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Friday
January 18, 2002
Vo.CUNo 1An Aro.MihianQ202Th Mchga
Cuts
likely in higher
ed funding
By Loue Mezish
Daily Staff Reporter
With the state facing an estimated deficit of
$900 million, funding for Michigan public uni-
versities for the next academic year is expected
to remain low and could even be cut.
The amount of funding the University receives
usually determines tuition for that year.
When State Treasurer Doug Roberts met with
the directors of the House and Senate fiscal
agencies Tuesday to make revenue estimates for
the coming fiscal year, they predicted fiscal year
2003 revenue would drop 0.4 percent from 2002.
State Budget Director Don Gilmer will make
Gov. John Engler's budget presentation to the
Legislature Feb. 7, and indications are that higher
education funding will be cut.
"(The governor) doesn't think there will be a
department in state government that will not face
cuts," said Engler spokesman Matt Resch. When
asked if that included the state's universities and
colleges, Resch added, "Everyone needs to be
prepared to tighten their belts."
The state's constitution requires a balanced
budget.
Last summer, Engler and the Legislature
approved a 1.5 percent increase in funding for
the University of Michigan, but with that fund-
ing, the Board of Regents approved a tuition
increase of 6.5 percent for most students.
The budget presentation kicks off the several
month-long appropriations process in which leg-
islators wrangle over the funding of the numer-
ous state-supported institutions.
"A lot of hard decisions are certainly going to
be made;' said Glenn Stevens, executive director
of the Presidents Council of the State Universi-
ties of Michigan. "But again the point needs to
be made that what happens on the appropriation
front certainly has a significant bearing on the
institution on the tuition front."
Sen. John Schwarz (R-Battle Creek), chair of
the Senate appropriations subcommittee that
oversees higher education funding, outlined the
prospects for this fiscal year. The worst case sce-
nario for the University is a 5 percent cut, the
best a budget that maintains the same funding as
last year, he said.
The last time the University saw a "flat" bud-
get increase was during the 1993-1994 fiscal
year.
Some legislators have called for a pause in
the phase-outs of the state's single business
See BUDGET, Page 7
LESLIE WARD/Daily
Noorla Popal fled Afghanistan in 1986, after witnessing a number of injustices against women and children. She spoke
of her experiences to students and faculty last night at the School of Social Work.
Mghan refugees speak
about Taliban injustices
Haddad
moved to
Chicago
By Jeremy Berkowitz
Daily Staff Reporter
Ann Arbor Muslim leader Rabih Haddad was transferred
from the custody of the U.S. Marshals of the Eastern Dis-
trict of Michigan to the U.S. Marshals of the Northern Dis-
trict of Illinois yesterday.
Haddad is being held in a federal institution in Chicago,
where it is probable that he will be given a subpoena to
appear in front of a grand jury in the future.
The move was met with the same outcry from Had-
dad's supporters that has been heard since he was
incarcerated on Dec. 14. They claim Haddad is being
unfairly held without due process.
James Douglas, head of the U.S. Marshals Service of
the Eastern District of Michigan, said that Haddad is
not being treatedunfairly and that the marshals are
concerned for his safety.
"We are not heartless people," Douglas said.
Douglas also said the only charge Haddad faces is an
expired visa violation, and the movement of a detainee
in this situation is standard procedure. Haddad was
held in the Monroe County Jail until Friday, when he
was moved to an undisclosed location from which he
was moved yesterday.
Douglas also said that due process has not been vio-
lated. He pointed out Haddad has already had two hear-
ings and that the secrecy of the proceedings are for
Haddad's own good.
"We are concerned about his safety and security,"
Douglas said.
Members of the Islamic community questioned the trans-
fer to Chicago. They alleged the government is trying to put
pressure on Haddad to talk more about the Global Relief
Foundation, the charity co-founded by Haddad, and its pos-
sible ties to terrorism.
"By taking him to Chicago, they are trying to break his
spirit," said Homam Alburouti, a board member of the
Michigan chapter of the Council of American-Islamic Rela-
tions.
Executive Director of Michigan CARE Haaris
Ahmed said that he didn't understand why the govern-
ment is trying to keep every aspect of Haddad's case
quiet.
See HADDAD, Page 7
By Jordan Schrader
Daily Staff Reporter
After witnessing a woman's
hands being cut off for her jewelry
and bombs being placed in toys left
for children to find later, refugee
Nooria Popal said she was glad to
have fled Afghanistan for America.
Popal and two other Afghan
refugees joined humanitarian aid
workers yesterday at the School of
Social Work to participate in a
panel discussion on the plight of
civilians in Afghanistan.
Popal, Maroofa Ahmadi and
Masooma Ahmadi were resettled in
Michigan by Refugee Services of
Catholic Social Services after
escaping from Afghanistan. At the
discussion, they described the bru-
tality they saw in Afghanistan,
including that carried out by the
Taliban and the anti-Soviet
Mujahideen guerrillas before them.
"The Taliban are not like normal
people," said Popal, who described
her own experiences and translated
for the other refugees. "They do
things without reason. They open
the door and they don't see, this is a
wife, this is a child. They shoot
them."
Her move to the United States
has been a good experience, said
Popal, who first fled to India in
1986. Her initial fear of being hated
because of where she was born was
replaced by gratitude for her neigh-
bors' generosity.
"Some people bring for me blan-
kets. Some people bring for me
dishes. I say, 'What is this? Why do
they help me?,"' she said.
"I learn life here. I learn love
here from American people. They
are so beautiful, so nice," she said.
The overthrow of the Taliban in
recent months has not given her
reason to go home, Popal said.
See AFGHANS, Page 7
ALYSSA WOOD/Daily
Interim President B. Joseph White speaks at his first
meeting of the University Board of Regents yesterday while
Michigan Student Assembly President Matt Nolan looks on.
Construction,
plas on..hold
for theater
By Shannon Pettypiece
and Kara Wenzel
Daily Staff Reporters
Plans to build the Arthur Miller Theatre,-one of the
largest projects proposed by former University President
Lee Bollinger, have been delayed because of budget con-
cerns.
Officials decided~ to. hold the project until costs could
MLK Day activities celebrate 1ife an
By Maria Sprow
Daily Staff Reporter
The University's list of observances for
Martin Luther King Day is the longest of
any college or university in the country,
offering students, faculty and staff a range
of opportunities to celebrate the Civil
Rights Movement and King's life.
"I think the University of Michigan has
the strongest commitment to diversity in the
country," said Damon Williams, program
associate in the Office of Academic Multi-
cultural Initiatives. "I think there are other
ic titati + o tht t ad i ti n rnr tr.Ando
things as well, but we are always trying to
push the envelope and always trying to
improve."
As part of the free trip
into the life and lessons of
King, students have their
choice of lecturers, sympo-
siums and discussion topics
to attend throughout the day.
The keynote lecture by
Detroit native Dr. Benjamin
Carson, director of pediatric
neurosurgery at Johns Hop-
kins Medical Center in Baltimore, as part of
the of the "nonrin s Challenmin and Liv-
ing," symposium is the biggest event
planned for the day, Williams said. He
expects anywhere from
3,000 to 4,000 people from
the University and surround-
ing communities to attend
the lecture at 10 a.m. Mon-
day in Hill Auditorium.
This is the 15th year of the
symposium, which began in
1987, when the holiday was
still controversial. Though
legislation asking for a
national MLK holiday was first introduced
four da saftr ing's Aeth in
L diversit
1968, a bill was not passed by the U.S. Sen-
ate until 1983. The first holiday was
observed in 1986.
The holiday was not celebrated by all 50
states until 1999, when New Hampshire
passed legislation in favor of recognizing
King's work.
"The first reason (the symposium was
started) is that the University, in all it's
greatness, wanted to recognize the contribu-
tions of a great man," said Lester Monts,
senior vice provost for academic affairs. "It
was at the strong urging of students that it
happened."
See MLK, Page 7
be reevaluated after
building construction
plans exceeded the
$20 million budget,,
said interim Univer-
sity President B.
Joseph White.
"This project is not
in danger" White
said. "This project is
alive; it is not dead."
White said it
"The Cost
estimates were
vastly higher than
the $20 million."
-- B. Joseph White
Interim University president
in ough ren US nggg le
R vers gains endorse-mient
in toug re-e cto ba
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Don't fence me in
Unless Republican plan for
redistricting is overturned, she'll
face veteran Rep. John Dingell
By Loule Mlzllsh
Daily Staff Reporter
In an effort to help get the ball rolling for U.S.
Rep. Lynn Rivers' 2002 re-election campaign,
the Washington-based fundraising group
EMILY's List announced this week it will begin
to collect funds on her behalf.
Rivers (D-Ann Arbor) will most likely face
Dearborn Rep. John Dingell in the Democratic
nrimarv, after the Renublican-controlled state
trict.
"Though some in Washington think the power-*
ful former chairman must be a shoo-in," said
Ellen Malcolm, the president of EMILY's List,
which only collects monies for Democratic and
pro-choice women congressional candidates.
"EMILY's List is confident that Congresswoman
Rivers will win primary voters with her staunch
support of choice, gun safety, and the environ-
ment."
Dingell, 75, is the longest-serving member
of the House and chaired the Energy and
Commerce Committee until Republicans
gained a majority in the 1994 elections. Din-
gell is now the ranking Democrat on the com-
mittee.
would be several months before he knows the theater's
future.
White said Bollinger's resignation from the University
has no connection with the delay of the project.
"Lee Bollinger would have had the same problem with
it if he would have been here," said White. "Bollinger
told me the cost estimates were vastly higher than the $20
million."
Theater construction plans were not discussed yester-
day at a meeting of the University Board of Regents, who
originally approved building plans, but the regents did
release a description of the criteria candidates to become
Bollinger's replacement should meet.
The duties and responsibilities defined by the criteria
state the next president should enhance and continue the
University's policies and practices towards comprehen-
sive diversity, undergraduate education and the life sci-
ences.
The criteria does not specifically state that the next
president must support affirmative action, instead saying
that candidates should be in favor of maintaining diversi-
ty on campus.
The criteria states that the president have "significant
academic and administrative experience, preferably at the
senior management level in a research university or com-
parable institution in business or government and an
appreciation of the values and objectives of a large, pub-
ALYSSA WOOD/Daily
Rill EmArson dlA with Anrnn Christnnherson Iast night at the YMCA. where
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