~ W~, ah 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 LO~23 Tomorrow. www.michigandaily. corn , a~a, , r xBlairt.proposes r listi provsion forIra 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