WAeatimer TODY Wednesday January 22, 2003 02003 The Michigan Daily Ann Arbor, Michigan Vol. CXIII, No. 78 One-hundred-twelve years of editoriadfreedom Skies cloudy throughout the day with winds expect- ed to stay strong until late 1ter- noon. LOW: Tomorrow: 1416: wwwmihigandaily.com M4Bush to stay ambiguous .... *-'- on admissions stance The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments April 1 for both lawsuits challenging University admissions policies By Jeremy Berkowitz and Tomislav Ladika Daily Staff Reporters ence and th April 1. Twice, B "define the by deciding the race ofa "There a to achieve race-neutra Less than a week after declaring the Univer- have put it sity's admissions policies "fundamentally and that w flawed" and filing a brief with the U.S. outer limits Supreme Court arguing against the policies, As gover President Bush yesterday declined to take a of Texas's more general stance on the use of race as a col- was struck4 lege admissions factor at a press conference, of Appeals. Hours after Bush's comments, the Supreme anteeing ad Court announced oral arguments for both law- dents in tf suits against the University, which challenge school's gr the race-conscious admission policies of the On natio Law School and College of Literature, Sci- the Unive Unprepared students get extra help In summer By Tomislav Ladika Daily Staff Reporter he Arts, will be heard back-to-back 3ush said the Supreme Court must outer limits of the Constitution" g whether universities can consider an applicant. are clearly unconstitutional means diversity," Bush said. "There are 1 ways to achieve diversity, which I n place as the governor of Texas, ill lead the courts to define the of the Constitution." ror, Bush opposed the University use of race in admissions, which down by the U.S. 5th Circuit Court . Instead, he supported a law guar- mission to a state university to stu- :he top 10 percent of each high aduating class. nal television last week, Bush said rsity's admissions policies are unconstitutional because they rely on racial quotas to promote diversity. But this weekend, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice said admissions criteria should be able to include race as a factor, and Secretary of State Colin Powell said he supports the University's policies. University spokeswoman Julie Peterson said she is not surprised by Bush's most recent comments because the brief he filed with the Supreme Court is unclear. Peterson said she interpreted Bush's argument as a claim that any admissions policy considering race is unconstitutional, without openly opposing the Court's last ruling on race-con- scious college admissions policies - the 1978 University of California Board of Regents v. Bakke decision. The Bakke ruling banned racial quotas but permitted the use of race as an admissions factor. See BUSH, Page 7 LSA senior Vanessa Furtado sits on her porch. The porch collapsed more than four months ago, breaking her leg and sending her to physical therapy. Housing conditions hospitaize tnant: By Layla J. Merritt For the Daily Celebrating a football victory against Penn State last season, LSA senior Vanessa Furtado and eight of her friends assembled on her porch to take a picture. But before the picture was taken, the porch collapsed, causing Furtado and her companions to fall six feet into a pit of black dust. "We were all stunned," Furtado said. "It just sank out from underneath us. It looked like a bomb hit." An old black sofa on the porch also fell into the pit, landing on Furtado's leg and breaking her knee. The injury prevented her from walking or running for three months. Furtado, who wore an immobilizing hip-to- ankle cast and underwent eight weeks of intensive physical therapy to repair her knee, said she was disappointed by her landlord's response to the sit- uation. Oppenheimer Properties, the contract manager for the house, addressed the incident by calling to express their sympathies and sending a card and gift certificate to Cottage Inn to the housemates, but denied responsibility for the accident, Furtado said. "They said it was a freak accident and they felt really bad about it, but there was nothing they could do about it. They said it was the city of Ann Arbor's fault because the city said the house was up to code," Furtado said. When Furtado and her roommates inspect- ed the house last year, they noticed problems with the structure of the concrete porch, which was uneven because of a crapk running the length of the porch, Furtado said. Her roommate, LSA senior Andrea Grady, remembered discussing the condition of the See HOUSING, Page 7 Critics of the University's race-conscious admissions poli- cies say some minorities are accepted fromurban high schools that do not adequately prepare them for the University's aca- demic programs. But classes offered by the Comprehensive Studies Program help such students catch up to classmates from more rigorous high schools. For 27 years, CSP has sponsored Summer Bridge classes tailored primarily for minority students in the College of Liter- ature, Science and the Arts. Many Summer Bridge participants were significantly aided by the college's consideration of race in admissions, CSP Director William Collins said. Some of these students "may have an uneven academic background" compared to other admitted students, he said. Students attend classes during the summer before their freshman year, taking courses in English and mathematics, as well as a seminar designed to help them adjust to the Universi- ty's academic and social environment, Collins said. "We certainly give students a good foundation," he said. "Students have an excellent springboard into the University." Collins said students who completed the Summer Bridge classes generally felt the program "made them more confident about meeting the academic demands" of the University. Most of the students who complete the program are successful in their freshman year and go on to graduate, he added. Yet the program also upholds the University's aca- demic reputation by ensuring that students who cannot handle the University's academic rigors disenroll. Collins said if a student fails one of the Summer Bridge courses, "then we have a chat with them and tell them they should go to school somewhere else." Although many Summer Bridge students received a sig- See CSP, Page 7 about the IsraelI-alestinlan conflict last night in the Michigan Union. debate provokes heated discussion By Rahwa Ghebre-Ab Daily Staff Reporter Chants, jeers and cheers filled the Michigan Union Ballroom during an Arab-Israeli public forum and debate featuring speakers Ali Abunimah, vice president of the Arab-American Action Network, and Morton Klein, national president of the Zionist Organization of America. The two men focused much of the discussion on debating the merits of establishing a Palestinian state. "The best way to stop terrorism is to undermine the regimes that promote ter- ror," Klein said. "There are 22 Arab countries and only one Jewish state. Let them have that," Klein said. "It's the Arabs that went to war against Israel. Do we need another Arab state?" Klein added the best way to resolve conflict between the two sides is by first stopping terrorism. Abunimah spoke in response to Klein's statements, clarifying his' position. Klein "is basically advocating ethnic cleansing," Abunimah said. "He is say- ing, 'Why don't Palestinians go to one of the 22 other Arab countries."' Abunimah said Klein used faulty rea- soning, assigning total blame to one group and innocence to the other. He See DEBATE, Page 7 Pre1sdent's approval at post-Sept. 11 low Bundled up By Kyle Brouwer Daily Staff Reporter Continuing a slow but steady decline since the beginning of the "war on ter- ror," President Bush's approval ratings have nearly fallen to the level they were prior to Sept. 11. A poll by the Gallup Organization on Jan. 12 placed Bush's ratings at 58 percent, their lowest point since Sep- tember 2001, when the ratings sky- rocketed up to 90 percent. However, Bush's approval ratings still have not dropped to the level they were before the Sept. 11 attack, 54 percent. Prof. John Brehm of the University of Chicago political science depart- ment said there are some obvious explanations for Bush's low approval ratings prior to the attack. "The economy was in tough shape, the tax cut was widely seen as benefit- ing a very small group at the expense of a balanced budget, and he had a slew of unpopular people in powerful positions around him," Brehm said. But, Bush's approval rating skyrock- eted after Sept. 11 most likely because of his quick and effective response, Brehm said. "Bush was a very visible and effec- tive leader. The attack on the Taliban was swift and their collapse even more so," Brehm said. A graph of Bush's approval ratings throughout his term shows that, after the initial spike to 90 percent, his approval ratings have shown a steady drop. The most probable reason for this, Brehm said, is that none of the factors existing before Sept. 11 have really changed. "My read is that Bush gained signif- icant support solely for his response to Sept. 11, but hasn't done anything to win widespread approval since, and this slide is inevitable," he said. The American public, showing a steady decline in support for their leader, have a number of concerns for the present state and future of their country, said University political sci- ence Prof. Paul Huth. Huth said the falling approval rat- ings might be caused by "continuing doubts of the Bush administration's See APPROVAL, Page 7 Coleman to receive March inauguration By Dan Trudeau Daily Staff Reporter Nearly seven months after she took the office as leader of the University, President Mary Sue Coleman will be inaugurated March 27th, the Universi- ty announced this week. Coleman, the former president of the University of Iowa, has served as president since Aug. 1. She replaced Lee Bollinger, who left the University in January of 2002 to become presi- dent of Columbia University. University of Michigan officials noted that while the delay has been lengthy, it is customary for a new pres- ident to have a period of acclamation before her official initiation. "This is not unusual. Typically the president has a lot to learn and the inauguration is her way of looking at her vision for the University," Cha- cona Johnson said, inauguration chair- woman. The inaugura- tion will take place at Crisler Arena at 10 a.m. and will seek to bring the entire campus communi- ty together to hear Coleman's ideas for the future of Coleman the University, said Nancy Connell, director of the University's news and information department. "Inauguration often offers an oppor- tunity for a university to articulate its See COLEMAN, Page 7 Freshman Jessica Moorman walks down South University Avenue as temperatures dropped into single digits yesterday.