1 ' .t11. .1' Thursday December 5, 2002 @2002 The Michigan Daily Ann Arbor, Michigan Vol. CXIII, No. 62 One-hundred-twelve years of editorial freedom TODAY: Partly cloudy throughout the day with wind- chill tempera- tures dipping into the teens. b ~;29 ~ 22 Tomorrow: www.michigandaily. corn Panelists debate divestment issue By Jennifer Misthal Daily Staff Reporter Members of the University community gathered last night to re-examine the issue of divestment at an open forum sponsored by Students Allied for Free- dom and Equality, a group in favor of removing money it says funds the Israeli army's occupying forces in the occupied territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Several student groups against divesting 'U' hopes policies withstand scrutiny By Megan Hayes Daily Staff Reporter from Israel did not attend the forum. The forum came almost two months after SAFE sponsored a controversial divestment con- ference at the University. Until last night, several pro-Israel groups believed the event would be postponed for another week, giving both sides adequate time to prepare their arguments, said LSA senior Yulia Dernovsky, co-chair of the American Movement for Israel. AMI wanted the forum to encompass a broader debate and have an impartial mod- erator, co-chair and Engineering junior Avi Jacobson said. "In selecting a moderator, we'd select someone who has no opinion to act as a moderator," he said. "We think divest- ment is a method of squashing the debate. By putting this discussion, it gives the movement legitimacy it does not deserve." The panel included three members - Muslim Students Association Political Committee co-chair Ashraf Zahr, Rack- ham student Andrew Ravin and SAFE co-founder Fadi Kiblawi. Both Zahr and Kiblawi supported the divestment move- nent, while Ravin represented the count- :r-argument, but stressed that he did not epresent the entire pro-Israeli commu- ity. "I am one Jewish individual," Ravin said. I am a representative of myself." Zahr, an Engineering senior, said his goal 'r the forum was to dispel several myths ,rrounding the divestment movement and alestinian sentiments toward the state of JESSICA YURASEK/Daily srael. Students speak and answer questions about the University's See DIVESTMENT, Page 3A stance on divestment at the Law School last night. Budget cuts will be larger than first estimated N4s The scrutiny with which the Univer- sity's admissions policies have been examined since two lawsuits were filed against it will only increase as the U.S. Supreme Court plans to take an even closer look at the use of race as a factor in admissions. Jennifer Gratz in 1995 and Barbara Grutter in 1997 were denied admission to the College of Literature, Sciences and the Arts and the Law ADMI$SI N School, , respective- ly, while they claim less quali- fied minor- ity applicants were accepted. They have both brought lawsuits against the University, alleging that the Universi- ty's use of race-conscious admissions policies is unconstitutional and unlaw- fully discriminatory. In the brief it submitted to the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, Universi- ty officials said applicants to the undergraduate program are evaluated based on guidelines that "blend the consistency of a formula with the flexi- bility of a review that is ultimately a matter of human judgment." "This is not just a purely mechanical process at all, but there are points assigned," interim LSA Dean Terrence McDonald said. "Every application is read by several people in the admis- sions process." . The admissions staff is aided in the evaluation process by a selection index, which assigns applicant points based on a variety of factors deemed impor- tant by the University, both academic and otherwise. A maximum of 110 points may be awarded based on academic achieve- ments. No more than 40 points are awarded to applicants for other fac- tors, which include geography, quality of the personal essay and leadership and service. The greatest amount of points in this category is given to applicants from underrepresented racial or ethnic minority groups, for which 20 out of the 40 points may be awarded. An applicant's selection index is the total of the scores from both categories. Although a point system is used as part of the evaluation process, McDon- ald said the applications are carefully scrutinized multiple times by members of the admissions staff. "The process is not clearly based on numbers," he said. "We take into con- sideration a wide a of characteris- tics, first and foremost academics." McDonald said race is one of the factors considered when aiming for diversity, but it does not outweigh con- cerns of applicants' ability to succeed academically. "Within those who meet academic standards, we want to have the most diverse student body we can," he said. While the Law School also takes race into consideration when evaluat- ing potential students, it does so on a more personalized basis due to a small- er applicant pool. "Our admissions director reads everything in an applicant's file," Law School Dean Jeffrey Lehman said in an interview earlier this week. "Ultimately what is involved is a very individualis- By Tomislav Ladika Daily Staff Reporter Budget cuts will hit state universities harder than originally anticipated as Gov. John Engler is expected to present an executive order to the Michigan Legislature today calling for a 2.5 per- cent cut in higher education funding, The Michi- gan Daily has learned. The Detroit News reported Nov. 16 that Engler was considering proposing cuts to relieve the state's $470 million budget deficit, and state leg- islators last week said they expected a higher edu- cation cut of around 1 percent, possibly ranging up to 2 percent. But yesterday Sen. John Schwarz (R-Battle Creek), chair of the Senate subcommittee over- seeing higher education funding, said the pro- posed cut exceeds the highest level anticipated by legislators. "Two and a half percent, that's what's going to be proposed," Schwarz said. "I think the governor is trying to find a number where the appropria- tions committees in both houses will approve the executive order." Schwarz added "there will be a lot of discus- sion" today before the executive order is finalized. Yet House members do not favor minimizing cuts to higher education funding, said Gary Hen- derson, chief of staff for Sen. George McManus (R-Traverse City). State appropriations have never been cut during Engler's 12-year tenure, but Hen- derson said representatives want smaller cuts to revenue sharing for local governments this year. "You see an attitude among legislators to spread the pain as much as possible," he said. While the 2.5 percent cut to higher education falls in line with cuts to most other depart- ments, the executive order stipulates a 3.5 per- cent cut in revenue sharing to local governments, Schwarz said. University Provost Paul Courant said a cut as low as one percent would be significant enough for the University to "postpone various kinds of maintenance activities, postpone filling up vari- ous open positions." In addition to leaving some faculty positions unfilled and delaying the replacement of equip- ment used by various departments, Courant said the University is prepared to chip away at por- tions of each department's budget. "We've told most of our deans and directors, 'Be ready to come up with a cut in this range," he said. Courant declined to speculate on possible tuition rates for next year, but said he expects another increase. See BUDGET, Page 3A , 4 JASON COOPER/Daily Emily Line shows a picture of herself and her sister, Katie. At age 1, Emily donated bone marrow to her seven-year-old sister. Emily described Katie as someone who could light up any room. Marrow transplant mCCay help save lives Webb er's father admits accepting Martin's gifts By Steve Jackson Daily Sports Editor By Maria Sprow Daily Staff Reporter Although she was diagnosed with leukemia when she was only 7 years old, Katie Line was considered one of the lucky ones. Her family was able to travel all over the country in search of the best doctors and med- icine. Not only did she achieve remission after months of chemotherapy and radiation, but she had what many cancer patients at the time could only wish for: an older sibling who was an exact bone marrow match. Emily Line was only 11 when she made the choice to donate her bone marrow to help save her younger sister's life but she said the deci- sion was an easy one. "I feel very, very lucky, and I feel it was the greatest honor in the world," Emily said. "I wouldn't have it any other way. It makes me feel very close to her." Now 24 years old and a University alum, Emily said she still remembers what it was like to go through the donation process. "I was really scared because I knew my sis- ter was really ill, but I think the scarier part was not really understanding what the trans- plant was all about," she said, adding that at the time - 1989 - bone marrow transplants were not as successful or as standard as they are today. "There were people dying all the time because the bone marrow transplant was not See MARROW, Page 3A Chris Webber's father admitted to a grand jury that he accepted gifts from banned Michigan booster Ed Martin, according to court documents filed by his lawyer. Webber, a former star bas- ketball player at Michigan, was indicted in federal court along with his father, Mayce Webber Jr., and his aunt, Charlene Johnson, in Sep- tember on charges of making a false statement to a grand jury and conspiring to obstruct justice in the federal money laundering case Chris Webber against Martin. All three have pleaded innocent. Each charge is punishable by up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Martin pleaded guilty in May and admitted to loaning large sums of money to Webber, which the Sacramento Kings' star forward has repeated- ly denied. In April, Webber admitted receiving small cash gifts from Martin, but nothing in the neighborhood of the $280,000 in loans that the federal indictment against Martin alleges. In the motion to dismiss the charges against him, the elder Webber "acknowledged that Martin had given some gifts to him, and Martin put a hotel bill on a charge card and was paid back." It is a violation of NCAA rules for boosters to pay for hotel rooms for players or their families. But the primary reason why the University imposed sanction on its basketball program Nov. 9 was the $616,000 that Martin allegedly loaned to Webber and three other former Wolverines - Maurice Taylor, Robert Traylor and Louis Bullock. In addition to dropping the championship ban- ners and removing all other references to the rele- vant players and teams, Michigan chose to forfeit games won while those four players were on the team, including two trips to the Final Four in 1992 and 1993. The Athletic Department will also pay $450,000 in fines to the NCAA. Michigan basketball will face a two-year peri- od of probation and will be banned from this See WEBBER, Page 3A Many grad students do not support 'U' side in lawsuits Reflections By Carmen Johnson Daily Staff Reporter "Before student government can do anything on an issue such as affirmative action, you have to know what students think," said Rackham Student Government President Brian Hulsebus. For that reason, this fall's Rackham Student Government ballot asked students to respond to three questions concern- ing the University's use of race in admissions in the College of Literature, Science and Arts and the Law School in addi- tion to casting votes for 13 new representatives. Results show 57.8 percent of Rackham students support the, T Tni rit'c1vrn i cofrace-cnnwrlr,11Q drmzCkcinn-, not support the University's side in the undergraduate and Law School cases. Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear the two lawsuits filed against the University, students' voices on both sides of the lawsuit will be heard more than ever, Hulsebus said. But Hulsebus said he was surprised by the large percent- age of students who were undecided on the issue. The results showed 25.8 percent and 28.6 percent of students were undecided whether they supported the University's defense of its University's Law School and undergrad poli- cies, respectively. "It seems that 25 percent to 35 percent of students are f u: , f JESSICA YURASEK/Daily I I i. I