Friday
October 5, 2003
©2003 The Michigan Daily
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Vol. CXIII, No. 24
- U ~.. U.M ~ EU ~m U
One-hundred-tA rteenyears ofeditorirafreedom
8ODY:
Evening
showers with
winds from
the South-
west at 24 9
miles per
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Tomorrow:
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Honors Program criticized
for shortage of diversity
Program looks to increase
underrepresented minority
participation
By Aymw Jean
Daily Staff Reporter
At nine in the morning, about 500 freshman honors
students listlessly assemble for Prof H.D. Cameron's
lecture. On this morning, Great Books 191 seats one
black person.
The glaring lack of underrepresented minorities is
no secret to students in the Honors Program, a division
s MmrR1
of the College of Literature, Science and the Arts.
Since the program is relatively small - enrolling about
2,000 students - most students and administrators
have noticed the lack of blacks, Hispanics, and Native
Americans.
"We are always looking to recruit more minorities.
It's one of the things that we worry about a lot," said
Donna Wessel Walker, assistant director of the Honors
Program.
In order to more effectively recruit minorities to the
program, the program's administrators say that it is
altering its admissions procedure. The current process
relies on an appellate system, where students can
request an additional review of their application. Many
F
students, however, are unaware of this option.
The program will use the new undergraduate appli-
cation to look at candidates more holistically, a deci-
sion it hopes will increase minority enrollment.
Under the former admissions criteria, students were
virtually required to hold at least a 1400 on their SAT
and about a 31 on their ACT.
Administration officials said the standard was only
loosely enforced, acting more as a guideline than a
restrictive barrier. According to Wessel Walker, no stu-
dent has ever needed these scores to gain admission.
"You never had to, because we've always accepted
students below those levels,"Wessel Walker said.
See HONORS, Page 7
SHUBRA OHRI/Daily
LSA freshman and honors student Yulanda Curtis sits in a Great Books lecture
yesterday in the Modern Languages Building.
Mistakes in state'
budget calculations
may affect 'U' funding
By Andrew Kaplan
Daily Staff Reporter
Having just lifted off into the first week of fiscal
year 2004, state officials are already spotting errors
in the budget.
Although the state has previously cut funds to
match a $1.7 billion budget shortfall reckoned in
the last business cycle, officials said Michigan may
still come up $350 to $500 million short of projec-
tions. In haste, the state treasurer and directors of
the House and Senate Fiscal Agencies have agreed
to meet Oct. 14 to determine the exact size of the
losses. From there, the state may cut certain pro-
grams and services - including higher education.
State and University officials said they do not
know if higher education will take funding cuts, but
they added that a number of other programs will
inevitably be affected by the deficits.
"At this point we're just waiting to see just how
bad the problem is," said Greg Bird, spokesman for
the State Budget Office. "It became clear in our
May projections that we had projected in the last
three or four months of the fiscal year that the
economy would begin to pick up, and that just did-
n't seem to happen."
To cope with $37 million in cuts to its own budg-
et since the last fiscal year, the University has
already begun "tightening the belt" on services,
said Cynthia Wilbanks, University vice president
for government relations. In addition to raising
tuition 6.5 percent last July, the University has
increased class sizes, limited course offerings, laid
off faculty and reduced department budgets.
Regardless of the state's resolution of the current
budget situation, the University will continue to
enact cost-reducing measures, Wilbanks said.
"When you see the final decision reached by the
individuals involved in the revenue conference,
See BUDGET, Page 3
I
'WASTED AGAIN?'
Students network and gather information from potential employers at Job Fair 2008 held In the Michigan Union Ballroom yesterday. An increase
from last year, 75 companies recruited students at the fair this year.
Amid ailing economy, students seek
post-graduate opportunities at fair
By Tomislav Ladika
and Ryan Vicko
Daily Staff Reporters
Many students and recent graduates
hope to secure a job with one of the 75
companies at Job Fair 2003 yesterday on
the first three floors of the Michigan
Union. But others who are more skeptical
of the economy are finding creative ways
of gaining experience as they attend grad-
uate school.
LSA senior Alison Haar, who is interest-
ed in pursuing a career in social work, said
she plans on going to graduate school.
"I'm not anticipating getting a job," she
said. "The field of social work is not that
lucrative." Rather, she hopes to gain experi-
ence by working as a volunteer.
LSA senior Shyla Kinhal also plans on
attending graduate school. Speaking of the
job fair she said, "I was a little disappointed
because it was more corporate-based ... I
was looking more for not-for-profit organi-
zations."
Kinhal, who wanted to go to law school
"It'shard to tell at this
time, but (the job market
is) looking optimistic."
- Lynne Sebille-White
University Career Center
long before the economic downturn, said
she wants to make herself more marketable
to law schools and increase her personal
experience through non-profit work.
LSA senior James Haskins also said
many of the types of companies he was
looking for did not send recruiters to the
fair. Haskins, a chemistry major, said few
industrial or research companies sent
recruiters to the fair. He said that Pfizer,
which was present last year, did not come
this year.
"I'm hoping, but with the job fair there
weren't a lot of companies for students who
are scientists," he said.
Haskins said due to stagnant job growth
he is considering "pursuing multiple
options at once" by also applying for gradu-
ate school.
Even though students like Kinhal and
Haskins were disappointed with the vari-
ety of recruiters, more companies signed
up to partake in the fair this year, said
Lynne Sebille-White, assistant director of
recruitment services at the University's
Career Center.
"We are starting to see some of the
banking and financial institutions return,"
she said.
Among the organizations that are show-
ing up for the first time are NASA, the U.S.
Department of Homeland Security and
DaimlerChrysler AG's financial division,
she said.
Sebille-White said students are realistic,
and are pursuing alternative options in
addition to looking for work right out of
college.
"It's hard to tell at this time, but it's look-
ing optimistic," she said.
See JOB FAIR, Page 7
UM ALCOHOL & OTHER DRUGS PREVENTION PROGRAM
University-sponsored advertisements designed
to prevent women from abusing alcohol have
instead evoked criticism from some students
who find the images degrading toward women.
Students find 'U' alcohol
awareness ads offensive
New service to speed up Comcast Internet
By Sara Eber
and Perry Teicher
Daily Staff Reporters
Potentially offensive placards placed on res-
idence hall dining tables have spurred criti-
cism among students who disagree with the
University's methods to deter women from
alcohol abuse. "Wasted again? It doesn't take
a lot of brains or therapy to figure out why
your love life sucks," read the placards stand-
ing on residence hall dining tables.
RC junior Ellen Kolasky and LSA sopho-
more Pamela Baker said they found this state-
ment and others to be "degrading," insinuating
that drinking is only a problem for women,
who bring the associated consequences upon
themselves.
"It was as if to say, 'Women are the only
ones who cannot handle their alcohol,"'
T- 1 -, , 7 . . .1. A , - rrrn t
women really want in life is a meaningful
relationship."
Teri Russiello Michigan Student Assembly
Women's Issues Committee chair said she was
"shocked" by the placards and could not believe
they were allowed in the residence halls.
Russiello, an LSA junior and a resident advisor
in East Quad Residence Hall, researched how
such information is approved to be in the dining
halls, and discovered that the placards were
deemed appropriate by dining hall staff.
Russiello said her main objection to the
placards was that it did not display any men
and the consequences they face from alcohol.
"It was implying, rather directly, that only
women get drunk, and we are the only ones
puking on a Saturday night," she said. "The ad
where the girl was passed out, asking 'Why
can't I have a meaningful relationship?' - is
that what you think we think about?"
r.ia -a --n - -rnf a PCt-nkz
By Adam Rosen
Daily Staff' Reporter
Comcast announced yesterday that it
has doubled the speed of its cable Internet
access, allowing for faster online access
in 65 percent of southeastern Michigan,
including Ann Arbor.
According to a written statement by
Comcast, this upgrade will increase users'
download speed from 1.5 megabytes per
second to 3.0 mbps.
Comcast increased upload speed from
128 kilobytes per second to 256 kbps ear-
lier this year.
In terminology more understandable to
students, "Comcast has shortened the
download time for a 15-track CD from six
minutes to three minutes," Comcast
spokesman Mark Gilman said.
Gilman said Comcast has been testing
upgrades in three cities as a trial run to
observe customer responses. "(The
,--nnc- a e n veruhelmingli pnsitive
Comcast service upgrades
Upload speed increased to 256 kilo-
bytes per second.
* Download speed increased to 3
megabytes per second.
Current Comcast high-speed Internet
subscribers can expect automatic
upgrades to their service.
undergone upgrades in their Comcast
high-speed Internet service.
Although students said they were
pleased to hear about service upgrades to
Comcast Internet, they also expressed dis-
satisfaction with their current Comcast
servi e.
Gilman said the price of Comcast high-
speed Internet would not go up as a result
of the upgrade.
"We think (upgrading) adds more value
to the system we have now," he added.
Comcast cable customers pay $42.95
per month for high-speed Internet access,
while non-Comcast cable subscribers pay
$60.95 per month.
One of Comcast's competitors, SBC
Yahoo! DSL, offers high-speed Internet
service with a download speed of 1.5
mbps, and upload speed of 126 kbps for
$29.95 per month, but service is not avail-
able to the entire Ann Arbor area.
There are no possible complications
that Comcast foresees as a result of the
upgrade, Gilman said.
"We've already tested it and there have
been no issues," he said.
For current Comcast Internet sub-
scribers, the service upgrade will occur
automatically.
For those interested in exnediting the
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