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Monday
February 11, 2002
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I
Dingell
discusses
* Enron
troubles
By C. Price Jones
Daily Staff Reporter
The Enron Corp. controversy's,
developments and repercussions were
the major issues touched upon by 23-
term U.S. Rep. John Dingell (D-Dear-
born) in an informal discussion with
students on Friday in Lorch Hall.
The Enron scandal was "an event
which involved
massive theft,
disregard of
fiduciary respon-
sibility by corpo-
rate officers,
entirely bad,
deceitful and
false account-
ing," Dingell
said, adding that
Dingell the mess would
be "the largest bankruptcy we've
ever seen."
Dingell stressed that honest
accounting via a regulatory agency
is necessary after the investing dis-
aster.
"If we don't have honest account-
ing we can be in the same situation
where the Japanese and some of the
countries in the East and even in
Europe are, where they don't know
what they have," he said.
Dingell also emphasized that the
lack of honest peer review was a
contributing factor in Enron's down-
fall, but Congress was also at fault
for not funding the Securities and
Exchange Commission to carry out
its responsibilities.
"Everybody lied to each other
while they all stole ... nobody knew
what was going on," he said.
Dingell chaired the Committee on
Energy and Commerce for seven
Congresses, and students participat-
See DINGELL, Page 7A
BAMN
defens
<+k' p rp s
By Jordan Schrader
Daily Staff Reporter
JOHN PRATT/Daily
Conference of the New Civil Rights
BAMN member Agnes Aleobua calls for action at a rally Friday on the Diag, as part of the Second National
Movement held In Ann Arbor this weekend.
Confierence intswithi
civil rights rally on Diag9
By Jordan Schrader Detroit schools accompanied their students, from being taken away from us," Williams
Activists reiterated their commitment to achieving
their goals "By Any Means Necessary" at the Second
National Conference of the New Civil Rights Movement
this past weekend, defining the objectives of their fight
and what they are willing to do to achieve their goals.
"If we have to destroy some things, we will destroy
some things," University of Tennessee student Dumaka
Shabazz said to loud applause.
Shabazz also drew battle lines in the conflict over
affirmative action, which he said has no middle ground.
"Either you're with us or you're with the re-segrega-
tionists. Either you're for racism, injustice and inequali-
ty, or you're for justice and equality - which is
affirmative action," he said.
A member of the Black Student Alliance at the Uni-
versity of Tennessee, Shabazz was one of many students
who came from across the country to join the Coalition
to Defend Affirmative Action and Integration and Fight
for Equality By Any Means Necessary. Students from
the University of Virginia, the University of Kentucky
and the University of Cincinnati were also in attendance.
The conference focused on issues facing minorities in
education, including the use of affirmative action in col-
lege admissions and shortages of funds and teachers in
public schools.
Shabazz said the racism faced by African Americans
at the University of Tennessee makes the BSA willing,
like BAMN, to use any means necessary to achieve
equality.
Visible symbols of racism on campus have included
nooses hung from a tree, a Confederate flag painted on a
rock and ethnic slurs scrawled on walls, Shabazz said.
He added that another source of racism is the Ten-
nessee Daily Beacon, a campus newspaper that he said
misrepresents black students. Shabazz said if it contin-
ues to be racist in its coverage, the BSA will gather and
burn copies of the paper.
BAMN member Luke Massie told the conference that
See CONFERENCE Page 7A
I
DailyStaff Reporter
Kicking off a weekend-long civil rights con-
ference, more than 300 students from primari-
ly Detroit-area public schools marched
through the streets of Central Campus en route
to the Diag Friday, chanting "We won't take re-
segregation, we want quality education."
Several teachers and administrators from
who were let out of school for the day to
attend the field trip to the University. Mem-
bers of the Coalition to Defend Affirmative
Action and Integration and Fight for Equality
By Any Means Necessary recruited the stu-
dents by speaking at their schools, said
Janaya Williams, a student at Philip J. Mur-
ray-Wright High School.
"We think we can stop affirmative action
said.
Speakers at the rally, which began the Sec-
ond National Conference of the New Civil
Rights Movement, addressed issues such as
affirmative action in higher education, de
facto segregation in inner-city public schools
and inadequacy of education in those
schools.
See RALLY, Page 7A
* Simon urges
students to
be proactive
By Louie MeIzlish
and Molly Kennedy
Daily Staff Reporters
Don't be an idiot.
That was the message of former U.S. Sen. Paul
Simon yesterday as he addressed an audience at the
Law School for the 19th Annual Kauper Lecture.
Referring to the ancient Greek definition of the word
"idiotes," which means "someone who does not partici-
pate in civic life," Simon focused his lecture on how
students and citizens can get involved in the American
political process.
"We have too many idiots in our original definition
of that word today," he said.
Simon, a Democrat, served two terms in the U.S.
Senate from 1985 to 1997. His career in politics
spanned over 40 years, including stints in the U.S.
House of Representatives, as Illinois' lieutenant gover-
nor and as a member of both houses of the Illinois Gen-
eral Assembly.
Simon offered several lessons on how people can get
involved and be proactive in American politics. His
New security
standards set
By Christopher Johnson
Daily Staff Reporter
DAVID KATZ/Daily
Former U.S. Sen. Paul Simon said elected officials must
consider their constituents' concerns in a lecture yesterday.
first lesson was to be informed, not just about domestic
issues, but also about international issues. He also
urged those gathered to write letters to their legislators
and also to newspaper editors - letters which he said
have can broaden the views of the officials and of the
newspapers' readers.
Another lesson he offered was to "start now" - to do
what you have always dreamed of but have never gotten
around to, such as writing a book.
The former senator also discussed the need for elect-
ed officials to sometimes do what may be unpopular but
See SIMON, Page 7A
Following two incidents of home invasion in University
Residence Halls within the last 10 days, Housing officials
notified students that beginning today all doors to the Uni-
versity's residence halls will be locked 24 hours a day.
Administrators have not decided how long the controlled
access will remain in effect. The University will determine
whether to make the change permanent after evaluating the
new system and receiving feedback from residents and staff.
Alan Levy, director of Housing Public Affairs, explained
the University intends for the controlled access to provide
better safety for the students who live in the residence halls.
"We are very concerned about the incidents of the past
two weeks. We want a third incident to be as unlikely as
possible," he said.
Levy added that the University recognizes that some
problems may emerge from the new protocol, such as
restriction to the residence halls dining rooms, and noted
that the University will evaluate the controlled access as it
continues.
"Some issues relating to dining room access are still being
refined and will be communicated very quickly," he said.
Levy also said the new system will not prevent crime in
the residence halls entirely and that the University needs the
help of the students to maintain safety.
The University is also offering a $2,000 reward for finding
the two men who assaulted a girl in East Quad last week.
Dining halls
limit fresh
fruit supply
By Rob Goodspeed
Daily Staff Reporter
While dining services officials say they attempt to cater to
all students, documents obtained by The Michigan Daily show
menu decisions are influenced by cost and student demand -
sometimes at the expense of providing fresh fruits and vegeta-
bles. Dining services say they focus on serving food made
with fresh ingredients.
"The way to get the most bang for your buck is to get
everything fresh ... and that way you save the most money"
said Ruth Blackburn, Residential Dining Services nutrition
specialist.
"If you can support the use of more fresh items, you're sav-
ing yourself money because prepackaged materials cost
more" she said.
The document, titled Menu Review Committee Criteria and
Parstocks: Lunch and Dinner Menu, contains a different per-
spective on the menu choices in the dining halls. The docu-
ment, revised last June, instructs dining halls to "use fresh
vegetables when cost warrants" and "limit the amount of fresh
vegetables per meal to one."
Dining Services Executive Chef Steve Meyers, a member
of the menu review committee, said the criteria are considered
strict expectations for the dining halls to follow.
"Using fresh vegetables when cost warrants is simply a dis-
cipline to employ so that we don't blindly purchase a product
independent of cost," Meyers said.
"Our data indicates to us that some halls don't use enough
vegetables at a meal to warrant two selections," Meyers said.
"'Cost per serving' is rarely a barrier. It's the leftovers and
quality that we try to manage."
Students often complain about the amount and quality of
the fruit in the residence halls.
"I'd like more fresh fruit," said LSA freshman Priya Pai.
9
Student governments
change Big Ten bylaws
By Tomislav Ladika
Daily Staff Reporter
Complaints from many schools dominated this
weekend's Associated Big Ten Schools confer-
ence, including Ohio State University's declara-
tion that it would not attend future conferences
unless changes were made to the ABTS constitu-
tion. Conference attendees eliminated the consti-
tution in an emergency convention Saturday,
during which a new set of bylaws were written.
Michigan Student Assembly President Matt
Nolan said the bylaws establish the conference as
a meeting where delegates can discuss important
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"What we did this weekend was restructure the
format of our conference to focus on the confer-
ence and leader development aspects, which is
what people had been wanting;' Nolan said.
He said this distinction is important because
under the old system, in addition to holding issue
sessions, ABTS tried to pass legislation on behalf
of the entire Big Ten conference, and some dele-
gates even had visions of presenting the legisla-
tion to the U.S. Congress.
University of Illinois delegate Chris Dillion
said the ABTS is not recognized by the Big Ten
as a voice for all its students, and the resolutions
passed at ABTS conferences often would not be
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