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Vol. CXIII, No. 63

MEMO

'U,
By Jordan Schrader
Daily Staff Reporter

funding cut to balance state budget

Michigan state legislators voted yesterday to
approve Gov. John Engler's proposed budget
cuts, slashing higher education funds in a move
that will call for tough decisions by University
officials.
Engler's executive order cut funding for uni-
versities and colleges by 2.5 percent. But soon
after the appropriations committees in the Senate
and House narrowly approved the order, the full
Senate passed a bill reducing higher education
Students
want RC
image to
improve
By Elizabeth Anderson
Daily Staff Reporter

cuts to 2 percent by using surplus Michigan
Merit Award funds.W
The House has yet to vote on that bill, which
state Sen. John Schwarz said has Engler's sup-
port. Schwarz (R-Battle Creek) said the bill
would not cut the number of Merit scholar-
ships.
University Provost Paul Courant said the
University has expected cuts for some time and
planned accordingly, making a mid-year tuition
hike unlikely. He said administrators will try to
reduce spending rather than make students
absorb the cuts. By leaving positions vacant

and postponing programs, they can direct the
brunt of the reductions away from education,
he said.
"There might be some paint peeling in some
places;'he said.
But when the University Board of Regents sets
tuition rates next year, it may have to deal with
similar cuts in state funding for 2003-04. The
regents raised tuition by 7.9 percent this year
after the state kept University funding steady.
"The effects really depend on how permanent
these cuts are" Courant said.
The executive order cut $337 million from

departments across the state government in
order to wipe out most of the $460 budget
deficit. While an executive order does not have
to pass the full state House and Senate, the
appropriations committees in both houses must
approve it.
Most departments, and the revenue sharing
that aids local governments, saw reductions of
3.5 percent.
While cuts had to be made to ensure a bal-
anced budget, many lawmakers believed the
money should have come from a delay of the
state income tax reduction. But the House yester-
N 1Ev

day voted down a bill that would have frozen the
income tax.
In its initial vote, the Senate committee
declined the executive order, but Schwarz and
Sen. Leon Stille (R-Spring Lake) reversed their
votes after meeting with Engler.
Schwarz said he changed to a "yes" vote
because of the progress from 2.5 to 2 percent on
higher education cuts.
"We were able to soften the blow to the univer-
sities to the tune of one half percent," he said,
adding that the difference means $1.8 million
See FUNDING Page 3
idence of

Recently, perceptions of how the
College of Literature, Science and the
Arts views the Residential College has
fueled discontent among some RC stu-
dents. Although some students appreci-
ate the RC for the close contact
between professors and students and
the opportunity for interdisciplinary
study, students feel the RC is not val-
ued by LSA.
Included in RC students' disgruntled
sentiments are the lack of tenure
among RC faculty and the transition to
letter grading.
Chuck Goddeeris, an RC junior,
said he likes the RC because of the
small class sizes and intimate
atmosphere, but he feels frustrated
by the treatment of the RC by LSA
administrators.
"The RC is like the ugly red-head-
ed stepchild of LSA. ... The RC
needs more control over itself," God-
deeris said.
RC junior Sarah Tasman echoed
Goddeeris's sentiments.
"(LSA students and administra-
tors) think we're all hippies and
don't like us because we have indi-
viduality," Tasman said.
RC Director Tom Weisskopf dis-
agreed with the perceptions of stu-
dents.
"The RC is treated like any other LSA
unit," Weisskopf said.
Rumors that LSA implemented a
hiring freeze and budget cuts for the
RC are untrue, RC and LSA adminis-
tration said. In fact, possible Univer-
sity-wide budget cuts for next year
have curbed all LSA departmental
hiring.
When asked about the lack of
tenure among RC faculty, LSA Asso-
ciate Dean of Undergraduate Educa-
tion Robert Owen said many are not
tenured because the RC is interdisci-
plinary and only an undergraduate
unit.
"However ... there are tenure-
See RC, Page 3

weapons i
Iraq found
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Bush administration said
yesterday it has solid evidence that Iraq has weapons of
mass destruction, setting the stage for urging the U.N. Secu-
rity Council to consider action against Saddam Hussein.
The White House would not say what its evidence might
be. Saddam said in Baghdad that Iraq wants to disprove the
U.S. allegations, though he did not explicitly deny having
chemical, biological and nuclear weapons or a program to
develop long-range missiles.
The international inspectors in Iraq have detected little
that was suspicious in their first searches in nearly four
years. Saddam said he had permitted the inspectors to return
in order "to take our people out of harm's way."
Even while mobilizing for war and preparing for diplo-
matic combat with skeptics in the U.N. Security Council,
President Bush declined to respond directly when asked if
the United States was heading toward war.
"That's a question you should ask to Saddam Hussein," he
replied.
But in London, America's closest ally, Britain, sternly
warned Baghdad that it risked an attack if it gave inspectors
a deceptive account of its weapons program this weekend.
Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said, "While this weekend
will not be the moment to declare Iraq either in breach or in
compliance, a false declaration would make clear to the
world that Saddam's strategy is deceit."
"We will not allow him to get away with it," Straw said.
And at the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld
indicated the United States would refer damning evidence
against Iraq to the Security Council for joint action.
"They have to make a judgment as to whether or not the
resolution that they passed unanimously is being complied
with," Rumsfeld said at a news conference.
It would be a "nice outcome" if Saddam decided to leave
Iraq, Rumsfeld said. If the Iraqi leader remains in Baghdad,
Rumsfeld said, "he will either deal with the problem of dis-
arming or he will tell the -world community that he is unwill-
ing to."
"And the next choice ... is with the United Nations and the
members of the Security Council," Rumsfeld said.
See IRAQ, Page 2

JOHN PRATT/Daily
Clinical psychologist Stacey Pearson of Counseling and Psychological Services speaks yesterday on the objectification of minority women in history
and popular culture.
Susceptibility of nunonity
fale stereotypehs analze

By Soojung Chang
Daily Staff Reporter

Holding a platinum blond Barbie doll,
clinical psychologist Stacey Pearson of
Counseling and Psychological Services
said the doll is one way in which Ameri-
can society perpetuates the idea that "the
standard of beauty is white and it doesn't
leave room for the diversity of sizes."
"There is this proliferation in thinking
that this is the ideal," Pearson said. "This
is the message, and it starts at Barbie."
America's history of colonialism and
oppression of minorities as well as the
ways in which it affects views of minority
women's bodies both in the past and pres-
ent were the topics of a dialogue held yes-
terday in the Michigan Union.
American culture Prof. Andrea Smith
talked about the history of sexual violence

against Native American women and how
it was a result of a colonial and patriarchal
worldview. She said because Native Amer-
icans were depicted as being dirty and
polluted, there was a view that sexually
violating them was acceptable.
She added that women in particular
became targets because of their ability to
give birth. They were often mutilated or sex-
ually violated throughout colonial history.
Center for Afroamerican and African
Studies and history Prof. Martha Jones
talked about some of the impressions of
blacks written by European travelers, even
from the very earliest encounters. She said
that Europeans seemed to have a fascina-
tion with the bodies of black women,
describing different parts of their bodies,
physiques and their complexion.
"As long as black women have been in
America, there have been ideas and

images of them that have been constructed
over time," Jones said.
She said that while their images were
often derogatory and obviously exaggerat-
ed, some accounts also indicated desire
and admiration.
Historically, Jones said, there have been
two stereotypical images often associated
with black women. The "Jezebel" is a
stereotype of black women as lustful and;
sexually unbounded. They are often of
mixed descent and desirous of sexual rela-
tions with white men. In contrast, the
"mammy" is an older, loyal; maternal fig-
ure and an advisor and energetic worker.
Jones also talked about ways in which
black women have tried to resist stereo-
types. One of the strategies was what she
called a culture of dissemblance, by which
some women have remained silent about
See PERCEPTION, Page 3

Forum discusses portrayal of
Detroit, culture in '8 Mile'

By Maria Sprow
Daily Staff Reporter
Lately, Detroit has been everywhere - especially in the
movie theaters. Last month alone, at least three new movies
showcasing the heart and history of the city opened, some
on limited screens and others at theaters nationwide.
One, "Standing in the Shadows of Motown," has been
hailed by critics as a must-see movie but has been largely
ignored by local moviegoers, who have raced to see the
more controversial titles, "8 Mile" and "Bowling for
Columbine."
But while "Bowling," a documentary on gun violence in
America that focuses much of its attention on Detroit and
Windsor, has had its share of attention, the controversy sur-
rounding "8 Mile," the semi-autobiographical and semi-fic-
tionalized life of rapper Eminem, has been ongoing since
before the movie premiered Nov. 8.
The movie takes place in the area surrounding Detroit's 8
Mile Road, and many Detroiters and University students
have expressed concern over the film's negative images of
an abandoned city and the people who live there.
In an open discussion held last night in Haven Hall spon-
so.red by the Residential College and the Center for
Afroamerican and African Studies, students and faculty
members exnressed differing oninions on how the movie

Participants felt split between liking the movie and being
disheartened by it. Although speakers addressed the fact that
during the making of "8 Mile," Eminem brought in approxi-
mately $10 million to the city, others said they believed he
sold it out, depicting it as an ugly place to live.
"I don't want Detroit to be like Birmingham or Bloom-
field Hills. ... That's not Detroit," American culture Prof.
Scott Kurashige said.
Others said the movie, because it takes place in 1995,
missed some of the important recent improvements that
have been made in the city such as Angel's Night, a commu-
nity-based project started several years ago to offset the
Devil's Night fires the city is famous for.
"When I think of Detroit, I think the best thing about
Detroit is every Angel's Night," LSA senior Brian Groesser
said. "On Devil's Night ... everything was burning and peo-
ple were scared to go into Detroit. But then you had every-
one come together."
Some said that regardless of whether the images were
seen as good or bad, it was still important that they
were shown.
"It might not be the Detroit everyone wants to see, it
might not be the Detroit everyone is familiar with," Rack-
ham student Charles Gentry said during the discussion,
adding that he has seen the movie several times and believes
there are some valuable aspects to the film. "I think the big

Harm Derksen, mathematics professor and local supervisor
for the Putnam Mathematical Competition, explains a proof
during a Problem Solving Seminar yesterday.
Math students
prepare for
int'lcontest
By KyneKlang
Daily Staff Reporter
Can an arc of a parabola inside a circle of radius one have a
length greater than four?
Stumped already?
This is just a sampling of what some of the University's most
motivated math students will endure during the 63rd William
Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition tomorrow.
Scored out of a maximum of 120 points, the average score
for the Putnam exam is zero.

: PoDerrfavic~k Glbert *diusses the nercAtionn of Detroit




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