and a copy of Chemical
Weekly were were picked up in the ruins of this camp 12
miles south of Kandahar as a group of journalists joined
American and British special forces troops inspecting the
desert camp, abandoned after heavy U.S. airstrikes.
The camp was clearly an important part of bin Laden's
worldwide terror network.
One of the Americans, who
would not give his name,
said an al-Qaida training
video was filmed at the
camp, which even had a
swimming pool.
Camp buildings were
destroyed, except for an area
where an obstacle course
had been constructed. Poles
topped with barbed wire - used for recruits to crawl under
- were intact. A damaged tractor sat in the compound.
The main courtyard, gutted by a large bomb crater, was
littered with papers,.all of them photo copies. They included
copies of Aviation Week, addressed to Ann Arbor, and
Chemical Weekly, addressed to the Kansas City, Mo., public
library.
Other materials included literature on the political situation
in the Persian Gulf, Iran, Latin America and Mexico. One arti-
cle detailed U.S. exports to Brazil.
Remains of a chemistry text - Chemistry and Technology
of Explosives - were strewn on the ground.
Inside the compound, there were chemical suits and chemi-
cal containers with what appeared to be oxidizing agents and
hydrogen peroxide. The troops warned reporters to be careful
as they strolled through the chemical storage building.
Geography is
factorin 'U'
recritment
By Elizabeth Kassab
Daily Staff Reporter

University Engineering Prof. Elliot Soloway is surprised at his home yesterday by Engineering senior Brian Netter with the news that he Is
the 2002 recipient of the Golden Apple Award as Stephanie Ballantyne from Hillel looks on.
Egineenn g prof recipient
of 2002 Gold Apple Award.

By Shannon Pettypiece
Daily Staff Reporter
When seven people showed up at Engi-
neering Prof. Elliot Soloway's house yes-
terday afternoon holding cameras and an
envelope with his name on it, Soloway
might have thought he won the Publish-
er's Clearing House sweepstakes. But
instead he was informed that he had been
selected as this year's Golden Apple
Award winner.
"This is wonderful!" shouted Soloway
when he was told had won. "I think the
students are great and for years I have
been doing this stuff and my colleagues
think I am crazy."
Traditionally, Golden Apple Award
winners are notified during one of their
classes. But yesterday when the award
committee went to present the award to
Soloway, they found his class had been

canceled, so they traveled o his home
near North Campus and surprised him
with the award.
Soloway, who specializes in the use of
technology in classrooms, is best known
by his students for his neon pink syllabi,
energetic lectures and his physical resem-
blance to Jerry Garcia.
"When I walked into the first day of
software engineering class, I was a little
nervous, and a little excited," wrote one
student in a nomination of Soloway for
the award. "Suddenly, a whirlwind of
energy burst through the classroom door,
a laptop under an arm, a giant stack of
pink papers under the other and a bagel in
his mouth."
Soloway said he strives to make a con-
nection with his students by teaching
them about life and themselves.
"Teaching isn't education. Why I won,
I think, is because students enjoy my

classes and learn about themselves in my
classes," he said.
Although Soloway is a professor of
electrical engineering and computer sci-
ence, he said his courses are not just
about learning computers but also how
computers affect his students' lives.
"It's an opportunity to think of how
they fit into the world of computers,"
Soloway said. "It's trying to figure out
how what Microsoft does relates to their
life."
Students of Soloway who sent in nomi-
nations agreed with his philosophy on
teaching and said they were inspired by
him.
"By treating his students as human
beings instead of as worker bees, he fos-
ters well rounded, thinking individuals
instead of coding-drones. ... It takes a
very special kind of person who can
See SOLOWAY, Page 7


Wrapping up the semester

Feds cut interest
rates for 11th time

By Ted Borden
Daily Staff Reporter

As expected, the Federal Reserve cut
interest rates yesterday for a record 11th
time this year in an attempt to stabilize a
weak U.S. economy. At the central
bank's final meeting of the year, the fed-
eral funds rate charged on overnight
loans between banks was cut by a quar-
ter of a percentage point to 1.75 percent,
the lowest level in more than 40 years.
In a statement, the Fed said "the
Committee continues to believe that,
against the background of its long-run
goals of price stability and sustainable
economic growth and of the informa-
tion currently available, the risks are
weighted mainly toward conditions that
may generate economic weakness in the

investors' predictions.
"The cut was right in line with expec-
tations;' said James Russell, director of
equity research and products at Fifth
Third Bank in Cincinnati. "Investors are
kind of giving this a big yawn. It wasn't
surprising."
Russell said that rising unemploy-
ment was the "key factor" that weighed
into the decision. "This is what the Fed
was primarily responding to," he said.
For the month of November, domes-
tic unemployment rose to 5.7 percent,
its highest level in- more than six years.
During the month, 330,000 Americans
lost their jobs. That adds up to a total
loss of 800,000 jobs over the past two
months, the largest loss in 21 years.
"This assured that the Fed would act,"
Russell said, adding that unemployment

The University not only tries to recruit ethnic minorities
but it also focuses on attracting students from geographic
areas that do not usually enroll many students.
A good number of the students at the University who
attended Michigan high schools are from the Ann Arbor or
Metro Detroit areas, while relatively few are from the Upper
Peninsula.
Out of state, the University
M 50 draws the most applications
Nfrom the East Coast and the
Chicago area.
"Most Big Ten schools
draw from in-state," said Uni-
versity Director of Under-
me soemh for di y graduate Admissions
Last in a three-part series Theodore Spencer.
The University is no
exception - 70 percent of its students can identify their
hometown by pointing to a spot on their hand.
"We actually receive more out-of-state applications,"
Spencer said. The University typically receives 15,000 out-
of-state applications and 8,000 in-state applications a year.
The University has recently been challenged by a steadily
growing number of applicants and an enrollment rate that
far exceeds its expectations.
Since the University only has the facilities and resources
to accommodate a certain number of students, the high
enrollment rate has translated into fewer acceptance offers.,
The University employs counselors to go to high schools
across the nation to speak to prospective students. Coun-
selors focus on specific territories, which are divided up

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Engineering senior Juhie Shah and Engineering graduate student Patrick Lee wrap gifts at Border's

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