Friday
February 7, 2003
A2002 The Michigan Daily
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Vol. CXIII, No. 90
One-hundred-twelve years ofeditorilfreedom
TODAY:
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Scarcity of
* jobs keeps
students in
classrooms
By Lydia K. Leung
Daily Staff Reporter
The job market is at a 20-year low,
according to recently released statistics
by the U.S. Labor Department. This
information, combined with the uncer-
tainty created by the possible war with
Iraq and the flagging economy, caused
engineering students from all disciplines
to form long lines at booths of different
companies at the Engineering Internship
Fair yesterday.
Down from 150 companies that par-
ticipated in the career fair held last Sep-
tember, only about 30 companies -
which included Shell, IBM, UBS War-
burg and many other firms from across
the nation - came to recruit University
students this semester.
The decline in companies' incentives
to hire new workers was illustrated by a
report conducted by Conference Board,
a research firm that said the number of
help-wanted advertisements in newspa-
pers in the United States hit an almost
40-year low in December. Students said
the wave of bad news concerning the job
market is forcing them to think up ways
to avoid entering the job hunt rat race.
"I think postponing graduation is a
good idea," Engineering senior Francine
Calderon said.
In anticipation of the gloomy econo-
my, many graduating seniors have opted
to value-add themselves by staying one
more year at school to pursue their mas-
ters degrees. "Last spring, we saw a lot
of panicked students. This year, I think
seniors are more prepared," said
Stephani Townsend, campus recruiting
representative of Lockheed Martin Corp.
"We've seen more seniors are looking
for internships because they are going to
grad school." But some companies, such
as Lockheed Martin Corp. - an
advance-technology company that sup-
See JOBS, Page 3
Prof diversity
facilitated by
'U' programs
By Tomlslav Ladika
Daily StaffReporter
Due to an initiative designed to
increase the number of minority profes-
sors, the University has become a leader
among national research colleges for the
diverse composition of its faculty,
according to statistics collected by the
Association of American Universities
Data Exchange.
The entire student body benefits from
such faculty diversity because minority
professors "bring their perspectives on
many different social and cultural
issues," said Lester Monts, senior vice
provost for academic and multicultural
affairs.
Faculty diversity exposes students to
minorities in positions of authority,
which "undermines stereotypes regard-
ing the intellectual authority of minori-
ties," political science Prof. Vincent
Hutchings said.
University departments fill their
vacancies by individually recruiting
faculty, but the Provost's Faculty Ini-
tiative Program provides them with
assistance and emergency funds for
the searching of and hiring minority
professors, Monts said.
A consolidation of past programs that
recruit faculty, PFIP assists departments
in hiring clusters of four to six minority
professors conducting research in simi-
lar fields, Monts said.
PFIP also provides departments that
wish to hire prominent professors but do
not have the budget space to do so with
emergency funds to pursue such faculty,
he added.
"PFIP allows us extreme flexibility to
compete on the highest level with peer
institutions," Monts said. "PFIP allows
us to strike very quickly."
University Academic Human
Resources also permits departments to
waive the regular hiring process if they
need to quickly pursue a minority pro-
fessor who has received several job
offers, Monts said.
But before departments can receive
such waivers, which Monts said "oper-
ate within legal guidelines," the profes-
sor's qualifications must be approved by
Human Resources.
PFIP and the University's overall
emphasis on hiring minority faculty
have helped the University develop a
diverse faculty body in relation to most
other major research universities, includ-
ing Harvard, University of Chicago and
University of California at Berkeley.
The percentage of minority faculty at
the University has also increased in each
of the past five years, from 15 percent in
1997 to 18 percent in 2001, according to
statistics from the Office of Budget and
Planning. Although the University has a
more diverse faculty than most research
schools, Hutchings said the University's
faculty composition still lags behind the
nation's minority percentage.
One possible reason for the problem
is that "when it goes down to the depart-
ment levels, very often it seems people
can't figure out how to identify (minori-
ty) faculty members," said Marita Ingle-
hart, chair of the Committee for a
See FACULTY, Page 3
ELISE BERGMAN/Daily
Bobby Seale, co-founder of the Black Panther Party and leading civil rights activist in the 1960s speaks to a crowd last night
at Eastern Michigan University.
Black Panther fiounder
recounts political ps
By Maria Sprow
Daily Staff Reporter
It was 1966 - one year after Mal-
colm X was shot to death and three
years after Martin Luther King Jr.,
shared his dreams with the world. It was
the height of the Civil Rights Move-
ment, and the time was right for Bobby
Seale, co-founder of the Black Panther
Seale, who traveled to Eastern Michi-
gan University yesterday to speak about
his experiences in the 1960s, said books
and movies based on the controversial
Black Panther Party - including the
1995 movie "Panther" - have often
depicted the organization as a militant
and unlawful hate group, obscuring the
truth about the Panther's philosophy,
purpose and structure.
"4'-11-.D + -
African-American history, catalyzed by
the African American Movement," Seale
said during his lecture, adding that the
BPP's true mission was to educate
blacks on their significance and cultural
importance in American history, as well
as on the struggles being faced by the
black community.
Seale said the BPP would never have
formed if not for the work of those
Party, to start his own
movement. The Black Panther Party is a piece of See SEALE, Page 2
Martin takes helm of
Olympic committee
By Megan Kolodgy
Daily Sports Writer
NICOLE TERWILLIGER/Daily
Former Center for Afroamerican and African Studies
department chair Harold Cruse spoke yesterday in Haven Hall.
Campus pays
tribute to civil
rights activist
By Ravi Perry
and Min Kyung Yoon
Daily Staff Reporters
Honoring Black History Month, the Center for Afroamer-
ican and African Studies held a special tribute for renowned
civil rights champion Harold Cruse yesterday by celebrating
the publication of his latest book.
Famous for his 1967 "Crisis of the Negro Intellectual"
Cruse has been a pioneer in black studies nationwide and an
active member of black social and political academic elite.
"Our goal is survival - survival for a place in whatever
the new order is going to be."
At the book signing reception held yesterday at CAAS,
Cruse, a professor emeritus at the University, emphasized the
need for progression in the African-American movement,
from substituting the 1960s protest style in favor of more effi-
cient organizational methods necessary for the 21st century.
"We will not escape with 20th century methods,"
Cruse said. He added that a majority of what the black
community knows will no longer be enough to survive
in the 21st century.
Michigan Athletic Director Bill Martin was
appointed interim president of the United
States Olympic Committee. Former USOC
President Marty Mankamyer turned in her let-
ter of resignation, which put the burden of cur-
ing the ailing committee on
Vice President Martin, who
was next in line for the
unenviable position.
After a few rocky years
marked by scandal and accu-
sations of unethical practices,
USOC can finally begin its
healing process.
But Martin said he will
serve as the temporary leader
of USOC. "This job was notM n
something that I was anticipating or desiring," Mar-
tin said. "I intend on acting as president only for a
short time."
One of Martin's primary duties in his new office
is dealing with congressional challenges to USOC's
structure. "Working with Congress will be an emo-
tional and trying process;' Martin said.
Martin has a difficult road ahead of him, but
despite the turmoil he will now be forced to deal
with, he said he will not compromise his loyalties
to Michigan. "U of M will always be my top priori-
ty," he said. One might think that juggling these two
weighty jobs would be impossible, but Martin said
he is up to the challenge. "It's going to keep me
hopping for a little bit," he said. "I am just going to
have to keep organized."
Martin also plans on heightening the involve-
ment of and giving additional responsibility to
other members of USOC. "I'm going to let others
help," he said. "That will be my leadership style."
Though he is only planning on acting as presi-
dent for a few months, Martin has high hopes for
getting USOC back on track. "Right now, we're
working on healing those hurt by all that's hap-
pened with the committee and getting the facilities.
ready for Athens 2004 in 14 months," he said. Mar-
tin also intends to restore the United States' faith in
the integrity of the Olympic Games.
"We want to worry about winning medals and
keeping them polished," he said. "People used to
consider the Olympics to be pure and good. We
want to get the games back to where they were."
Martin's involvement in USOC began in 1995,
when he served on its board of directors. This past
November, he was elected to the executive commit-
tee when Mankamyer stepped up to the presidential
spot. Mere months later, the committee, unsatisfied
with Mankamyer's work on the ethics investigation
of the USOC's chief executive, Lloyd Ward, called
for her resignation.
Economic problems combined with student loans have made It harder for students
to afford leisure items.
0W
Rsing student db
lea.ves many with
shaky credit future
By Layla J. Merritt
Daily StaffReporter
Kolb appointed to land use
commission by Granholm
By Andrew McCormack
Daily Staff Reporter
After running on a platform centered on environ-
mental issues, state Rep. Chris Kolb (D-Ann Arbor)
announced yesterday that he has been appointed to
Gov. Jennifer Granholm's bipartisan Land Use
Leadership Council.
"I'm excited. I'm looking forward to getting the
state to address this in a comprehensive manner,"
Kolb said. "We have not done a good job of
addressing (urban sprawl) in the past, and one of
the major reasons is we've not had an executive
whose made it one of their top priorities - and that
Kolb stressed the urgency of Michigan's urban
development problems, and how some people are
not really aware of the issue at hand.
"What we call 'urban sprawl' is the inefficient use
of land. ... Our rate of development is increasing
five times faster than the population," he said. "We
will use as much land to house the next one million
people in Michigan as the first nine million."
Sprawl has grave economic and environmental
ramifications for the state, he added. Overhead for
extending sewers, roads, schools, trash service and
water lines cost the state on average 40 percent
more than their tax revenues generate. He added
that in spite of the state budget's $1.7 billion deficit,
Engineering junior Charles Igwekala
has spent countless hours searching
websites and flipping through book
pages in what he said he feels is almost a
vain attempt to find scholarships.
"I don't doubt that"the scholarships
and grants are out there, but it's very
time-consuming to actually find the
scholarships that are beneficial;' he said:
Over the past two years, Igwekala has
successfully attained a few scholarships
of a few hundred dollars each, but the
money does not add up to the cost of
attending the University. As a result,
Igwekala estimated he has borrowed
more than $11,000 thus far in federal
loans - not including interest.
The University's tuition increased 7.9
percent this year, and the University esti-
mates the total cost of attending and liv-
year for Michigan residents and $32,553
for non-residents. As states reduce budg-
et allocations to public universities,
many schools are raising tuition at rates
exceeding inflation.
About half of all University students
receive some type of financial aid, said
Margaret Rodriguez, senior associate
director of the Office of Financial Aid.
The average debt upon graduation for
a University undergraduate student is
$19,000, she said, a figure that is slightly
higher than, but consistent with, national
averages. The University's rate of loan
default is exceptionally good - 2.3 per-
cent compared to about 6 percent
nationally - indicating that students are
finding employment after graduation,
Rodriguez said.
Sunita Sachdev, branch manager of
TCF bank in Ann Arbor, said she has
witnessed a 20 percent increase in stu-
dent debt over the past two years from
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