One hundred eleven years feditoraifreedom
NEWS: 76-DAILY
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wwwmichigandaily..com
Wednesday
January 9, 2002
K0192dja M ly m I III--------------------- -------------
Tuition
becomes
hot political issue
By Louie Meizlish
Daily Staff Reporter
College tuition is taking center stage as Michi-
gan gubernatorial candidates weigh in on Central
Michigan University's approval of a 28 percent
tuition increase for the next academic year and
the fear that other universities could follow.
Combined with Central Michigan's 12.5 per-
cent increase last year, that is a 44 percent
increase over two years -a number some candi-
dates say is too high.
Lt. Gov. Dick Posthumus, a candidate for the
Republican nomination, proposed a constitution-
al amendment that would cap university tuition
increases at the level of inflation or 5 percent -
whichever is lower. When appropriating funds to
the schools this year, Posthumus urged legislators
to require state appropriations be cut by the
amount in excess of the inflation rate at universi-
ties that raise tuition beyond the level of inflation.
"Every institution, whether government or pri-
vate, is going through tough times, but Dick
Posthumus is not going to say we're going to bal-
ance our budgets on the backs of students," said
Sage Eastman, the Posthumus campaign's press
secretary.
One of the four candidates for the Democratic
nomination, former Gov. James Blanchard, said
he agrees with Posthumus that universities
should roll back tuition and, if necessary, the
Legislature should force them to do so. However,
he said a constitutional amendment was unneces-
sary.
"Friendly persuasion usually works, and if that
doesn't work you can issue an executive order"
cutting state appropriations, Blanchard said.
When the University of Michigan received a
1.5 percent state appropriations increase last
year, it raised tuition 6.5 percent for most stu-
dents.
Interim Provost Paul Courant said the Posthu-
mus proposal is unrealistic. "It fails to recognize
that tuition is not the only revenue source on
which universities rely" Courant said.
"We have as many students and are doing as
much research as we have ever had, and there is
nothing in our cost structure that allows us" to
keep our costs down because of hard economic
times, he added.
Also criticizing the Posthumus proposal was
state Sen. John Schwarz, Posthumus' opponent
for the GOP nomination and the chair of the
Senate's higher education appropriations sub-
committee.
Schwarz said his opponent's proposal is
unconstitutional because it strips the univer-
sities' governing boards of tuition-setting
authority.
"I believe the implication is that the sky is
falling and I'm here to say the sky is not falling,"
he said. "Having worked with the 15 public uni-
versities in this state for 15 or 16 years - inti-
mately with them - I know they do the very
best they can to keep tuition and fees down but I
know they do the best they can to provide a
superb education."
He said that compared to most public schools
in the Midwest the University of Michigan is rea-
See TUITION, Page 7
Professors
look down
on early
admission
Harvard study finds
that early decision is
detrimental to students
By Maria Sprow
Daily Staff Reporter
The early decision admissions poli-
cy used at Ivy League and private uni-
versities is under heavy scrutiny after
the recent publication of a comprehen-
sive study by three Harvard University
professors.
The professors concluded that the
policy, created to benefit high school
seniors certain of their first choice
school, is detrimental to those students
and the admissions process in general.
Under the early decision policy, high
school seniors are notified of their
acceptance status sooner than other
students but are required to attend the
institution.
"It's sort of like a marriage propos-
al," said John Boshoven, a counselor at
Community High School in Ann
Arbor. Boshky-n added that he usually
discourages his students from applying
for early decision.
"For the regular middle class kid,
the financial risk of the early decision
... is too high," he said.
The majority of public institutions,
including the University of Michigan,
do not use the process, said Ted
Spencer, the University's director of
undergraduate admissions.
Instead, the University uses a rolling
admissions process, meaning that stu-
dents who apply earlier receive their
responses earlier, but do not have to
make a commitment to attend. In a
rolling admissions process, universi-
ties try to get back to applicants six to
eight weeks after the application was
received. Private institutions accept
early decision and early action stu-
dents all at once.
Many critics of the early decision
process believe institutions using it are
See EARLY DECISION, Page 7
i
Senior aida
fighters eld
in Kandahar
The Washington Post
U.S. forces in eastern Afghanistan
captured two senior al-Qaida fighters
and bombed a suspected al-Qaida
compound amid signs of continued
resistance in a province south of Tora
Bora that has been a longtime terrorist
stronghold, defense officials said yes-
terday.
The two al-Qaida members were
among a group of about 14 fighters
apprehended late Monday near an
underground cave complex used by
Osama bin Laden's terrorist network,
the officials said.
While declining to identify the men,
Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters
they were considered important
enough to transfer to a detention facili-
ty in the southern city of Kandahar
where U.S. authorities have been inter-
rogating suspected al-Qaida and Tal-
iban members. Seized in the process
were computers and cell phones that
Myers said might provide additional
intelligence clues.
The capture added to a mounting
collection of detainees, equipment and
files that U.S. authorities say they are
trying to exploit to build a more com-
plete picture of the al-Qaida network
and head off potential future terrorist
operations. As of yesterday, the num-
ber of detainees under U.S. control had
grown to 364, with more expected.
As U.S. ground troops conclude
their search of the Tora Bora caves that
were the focus of an intense hunt for
bin Laden and senior associates last
month, the center of U.S. combat
action has shifted south to the Zhawar
Kili al-Badr cave complex and the area
around the towns of Khost and Gardez
in eastern Afghanistan's Paktia
province.
Myers said U.S. forces investigating
the Zhawar Kili compound, after three
days of air attacks against it in the past
week, have been surprised by the enor-
mous extent of it, particularly its war-
ren of underground caves.
"There was just no indication of that
from any other" surveillance or recon-
See WAR, Page 7
Students wait in line to buy books outside Shaman Drum Bookshop on State Street yesterday afternoon.
'
receives portion of
class textbook profits
By Shannon Pettypiece
Daily StaffReporter
At the beginning of each semester,
students inevitably gripe about the
high cost of textbooks and may blame
the bookstores for putting a dent in
their budget. However, each sale bene-
fits many sources, including Universi-
ty programs and professors who use
their own texts.
The average undergraduate student
spends $740 on books each year and
students in professional-level and
graduate programs spend around $860
each year, according to estimates by
the Office of Financial Aid.
Textbooks prices are divided
between various parties involved in the
distribution and production of the text-
book, with the main portion of the sale
benefiting the publisher - not the
author or the bookstore.
According to information published
by Barnes & Noble College Book-
stores, 67 percent of the price of new
textbooks goes to the publisher and
about 18 percent is split evenly
between the author and whatever uni-
versity is using the book. About 2.5
percent is used to cover shipping costs
and 12.5 percent is given to the book-
store to cover its operating expenses.
Not only does the publishing com-
pany receive the most from the sale of
its books, the publisher also deter-
mines the price of textbooks, said Uni-
versity of Michigan Press Business
Manager Gabriela Beres.
"There might be an occasion where
we are able to get a discount on some-
See TEXTBOOKS, Page 7
STea time
Student killed in
holiday accident
By Tomislav Ladika
Daily Staff Reporter
A memorial service will be held
tomorrow for Engineering junior
Rebecca Hilger, who was killed
Dec. 30 in a car accident.
Hilger was on a skiing trip in
Arizona with
boyfriend Patrick,
Kelly, a student
at the University
of Arizona. The '
trip was meant to
be a present for
Hilger, whose
21st birthday was.
Dec. 31.
The car she
was driving was Hilger
struck head-on by a truck. Kelly
was injured and is still recovering
from the crash.
Tomorrow's memorial will be
held at 7 p.m. in the Michigan
Union Ballroom. Kinesiology
Hilger's clbsest friends, said it will
remember her life and provide any-
one who wishes to speak a chance
to do so.
SNRE junior Amanda Sprader,
who was a close friend of Hilger's
while the two attended Northville
High School and the University
together, said the memorial will
provide closure for her friend's
death. She said Hilger's most
unique characteristic was love for
her family.
"Her sister, Shelly, and her
brother, Chris, were special to her,"
said Chuck Hilger, Rebecca's
father. "She would surprise them by
showing up at Shelly's cross-coun-
try meets or Chris's basketball
games just to see them perform.
She would help them with math
over the phone if they were stuck
on a problem."
Hilger said his daughter also
cared deeply for her friends, who
he said often told him "of how she
AP PHOTO
A Marine unloads his vehicle in front of a garbage burn at the American military
compound at the Kandahar airport yesterday.
Term- mits widen
election-ye ar field
By Louie Melzlish
Daily Staff Reporter
The second year of the millennium
will be a unique year for Michigan pol-
itics. Many lawmakers are being forced
out of office because of the 1992 con-
stitutional amendment mandating term
limits or as a result of last year's con-
gressional redistricting process.
Both parties hope to gain advantages
from these changes.
"With term limits and Governor
(John) Engler and (Secretary of State)
races to focus on," said David Doyle,
vice president of the Republican con-
sulting firm, Marketing Resource
Group.
Miller is running for a U.S. House
seat in Macomb County while Engler's
future remains unclear, although there
has been much speculation that he
would join President Bush's cabinet.
The term limits seem to favor the
Democratic Party. They could take
control of the state Senate for the first
time since 1982, the governor's office
for the first time since 1990 and the
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