8C - Wednesday, September 5, 2001- New Student Edition - The Michigan Daily
Taubman indicted for price fixing
By Maria Sprow
Daily News Editor.
A. Alfred Taubman, a University alum
who contributed $30 million to the Col-
lege of Architecture and Urban Planning
in 1999, was indicted Wednesday by a fed-
eral grand jury in New York City.
Taubman, the former chairman of
Sotheby's auction house, is charged with
conspiracy to fix the commissions the auc-
tion house charges its customers. He could
face a maximum sentence of three years in
prison and a fine of at least $350,000 if
convicted of the charges. "I am surprised
and deeply disappointed by the charges
made against me," Taubman said in a writ-
ten statement.
Taubman is separating himself from the
two other defendants, Anthony Tennant,
the former chairman of Christie's Interna-
tional Auction House and Diana Brooks,
the former chief executive of Sotheby's.
"As confirmed by the lie detector test I
have taken, the truth is on my side," Taub-
man said in the statement. "While any trial
is difficult, I look forward to the opportu-
nity to clear my name in court."
The two auction houses control more
than 90 percent of the world's auctions of
artwork, jewelry and furniture and have
charged customers over $400 million in
commissions since 1993.
Brooks pleaded guilty to price fixing in
October and is likely to testify against
Taubman and Tennant as part of a plea
bargain agreement with federal prosecu-
tors.
Nevertheless, Taubman maintains he is
innocent.
"I am completely innocent, and have
stated from the beginning of this investiga-
tion that whatever Dede Brown chose to
do, she did it on her own and without my
authorization,' he said.
Despite his troubles, the University is
standing behind Taubman. In a statement,
University President Lee Bollinger said
the architecture school will continue to
carry Taubman's name no matter the out-
come of the trial. "Al Taubman has been a
loyal alumnus and a very good friend lt
the University" he said. "We regret that he
is facing these difficult circumstances. We
will continue to recognize his longstand-
ing support through those University acad
emic programs and facilities that bear his
name."
In addition to his $30 million contribu.
tion to the architecture school, Taubman
.made contributions to the medical center
and library, which also carry his name.
"His total gifts and pledges have been
approximately $35.6 million," University
spokeswoman Julie Peterson said. "He .is
not the University's largest donator but be,
is certainly a large contributor."
Taubman contributed $3 million to the
University's Medical Center and $700,000
to the Medical Library, which resulted in
both the Health Care Center ands the
library being named after him.
ALEX HOWBERT/Daily
A. Alfred Taubman, who has made several large donations to the University, will keep his name on the Health
Care Center for which he is named after, despite his~recent legal troubles.
i
'U' takes look at
how to handle
new technology
Dorm food: made hot
By Michael Osinski
Daily Staff Reporter
A study conducted at the request
of University President Lee
Bollinger concluded that "the Uni-
versity can take the lead in redefin-
ing higher education in light of the'
information revolution."
The Information Revolution
Commission issued its final report
this May after meeting for the past
year. Commission co-chair Stephen
Director said. the IRC held meet-
ings, discussions and open forums
and ended up with several proposals
for improvements the University
cap implement.
The first change the IRC recom-
mended was to the University's
infrastructure. The commission
reported that the University needs
to upgrade its building wiring and
also increase computer network.
bandwidth. The University's exter-
nal connectivity must also be
improved in order to handle
increased demand for information
services.
lose-Marie Griffiths, the Univer-.
sity's chief informa-
tion officer, said the
University was already
on its way to making
the improvements.
"Some of the recom-
mendations are already
in the implementation
stage - namely the
network backbone and
in-building wiring,"
she said, adding that
these upgrades ,are
necessary for any
additional improve-
ments. But she cau-
tioned against making
sweeping changes
without careful
thought.
In its report, the IRC
suggests the University
should also be able to
support emerging tech-
FILE PHOTO
Recommendations made by the Information Revolution Commission will help the University stay at
the forefront of information technology.
and emphas
By Louie MeIzlish
Daily Staff Reporter
During your orientation, you may
have noticed that the residence hall
food is halfway decent. You may
have sampled the spaghetti or ham-
burgers or something and marveled
that "it ain't that bad." Your expecta-
tions of Ganges River sewage
dumped on your plate every night
for the next eight months turn out
not to be true.
Then there's move-in and your dad
may say to your mom, "Hey Judy,
remember when we were Joey's age
and we had to eat this stuff? Let's.
see if anything's changed."
So they sit down for a meal and
your mom remarks, "Well I guess
things have changed. Nowadays they
must certainly try to make good food
for you students."
And you might agree at that time.
For my part, the food at Orientation
was the best I had in a dining hall.
It's not for a couple of weeks until
you realize you've been duped.
The thing is, you see, the food's
only good when somebody needs to
be impressed. Once you've moved
in, you're here, you're paying
tuition, etc. It doesn't become
unbearable or anything, it's just not
as good anymore.
You'll also notice that food is
remarkably better on special holi-
days like Parents' Day or Campus
Day .(whcn prospectivestudents
come), but now you know why.
Then there's those geniuses who
say, "Hey, go eat in _____
Quad/Hall, the food there is so much
better than all the others."
A person who says something like
that is either on l)crack or 2)dining
hall food.
The thing is, the food is more or
less the same everywhere. It's not
like South Quad just hired some
great Parisian chef who knows how
to make great fish and chips while
Markley is struggling with some
quack British dude who doesn't
know what French toast is.
nologies with experimental programs The IRC recommended ways to
to determine their future value. For improve and change education so
example, the commission calls for a that the University may keep up
Pilot Wireless Infrastructure Initiative with the fast pace information revo-
to test the possibility of a wireless lution. It proposed the University
network over a large campus. connect more classrooms to its
computer network and implement
undergraduate requirements to fur-
ther knowledge of information tech-
nology.
A concentration in "multimedia
studies" might also be in order. The
requirements for the new interdisci-
plinary major would likely be
determined after discussions with
officials from various schools with-
ini the1Jj'-y sity.
Increasing faculty use of infor-
mation technology was also impor-
tant, the report said. Recommended
support programs would help edu-
cate instructors, while innovative
use of new technology would be
considered positively on tenure or
promotion files.
Finally, the report called for hir-
ing more information technology
staff members. Compensation pack-
ages, it urged, should be developed
in order for the University be able
to compete with industry for pro-
fessional information technology
staff.
izes quality
According to William Durell, the
director of Housing Dining Services,
a lot of the food comes from the
same place. All the dorms get their
meat from the same place, and the
same goes for spaghetti. How they
cook it, of course, is a different
story, but I haven't noticed much
variation. Stuff like spaghettisauce
is prepared and cooked in the dorms,0
so there are some differences. , t
still, it's not much.
But that's not to say that variis
cafeterias don't have their pluses and
minuses. A quick look at some Cre
frequented.
Markley: It's okay if yo i'e
there. It's relatively big. It's jin.
The only thing they don't have y
day is a make-your-own deli -
wich bar. It also has this backrgn
place where you can get pretty d
hamburgers.
South Quad: This place is ge,
like a Costco or Sam's Club, t
the food is already warmed gd1t
probably has the biggest seleZi .
Lots of booths, too, but I wo ti't
go on a date there.
East Quad: This place is s t
fits probably 100 people or s e
selection is a bit smaller, but Ti'so
all right. East Quad is the ho Nf
the Residential College. RC st s
eat, sleep, attend class, and study in
the same building. Just know what
you're getting into before you grab a
bite there.
WestQ('idrAh, tle rwngjeel
of the caf&s Essentiiyt he "sopho-
more's lounge," it has everything
you want. It's relatively nice..There@
are more sophomores there, as I said
before, but don't let that intimidate
you.
Although the food doesn't vry
place to place some food is certainly
better than others. But keep in mind,
from this point on, it's just my opip-
ion.
WARNING: Don't eat the Salis-
bury steak. I don't know what it is,
but it's not from Salisbury an. it's
not steak. I suspect Soylent Green, is.
Another thing to stay away from s
the marinara sauce they provide with
the pasta. I generally like marinara
sauce, just not theirs. .4
Don't bother with any kind of
sausages; they're not any good Hot
dogs are okay, though.
Okay, on to the good stuff.
The sweet and sour chicken is
pretty decent. I don't think it really
comes from China, but it's okay. It's
what it's supposed to be - chicken
that's sweet and sour.
The chicken nuggets are good
enough to rival McDonald's.
A lot of people like the tacos.
They're not my favorite, but they're
okay.
The waffles are really cool. They
give you the mix and you just put it
on the waffle maker and wait three
minutes. I think King Leopold and
the Belgians would've had more suc-
cess in the Congo if he had sent
some of the dining hall waffle mix
there rather than trust his own chefs.
Hamburgers, hot dogs, fries, deli
sandwiches, mashed potatoes - with
anything "American" like that, they
know what they're doing.
One final consideration: healthy
stuff. If you don't watch it, these din-
ing hall chefs will harden your arter-S
ies and get you killed. But that's not
their fault. The cafes usually have
plenty of stuff that's relatively healthy
in addition to the grease. They've
also got veggies and fruit and skim
milk, 2% milk, 50% milk, orange
juice, apple juice, and water. If you
I
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