W~th~e
Tuesday
September 24, 2002
©2002 The Michigan Daily
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Vol. CXIII, No. 16
One-hundred-eleven years ofeditornal freedom
TODAY:
Mostly sunny
today and
tomorrow,
remaining cool
until Thursday
with rain on
Friday.
'l:69
LOW: 46
Tomorrow-
-IF 5
www.michigandaily.com
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Monts will remain
permanent advisor
By Tyler Boersen
Daily Staff Reporter
With the University defending in court its
commitment to diversity and striving to imple-
ment the points of last fall's Report on the Under-
graduate Experience, University President Mary
Sue Coleman yesterday appointed a permanent
advisor, Senior Vice Provost Lester Monts, to
help her deal with these unsettled issues.
Monts was first appointed senior counsel for
the arts, diversity and undergraduate education
by former interim President B. Joseph White, a
position created by White during his seven-
month tenure as president. Coleman said she has
decided to keep Monts as
senior counselor to the pres-
ident as an effort to improve
ways in which the Universi-
ty approaches issues and to
make the University a more
welcoming place.
"When I got here and I
n had the chance to sit down
with Lester ... I found out
how helpful he had been,"
Monts Coleman said. "He has
always been an important advisor to me."
Coleman said she has asked Monts to spend
much of his time on the undergraduate experi-
ence report. Monts, a co-author of the report and
a member of the President's Commission on the
Undergraduate Experience, said this would be
one of the large parts of his job.
"I feel a very important role for myself is keep-
ing the University focused on undergraduates,"
Monts said, adding he wants to make sure that
various services are working at peak efficiency so
that students can use them more effectively.
Monts will also help advise the president on
how to carry out the University's mission for a
diverse campus, beyond the admission policies
the University may have to defend before the
U.S. Supreme Court.
"I am helping her to make sure that we not only
seek diversity in representation but that everyone
understands the importance of diversity in educa-
tion," he said. "As we prepare students to move
into leadership roles, their experiences with diver-
sity on this campus will be positive attributes."
Monts is also charged with advising the pres-
ident on the arts and said he plans to "keep arts
at the center of campus culture," allowing stu-
dents to enjoy them and integrating the arts into
student life.
Monts lauded Coleman for having a vision for
the University and said he is looking forward to
continuing his work with her.
"President Coleman is creating a team to move
the University ... and I am pleased to be a part of
that," he said. "I am going to be as strong a team
player as I possibly can in achieving her goals."
Monts, who first joined the University in 1993
as an administrator and professor of music, will
continue to serve in his post as senior vice
provost. One of the world's leading scholars on
the music and culture of the Guinea coast region
of West Africa, he has focused his research on the
culture of the Vai people of Liberia.
Libraries
adjust to
terrorism
searches'
By Rob Goodspeed'
Daily Staff Reporter
Newly empowered by the USA
Patriot Act of 2001, federal agents
have been visiting libraries nation-
wide to request information about
books and materials suspects in for-
eign intelligence investigations have
checked out.
Previously, federal agents were
required to obtain a search warrant
from a judge before requesting sim-
ilar information.
Most area libraries said they were
aware of the new law, but had not
been visited by federal agents. But
in a survey conducted by the Uni-
versity of Illinois in December and
January, 11 percent of libraries
serving populations over 50,000
reported federal agents had request-
ed information about patrons pur-
suant to the events of Sept. 11.
The study found 85 libraries of
1,020 surveyed reported being
asked by federal or local law
enforcement officers for informa-
tion about patrons for investigations
related to Sept. 11.
Before the passage of the law,
similar requests for information
required a court order.
The new powers were created
through Section 215 of the Patriot
Act, which amends the foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Act to
allow the director of the FBI to
approve searches for "any tangible
things (including books, records,
papers, documents, and other items)
for an investigation to protect
against international terrorism or
clandestine intelligence activities,
provided that such investigation of a
United States person is not conduct-
ed solely upon the basis of activities
protected by the First Amendment
of the Constitution."
Under the act, libraries must pro-
duce records about subjects of ter-
rorism investigations, a much lower
legal requirement than required for a
traditional court order. Section 215
See PATRIOT, Page 3
Soaking in the sun
Drop in campus crime
attributed to awareness
By Maria Sprow
Daily Staff Reporter
Due inpart to increased security
measures and community awareness of
campus crimes, students living in resi-
dence halls may have reason to feel
more safe this year than last.
Crime - of all kinds - in the resi-
dence halls is down this year compared
to this time last year, according to statis-
tics provided by the Department of Pub-
lic Safety.
From Aug. 28 to Sept. 20, reports
made to DPS involving the residence
halls have included 17 injured persons,
six larcenies involving property kept
outside the buildings, six larcenies
involving property stolen inside the
buildings, three liquor violations and
four trespassing incidents.
In addition, there have been two acci-
dental property damages, one attempted
burglary where the suspect entered with-
out force, seven purposefully damaged
properties and three miscellaneous crim-
inal offenses.
The larcenies include two suitcases
stolen in Vera Baits II House Sept. 16
q and an unattended wallet and set of keys
that were reported stolen from the South
PATRICK JONES/Daily udRsdneHllcftraS .17,
Heather Hicks reads at Einstein Bros. Bagels on State Street Quad Residence Hall cafeteria Sept. 7,
yesterday enjoying the bright autumn afternoon. among other things. a
Last year during the same period,
there had been 27 injured persons, 12
.
Regents candidate says he
Will support working lass
"If we can build that kind of responsibility
among all our community members, then
our campus will be a safer place."
- Bill Zeller
Housing director
larcenies occurring outside the buildings
and 16 occurring inside, nine liquor vior
lations and five trespassing incidents.
There were also three accidental prop-
erty damages and 15 purposeful proper-
ty damages and one attempted burglary.
While there have been no reports of
forced-entry burglaries or aggravated
assaults this year, there were two forced-
entry burglaries and three assaults by
this time last year, according to DPS sta-
tistics.
DPS Associate Director Ian Stein-
man, who is also director of Housing
Security Services, attributed the
decrease in residence hall crimes to an
increase of awareness among students
that crimes do occur there, as well as
to the increased security measures in
place this year.
"I think that we've tried to create a
great deal of public awareness," Stein-
man said, adding the department has
gone to great lengths so students under-
stand the importance of locking doors,
not letting strangers into residence halls
and not propping open entrances.
"If we can build that kind of responsi-
bility among all our community mem-
bers, then our campus will be a safer
place," Housing Director Bill Zeller said.
Part of the department's reformed
awareness campaign is the new Resident
Contact Initiative, a group of 12 individ-
uals who have spent the last month trav-
eling to residence halls and talking
one-on-one with students about commu-
nity responsibility and campus crimes.
The group has almost completed its
goal to visit students in all the residence
halls, and is finishing up this week with
Vera Baits housing.
Though many students living in the
residence halls said they feel more cau-
tious this year than they did two or three
years ago, they said they did not believe
campus awareness is high enough that
See SECURITY, Page 2
By Tomislav Ladika
Daily Staff Reporter
Coming from a working-class
background and being the first in
his family to attend a university,
Ismael Ahmed pledges to keep the
University accessible to working-
class children if he wins one of two
positions on the University Board
of Regents in the Nov. 5 election.
Ahmed (D-Dearborn) has a long
history of reaching out to local
communities and low-income fami-
lies. He is a founder of the Arab
Community Cen-
ter for Education
and Social Ser-
vices in Dear-
born and has
served as the
organization's
director for 25
years.
He has also
worked on proj-
Ahmed ects with inner-
city groups through the School of
Social Work, organized tutoring
programs at the University of
Michigan at Dearborn and helped
create a Middle Eastern outreach
program at the University of Michi-
gan at Flint.
Ahmed's experience working
with minorities and the working
class has helped him realize that the
University must reach out to local
communities, he said. His ideas
include forming tutoring programs,
conducting research projects for
See AHMED, Page 3
Bush requests leave 'U'
community questioning
By Jeremy Berkowitz
Daily Staff Reporter
More than a decade ago, teach-ins and
protests popped up all over campus as mem-
bers of the University community found them-
selves divided over what action the United
States should take against Iraq and Saddam
Hussein's sudden invasion into Kuwait.
Eleven years later, some members of the
University community are still divided and
unsure about the current President Bush's
requests last week for a Congressional resolu-
tion authorizing military action in Iraq before
the end of the year.
Political science Prof. Paul Huth said he is a
little unsure of how much of an oppressing
concern Iraq is right now.
"I need to be convinced that the threat posed
by Iraq is so large and pressing that preventive
military action is justified," Huth said. "The
other general caution I have about lateral
action is I think combating terrorism - al-
He added that the return of weapons inspec-
tors in Iraq could hinder Bush's plans to take
military action against Iraq.
"I think the Bush administration will have a
hard time ignoring the return of the inspectors
if the inspectors return to Iraq under the right
set of conditions," Huth said.
By the right set of conditions, Huth said the
inspectors must be allowed complete freedom
to investigate without any interference from
the Iraqi government.
He added that if the inspectors are not grant-
ed these liberties, the Bush administration will
have a much easier time convincing the United
Nations that Saddam Hussein is not willing to
cooperate.
Many students said they are divided about Bush's
rush into war and if it is wise to go in with a lack of
international and United Nations support,
"I feel that Bush needs to take control of the
situation before it's too late," Art Design senior
Nick Stanko said, adding that the U.S. govern-
ment should take the responsibility as one of the
JOaNAN RIEST//aily
University President Mary Sue Coleman talks with members of the Senate Advisory
Committee for University Affairs yesterday at their weekly meeting.
Coleman discusses
budget, LSI"n first
visit to SAC UA
By Soojung Chang
Daily Staff Reporter
In her first official meeting with
the faculty's governing body, Uni-
versity President Mary Sue Cole-
man met with the Senate Advisory
Committee on University Affairs
yesterday at their weekly meeting
ty's different campuses, to the
undergraduate experience and
funding for the developing Life
Sciences Institute.
SACUA Vice Chair John Gobetti
said he feels that SACUA will have a
better working relationship with Cole-
man, who accompanied SACUA on
their annual retreat over the summer,
d AP PH
HOTO