r 9 ff Frday February 4, 2003 @2003 The Michigan Daily Ann Arbor, Michigan Vol. CXIII, No. 95 One-hundred-twelve years ofeditoralfreedom Mostly cloudy with light winds and snow showers in the evening. LOW: 1 6 Tomorrow: 21111 www.mkchigandailycom mmffim l III Bill III Iloilo 1111111 11111IMMINIIII - -- ---------------- MMMMMEM ON= I WINWORMSENIMMORMW NCAA council may consider future sanctions ELISE BERGMAN/Daily LEFT: Philosophy Prof. Carl Cohen, who has been a faculty member since 1955, watches Jonathan Alger, University assistant general counsel, defend affirmative action in the Law School's Hutchins Hall yesterday. Cohen presented the opposing view. Pros educate cam s on race is'sues By James Whst For the Daily placed hea ages and t In an effort to educate the University com- factors into munity on affirmative action, students attended RC Phil "Outlook on Affirmative Action," an event tant Profes sponsored by the Michigan Student Assembly Law Phili and LSA Student Government yesterday after- policies of noon. The event featured opposing perspectives schools w on the legality of affirmative action and race- interim D based admissions in higher education. Assistant Undergraduate Admissions Director Ted defended t Spencer and Law School Admissions Assistant Cohen Director Sarah Zearfoss summarized their wrong be respective policies. Both admissions policies "When dis Gov. estimates More cuts for * higher ed. By Dan Trudeau Daily Staff Reporter vy importance on grade point aver- est scores while taking many other oaccount. osophy Prof. Carl Cohen and Assis- ssor of Law at Ave Maria School of p Pucillo argued the admissions f LSA Undergraduate and the Law ere unconstitutional. Former LSA ean Patricia Gurin and University General Counsel Jonathan Alger he admissions policies. said the University's policies are cause they discriminated by race. crimination is exercised by the state, it's egregiously wrong," Cohen said. Pucillo presented a summary of the Regents of the University of California v. Bakke case. In 1978, the Bakke case declared quotas in admis- sion policies illegal and unconstitutional, but race can be used as a factor. Pucillo said the Law School's policies hide quotas through their admission standards. "Spaces were reserved or protected for certain students," he said. He added the majority of the U.S. Supreme Court justices had not declared diversity to be reason for discrimination. "Diversity has not been rec- ognized by the majority of the Supreme Court See DEBATE, Page 7 'U' representatives will meet with NCAA to discuss repercussions Ed Martin scandal By Seth Klempner Daily Sports Writer The Ed Martin scandal, which started seven years ago to the week, is inching toward its deathbed. But it will be at least six to eight weeks before it finally breathes its last. An eight-member team representing Michigan. headed down to the Hyatt Regency hotel in Coral Gables, Fla. to meet before the NCAA's Committee on Infractions yesterday. The group will be there to answer questions regarding $616,000 in "extra benefit" payments made to four former Michi- gan players by Martin, a for- mer basketball booster for the Wolverines. Ed Martin The meeting starts this morning and is expect- ed to last most of the day. Similar meetings have been known to last more than 10 hours, with detailed questions being directed toward the Michigan team and NCAA investigators. The wheels were set in motion to bring this meeting about on the morning of Nov. 7, when Michigan released its response to the NCAA's letter of inquiry and levied self- imposed sanctions on its basketball program. Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman called it "a day of great shame." The sanctions included a one-year postseason ban, two years of probation and the removal of championship banners from Crisler Arena. Michigan also returned approximately $450,000 that it received from postseason play during the time of the alleged payments. Head coach Tommy Amaker said he hoped the NCAA won't deliver further penalties. "We wouldn't have done them if we didn't think it was right," he said. "We feel we have done what is right, and that is what we are always going to do and that is what we are going to say." Steve Fisher and Brian Ellerbe both served terms as head coach during the time that the NCAA infractions occurred. The NCAA's Committee on Infractions can choose to deliver further sanctions on the basket- ball program or simply accept the University's self-imposed penalties. The University expects to receive a response from the NCAA within six to eight weeks of tomorrow's hearing. "I was expecting to deal with this issue the very first week I came on the job, and three years later we are finally just about on the goalline," Michigan Athletic Director Bill Martin said. "That is why I am looking at (today) with such great anticipation. We can't wait to put this behind us. It is up to our peers to judge us now." The NCAA Committee is composed of 10 peo- ple, and is chaired by Tom Yeager, commissioner of the Colonial Athletic Association. Seven of the members are from NCAA member institutions and three are from the general public. Making the trip down to represent Michigan will be Coleman, Amaker, Bill Martin, University General Counsel Marvin Krislov, director of NCAA compliance Judie Van Horn, faculty rep- resentative Percy Bates, Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany and NCAA infractions expert, Mike Glazier of the Kansas City law firm of Bond, Schoeneck and King. "I think it is important that President Coleman set the bar with respect to how important compli- ance with respect to NCAA rules are to Michi- gan," Martin said. "She will set the tone for our overall presentation. She is a very experienced, and an incredible leader at a major institution, so she adds tremendous credibility." Glazier has been helping Michigan investigate the scandal from the very beginning. According to Michigan spokesman Bruce Madej, Glazier will be the primary respondent to questions See MARTIN, Page 7 He loves me, he loves me not Group files suit against Bush protesting war JACKSON - "Nearly 20 percent of the services we pro- vide with the state general fund, we cannot afford. ... We've got to cut spending," Gov. Jennifer Granholm said yesterday at a roundtable meeting at Jackson High School. The meeting brought the Jackson area's business, legislative f and community leaders together in a public forum to discuss the potential impact of imminent cuts in funding for a wide variety of state programs, including higher education. The governor estimated that funding for higher education and public universities, which makes up 26 percent of the $8 billion general fund, will suffer from a 3.5 percent cut this year. These numbers are up from a 2 percent cut that was proposed by former Gov. John Engler in December. The governor said that while education remains one of her top priorities, she believes the majority of people in Michigan would place K-12 education ahead of higher education. She also suggested that universities would have to be resourceful in finding other means of funding. See GRANHOLM, Page 2 Research su rates college; ' percent plans' By Mada Sprow Daily Staff Reporter Despite President Bush's announcement last month hailing the percent plans used in Florida, Texas and California state universities as successful race-neutral approaches to ensuring diversity in higher education, university officials in those states say the plans were never meant to fully take the place of affir- * mative action. A Harvard University study released last week sought to discover how successful percent plans have been, as well as the reasons why they do or do not work. The study corresponded with the opinions of many university officials whose states have the plans by concluding percent plans are not an effective replacement for affirmative action. The "Percent Plans in College Admissions: A Comparative Analysis of Three State's Experiences" study, completed by the Civil Rights Project at Harvard, concludes that "although these plans have been presented as effective alternatives to race-con- scious affirmative action ... it is incorrect to attribute any sig- nificant increase in campus diversity to a percent plan alone." "The percent plan was designed as a substitute after we could not use affirmative action, but it is not the same as affir- ca AflRiweinfiuc Pns 7 By Andrew McCormack Daily Staff Reporter U.S. Rep. John Conyers (D-Detroit) and five other members of Congress joined a small group of soldiers and some soldiers' parents in litigation yes- terday against President Bush and Defense Secre- tary Donald Rumsfeld. The lawsuit hopes to restrict the president from initiating military action in Iraq without a declaration of war from Congress. "We can claim that on October 14 Congress gave the president the power to do what he wanted in the Mideast," Conyers said. "The lawsuit argues that that resolution didn't give the president power to declare war on Iraq." A major point of the lawsuit states that Con- gress' prerogative to declare war was given by the. Constitution and thus cannot be taken or given away, even by a Congressional resolution like the one made last October. But some legislators find this reasoning shaky, claiming that precedent makes this interpretation of the Constitution obsolete. "Congress, with an over- whelming majority ... has given (many) presidents the ability to wage war without a declaration from Congress," said Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Holland), adding Congress has not made a formal declaration of war since World War II. But Conyers claims there is no precedent for this sort of action. "(A declaration of war) isn't required anymore? Wrong," he said. "We have to look at each situation individually.... Korea was a U.N. action, Vietnam was a police action and (a special Congressional resolution) got us through the Gulf War." Conyers said many citizens are grateful for this lawsuit. "I've got thousands of people calling me from all over the country, thanking me that the Constitution means what it says and no one can change that, not even King George." But Hoekstra said Conyers' action is prema- ture. "We're predicting what the president may do with incomplete information. ... The president has decided that going to war is not an appropriate use of force today, but that may all change in the next two to four weeks," he said. "When we get all the information, we will have some better indication as to what an appropriate use of force is." Legal experts said litigations like this have a his- tory of failure. "We had this in the Vietnam War," said Universi- ty of California at Berkeley constitutional law Prof. Jesse Choper. "The complainant lost (and) the courts refused to grant what they wanted - injunc- tions or declaratory judgments.... The bottom line is that, although you may find an occasional federal district judge that will occasionally go along, it doesn't last - the courts won't touch it." "This is a political question, not a judicial one;' he added. Other experts, like Georgetown University Constitutional Law Prof. Susan Bloch said his actions are most likely not motivated by a hope of winning this case. "There's a lot of hurdles and I think he knows that," she said. "It's a way of his group showing their disap- proval of Bush's actions" "I doubt he thinks he will win" she added. But some students like LSA junior Megan Stevenson said she applauds Conyers for making the lawsuit. "Having people present opposing view- points is healthy," she said. NIGOLE I EWILLIGER/Jaily Engineering sophomore Laura Gadzala strips a rose of its thorn at Normandie Flowers on South University Avenue yesterday. GEO to picket, support 'U' librarians' cause By Tomislav Ladika Daily Staff Reporter Lack of commitment by the University to training employ- ees of the Residence Hall Libraries coupled with a disregard for sexual harassment claims may lead to another labor strike this spring, according to Graduate Employees Organization members. The librarians have not yet decided whether they will organ- ize a strike, but GEO is planning to picket from March 21 to care complaints, GEO President Dan Shoup said after the organization's meeting last night. Rackham student Alyssa Picard, GEO's chief negotiator last year and a current advisor to RHL, said the librarians are seek- ing a written commitment from the University providing them with training on how to run libraries. "They did not have a contract before, and the University did not do any training," she said. "They really want to be well- trained, and the University has told them it doesn't want to be constrained by contract language that requires the University to nroviide training." RHL members are permitted to strike because they are not contracted employees. Librarians have also been subjected to "situations that meet the legal definition of sexual harassment," Picard said. East Quad Residence Hall librarians were instructed to play an ice breaker called "Ride the Pony," she said, where librarians walk around a circle of seated librarians and rub their pelvises against them. But when one female librarian complained to her supervisor that she felt harassed, the supervisor See GEO. Page 3 L 1