0 One hundred eleven years ofeditorialfreedom tt NEWS: 76-DAILY CLASSIFIED: 764-0557 wwwmichigandally.com Monday February 18, 2002 GSIs receive low ratings from students Matheconomics and great books GSIs receive worst overall ratings By ToMislav Ladika Daily Staff Reporter LSA freshman Areej El-Jawahri said she first noticed the inconsistencies of the University's Graduate Student Instructors after her Great Books 191 GSI repeatedly graded assignments harder than GSIs teaching the other discussions. El-Jawahri said she urged the LSA Student Government's Academic Affairs Committee, of which she is a member, to conduct an e-mail sur- vey of the entire LSA student body to "examine whether there is a problem or establish to the administration that the students aren't happy with the GSIs in terms of consistency of grading." The 527 responses quantified complaints she had heard from many students, El-Jawahri said. Many students said a problem exists in the quali- ty of preparation, consistency of grades and assigned workload by GSIs leading different sec- tions of the same course. "Students are concerned about this issue," she said. "It's more than just a backlash." One-third of students who responded said their discussion sections did not prepare them for midterm or final exams, and 26 percent said the GSI did not investigate themes relevant to the central focus of the course. LSA-SG representative Gwen Arnold said the Academic Affairs Committee plans to meet with University administrators, using the survey results to push for reforms within individual departments. The committee will target the math, economics and great books departments, which received the most complaints from students.. Arnold said that although the math department has improved its preparation of GSIs since last year, it is still the worst department in terms of ensuring quality GSI teaching. "When com- plaints do arise, students generally are concerned about GSIs not covering the same concepts with sufficient depth and thus leaving some sections ill-prepared for exams," Arnold said. The Academic Affairs Committee's report said several students complained that some GSIs do not sufficiently review material presented in lec- tures and end up confusing students, while many GSIs do not like teaching. Math GSI Robert Houck said he has noticed preparation for teaching varies among GSIs, part- ly because students and faculty have low expecta- tions for the quality of teaching from GSIs. Houck said he believes some GSIs think, Other students said many GSIs speak poor English, which affects their image as dependable, teachers. Houck said fluency of English may be a prob lem because'occasionally students do not under- stand concepts explained by GSIs who are not native English speakers. Also, 42 percent of the respondents said the amount of homework assigned in different sec- tions of a course varies by GSI, and half the stu- dents felt their GSI's grades are not consistent with the standards of other GSIs. But despite these results, several GSIs said grading differences are minor and assignments See GSI, Page 7A "nobody's expecting much of me, don't have to do well." so I really Kiss-in rally met with little protest By Karen Schwartz and Samantha Woll Daily Staff Reporters This year there were no protesters, there were no small children holding signs bearing anti-gay messages and the Michigan Peace Team members did not have to intervene in any potentially violent or dangerous situations. While not as riotous as last year's Kiss-In when mem- bers of the anti-gay Reverand Fred Phelps' congregation came to protest against the demonstration, peace team member Sheri Wander said the annual Queer Visibility Rally and Kiss-in gave participants a chance to voice their views without any sentiments of fear. "We weren't asked to intervene in any confrontational situations as opposed to last year when we had to inter- vene in a dozen or so," Wander said. "I think it was-really important that this year people felt they could speak out and be visible with less immediate risk." The Kiss-In concluded Queer Visibility Week and addressed awareness and activism as well as changes speakers said should be made with regard to the treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues. Rally speaker Dave Garcia acknowledged what he said were many positive initiatives taking place with regard to the LGBT community on campus, but said he has "had enough of the wait-and-see mentality" on certain issues. "We will not accept this University's support of the United Way campaign. ... This administration has a responsibility to adequately fund the LGBT Affairs Office, to drop the Boy Scouts of America ... to drop sup- See KISS-IN, Page 7A "t I ,, I I a . ' r k . . j q:' Y i;;: r L S nil ; 'Y y° _ tia . " d ,.= C f J d4 t r .. { t '.^ .. X f 7 'i DPS names projector theft suspect By Rob Goodspeed Daily Staff Reporter The Department of Public Safety has released the name of a 28-year-old Ann Arbor man wanted in connection with thefts of Liquid Crystal Display projectors from University buildings. LCD projectors are used in class- rooms to project video and computer information. , DPS has issued a warrant for the arrest of Ann Arbot resident Ronald Richardson for LCD projector theft. The Ann Arbor Police Department and the Michigan Depart- ment of Corrections also have warrants for his arrest. Hg is described as being 5-foot-8 and 150 pounds. "The DPS Criminal Investigations Division is investi: gating 37 reports of LCD projector thefts that have reportedly occurred since Dec. 2000," said DPS spokes- woman Diane Brown. The projectors are usually secured with bolts and a wire cable to a cart or ceiling, Brown said. The last theft occurred between 11 p.m. and 11:45 p.m. Feb. 8 from a cart in the lobby of the Cheesebrough Audi- torium in the Chrysler Center on North Campus. The pro- jector was valued at $3,600. The projectors stolen are worth between $3,000 and $12,000 each. Eight projectors were stolen in Dec. 2001. DPS issued a $500 reward for information about the thefts in Decem- ber and increased the reward to $1,000 in January. According to the LSA media services website, 28 classrooms used by LSA classes have installed LCD pro- jectors. Classrooms in the Business School, the Medical School and on North Campus also have LCD projectors. w - BRETT MOUNTAIN/Daily LSA senior Lara Brooks and SNRE sophomore Emily Aker hug on the Diag during the annual Kiss-In rally, a celebration of Queer Visibility Week. Rivers: Students must fight to obtain abortion rights By Louie MeIziish Daily Staff Reporter Distancing herself from her likely opponent in her reelection bid for Con- gress this year, Rep. Lynn Rivers told abortion rights supporters yesterday that in order to preserve abortion as an option for pregnant women, they must not allow anti-abortion politicians to make all the decisions concerning reproductive rights. Rivers, barring a successful Democ- ratic Party court challenge of the state's. new congressional district lines, will face long-term incumbent John Dingell of Dearborn in an August Democratic Primary. Ann Arbor's four-term congress- woman, addressing a joint gathering of the University's chapters of College Democrats and Students for Choice, said although she does not expect the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade to be overturned anytime soon, new limitations being addressed by Congress have the potential of effec- tively overturning the landmark 1972 decision. "If there is not vigilance and action in defeating these proposals, the window afforded to women in exercising these rights gets smaller and smaller and smaller and smaller," she said. Citing scorecards of members of Congress compiled by Planned Parent- hood and the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League, Rivers said while she is in favor of allowing abortion without limits, Din- gell favors abortion with certain limita- tions. NARAL scored Rivers' voting record during this session of Congress with 100 percent, Dingell's with 65 percent. Rivers' score in the last ses- sion of Congress was the same under Planned Parenthood, Dingell's, 73 per- cent. LAUREN BRAUN/Daily U.S. Rep. Lynn Rivers (D-Ann Arbor) discusses legislation concerning abortion last night at the Michigan Union. Rivers, who the age of 18 was first pregnant at and had her second See RIVERS, Page 7A Alcohol, drugs factor into engaging in risky behavior State St. repairs set to begin next in March . Students more likely to engage in unsafe sexual practices under the influence By Rahwa Ghebre-Ab Daily Staff Reporter Studies show that mixing alcohol and drugs with sex have dangerous consequences - the greatest being the practice of unsafe sex which may lead to pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. A study released last week by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University in conjunction with the Kaiser Family Foundation, found that about 23 percent of sexually active 15 to 24 year olds, 5.6 million people, admitted to having unprotected sex because they were under the influence of alcohol and drugs. The study conducted between November 2001 and January 2002 randomly sampled 1,200 young adolescents and young adults in the nation aged 13 to 24. According to the study, about 29 percent of adolescents and young adults say that because of alcohol and drugs, they behaved "more sexually than they had planned." University of Michigan psychology Prof. Dan Horn said research on personal activities may yield inaccurate results because people embellish their answers, feel apprehension towards the questions, and have misconcep- tions about the activities of their peers. For example, the study indicated that of the 15 to 24 year olds surveyed, 50 percent say people their age mix alcohol or drugs and sex frequently. Seventy-three percent reported not believ- ing that their peers use condoms after using alcohol and drugs. "What the study gets at is people's beliefs of their peers, not necessarily about them- selves. That is, opinion and not necessarily See STUDY, Page 7A By Molly Kennedy For the Daily Starting in mid-March, the Downtown Development Authority will begin a 5.5 million dollar reno- vation on South State Street and the surrounding business area. The project, which will extend down Washington Street, Liberty Street and William Street, is sched- uled to finish in April 2003. The project is intended to give better access and attract more busi- ness to one of the major economic hubs of Ann Arbor. "The hope is that, by making it more pedestrian-friendly and by adding ambient lighting, more cus- tomers will come," said Tom Hey- wood, executive director of the State Street Area Association. In order to make the area more attractive, the project will add brighter lighting, widen sidewalks, plant trees, build benches and reduce the visual clutter of signs. Also, two new high-rise buildings will be erected. The first, a seven-story building, will replace the abandoned building which formerly housed Olga's Kitchen on South State Street and Washington Street. The other, an eight-story build- ing, will be built over the former McDonald's on Maynard Street. Both of the new structures will have stores on their ground floors and apartments or condominiums above. South State Street will then be converted into a two-way street to ease traffic problems and make the area easier to navigate. The State Street Development Project grew out of recommenda- See RENOVATIONS, Page 7A Photo Illustration by BRETT MOUNTAIN. A new study shows that the use of alcohol and drugs may often lead to unprotected sex, diseases and pregnancy. m L