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Monday
December 1, 2003
@2003 The Michigan Daily
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Vol. CXIII, No. 61
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One-hundred-thirteen years ofed'ioriafreedom
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By Ellen McGarrity
Daily Sports Writer
SOUTH BEND - As senior
defender Kevin Taylor walked onto
Notre Dame's Alumni Field for the
first round of overtime, he patted
freshman Kevin Savitskie on the
head as if to say, "Everything is
going to be okay." Regulation play
had ended only moments before,
leaving 12th-seed Michigan tied 1-
I with fifth-seed Notre Dame in
the third round of the NCAA men's
soccer tournament.
"He looked real nervous, but I
told (Savitskie), 'That's the reason
you come to this school - to play
in these kinds of games,' " Taylor
said. "Of course (I was nervous
too), but I'm a senior and supposed
to be a leader on this team, so I
can't seem nervous."
Savitskie's jitters weren't calmed
until much later, when Michigan pre-
vailed over the Irish in a shootout.
Coming into the game, the
Wolverines' season had finally
come full circle. Notre Dame was
the first team Michigan faced way
days ahead
By Tomislav Ladika
Daily Staff Reporter
Growing faith in the performance
of the national economy, marked by a
significant increase in consumer con-
fidence, may lead to further job
growth and an improved holiday
shopping season.
The Index of Consumer Sentiment,
which measures how confident con-
sumers are that the national economy
will be successful in the future, rose
from 89.6 in October to 93.7 in Novem-
ber, according to the University's Sur-
veys of Consumers released last
Wednesday.
Additionally, for the first time in a
decade most of the people surveyed
reported that recent economic develop-
ment were favorable, a Survey of Con-
sumer press release stated.
Analysts attributed the continued
surge in consumer confidence to a
recent report that businesses have begun
to hire more workers than they lay off.
"Consumer confidence reached its
highest level in 18 months due to the
expectations that a stronger economy
would produce more jobs during the
year ahead," said Richard Curtin, direc-
tor of the University Surveys of Con-
sumers in a written statement.
Economics Prof. Saul Hymans said
that consumer confidence and job
growth can propel each other in an
upward cycle.
"(The increase) is providing an indi-
cation that consumers are feeling much
better than they did a few months ago,"
Hymans said. "The biggest concern that
individual families have is job security."
Hymans added that the report indi-
cates consumer confidence has
increased from a "middling level to pret-
ty strong."
The increased optimism means that
holiday sales probably "will be a signifi-
cant improvement from last holiday sea-
son' said Hymans, who is also director
of the University's Research Seminar in
Quantitative Economics.
Curtin said consumers found jobs to
be more plentiful in November, and that
they expect job growth to accelerate in
the upcoming year.
He added that many consumers
expect the economy in the next few
months to grow at a slower rate than the
See CONSUMERS, Page 2A
Senior Mike White celebrates after scoring a goal late In Michigan's 6-2 defeat of Saint Peter's at Varsity Field on Wednesday.
Michigan won again yesterday and will play Santa Clara Saturday in the fourth round of the NCAA Tournament.
back in its August exhibition game.
That match ended in a 1-1 tie - an
eerily familiar echo of what hap-
pened yesterday.
The game started off with a very
sloppy play on the side of the Irish.
Even some Notre Dame fans were
noting, "It's the worst the team has
played in over a month." But the
Irish's famous luck caught up with
Michigan in the 17th minute. Notre
Dame's Greg Martin took a shot,
which Michigan goalkeeper Peter
Dzuday ran up to save, leaving the
net wide open. But Martin beat
Dzubay to the ball and took anoth-
er shot on goal. This time the ball
went in, giving Notre Dame a 1-0
Inside: Read more about the
soccer team's victory in
SportsMonday. Page 7B.
lead.
Michigan could have choked on
Notre Dame's early success, but
instead senior Mike White
See SOCCER, Page 3A
SNOBS VS. SLOBS
Students debate
East Coast, Mid-
west stereotbyeS
By Evan McGarvey
Daily Staff Reporter
For Mark Uberti, it is easy to spot University stu-
dents from the East Coast. Uberti, an LSA junior, said
every time he spots an expensive foreign-made car on
campus he sees either a New York or New Jersey
license plate attached.
Whether it is local Michigan students railing against
the overwhelmingly "snotty and rich" students from
Long Island or students from the East Coast labeling
the Midwestern study body as "naive and unsophisticat-
ed," stereotypes are contributing to a visible social rift
between regions.
LSA freshman Laura Sirgedas recalled the first time
she encountered East Coast students in a class.
"The first day of class you can tell who are the New
Yorkers. They'll be the ones sitting together talking
over other people and just being loud," said Sirgedas, a
Novi resident.
Sirgedas's experience seems to be a common one
among Midwestern students. Many students, especially
freshmen and sophomores, characterized students from
the East Coast as overbearing, obnoxious and quick to
retort sharply in a classroom setting.
Midwestern students said the University is a fallback
school for "rich" East Coast kids who could not gain
admittance to more elite eastern schools.
"I've noticed that for people from the East Coast, this
is an Ivy League safety school. When they don't get in
and they come here, the have a different attitude," said
Kate Miller, an LSA freshman.
Stereotypes went both ways with Midwestern stu-
dents, who said that they believe East Coast students
think they were "slower," "less well dressed" and from
"rural" towns.
LSA freshman Marissa Mann summed up what she
believed to be the East Coast consensus of the Midwestern
student body.
"They think we all grew up on farms," said Mann, a
Michigan resident.
Some East Coast students were quick to say they
thought the Midwestern students were less sophisticat-
ed and cultured, but would not go so far as to label all
See STEREOTYPES, Page 3A
stuents
whouare o
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fail to read
them. (JOEL
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Daily)
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Tech jobs lacking for
graduating seniors
j Tight job market not
expected to loosen up for this
year's seniors
By Michael Kan
Daily StaffReporter
What does four years at the renowned Univer-
sity of Michigan with a computer science con-
centration and a grade-point average of 3.5 get
you these days? Not much, says fifth-year LSA
senior Chun Her.
In only a few weeks, Her will graduate. But not
to the engaging career he
planned on, or to the future he cc
hoped for. Compute
"For me, it is extremely skills are
hard to find a job at this J
point," Her said. exclusive a
Hertis not alone. As seniors At the sa
prpr ograduate this year, sl
many of them have to come to job market
grips with a tight job market
and the possibility of not hav- has becom
ing a chance to work at their more com
studied profession. But gradu-
ating computer science
majors are facing an even
tougher job market than most Director ofi
and will continue to do so in Employmen
the coming years, according
to Michigan State University Prof. Phil Gardner,
director of research at the Collegiate Employment
Research Institute.
"Computer-related skills are just not that exclu-
sive anymore. At the same time, the job market for
them has become much more competitive," he said.
A year ago, Her was confident he would find a
job in today's tech industry as a computer program-
mer. He had been cramming to learn the computer
languages of Java, SQL and many others for the
By Aaron Adams
For the Daily
The fall season has come and gone,
and mixed with piles of fallen leaves are
piles of unread newspapers. Many pro-
fessors at the University who want their
students to be well informed on current
events require them to buy newspaper
subscriptions for class, and soon after
the start of the semester, the pileup
begins.
The biggest contributor to the accu-
mulation of unread papers is the Jour-
nal-in-Education Program, a
student-targeted newspaper program
sponsored by The Wall Street Journal.
The program provides incentives
for students and professors to sub-
scribe to the Journal. Students pay
$34.95 for 15 weeks of the Journal in
print and online - about half the
non-student price. Professors get a
free subscription if they refer 10 stu-
dents or more to the program.
At Michigan, 761 students now have
a subscription to the Journal. That
means the Journal delivers at least
115,000 newspapers to campus in one
school year - at a cost to students of
$53,000. If each paper weighs 2 pounds,
that's 230,000 pounds of papers deliv-
ered to the doorsteps of students.
"There are three types of students that
subscribe to the Journal at the University
of Michigan," said Heather Strain, Jour-
nal-in-Education sales representative for
the University. "In the first group, pro-
fessors will either require a subscription
or highly recommend that it be pur-
chased. In the second group, first-year
MBA day students receive a comple-
mentary subscription purchased by a
private corporation that recruits at the
University's Business School. The last
group is just students that think it will be
helpful for them to subscribe."
Strain added that the University is a
large market for subscriptions.
"The University of Michigan is a
big account with a lot of stable sub-
scribers, but some universities
require that all of their students pur-
See NEWSPAPERS, Page 7A
r-
ti
ie
p
re
t
past few years, all while interning for Sterling
Commerce.
After all his classes, Her thought his efforts
would help him land ajob in his desired profession.
At last, he was finally ready to be a real computer
programmer.
But then reality sunk in. Her originally expected
at least a few job offers before he graduated. More
than a year after starting his job search, and after
sending out over 40 resumes and attending several
unsuccessful interviews, he still'hasn't been offered
a job.
The hard fact is, the economy still is reeling and
demand for computer science majors is low, he
said. No one wants to hire a
college graduate when they
-related can hire a programmer who
St not that already has the job experience,
Her added.
lylnore. "They don't seem to be hir-
e t e the igthatmany college students
~ Ufl~ethese days:' Her said. Now, he
for them may have to postpone his
career plans as a computer
much programmer.
etitive" Gardner last month released
his annual predictions for
2003-2004 recruitment, based
- Phil Gardner on recent trends in the job
'search, Collegiate market. The study indicates
Research Institute that employment, in computer
science and engineering will
have the lowest demand and that hiring in those
industries will either decline or show only a slight
increase.
Besides the struggling economy, Gardner said
the low demand in computer-related professions
was caused by the "dot-com bust" of the late 1990s
that resulted in layoffs throughout the technology
industries.
Gardner added that once these industries col-
See JOBS, Page 7A
Bargain prowling
American troops kill 46 Iraqi fighters
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - In the deadliest
reported firefight since the fall of Saddam
Hussein's regime, U.S. soldiers fought back
coordinated attacks yesterday using tanks, can-
nons and small arms in running battles
throughout the northern city of Samarra. The
troops killed 46 Iraqi fighters, and five Ameri-
cans were wounded.
Minutes later, two South Korean contractors
were killed nearby in a roadside ambush in
what U.S. officials called a new campaign
aimed at undermining international support
for the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq. Attacks on
Infantry Division said attackers, many wearing
uniforms of Saddam's Fedayeen militia,
opened fire simultaneously on two U.S. supply
convoys on opposite sides of Samarra.
After barricading a road, the attackers
opened fire from rooftops and alleyways with
bombs, small arms, mortars and rocket-pro-
pelled grenades, he said. U.S. troops respond-
ed with rifles, 120mm tank rounds and 25mm
cannon fire from Bradley fighting vehicles.
U.S. fire destroyed three buildings the
attackers were using, MacDonald said.
"It sounds like the attack had some coordi-
attack and take the fight to the enemy," he
said.
When the smoke cleared, 46 Iraqis were
dead, 18 were wounded and eight were cap-
tured, MacDonald said. Five American sol-
diers and a civilian were wounded, he said,
adding that none of the injuries were life-
threatening.
"We have been very aggressive in our con-
voy operations to ensure the maximum force
protection is with each convoy," MacDonald
said. "But it does send a clear message that if
you attempt to attack one of our convoys,
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