LOCAL/S TATE The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, March 19, 2003 - 3 THIS WEEK 110M ±I : eIlkip Boot predicts 'U' approval for Spring Break move I 'its i.lL11L1 111V 1 Vl l' Five years ago... * Anti-affirmative action leader Ward Connerly spoke to 500 students at the Michigan League. Connerly, who sat on the University of Califor- nia Board of Regents board when it voted to end its affirmative actions policies, faced vocal opposition from students when he talked about his hardships growing up as a black child in Mississippi. The audience later complained that Connerly avoided their questions. Ten years ago... Violence broke out in downtown Ann Arbor at an annual rally of the National Association for the Advancement of White People. Among the outbursts, counter demonstrators pushed three white supremacists into the wall of the Ann Arbor Fire Department and repeated- ly punched them. March 16, 1983 The Committee on the Economic Status of Faculty released a survey showing 77 percent of University fac- ulty members opposed unionization. But the survey said professors also wanted a greater voice in determining their salaries. March 20, 1986 For the fifth consecutive day, pro- testers demonstrated outside Repub- lican U.S. Rep. Carl Pursell's Ann Arbor office. They demanded Pursell meet with them to discuss his support of President Ronald Reagan's proposed bill to send $100 million dollars to the Contra rebels fighting the Sandinista government in Nicaragua. Police arrested 40 demonstrators that day. March 16, 1973 University Safety Director Fred- erick Davids reported a 20 percent increase in campus crime between 1971 and 1972, including a large jump in the number of armed rob- beries. Davids said new measures were being taken to improve cam- pus security, including a require- ment for all security officers to wear radios connected with the Ann Arbor Police Department dispatch- er. March 19, 1972 The LSA curriculum committee began looking at proposals for changing the school's grading sys- tem. Possible alterations included the addition of a written evaluation for grades as well as a pass/no entry sys- tem where if a student failed a class, it would not appear on a student's transcript. March 19, 1969 The Intramural Sports Committee proposed construction of the Central Campus Recreation Building and the North Campus Recreation Building. Rod Grambeau, director of intramu- rals, said the buildings would cost $10 million and make the University intramural programs equal to or bet- ter than those at any other Big Ten university. March 18, 1965 Police arrested four University students in Montgomery, Ala for picketing outside the Alabama state capitol in support of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Police held the students - Eric Brown, David Aroner, Barry Goldstein and Helen Jacobson - for $300 bond each. Later that night, other University students in Montgomery picketed the jail, demanding the four students' release. March 18, 1958 The state Senate Appropriations Committee announced a $1 million cut in the University's appropriation for the 1958-1959 school year. The University originally requested a $7 million increase. President Harlan Hatcher said such a cut would seri- ously cripple the University, curb- ing student enrollment and downsizing faculty. March 16, 1948 Bennie Oosterbaan succeeded Fritz Crisler as head football coach. Crisler retained his two other posi- tions as athletic director and chair of the physical education depart- ment. Previously, since 1941, he occupied all three positions. During his time as football coach, Crisler attained a record of 70 wins, 16 losses and 3 ties. R mrok of Q 7 a fn By Andrew Kaplan Daily Staff Reporter Students who have always lamented the Univer- sity's early Spring Break can most likely look for- ward to vacationing with the rest of their peers next year, Michigan Student Assembly President Sarah Boot said. Boot said an assembly proposal moving Spring Break one week later into the Winter Term needs only a green light from the University Board of Regents to become official. "I met with different administrators in (Universi- ty Provost Paul Courant's) office, and the final word was he doesn't have any problem with a change if the faculty doesn't have a problem with a change," Boot said. She then submitted the propos- al to the faculty's Senate Assembly, which support- ed a Spring Break move by a 74 to 1 margin. "(Faculty) might like the break right now because it falls exactly in the middle of the semes- ter," she said. "But a benefit to making it a week later is that more midterms could be accomplished before break and students wouldn't have them hanging over their heads." Boot added that the proposal began as a ballot question on the student government elections web- site last spring, when it rang in an 80 percent approval rating among voters for LSA Student Government and a 75 percent approval rating among voters for MSA. Citing the assembly's capacity for national and international reform, MSA passed a resolution urg- ing the regents and University President Mary Sue Coleman to alter financial ties with Dow Chemical Corp. Several representatives and constituent speakers said Dow, a Michigan company - which has donated millions of dollars to the University - is morally and financially liable for its subsidiary Union Carbide's 1984 chemi- cal spill in Bhopal, India. The spill is responsi- ble for more than 20,000 deaths and continues to contaminate drinking water in the Bhopal area, supporters of the resolution said. Constituents said that because Dow owns Union Carbide, the company must pay $828 million in liabilities. The resolution, which passed 13 to 10 with seven abstentions, urges the Universi- ty to compel Dow to begin cleaning up the spill and to "reject all donations from Dow Chemical or its directly associated foundations in excess" of what Dow spends annually to handle the spill. "The chemical disaster is one of the worst disas- ters ever to occur," LSA senior Morlie Patel said. "People are still suffering from this disaster." The resolution also holds Dow accountable for contaminating Michigan's Tittabawassee River flood plain. "We have a significant number of students from those areas being affected by the pollu- tions," said MSA Environmental Issues Com- mission Co-Chair Alan Talhelm, who sponsored the resolution. "I feel like there is a good amount of student support." But some representatives who voted against the resolution said decreasing funding to the University would be unwise in light of recent state cuts to Uni- versity funding. "This is going to hurt the University, when all we want to do is hurt Dow in the right place," Rack- ham Rep. Yoosuf Picard said, citing potential tuition hikes in the upcoming fall term that would be exac- erbated by terminating a University relationship with Dow. "I don't want to strain the University and send them letters saying to divest from a com- pany that is very important to them." Grand opening CD-ROM program instructs college students on alcohol By Kyle Brouwer Daily Staff Reporter In an effort to curb alcohol-related incidents on campuses, one non-profit organization seeks to make sure col- lege students across the country gain the knowledge of responsible drinking in addition to what they already learn in the classroom. The Century Coun- cil, funded by the nation's top alcohol producers, will release Alcohol 101 Plus, a CD-ROM geared toward college students, this month. The program is an update to Alcohol 101, released in 1999. The new version of the program - set on a virtual cam- pus - will have more individualized features designed to show students the effects of their drinking-related decisions in different college settings, said Leslie Mills, director of public relations for the council. "There should be something for every student to learn in it," she added. The program includes a virtual bar, in which the user can enter their physical "This program respects the student. It doesn't treat them like they are stupid." - Leslie Mills Century Council spokeswoman statistics and see the effect on their blood alcohol concentration as they sip, drink, or slam different alcoholic drinks. The University has used the original version of Alcohol 101 since the fall of 1999 as a means of teaching students in residence halls about the effects of drinking-related decisions, said Andrew Chadwick, coordinator for student con- duct and conflict resolution. However, the program lacked the abil- ity to connect personally with students and had little instruction for users, he said. "Alcohol education has to include an individualized aspect," he said. "The CD-ROM also didn't have much of a curriculum to go along with it." These lacking areas led the council to revamp the program's contents, Mills said. After a year and half of product testing, she said, the new version is more entertaining and has situations and char- acters to which students can better relate. "Students can personalize it to them and it isn't too preachy" she said. 'This pro- gram respects the student. It doesn't treat them like they are stupid." Sigma Nu President Anthony Ragnone said he thinks programs like Alcohol 101 are a step in the right direc- tion, but often fail to inform students about the long-term dangers of drinking. "I believe students are educated so much from middle school that they know by the time they get here," he said. "I don't think people know enough about alcoholism. That's something that could use help." Closing hearing for local terrorists' trial commences KYLENE KIANG/Daily Students enjoy a meal at Potbellys Sandwich Works on South State Street. The restaurant celebrated its grand opening yesterday, MSA Continued from Page 1 racism are more urgent issues to stu- dents. "If the country goes to war, stu- dents will be affected," she said. "There will be students who have family living in Iraq, or who have family who will be called to go fight in a war - and there will be cuts to education." Disputing accusations that MSA is incapable of affecting change on a national scale, Stenvig, an organizer for the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action and Integration and Fight For Equality By Any Means Necessary, said one of the top priorities for her presiden- cy would be to organize a march in Washington, advocating race-conscious admissions. "Student government is what you make of it, there's not just a set amount of power that MSA has," she said. "I think that the opportunity that the march on Washington gives us is to show stu- dents that they have power to change history." Echoing Stenvig's statements, Galardi said she will listen to any stu- dent group that wants the assembly to recognize central issues. "The bottom line is if you have 100 students stand- ing in a meeting telling you they want to vote on a resolution, who's going to tell them to leave?" she said. "I don't know who's going to be the president, but who's going to tell a student that his or her issues don't matter?" Galardi's vice-presidential running mate is MSA Women's Issues Commis- sion Co-Chair Monique Perry. While Clifton said he and running mate Paul Scott, an LSA representative, will always support a forum for student opinion, he added that it is essential to "bring the focus back to strictly student issues" - such as funding student groups, obtaining transportation to away football games and opening a Taco Bell on campus. "One of the most important things that student government does is allocate money to student groups," he said. "I want to make sure that groups are getting as much money as they possibly can." "I think that there's a false counter- position of campus issues against national issues," Stenvig said. "Whether or not there will be women in science programs, whether or not KOREA Continued from Page 1 withdrawal from the Nuclear Non-Pro- liferation Treaty. Apart from being the highest-ranking woman in the history of the U.S. govern- ment, Albright is also the highest level American official who has ever met with Kim Jong 11, leader of North Korea. Albright said her visit to North Korea in October 2000 was productive and that direct dialogues should be held with North Korea for the United States to make clear that its weapon development is unacceptable. "I have always believed that you have to talk to the other side if you want to be able to deliver a tough message," she said. Chul echoed Albright's view and said, "dialogue and diplomacy is the most practical and rational response to the North Korea situation." He said the whole world should con- tribute to resolving the crisis. "The United States together with China, Russia and the (European Union) must coordinate and cooperate with each other to achieve the end," Chul added. 'Er DETROIT (AP) - The trial of four men accused of conspiring to support terrorism began-yesterday with a judge barring the public and the media from the early stages of jury selection," which is expected to last at least until next week. U.S. District Judge Gerald Rosen closed the hearing at the request of defense attorneys, citing the need to ensure fairness in the first trial in the United States for an alleged ter- ror cell detected after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. "My paramount responsibility in this case is to protect the fair trial rights - not only of the defendants but of the government too," Rosen said. By the end of the day, nine jurors had participated in the hearing and six were placed in the group from which the final jury selection will be made, according to an update posted on the court's Web site. Rosen said he was concerned that the potential jurors might not speak Is* frankly in the presence of media, and that news reports about the part of jury selection in which potential jurors are questioned to see if they can be fair might taint the pool. Lawyers from the Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News argued to keep the selection process open, saying secrecy can create skepti- cism and important information would go unreported. Government lawyers also said jury selection should be open. "What we are dealing with is public confidence in this institution in this very high-profile trial," said attorney James Stewart, who repre- sented the News. But Rosen, who noted that jurors have expressed concerns about their safety and privacy, said the presence of the press could "chill the candor" of ^the" responses. Othef options, ,sucta allowing public access to the question- ing of some jurors, would be too unwieldy, he said. Sixteen jurors, including four alter- nates, will be picked and are to remain anonymous. A group of 220 potential jurors filled out lengthy questionnaires last month that covered topics such as whether they had visited the World Trade Center site. Karim Koubriti, Ahmed Hannan, Farouk Ali-Haimoud and Abdel-Ilah Elmardoudi are charged with con- spiracy to provide material support or resources to terrorists. The charges stem from a raid on a Detroit apartment less than a week after the Sept. 11 attacks, but are not related to the strikes on New York and Washington. U U STUDENTS WITH CROHN'S DISEASE OR ULCERATIVE COLITIS Please join Dr. Ellen Zimmermann Associate Professor of Gastroenterology, U of M For an informal discussion of topics including: *Nutrition *New Therapies *Latest Research Next meeting will be: Thursday, March 20, 2003 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm WIN cash prizes of up to $1,000! Watch for your custom survey invitation to arrive in your email this week! A random group of UM undergraduate students has been selected to participate in this exciting Web-based survey about student life at UM and your experiences with alcohol, tobacco and other drugs. If you complete the survey, you will have the chance to win 13 cash prizes of $1,000, $500, and $100. Start thinking about how you will spend your money! Prizes will be awarded on the last day of classes, just in time for you to get your I n 11 m