t The Michigan Dailv - New Student Edition -- Tuesdav. September 3. 2002 - 7C I Th mnk ghi n l lv -n w Stid1At F1iinn - Tiiar$.v nwumhcr . 9009 - 7fv WALKOUT Continued from Page iC ended after 11 hours. "We are really happy with the turnout today. All over campus, there is a lot of noise, a lot of energy," GEO organizing committee member and Rackham student Rachel Meyer said. "I think we've done a good job shutting down the University. If you look around, the parking lots are empty, the common spaces are empty and there aren't a lot of students walking around between classes." GEO President and Rackham student Cedric de Leon said many of the construction sites were also abandoned by noon. University Spokeswoman Julie Peterson said work continued despite the picket lines. Peterson said financially, the University was not grossly affected by the walk-out and the slowed con- struction, but no cost estimate could be made. "The impact from a one-day strike is not enormous. Disruption of classes was kept to a minimum," she said. "It was what was expected. There was certainly some public message made." De Leon said the final decision to hold the strike happened after negotiations ended at 4 a.m. Union members said despite the advances made during the weekend, core issues, such as child care and wages, were not discussed. Members said they would not forget about those issues because it is important the new contract meets the needs of every person in GEO. "There are still groups out there that need our help. We will stay out as long as we need to make sure everyone gets a better contract," GEO member and Rackham student Irfan Nooruddin said at the closing rally, adding that the GEO will not back down on the remaining issues. "Issues of justice and principle can never be com- promised." During the walk-out supporters stood near building entrances in an attempt to speak with anybody who entered them. Picketers said they understood students' dilemmas about not attending class, but not all excuses were convincing. "We're getting the impression that some professors are giving quizzes just to spite the union," Rackham student Wojciech Beltkiewicz said. "A lot of students have been saying they have quizzes," she added. Kinesiology senior Dan Eldred said he attended his classes in Angell Hall despite his personal feelings about crossing the picket line. "I did feel a little guilty. I didn't make eye contact with them when I passed them because I knew that they would question me. I wanted to avoid being both- ered," he said. Other students, including LSA junior Martina Graef, who entered Angell Hall from an entrance con- nected to the Diag, said she did not run into any pick- eters at all. "There were students supporting the GEO out there, but there was really no picket line that I had to cross," Graef said, adding that a picket line would not have changed her decision to attend class. "I would have crossed it. ... I know that there is a strike, but if the professor is holding class, I'm still responsible for the material." Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Diane Brown said the strike ended without any legal misfor- tunes. "The picketers (were) cooperative and followed the officers' requests without complaint. We simply asked for voluntary compliance and did not have to take any additional measures," she said. CONTRACT Continued from Page1C Another issue he said the union may address in the future is the unionization of graduate research assistants, which GEO could aid by either bringing them into its membership or working with them to cre- ate a separate union. Despite the potential for more contract disputes during the next round of negotia- tions, Dilley said he would like his succes- sors to be able to settle the disagreements with the University without resorting to the threat of a strike. "We'd much rather bargain with the Uni- versity," he said. "I hope sincerely that things will be different." Organizers emphasized that before beginning to work on a new contract, the union must enforce the one they have. "We fully expect the University to live by the contract they have signed," Meyer said. "But in the event that does not hap- pen, we'll make sure that it does." While some GEO leaders counted votes, others were participating in a national con- ference of the Alliance of Graduate Employee Locals. Dilley, who attended the conference, said other GSI unions there looked to GEO for leadership because of their strong position and new contract. "Everybody sees what GEO has and that's what they strive for," he said. PRESIDENT Continued from Page C Bollinger was announced last year to be a finalist and then lost to former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Lawrence Summers, he believes Bollinger is the exception to the rule. "Everyone involved are people who are themselves in a position of responsi- bility," Lewis said. "In many other instances, individuals will find them- selves compromised if they are publicly identified as a candidate in a public search." When asked about a list of finalists, Deitch would not offer a list but said "there is one finalist and she is with us (now)." Making a list of candidates public, even after the announcement, would violate a promise to those who chose to accept their nominations, Lewis said. Though she said she never intended to leave Iowa and was not looking for another job when University committee members asked her to consider the posi- tion, Coleman said she is happy to be part of the University community and looks forward to "the experience of a lifetime." "I just wanted you to know what a thrill this is," she said, adding that part of the thrill of being elected University president comes from her passion for public university education. "I have to tell you, when I called my mother, my 88-year-old mother - she lives in Colorado - she cried and she understood what it meant to be named president," Coleman said. "Iowa is a fabulous place to be," she added. "I was very happy at Iowa. Many good things were happening at Iowa. I agreed to become a candidate because the University (of Michigan) is such a great university." As president at Iowa, Coleman said she was involved with students on a number of levels, ranging from making Madonna videos of herself for the school's dance marathon to working with student organizations and student government to making herself available for student comments. The president always makes an appearance at the school's dance marathon. "I always make a fool of myself," Coleman added. Besides her Madonna impersonation, Coleman said there are other things she would like the student body to know about her. "I'd like students to know that I'm an open person, accessible, that I care about the ideas students have," she said. At Iowa, she visited sororities and f- ternities, answered student e-mail and started a Fireside Chats program co- sponsored by the University of Iowa stu- dent government, where 500 students a month are invited to informally meet and discuss topics of interest, she said, adding that the event is publicized and open to all students, regardless of if they receive an invitation, she said. Coleman is the first woman president at the University, but said she did not feel that being a woman holding the title would change the job description. "This is a hard job, a stressful job for men and women and I think the pres- sures are the same," she said. As far as the president's role in the Ed Martin investigation and other issues, she said integrity is a central issue. "The president is going to be involved with the regents to see that the informa- tion comes out. It is extremely important for the public to have absolute confi- dence in the integrity of the University," she said. DEBBIE MIZEL/Daily Coleman listens as Presidential Search Advisory Committee chair and Rackham Dean Earl Lewis (left) tells members of the media why he believes Coleman was the best candidate possible.