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@2002 The Michigan Daily
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Vol. CXIII, No. 66
One-hundred-twelve years of editorialfreedom
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Armed robbery spree continues
By Maria Sprow
Daily Staff Reporter
Four men walking alone on North Campus were
reportedly robbed at gun- and knifepoint Monday
night, bringing the total number of armed robberies
occurring near campus this semester from zero to
five in less than two days.
The Department of Public Safety believes the
latest incidents all occurred within a 45-minute
time span, between 8 and 8:45 p.m. Monday.
All the victims were walking near Cram Circle
between Bishop Avenue and Hubbard Street on
North Campus, near the Northwood Housing I and
II complexes.
DPS Lt. Benny Chenevert said the victims each
reported that they were approached by two young
men - one who had a large semiautomatic hand-
gun and the other who held a knife.
The first suspect is described as a white male
between 15 and 18 years old, standing between 5-
foot-7 and 5-foot-8 and weighing approximately
200 to 230 pounds. He was wearing a dark blue
jacket and his face was covered with either a hood
or a hat, according to the crime alert issued by DPS
yesterday.
The second suspect was described as a black
male between 13 and 16 years old, standing about
5-foot-6 and weighing 130 pounds. According to
the crime alert, he has a light complexion, short
black hair and was wearing a dark blue or black
hooded jacket.
It is unknown which suspect was carrying
which weapon.
The victims told police the suspects were
originally polite, asking for directions before
robbing them.
Nobody was injured and Chenevert said he did
not know how much money had been taken or if
any other possessions were stolen.
Since the incidents, DPS has taken several meas-
See CRIME, Page 7
Nation's campuses
reconsider race as
factor in admissions
Webber
trial set to
start after
season
By Steve Jackson
Daily Sports Editor
By Megan Hayes
Daily Staff Reporter
The trial of former Michigan basket-
ball player Chris Webber won't take
place until July 8, well after the regular
season and playoffs have concluded for
the Sacramento Kings star forward.
"Nobody else would be accommodat-
ed like this," Assistant U.S. Attorney
Richard Convertino told the Sacramento
Bee. "Would a schoolteacher who wants
to wait until the summer break? No.
Would a physician who is seeing
patients and performing surgery every
day? No. Would a
construction worker
who can't feed his
kids if he doesn't
work when the
weather allows?
No." Webber, his
father Mayce Web-
ber Jr. and his aunt
Charlene Johnson
are facing charges
Webbe' of obstruction of
justice and lying to a federal grand jury
about their dealings with banned Michi-
gan basketball booster Ed Martin. Each
has pleaded not guilty.
Martin, who pleaded guilty to
money laundering charges, said he
loaned more than $600,000 to four
Michigan basketball players, includ-
ing $280,000 to Webber and his
family. Webber has maintained that
he only received pocket money
from Martin, but his father admitted
to taking gifts when he testified
before the grand jury.
On Monday, U.S. District Judge
Nancy Edmunds postponed the trial at
the request of Webber's lawyer, Steve
Fishman.
"You've got teammates, an organ-
ization, the citizens of Sacramento,"
Fishman told the Detroit Free Press.
"There's a lot more people than
Chris Webber who are affected by
this."
Edmunds said the court often agrees
to work around the schedule of "season-
al" employees, like Webber.
See WEBBER, Page 7
The response to affirmative action is changing,
and states nationwide have begun adopting new
admissions policies to create educational diversity
without considering race.
In Hopwood v. Texas, the U.S. 5th Circuit Court
of Appeals outlawed the University of Texas' con-
sideration of race in its admissions policies, while
failing to find diversity to be a compelling state
interest. In order to remedy the drop in minority
admissions numbers
that resulted from they
1994 decision, the AtM4SION,
Texas Legislature / ON iRJA a
adopted what has been
termed "The Top Ten
Percent Plan" in 1997.
Under this law, the
top 10 percent of all
high school graduates are automatically admitted to
the Texas state college of their choice.
"There are no choices to be made," said Bruce
Walker, director of admissions and associate vice
president for student affairs at Texas. "(Students)
will be admitted if they apply."
He said the percent plan was created out of con-
cern for whether universities in Texas could main-
tain diversity without using race as a factor.
Although it has been successful so far, Walker said
it cannot function effectively on its own.
"There's some debate whether a 10 percent plan
in and of itself will help students get the kind of
diversity they want, he said. "Just making students
eligible... is not enough"
\'
In addition to implementing the new admissions
plan, Walker said universities have strengthened
outreach to high schools and have created scholar-
ships for eligible students who cannot afford a col-
lege education.
"We are out there trying to change this socially-
imbedded behavior," he said. "What we are trying
to do is demonstrate to students we are a good
place to go regardless of race."
Walker added that this type of community
involvement has broadened the reach of universities
across the state.
"The loss of affirmative action made us smarter,
made us think about things we wouldn't have
thought of before,"he said.
Since the introduction of the 10 percent plan,
Walker said retention across the university has gone
up, academic performance is stronger and minority
enrollment has returned to "pre-Hopwood levels."
Even given these positive results, he said the per-
cent plan cannot be thought of as a substitute for
using racial considerations.
"I don't think there is an absolute replacement
for affirmative action;' Walker said.
Suffering a fate similar to that in Texas, the.state
of California was forced to eradicate its use of race-
conscious admissions after the passage of Proposi-
tion 209. The 1996 ballot initiative outlawed
preferential treatment resulting from affirmative
action programs, among them admissions policies.
"In the wake of Proposition 209 the (minority)
numbers had declined," said Lavonne Luquis,
director of outreach and admissions communica-
tions at the University of California. She said this
downturn in numbers, combined with the desire to
See ADMISSIONS, Page 7
Selected as a semifinalist by GQ Magazine's "Big Man on Campus" contest, LSA senior Joshua
Schwadron will now compete against eight other semifinalists from universities across the nation.
GQ's hnt for hunk
comes to, campus
By Adhiraj Dutt
Daily Staff Reporter
After undertaking the task of narrowing the
2,400 nominations down to nine in their "Big
Man on Campus" contest, Gentlemen's Quarterly
selected LSA senior Joshua Schwadron as a
semifinalist.
If he is chosen as the national winner he will
have his own photo spread and feature in an issue
of GQ and get to rub elbows with celebrities in
Hollywood for the GQ Movie Issue party. A fea-
ture on the winner will probably appear in the
March 2003 issue of GQ.
"As a semifinalist, I won $500 and get to shoot
a commercial," Schwadron said. "All the finalists
are being flown to different places in the country.
On the 16th, I am going to Chicago and will
shoot a commercial for GQ and Pierre Cardin
which should air toward the end of the month."
Though he originally decided not to enter the
contest, he changed his mind with the encourage-
ment of LSA freshman Kerry Ederer. "He men-
tioned the contest to me in passing. He is an avid
reader of the magazine and keeps up to date,"
Ederer said. "He went out on a limb but it turned
out to be a very exciting thing."
See GQ, Page 7
Ye
MSA anti-war
resolution passes
with much deb ate
At the Michigan vs. Illinois football game earlier this year, tailgaters protested the University of Illinois'
mascot, Chief Illiniwek for Its racist portrayal of Native Americans.
School mascots blamed for
escalation of stereotypes
By Carmen Johnson
Daily Staff Reporter
After weeks of debate and postpone-
ments, the Resolution Against a War in
Iraq was voted upon and passed, 22 to
13, at last night's Michigan Student
Assembly meeting. MSA will now
events pertaining to the war.
It has also been resolved that MSA
will urge President Bush not to pre-
emptively or unilaterally start a war
with Iraq and encourage the Bush
administration to pursue a peaceful
diplomatic resolution built upon inter-
national support.
By Allison Yang
Daily Staff Reporter
Most students will spend their winter break in
front of the television cheering on their favorite
sports team - possibly while wearing apparel
adorned with their team's mascot.
But while a wolverine might not be seen as
offensive, other university mascots are coming
under fire because of their misrepresentation of
Native Americans.
According to the American Indian Movement,
from childhood to adulthood, people encounter
more than 3,000 culturally insensitive names of
sports teams and mascots.
can mascots inappropriate and offensive.
"There shouldn't be Native American mascots at
all. They are disrespectful and a mockery," said
Fox, an LSA junior.
Vernon Bellecourt, president of the American
Indian Movement's National Coalition on Racism
in Sports and the Media, said mascots demean and
trivialize the Native American people, their spiritual
and cultural symbols and their self-esteem.
"More indigenous is the fact that children are lit-
erally brought into this world thinking cowboys and
Indians;' Bellecourt said.
Bellecourt said children play for sports teams
with names like Redskins, Braves, Savages and
Chiefs. Then they move on to the 4-H clubs, which
FRANK PAYNE/Daily
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