Fn~day January 16, 2004 02004 The Michigan Daily Ann Arbor, Michigan *Vo. CXIII, No. 78 a4LIM Et 4j~~auiarnzftg TODAY: Snow expect- ed inthe morning with the sun corn- t 16 ing out in the *(W8 afternoon. Tomorrow: 22/16 One-hundred-thirteen years ofeditorilfreedom www.michigandaily.com - --- ------------------- Potential housing directors to visit U By Alison Go Daily Staff Reporter After more than a year without a permanent housing director, the Uni- versity has announced four potential candidates to lead the sixth-largest university housing system in the nation. After former Director Bill Zeller left the position last January, Vice Presi- dent for Student Affairs E. Royster Harper, created a committee to find his replacement. The committee is com- prised of 13 people, including two stu- dents, and has been sifting through potential candidates since September. "(We want) a leader who is dynam- ic, with fiscal and financial experience, and has been through new construction and major renovations of residence halls," said Diane Nafranowicz, Uni- versity Lawyer's Club manager and head of the search committee. Members are also looking for a director who is open to student input. "Our past director was very involved in (the Residence Halls Association) and we want someone who is student focused," said LSA junior Amy Keller, president of the RHA and member of the committee. "We'd like someone who will work with and recognize the goals of the RHA." The candidates for the position include Michael Coakley from Northern Illinois University, Fred Fotis from the University of British Columbia, Carole Henry from the University of Connecticut and Frankie Minor from the University of Missouri. All four are directors of housing departments and were select- ed in early December from a group of 10 candidates. Each candidate will make presen- tations to the search committee and the public during the week of Jan. 26 at the Michigan Union. Each one was assigned a topic for discussion and will be questioned and inter- viewed by faculty, staff and stu- dents. "We always have public presenta- tions so we can get feedback," Harper said. "This is the person who is going to set the tone for housing." See HOUSING, Page 2 Dems prepare for close race Kerry and Edwards catch up polls with caucuses 3 days away TONY DING/aily Students for Gephardt chair Ilya Rusinov and Ramya Rhagavan with Students for Dean get ready for a tough fight with the competitive Iowa caucus Monday. Cam us political groups advocate pe erences for prestde~td candidates By Michael Gurovitsch Daily Staff Reporter Sens. John Kerry and John Edwards have found the necessary steam to jumpstart their respective campaign locomotives, unexpectedly transforming Monday's Iowa Democ- ratic caucus into a four-man race. A poll of Iowa voters released yes- terday by Reuters/MSNBC/Zogby shows a statistical dead heat between Kerry of Massachusetts, Edwards, Howard Dean and Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri. "It has turned out to be a much more hotly contested caucus than OTHER & p e o p 1 e UNDECIDED expected 193% early on and it will be interesting to see what happens on, Monday," ~ said political science P r o fr e M i c h a e 1 502 people were surve Traugott. this week The mark L a s t week, most polls showed Dean and Gephardt tied for first, with Kerry and Edwards trailing. The current poll shows Kerry in the lead with 21.6 percent of likely Iowa caucus voters, followed by Gephardt and Dean tied at 20.9 per- cent and Edwards at 17.1 percent. But Traugott said the public should take caution since the poll has a rela- tively small sample size and the atti- tudes of Iowa voters are still volatile. The only definitive conclusion is that the race is tight, he said. "(The candidates) need to build momentum to carry them into subse- quent events. A lot is going to happen in the next three weeks," Traugott said, adding that candidates will start dropping out of the race rapidly if they do not do well in upcoming cau- cuses and primaries. Carol Moseley Braun exited the race yesterday. Traugott added that although Iowa has historical significance to both parties, the state's electorate is not representative of the nation as a whole. Iowa is the first official caucus of the election cycle, giving it extra importance because of the increased media attention, even though no Democrat has won the caucuses and gone on to win the presidency s i n c e J i m m y KERRY Carter in 1976. Bill Clinton ran unopposed in 1996. Democra- tic National ' Committee Chairman h T e r r y McAuli ffe u' said he dfor this poll conducted hopes the of error is 4.5percent. Democratic nominee for President will be known by mid-March. The official nomination will take place at the Democratic National Convention, which starts July 26 in Boston. At the convention, each state's del- egation casts their vote for a candi- date, almost always in line with the results of the caucuses or primary in that particular state. Iowa uses a proportional represen- tation system based on the results of the caucuses in each precinct to appoint delegates to the convention. Each state has a different and sometimes complicated procedure for assigning delegates to the national See CAUCUS, Page 2 -ye g7n By Mona Rafeeq Daily Staff Reporter With three days to go before the Iowa caucuses, University students are rallying their voter bases to sup- port their favorite Democratic presi- dential candidate. Students have formed groups to support all eight remaining Democ- rats with the exception of the Rev. Al Sharpton. Beginning as early as March of last year, the groups have been hard at work handing out flyers and stickers, and working tables in the Michigan Union and residence halls to encour- age students to support their candi- dates. Some groups visited Iowa to campaign during the fall and winter breaks. In addition to campaigning on campus, Students for (Howard) Dean and Students for (Dick) Gephardt will be in Iowa this weekend to get out the vote. Members of the latter group plan to have a send-off rally today at the cube near the Union. Both groups plan to go door-to- door and run phone banks to encour- age Iowans to go to the polls to vote. Student supporters of Dean, a for- mer Vermont governor, will also be on hand to set up the hall for his speech in Marshalltown, Iowa today. The voting in Iowa initiates the first of the Democratic presidential caucuses, and will be followed by pri- maries in New Hampshire, Michigan, and many other states throughout the winter. Retired Gen. Wesley Clark and Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut decided not to campaign in the Iowa caucuses. Instead, they have chosen to focus their resources on the New Hampshire primary on Jan. 27. The student groups have many rea- sons for supporting their respective candidates. Members of Students for Dean said they admire his grassroots campaign. "The house calls have been a great way of educating people about Dean's stances on the issues and getting them to support him," said LSA sophomore See STUDENTS, Page 7 Michigan Union adds wireless connection in lounges, basement By Ashley Dinges Daily Staff Reporter Students can expect to see wireless Internet access arriving in many new areas of campus by the end of this month, most notably the Michigan Union, the Michigan League and Pierpont Commons. The Union's wireless network was brought online shortly before winter break in Decem- ber, but accessibility is not being publicized while Information Technology Central Ser- vices works out glitches in the system. "We brought it out without too much fan- fare just to make sure all of the bugs were out of it," said John Brockett, director of technol- ogy for the Division of Student Affairs. The three buildings plan to advertise the new systems together once the other two loca- tions are functioning properly. The League and Pierpont Commons were expected to start running wireless connections this week, but work is still in progress. "It's a schedule of things getting set up. I believe all of the equipment, if not installed, is in the process of being installed. Hopefully this month we will have all three facilities up and running," Brockett said. Currently, the wireless networks on the ground and first floor of the Union are func- tioning. On the ground floor, the only areas included in the network are the Tap Room and food court area. More areas are included on the first floor, such as the study lounge, art lounge, patio and terrace. Union Director Audrey Schwimmer said that ITCS has tested locations to make sure the system functions properly. "They've been working on the installation for probably over a year now, and actually determining the spread of the areas in which it would cover," Schwimmer said. There are currently no plans to add more wireless coverage areas in the Union, such as the offices on the third and fourth floors. "There is no plan to do internal office areas. The ground and first floors are areas we capitalized on because there are so many more open areas for students that we thought would be advantageous for them to use," Schwimmer said. According to ITCS, it is more difficult to develop a wireless network in older buildings such as the Union because the building's architecture cannot be modified. The process of converting areas of campus to offer wireless service depends on the individual buildings and is up to the discretion of different schools such as the College of Literature, Sci- ence and the Arts, said Andy Palms, director of Communication Systems for ITCS. "LSA is looking at doing most of their See WIRELESS, Page 7 JlF LHNLTI l/UJaly MBA students Patrick Sahm and Robert Arocha browse the Internet over a wireless connection in the Tap Room of the Michigan Union yesterday. Some students apathetic about MLK Day I can feel the beat By Michael Kan Daily Staff Reporter When he's older, LSA freshmen John Wooster will still recall the day when Linda Brown Thompson came to the University. For Wooster, it was seeing history before his eyes. "I mean it was Linda Brown, the little girl in the pea coat who's in every American history textbook, why wouldn't I go?" The girl, who at age 7 helped ignite the movement that resulted in the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark Brown v. Board of Education ruling, spoke Monday night in a lecture, marking the first of many events to remember the civil rights movement at the Universi- attend it with me, but no one went, so I went alone," he said. With Martin Luther King, Jr. Day approaching, the University has sponsored various events and activi- ties as part of its 17th annual Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Symposium to bring students togeth- er in commemoration of the civil rights movement. The University will hold no classes Monday in an effort to encourage students to attend many of these events, which include a day of community service, a King memorial lecture and discussions on race-relat- ed issues. Students are excited, but there is a feeling among many students that the excitement is more because of the three-day weekend and less because of the holi- the history of the civil rights movement. Moreover, they question if students care about the holiday. "Personally, I see it for them as a three day break," said LSA sophomore Trevor Angood. "I think some students take it for granted. ... A decent majority overlook what went on, what the hol- iday is about," he added. LSA junior Ryan Stack said some students don't respect the holiday as much as they should. "It hasn't gained the status it should. Some will definitely celebrate it, but not as much as other holi- days," he said. Students who are not attending any events this upcoming Monday have said they plan to take advan- tage of the extended weekend by sleeping in, catch- JFF IFIHNERT/flilu