NS One hundred eleven years ofedftorialfreedom "II NEWS: 76-DAILY CLASSIFIED: 7640557 mwwmichigandally.com Thursday January 31, 2002 i - - -- --------------- I 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.