LOCAL/STATE The Michigan Daily - Monday, April 15, 2002 - 3A Transitional period of interims common Former president to speak about moral leadership Former president of Costa Rica and Nobel Peace Laureate Oscar Arias will come to the University Wednesday to speak about "Moral Leadership in Today's World." Arias won the 1987 Nobel Peace Prize for his work to facilitate Central American peace and has continued his work for world peace since he left the presidency in 1990. Arias will speak for the School of Public Policy's annual Citigroup Lec- ture, at 4 p.m. in the Business School's Hale Auditorium at 701 Tappan St. Mideast dialogue focus of lecture "Islam and the West: Clash or Dia- logue of Civilizations?" is the topic of a lecture by American University interna- tional relations Prof. Akbar Ahmed. He will speak at noon today in room 1636 of the School of Social Work Building, at 1080 S. University Ave. IIiFilm festival will focus on human rights issues The International Human Rights Watch International Film Festival, a documentary series focusing on world- wide human rights issues, continues today and tomorrow in room 140 of Lorch Hall at 611 Tappan St. Today's film, "Nazareth 2000," begins at 8 p.m. Tomorrow the festival will feature "Jung (War): In the Land of the Mujaheddin" at 6 p.m. Edmund White will keynote Hopwood award ceremony The annual Hopwood Awards cere- mony, which recognizes excellence in writing by University students, will feature Edmund White as its keynote speaker. White, who attended the Uni- versity, is an author and cultural critic who often writes about gay culture. The ceremony will be held tomor- row at 3:30 in Hale Auditorium. Author will speak on historic photos of Ann Arbor Grace Shackman, author of "Ann Arbor in the 19th Century: A Photo- graphic History," will give a talk on "The History of Ann Arbor" at 9:30 a.m. Thursday. All area women are invited to the lecture, which is organ- ized by the International Neighbors women's group and will be held at the Zion Lutheran Church's Piper Hall at 1501 W. Liberty St. Architecture prof. will speak about performing arts Princeton architecture Prof. Eliza- beth Diller and her husband, Cooper Union Prof. Ricardo Scofidio, will speak today at 6 p.m. in the Art and Architecture auditorium at 2000 Bonis- teel Ave. The couple have collaborated on many projects, including exhibits considering the connections between the visual and performing arts and architecture. Cultural festival features world folk music, dance The "Global Voices Performing Arts and Cultural Festival" begins today and ends Friday at the Washtenaw Commu- nity College. The festival includes dance, drama and music from around the world as well as lectures. French, Lebanese, Mexican, Korean, Native American, gospel and American folk music will be presented at various times during the festival. The event also includes a lecture by Ypsilanti recording company owner, videos on African and Middle Eastern culture, a live recording session featuring a local sound engineer and singing and danc- ing performances by WCC students. - Compiled by Daily StaffReporter Jordan Schrader By Kara Wenzel Daily Staff Reporter The announcement of LSA Dean Shirley Neuman's departure last week is the latest in a list of University higher-ups to leave their posi- tions this academic year. Two University administrators are following former University President Lee Bollinger to Columbia University, where Bollinger will assume the top position July 1. Neuman, who is to become provost of the University of Toronto July 1, is the first dean to leave following Bollinger's departure. Bollinger appointed Neuman two years ago. "Shirley Neuman left for a considerable pro- motion," University of Michigan spokeswoman Julie Peterson said. "She went from being a dean to a provost at the top university in Cana- da." Peterson said the University of Michigan's administrators are "prized and wel-respected," and it is not unusual for other universities to consider University of Michigan executives for jobs when there are holes in their leadership. "The University is full of talented people doing a great job," Peterson said. So far, the University has not faced any obvi- ous problems coping with a lack of leadership considering the holes in its executive offices. "Departures of these kinds and of this rate are normal," said interim University President B. Joseph White. "Senior management organi- zation is to some extent a team, and when the leader leaves some of them reconsider." Bollinger assembled his own executive board after he became president of the University. "When Lee Bollinger came in, and over the course of the year or so after, there were a lot of changes in the top leadership," Peterson said. "It doesn't surprise me there were a lot of changes when he left." The University Board of Regents does not seem concerned about the abundance of interim officers. "I think whenever there's a change in leader- ship at the top, we can expect changes," Regent Olivia Maynard (D-Goodrich) said. "I don't think at this point it's a problem, but I might at some point." Maynard said the same sort of shifting in executive positions has happened in other inter- im periods. "When I first became a regent, there was an interim president and a lot of changes occurred," she added. "It's definitely not unusual" White said the first priority for the University is the appointment of a new president. From there, other vacancies can be filled. "The regents understand the importance of an orderly succession," White said. "They set a goal of making a presidential appointment by mid-late summer. I think with an appoint- ment made on that schedule, all these depar- tures are manageable. (After a president is chosen) they probably expect six to 12 months of recruiting and appointments of people to these senior jobs. Until then interim appoint- ments work fine." Last month, University Chief Financial Offi- cer Robert Kasdin accepted a top position at Columbia under Bollinger. In February, Susan Feagin, University vice president for develop- ment, announced she will take a similar posi- tion at Columbia. Liz Barry, University deputy general counsel, is leaving the general counsel's office to become co-director of the Life Sciences Initia- tive. Barry's appointment was made after Scott Emr, a medical professor at the University of California at San Diego, decided not to take the co-directorship of the institute. Emr was appointed under Bollinger's tenure and cited Bollinger's departure as one reason why he will not join the LSI. Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs Gilbert Omenn announced in December that he will resign his position this summer to work more closely with faculty. Additionally, the University has been without a provost since last summer, when Nancy Can- tor assumed the chancellorship of the Universi- ty of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Students question absence of 'U' leaders, departures LAUREN BRAUN/daily Former Secretary of State James Baker gestures to a Hale Auditorium audience Friday during a conference focusing on ethics in business work. Baker G overmm-ent should not overreact to Enrnscandal By Louie Meizlish DailyStafReporter ng By Karen Schwartz Daily StaffReporter LSA junior Michael Patton won- ders why he learns about another member of the administration leaving every time he picks up a newspaper. "Every week I'm reading that someone eise left," he said. The departures of University Presi- dent Lee Bollinger, Provost Nancy Cantor, LSA Dean Shirley Neuman and six other high-ranking University officials have left many students ques- tioning who is running the University these days and the future direction of the University's leadership. The administrative exodus sur- prised Engineering freshman Ashley Kurz, who said she is confident the University will hire qualified replacements but also wondered what events transpired to lead to so many departures. "It kind of made me wonder why they're leaving - why everyone's leaving," she said. "And I wonder, if they were doing a good job here, why we couldn't get them to stay - to do whatever it takes to make them stay." Dana Glassel, Michigan Student Assembly vice president, said she rec- ognizes the losses but is trying to look past them to see the brighter side of the situation. "I think it's really unfortunate that so many of the administrators, espe- cially in the higher levels, are leaving because it's not consistent leadership. The visions that we have, it's hard to continue them when we have such abrupt changes," she said. Glassel added that she hopes the members of the new administration will be receptive and open to stu- dent concerns in addition to work- ing with MSA. "I'm hoping members of the new administration will be consistent in terms.of holding on to that vision, pursuing it and following it through in the years to come," she said. "We're looking for really accessible adminis- tration, those who really want to work with students." Other students said they were not as concerned with administrators leaving because they do not feel it directly affects them. "Other than Bollinger stepping down and (interim University Presi- dent B. Joseph) White taking his place, I haven't really been following. it," Engineering sophomore Andrew Strobe said. He added that as far as he knows these changes do not seem to have a large impact on his University expe- rience. "As far as what they do affects what I'm here for, maybe there'll be an extra program or a speaker but what they do just doesn't seem to have a big affect on me" Strobe said. "I'm not saying that it's unimportant, just that it doesn't affect me on a per- sonal level." LSA sophomore Kolby Wells said he does not really pay attention to administration news and did not even know that administrators were leaving. He said while some students con- sider it their responsibility to follow University news, his focus and responsibility is to go to class. "As long as there's someone in charge I think we'll be fine," he said. "And as long as I'll still be able to go to class I'll be happy." The Enron Corp. scandal and methods of preventing similar occurrences took center stage at Fri- day's business ethics conference with former Secretary of State James Baker at Hale Auditorium. Baker said the scandal should not be used as an excuse for overreaching government-initiated reforms that do more harm than good. "I urge you to consider whether you agree that the market is an ethi- cal system and that further reforms should be aimed in such a way as to strengthen that ethical system, not destroy it," he said. Baker, secretary of state and later- White House chief of staff under Bush, secretary of the treasury under President Ronald Reagan, and undersecretary of commerce under President Gerald Ford, addressed a packed Business School audience along with Business Prof. C.K. Pra- halad and Internet Access Technolo- gies, Inc. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Robert Knowling. "The proper response to Enron," Baker said, "is not to 'do some- thing' but, like the doctor, 'do no harm.'" Baker said he did not want the legislative response to Enron to be similar to Congress' response to the Watergate scandal in establishing the Independent Counsel Law, which provided for investigators independent of the Justice Depart- ment to look into allegations against executive branch officials. By being able to run seemingly unending investigations with unlimited budg- ets, he said, "these lone rangers were not accountable to the checks and balances of our system." Baker, a native of Houston who practiced law for 18 years before entering politics by helping Bush in an unsuccessful run for the U.S. Senate, said he had several friends at Enron and that "they didn't set out one morning with the intention of misleading anyone," but that their ne proper response to Enron is not to 'do something' but, like the doctor, 'do no harm." - James Baker Former Sec. of State decisions could not be justified, doing a "a lot of harm to a lot of innocent people." Nevertheless, Baker said, the guilty parties "would and should be punished." Baker and fellow panelists Knowling and Prahalad agreed the Enron scandal had an overly detri- mental effect on Americans' opin- ions of business leaders and that executives had a duty to always tell the truth. But Baker and'Prahalad disagreed somewhat as to the reme- dies. Prahalad, who is also the chair- man and founder of the San Diego- based technology firm PRAJA, Inc., said it would be better if the reforms were overreaching than if they did not go far enough. "Overcorrections are the result of not knowing what the correct bal- ance is," he said. "If you do not overcorrect, it's hard to know what the proper response is." Knowling, a Business alum, said "the duty of management ... is to create an environment of zero toler- ance," which may mean going pub- lic with bad news. First-year Business graduate stu- dent Sean Huston said he was impressed with what the panel had to say. "It gave a high-level view of ethics and the courage it takes to stick with ethics," Huston said. "Everyone I know in business has examples of ethical dilemmas." THE CALENDAR What's happening in Ann Arbor today EVENTS "Nazareth 2000"; Spon- sored by The Internation- al Institute, Discussion by Hany Abu-Assad, 8- Talk by Akbar Ahmed, Noon-2 p.m., 1636 SSWB, International Institute "Around the World in 191 Days"; Sponsored by Pierpont Commons the School of Music, 8 p.m., Hill Auditorium Student Composition Forum; Sponsored by the School of Music, 8 p.m., Britton Recital Hall, SERVICES Campus Information Centers, 764-INFO, info@umich.edu, or www.umich.edu/-info - S.A.F.E. Walk, 763-WALK, Call 24 hours a day, seven days a week for an -nn#a nv. .... nn.n.L- - - - f