The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, April 8, 2003 - 11 AWARDS Continued from Page 1 Evita Nedelkoska, Engineering junior and vice president of SWE. "We have support from every gender." LSA senior Thomas Vazquez, one of the outstanding student leaders and an advisor of the year, said it was a great honor to be recognized by the University. "I've had a lot of great opportunities to work with great organizations and students," Vazquez said. "I feel that so many individuals, within the students of color, should also be recognized for their work." Aundrea Johnson, speaker of the Black Student Union, was awarded as one of the outstanding student leaders for her dedication to diversity at the University. "I have been granted the opportu- nity to build something meaningful and positive for black students at the University of Michigan, and have joined the legacy of so many other people who have taken their turn in uplifting our black people," Johnson said. The Muslim Students Association, an outstanding student organization winner, works to bring its members - from a variety of racial and ethnic backgrounds - together to create a sense of community. LSA senior and MSA community affairs chair Rima Makhiawala said such recognition from the University is encouraging. "Most of the people recognized do these things not looking for recogni- tion, so it's extra special," Makhiawala said. "You do it for the goodness of the heart and because you are passionate about it." "It's a nice pat on the back," Makhi- awala added. "Hearing what other stu- dents have done ... you realize that there's more to be done." Dean of Students Ed Willis presents the Outstanding Student Leader award to Hellenic Student Association President Konstantinos Ghirtis. RANKINGS Continued from Page 1 "U of M is one of the top schools in the country because a number of our con- stituent departments are highly ranked," Adriaens said. "We have 12 departments and a number of them are in the top three. We have both breadth and depth - what it takes to achieve the national standing we have." The College of Engineering ranked in the top three in three of 13 specialties - environ- mental engineering and industrial/manufactur- ing engineering, which were both ranked sec- ond, and nuclear engineering, which was ranked third. "The Michigan engineering department is amazing," said Jennifer VanRoeyen, a sec- ond-year Engineering graduate student. "It offers an experience you can't get from other schools. A big attraction is its diversity, both in the student body and in course offerings. Also, the graduate program has great research opportunities, and the undergradu- ate program has high-quality GSIs." U.S. News used several quality indicators to determine the overall national rankings. It distributed peer assessment surveys to engineering school deans, senior faculty and corporate recruiters to rate the quality of different schools' programs and meas- ured "research activity," based on total research expenditures and research dollars per faculty member engaged in research. It also evaluated student selectivity, faculty/student ratios and the proportion of full-time faculty in the National Academy of Engineering in 2002. "The high ranking affects recruiting; stu- dents are looking at graduate programs and these numbers influence their decisions," said Todd Erpelding, a third-year biomed- ical engineering Rackham student. "I think (the ranking) probably most reflects the amount of funding the program receives - Michigan does overall very well in terms of funding compared to other universities." The College of Engineering granted 1,160 undergraduate degrees, 653 masters degrees and 195 doctoral degrees in 2002. Thirty-three percent of the 6,478 applicants for graduate study in 2002 were accepted. This year's class had a 3.50 mean undergraduate grade point average. "Michigan engineers usually don't have trouble finding a job, which is really important in today's economy," VanRoeyen said. "The program provides the back- ground and training students need." Other University graduate schools also ranked in the top 15. The Law School ranked seventh, the Medical School and School of Education ranked 8th and the Business School ranked 13th. * WAR Continued from Page 1 trated Saddam's seat of power. This time, though, there were plans to stay. Rather than withdrawing at nightfall, as units did over the weekend, mem- bers of the 2nd Brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division hunkered down for the night at the sprawling, splendored New Presidential Palace where Sad- dam once slept. Several miles away, two soldiers and two journalists were killed in a rocket attack on the 3rd Infantry Division south of Baghdad, the U.S. Central Command reported. Another 15 sol- diers were injured in the attack on an infantry position south of the city. HILL Continued from Page 1 would increase the district from 21 prop- erties to 176, including about 75 percent of the Greek houses on campus. Alumni and current members of mul- tiple fraternities and sororities showed up to express opposition to the expan- sion proposal. Joe Frattori, a member of the housing board for Phi Delta Theta, said fraternities do not qualify for the tax credits available to help private home- owners defray the cost of maintaining historic properties. He added that 23 per- cent of the properties in the expansion district are non-profit churches, coopera- tive houses, fraternities and sororities - none of which qualify for the tax credits. Susan Smith Gray, Kappa Alpha Theta housing corporation president and treasurer, echoed Frattori's fears. "This will require more money from us," she said. Greek Life Director Mary Beth Seiler said that she felt student behavior in Greek houses partly motivated the pro- posed expansion. "Putting these houses in a historic district will do nothing to affect behaviors" she said. Councilwoman Joan Lowenstein (D- 2nd Ward) said the expansion was not intended to impose hardship on fraterni- ties and sororities. "Without fraternities, there would be a shortage of student housing," she said. "This is not meant to get rid of Greek houses at all:' Ann Arbor resident Karen Coulter, who spent four years on the Washtenaw- Hill Historic District Study Commis- sion, said she originally had fears about the affordability of maintaining a his- toric house, but that working on the committee allayed those fears. "I believe that hardship is a reason to be lenient on an external repair," she said. "We worked hard on the study to focus on appearance" rather than materials. She added that materials such as slate fre- quently account for most of the cost of historic repairs, but that the committee allows homeowners to use like materials that look historically consistent. TUITION Continued from Page 1 increases without increases in the state appropriation," Courant said. But Courant is especially con- cerned about the decrease in state appropriation. "The state fair of the general fund could fall to 31 percent - that's huge," Courant said. The remaining 15 percent of the general fund comes primarily from indirect cost recovery, said Ruth Kallio, associate director of the Office of Budget and Planning. This is federal money that supports the indirect costs of research. Indirect costs could include maintaining a building with a research laboratory or updating the libraries with journals necessary for research. 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