Weajjiar
Wednesday
November 5, 2003
@2003 The Michigan Daily
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Vol. CXIII, No. 45
One-hundred-thirteen years ofeditorialfreedom
TODAY:
Y .. .
'Yl.,
Rain expect-
ed in the
morning with HI: 57
clouds all
afternoon LOW: 33
and cool
temperatures Tomorrow:
at night. 50/28
I
wwwmichigandaily.com
I -
oters
welcome Greenbelt
DAVID TUWA/Daily
Mike Garfield, director of the Ann
Arbor Ecology Center, celebrates after
voters approve Proposal B.
Proposal changing eligibility
requirements of city candidates
narrowly fails
By Alison Go
and Mona Rafeeq
Daily Staff Reporters
Turning out in unusually large numbers for
an off-year election, Ann Arbor voters
approved the Greenbelt proposal aimed at
curbing urban sprawl by a two-thirds margin.
They rejected by a smaller spread Proposal
A, which would have relaxed eligibility restric-
tions for City Council candidates.
The Greenbelt plan was the key issue on the
ballot and passed with 67 percent of the vote.
About 25 percent of Ann Arbor registered vot-
ers went to the polls to weigh in on the hotly
contested Proposal B.
The vote gave city officials approval for
using money raised from a 0.5-mill property
tax to preserve parklands and other green,
open spaces in and around Ann Arbor.
The proposal extends for 30 years a property
tax already in place, which charges an average
homeowner $45 to $50 a year.
"I believe we should take measures to curb
urban sprawl, and even though I was con-
cerned about affordable housing, the mayor
said he would ensure that it continues in Ann
Arbor," said LSA sophomore kamya Ragha-
van.
Sporting a green streamer around his shoul-
ders, Mayor John Hieftje, an enthusiastic sup-
porter of the proposal, celebrated with other
Democrats last night at Ann Arbor Brewing
Company Restaurant.
"The city will be working on an ordinance
to make use of Proposal B and will protect
Huron River watershed and parklands," Hieftje
said.
Because the lands that would be affected are
not limited to Ann Arbor, its implementation
would require cooperation with other munici-
palities, said Councilman Robert Johnson (D-
1st Ward), who was re-elected last night. "Ann
Arbor can't solve its problems itself," he
added.
Hieftje said the controversial proposal
See GREENBELT, Page 7
CITY COUNCIL SEATS
1st Ward:
Robert Johnson (incumbent, Dem.)
1,545 ... 60.8 %
Rob Haug (Green) 316%
371 ... 14.6 %
Rick Lax (Ind.)
618 ... 24.3%
2nd Ward:
Michael Reid (incumbent, Rep.)
2,363 ... 53.95 %
Amy Seetoo (Dem.)
2,017 ... 46.05%
3rd Ward:
Leigh Greden (Dem.)
2,667 ... 73.35 %
Rich Birkett (Lib.)
521 ... 14.33 %
Donna Rose (Ind.)
443 ... 12.18 %
4th Ward:
Marcia Higgins (incumbent, Rep.)
1,885 ... 51.83 %
Dan Sheill (Lib.)
209... 5.75 %
Scott Trudeau (Green)
1,082 ... 29.75 %
John Kinsey (Ind.)
445 ... 12.24%
5th Ward:
Wendy Woods (incumbent, Dem.)
3,928 ... 74.54 %
Jason Kantz (Lib.)
587 ... 11.14 %
Adrianna Buonarropi (Green)
752 ... 14.27 %
PROPOSALS
Proposal A: City Council Eligiblity
Failed, YES: 8,540, NO: 11,369
Proposal B: Greenbelt
Passed, YES: 14,524, NO: 7,270
Despite efforts, students
fail to gain council seats
By Mona Rafe.q e
Daily Staff Reporter
Voters reelected four City Council
incumbents yesterday, while denying
spots on the council to three Universi-
ty students and an alum.
Democrat Leigh Greden will be the
only new face on the council. Democ-
rats Robert Johnson and Wendy
Woods and Republicans Michael Reid
and Marcia Higgins successfully
defended their seats.
Each of Ann Arbor's five wards is
represented by two council members.
Wards one and four include most of
the campus community.
In the 1st Ward, Johnson won with
61 percent of the vote, defeating LSA
senior Rick Lax and Rackham student
Rob Haug. Lax had 24 percent while
See CITY COUNCIL, Page 7
Ann Arbor Mayor John HeiftJe accepts a symbolic green belt while celebrating the victory of Proposal
B at the Ann Arbor Brewing Company yesterday.
JOEL FRIEDMAN/Daily
Engineering freshman Mark Rundle fills out a form in order to
vote in Ann Arbor's 1st Ward at Bursley Residence Hall
yesterday.
I
Device to make illegal
parking more difficult
One year later, art
school still adjusting
to new curriculum
By Ev McGarvey
Daily staff Reporter
For some students, the free ride may be over.
Parking, already a strained campus resource, will
become even tighter as parking structures across
campus will not let illegally parked vehicles leave
without a new parking device.
University lots are currently switching to the
Automatic Vehicle Identification system, replacing
the old permit system. "Blue" parking structures on
campus will begin a five-month conversion period
Nov. 17, bringing all University structures under the
system. In lieu of the new AVI device, students may
swipe their Mcard to gain access to the structures.
Previously, drivers could leave their car in some
parking areas for indefinite amounts of time with
no parking pass after paying an entrance fee. Under
the new system, the exit gate of a structure will not
Shake it down
open during enforcement hours without a device. ; yAYdiCS j
If a vehicle does not leave the structure before
the start of enforcement hours, the student and their p a
car will be unable to leave without calling for assis- ; tn youdtoPwlS
tance -and risking a ticket.a
"Students will need to get their vehicles out ofy
the parking system before 6 a.m. if they park during s
the day without a device. The exit gate won't go up'
without a device," said University Facilities and T U of jfl
Operations spokeswoman Diane Brown.f
Brown said security problems prompted the t'ai t
change.4
"The AVI system has been in the works for a few
years. A history of complaints made the University
hire actual monitors - 'a staff to ensure the securi-
ty of the parking structures," she said.
The plan for the program was formed before the JOEL FRIEDMAN/Daily
current economic downturn and the University's A sign outside of the Forest Street parking structure Informs
See PARKING, Page 7 users of the new Automatic Vehicle Identification system.
Fluent students use classes
to fine-tune language skils
By Adhiraj Dutt
Daily StaffReporter
Students at the School of Art and'
Design have had more than a year to
adjust to a revamped curriculum.
Though some art students say they find
the new curriculum to be improving in
its second year, the student body has
accepted the changes with mixed feel-
ings.
The modifications have even prompt-
ed some, like sophomore Elizabeth Van
Loan, to leave the art school.
"I found the new program more pre-
scriptive than what I looked for. There
was very little freedom to pick classes;'
said Van Loan, who transferred this
graduated with a Bachelor of Fine.Arts
degree.
About 50 percent of courses are
designed for freshmen and sophomores
under the current program. In the pre-
2002 program, about 25 percent of
courses catered to them, said Mary
Schmidt, Art and Design associate dean.
"Pre-2002 students are being well
served," Schmidt said. "We are making
sure that courses they want to take are
still being offered."
Art and Design senior Lee May said
professors are making efforts to
accommodate students under the new
curriculum.
"Some professors are lenient, like if
you have good drawing skills, you can
Y
By Andrew Kaplan
Daily Staff Reporter
Although many students enroll in foreign lan-
guage courses to become fluent in a second dialect,
others speak fluently before even attending their
first day of class.
From Spanish to Russian to Arabic, many Uni-
versity students say they have registered for pro-
grams in languages they already speak. They add
that while they may speak fluently, their previous
experience has not prepared them for upper-level
language courses.
"I can speak pretty fluently, but my writing and
reading are pretty weak and my grammar is even
weaker," said LSA junior Basil Mossa-Basha, who
is taking Arabic 101. "It was necessary for some-
one like me who already speaks Arabic fluently to
start off at a low level."
also went to Syria about five or six times, so that
helped me learn street Arabic."
When fluent speakers place into introductory
courses, students said, they gain an upper hand over
others who may not have had a lifetime of exposure
to a second language.
"I definitely think I have some kind of advan-
tage" Mossa-Basha said, adding that he is fluent in
Aami, an informal version of Arabic.
Attending class with experienced speakers can
alienate students who are less advanced, said LSA
sophomore Fatima Makhzoum, also an Arabic 101
student.
"I do get the sense from people who know a lot
more that I need to catch up to be on the same
level," she said.
Makhzoum added that while she is a proficient
speaker of the Lebanese dialect of Arabic, she is
less acquainted with Fus'ha, the classical version
=.-
semester to the
Residential Col-
lege. She said
most of her friends
transferred as well.
"I suppose I
could have sucked
it up for the first,
two years and
taken the required
classes," she said.
The new cur-
riculum, which
debuted in the
2002-2003 school
"I found the new
program more
prescriptive than
what I looked for.
There was very little
freedom to pick
classes.'
- Elizabeth Van Loan
RC sophomore
skip design drawing
1 and take design
drawing 2," May
said.
The new program
also emphasizes
being involved in the
broader community.
"Art can be a hermit-
ically sealed environ-
ment," Schmidt said.
"(The students) all
speak (the same) lan-
guage."
Schmidt said the
year, consists of a highly structured
environment in a student's first two
years followed by a flexible one in the
last two years.
Freshmen and sophomores now take
a common core of studio and academic
classes. All students are now required to
go through four sequences of courses
that expose them to many fields of art.
In the pre-2002 curriculum, all stu-
dents had to complete academic and
new program encourages students to
study abroad, to get internships and to
share their art with non-art students.
The school recently hired a career
development coordinator and encour-
ages students to look into career plan-
ning beginning in their freshman year.
Changes in the curriculum went into
effect after two years of faculty discus-
sion. In the first year, theoretical issues
were discussed in an effort to determine