LOCAL/STATE
The Michigan Daily - Thursday, September 26, 2002 - 3A
Proposal to eliminate straight-ticket voting
Flaming Pop Tart
raises alarm
A fire alarm went off in East Quad
Residence Hall Tuesday afternoon
when a resident burnt a Pop Tart and
too much smoke spread around,
according to Department of Public
Safety reports. There was no fire.
Woman received
threatening e-
mail from Indiana
An employee in the School of Social
Work reported Monday night she
received two harassing e-mails from a
subject who lives in Bloomington, Ind.,
DPS reports state.
* Robbers clean out
three computers
from Kresge
It was discovered Monday morning
that three computers were taken from
an unlocked room in the Kresge Med-
ical Research Center sometime over
the weekend, according to DPS reports.
Bike tire and
" gears stole from
woman's bike
A woman reported Sunday night that
her bike tire and gears were stolen
while parked at the bike racksin front
of South Quad Residence Hall between
Friday and Saturday nights, DPS
reports state
a Health center
reports missing
glucose meter
A caller reported Tuesday morning
that a glucose meter was either stolen
or lost from the Canton Health Center
over the weekend, according to DPS
reports.
Expensive viewer
* dropped at IST
An Infra-red viewer valued at $1,300
dollars was dropped yesterday by staff
members of the Institute of Science
and Technology, DPS reports state.
Two backpacks
stolen from EECS
It was reported Tuesday night that
two backpacks were stolen from the
Electrical Engineering and Comput-
er Science Building Monday
between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m., accord-
ing to DPS reports. Inside the back-
packs were textbooks valued at
$320, two Texas Instrument calcula-
tors valued at $220, a Nokia cell
phone, clothing and other miscella-
neous items.
Tools taken from
Mott worksite
A caller had electrical maintenance
tools taken from Tuesday morning
while he was working at the Mott Chil-
drens Hospital, DPS reports state. He
said that he did not know who might
have taken them without permission.
Wallet containing
cash, credit stolen
" from B-School
A brown leather wallet was stolen
Friday from the hallway of the Busi-
ness School Administration Building,
according to DPS reports. The wallet
contained $118 in cash, three credit
cards and miscellaneous identifica-
tion.
Simultaneous
thefts in Baits
DPS officers discovered Tuesday
night that three fire extinguishers were
missing from three separate locations
at Baits Residence Hall, DPS reports
state.
IV tubing lost in
University Hospital
A caller reported Monday after-
noon that IV extension tubing was
missing from a crash cart in the Uni-
versity Hospital, according to DPS
reports.
Cell phone stolen
during Saturday
football game
A man reported Monday afternoon
that his cell phone was stolen at Sat-
urday's football game, DPS reports
By Jordan Schrader
Daily Staff Reporter
If voters approve the first of four ballot propos-
als on Nov. 5, that election will be the last time
they can choose a party's slate of candidates with
a single mark on the ballot.
Proposal 02-1 would eliminate
straight-ticket voting in Michi-
gan, which supporters said will
force more informed decisions at MICHIGAN
the polls. ELECTIO
The proposal is a referendum 2
on a bill passed by the state legis-
lature and signed into law by Gov. John Engler.
Debate over straight-ticket voting has been
largely along party lines. Democrats circulated
petitions to take the law to the voters, hoping they
would strike it down.
The bill's sponsor, state Sen. Bill Bullard, Jr.
(R-Highland Twp.), said it doesn't limit voters'
choices as Democrats claim.
"We want to encourage our voters to become
educated on all issues and all candidates," he
said. "Somebody can still vote all Democrat or all
Republican or all Green Party."
The elimination of the practice would also
mean more voters would reach the bottom of
the ballot to select nonpartisan candidates such
as judges, Bullard said. People often don't real-
ize that a party vote doesn't include these
races, he said.
Critics of the bill said party affiliation is a valid
way to select candidates, and doesn't necessarily
imply a lack of information.
Straight-ticket voting is "a way that people can
signify that they believe in what a party stands
for," Michigan Democratic Party spokesman Ben
Kohrman said.
"People have the right to vote based on what-
ever criteria they want to use," he said. "There's
no constitutional imperative that voters need to
inform themselves about what they're voting for."
The long history of straight-ticket voting in
Michigan, stretching back 110 years, has made
voters accustomed to the practice, he said.
Kohrman said passage of the proposal will also,
create longer lines at polls by making the voting
process more time-consuming. That would turn off
some potential voters to the whole process, he said.
"This is part of a long-term'concerted effort
(by Republicans) to discourage access and make
it harder to participate in the democratic process."
But Yvonne Carl, Ann Arbor's acting clerk,
said voters likely won't see a substantial increase
in the time they spend at the polls.
"It may slow a few people up," she said. "On
the grand scheme of things, it's not going to make
everybody wait a whole lot longer."
Carl said she nonetheless opposes the proposal.
"I don't like to see a right people had at one
time taken away from them," she said.
Jason Brewer, a spokesman for the state
Republicans, said the proposal doesn't infringe
on voters' rights.
"The notion that somebody's not going to go
vote because they can't vote straight-ticket is
ridiculous,"he said.
The proposal's impact may be more negligible
than some people think, said pollster Ed Sarpo-
lus, vice-president of the Lansing-based
EPIC/MRA, Inc.
Most voters choose candidates individually
rather than by party, he said.
In Detroit, where many people cast straight
Democratic ballots, the effects may be more sub-
stantial, Sarpolus said.
County Clerk Peggy Haines said straight-ticket
voting was used by 42 percent of Washtenaw
County voters in the 2000 presidential election.
Patiently waiting
Cool weather fails to
eradicate West Nile
LANSING, Mich. (AP) - The West Nile
virus has claimed the lives of two more
Michigan residents, raising the total number
of fatal cases statewide to 15, health officials
said yesterday.
The latest victims of the mosquito-borne virus
are an 86-year-old woman from Macomb County
and a 79-year-old man from Oakland County,
according to the Michigan Department of Com-
munity Health.
Both cases had previously been reported as
West Nile infections.
The department also reported 26 new cases of
the disease in humans, increasing the total of
probable and confirmed cases in Michigan to 296
in 14 counties.
More than 94 percent of the cases have turned
up in the state's four most-populated counties:
Oakland (with 107 cases), Wayne (86), Macomb
(48) and Kent (38).
Other counties reporting West Nile cases
include Bay (one), Cass (one), Eaton (one), Ing-
ham (three), Lenawee (one), Muskegon (one),
Otsego (one), Ottawa (five), St. Clair (two) and
Van Buren (one).
Health experts say it's still important for people
to protect themselves from West Nile-carrying
mosquitoes despite cooler temperatures, as the
pests are likely to be around for another couple of
months.
Most people bitten by an infected mosquito
never get sick, and most of the rest see only flu-
like symptoms. A small percentage of people
contract the deadly symptoms of encephalitis,
which enlarges the brain, and meningitis, which
enlarges the spinal cord and brain linings.
The weak and elderly are especially vulnerable
to the virus.
JASON COOPER/Daily
Rabbi Levi Goldstein waits to help students participate in the Jewish ritual of
shaking the lulav and esrog on the holiday of Sukkot yesterday afternoon.
IRAQ
Continued from Page 1A
rate greed. Sole described his own
political views, stating, "We're in a
very perilous time right now. The U.S.
government has taken a tremendous
turn to the right."
Sole was quick to point out that
U.S. sanctions against Iraq have killed
more people than bombing. He cited
the tens of thousands of children who
die each year of simple diseases
brought about by U.S. bombing of
water systems in Iraq.
Engineering senior Ashraf Zahr, co-
chairperson of the political committee
for the MSA, introduced Sole and
announced plans to start a "broad-
based coalition for peace on campus."
LSA junior Lena Masri, co-chair-
person of the MSA political commit-
tee, described the MSA's purpose as
"focusing on issues in the Muslim
world" and raising awareness. She
also said the MSA chose Sole
because of his position as a
renowned activist during the Vietnam
conflict and his work with humani-
tarian issues in Iraq.
Members of the audience stayed
after the lecture for a question and
answer session with Sole. LSA senior
Deepa Challa described Sole as "really
powerful - most speakers are qui-
eter," and responded to Sole's com-
ment that students today seem to be
ahead of students in the 1960s by stat-
ing, "To me it doesn't seem like we're
that far ahead of people in the '60s, but
I guess we are because the war hasn't
even started and at least we are talking
about it."
LSA freshman Emma Sacks stated
that she came to the lecture because
"it's always good to hear different per-
spectives - I just wanted to hear about
the current situation from different
sources."
Overall, Sole's message was one of
student empowerment and the power
of grassroots movements.
"The situation looks bleak if you
don't know how to look at it," Sole
concluded his lecture. "I think the
prospect for building a powerful move-
ment against this war exists, but it's not
going to be easy."
BUSH
Continued from Page 1A
Congress on the situation in Iraq, or about his efforts to gain
United Nations backing for military action.
On a third point, these officials said there was discussion
about a commitment, suggested by Democrats, that would
make clear that any military action in Iraq would not come
at the expense of the overall war against terrorism.
The House and Senate both are expected to vote on Iraq leg-
islation before adjourning for the elections. Approval is expect-
ed in both houses, although House Democrats say the size of
Bush's victory will depend, in part, on the administration's
willingness to address Democratic concerns in the private
negotiations. At the same time the White House sought to
rebut Daschle's accusations, the president's national security
adviser accused Saddam Hussein's government of sheltering
members of the al-Qaida terrorist network in Baghdad and
helping Osama bin Laden's operatives.
HADDAD
Continued from Page 1A
Rep. John Conyers (D-Detroit) and the American Civil Lib-
erties Union successfully sued the department over the past
few months, resulting in orders that the hearings be opened
to the media and public.
Haddad has been detained since last September for over-
staying a six-month visa. The government also raided the
offices of the charity he co-founded, Global Relief Founda-
tion, Inc., saying the organization was funding terrorism.
Haddad's attorney, Ashraf Nubani of Springfield, Va.,
blasted the government for its action yesterday.
"There's been cases that have popped up since Sept. 11 that
have presented a challenge to the Justice Department's,
through the executive branch, curtailing the rights of people
living there and I think Pastor Haddad is a great example of
how they've done that; Nubani said, citing the government's
use of secret evidence and secret nature of the hearings.
NURSING
Continued from Page 1A
like nursing. I think the requirement is
only a 3.0 GPA. I don't even think they
look at SAT scores. That's why so
many students do this," she said.
Tuttle said last year about 20 to 30
students transferred out of her fresh-
man class, many transferring into
LSA. Admissions now require students
to finish at least a semester before
transferring.
"It gives us a bad name because
some people are applying just to even-
tually transfer out," Tuttle said.
"They leave thinking nursing is easy
because the first year isn't as intense.
The standards might be lower to get in
but the curriculum is tough," Tuttle
added.
Marketing and Recruiting Coordi-
nator Monica Sullivan said the stan-
dards were not lowered for the
School of Nursing to admit more stu-
dents, but there were more applicants
to the school.
"We think factors like more
resources into direct recruiting and
media attention to nurses at a national
level has brought more students into
the school of nursing. The message has
gotten out with advertisements like
Johnson's and Johnson's 'Dare to Care'
campaign," Sullivan said.
"We accepted more transfers into
nursing then transfers out of the
school," Sullivan added.
Nursing senior Amy Hendriksma said
there were more applicants this year
because of the proposed bill to create a
Michigan Nurse Scholarship which
would award $3,000 to more than 1,000
students to cover tuition costs.
"People know they might be able to
get scholarships and they are guaran-
teed jobs in nursing. If people transfer
out it's probably because they didn't
like their first year," Hendriksma said.
But Nursing sophomore Vicky Hein,
who plans to stay in nursing, said get-
ting accepted in the School of Nursing
is not as competitive as other schools
like LSA.
"I knew my GPA wasn't good
enough to get in, but I went before the
nursing review board and they accept-
ed me," Hein said.
CANTOR
Continued from Page 1A
To reconcile this conflict, Cantor
says the university community must
remain poised between these two
worlds. She said universities must
incorporate voices of the marketplace,
but let them be aired in a monastic
environment.
"We need to remain a bit distanced,
but connected to the pressing issues of
the day," she said.
Cantor discussed three collabora-
tions exemplifying ways to eliminate
differences and allow for discussion
getting right how we talk and getting
across our differences." She said it is
this intellectual diversity that allows us
"to further our ability to have fresh
ideas."
"Diversity is an essential part of
excellent education," University
Provost Paul Courant said. He said he
recognized the timeliness of Cantor's
lecture given the continuing lawsuit
developments.
"This is the right time and has
always been the right place," he said.
"Without having different points of
view, we are missing a great deal of
what the University can do."
i