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September 10, 2003
@2003 The Michigan Daily
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Vol. CXIl, No. 7

wwwmihigandailycom



Crackdown

on

piracy

stirs
Students concerned
over lawsuits filed by
recording industry
By Adhiraj Dutt
Daily Staff Reporter

users

College of Engineering Dean Steven Director
showcases a T-shirt designed to celebrate the
college's 150th birthday on the North Campus Diag
yesterday afternoon.
School ceebates

past,

searches for

ways to improve
By Aymar Jean
For the Daily
With 150 years of innovation under its belt, the Col-
lege of Engineering was toasted by students and facul-
ty yesterday at its sesquicentennial celebration.
The milestone comes at a crossroads in the pro-
gram's history, as the faculty and administration plan
to improve upon the school's academic environment.
Among the school's strengths, many students
mentioned its resources and opportunities, such as
the Media Union and a large number of clubs and
projects.
"The College of Engineering has a lot of opportuni-
ties," Engineering Council President Chitra Lax-
manan said. "We have over 70 societies and
organizations for students to join, so besides get-
ting a great education, we take on more."
Engineering senior Jia Lu, Institute of Electrical
and Electronics Engineers co-chair, echoed this
statement.
"Some of the opportunities here are unrivaled:"
Lu said. "A lot of companies come here to use our
extensive resources, because we use multi-million
dollar equipment."
But when asked about the faculty, students were
more divided. Though many agreed that the pro-
fessors are among the best in the world, many also
noted the lack of faculty-student interaction. Often
the professors' focus is on graduate students, some
said.
"The professors can be really focused on pro-
viding research data, writing papers, publishing
and less focused on teaching students,"mechanical
engineering senior Vernon Newhouse said. "A lot
See ENGINEERING, Page 7

The recent publicity surrounding the
illegality of file sharing has caused
many students to put the brakes on
downloading.
"I have downloaded music in the past,
though in general, I don't anymore
because more files are protected or are
in bad quality," LSA sophomore Paul
Teske said.
Instead, Teske said he has opted to use
the legal file sharing alternatives.
"Rather than buy CDs, I've tried to
buy singles online like at
buymusic.com. As long as prices come
down, I'll probably use it more or I'll
probably end up burning CDs from
friends," he said.
In an effort to cut down on the illegal
distribution of music by the estimated 60
million people sharing files online, the
Recording Industry Association of
America filed 261 federal lawsuits
against file sharers on Monday.
Among those being sued are a 71-
year-old man from Texas whose grand-
children downloaded songs on his

computer, a 12-year-old from New York
who downloaded using the Kazaa peer-
to-peer network that her mother bought
for $29.95 and a Yale professor who
downloaded nearly 500 songs before
being notified of his illegal activity,
according to the Associated Press.
All individuals being sued received
"educational instant messages" contain-
ing a legal message about file sharing.
"This first round of lawsuits involves
the most egregious cases," RIAA
spokeswoman Amanda Collins said.
"We do expect to bring more lawsuits in
the next few weeks."
The RIAA has served 1,600 subpoe-
See FILE SHARING, Page 7

'U' foaculty, staff
await increase in
health care costs

TONY DING/Daily
ABOVE: Students walk by
the North Campus Diag
during the CoE's 150th
Anniversary Celebration
yesterday.
LEFT: Director and
Engineering Class of 2004
President Evita
Nedelkoska cut the
birthday cake at
yesterday's celebration.

By Andrew Kaplan
Daily Staff Reporter

Faced with budget cuts and multiply-
ing costs of employee health care, the
University is preparing to overhaul its
health-benefit system for the first time

face the same challenges - increasing
costs," University spokeswoman Julie
Peterson said. "These issues have been
under consideration for some time."
According to a written statement
released by the Office of the Provost,
health care costs incurred by the Univer-


Students, professors share free lunch
By Michael Gurovitsch T receive a voucher for up to $10 p
r~~lgtfTi-nrrrN l' mh mfitt~ 7fp f t ot.:..4 .«._.r.

since 1988.
Beginning Jan. 1, all
faculty and staff who
had previously gone
without payingco-pre-
miums on University-
provided health care
plans such as M-
CARE will have to
pay 5 percent of their
monthly rates. The
University will pick up
the remaining 95 per-
cent.

sity jumped 17
Health care costs
incurred by the
University jumped
17 percent from
2002 to 2003, and
1 1 i's.b

percent from 2002 to
2003, and have dou-
bled since 1998. Over
the same time period,
the University
increased its share of
premiums.
The cost-sharing
strategy, which
Provost Paul Courant

er

Uany otatt xeporter

Say goodbye to formal office
hours and say hello to free lunch
with a professor or GSI.
Starting today, up to three stu-
dents can eat free once a month
with a professor or graduate student
instructor at the Michigan Union,
Pierpoint Commons or the Michi-
gan League.
"Office hours tend to be official
and classroom-oriented. We envi-
sion (the program) will help both

'cultivate a stronger relationshi'
between faculty and their students

I

people in large lectures who want to
get to know their professor more
and older students who are in
smaller classes and who have the
same interests as some of their pro-
fessors," said Jackie Dujovski, a
member of the Michigan Union
Board of Representatives, which

started the program with Rackham
Student Government.
"Take a Professor to Lunch" is
valid on the 10th of every month
for any student with an Mcard,
Dujovski said. Interested students
must fill out a form at any of the
unions' administrative offices to

person, with a limit of one profes-
sor or GSI and three students.
"The program is a mechanism for
the students and professors to culti-
vate a stronger relationship," said
Audrey Schwimmer, director of the
Michigan Union.
RC senior Emily Harris said she
has been to professors' houses for
dinner before and knows the value
of outside-the-classroom interac-
tion. "At a big university, it's hard
to network with professors and get
See LUNCH, Page 7

have doub
since 1998

Although about 70 percent of Univer-
sity employees, including some 6,000
retirees, already pick up a portion of
their health care charges, this is the first
time all workers - from professors to
operating engineers - will be obligated
to pay out of their own pockets.
"All of the (health care) plans we offer

led announced last April,
casts a net many years
" into the future, Peter-
son said. By 2005, the
University plans to make employees
responsible for 15 percent of their pre-
miums. For long-term resolutions, Uni-
versity officials said a committee of
faculty and staff will seek to design opti-
mal premiums by surveying health care
plans of other institutions.
See HEALTH CARE, Page 3

Filling out applications online not
reaping benefits, job seekers say
By r.A~ R~~w. U.1~J L4 7Lf OfLSAAA ~A. t



ay tam Rosen
Daily Staff Reporter

As the job market heats up and the appli-
cant pool expands, more and more employers
are allowing potential job seekers to apply
directly online or through online recruiting
companies.
But for many students, greater opportunity
to post their resume has not translated into
greater opportunity to land a quality job.
University alum Amy Roth, who graduated
in May, started her job hunt in January and
finally landed a job in May - no thanks to
the online services she used.
"I used (online recruiting companies) Mon-
stertrak, Hotjobs, and more," Roth said. "It's
a process that I wouldn't ever want to go
through again."
As she applied for work online, Roth said

pany's) form, you take away a lot of your per-
sonality," she added.
Recent graduate Rachael White said she
also used many of the online recruiting com-
panies and received many e-mails, but from
the wrong types of recruiters.
"The only e-mails I got were from people
who were working for bogus companies, like
telemarketing firms or recruiters who said
they could find me a job for a fee," White
said.
Both Roth and White said the single most
important tool in job searching is networking.
Roth's current job at Duke University finally
came through because her employer at the
University knew her employer at Duke.
Jim Danielski, director of Career Planning
Specialists in Plymouth, and Shannon Bednar,
recruiting assistant for the Business School's

Many lob seekers started using the Internet in

Loft




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DIAVID TUMAN/Daily

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