LOCAL/STATE
The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, October 8, 2002 - 3
Alum sues 'U'
after denial of FOIA request
Sociology professor
talks on challenges
of aging population
University Sociology Prof. Emeri-
tus Albert Hermalin will give a talk,
titled "Population Aging in Asia:
Consequences and Challenges,"
today at noon in Room 1636 of the
School of Social Work Building.
The presentation, part of the
Brown Bag Lecture Series, will look
at several aspects of older people in
Asia and the challenges policymak-
ers face in anticipating future demo-
graphic trends.
Inventor, author
talks on advances
in science fields
Stephen Wolfram, inventor of the
computer language Mathematica and
founder and CEO of Wolfram
Research, will discuss his book, titled
"A New Kind of Science," today at 4
p.m. in Rackham Auditorium.
Wolfram will talk about his best-
selling book, which introduces his
revolutionary approach to under-
standing complex, dynamic sys-
tems, and will also discuss the
implications of his discoveries for
various fields of science.
A reception will follow this free
event.
Celebrated poet
reads new book
Poet Philip Levine, a Detroit
native who won a Pulitzer Prize in
1995 for a collection of works,
titled "The Simple Truth," will give
a free reading at the Michigan
League Ballroom today at 7:30 p.m.
In his works, Levine writes about
the daily struggles of lower middle
class life.
Seminar will give
students advice on
financial success
An interactive seminar titled "The
Top Ten Ways to Achieve Financial
Success for Students" will be given
today at 7 p.m. in Auditorium 1 of the
Modern Languages Building. The
event will focus on understanding
credit and credit reports, establishing
good credit, managing money, saving
and investing, MBNA careers and
summer internship programs.
This free event, sponsored by Phi
Chi Theta, a national co-ed profes-
sional business and economics fra-
ternity, is open to all students and
will include refreshments and
snacks.
Law lecture will
focus on Sept. 11
University of Miami Law Prof.
Jonathan Simon will give a talk,
titled "The Land of the Free and the
Home of the Fearful: Governing
America Through Fear of Crime
Before 9/11 and Since," tomorrow
at 4 p.m. in Room 1636 of the
School of Social Work Building on
South University Avenue. The talk
is sponsored by the University Pro-
gram in Comparative Study of
Social Transformations.
'U' president to
talk about health
insurance needs
The Seventh Annual Raymond
Waggoner Lectureship on Ethics and
Values in Medicine will feature Uni-
versity President Mary Sue Coleman
in a lecture, titled "Care Without
Coverage: Too Little, Too Later,"
tomorrow at 4 p.m. in the University
Medical Center Ford Auditorium.
Coleman, a biological chemistry
professor, will discuss problems facing
the 40 million Americans who lack
health insurance.
Journalists talk on
how to write about
religion on campus
Dialogues on Diversity will host a
panel discussion titled "Covering
Religion on the American Campus:
Journalism and the Effects of Sept.
11" tomorrow at 4 p.m. in the
Pendleton Room of the Michigan
Union.
Jodi Wilgoren, education correspon-
dent for the New York Times, David
Crumm, religion correspondent for the
Detroit Free Press, and Jack Shaheen,
author of "Reel Bad Arabs: How Holly-
wood Vilifies a People," will each speak
at the discussion, which will be moderat-
ed by Yvonne Simons, a current Michi-
crln Journalism Fellow an1 WRAL-TV
By Rob Goodspeed
Daily Staff Reporter
A lawsuit filed by a former student alleges
that the University is trying to cover up wrong-
doing by administrators by charging exorbitant
fees for a Freedom of Information Act request.
In the FOIA request under dispute, former
student Chetly Zarko requested a large number
of e-mails sent and received by former Vice
Provost for Information and Technology Dou-
glas Van Houweling in the early 1990s.
Van Houweling oversaw the partnership
between the University, IBM, MCI, and the
National Science Foundation, which built much
of the Internet.
The University says they followed normal
procedures in processing the request.
Filed last summer, the lawsuit by Zarko is
the most recent in a series of FOIA lawsuits he
has filed since 1993.
Zarko graduated in 1993 with a major in
political science and now works as a freelance
writer and consultant.
Zarko also says the e-mails may contain
"evidence of wrongdoing by the University." In
1992, the University paid $3.1 million back to
the federal government for computer process-
ing overcharges after a University Information
Technology Division employee filed a False
Claims Act against the University.
According to court documents, the Universi-
ty told Zarko he would have to pay a University
employee $57 per hour to review the material
he was requesting and estimated it would take
45 hours.
"The absurdity of a $57 per hour rate and the
unexplained choice of why 45 hours would be
needed for review hint at the underlying motive
of the defendant - to delay and discourage
plaintiff from proceeding," Zarko stated in a
legal filing.
But University officials say it is standard
procedure to charge individuals for large FOIA
"I said 'do it in your spare time - take as long as
you want. There is no incremental cost to them."
- Chetly Zarko
University alum and lawsuit plaintiff
requests.
"The Michigan (FOIA) allows the University
to charge for our expenses when responding to
a FOIA request that is voluminous and there-
fore requires an extensive amount of staff time
to retrieve the records, review them and delete
those items which are exempt from release,"
University spokeswoman Julie Peterson said in
a statement.
"We have followed our normal process in
responding to Mr. Zarko's FOIA request and in
determining the appropriate charges, consistent
with state law. We are disappointed to be sued
and we will address these issues in court,"
Peterson said.
Zarko says he was willing to let the Univer-
sity take as much time as is needed to review
the material. "I said 'do it in your spare time -
take as long as you want,"' Zarko said. "There
is no incremental cost to them."
"Even if there's no controversial material ... it's
of great historic importance," Zarko said. "The
University will destroy it if I don't succeed."
Zarko says that the information he is
requesting is stored among 10,000 magnetic
tapes that contain all e-mail sent over early
computer systems at the University for 25
years, currently stored on North Campus.
Java jolt
Israeli-Palestinian conflict
discussed by Rackham gov't
Rackham student gov't
also made minor changes
to other MSA resolutions
By Soojung Chang
and Whitney Meredith
Daily Staff Reporters
Rackham Student Government dis-
cussed two resolutions yesterday regard-
ing the current campus debate over the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict at their week-
ly meeting.
The first resolution in support of a
Michigan Student Assembly resolution
titled "Resolution in Support of Univer-
sity Dialogues of Understanding,"
encourages students to engage in civil
dialogue regarding debates on campus
and political affairs.
"We're basically concurring with the
MSA document," RSG President Brian
Hulsebus said. The document is a near
replica of the MSA resolution with a
few minor changes, Hulsebus added.
The second document, titled "Resolu-
tion in Support of Proper Discourse
about the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict," is
similar to the first except that it applies
specifically to the Palestinian-Israeli
issue.
The document has been endorsed by
Students Allied for Freedom and Equali-
BUSINESS
Continued from Page 1
the basic criteria for the award.
The University attributed the honor
of receiving the award to the decisions
on the lawsuits regarding the use of
race as a factor in admissions facing
the Law School and the College of Lit-
erature, Arts & Sciences in a written
statement.
"The University of Michigan and
its Law School are fighting for a
ty and the Michigan Student Zionists,
two student groups bitterly divided over
the issue.
According to the document, student
groups will pledge against "hate-filled
speech, slander, false representations,
intimidation, violence and other disdain-
ful and unlawful means in the promotion
of their views."
"This pledge has already been sup-.
ported by the two main, divided groups
on this campus," Hulsebus said.
"They both e-mailed their support.
We had some issues, but we worked
them out,'he said.
Hulsebus added that what triggered
his decision to draft the resolutions was
the "spoofed" e-mail incident in which
an unidentified hacker sent two e-mails
to faculty and students about the upcom-
ing Second National Student Confer-
ence on the Palestine Solidarity
Movement sponsored by SAFE.
"I was concerned about what direc-
tion the dialogue could be going in. I
was concerned about the possibility of
violence or campus destruction," he
said.
While both resolutions were eventual-
ly passed, some members had reserva-
tions, mostly pertaining to the second
resolution.
"I just felt that the general resolution
covered the issues of the more specific
diversity plan that guarantees young
people of all races access to a learn-
ing environment rich in varied cul-
tures and steeped in traditions that
they might otherwise never be
exposed to," NBMBAA Chairman
Alvin Brown said.
Monts said, "It also speaks volumes
in support of the stand the University
has taken in the courts to ensure that
the halls of academia remain open to
students from diverse backgrounds."
The conference was held in
resolution. I didn't see the need to have
both," Rackham student Dave Johnson
said.
Johnson was concerned that the RSG
would have to start drafting resolutions
about other issues.
One concern was the use of the word
"demand" in the first resolution, which
was replaced with "expects."
There was also debate over the part in
the resolution that said the RSG would
"facilitate discussions between organiza-
tions in an effort to reach a mutual
understanding of tolerant conduct"
because some felt it was not applicable
to RSG.
Members also expressed concern over
whether the resolution regarding the
Palestinian-Israeli debate is relevant to
graduate student concerns and whether
the RSG has any authority to enforce the
resolutions.
"(The resolutions) are only as good as
what the student groups and individuals
involved take them for," Hulsebus said.
"If they honor that pledge I believe we
can spur a campus dialogue that is vig-
orous yet respectful."
Both resolutions will be posted on the
RSG website.
Hulsebus said he encourages stu-
dents and other members of the cam-.
pus community to respond to the
documents by e-mail.
Nashville, Tenn. on Sept. 19. As the
world's largest organization of
black executives, MBA students and
entrepreneurs, NBMBAA has a
large presence in the black business
community and the University has
made a large impression in the
NBMBAA.
Malveaux said the NBMBAA cares
about access to education for disadvan-
taged groups - especially blacks -
and they are thankful for institutions
like the University.
KELLY LIN/Uaily
LSA junior Mark Schneider gets a caffeine boost to fuel his
midterm studying yesterday at Cafe Ambrosia on Maynard Street.
Granlolin, Posth urnus
debate carnpaz n ethicsj
DEBATE
Continued from Page 1
During the time while she was there, she
was unable to say no to no-bid con-
tracts."
Following the debate, Posthumus said
he does not know the percentage of state
contracts given to the campaign of his
running mate in 1998, Gov. John Engler.
But his campaign spokesman quickly
chimed in that "it is a lot less than 84
percent."
Several times, the candidates
accused each other of lying about
each other's record, with Posthumus
referring to Democratic accusations
that he once supported a privatization
of Michigan branch of the Blue
Cross/Blue Shield health insurance
company. Granholm in turn attacked
Republican ads accusing her of sup-
porting property tax increases..
The two candidates also tangoed over
the issues of slave reparations and affir-
mative action. Posthumus said
Granholm is incapable of saying no to
interest groups, citing when she told the
National Association for the Advance-
ment of Colored People that she sup-
ports slave reparations.
Granholm said she does not favor any
system of payment as a form of repara-
tions, but rather some way to "repair"
the damage done by slavery.
After the debate, one Granholm ally
lamented it was not informative.
REVISIONS
Continued from Page 1
Building and School of Information
will all be expanded. New meeting
places for faculty and students,
including a convention center and a
commons area similar to the Michi-
gan Union, will also add some spice
to the area.
"There is a lot of work left to be done
on the North Campus if we want it to be
on equal footing with the Central Cam-
pus," Kelbaugh said.
The vision presented by Kelbaugh at
his lecture, titled "North Campus
Redux," comes after years of collabora-
tion on behalf of urban design students,
University officials and executive offi-
cers, as well as deans from various
schools and colleges.
"I don't think we are going to have
"There was a lot of rehashing of old
ideas," state Rep. Buzz Thomas (D-
Detroit) said. "I don't think we learned
anything new about the candidates."
Granholm also said she supports pro-
grams of race-
based admissions
policies such as
those at the Univer-
sity, while Posthu-
mus said he
supports a form of
"affirmative
access" without the
use of racial quota.
The lieutenant gov-
Granholm ernor referenced his
support for the
MEAP Merit
Award Scholar-
ships, which he
credited with mak-
ing college more
affordable for many
minorities.
During the clos-
ing statements,
Posthumus Posthumus blasted
Granholm for her
support in "making Michigan only
the second state in the country that
supports gay unions." After the
debate, Granholm responded that she
supports allowing civil unions
between gays so long as the term
marriage is not the word use to
describe the union.
friendly environment.
"It's not even a good place to drive,
much less walk," he said. "We need
more destinations. We need places to
have a date, places to have a drink....
We need a little more sin.
Hank Baier, associate vice presi-
dent for facilities and operations, said
Kelbaugh's vision will be taken into
account during future projects. The
vision already takes into account sev-
eral already-planned projects, includ-
ing an expansion of the College of
Engineering.
"I think the dean presented a lot of
vision that really made me consider how
North Campus will be developing in the
future," Baier said. "As projects become
a reality, we need to consider the long-
term implications. I'm thinking about
his long-term vision as I think about my
next set of projects."
U I
Telluride House
Intellectual Challenge
Self-Government
Public Service
Room and Board
cholarships
Informational Meeting
Tuesday, October 8,7-9 p.m.
Pendleton Room, Michigan Union
refreshments served
Undergraduate and Graduate Students Welcome
i