Wednesday
April 16, 2003
@2003 The Michigan Daily
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Vol. CXIII, No. 133
Weat er
TODAY:
One-hundred-twelve years ofedritodfreedom
Morning
clouds will
turn to after-
noon show-
ers, with
strong winds
from the
northeast.
R62
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Tomorrow:
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Syrian
students
wary of
2nd war
By Min Kyung Yoon
Daily Staff Reporter
Amid continuing tensions in the Mid-
dle East concerning the United States'
next military target, the Bush adminis-
tration said yesterday it has no plans to
attack Syria in order to overthrow its
leadership or impose democracy.
In response to the announcement,
some area students of Syrian descent
expressed concern over the Bush admin-
istration's criticism of Syria and U.S.
policies in the Middle East.
"(The United States) has yet to find
weapons of mass destruction in Iraq,"
said Mazin Hawasli, a sophomore at
Washtenaw Community College. "Then
they want to start pointing fingers at
other countries, who clearly for some
time disagreed with America's foreign
policy and backed France when they
wanted to veto Resolution 1441, giving
America and the U.K. the green light to
bomb Baghdad."
The United States has accused Syria
of providing Iraq with weapons and
refuge to Iraqi and Baath Party leaders,
supporting terrorism and producing
chemical weapons. The United States
has also said Syrian fighters were
allowed to join the war against U.S.-led
coalition forces in Iraq.
But the Syrian government has repeat-
edly denied it has any chemical
weapons.
"There is no evidence for all the alle-
gations," LSA junior Lena Masri said.
Hawasli said the difference between
the amount of oil Syria holds and Iraq's
vast oil reserves might prevent the Unit-
ed States from attacking Syria.
"We all know that the U.S. has the
military power to confront the whole
region," Hawasli said. "It's because Syria
doesn't contain much of the valued
resources as let's say Iraq, which is oil
... America wouldn't be benefiting any-
thing from going to war with Syria and
changing their regime."
But Masri said oil is not the major
issue for going to war with Syria.
Instead the U.S. plan to transfer power to
Israel is the major issue, she said.
"By attacking Iraq, Syria and even
Iran, (Bush) wants to attack the Middle
East and shift the power to Israel," Masri
said. "By attacking the Middle East, the
balance of power will shift toward
Israel."
"America is yet to understand the
political function of how Arabs view
America 3nd Israel," Hawasli said. "As
much as Bush finds Saddam as the main
issue at hand, the Arab world views
Israel as a priority."
U.S. officials also said they still want
to include Syria in the Middle East
peacemaking process between Israelis
See SYRIA, Page 8
Kickb ack and relax
Meetings begin to
shape Iraq's future
The Associated Press
Iraqis met under American auspices to shape a
new government yesterday and said "the rule of
law must be paramount" following Saddam Hus-
sein's fall. In a war dividend, U.S. officials said
they had taken Palestinian terrorist Abul Abbas
into custody in Baghdad.
Four weeks after U.S.-led forces unleashed
their assault, President Bush promised to "liber-
ate every corner" of Iraq and American troops
hastened to redeem his pledge. Marines solidified
their grip on Tikrit, Saddam's hometown, and
American officials said fighting had ended in
Qaim, a town near the Syrian border.
Acting on a tip, commandos searching a home
in Baghdad found a weapons cache with a sizable
chemical laboratory and documents they said
were instructions on making chemical and bio-
logical weapons. They also reported finding a
bomb concealed inside a bottle, another in an
umbrella and a third in a telephone.
The U.S.-organized meeting on a new govern-
ment drew scores of Iraqis to a gold-colored tent
erected in Ur - birthplace of the biblical patri-
arch Abraham - and anti-American protest in a
nearby city.
"No to America and no to Saddam," chanted
thousands of Shiite protesters in Nasiriyah, exer-
cising their new freedom of speech to object to
the imminent creation of an American interim
governing authority.
Inside the meeting, White House envoy Zalmay
Khalilzad said the United States has "no interest,
absolutely no interest, in ruling Iraq."
He added, "We want you to establish your own
democratic system based on Iraqi traditions and
values."
A 13-point statement released after the session
envisioned a democratic country where "the rule
of law is paramount." It said Saddam's "Baath
party must be dissolved and its effects on society
must be eliminated."
It wasn't immediately clear whether the paper
was drafted by U.S. officials in advance of the
See IRAQ, Page 2
U looks to increase
cost of res hail living
By Jeremy Berkowitz
Daily Staff Reporter
As most students celebrate the last day of classes
and buckle down to study for exams, the Universi-
ty Board of Regents will meet tomorrow to discuss
residence hall rate increases among other issues. At
the meeting, Vice President for Student Affairs E.
Royster Harper will propose a 5.3 percent increase
in the cost of room and board for the next fiscal
year. Harper will also propose a 4.5 percent
increase in family housing.
University Housing spokesman Alan Levy said
the increase came from four main components
including inflation, utilities increases, insurance
cost increases and new renovations such as the
security initiatives that were implemented last fall.
Regent Olivia Maynard (D-Goodrich) said she
has not looked over the report thoroughly enough
to make a solid decision, but she understands
Harper's proposal because of the University's
budgetary situation. Gov. Jennifer Granholm pro-
posed a 6.5 percent cut in state funding to higher
education last month and her plan awaits legislative
approval.
Regent Andrew Richner (R-Grosse Pointe Park)
also said he just received the meeting's agenda
Monday and has not had time to look over the pro-
posed changes. But he expects to do a lot of listen-
ing at tomorrow's meeting to Harper and President
Mary Sue Coleman.
See FEES, Page 8
DANNY MOLOSHOK/Daily
University Engineering sophomore Mike Affeldt takes off his sandals and puts down his textbooks in
the Diag yesterday as he relaxes In the 80 degree weather that had students counting the hours
until the end of classes.
Officials take hands-off
approach to Naked Mile
By Maria Sprow
Daily Staff Reporter
Naked Miles of times past brought
students a slew of warnings - in the
form of advertisements, promises to
arrest runners and warnings that
national media outlets planned to
photograph the event - from the
University and local police enforce-
ment agencies.
But this year, officials are taking a
new preventative approach - ignore
it, and it may just go away.
Unlike in previous years, when
then-University President Lee
Bollinger sent the University com-
munity e-mails asking students not
to run, students will not receive any
form of communication prior to the
event from President Mary Sue
Coleman, University spokeswoman
Julie Peterson said.
In addition, University-sponsored
ads which previously ran in The
Michigan Daily giving students rea-
sons not to run - including the
event's illegality, the danger of sexu-
al assault and the potential for
embarrassment for both runners and
the University itself -were not
printed this year.
Peterson said the University's
changed approach to the Naked Mile
is the result of two years of "very lit-
tle participation" and conversations
with various student groups. The
conversations indicated that students
understood the dangers and conse-
quences of running, she added.
"Those efforts to educate and
See STREAKING, Page 8
Class turns to activism to
preserve South Fox Island
By Sara Eber
Daily Staff Reporter
South Fox Island may not sound familiar to
many University students, but to those enrolled
in Prof. Andrea Smith's American Culture 498
class, the island in northern Lake Michigan has
been the focus of a semester-long campaign to
preserve Native American property.
The 14-year old controversy is between land
developer David Johnson and the Grand Tra-
verse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians,
who wish to protect the island and maintain
public ownership. Johnson, who owns two-thirds
of the island, was granted permission March 11
by Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox to
swap parts of his land with the state, which
owns the rest of the island.
The significance of the swap, students in the
class say, is that by consolidating his land, John-
son will gain greater ability to build over natural
resources, including sand dunes and endangered
most beautiful parks in Michigan," LSA sopho-
more Jeff Rezmovic said. He, along with LSA
junior Tom Church, LSA senior Rachel Gold-
stein and LSA junior Alex Cadotte, worked
throughout the semester on this issue in their
Advanced Study of Native Religious Traditions
class to lobby the state government and increase
awareness about the possible land swap.
Johnson is chairman and chief executive offi-
cer of Victor International Corp., a development
company which also developed the Bay Harbor
golf course.
"The only reason why something like this
could happen - which is pretty offensive - is
because people just don't know about it," Rez-
movic said.
State Rep. Chris Kolb (D-Ann Arbor) said it
was "unfortunate" that the land swap passed.
"I opposed the switch because I think it's not
in the best interest of the people of Michigan,"
he said.
Kolb assisted the students by helping them
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Court decision
expected in
mid-summer
By Tomislav Ladika
and Abike Martins
Daily Staff Reporters
As most University students prepare to work and enjoy their
summer vacations, the U.S. Supreme Court will spend the next
few months deliberating over the fate of race-conscious admis-
sions policies.
In late June or early July, the court will rule on the lawsuits
challenging the University's use of race in the admission poli-
cies of the Law School and College of Literature, Science and
the Arts - a ruling that is considered the most significant
higher education case in a generation.
University spokeswoman Julie Peter-AO 4SSIONS
son said President Mary Sue Coleman ON I
is expected to send a mass e-mail to the
campus community immediately after '
the decision is announced. The court
ruling will be the first involving affir->
mative action since the 1978 Regents of'
the University of California v. Bakke
ruling, which banned racial quotas but
permitted the use of race as an admis-
sions factor.
Peterson said administrators must wait for the court's deci-
sion to see how it affects the University's policies in order to
determine what changes, if any, need to be made.
Students can expect one of four possible outcomes, ranging
from a ban on the use of race as an admissions factor for
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By Andrew Kaplan
Daily Staff Reporter
SARAH PAUP/Daily
LSA junior Daniel Aghion speaks outside MSA chambers last night with Ann Arbor
resident Henry Herskovitz about divestment from the Caterpillar Corporation.
MSA postpones
taking stance on
Caterpilar Corp.
Talk with any student in the midst
of writing papers, completing read-
ings and studying.for final exams,
and you'll hear that the winter term
rarely unwinds gracefully.
The circumstances were no differ-
ent in the Michigan Union last night,
when members of the Michigan Stu-
dent Assembly deferred voting on a
controversial resolution supporting
University divestment from Caterpil-
lar Corp. - an American-based
manufacturer that supplies its bull-
dozers to the Israeli government.
After outcry from several repre-
sentatives and students, sponsors of
the resolution decided to withhold
voting on the resolution until the
assembly reconvenes next fall.
The resolution, which culled
extensive debate from constituents
during last week's assembly meeting,
came weeks after Palestinian sympa-
murder by bulldozer operators of
Israeli Defense Forces. The resolu-
tion said MSA should press the Uni-
versity to investigate Caterpillar and
rescind its $500,000 investment in
the company if the investigation
finds its bulldozers have been used
to destroy more than 7,000 Palestin-
ian homes - many of which are
believed to have belonged to fami-
lies of suicide bombers, constituents
said.
The resolution also said the demo-
lition of Palestinian homes violates
the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention,
an international statute outlawing the
decimation of property and "collec-
tive punishment" of "protected per-
sons" living in the occupied
territories - persons whom many
constituents defined as Palestinians.
But despite a chamber room brim-
ming with students still slated to
speak on the resolution, the assem-
bly voted to table the legislation until
the fall term.
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