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 I I 1 1:1 1 !::'':! ::i 1 ::1:1:1:1:1:1 1:1 m l i 1;1 :i , ! 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