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One hundred eleven years ofedftorialfreedom
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NEWS: 76-DAILY
CLASSIFIED: 7640557
mwwmichigandally.com
Thursday
January 31, 2002
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Report: Engler won't cut state
By Louie MeizIish
Daily Staff Reporter
All of Michigan's 15 public universities
should plan to see flat budgets for the 2002-
2003 fiscal year under Gov. John Engler's bud-
get proposal, according to an anonymous
source within the governor's administration, as
told to WWJ news radio yesterday.
The Feb. 7 unveiling of Engler's budget pro-
posal before House and Senate appropriations
committees will kick off-a several-month
process in which the governor and legislators
wrangle over funding levels for state programs.
Most programs are expected to see cuts in their
funding due to a decline in state revenue,
which is blamed mostly on the present eco-
nomic downturn.
When asked if it were true, Engler
spokesman Matt Resch would not confirm or
deny the report, explaining that the budget is
still being formulated.
When the University of Michigan received
a 1.5 percent increase in funding last year
the Board of Regents raised tuition 6.5 per-
cent for most students. It is unclear what
next year's tuition will be. Prior to any
announcements, expectations among many
involved in the budget process were that the
best funding the University would receive
would be a funding identical to last year's
budget.
University spokeswoman Julie Peterson
praised Engler for his proposal and added, "I
think it reflects the governor's value of higher
.education that he would be willing to propose
a flat budget, or no increase, as opposed to a
cut."
Some schools raised tuition dramatically for
the current academic year, although the Uni-
versity's tuition increase was the lowest among
the 15. Central Michigan University's proposal
for next year's tuition included a 28 percent
increase. But Peterson said the University's
would be nowhere near as high.
"We're not going to see the tuition increases
we've seen at other universities but it's too
early to know what it will be," she said.
Rep. John Hansen (D-Dexter), ranking
Democrat on the House Education Commit-
tee, noted, "when universities' costs go up and
their revenues don't go up, you can expect a
tuition increase." He also pointed out that the
zero percent increase is not adjusted for infla-
tion.
The universities had been lobbying the gov-
ernor and Legislature for a zero percent
increase, said Glenn Stevens, executive director
of the Presidents Council of the State Universi-
ties of Michigan.
"We made a very strong case for a continua-
tion budget," Stevens said. "When we met with
the governor on the grounds given the state's
economy and given the circumstances of rev-
funding
enue, that's a reasonable position (for Engler)
to take."
Following the state budget director's address
to the House and Senate appropriations com-
mittees, the Senate's higher education appropri-
ations subcommittee will begin hearings on
funding the following week.
The chairman of that subcommittee, Sen.
John Schwarz (R-Battle Creek), however, cau-
tioned that there is no certainty that the Univer-
sity will actually see a continuation budget.
"That's the best we can hope for," he said.
"There's some things to be worked out that are
pretty significant."
Negotiations with the governor's office, he
added, are ongoing.
Snow
10
emergency
'U'
sees decrease
Parki'ng
e " e
restrcte
on all city
streets
From staff and wire reports
The city of Ann Arbor has declared a
snow emergency, with more than a foot
of snow mixed with sleet and rain
expected to be on the ground by the end
of today.
As a result, snow parking restrictions
are in effect on all city streets, including
metered spaces, through Saturday.
On days having odd dates, vehicles
cannot park on the side of the street with
odd address numbers. On even-num-
bered days, vehicles are prohibited on
the side of the street with even address
numbers. Parking in no-parking zones
or in front of fire hydrants is still illegal.
Consequently, south of Huron Street"
and east of Main Street, which includes
most of Central Campus, parking is pro-
hibited on the north and east sides of all
streets today and tomorrow. Parking on
the south and west sides of the streets is
banned Saturday.
The only time the parking restrictions
do not apply is between 8 p.m. and mid-
night so vehicles can be moved to com-
ply with the next day's regulations.
Vehicles that are not moved in accor-
dance with the regulation will be fined
$125 and may be towed.
See SNOW, Page 7A
r'
in alcohol arrests;
MSU tops nation
By Shabina Khatri
Daily Staff Reporter
A new study says that, unlike most colleges
across the country, this University does not have
as much to worry about in regard to the nation's
large increase in drug and alcohol related arrests.
The Chronicle of Higher Education recently
released an analysis of the U.S. Education
Department's study on campus crime which
found that drug arrests at the nation's colleges
increased 10.2 percent in 2000.
Michigan State University, which led the coun-
try's universities for the most alcohol-related
arrests in 2000 at 856, was also second in the
most drug-related arrests.
Michigan State senior Honey Minkowitz; a
resident adviser, defends the numbers by saying
that they don't necessarily mean the institution
has a bigger underage problem than other cam-
puses.
"I've only documented one person in the last
two semesters for an alcohol-related incident,"
she said.
The University of Michigan's 355 arrests rep-
resented a downward trend, but the decrease in
arrests does not mean alcohol and drug use
among students has gone down, said Diane
Brown, Department of Public Safety spokes-
woman.
While the study's figures are meant to repre-
sent the number of alcohol and drug-related
arrests that occur on campus and involve the
school's students, many violators do not actually
attend the University.
"Our campus is very open, and we have a lot
of visitors who don't understand our policies. For
example, only one out of the 150 arrests in the
last three years at Hash Bash and only 35 percent
of the alcohol-related arrests in '99 were stu-
dents," Brown said.
Another reason the lower numbers don't nec-
essarily reflect a 'decrease in student drinking is
that the bulk of the year's arrests take place at
Michigan Stadium.
"In 1999, a significant percentage, 45 percent,
of our alcohol violations were connected to
football games. In 2000, the number fell to only
31 percent of total alcohol related arrests," she
said.
This decrease in reported liquor violations at
football games can be attributed to several exter-
nal factors, including the number of home games
and the weather.
In 2000, the University's football team played
three games in September and only one game in
November.
"When it gets colder, people wear more
clothes and can get away with hiding more alco-
hol. In 2000 we only had one game in November,
unlike the three in '99. That was also the year we
played Ohio State, and at that game alone we had
74 alcohol violations," Brown said.
Not everyone found the numbers misleading.
LSA junior Henna Tirmizi thought the study's
results proved promising.
"Maybe people are drinking less, or at least
more responsibly. Who knows, it's a start at
least," she said.
RC English and social science Prof. Helen Cox walks through the snowy Law Quad yesterday
afternoon.
GEO contract set
By Jordan Schrader
Daily Staff Reporter
With time running out before the expiration
of its contract with the University, the Graduate
Employees Organization's North Campus
membership yesterday voted down a proposal
to indefinitely extend the current contract.
Today, a meeting will be held on Central Cam-
pus for the second part of the vote.
The contract expires tomorrow. If the pro-
posal is denied, the contract will be renewed for
only two weeks, and a vote on further action
will be held Feb. 17.
Possibilities for job action, including a tem-
porary or indefinite walkout, will be considered
at that meeting.
Any action approved will likely happen in
March after spring break, said GEO president
anj Rackham student Cedric deLeon. DeLeon
encouraged members to vote to defeat the
indefinite extension and expressed the need for
solidarity among graduate student instructors.
"An injury to one is an injury to all ...
because you might be the next one to suffer if
we do nothing today," he said.
"In resisting your proposals, the University
clearly means to test your resolve,"he added.
o expire.
But DeLeon said GEO won a small victory
in the latest round of bargaining on Tuesday.
The University offered to decrease by 20 per-
cent the tuition paid by graduate student
instructors who work "low fractions" of time,
or less than 9.5 hours a week. The full price of
tuition is waived for GSIs who work more than
9.5 hours a week. The University waives part of
the tuition for those who work less.
* Another problem with "low fraction" pay is
that it does not include an option to buy health
insurance, said Alyssa Picard, a Rackham stu-
dent and GEO chief negotiator. A GEO propos-
See GEO, Page 7A
Plans to construct a new residence
hall on campus still in early stages
Sites on North and Central
Campus have been inspected
as possible locations
By Matt Weston
For the Daily
The University is still in the preliminary
stages of building its first new residence hall
in almost a quarter century, a project first pro-
posed by former University President Lee
Bollinger.
Alan Levy, director of public affairs and
information for University Housing, said
Bollinger had a strong attachment to this ini-
figfu r
years;' Levy said.
All has not been lost since Bollinger's
departure. University Housing is currently
doing a variety of background preparations
and behind-the-scenes investigation. In the last
few months, housing has sent research teams
to other campuses where dorms were built
within the last couple of years and has even
re-analyzed renovations made to residence
halls on this campus.
"We want direct exploration in order to see
what worked, and what didn't," Levy said.
Surveyors have inspected many locations
on both North and Central Campus as poten-
tial sites for construction.
Diane Brown, spokeswoman forUniversity
Farili+iec and nneratinnc caul that the nlan-
"What are the needs 10, 20, 30 years from
now? We need to build something effective
down the road," said Brown.
The last residence hall built on University
property was Bursley in 1968. Due to the
length of time between Bursley and the imple-
mentation of the new residence hall, an entire-
ly new workforce is assigned to this project.
The freshness of the present Housing person-
nel is just another reason for heightened antic-
ipation, not a liability, said Brown.
"The presence of 'new blood' presents an
opportunity for some fresh perspectives and
creativity" she said.
Within the next four to six months, housing
expects to establish a more definite timetable
for cAnftrnition incliding the seletinn of an
DAVID ROCHKIND/Daily
Male Shaban, an LSA senior, attended the vigil on the Diag last night to commemorate victims of hate
crimes.
Vi commemorates
victi-ms of hate crimes
By Rahwa Geibreeb
and Shannon Pettypiece
Daily Staff Reporters
Twenty years ago Vincent Chin, a Chinese man,
was bludgeoned to death outside a Detroit McDon-
alds hv ysveral anarv untoworkers who associated
then dragged for two miles behind a pickup truck
by white supremacists.
Yusuf Hawkins never saw his 17th birthday
because an irate mob of 30 young whites shot and
killed him in the streets of a predominately white
neighborhood of Brooklyn in 1989. Investigators
determined he was targeted because of his race.