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Thursday
©2003 The Michigan Daily
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Vol. CXIII, No. 109
.... .......
TODAY:
One-hundred-twelve years of editorialfreedom
Snow will'
fall in the
morning,
with partly
cloudy skies
by nightfall.
36
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Tomorrow.
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UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The United
States claimed progress yesterday in its campaign
for a March 17 ultimatum threatening war against
Iraq, but refused to rule out delaying or abandon-
ing a Security Council vote if necessary.
The different options reflected the turmoil in
negotiations on a new Iraq resolution. After
weeks of talks, the Bush administration and co-
sponsors Britain and Spain were still searching
for a winning formula.
Britain, a key ally, proposed a "to-do" list for
Saddam Hussein - six steps to avert war includ-
ing a television appearance renouncing weapons
of mass destruction - in hopes of gaining votes
for the resolution, which faces the threat of
French and Russian vetoes.
During a tense three-hour meeting of the bitterly
divided council, Britain went even further, offering
to abandon the March 17 ultimatum if members
approved its list of disarmament tests for Saddam.
The resolution would then implicitly threaten Iraq
with "serious consequences" if it failed to comply.
"This is a trial balloon, if you like, to see whether
this is a way out of our current difficulties ... to see
if we can keep the council together," said Britain's
U.N. Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock.
Britain is desperate to get U.N. approval for
See IRAQ, Page 3A
'U' profs sign letter in
national anti-war ush
LEFT: RYAN WEINER, RIGHT: DAVID KATZ/Daily
While members of Young Americans for Freedom rallied yesterday near the Diag in support of military action in Iraq, Anti-War Action! silently protested the
war nearby. For some, like Vietnam War veteran John Kinzinger (right), the protest sent a message to students like LSA sophomore Elizabeth Ayer (left).
Rally supporting military action
in Iraq attracts diverse crowd
By Jeremy Berkowitz
Daily Staff Reporter
Concerned about a war they say could alienate
the U.S. government from its citizens as well as the
rest of the world, and emphasizing the need to learn
from our past through art and literature, five Uni-
versity professors recently signed a letter to Presi-
dent Bush, asking him not to wage war against Iraq.
Along with 110 other current and former Nation-
al Humanities Center Fellows, English Profs.
Martha Vicinus, David Halperin, John Kucich and
David Porter and Asian languages and culture Prof.
Lydia Liu expressed sentiments about the brutality
Serbian pri
of war.
The National Humanities Center is an independ-
ent institute consisting of scholars who pursue
advanced study in humanities.
"We work in a variety of disciplines dedicated to
understanding the history of human thought and
achievement and its lessons for the present day," the
fellows wrote. "We are united in our belief that
your administration's plans for war against Iraq are
misguided, dangerous and morally wrong."
The fellows noted that a war in Iraq would result
in thousands of deaths and the fragmentation of
solid alliances that have existed since World War II.
See LETTER, Page 7A
mne minister
By Emily Kraack
Daily Staff Reporter
people, most of
the "Liberate
against Iraq.
Local supporters of military action Eggers said
against Iraq have spoken, and their message people in Amer
is clear - Saddam must go, and it's Ameri- While organi2
ca's job to clear him out. burn French an,
Young Americans for Freedom rallied how upset we
under the Diag flagpole yesterday to add their freedom and de
voices to the rising global controversy over Eggers said frie
war in Iraq. YAF National Director Karl ing the flags.
Eggers, the rally organizer, estimated that 40 which is also sy
Socioecono-mic
f them YAF members, attended
Iraq" rally to support war
the rally showed that young
ica do support the president.
iers had originally intended to
a U.N. flags to "demonstrate
are with their obstruction to
emocracy in the Middle East,"
nds advised him against burn-
"We did walk across them,
mbolic," he said.
factorsin..
The rally drew war supporters from across
the state as well as students. Ann Arbor resi-
dent John Kinzinger, a veteran of the Vietnam
War and member of many Washtenaw County
veterans' organizations, said he came to sup-
port students at the rally.
He said he hoped to remind anti-war
activists that a war would liberate Iraqi citi-
zens, especially women.
"The dictatorship will rape someone's wife
just to get them to talk," Kinzinger said. "Pro-
See RALLY, Page 7A
used in'U
assassinated by snipers
admissions gamer strong support
By Tomislav Ladika
Daily Staff Reporter
While supporters and opponents of race-con-
scious admissions policies clash over whether
minority applicants should receive 20 bonus
points under the LSA admissions policy, some
students on both sides of the debate say LSA is
justified in granting the same amount of points
to socioeconomically disadvantaged applicants.
One of the two lawsuits set to be heard April
1 by the U.S. Supreme Court challenges LSA's
policy of giving black, Hispanic and Native
Victims
remembered
in 24-hour
ceremony
By Maria Sprow
Daily Staff Reporter
American applicants 20 points. But prospective
students whom the Uni-
versity determines to be SSIONS
from a socioeconomical-+
ly disadvantaged back-&
ground will also receive
20 points.{
That background can{
include working through
high school to support a
family, suffering child
abuse, being orphaned and attending high
schools in poor communities.
University spokeswoman Julie Peterson said
such students receive points because, like
minorities, their perspectives contribute to,
diversifying the student body and eliminating
stereotypes.
She added that overcoming great obstacles is'
a sign of the type of motivation needed to suc-
ceed at the University.
Michigan Student Assembly Communica-
tions Chair Pete Woiwode, a member of Stu-
dents Supporting Affirmative Action, said the
plus factor is needed to level the playing field
See ADMISSIONS, Page 5A
BELGRADE, Serbia-Montenegro (AP) -
Snipers assassinated Serbia's prime minister as he
walked into government headquarters at midday
yesterday, silencing a pro-Western leader who
helped topple Slobodan Milosevic and declared
war on organized crime.
The slaying of Zoran Djindjic in downtown
Belgrade prompted the government to impose a
nationwide state of emergency amid fears the
Balkan nation could plunge into a violent power
struggle. The Cabinet declared three days of
mourning.
It was the first assassination of a European
head of government since Swedish Prime Minis-
ter Olof Palme was gunned down in Stockholm in
1986.
Djindjic, 50, died in a hospital after being shot
in the abdomen and back, said Nebojsa Covic, a
deputy prime minister. One of Djindjic's body-
guards was wounded, police sources said.
Police sources told The Associated Press two
snipers firing from a building across from gov-
ernment headquarters shot Djindjic as he slowly
left his car on crutches after suffering a soccer
injury to his foot. A high-powered bullet left a
dent on Djindjic's armored car.
Two suspects were arrested, witnesses said. But
police, unsure they were the gunmen, launched a
nationwide search, setting up roadblocks in Bel-
grade and halting bus, rail and plane traffic from
the capital. Witnesses said the suspects fled in a
red car.
The government blamed Milorad Lukovic, a
warlord loyal to Milosevic, and several other top
underworld figures for organizing the killing.
"Their aim was to trigger fear and chaos in the
country," a government statement said.
The U.S. Embassy urged Americans in Serbia
to exercise caution after the assassination, which
occurred three blocks from the embassy.
Citing danger to "constitutional order," acting
President Natasa Micic imposed a state of emer-
gency, giving the military the same powers as
See MURDER, Page 5A
Dollar continues to fall MONEY DOWN
as economy reacts to war THE DRAIN
By Lydia K. Leung
Daily Staff Reporter
1
Mali Goldblatt. Arnold Goldenberg. Charlotte
Goldenberg. Henriette Goldenberg. Janku Gold-
enberg. Devorah Finegold. Yossel Finegold. Yisre-
al Finegold. Marja Knoller. Ida Knotek. Rudolf
Knotek.
Those are just a sampling of the 6 million
names being read off one by one, hour by hour on
the Diag yesterday and today. Each name has one
thing in common with all the others - it is not
just a name but a person who was a victim of the
Holocaust.
Holocaust victims included a range of groups,
including Jews, Russians, homosexuals, commu-
nists, socialists, Jehovah's Witnesses, Gypsies and
the handicapped. They were forced out of their
homes and into Nazi-created ghettos and forced-
labor camps, and many were eventually sent to
extermination camps.
The 24-hour Memorial of Names, part of Hil-
lel's 24th Annual Conference on the Holocaust,
started yesterday at noon and will continue until
today's noon memorial service. As part of the
Memorial of Names, University students stood on
the Diag at all hours yesterday, underneath a tent
lit by candlelight, at times holding a flashlight
hove the bnoks nntaining the victims' names.
MBA student Josh Ehrenfried reads names last
night from the list of Holocaust victims in the 24-
hour vigil on the Diag.
For many students who read the victim's
names, it was a chance to personalize the
tragedy's numbers.
, "All the names are significant because they are
all a part of someone's family," said LSA fresh-
man and conference organizer Jillian Steinhauer,
whose grandparents were victims of the Holo-
caust. "Looking at names has a different effect
than just saying, 'oh, it's 6 million people.' Names
make it more personal."
Though students will read off names in the
Diag for 24 hours, they will only get through a
sample of the victims who died in the Holocaust.
About 700 names are read every hour, leaving
more than 5,800,000 names unread.
"You could just keep going. It seems like it
never ends," said Business School junior Roman
Ginsburg, an organizer for the event. "It just
makes you realize the magnitude of the tragedy."
Students who want to read names are invited to
See H O lOCAUST Page 3A
Although University tuition rose
sharply last year, it may have actu-
ally decreased for some interna-
tional students due to the U.S.
dollar's depreciation against many
major currencies, especially
against the euro.
The dollar has slipped more than
20 percent and 11 percent in the
last year against the euro and
Japanese yen, respectively.
Pietro Binchi, who will enroll
next year as an MBA student, is a
citizen of Italy, which belongs to
the European Union and adopts its
common currency. He said the
euro-dollar exchange rate is much
more advantageous for him at its
current rate of $1.10 per euro to its
lowest level at 83 cents per euro.
Economics Prof. Andrew Cole-
man said the possibility of war
with Iraq has contributed to the
recent weakness in the dollar.
"Normally, when a country goes
to war, it tends to have high infla-
tion and in the long run, high infla-
tion can lead to a devalued
currency," Coleman added.
As war against Iraq seems to
draw ever closer, the dollar is being
pushed down. Last week alone, the
dollar gave up 1.9 percent against
the euro - the largest weekly
decline since November.
Jim O'Sullivan, an economist at
investment bank UBS Warburg,
said the major cause of the dollar's
weakness is the huge U.S. deficit in
the current account - a measure
of the total money circulating
between the United States and
other countries.
"The current account deficit is
over 5 percent of the (gross domes-
tic product), which is at an all-time
high," O'Sullivan said.
But when the dollar depreciates,
exports from the United States will
become more competitive overseas
because they are relatively cheaper
than before.
"It makes imports more expen-
sive, and that should help the U.S.
economy because it leads to U.S.
consumers switching to domestic
goods from foreign goods," O'Sul-
livan said.
Partly due to the weakness in the
dollar, the trade gap between the
United States and other nations -
which makes up the largest part of
the current account deficit - nar-
rowed sharply in January when
exports rose by 1.6 percent and
imports decreased by 2 percent,
SeeAOLLAR. Page 7A
I I
DANNY MOLOSHOK/Dailv I