The Michigan Daily -Tuesday, April 2, 2002 - 5
Engler signs higher education bill, caps tuition
LANSING (AP) - Gov. John Engler signed yesterday
the deal he reached two months ago with Michigan's 15
public universities to continue this year's state funding lev-
els as long as they limit tuition increases.
The $1.9 billion higher education budget gives universi-
ties the same amount of funding when the 2003 fiscal year
begins Oct. 1. But they will lose state funding if they
increase tuition higher than 8.5 percent, or $425 a year,
whichever is greater.
"I think it keeps university funding rock solid,"
Engler said.
The higher education budget is among the few that
won't see its state funding drop as Michigan faces a
$970 million deficit in its general fund.
Michigan has among the highest tuition rates in the
country, said Jane Wellman of the Washington-based Insti-
tute for Higher Education Policy. It helps to let parents and
students know early about increases, she said.
"The biggest impact happens when increases are
made at the last minute and people can't plan," Wellman
said. "If there's been an agreement, and it's just the first
of April, that's not bad."
The agreement to tie tuition increases with state fund-
ing came after the public universities increased their
tuition and fees by an average of 11 percent for the
2001-2002 school year. They said the increases were
necessary because they got a lower-than-usual 1.5 per-
cent increase in state appropriations.
Michigan's public universities are autonomous and
lawmakers can't set tuition rates. But the Legislature
can reduce state funding for universities that increase
their tuition beyond the agreed amount.
Universities that do increase tuition and fees higher
than 8.5 percent in 2002-2003 will lose the difference in
their state appropriation.
Engler said he expects to see a variety of tuition
increases from universities, but none over the amount
agreed to in the budget.
The tuition agreement in the higher education budget
has already caused Central Michigan University to scale
back its scheduled tuition increase for the upcoming
academic year.
Central Michigan originally approved a 28 percent increase
in tuition and fees, or $500 more per semester, for the 2002-
2003 school year. The Board of Trustees later voted to keep
the increase at $425 for the upcoming academic year.
Ferris State President William Sederburg said the uni-
versity in Big Rapids has approved a 5 percent increase,
or $250 more per year, in tuition and fees for the 2002-
2003 school year.
Although no university expects to see a drop in state
funding, several university presidents say they will
have make cuts to balance their budgets as health care
and energy costs continue to increase.
"We've got to be like everybody else, we've got to cut
costs. We've got to operate very frugally," Michigan State
President Peter McPherson said at a recent campus forum
on the affordability of higher education.
The higher education budget also includes a $11.3 million
increase for the Michigan Merit Award scholarship program.
That brings total spending for the program to $114.3 million.
Merit awards are $2,500 college scholarships for
high school students who qualify by scoring well on the
Michigan Educational Assessment Program tests.
Approximately 48,760 high school seniors qualified for
Michigan Merit Awards last year, said Terry Stanton,
spokesman for the state Department of Treasury, which
administers the MEAP tests.
Vulgar
language
law gets
repealed
. TRAVERSE CITY (AP) - The
Michigan Court of Appeals struck
down a 105-year-old law against using
vulgar language in front of women and
children yesterday, throwing out the
conviction of a canoeist who let loose a
stream of curses after falling into the
water.
A three-judge panel ruled in favor of
Timothy Joseph Boomer. An Arenac
County jury had found him guilty in
1999 of swearing after tumbling into
the Rifle River.
He was fined $75 and ordered to
work four days in a child-care pro-
gram, but the sentence was put on hold
while the case was appealed.
Enacted in 1897 and slightly reword-
ed in 1931, the law says anyone using
"indecent, immoral, obscene, vulgar or
insulting language in the presence or
hearing of any woman or child shall be
guilty of a misdemeanor."
The appeals panel said it would be
"difficult to conceive of a statute that
would be more vague," and that it vio-
lated the First Amendment guarantee
of free speech.
"Allowing a prosecution where one
utters 'insulting' language could possi-
bly subject a vast percentage of the
populace to a misdemeanor convic-
tion," the written opinion said.
Boomer, of Roseville, said he was
relieved.
"I think freedom of speech is very
important," he said. "It was a very wor-
thy cause to fight for."
His trial attorney, William Street of
Saginaw, said lower courts should have
tossed out the case.
"But at least the Court of Appeals
ruling ... makes it clear for all counties
and all prosecutors, and no one will be
caught in the circumstances of Mr.
Boomer again," Street said.
Richard Vollbach, the Arenac Coun-
ty assistant prosecutor who handled the
case, said he was surprised and would
consider appealing to the Michigan
Supreme Court.
"If it was a rationale I could digest,
I'd probably leave it alone. But this
one's a little bothersome to me," he
said.
Boomer was canoeing with friends
in August 1998 on the river, which
winds through rural Arenac and Oge-
maw counties before emptying in Lake
Huron about 130 miles north of
Detroit. Witnesses testified Boomer
fell out when his canoe struck a rock.
A man who was in a nearby boat with
his wife and two young children testi-
fied Boomer yelled curses for several
minutes as they hurried away.
A sheriff's deputy who ticketed
Boomer said he could hear the shouts a
quarter-mile downstream.
Boomer acknowledged to reporters
he "might have" uttered a profanity
two or three times.
During the trial, District Judge Allen
Yenior unconstitutional the ban on
cursing in front of women but left
intact the provision dealing with chil-
dren. A circuit judge upheld Yenior's
decision.
The appeals court ruling, signed by
Judges William Murphy, David Sawyer
and Joel Hoekstra, said the law did not
make clear what words were prohibited.
Applying the ban only to language a
"reasonable person" should know is pro-
fane wouldn't fix the problem, they said.
"This ... would require every person
who speaks audibly where children are
present to guess what a law enforce-
ment officer might consider too inde-
cent, immoral, or vulgar for a child's
ears," the judges wrote.
Vollbach said many laws have simi-
lar wording. Example: a person who
uses "abusive, profane or indecent lan-
guage" on a train can be taken into
custody or kicked off.
.."That's almos~t identical .. and no
In the 'nic' of time
Implanted chip
sends information,
emergency data
UDtEBIL MILEL/Uaily
Ann Arbor resident Charles Coleman takes a cigarette break from his day yesterday and talks on his cell phone while
standing on State Street.
Coca-Cola to ad vanilla fla§1vor
to line up of canned beverages
BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) - Jeff
Jacobs' neck is fused to his spine atI
a slightly downward angle, making
it painful for him to look straighti
ahea-d without leaning back. He
takes up to 10 medications a day for
a number of other ailments, and
several times he has nearly died.
One of his family's biggest wor-
ries is that he could become sick
and unable to speak for himself in
an emergency.
. But thanks to a tiny computer
chip that can be implanted in his
body and scanned for personal and
medical information, those fears
may be eased.
Jacobs, his wife, Leslie, and their 14-
year-old son, Derek, could become the
nation's first family to be fitted with the
device, called VeriChip. It is awaiting
approval from the Food and Drug
Administration.
The VeriChip, made by Applied
Digital Solutions in Palm Beach
County, is about the size of a grain
of rice. It would be injected under a
person's skin, probably in the arm,
and could be read only by scanners.
Similar technology has been used
in the past few years on millions of
dogs and cats as a way to identify
the pets if they are lost or stolen.
Applied Digital says the chip can
provide instant access to a patient's
medical records, which is especially
valuable in emergencies or in situa-
tions in which the patient is uncon-
scious and unable to provide a
medical history or, say, allergies to
any medications. It could, for exam-
ple, be used to identify and diag-
nose a lost Alzheimer's patient.
Ultimately, the chips could be
coupled with global-positioning
?r Israel protei
5s on the Dis~
ATLANTA (AP) - Coca-Cola is
reportedly developing a vanilla-fla-
vored version of its flagship cola,
-extending the company's palette of
flavorings from Cherry Coke and
Diet Coke with lemon.
The nation's largest soft drink
company has prepared sample pack-
aging for the new drink, to be sold
initially only in North America,
according to Beverage Digest,
which reported the pending intro-
duction in its current issue. Coke
officials declined to comment on
ECONOMY
Continued from Page 1
adding that "a consumer not so
intent on continuing to spend could
sideline the recovery."
Business School Prof. Richard
Sloan said future terrorist attacks
could also stall the recovery, noting
the negative effects seen on Wall
Street from the conflict in Israel.
"If it really expanded and the
U.S. and U.N. got involved, this
could undermine consumer confi-
dence," he said.
He added that reaction to terror-
ism is "negative initially, but the
impact on the domestic economy
tends not to be huge."
MARTI N
Continued from Page 1.
ing with allegations."
But Webber is not the only person
involved with the program to comment
on the alleged monetary ties between Ed
Martin and himself. Webber's former
teammate Jalen Rose, who currently
plays for the Chicago Bulls, told his ver-
sion of the story on the Jim Rome show:
"Now, I don't know if Chris was getting
that kind of cake or not," Rose said. "I
really don't have anything negative to
say about this scenario, and I really don't
know how much money that he was giv-
the report.
"It is not yet an absolute certain-
ty, but I think it's very likely that
they'll launch a line extension of
Coke Classic," Beverage Digest
editor John Sicher said yesterday.
"It's become very clear in the last
year or two that new products and
innovation are an important compo-
nent of marketing and drives
growth."
Coca-Cola Classic remained the
nation's top-selling soft drink last
year, but analysts said Coke hopes
The Index of Consumer Senti-
ment also reported that home and
vehicle buying attitudes have
weakened.
"Just as last year's declines in
prices and interest rates propelled
sales of homes and vehicles toward
record highs during the recession,
this year's increases in inflation and
interest rates will dampen sales
during the start of the recovery,"
Curtin said.
Over half of those surveyed stat-
ed they believed interest rates
would rise.
The monthly survey 'findings are
based on about 500 telephone inter-
views with Americans across the
country.
ing, if he was giving, to other players."
Steve Fisher, who coached Webber at
the University and now coaches at San
Diego State, stressed that he knew noth-
ing of the scandal while he was working
in Ann Arbor. "I knew Ed Martin, and I
knew of him for 20 years," Fisher said
on ESPN's "Unscripted: With Chris
Connelly." "The one thing I do know is,
the way that I conducted my business
and handled myself at Michigan, both in
the recruiting process and the coaching
process, I take great pride in. I did it the
right way. I did it with honesty and.
integrity, and I did it in a fashion that I
will continue to be proud of."
to emulate the success of rival
Pepsi-Cola Co., which has seen
sales soar for Code Red, a version
of its highly caffeinated Mountain
Dew.
Adding vanilla to Coke will pro-
duce a different kind of buzz.
"I think they are excited about
the prospect of adding some news
to their flagship brand," said Marc
Cohen, a beverage analyst with
Goldman Sachs.
Don't expect to see a vanilla-fla-
vored Pepsi anytime soon.
Movemen]
refugee cam/
CAMPS
Continued from Page 1.
oppressing for the past 55 years in
the West Bank and Gaza," he said.
But some students were unhappy
with the message the displays were
sending spectators.
Members representing the Ameri-
can Movement for Israel also stood
on the Diag and passed out litera-
ture offering the campus a different
angle on the Israeli-Palestinian con-
flict.
"From the exhibition students get
the impression that (the refugees)
were just driven out. It's much more
complicated than that," LSA junior
David Post said. "We completely
understand and agree with the right
of people to express the plight of
refugees. But we also think it's
important to expose students to the
context of what occurred so that it's
not one-sided, and that context is
war."
But Kiblawi said he found the lit-
erature, which asserted that the
relocation of Palestinians from
satellites to locate Alzheimer's
patients who have wandered off, or
find kidnapping victims - an idea
the company hopes to market in
Latin America.
The chip could also be used as a
security tool.
"It can be used as an inexpensive
method to gain entry into a secure
power-plant, the cockpit of an air-
plane, or any place where a high
level of authentication is required
for entrance to a building," said
Keith Bolton, Applied Digital vice
president and chief technology offi-
cer. "It's a lot less expensive than
retina scanning or thumbprint
recognition equipment."
The chip has stirred debate over
its potential use as a "Big Brother"
device to track people or invade the
privacy of their homes or work-
places. Civil libertarians call it
crypto-fascism or high-tech slavery.
Religious advocates say it repre-
sents "the mark of the Beast," or the
anti-Christ.
Jacobs and his family brush aside
those arguments. Anyone can be
tracked through the Internet and e-
mail, credit cards and cellular
phones, they say.
"We're kind of amazed there's such a
hullabaloo about it," Jacobs said. "It's
like someone presenting the world with
a gift. It's inconceivable this could do
anything but good."
Jacobs, a 48-year-old dentist, has
suffered through cancer, a car crash,
a degenerative spinal condition,
chronic eye disease and abdominal
operations. He has had to quit his
dental practice, and doctors have
told him they are not sure how long
he will live.
sts dis playoJ
'yesterday
appreciated the unique perspective
the Afghanistan display offered.
"It's interesting. I'm kind of sorry
to see there aren't more people
stopping and paying attention. It's
good that people are getting the
other side of the story than what we
hear in the media in terms of
Afghanistan," she said.
Engineering sophomore Omar
Khalil said he was also pleased that
the campus was given the chance to
see an unfamiliar point of view.
"This event really put into perspec-
tive the kind of suffering the Pales-
tinians are going through which is
unfortunately often obscured by
media coverage of that region," he
said.
University alum and employee
Juan Iturralde said all three displays
really opened his eyes.
"It's just incredible how naive we
are, since we're not exposed to this
everyday, but when we do see we're
horrified. As a species I feel
ashamed," he said. "I'm just won-
dering now that we know, what can
we do to help?"
Israel was
voluntary
untrue.
performed on a largely
basis, distasteful and
"(The quarter sheets) are making
a statement that is not only offen-
sive to the Palestinian people but to
all of mankind. Attempting to
rewrite and change history to erase
the ethnic cleansing and suffering
of an entire nation is a crime
against humanity," he said.Many
students left the Diag disturbed by
the provocative images the displays
held.
"Nobody needs to talk because
pictures speak louder than words,
and after looking at those (Iraqi)
children it kind of makes you think
twice before spending $15 on din-
ner," LSA senior Mohsen Nasir
said.
LSA junior Henna Tirmizi said
she hoped the displays helped peo-
ple to better understand the conflict
in Iraq. "When people think of Iraq,
they think of Saddam Hussein, not
of the millions of people that are
suffering over there," she said.
LSA junior Ann Pattock said she
Consider Living in the
IC The School of Natural Resources & Environment
* , aand the LSAISNRE Program in the Environment
HG -present
Our 19 houses have from 12-53x{c r
students. What we all have inJYm' ° YGF
common is a desire to work
together to create an affordable
-nmmnity where we canofy) Ue
iv.wkaad ayEnvironmental Scientist and Consultant
W - Our Envfronment Prospect