One hundred eleven years ofeditorialfreedom ti NEWS: 76-DAILY CLASSIFIED: 7640557 wwwmichigandally.com Monday March 25, 2002 i E I> i i 11 Many first tume wms awarded at Oscars By Jeff Dickrson and A f a be f Dal rs dtr The 74th Academy Awards was full of surprises, Sept. 11 rhetoric and the breaking down of racial barriers. The big winners of the night were "A Beautiful Mind" and "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," which each received four awards. The Best Picture Award went to "A Beautiful Mind," the story of mathemati- cian John Forbes Nash. Ron Howard also won the award for Best Director for "A Beautiful Mind." The acting awards this year break the long tradition of unofficial snub- bing of black actors and actresses that has plagued the Academy Awards. The Best Actor Award went to Denzel Washington for his role as the unstable but charismatic Alonzo Harris in "Training Day." Halle Berry was one of the biggest Vupsets of the night with her win for Best Actress for "Monsters Ball" over favorite Sissy Spacek for her role in "In the Bedroom." Berry gave a teary and, at times, hysterical speech in which she thanked everyone from her agent to Oprah Winfrey. Jennifer Connelly won the award for Best Supporting Actress. She was the favorite for her role as Alicia Nash in "A Beautiful Mind' Proving once again that no one can boss the Academy around, Jim Broad- bent got the award Best Supporting Actor for his role in "Iris' winning over frontrunners Ben Kingsley and Ian McKellen, and the Best Foreign Film Award, which most had already assumed would go to Jean-Pierre Jeunet's "Amelie," went to the Bosnian film "No Man's Land." See OSCARS, Page 9A I Kasdin leaving for Columbia By Kara Wenzel Daily Staff Reporter Robert Kasdin, University chief financial offi- cer, will be the University's second executive offi- cer to take a job at Columbia - University since January, fol- lowing former President Lee Bollinger to his new position as Columbia's president. "It's an exciting opportuni- ty in a city that has been home to my family for years," Kasdin said. "I'm excited to work with Lee (Bollinger) again, but this was a decision K based on a variety of things. Kasdin said his resignation will be effective as of April 30, but he will not join Bollinger's team until July. "I always knew he'd want to return to New York," Bollinger said. "Robert is from New York City. I recruited him from New York when he was at the Metropolitan Museum of Art." Susan Feagin, former vice president for devel- opment, left for a similar job under Bollinger at Columbia last month. Other executives who have chosen to leave or not come to the University include Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs Gil Omenn, who will step down from his position in July to pursue research interests, and Scott Emr, professor of cellular and molecular medicine at the University of California San Diego, who announced he would not join Jack Dixon as co-director of the Bollinger-planned Life Sciences Initiative this summer. In February, Emr told the Daily his reasons for not coming to Michigan were partly personal and partly due to Bollinger leaving. Interim University President B. Joseph White said he does not think the situation with executive officers departing is unique to the University. "I think it's what happens virtually always when See KASDIN, Page 9A DAVID KATZ/Daily Michigan's hockey team celebrates after their -3 victory Saturday night over Colorado State. The win puts the Wolverines in the Frozen Four. . . Wolverines slide into FrozenFour M'SA election results remain inconclusive By Tomislav Ladika Daily Staff Reporter By Seth Klempner Daily Sports Writer Michigan associate head coach Mel Pearson could not contain his excitement after freshman Eric Nystrom shot the puck into Denver's vacated net to ice Michigan's 5-3 win and send the Wolverines to their second Frozen Four in as many years..With Yost Ice Arena shaking, and the noise level greater than that of most construction sites, the typically stoic Pearson picked up a towel and waved it over his head in a state of euphoria as the Michigan bench explod- ed in celebration. "I can't describe it, it was total jubila- tion," Pearson said with a grin. "At that point I think it is OK to show your emo- tions. We wear our emotions on our sleeve See HOCKEY, Page 9A In a situation eerily similar to the 2000 national election crisis between President Bush and Al Gore, Students First candidates Sarah Boot and Dana Glassel were declared unofficial winners of the closest election in Michigan Student Assem- bly history over the weekend. But MSA's Central Student Judiciary ordered a recount of questionable ballots and postponed the certification of all MSA and LSA student govern- ment results until next Friday. The recount follows an appeal by Blue Party executive officer candidates John Carter and John Simpson -who trail Boot and Glassel by 31 votes after preliminary results - which pointed to several technical errors by the University's vot- ing Website that they say may have jeopardized votes crucial to the outcome of the election. Approximately 400"ballots were rejected by the Website because, using records obtained from the Office of the Registrar on March 4, the Website indicated that the voters either were not Universi- ty students or were not enrolled in the schools they voted for, Election Director Collin McGlashen said. Among the rejections were 90 percent of ballots from Medical students. McGlashen said these exception votes were not counted because many Medical students are employed at the University and were therefore erroneously listed as faculty. Similar problems had occurred in the past, McGlashen added. The Election Board reviewed all the reject- ed ballots but only factored ballots of medical See MSA, Page 9A Ramifications of Martin scandal unclear Michikan considers the possibi ty of sanctions Incoming M' recruits ponder commitments By Arun Gopal and Shannon Pettyplece Daily Staff Reporters As the dust settles from the indict- ment of former Michigan basketball booster Ed Martin, who is accused of loaning more than $600,000 to for- mer Wolverine athletes, it is likely that the allegations could have crip- pling effects on Michigan athletics. Indiana University Prof. Murray Sperber, who has written several books on the demise of college ath- letics, said the University's reputation would be seriously harmed if the allegations made in the indictment of Martin were proven to be true. "This really hurts the University of Inside Take a look at the Daily's extend- ed coverage of the Ed Martin scandal on pages 5A and 6A. FORMER AD RESPONDS Don Canham blames the administra- tion during the "Fab Five" era for decreasing the authority of Board in Control of Intercollegiate Athletics. ALL THE RAGE Maize Ragers react to the recent Ed Martin indictment and its impact on the future of Michigan basketball. THE NEW RECRUITS Two incoming recruits say they're still on their way to Michigan. LOOKING AHEAD Analysts predict the future of Michi- gan recruiting after indictment. Michigan," Sperber said. "Schools like Michigan ... have a lot at stake. You are very well pleased to be one of the public Ivies - this kind of stuff brings you down to Michigan State's level." But Sperber said the University is not the only school that has experi- enced a problem with college players accepting money from boosters. "It is going on in every Big Ten university," he added. "Coaches always deny it. What usually comes out is that the coaches know much more about it then they casually claim." For example, Purdue University's basketball program came under scrutiny in 1999 for a number of vio- lations revolving around loans given to a recruit, as well as financial assis- tance provided by an Indianapolis businessman to the mother of a Pur- due player. Also, the University of Dayton's bas- ketball team was slapped with three- years probation the following season for similar violations. And in a highly- publicized case, the University of Alabama's football program was hit with massive sanctions earlier this year. Alabama received five-years pro- bation, a two-year ban from postsea- son bowl games and massive scholarship reductions. Their exten- sive sanctions were in part because the Crimson Tide fell under the cate- gory of repeat offenders, which left it subject to harsher penalties than Michigan may be facing. Although the National Collegiate Ath1etic Asnociation has nut new DANNY MOLOSHOK/Da Former Wolverine football coach Bo Schembechler chats with Interim University President B. Joseph White at a basketball game earlier this semester. Former 'U' presidients knew about scandal By Steve Jackson and Joe Smith Daily Sports Editors Lester Abram's teammates prod- ded, bugged and continually asked him the question. They were just burning to know. "What are you going to do?" his teammates asked. After the recent indictment of banned booster Ed Martin, people are wonder- ing about the status of Michigan's top- 10 recruiting class for 2002. Yesterday was supposed to be a cele- bration as Abram's team, Pontiac Northern, had just won its second con- secutive Michigan Class A State Cham- pionship on Saturday. Instead, it was a day of soul searching, and figuring out what the top-50 prospect wanted to do about his college plans. All five Michigan recruits have signed National Letters of Intent. But according to NCAA rules, if any of the players wanted to be released from their commitment with Michigan due to the recent scandal, the Wolverines would either have to let them leave or the play- er would have to sit out one year before signing with another school. But the lanky swingman, Abram, stayed confident in his decision; just like fellow incoming recruit Graham Brown, he's not changing his mind about being a Wolverine next fall - NCAA sanctions or not. "I'm still going there," Abram said. "I don't even think it should be a pro- bation put on the school - cause it didn't have to do with these new coaches. You've got everybody out of be penalized. "That's where I want to go, even if they have probation or not." Brown, a 6-foot-10 power forward from Mio, agrees. "It doesn't really change my deci- sion," Brown said yesterday. "I think they dealt with it when it happened. "It doesn't change my opinion about Michigan. I made my decision from what I saw when my brothers went there, and nothing really changes.' Both of Brown's brothers, Griffin and Gabe, are mechanical engineers who graduated from Michigan. Gabe was a team manager for the basketball team during the "Fab Five" era. "Graham is Maize and Blue through and through," Gabe said. "He's not going anywhere else." * The big question on everyone's mind, however, is the status of Daniel Horton, the coveted prize of coach Tommy Amaker's first recruiting class at Michi- gan. The superstar point guard is con- sidered to be one of the top players in the country. If he doesn't come, Michi- gan's major need at point guard still won't be filled. Horton and his family were unavail- able for comment, as they were travel- ing north to Chicago for tomorrow's Roundball Classic. But David Milson, Horton's coach at Cedar Hill High School, said he was "shocked" and "concerned" about the latest Ed Martin indictment and didn't know the status of Horton's commit- ment for sure. "Obviously I'm concerned about Daniel," Milson said. "He's looking for- ward to a great college career, and he's got a great shot at the NBA. But if they By Shannon Pettypiece Daily Staff Reporter While the allegations accusing for- mer Michigan basketball players of accepting $600,000 from former booster Ed Martin just resurfaced last week, University officials say they have known about this issue for almost a decade, forcing three sitting presi- dents to grapple with the situation. Former University President Lee Bollinger, who took over the presi- dencv when the allegations were reputation if the accusations were proven to be true. "I was told in my first week or two that there were unsubstantial allega- tions that significant funds had trans- ferred from Ed Martin to certain players. From that moment till this one I have had concerns and suspicions but no conclusive proof," Bollinger said. "If these allegations were substantial it would be a very significant injury to the University." Only a few weeks after Bollinger took office, the Athletic Department NOC MMENT - 1 .. II .i I r ,