TODAY: Tuesday October 1, 2002 ©2002 The Michigan Daily Ann Arbor, Michigan Vol. CXIII, No. 21 One-hundred-twelve years of editorialfreedom Partly cloudy with high humidity during the day and a chance of thunderstorms in the evening. 80 LOW: 64 Tomorrow: 76165 www.mkchigandaily.com -------- -- Kilpatrick wants say in state leadership By Loule Melzlish Daily Staff Reporter SAFE spokesperson speaks out on effect of Coleman e-mail By Soojung Chang Daily Staff Reporter Republican gubernatorial nominee Dick Posthumus is crying foul over a memo he says demonstrates the extent of the corruption voters can expect from an administration head- ed by his Democratic opponent. In a memo obtained by Detroit's WKBD-TV, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick demands that in exchange for his support of state Attorney General Jennifer Granholm in the governor's race, 20 " percent of the next governor's polit i c a 1 appointees should be black, and D etr oite rs should be chosen to head six top state offices i c hi the MICHIGAN State Hous ELECTIONIS ing Develop- in e n t 2 0 Authority, the Michigan Economic Development Corp., the Family Independence Agency, the Office of Financial and Insurance Services and the departments of Corrections and Community Health. "Based on the policies of the last 12 years, the next administration must address the issues that face the African-American community," the memo read. The memo also says that any new state buildings should be constructed in Detroit and more state contracts should be given to "Detroit based, minority owned business." But representatives of the Detroit mayor's office and the Granholm campaign stressed the memo was a draft that was never sent to Granholm and also that no promises were made in exchange for Kilpatrick's support. "Granholm is a product of Wayne County's corrupt government, and she has demonstrated time and again that she will put the special interests of her political friends in Wayne County Government before the needs of Michigan residents," Posthumus, the lieutenant governor, said in a * statement. This follows allegations from the Posthumus campaign chastising Granholm for approving no-bid con- tracts at Detroit Metropolitan Airport while serving as corporation counsel to Wayne County Executive Edward McNamara. "She has called Ed McNamara her 'political mentor,' hired the former direc- tor of Detroit Metro Airport as her cam- paign manager, and stood silently by when McNamara gave out sweetheart deals to his cronies: free cars, 5 to 1 in matching 401-k funds, and inflated salaries," Posthumus said. "It's shocking he's been parading See GRANHOLM, Page 3 Palestinian supporters vocally opposed University Presi- dent Mary Sue Coleman's response to an offensive e-mail sent to more than 1,000 members of the University commu- nity last this week and her stance on the University's finan- cial investments in Israel. Students Allied for Freedom and Equality spokesperson Eric Reichenberger, a first-year Rackham student, said yes- terday during a press conference at the Union that Coleman acted prematurely and unprofessionally in responding to the fraudulent e-mail without confirming its origins. "Rather than seriously address the offensive e-mail and reassure the campus that it did not originate from SAFE, she irresponsibly seized upon this opportunity to advance her own personal and political agenda," Reichenberger said. Coleman's e-mail was sent out one day after unidentified computer hackers used SAFE's e-mail account to send a "spoofed" e-mail to University faculty and staff members inviting them to the upcoming Second National Student Conference on the Palestine Solidarity Movement, spon- sored by SAFE. The e-mail was falsely signed by SAFE co-founder Fadi Kiblawi, an LSA senior, and also contained what some stu- dents said were anti-Semitic remarks. "As part of an organized campaign to disrupt next month's national student conference on Palestine, a viciously anti- Semitic e-mail was spoofed in the name of SAFE and one of its key organizers," Reichenberger said at the conference, which was attended by more than 40 students, both pro- Israeli and pro-Palestinian. Coleman said in the e-mail that the conference does not represent the views of the University and condemned the "spoofed" e-mail's inflammatory language. She also said the University does not support selling University stock in com- panies doing business in Israel. Reichenberger demanded an apology from Coleman foi not consulting SAFE before sending her message to the Uni- versity community. "As a result of her statement, (Coleman) now has ar even more urgent responsibility to publicly exonerate all members of SAFE of any involvement in the offensive e-mail," he said. "Her statement outrageously implies that SAFE has either not acted in a civilized manner in the past or thai there is reason to suspect that there will be a lack of civility from us in the future," Reichenberger said in response to a section of Coleman's e-mail advising conference partici- pants to "respect all University rules concerning appropri- ate conduct on campus." Rackham student Idris Elbakri said, "It was a mistake tc link the hacker's e-mail to our movement. She did not in any way try to explain to the community that the e-mail was the act of hackers," As for the upcoming Palestinian Solidarity Conference. Kiblawi said it is still going ahead as planned. Reichenberger also protested what he said was Coleman's message that she does not support the conference. "I think any student organization in our position would feel the same way. We have to protect the rights of all stu- See SAFE, Page 3 JONATHON TRIEST/Day LSA senior Fadi Kiblawi, co-founder of Students Allied for Freedom and Equality, whose e-mail was allegedly spoofed last week, sits outside the Fleming Administration Building yesterday afternoon. Richner stresses budgetary know-how By Tomislav Ladika Daily Staff Reporter Andrew Richner was raised by his father, a University alum, to value the educational opportunities provided by the institution, and now Richner, a Business and Law graduate, credits the education he received here for his political success as a Michigan state repre- sentative. Richner (R-Grosse Pointe Park), who is finishing out his third term in the state Legis- lature, says he will use his political experi- ence to help solve the University's current financial issues if he is elected to one of two available University Board of Regents posi- tions in the Nov. 5 election. He says he understands the role of a regent and the decision-making processes that accompany the position. "I have a solid foundation Y in the duties and responsibil- ities of a board member," he said. "My experience in the legislature will help when it comes to the appropriations process." That experience is espe- cially important because of the numerous financial constreints the University is facing, which Richner said cause him to "worry that we're pricing the cost of a college degree out of the range of working class families." The challenge of keeping education afford- able might become even greater, Richner says. Though the Michigan government has not yet included higher education funding among the numerous budget cuts of the past couple years, Richner said he "would be absolutely shocked if there weren't budget cuts coming." The reality of the current financial situation is that the University's budget will probably have to be tightened, Richner said, adding the University must not raise tuition rates beyond the level of inflation and instead may need to search for more creative, yet fair ways to cut down its budget. Richner added that other solutions include seek- ing research grants more aggressively, raising funds for the University by supporting endow- ments and increasing alumni support, he said. In addition to keeping the University affordable to students of all economic back- grounds, Richner said University admissions policies should support diversity because a variety of experiences and opinions add to the richness of higher education. Richner said he does not believe in the use of racial quotas, but supports the idea of recruiting more minority students and provid- ing more funding for them. Taking a more active role in helping Detroit See RICHNER, Page 3 Degree of procrastination linked with lower grades Ain't no mountain high enough By Adhiraj Dutt For the Daily Late night study sessions and frantic paper-writing sessions are activities very familiar to some stu- dents, specializing in the art of pro- crastination. "I am a horrible procrastinator," RC junior William Trenary said. "I always put off work that is uninter- esting and mechanical until the last moment. On the other hand, I can't keep myself from doing things that I find interesting." A study on procrastination conduct- ed by Bruce Tuckman, professor of education at Ohio State University, found that extreme procrastinators have lower grades than students who slightly procrastinated. The study found that on a 4.0 scale, slight and moderate procras- tinators averaged grades of 3.6 and 3.4, respectively, while extreme procrastinators averaged 2.9. The study also concluded that the worst procrastinators tried to justify their actions. "The results show that procrasti- nators don't work better under pres- sure, but it may be the only way they work. They don't have any idea how well they might do if they did- n't procrastinate," Tuckman said in a written statement. The study involved a 10-week study skills course with 116 stu- dents. The class was packed with deadlines for more than 200 assign- ments, all of which were submitted See GRADES, Page 3 LSA senior Eric Goodman and Dave Patterson, a senior at Eastern Michigan University, climb a wall at Planet Rock in Ann Arbor. Chan gathers worldwide appeal using common body language By Jeff Dickerson Daily Arts Editor With the overwhelming success of "Rush Hour" in the United States in the fall of 1998, Jackie Chan established himself as the most popular movie star in the world. Prior to the release of the action/comedy co-starring Chris Tucker, Chan was a mere cult per- sonality in America, while in the rest of the world he was an international superstar. Four years later, Chan continues to be a massive draw both here and abroad. "I think I am successful because I have interna- tional humor and international body language," says Chan. "Because my movies are shown around the world, I use more body language to tell the story." Chan's body language is more than just exaggerated facial expressions and physical humor. He is the mar- tial arts version of Buster Keaton, risking life and limb for the sake of his audience, whether it be iump- times, his ankle once, most of his fingers, both cheekbones and his skull, just to name a few. "Every- body thinks 'Jackie you're a great stunt guy.' No! I'm not a great stunt guy, I just have the guts to try it is all," he explained. "I do the things the people believe I can do," Chan said of his movie stunts. "I think of other ways to do things. When I'm planning my own stunts, it's some- thing I can really do. I don't do crazy things. I know how far I can go and how high I can jump." Over the years the actor has played a wide variety of behind the scenes roles, from directing, producing, writing and choreographing. His latest film, "The Tuxedo," follows Chan as a chauffeur who comes in possession of a $2 billion high-tech tuxedo. The special effects heavy action film was a new experience for Chan, who has starred in more than 100 films in his extensive career. "I decided I wanted to learn something about special Chan has nothing but praise for his co-star, the effervescent Jennifer Love Hewitt. "She is a wonder- ful girl. She's just like the female Chris Tucker," he adds. "After weeks I realized, not only is she pretty, she can act, she can dance, she can sing and she can do some acrobatics." While he enjoyed virtually limitless freedom with his Asian releases, Chan finds himself with less con- trol in the Hollywood system. "I had almost half and half creative control with what I did in "The Tuxedo'" because of the special effects. Not like in "Shanghai Knights" when it was about 100 percent.' No matter how much control he has in his films, he said "I always choose Jackie Chan-style movies, I do my own thing." "Sometimes I think do I need a break," the star admits. In the last few years his schedule has been almost non-stop, beginning new projects as others wind down. "They've mentioned "Rush Hour 4," 0 AD DunTn