LOCAL/STATE
The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, November 26, 2003 - 3
THIS WEEK
Going up
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Five years ago...
The Michigan Daily reported that
students noticed an increase of minor-
in-possession tickets given out during
the past month due to the death of
LSA freshman Courtney Cantor in
October 1998.
Cantor died when she fell out of her
room window in Mary Markley Resi-
dence Hall after attending a party at
Phi Delta Fraternity.
Students said Cantor's death led the
Ann Arbor Police Department to
undertake undercover operations and
lookout for alcohol violations. But
most ticketed students said they would
continue drinking, while being more
careful.
AAPD Officer Alicia Green said
there was no change in policy due to
Cantor's death.
"We'd written at least 300 tickets up
until the undercover operations
began," Green said.
Ten years ago...
The University Board of Regents
approved the building of a bell tower
on North Campus. Construction was
expected to begin in 1994 and was
part of a plan to enhance the North
Campus atmosphere.
Students and faculty reacted with
mixed feelings.
"The bell tower will help give North
Campus an identity. People say that
North Campus doesn't really feel like a
campus, and this will give it a central-
ized quality," University planner Fred
Mayer said.
"North Campus doesn't need to
look exactly like Central Campus,"
Art and Design freshman Jennifer
Franklin said.
"People come here to get away
from the buildings on Central Cam-
pus. You're surrounded by trees and
nature."
The University later dedicated the
tower to alum Robert Lurie and his
wife, Ann.
Nov. 23, 1983
The University began exploring
the idea of increasing the number of
minority-based merit scholarships
to reverse the trend of a declining
rate of minority enrollment at the
school.
After setting a three-year goal to
reach a 10-percent minority rate in
1973, minorities made up only 4.9
percent of the student body.
"I think it's one direction to go in
and a needed direction," Opportuni-
ty Program Director E. Royster
Harper said, but added that increas-
ing the scholarships was only one
step the University considered tak-
ing in increasing minority represen-
tation on campus.
Nov. 23, 1976
At a public hearing, numerous
residents voiced their opposition to
a $5.5 million plan to improve the
parking situation in Ann Arbor. The
plan called for repairs to two exist-
ing downtown carports, the pur-
chase of a third and construction of
two others.
The city planned to raise the
money through increased parking
rates and new taxes on residents of
certain parts of the city.
"I have no car and I have no use
for one," William Street resident
Henry Merry said, adding that his
rent would increase because of the
new plan. "I don't see how I benefit
from a carport."
But Arthur Kennedy supported the
plan, noting that many people drove to
Ann Arbor to walk around.
"The reason downtown is such an
attractive place for people who don't
drive is because there are people who
do drive; without them, downtown
would be a drag."
e Nov. 29, 1967
University Vice President Richard
Cutler acknowledged that the Uni-
versity would most likely abolish
women's curfews.
At the same time, the Daily
obtained a letter written by Univer-
sity Housing Director John Feld-
kamp to housing personnel stating
that they should still enforce all
current regulations despite motions
passed by the Student Government
Council to eliminate curfews.
SGC President Bruce Kahn said he
was upset that the Housing Office
could not let students run their own
lives.
"Students should continue to make
their own rules and regulations and
ignore those made by the administra-
tion," Kahn said.
is ILO%%u F '' 01" 1 4 cm
Growing number
of homeless kids
alarms shelters
JOEL FRIEDMAN/Daily
Kevin Dunn and Kurt Mullreed of Michigan Signs prepare to hang the new Maynard Street parking
structure sign yesterday.
Candidates retreat
from criticism of
a ffirmative action
DETROIT (AP) - A growing num-
ber of children and youths are joining
the ranks of the homeless, adding addi-
tional challenges for families and those
working to curtail the problem.
For Batiste Alford, 40, and her two
children, Taylor, 12 and Nieyrie, 8,
those challenges were a daily event.
Alford, who now lives in a rented home
in Ferndale, was recently homeless for
the second time after losing her job as a
guard at an Ohio detention facility.
That meant not only struggling to
find another job, but also coping with
how her two children passed their days,
both in and out of
school. Children m
And while Alford
now has a home, percent oft
being without is C h
something not far CO ys h
from her mind, populationI
especially as
Thanksgiving
approaches, a week after the end of
Homeless Awareness Week, which Gov.
Jennifer Granholm designated for Nov.
16-22 in Michigan.
"I didn't think I'd be down that road,
and it's a lot harder to get up and get
back on your feet," Alford said. "I'm
always waiting for that proverbial other
shoe to drop."
For thousands in the Detroit area,
that other shoe has already fallen.
In Detroit alone, there are about
10,000 homeless men and women, said
Georgia McPhaul, president of the
Detroit Continuum of Care Homeless
Action Network. In Macomb County,
there are between 2,000 and 4,000
homeless while in Oakland County there
are over 5,000 people without a home.
According to the National Coalition
ti
i
for the Homeless, the average age of a
homeless person in the country in
2000 was nine. Children made up 39
percent of the country's homeless
population then.
In the Oakland County Intermedi-
ate School District, there are about
1,200 students who are homeless. And
those numbers are reflected in the
county's shelters, said Kathy
Williams, special projects coordinator
for the Oakland County Community
and Home Improvement Division.
The group funds six shelters, one of
which is the South Oakland Shelter,
or SOS, in Royal
ide up 39 Oak. From July
2002 to June 2003,
he it took in 27 chil-
dren. In the past
meless four months alone,
n 2000 it sheltered 29
_ _ _ children.
Two of those
children were Alford's.
Over the summer, the two siblings
would spend their days either watching
videos or coloring at the shelter. Those
activities were punctuated by requests
for reassuring hugs from their mother.
But in the fall, Alford enrolled
them in the Ferndale Public School
district. For Nieyrie, Alford's 8-
year-old daughter, that presented a
fearful development as she didn't
know what to tell her fellow stu-
dents when asked where she lived.
"I want to start a new school, but I
don't want to start from SOS," she said.
Alford's scheduled 90-day stay at
SOS was terminated early in Septem-
ber because of disciplinary problems,
said Monica Duncan, the shelter's exec-
utive director.
HAMTRAMCK (AP) - Democrat-
ic presidential candidate Dick
Gephardt yesterday questioned some
of his opponents' commitment to affir-
mative action, which the other cam-
paigns quickly disputed.
"When others in this campaign for
president were questioning race-based
affirmative action, I was leading the
effort in Congress against Republican
attempts to eliminate affirmative
action," Gephardt told a primarily
black audience at Corinthian Baptist
Church in this Detroit enclave.
When asked to elaborate after his
speech, Gephardt said in some past
speeches U.S. Sens. John Kerry of
Massachusetts and Joseph Lieberman
of Connecticut "severely questioned
the wisdom of continuing affirmative
action."
Gephardt added that former Ver-
mont Gov. Howard Dean has in the
past said "he thought he had to really
question the continuation of affirma-
tive action based on race consideration.
"I don't agree with that,"
Gephardt said.
Kerry, Lieberman and Dean each
raised questions about programs that
gave preference to minorities back in
the 1990s, but all three have pledged
their support in recent years and now
say they support affirmative action.
Lieberman spokesman Jano Cabrera
said yesterday that Gephardt also
raised questions about affirmative
action in the 1990s. He pointed to a
1996 article in the St. Louis Post-Dis-
patch that quoted Gephardt saying,
"Reforms should focus less on making
distinctions based on race and more on
expanding opportunities for all."
"With all due respect to Congressman
Gephardt, he appears to be chucking
rocks in a glass house" Cabrera said.
In a statement issued while cam-
paigning in Iowa, Kerry said he always
has fought for civil rights.
"As a student, a prosecutor and a
senator, I have worked to open the
doors of opportunity for every citizen
so that we all can fully participate in
the American dream," Kerry said. "Mr.
Gephardt is a good man, but on this
issue, I take a backseat to no one."
Dean's campaign did not immediately
return a call seeking comment. Dean
says America needs affirmative action to
overcome people's natural bias to hire
and promote employees who look like
them. But during a 1995 CNN appear-
ance the then-governor of Vermont said
affirmative action programs should be
looked at "based not on race, but on
class and opportunities to participate."
AP PHOTO
Democratic presidential hopeful Dick
Gephardt, middle, sings a hymn with, from
left, Revs. V.D. Stotts, J.J. Perry and
Joseph Jordan yesterday.
Also in 1995, Lieberman was asked
about a California ballot measure that
would have barred the state from
awarding jobs or contracts based on
racial preferences, and he said at first
blush it sounded like something he
would support.
"Most Americans who do support
equal opportunity and are not biased
don't think it is fair to discriminate
against some Americans as a way to
make up for historic discrimination
against others," he said in a speech on
the Senate floor at the time.
Three years earlier, John Kerry
expressed similar concerns about affir-
mative action creating reverse discrim-
ination in a speech at Yale University.
"There exists a reality of reverse dis-
crimination that actually engenders
racism," he said.
MIPS
Continued from Page 1
stop the unconstitutional practices
voluntarily," Steinberg said. "I would
hope the police departments would
amend their procedures to bring them
in line with the Constitution."
Department of Public Safety
spokeswoman Diane Brown said it is
premature to comment on the ruling
and its effect on local practices. DPS
plans to wait for more information
and possible appeals concerning the
case. "Nothing would be changing in
law enforcement until (the appeals)
are finalized," Brown added.
The ACLU is certain the ruling will
be sustained, Steinberg said, a belief
echoed by the student chapter.
"We feel pretty confident that not
only is this legally correct but also that
the decision would be upheld," Good-
speed said.
DESIGN
Continued from Page 1
goals are.
Shane, who majored in Industrial
Design, was greatly affected by neces-
sity in the designing of the new
footwear line.
"It all started at Adidas. I was
designing comfortable shoes (while
working for Adidas), but I had to
wear the heavy Kenneth Cole
shoes," said Shane, who is the chief
designer at DETNY.
Shawn said he has big plans for the
company.
"Long-term, we want to be the next
footwear brand that people when people
think of when they think of shoes. We
want to move past shoes into all aspects
of apparel."
Shane said his only regret is that he
did not get into his present line of work
earlier.
Asked what he would do if he could
turn back the clock, he said, "I would
start earlier."
The DETNY executives were
impressed with the shoe-designing
savvy of University students. "It's
way better than what I expected,"
Shane said.
The brothers are still looking forward
to seeing DETNY shoes worn by a
stranger who just happened to pick them
out at a store.
"I'm still waiting for that random
person walking around wearing
DETNY shoes.
I'm going to hug that person,"
Shane said.
Gov 't officais
ANALYSTS
Continued from Page 1.
gests that analysts can also under-
state prices. In general, there is an
incentive to focus on well-perform-
ing stocks, so other companies need
to "surprise" analysts consistently
to get noticed.
"The market is under-reacting, so
it moves in the right direction (up
or down) at time that the news is
reported, but just not severely
enough," said Russell Lundholm, a
Business School professor who
researches the impact of informa-
tion on stock market prices.
Lundholm blames ignorance,
rather than intentional misleading,
on the undervaluing of securities.
As the market improves and ana-
lysts chase well-performing stocks,
this undervaluing trend may start to
fall. Over the past year, analysts
have on average recommended 10
percent more stocks than last year.
But portraying analysts as either
unscrupulous or oblivious may limit
the scope of the problem. Business
School Prof. Reuven Lehavy said
research in this area is incomplete,
and that the firms who report to
analysts should also shoulder some
begin scrutk*zg analysts
of the blame. Analysts must use
earnings reports from companies to
make recommendations on stocks.
"Analysts who issue biased opin-
ions or forecasts may be driven, to a
large extent, by a firm using the
flexibility in the accounting rules,"
Lehavy said.
This "flexibility" is inherent in
accounting, which involves a good
deal of estimating.
"Accounting lacks the precision
of basic mathematics," said Busi-
ness School Prof. Gene Imhoff.
Imhoff explained that when
assessing a company's value,
accountants must sometimes esti-
mate, for instance, how long a
building will last. The answer is
partially subjective.
Behind these ambiguities, analysts
and accountants alike can hide and
defend their sometimes fallacious eval-
uations. It is an inevitable gray area,
but Imhoff strives to teach his Business
School students to be honest.
"For every one Enron, WorldCom
and Xerox out there, I guarantee
that there are 1,000 ones out there
that are gray, and not black and
white," he said.
Business School junior Jason
Beyer said he's noticed that profes-
sors are stressing accuracy and hon-
esty.
"(Professors) always stressed that
your name and integrity on Wall
Street is everything. If you screw
up once, then you're basically
unemployable," said Beyer, who is a
financial analyst for the Michigan
Interactive Investments club.
Because of these inherent flaws,
businessmen have for years blamed
analysts for inefficiency and dis-
honesty. But developments on Wall
Street indicate that such accusations
have come to a head.
New York Attorney General Eliot
Spitzer had charged analysts earlier
this year with purposefully inflating
their recommendations in order to
bring investors. Firms would prom-
ise positive evaluations from
research analysts in order to attract
investment-banking business.
Since analysts make a large portion
of their income on bonuses, there was
a strong incentive to cooperate.
But Spitzer faced some chal-
lenges. In general, evidence of mis-
conduct is difficult to find.
"This stuff is extremely hard to
prove in a court law, but there is a
wealth of anecdotal evidence,"
Imhoff said.
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GEO
Continued from Page1
starting Monday to switch over from
their other plan if they so desire.
The final clause of the agreement
said this deal should not be viewed
as a precedent for either side in
regard to future negotiations, espe-
cially since GEO's current contract
expires Feb. 1, 2005.
Peterson said she could not spec-
history GSI Andrew Goss said.
Geological sciences GSI Erika
Carter also said she was pleased
with the outcome, although she is a
"It's not the best
deal for all of our
members. (But) I'm
glad we made the
decision that we
we made the decision that we did."
But several GSIs noted that the
prominent reasons for choosing
another plan were settled by the
agreement, including a new clause
in GradCare, which covers materni-
ty leave for GSIs outside Ann Arbor
at the time of their child's birth.
Without a full victory, members
raised concerns at the meeting that the
agreement would put them in a weak
position in next year's contract negotia-
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