-------- - W eather
Thursday
September 25, 2003
@2003 The Michigan Daily
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Vol. CXIII, No. 18
One-hundred-twelve years feditoriadfreedom
Partly sunny
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winds up to
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, :62
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Tomorrow;
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REASON
TO
DANCE
Sources: NCAA lifts
Blue's postseason ban
By Chris Burke
Daily Sports Editor
It turns out the Michigan basketball team
will be able to play for something more
than pride this season.
The NCAA's postseason ban on the Michi-
gan program has been lifted, and the Wolver-
ines will be eligible for the 2004 NCAA
Tournament and the NIT, a source close to the
Michigan basketball family told The Michi-
gan Daily late last night.
An official announcement is expected
sometime today.
The Detroit Free Press also reported a "per-
son at U-M familiar with the situation" con-
firming that the ban has been lifted.
Michigan's appeal of the postseason ban
was the final issue up in the air regarding the
NCAA's investigation into the program's scan-
dal involving booster Ed Martin.
In the early- to mid-1990s, Martin had
given more than $600,000 to players on the
Michigan basketball team.
Prior to the 2002-03 basketball season, the
University imposed penalties upon itself, for-
feiting 112 games, as well as returning more
than $400,000 to the NCAA, taking champi-
onship banners down and placing the program
on two years probation.
Last May, the NCAA Infractions Commit-
tee cited the severity of Michigan's violations
and handed down punishments to the Michi-
gan program that included the postseason ban,
four years of probation and the loss of one
scholarship a year for the next four seasons.
The ruling also demanded that the players
who were known to receive money from Mar-
tin - Chris Webber, Maurice Taylor, Robert
Traylor and Louis Bullock - be dissociated
from the University for 10 years.
"In total, this is one of the three or four
most egregious violations of NCAA bylaws in
the history of the association," NCAA Infrac-
tions Committee Chair Thomas Yeager said at
the time. "The Committee on Infractions can-
not shirk its responsibility to the entire mem-
bership by failing to apply meaningful and
appropriate sanctions against the University in
order to protect the postseason opportunities
of current and, as we acknowledge, unin-
volved student-athletes."
At that point, the University decided to
appeal just the postseason ban, despite the
fact that appeals are rarely upheld by the
NCAA.
"We believe the additional postseason ban
is counter to the core mission of the NCAA
enforcement," Michigan Athletic Director Bill
Martin said in May. "Our current student-ath-
letes were not involved in any way."
Michigan went through with the appeal in
hopes of minimizing the punishment to cur-
rent players. Now, thanks to the unexpected
reversal, the Wolverines have the opportunity
to make the NCAA Tournament for the first
time since 1998.
Late last night, Michigan coach Tommy
Amaker returned from a recruiting trip and
met with his team. While Michigan awaited
word from the NCAA appeals committee, the
situation jumped back into the public lime-
light recently. Former Michigan player Chris
Webber - who received $280,000 from Mar-
tin - plead guilty to perjury on Sept. 16.
Webber was then sentenced to 300 hours of
community service in the Detroit area. On
Sept. 19, University officials requested that a
federal judge demand Chris Webber reim-
burse the school with $695,000.
Martin, ironically, passed away on Feb. 14,
the day that Michigan representatives
appeared before the NCAA to plead its case.
Michigan was one of last season's biggest
surprises, posting a 17-13 (10-6 Big Ten)
record. The expected announcement also
comes on the heels of an anonymous donor's
gift that provided returning student season
ticket holders with free season tickets for the
upcoming year.
FILE PHOTO
Sherrod Harrell celebrates with fans after Michigan's 60-58 win over Michigan State last season. Harrell
and the Wolverines will have the chance to celebrate with an NCAA Tournament bid this season.
* OPEC's slashed oil output
prompts gas price concerns
Purple rain
Heating, gas costs may
rise this winter due to
reduced oil production
By Tomislav .adika
Daily Staff Reporter
Americans may face increased
gas prices and higher energy bills
this winter as a result of the Organi-
zation of Petroleum Exporting
Countries' decision yesterday to cut
back its member countries' daily oil
production quotas by 3.5 percent.
Starting in November, OPEC will
reduce its daily output of crude oil
from 25.4 million barrels to 24.5
million, the oil cartel decided at its
meeting in Vienna, Austria, yester-
day.
Oil futures prices in the United
States responded yesterday by ris-
ing more than a dollar to $28.24 per
barrel.
"The market was saying out of
the gate that this is worth a buck a
barrel," Business School adjunct
Prof. Steve Percy said.
If OPEC, which pumps about a
third of the world's crude oil thor-
oughly enforces the cutbacks, oil
and gasoline prices most likely will
rise, said Business School Prof.
Francine Lafontaine.
Because gas is an important
source of electrical power, such
increases could lead to higher ener-
gy bills for companies and con-
sumers this winter, Lafontaine said.
And if people have to pay higher
bills, they will have less money to
spend on the consumption of other
goods, which could slow down a
possible economic recovery,
Lafontaine said.
"You increase the price of trans-
portation of goods, you increase the
price of how people get from one
place to another," she said.
The increases in gas prices could
be compounded by a potential natu-
ral gas shortage. Many economists
have expressed concern that the
nation's natural gas supplies are
leveling off at a time when more
than 60 million Americans use the
fuel to heat their homes. Recent
government reports have told Amer-
icans to expect higher energy bills
this winter.
Despite the increase in oil prices
yesterday, Percy said over the next
few months the market will deter-
mine how much prices change.
Percy added that these changes
are difficult to predict or interpret,
but that he believes the production
cutbacks will not significantly
impact oil and gas prices over the
short term.
The quota reduction may have
"an almost minimal impact"
because on a daily basis the price of
oil can fluctuate by about one dollar
per barrel, he said.
Lafontaine added that despite
See OPEC, Page 7A
Lightning illuminates the sky during a thunderstorm last night
that dumped rain on Ann Arbor.
States say
divorcees
must split
tuition fees
By David Branson
For the Daily
To those who think their parents are
going to pay their way through college
- they might be right.
Many states are introducing new
legislation allowing courts to force'
divorced parents to pay their universi-
ty student's bills. Michigan state legis-
lators yet to pass such a measure, but
problems surrounding paying tuition
and other college expenses still exist
for parents.
For children of divorced parents, pay-
ing for college can be especially diffi-
cult. LSA junior Aaranisa Clay lives
with her mother, and the two of them.
pay for most of her school-related
expenses. "My dad is disabled and
unemployed, so paying anything would
be pretty impossible," Clay said. "I
don't expect it,"A
At the University, total undergraduates
costs run near $17,000 for Michigan
residents and $34,000 for out-of-state
students.
Fall tuition costs $7,800 to $8,800 for
Michigan residents and$24,600 to
$26,300 for out-of-state residents. The
actual amounts vary depending on class
standing, but all figures are up 6.5 per-
cent from 2002-2003. All other costs are
associated with meal plans, housing
expenses and books.
Richard Victor, president of the:
Michigan chapter of the American
Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, said
paying for college is very difficult for
students and parents impacted by
divorce.
"Custodial parents often get
handed all their child's expenses
while the other parent gets off free.
... Divorced parents shouldn't be
different than married parents when
paying for school," Victor said.
New Hampshire and Connecticut leg-'
islation states that custodial parents can
sue non-custodial parents for up to half
of their child's overall college expenses.
For University parents, this could mean
that courts could force payment of up td
$9,500, even if the non-custodial parent
had no input on the student's school
choice.
But sometimes not splitting the
bill can work out in a student's
Study: Cell phone use linked to cancer
By Ashley Dinges
For the Daily
With the barrage of cell phone ads in the
media offering free long distance or unlim-
ited nights and weekends, it is no surprise
that mobile phones are a convenient way for
students to stay in touch with their friends
and family at home.
However, according to a study published
in June by researchers from Lund Universi-
ty Hospital in Lund, Sweden, the results
suggest that with time, cell phone users may
grow more susceptible to brain damage. In
the experiment, rats were exposed to levels
in contact with.
The rats were split into two groups, each
containing eight rats. One group was sub-
jected to the radiation, while the other was
used as a control group. The researchers
then waited 50 days before examining the
brains of the animals.
"We found highly significant evidence
for neuronal damage in the cortex, hip-
pocampus and basal ganglia in the brains of
the exposed rats," the study states.
These areas of the brain are responsible
for functions such as motor and higher
learning skills, said Psychology Prof. Steve
Maren, who participates in the University's
new memories, and damage to the area can
result in difficulty of storing new informa-
tion, he added.
"Hippocampal damage could potentially
cause memory loss. Patients who suffer
(damage) might produce behavior similar to
that of Alzheimer's patients," Maren said.
The basal ganglia, another area affected
by the radiation areas, is involved in motor
control, Maren said, and a person with dam-
age to the area would exhibit symptoms
parallel to those associated with Parkinson's
disease.
The study also stated that, "(the
researchers) cannot exclude that after
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LAURA SHLECIERI~aiy--------- ------------- - ..
LSA freshman Sonal Sheth talks on her cell phone on her way of microwave radiation similar to those that neuroscience program. The hippocampus in some decades of daily use, a whole gener
back to her dorm yesterday. an average mobile phone user would come particular is responsible for the creation of See STUDY, Page 7A
Calif., Mich. legislation targets unsolicited e-mail spain
,r-
A
By Evan McGrvey
Daily Staff Reporter
The digital plague of spam e-mail is
encountering a new wave of opposition, both
in Michigan and across the country. Today
California Gov. Gray Davis announced that
he would sign a bill outlawing any commer-
cial e-mail message sent to someone within
Michigan Legislature passed a bill, sponsored
by state Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-Zeeland), requir-
ing explicit identification of commercial e-mail
over course of the summer. All spam e-mails
must now feature the abbreviation "ADV, " an
indication that it is an advertisement, in the sub-
ject line and must include, within the body of
the e-mail, an option to remove the recipient's e-
mail address from the company's database.
"We want Michigan to be the most restrictive,
the most prohibitive state in the union when it
comes to spam;" Bishop said.
University students have felt the impact of spam
on campus, mostly through e-mail services outside
the University, like Yahoo! or Excite.
Engineering freshman Sue Shokoohi recalled her
spam ordeal.
"I used to have an account at Excite.com, but
it and stopped using my Excite account. I don't
want the same thing to happen here so I'm really
cautious about giving out my University e-mail
address" she added.
Most students said they did not notice the new
"ADV" markers but knew how to avoid the incon-
venience of spam.
Medical school student Brett Bartz said he
regularly deals with spam. "I get a lot of spam.