Tuesday
December 2, 2003
@2003 The Michigan Daily
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Vol. CXIII, No. 62
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III OPINION==
AirBus
overflows
during
holiday
With more than 900
participants, MSA
declares airBus a big hit
By Amy Kim
For the Daily
The surge of students headed
home for the holidays and then back
to school left the Michigan Student
Assembly's airBus shuttle more pop-
ular than ever. More than 900 stu-
dents used the two-year old service,
which provides cheap rides to and
from the airport.
"We had more people wanting to
ride than we had room," MSA Presi-
dent Angela Galardi said.
The large turnout of students
using the service caused many who
had expected to be able to walk on
without reservations to be seated in
the aisles.
"I didn't make reservations so
when I got there, there weren't any
more seats," said Phillip Chen, a
Business School junior. "I think they
should take into account for the
number of people that hadn't bought
tickets earlier," he added.
Despite the inconveniences of not
pre-registering, many who had paid
earlier experienced reliable times
"The timing of the buses is down
to a science. They're never late,"
Galardi said.
Pre-registered students who used
this service were generally pleased
with their experiences.
"I reserved my seats two weeks
ago so there were no problems in
regard to seating," LSA senior Rob
Goodspeed said. "Each time I ride it,
there are more improvements."
LSA senior Neil Greenberg, air-
Bus reservation manager, said
"Every reserved seat was sold out.
And we provided rides to about 917
people."
Last year, the main problem that
MSA encountered was accepting
only two forms of payment - cash
and check. Students who felt inse-
cure about using cash to buy airBus
tickets were satisfied this year to
find payments being charged to stu-
dent accounts.
"This is only the second year
doing this but we're working on
See AIRBUS, Page 3
Do re me
Application process
lags after revisions
By Jeremy Berkowitz
Daily Staff Reporter
Some high school seniors are wait-
ing longer than usual this year to
receive letters from the University
telling them whether they were
accepted or rejected.
Undergraduate Admissions Direc-
tor Ted Spencer said yesterday that
the University
has sent 1,400
admittance let-
ters as opposed
to 2,200 at the
same time last
year. Spencer
said the delays
were due to
revamped
F'1STINATWOC
PART SERIES ON
THE.ADM19SSONS
POGRESS
' '
1..-.
rulings that upheld the use of race as
a factor in admissions. But the court
knocked down the undergraduate
point system, which automatically
gave 20 points to all underrepresent-
ed minorities. The new application
includes an increased number of
essays and requires several reads by
counselors before its admittance or
rejection is determined.
Spencer said the Office of Under-
graduate Admissions still aims to
notify students of their admissions
status six to eight weeks after receiv-
ing their applications. He added that
modifications to the admissions
office and schedule could occur in
the winter to accommodate applica-.
tions, if necessary.
"I don't have any indication that
we're going to be significantly
behind anywhere we were last year,"
Spencer said.
Marilyn Brookwood, school coun-
selor and psychologist at Horace
Greeley High School in Chappaqua,
N.Y., said she originally expected the
postponement.
"It's the first year - they're right
out of the gate," Brookwood said,
adding that the University needs to
implement the new system carefully.
"People are going to be watching
their process very slowly."
But West Bloomfield High School
senior Michael Eber sent his applica-
tion in Sept. 30, and he has not heard
from the University yet.
"I had two friends who applied
exactly 24 days after I did, and they
found out this past week," Eber said.
But he added that he is not wor-
ried, in spite of his concerns about
the length of time he has waited and
the worry that his top academic qual-
ifications could hurt him in the end.
"I am a 4.0 student, and I have
pretty decent test scores, so I hope
something weird doesn't happen with
that," he said, noting that students
with special situations or that have
unique talents are admitted over
those with higher grade point aver-
ages and test scores.
At the other extreme, Rochester
Hills High School senior Andy Put-
man said he sent his application in
around the end of October and got
accepted to the College of Engineer-
See ADMISSIONS, Page 3
admissions policies and a new appli-
cation with more essays. The figures
he provided were collected last week.
"We started 30 days behind,"
Spencer said, adding that staff train-
ing and acclimation to a new process
contributed to the lapses.
The University revised its applica-
tion process in August to comply
with the June U.S. Supreme Court
ELISE BERGMAN/Daily
Music school freshman Elizabeth Engle leads the a cappella
group Compulsive Lyres in their rendition of Michelle Branch's
"All You Wanted" at practice last night in the Burton Bell Tower.
Council opts for more anaysis
of traffic at deadly intersection
By Mona Rafeeq
Daily Staff Reporter
In response to concerns raised by the Ann
Arbor Muslim community, Mayor John Hieft-
je announced yesterday that the city adminis-
tration has decided to further analyze and
study the traffic at the intersection of Ply-
mouth and Beale roads, the site where two
students were killed in November.
The decision was met with disapproval by
many Muslim community leaders, who have
been lobbying for a traffic light at the inter-
section near the Islamic Center since 1988.
They recently intensified their efforts after
Engineering students Teh Nannie Roshema
Roslan and Norhananim Zainol were killed at
the intersection last month while they were,
crossing the road.
"There was an expectation that there would
be an action item on our agenda tonight
addressing the issue of a traffic light at the
Plymouth Road intersection," Hieftje said at
the beginning of last night's City Council
meeting.
He added that the city administration feels
the need to do some more traffic studies to
assess the site's situation accurately.
Associate City Administrator Ronald Olson
was also present at the meeting and explained
that there were technical difficulties with the
study that was performed Nov. 17, which
prompted a decision to conduct more studies.
"We found, the better part of the 10 days,
that the counters did not work because of the
cold weather," Olson said.
He added that the cars traveling on Ply-
mouth and Beale had to be counted using a
machine.
"We need to get professional consultations
to make recommendations to pedestrians and
students about how to deal with the traffic,"
Olson said.
He said the contract with the consulting
firm will be finalized at the end of this week
and that results of the report can be expected
to come out at the end of January.
The city administration staff will release its
recommendations by Feb. 17.
"I think what the mayor has proposed is
"I think what the mayor
has proposed is
inadequate,"
- Nazih Hassan
President, Muslim Community
Association of Ann Arbor
inadequate," said Nazih Hassan, president of
the Muslim Community Association of Ann
Arbor, reacting to Hieftje's announcement
about another analysis.
"A study with an open-ended scope (like
this one) will not lead to anything tangible,"
Hassan said. He estimated that nearly 200
people attended last night's meeting and
when he asked those in the room who sup-
ported the traffic light to stand, about 30
people stood up.
In response to the community's concerns,
Hieftje said that the city is very concerned
with the issue.
"We are very, very sincere when addressing
See TRAFFIC, Page 3
New nursing course
offers perspectives
on physical disabilities
By Jameel Naqvi
Daily Staff Writer
"I still can't believe I'm in a wheel-
chair."
Todd Hammond, speaker for Think
First, which aims to prevent spinal
cord injuries among middle and high
school students, was paralyzed in
important for students because they
could find themselves in the same
position.
"It's as easy as making some wrong
decisions," he said.
Heumann said the rates of paralysis
among young males are high because
this demographic is more prone to
risk-taking. But he added, "This
Loretta Napoleons discusses her book "Modern Jlhad: The
New Economy of Terror" last night in Angell Hail.
COntJ]C1St
of ink etween
terrorst money
U.S. economy
By Cianna Freeman
Daily Staff Reporter
In a lecture in Angell Hall last night, economist Loretta
Napoleoni took a break from the traditional discussion of
the religious aspects of terrorism and instead explored the
economics behind the terrorist networks.
Napoleoni defined a terrorist as anyone who uses vio-
lence to achieve political means or goals.
"I believe that terrorism is not a war of religion, but
rather it is a clash between two economic systems,"
Napoleoni said.
"On one side, the emerging middle class of the Muslim
world and those Muslims who want to return to their orig-
inal purity, and on the other side is the oligarchy of Mus-
lim countries which are backed by the West," she added.
Her interest in the economic aspect of terrorism began
when she conducted an exclusive interview with the Red
Brigades, a terrorist group in Italy that was known for not
talking to the media.
The Red Brigade was a Marxist group that wanted to
separate Italy from the Western alliance. She found that
the group was not immersed in politics but rather
engrossed in economics.
Napoleoni is the author of "Modern Jihad: Tracing the
Dollars Behind the Terror Networks."
In the book, she discusses the "new economy of terror"
as a web based on terror, crime and corruption that was
created by the interaction between armed and criminal
organizations. This network, she writes, is an international
economic system linked to both legitimate and illegiti-
mate sectors of traditional economies.
One of Napoleoni's most notable discoveries was that
the terrorist organization generated a $1.5 trillion eco-
nomic system, which is twice the GDP of the United
Kingdom.
One-third of this amount is generated by legal business-
es, and the money is reportedly recycled primarily in the
United States and Europe.
Napoleoni asserted that one of the major problems is
1989. Hammond,
along with Daniel
Heumann, founder
of Heumannly
Cap able ,
described his daily
struggles with
paralysis to a class
of Nursing and
LSA students yes-
terday in the Mod-
ern Languages
Building.
The class, Nurs-
"Better research is
being done in other
countries. They don't
have the religious
fervor that keeps us in
our wheelchairs:'
- Daniel Heumann
founder of Heumannly Capable
injury does not
discriminate."
During his
talk, Heumann
criticized the
Bush adminis-
tration for scal-
ing back stem
cell research,
which may
potentially be
used to repair
damaged tis-
BRENDAN ULJONNELL/Daily
Local poet and Community High School teacher Ellen Stone performs at the Day With(out) Art event in
conjunction with World AIDS Day at the University Museum of Art yesterday.
" "
Activists, ealth workers
mrark ID ayin Kenya
ing 214, marks the first time in the
University's history that there is a
class being taught on disability, said
LSA junior Jeff Kominsky.
Kominsky and Laura Zang, a nurse
at the University Hospital, created the
one-credit class to show students that
disabled people can succeed in life,
Kominsky said. The class covers all
aspects of disability, including med-
ical and legal viewpoints. The sur-
vival panel was the culmination of a
sues.
"Better research is being done in
other countries. They don't have the
religious fervor that keeps us in our
wheelchairs. They feel that human
suffering needs to be alleviated now,"
he said.
"Stem cells are not the magic bul-
let for spinal cord injuries," he added.
"They're only one piece of the puz-
zle."
Heumann described other promis-
ing therapies, like the injection of
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) - Tens of thousands
of activists and health workers rallied worldwide
yesterday to mark World AIDS Day, and officials
hailed new initiatives, new funding and a new pill
to fight the disease that has infected 40 million
people and kills more than 8,000 every day.
The World Health Organization and UNAIDS
promised cheaper drugs, simpler treatment regi-
mens and more money as part of a campaign
launched in Nairobi to provide 3 million HIV-
infected people with the latest drugs available by
the end of 2005 in a $5.5 billion effort.
mote international agreements to streamline treat-
ment programs.
"In two short decades, HIV/AIDS has become
the premier disease of mass destruction," said
Jack Chow, the assistant director-general of
WHO. "The death odometer is spinning at 8,000
lives a day and accelerating."
Medecins Sans Frontieres, an aid agency that
has led efforts to simplify HIV treatment, wel-
comed the announcement but said funding will be
critical.
"The treatment has to be free; if the treatment
r