44
The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, September 3, 2002 - 8A
COLEMAN
Continued from Page 1A
that are focused on financial aid.
Michigan has taken a stance, and I have cer-
tainly admired it from afar, that it wants to be a
really great University. And that has driven the
tuition increase. We always have to be careful
though, we always have to be aware of the
issues that students face, and their families
face. We don't want to make Michigan a place
that only the wealthy can attend. I think we'll
be looking closely at the issues of financial aid.
Also, you always do your best with tuition. I
am concerned about the economic situation in
the state. We have been told there is a huge
deficit and I don't know how that is going to
play out in the state legislature. I was pleased
we were able to keep the tuition increase under
8 percent. I understand that is still a lot of
money, and so I am going to be trying to work
with the state and really talk about the value of
higher education.
TMD: Are there places in the University
where you believe it is possible to cut back,
even when times are good?
MSC: We always have to be looking for
ways to save money and I have been asking
those questions about the infrastructure
improvements. (By) reducing paper flow and
going to credit card purchases rather than
invoices, you can save a huge amount of
money. Michigan has been very much out front
in changing to systems that reduce internal
cost. I have already started asking questions
about what are other ways that we can drive
down cost, because we have to do that. It is our
responsibility and we will keep trying to do it.
We did that at Iowa, and we will do that here.
TMD: Do you believe you are a role model
for other women, seeing how you are the
first University president who is a female?
Are you comfortable playing that role?
MSC: I want to be a role model for all
young people.
TMD: How devoted are you to making
sure that lawsuits are defended in every way
possible not only in the Supreme Court if
they go there, but on campus as well, and at
the state level.
MSC: I have been watching pretty closely in
the last few years as this unfolded in Michigan.
I have been impressed with the stance the Uni-
versity has taken. I firmly believe the Universi-
ty's policies are based on the (Regents of the
University of California vs. Bakke) decision,
the law of the land for the last 20 years. I have
looked carefully at the way Michigan has con-
structed its undergraduate and Law School
admissions, and it looked to me that the educa-
tional aspects of diversity were at the forefront.
They have always been at the forefront, and
that supports the fact that the University is
defending it so vigorously. I assume these cases
will go to the Supreme Court.
In my life, I have been privileged to see the
educational benefits of having a diverse student
body. When I was a student at the University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the '60s, it
was a very homogeneous campus. There wasn't
much diversity at all, and there wasn't much
diversity on the faculty. Then I had the privi-
lege of going back 20 years later, in the early
1990s to be an administrator. It is so much
more vibrant. The faculty was diverse, the stu-
dent body was diverse, it was intellectually
alive with different points of view. It made a
huge impact on me.
TMD: One of the things that you were
known for at Iowa was taking a strong
stance on student alcohol use. You are also a
member of the President's Leadership
Group for Alcohol and Drug Prevention, and
you have helped to keep alcohol a 'front-
burner issue'. Do you plan to continue that
work here in Ann Arbor, and what type of
impact do you want to have?
MSC: One of the first things that happened
when I first went to Iowa was that there had
been a death. A young man died, 18 years old,
in a fraternity. Aspirated his own vomit and
died. It was a real tragedy and it was a wake-up
call for me that there was a real problem.
In surveying students, they reported that one
of the most important, pressing issues on cam-
pus was alcohol abuse and its secondary effects
- that is assaults, unwanted sexual advances,
vandalism, drunk driving. We got that from the
students.
I was intrigued to see similar survey results
here at Michigan. Students report that it is a big
problem on campus.
TMD: In Iowa, there is going to be a poli-
cy this year that a letter will be sent home to
the parents of students under 21 who have
been charged as a Minor in Possession of
alcohol. Would you continue to determine
what the current student opinion is about
alcohol is first before going about these types
of policies?
MSC: I want to look at things very carefully.
What I've discovered is that when you come
into a new circumstance, there can be a lot of
differences. So I am not intending to carry the
Iowa circumstances to Michigan. I want to lis-
ten very carefully to what people have to say.
Student opinion is very important to me.
TMD: What kinds of things led the Uni-
versity of Iowa to make the decision to send
letters to those parents?
MSC: We had a lot of interest from parents,
we had a lot of interest from law enforcement.
We had interest from certain students, but it was-
n't a unanimous opinion that this should be done.
We had a little bit of a different issue in Iowa
than here. In Iowa, there are some very large
bars close to the campus and we had an inci-
dent last year where some bartenders were
throwing alcohol out on the bar and they lit it
and some students got very seriously burned. It
was a circumstance that could have easily
erupted into a fire and hundreds of students
could have been killed. I was very concerned
about it. I mean it was total recklessness and
abdication of responsibility.
TMD: How involved do you plan to be
with the individual decision processes of dif-
ferent colleges?
MSC: Well there is a process in the Univer-
sity that, depending on what the particular mat-
ter is, in some areas, the faculty have final say
on what is going to happen, they control the
curriculum, and all these issues. In other situa-
tions, the faculty opinion comes up to the
deans, and the deans make decisions.
I believe in delegating those kinds of respon-
sibilities. They know best what
they need for their college, and the curricu-
lum they need. I'll rely on a lot of people to
make those decisions for themselves.
TMD: How are you going to ensure that
Michigan athletes are not going to be
involved in scandals similar to the one with
Ed Martin? There is currently a debate
about changing the amateur status of college
athletes, how do you feel about that and how
do you think the University should approach
athletes so that these scandals don't occur?
MSC: I believe very firmly that if our ath-
letes are not students first and are not amateurs,
then there is no point in having them. I am not
in favor of having professional athletes repre-
sent universities. I think it misses the whole
point, and it would lose fan support extremely
rapidly. I believe people like to watch college
athletics, and they like it because they know the
participants are students, and they are at the
university getting degrees and they are playing
on behalf of their university.
I think the Athletic Department has already
started, and already done, quite a bit in terms of
really working with student athletes to let them
understand what the problems are and not to get
in the type of circumstance that apparently hap-
pened with the Ed Martin case. I have had sev-
eral conversations with Athletic Director (Bill
Martin), and I feel like he is on top of this. He
has already started to institute some changes.
TMD: How do you think you can encour-
age a closer connection between the Univer-
sity and Ann Arbor?
MSC: I think that is important. I enjoyed a
good relationship with the city when I was in
Iowa. I have met with Mayor (John Hieftje)
already.
We all work together here - we depend on
Ann Arbor, they depend on us. Our interests
won't always coincide, but we ought to be able
to talk to each other to figure out how we can
make this community a better place.
I also think that it's really important for us to
connect with the state, so I am going to be
going out and speaking to groups around the
state about what we are doing at Michigan and
why it is important.
TMD: When the University is negotiating
DEBBIE MIZEL/Daily
Mary Sue Coleman speaks to faculty and students May 29 in the Michigan Union Kuenzel Room
after the announcement that she was chosen to be the University's 13th president.
contracts with companies such as New Era
and Nike, and contributing to organizations
such as the United Way, how concerned should
the University be with looking at the business
practices and policies of those organizations?
MSC: I know we've been working through
some of the issues with the United Way, and
we've certainly made our opinions known to
the board. In terms of licensing apparel, I know
that there is a committee here on campus that
has been helping to advise the University on
what it should do. We need to continue to look
carefully at everything we are doing.
TMD: Do you fear the privatization of the
University as tuition goes up and the percent
of state funding goes down?
MSC: You always have to worry about that.
That's why I want to get out in the state and
talk about the importance of supporting great
public institutions.
I do think that there has been, over the last
20 years, a move all over the country to begin
to pull back from support of public institu-
tions. It's important for us to keep talking
about how that helps the nation, how that
helps the state. It provides access. It is a
forum. It is a place that is really accountable
to the people of this state.
TMD: As housing costs in Ann Arbor go
up, it becomes more difficult for students to
live in the same places that they have histori-
cally lived. Would you,,in your relationship
with Ann Arbor, try to strike a deal between
where new upscale housing is being located
and where student neighborhoods exist, so
that those costs don't continue to rise?
MSC: That is a difficult question because
you are talking about private developers mak-
ing decisions about what to do. The mayor and
I have already touched on the issue of housing,
and his concern - and the city council's con-
cern - for housing and the opportunities avail-
able for students. I think we should continue
that dialogue and see if there are ways we can
move forward that would be helpful both to
students and to the city. I know it is a big issue.
TMD: What is your message to students
about helping them to enjoy their under-
graduate education?
MSC: Don't come in with blinders on. Don't
start out thinking that you know exactly what you
want to do. Take a little sideway step every once
in a while. And most of all, get involved. All the
research shows that students who get connected,
students who get involved, do better - both
socially and academically. Don't stay isolated in
your room, get out and do stuff. Think about the
opportunities here. There are hundreds and hun-
dreds of organizations that students can get
involved with. It is just fabulous. And the com-
munity is fabulous too. You can do volunteer
activities all over the city. You've got this great
city that is right next to the campus. It is a dyna-
mite combination.
"... We ought to have great public universities,
and this is one of them. I happen to think it is
the best."
- Mary Sue Coleman
University President
BORED WIrH CLASS ALREADY COME
WRIE FOR THEAILYY.
CALL 76-DAILY.
High Holy Days
Come Early
Be sure to pick up your required tickets at Hillel's Open
House, Wednesday, Sept. 4 from 8am - 10pm OR at the
Hillel office (1429 Hill St.) M-F 9am - 5pm.
Tickets are free of charge to students with a valid
University ID. Please obtain tickets no later than
Thurs. Sept. 5.
Hillel Rosh Hashana Services
ATTACKS
Continued from Page 1A
LSA freshman Casey Crocket
said the news that it happened dur-
ing the day was surprising. She
added that being from a relatively
safe hometown worrying about
crime is not something she has
adapted to.
"If it's light, I feel safer. You
don't think something like this hap-
pens during the day," she said.
"I don't feel unsafe, I just feel
more conscious."
Some events that happened earli-
er in the summer also surprised stu-
dents, like a shooting involving two
Michigan football players.
After a night of drinking on May
17, Michigan football players
Markus Curry and Carl Diggs were
walking home from a party on the
200 block of Packard Street that had
been broken up by police around
11:30 p.m. after a fight broke
occured.
Curry and Diggs did not partici-
pate in the fight, Ann Arbor Police
Department Sgt. Michael Logghe
said.
When they reached the corner of
Madison Street and Fifth Avenue at
around 12:30 a.m., they were con-
fronted by four males, who police
believed had been involved in -the
earlier altercation.
One man had a gun and began
shooting.
Only Diggs and Curry were hit -
Diggs in the leg and Curry in the
back.
Both were driven to University
Hospital by friends and treated for
their injuries.
AAPD eventually arrested a
shooting suspect, 18-year-old Ypsi-
lanti resident Joshua White, who
was charged with two assault
charges with intent to murder, as
well as carrying a concealed
weapon and two felony firearms
counts.
White had turned himself in after
police issued a warrant for his
arrest, but he pleaded not guilty to
all counts and was eventually
released.
Students said they found the
shootings more shocking than the
robbery.
Date
Fri. Sept. 6
Sat. Sept. 7
Sun. Sept. 8
Conservative Orthodox Reform
7:40pm* 7:40pm 7:40pm
9:00am* 9:00am 10:00am
7:30pm 7:30pm
9:00am 9:00am
7:40pm
*These services are at the Power Center (121 Fletcher). All others at Hillel.
Hillel Yom Kippur Services
Date
Sun. Sept. 15
Mon. Sept. 16
Conservative
7:25pm*
9:00ain*
6:15pm**
Orthodox
7:25pmt
9:00am
7:15pm***
Reform
7:25pm
10:00am
6:15pm**
*These services are at the Power Center
t Minha
** Minha & Ne'ilah
*** Ne'ilah
(121 Fletcher)
Holiday Meals
Rosh Hashana