I
ti or
Thursday
October 10, 2002
02002 The Michigan Daily
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Vol. CXIII, No. 28
One-hundred-twelve years ofeditorialfreedom
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www.michigandaily.com
Fischer
Newman
pursues
new term
By Tomlslav Ladika
Daily Staff Reporter
Having served the University's Board
of Regents for the past eight years,
Andrea Fischer Newman says she has
learned a great deal about how money is
spent and how decisions are made at the
University.
Fischer Newman, an Ann Arbor
Republican and the senior vice president
of government affairs for Northwest Air-
lines, said her experience is an invalu-
able asset as a regent candidate.
"It takes about two years when you
come onto the board to really understand
how the University works," she said.
"The learning curve is the big challenge.
... There's so much to learn about the
different aspects of the University
because it is so large and decentralized
and diverse."
During her time
on the board, Fisch-
er Newman has
presided over eight
budget cycles,
which were mainly
responsible for the
University's 71 per-
cent raise in tuition
over the past
decade. Fischer
Fischer Newman Newman said many
times she felt she was the only voice
arguing in favor of a reasonable budget
and a review of expenses.
She says that although she believes
reasonable tuition increases can occur,
the University must now bonsider other
options to keep tuition costs in check.
Fischer Newman proposed a three-
part program - convincing the state
government that higher education appro-
priations need to grow, increasing
fundraising and managing the Universi-
ty's budget. She said University adminis-
trators should be able to figure ways to
keep budget costs down.
"What you need is a board that will
ask tough questions" about the budget,
she said. "I believe we can do more to
control costs while maintaining academ-
ic excellence."
With regard to the two lawsuits chal-
lenging the use of race in admissions in
the Law School and College of Litera-
ture, Science and Arts, Fischer Newman
said she supports a more diverse com-
munity at the University, but flexible
admissions policies must be used to
uphold academic standards.
"Regardless of the legal outcome, the
challenge for the University will be to
continue creating a student body that
reflects the community it serves while
maintaining academic standards," she
said. "The unequal quality of K-12 edu-
cation presents the most difficult chal-
lenge to achieving this balance."
Fischer Newman said students attend-
ing sub-standard schools are at a disad-
vantage because of problems within the
schools, and not their academic ability.
See REGENT, Page 7A
Bachelor's
degree
may not
e enoug
By Shabina S. Khati
Daily Staff Reporter
According to the National Center for
Education Statistics, the past decade has
seen a 20 percent increase in the number
of annually awarded bachelor's degrees.
But the job scarcity caused by the eco-
nomic recession has caused many stu-
dents seeking premium employment
positions to realize that an undergradu-
ate education may no longer be enough.
Monique Washington, director of
admissions at Rackham Graduate
School, said the school has been expe-
riencing a steady growth in application
volume for the past five years, and
cited the improved opportunities for
students seeking admission to graduate
Conference
lawsuit may
go to judge
By Jordan Schrader
Daily Staff Reporter
For two students who sued the Uni-
versity Tuesday, time is running out to
make their case.
But plaintiff Adi Neuman said he is
confident the case will be in court
tomorrow, in time for a judge to either
stop this weekend's Second National
Student Conference on the Palestine
Solidarity Movement or ban its speakers
from campus.
Deborah Schlussel, the attorney rep-
resenting LSA senior Neuman and LSA
sophomore Richard Dorfman, said she
will attempt today to file a motion for a
hearing in Washtenaw. County Circuit
Court. Whether she is successful
depends on whether Judge Melinda
Morris agrees to hear the motion by
tomorrow, she said.
Dorfman and Neuman filed their law-
suit in an effort to prevent speakers they
believe will incite violence on campus
from attending the conference.
University General Marvin Krislov
said the University considered concerns
about the conference. "We have elected
to stand by the principles of openness,
tolerance, and robust debate that are cen-
tral to our educational mission," he said.
The original motion gave the
See LAWSUIT, Page 7A
Critics: Neither
side wis with
divestmient
ONATHOm N TIETJiaily
Eastern Michigan University junior Lior Kosovski, a native of Israel, came to the United States his freshman year of
college. Like many other international students, he found life in America was much different than at home.
Foreign students discover
intricacies of Am e'can life
By Jennifer Misthal
Daily Staff Reporter
adding that divestment is backward
step for the entire region.
"Divestment is an attempt to
destroy the right to self-determina-
By Nicole Mazzocco
For the Daily
Standing in a crowded airport ter-
minal, Konstantinos Ghirtis was
struck by "the unprecedented feeling
that it is just you and your two suit-
cases." He had decided to leave his
home country of Greece and enter
life at the University where he said
he found the subtleties of life in
America would surprise him.
One of his first stops was the Inter-
national Center, where he took part in
an extensive three-week orientation
program. Students can choose to
attend seminars on everything from
how to find a job to common idioms
used in academic speech.
Rodolfo Altamirano, director of
the International Center, said he feels
one of the greatest barriers interna-
'tional students face is xenophobia
from professors, students and the
community at large.
Altamirano said many students
can be overwhelmed when they first
get to the United States. Following a
speech he made at a function for
international students, Altamirano
said he received an anonymous e-
mail that read: "I felt sad when the
receptionist became impatient. I felt
upset when nobody wanted to pair
with me in the lab. People think I
have imperfect mind because of my
imperfect speaking."
But kaphaelle Granger, a French
Business Student, had a very differ-
ent experience.."In America, people
are used to immigrants, so the accent
doesn't matter as much," she said.
Altamirano said members of the
University community should not
assume adjustment to life in Ann
Arbor is easy.
"We, as part of the University,
have to be sensitive to the learning
needs of our students. ... We need
to understand what is an effective
See ADJUSTING, Page 7A
With members of the University
community still divided over the
issue of divestment, pro-Israeli
groups continue to warn that divest-
ment will not resolve the Israeli-
Palestinian conflict.
A campaign to remove economic
interests from the region will affect
Israelis and Palestinians, Michigan
Student Zionists President Adi Neu-
man said.
"Palestinians would suffer just as
much as Israelis from divestment
because the Palestinian economy is
to a certain extent dependent on
jobs in Israel," Neuman said.
The ensuing political problems of
divestment could also be severe for
the Middle East's only democratic
nation, Israel Michigan Public
Affairs Committee co-chair and
LSA sophomore Rachel Roth said,
DIVESTMENT
Last in a
three-part series,
tion of the Jewish
people. Singling
out Israel, a demo-
cratic country
striving for the
highest level of
human rights and
civil liberties
attainable, for
divestment and
destruction is con-
fused at best and hateful at worst,"
Roth said.
With many divestment advocates
preparing for the Second National
Student Conference on the Palestine
Solidarity Movement, Neuman said
he is concerned about a resurgence
of anti-Semitism.
"Campuses across the country
See DIVESTMENT, Page 7A
Media specialists
debate Muslim,
Arab stereotypes
In memorium
By Erin Saylor
Daily Staff Reporter,
Dialogues on Diversity hosted "Cov-
ering Religion on the American Cam-
pus: Journalism and the Effects of Sept.
11" yesterday in the Michigan Union.
The discussion, featuring two guest jour-
nalists and a media critic, focused on the
portrayal of Muslims and Arabs in
American media in the past year.
"Even before (Sept. 11) we had been
taught to fear most things Arab and most
things Muslim," Jack Shaheen, a media
critic and author of the book "Reel Bad
Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a Peo-
ple;' said to the crowd. "One's religion
and ethnic background should never
enter into how we perceive people."
While noting the explosion of media
coverage during the past year made
Americans more aware of the Arabic
and Muslim communities, the speakers
spoke out against generalizations and
emerging stereotypes of Muslim and
Arab people, particularly the ideas, that
all Arabs are Muslim and that all Muse
lims are terrorists.
"What we've done is take the lunatic
fringe and said that it represents millions
of Arabs and Muslims," said Shaheen, a
Michigan Journalism Fellow alum. The
crowd responded with applause.
pointed out periods in America's past
when particular races and ethnicities
were stereotyped and vilified by the
media. He emphasized the portrayal of
the Japanese during World War II.
"Journalists sought to demonize the
Japanese during World War II, and I
don't believe that it's a far stretch to
draw parallels between that imagery and
the way we portray al-Qaida and the
Islam and Muslim communities,"
Crumm said, holding up books with
covers that showed large groups of
Arabs. "We are bombarded by images of
the unwashed masses coming at us from
the covers of the book, and we are made
to fear them" He added that if such hate
rhetoric were allowed to continue, then
history threatens to repeat itself.
Jodie Wilgoren, a bureau chief for the
Chicago branch of The New York Times
attributed many of the misconceptions to
American's unfamiliarity with the idea
of life being surrounded by politics.
"People here don't live politics," she
said.
With the country at war and images of
Sept. 11 still strong in the minds of
Americans, Crumm suggested that it
was not the best time to make decisions.
"In this fog of war it is difficult not to
drown in the sea of information,"
Crumm said. "It is a very confusing
Students lie on the steps of the Michigan Union yesterday pretending to be dead in recognition of
those who have been killed by hate crimes. This is one of the events sponsored by the Lesbian,
Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Affairs Commission for Coming Out Week.
Insurance pertinent to 'U'
students, Cole-man says
By Megan Hayes
and Mona Rafeeq
Daily Staff Reporters
community the need for national
health insurance at the 7th Annual
Waggoner Lectureship Qn Ethics and
Values in Medicine yesterday.
Boasting credentials that include
experience as a professor in bio-chem-
ictrv~ nt the UI n 1ivevity Medical School.
cally with regard to her position as co-
chair of a committee for the Institute of
Medicine.
Her talk referenced three reports
conducted by the IOM to assess cur-
rent evidence about the consequences
of u~ninsunramnceand to raiseawarenes
Citing the fact that more than 40
million Americans are now uninsured,