Wednesday October 8,2003 ©2003 The Michigan Daily Ann Arbor, Michigan Vol. CXIII, No. 27 . Atk iguuit airg DAY: Sunny all day as tempera- tures reach a~ 80 degrees, with clear g 53 skies through Tomorrow the night. www.michigandaily.com One-hundred-thirteen years ofeditorialfreedom Voters bid 'hasta la vista' to Davis9W M LOS ANGELES (AP) - Californians banished Gov. Gray Davis just 11 months into his second term and elected action hero Arnold Schwarzenegger to replace him last night - a Hollywood ending to one of the most extraordinary political melodramas in the nation's history. Voters traded a career Democratic politician who became one of the state's most despised chief executives for a moder- ate Republican megastar who had never before run for office. Davis became the first California governor pried from office and only the second nationwide to be recalled. Early tallies showed the recall favored by 1,019,874 voters, or 57.5 percent, and opposed by 755,375, or 42.6 percent. Other early returns had Schwarzenegger ahead with 862,217 votes; Democratic Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante with 482,376; Republican state Sen. Tom McClintock with 200,970; and Green Party candidate Peter Camejo with 25,916. Schwarzenegger prevailed despite a flurry of negative pub- licity in the campaign's final days, surviving allegations that he had groped women and accusations that as a young man he expressed admiration for Adolf Hitler. The 56-year-old Austrian immigrant - husband of televi- sion journalist Maria Shriver - finds himself in charge of the nation's most populated state with an economy surpassed only by those of several countries. Schwarzenegger promised to return the shine to a Golden State beset by massive budget problems and riven by deep political divisions. Voters faced two questions - whether to recall Davis, and who among the other candidates should replace him if he was removed. They chose to get rid of the incumbent and put Schwarzenegger in his place. About seven in 10 voters interviewed in exit polls said they had made up their minds how they would vote on the recall question more than a month before the election. Long lines were reported at polling places through the day. By late afternoon, Terri Carbaugh, a spokeswoman for the secretary of state, said a turnout of 60 percent appeared likely, higher than the 50.7 percent who voted in last November's gubernatorial election. It would be the highest percentage to vote in a gubernatorial election since 1982. See CALIFORNIA, Page 7 Arnold Schwarzenegger, governor-elect of California, cele- brates his victory yesterday in the election that successfully recalled Gray Davis. Budget short up to $800M, officials say "At first, people did not want to listen to a doctor telling them it was a virus. They thought it was the establish- ment trying to take away their freedom - their freedom to love." - Larry Kramer AIDS activist Newest estimates of state shortfall could be bad news for higher education By Michael Gurovitsch Daily Staff Reporter After more calculations and lower-than- expected September revenues, state offi- cials now concede the budget shortfall may be as high as $800 million, double the estimates of about $400 million from as late as last week. "Clearly now, it's in excess of $600 mil- lion. My Senate counterpart thinks (the shortfall) is $800 million," said Mitch Bean, director of the Michigan House Fis- cal Agency. "This is a very substantial problem we are looking at. This is going to be a very difficult round of cuts." State budget cuts have traditionally meant less money for Michigan's universi- ties. Bean said although the decision to cut the higher education budget rests with leg- isl1tors, it is likely to be reduced. "With a problem of this magnitude, I believe everything is probably on the table," he said. The exact amount of the shortfall will not be known until Oct. 14, when the state House and Senate fiscal agencies meet for a revenue estimating conference. The extent to which the increase in the budget shortfall will affect the Uni- versity is not yet known. "We don't know yet where the spending reductions will be and how large they will be. It is premature to say the University will be cut by a certain amount," said Greg Bird, spokesman for the Office of the State Budget. Bean said previous state revenue esti- mates were too low because the national and state economies have not been produc- ing jobs, which in turn decreased income tax revenue by 8 percent. See BUDGE, Page 7 Larry Kramer, AIDS activist and writer, Is Interviewed yesterday by Medical School Prof. Howard Markel in Rackham Auditorium. (DAVID TUMAN/fDaily) Activat recounts gays'fight against AIDS By Margaret Engoren and Faryal Osman Daily Staff Reporters Introduced by University Provost Paul Courant as "the leading AIDS activist since the beginning of the crisis," Larry Kramer dis- cussed the struggle for answers to the HIV/AIDS crisis last night at Rackham Audi- torium. "In the early 1980s, young men were dying like flies, but we were lucky if we got our story on the local news for three minutes," Kramer said. "Ronald Reagan didn't say the word 'AIDS' for seven years - that was the situation." A Yale graduate and former assistant to presidents of two major film companies, Kramer said he was used to people answering his phone calls, yet no one would listen to him about AIDS. Kramer said AIDS "went from nothing to 60,000 cases" because of high-level politi- cians trying to cover up their own homosexu- ality or that of family members. "They refused to acknowledge the problem or to take action. Much of history is shaped by the complica- tions of individuals' private lives," he said. Kramer said he realized he had to find another tool to bring the world's attention to HIV/AIDS and, in 1983, he co-founded the Gay Men's Health Crisis, an organization to raise awareness and search for a cure. "There were no answers. People would endure anything. A researcher at the Weiz- mann Institute in Israel came up with a lipid treatment, and an American doctor in the South was charging $60,000 for blood-clean- ing," Kramer said. "That's the kind of life it was. "At first, people did not want to listen to a doctor telling them it was a virus. They thought it was the establishment trying to take their freedom - their freedom to love," Kramer said. "To this day I still don't know why gay men didn't act. Lovers died, friends died, whole houses of roommates on Fire Island (N.Y.) died - and it still didn't make people get off their asses." In 1985, Kramer decided to write a play, "The Normal Heart," about the gay communi- ty's struggle for HIV/AIDS awareness, which was selected as one of the 100 greatest plays See KRAMER, Page 7 Programs help students with the 'write' stuff By Evan McGarvey Daily Staff Reporter Everyone's OK JOEL FRIEDMAN/Daily An employee works her shift at Borders Books on East Liberty Street yesterday. Borders employees recently turned down the contract offered to their union by management. Boiders' proposal declined by union By Adam Rosen Daily Staff Reporter Noticing dissatisfied and ill-prepared students, universi- ties across the country are restructuring their writing pro- grams to remedy years of ineffective classes, according to a recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education. Duke and Princeton universities have completely revamped their writing programs and Columbia University has replaced all graduate students with full professors in freshman writing classes. The University has not experienced similar changes as the institutions named in the article. University faculty said the sheer number of services and programs offered to stu- dents ensure all graduates can write effectively. "I don't see how someone could be an excellent anything if they weren't a good writer," English lecturer George Cooper said. All University students must take a course that fulfills the first-year writing requirement. These classes are target- ed toward freshmen that arrive at the University with vary- The employee union at Borders Books in Ann Arbor voted overwhelmingly to reject the contract offered them by Bor- ders management, reflecting that the dis- pute between the company and its employees is far from being resolved. "This contract gave us absolutely noth- ing," a Borders store employee said. The employee, who asked to remain anony- mous, added that union demands such as a living wage, job security and security of benefits were not met by the proposed contract. The Borders employee union, organ- ized last December as part of the United Food and Commercial Workers labor union, defeated the contract Sunday night by a vote of 27 to 1, with two abstentions. To further their cause, union members will continue to press its case and try to said. "Our (ultimate goal) is to get Borders to recognize it's in Borders' best interest to recognize the need of its employees to make a living," the employee added. Borders spokeswoman Anne Roman said she feels Borders employees were presented with a fair contract. Roman added that Borders has con- ducted internal surveys of Borders employees across the country, and has found that "the vast majority of all Bor- ders employees are satisfied with their pay and benefits." But Mark Dilley, a member of the pro- employee organization Borders Readers United, said his group supports the union's decisions. "(This dispute) isn't just about money and respect, it is about keeping this a community store," Dilley said. BRU has staged several demonstrations outside of the Borders store on East Lib- erty Street for the past few weeks, passing ^,,t~ 1on- ...c1 e. noiin n ,cenm.ra na DANNY MULUbUK/Uily A wrecked bike sits on East Medical Center Drive after its rider was hit by at sport utility vehicle yesterday afternoon. A report was filed with I I i I