LOCAL/STATE The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, April 17, 2002 - 3 HIGHER ED Students suffer sleep deprivation LEXINGTON, Ky. - After a long night of studying, University of Ken- tucky architecture senior Stephanie King found herself facing something that seemed more terrifying than any textbook. "I thought a fire hydrant was a man chasing me," she said. King had just suffered a hallucination brought about by severe sleep deprivation. Fred Danner, a professor in the Department of Educational and Coun- seling Psychology at Kentucky said that most college students are chronically sleep-deprived, and this can have a num- ber of negative effects. "Sleep debt can lead to illness, accidents, poor academic performance and depression' he said. David Gooding, a Kentucky Univer- sity senior, has often gone for days without sleep while working on proj- ects. He said the third day is the hardest. "Sometimes I can see a trail after my hand if I put it in front of my face and nove it side to side," Gooding said. Even people who don't pull all- nighters on a regular basis still can expe- rience sleep debt if they don't get enough sleep on a nightly basis. Danner explained that sleep debt builds up over time. For instance, if a person gets 1.5 hours less sleep per night than they need for a period of five days, then their sleep debt is 7.5 hours. Danner said regulating one's sleep schedule is the single best thing a student can do to avoid the nega- tive effects of sleep deprivation. Reforms greatly affect Greeks on Duke campus DURHAM, N.C. - In a year that saw the loss of one Duke University fraternity, harsh judicial punishments, a shift of social life off campus and a brand new residential plan that has shaken up housing, a wave of anti- administration Greek sentiment has surfaced across the Duke campus. Whether that criticism is legitimate or not is up for debate. "I've been in the business for 30 years, and if you go back over 30 years, you find the same concerns. Social life is dynamic and no one model has been the same, said Larry Moneta, vice pres- ident for student affairs at Duke. "You're going to see changes every year forever. That's the fallacy that we're dealing with. Life is evolving. We're about con- stant improvement." But many Greek leaders said they have a different view of "constant improvement." Duke junior Kate Hackett, president of Kappa Alpha Theta sorority, lamented what she called a dramatic decline in the quali- ty and quantity of social events in the past few years. "I believe the worst is yet to come," she said. "With all of this energy and focus being on the annual review - trying not to be put on probation - there's more of an emphasis just to stay out of trouble, rather than to do things better." The annual review process, which requires selective living groups to prove their contributions to the community are valuable, is targeted frequently by stu- dents as a means of university control over individual Greek groups. The pres- sure on fraternities at Duke to monitor each action, Greek leaders said, is becoming overwhelming. U. Oregon law students petition against mascots EUGENE, Ore. - University of Ore- gon law school students are gaining sup- port to keep the school's Athletic Department from scheduling games and events with schools using American Indi- an images or names as team mascots. Within the next two weeks the law school plans formally to propose a resolution, sponsored by the school's Sports and Entertainment Law Forum, to the administration and the Athletic Department. In order to sub- mit the complete resolution, support- ers must gather signatures from at least 50 percent of the law school student body. - Compiled from U-WIRE reports by Daily Staff Reporter Maria Sprow Regents face pressing issues this summer By Shannon Pettypiece Daily Staff Reporter Within the next few weeks, many students will be putting the University in the back of their minds, but work will go on for the University Board of Regents. The regents plan to vote on many important issues during the hot summer months. The regents are expected to approve the appointment of a new president and possibly fill other interim administrative positions by late summer. In addition, a ruling by the 6th Circuit Court on the admissions lawsuits could be announced over the summer. Depending on the results, the regents may have to finalize their plans to appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. At tomorrow's meeting, the board is expected to approve University housing rates for the next academic year, which will increase by 4.9 percent for room and board in a residence hall and 4 per- cent for Family Housing. The factors considered when assessing the increase were cost of operations, data network services and capital renewal projects. With the cost increase a double room with board will cost $6,366 for the 2002-2003 aca- demic year. The regents will also review several construc- tion plans on campus, including the design for the Undergraduate Science Instruction Center, which is estimated to cost $56 million. At the request of the regents, there will be an update on the financial situation of the Univer- sity Health System, which has been struggling to make a profit during difficult economic times. Vice President for Medical Affairs Gil Omenn said in a written statement that there will also be updates at the May and June regents meetings. The information submitted for this month's report shows that the University hospital is ranked No. 7 by U.S. News & World Report. Johns Hopkins was ranked No. 1 and the Mayo Clinic ranked No. 2. After numerous requests from University stu- dents during the public comments section of pre- vious meeting, the regents are also planning on revising the residency classifications guidelines to make them more understandable and fair for students. Beautiful day Dingell asks Rivers to end 0 " pessimist By Louie Meizlish Daily Staff Reporter With their expected primary fewer than four months away, the race between incumbent Reps. John Din- gell and Lynn Rivers for the Democ- ratic nomination in Michigan's 15th Congressional District is quickly heating up. Dear- born's Dingell called on Rivers '; (D-Ann Arbor) yesterday to put an end to negative campaigning in the two incum- bents' battle to ,-' keep their own Dingell jobs. Dingell said the two candidates should agree to make several joint e appearances in front of voters before the Aug. 6 k primary and that the candidates and their support- ers abstain from Riv mentioning their opponent by name - focusing sole- ly on their own record. "I've been running for Congress for a few years and I don't want to run in a way that demeans me, my office or my friends," Dingell 75, a 24-term incumbent and the House's longest-serving member, said. The two incumbents, who current- ly represent separate congressional 1C campaigning districts, saw their districts com- Sierra Club's endorsement. bined last year when the Republican- "I would say the people of the controlled state Legislature and GOP 15th district have a choice between Gov. John Engler redrew the state's someone lukewarm on the environ- congressional districts. The state ment and someone rock solid on the Democratic Party is challenging the environment," said Dan Farough, the new district lines in federal court, Michigan Sierra Club's political but redistricting challenges in court director. usually do not prevail. Farough criticized Dingell for vot- Dingell campaign manager Lon ing for the 1990 Clean Air Act only Johnson said the veteran congress- because he feared an electoral back- man asked Rivers, a four-term lash, and accused him of stalling it incumbent, to follow the same cam- as chairman of the House Energy paign guidelines she offered to her and Commerce Committee. Dingell Republican opponent in 1996, Joe countered that garnering support for Fitzsimmons, who declined the offer. the bill was difficult but that he was The mutual agreement to abstain instrumental in passing it. from negative campaigning is a rela- "It took us 13 years to produce the tively new tactic in election. cam- bill, but I got it passed in the House paigns. after only 13 hours - 428 to 6," "We are specifically asking the Dingell said. Rivers campaign to agree to what Dingell's strongest support comes they thought was a good idea in from labor with backing from the 1996 - that each candidate talk Michigan AFL-CIO and Teamsters about what they've done and what in addition to several other unions they're going to do for the 15th dis- and police and firefighters' organi- trict - and in addition to that, zations. instruct their allies to do the same," Rivers' main backing comes from Johnson said. social interest groups, such as The Rivers campaign did not Planned Parenthood, the Brady Cam- return phone calls yesterday seeking paign to Prevent Gun Violence and comment and Johnson said he had the Human Rights campaign. received no answer to the proposal LSA senior Eric Feldman, former from Rivers. chair of the University's chapter of The winner of the Dingell-Rivers College Democrats, said the nation's match-up will likely face Dearborn arguably most watched congression- resident Martin Kaltenbach, who is al primary will not just be a test of expected to be unopposed in his how well Dingell and Rivers cam- quest for the GOP nod. paign. SIERRA CLUB ENDORSES RIVERs "We'll see if the party is more The Rivers campaign received a motivated by candidates who run on significant boost yesterday with the socially liberal issues or economi- addition of the environment-oriented cally liberal issues,"he said. EMMA FOSDICK/Daiy Books and bodies lie scattered across the grass near the Diag yesterday as students take advantage of the toasty temperatures. MSU follows GEO lead In negotiations By Jordan Schrader Daily Staff Reporter While the Graduate Employees Organization and the University battled over the terms of GEO's contract this year, a similar conflict was taking place between graduate students and administrators in East Lansing. Although successful negotiations lifted the threat of a prolonged graduate student strike here, a walkout remains a possibility at Michigan State University. The major difference between GEO's fight and that of the Gradu- ate Employees Union at Michigan State is that while the former has worked under a contract for 27 years, GEU is negotiating the terms of its first contract. The union formed in May 2001 and began bar- gaining with Michigan State's administration in October. Six months later, many points of conflict remain unresolved - issues such as health care and salary, which GEU officials said have not yet been discussed in bar- gaining. The union planned a walkout for Monday, approved by 89 percent of GEU members. But organizers decided to cancel the work stoppage after making promising advances with the administration's bargaining team. Bargainers set a target date of Apri 22 to reach a tentative agree- ment. GEU President Jessica Good- kind said she still hopes issues will be resolved by that date, but is pre- pared to hold a walkout if members are not satisfied with the progress of negotiations. If bargaining is unsuccessful and members approve a strike, it could coincide with Michigan State's upcoming final exams. Goodkind attributed the length of the negotiations partly to the need to create an infrastructure for the contract before moving on to address issues such as pay and ben- efits, which took center stage in GEO negotiations throughout the year. "So much of the contract is just those basic things that once they're in your contract, you just take for granted," she said. GEU has benefited from GEO's example, Goodkind said, adding that the higher salary and greater benefits enjoyed by graduate stu- dents at the University of Michigan gives GEU a standard to strive for. She said one reason she became active in unionization is that she saw her sister, a graduate student at the University of Michigan, receive greater pay and health care for a similar job. "I think we can see from looking at the example of (the University of Michigan) or Wayne State (Univer- sity) that having a union really ben- efits teaching assistants," she said. GEO sent representatives to speak to members of the developing union, describing their experience and techniques used against them by the administration. "In terms of morale for the union it's been great for them to see that we won and how we won," Rack- ham student and GEO organizer Pavitra Sundar said. Sundar traveled to East Lansing last month to speak with GEU members. Administrators at both schools have purposely stalled negotiations with the goal of avoiding a strike during the school year, she said. Sundar added that GEU should walk out during exams if members deem it necessary. "They need to do what they need to do to get a contract," she said. Michigan State spokesman J.T. Forbes declined to comment on the bargaining process. Correction: The Touchtone counseling program for victims of sexual assault is sponsored by the Sexual Assault Crisis Center of Washtenaw County. This information was incorrectly reported in Monday's Daily.