Wednesday, February 18, 2004 Norah Jones maintains her signature sound on Feels Like Home ... Arts, Page 8

Opinion 4

Sravya Chirumamilla
on academic integrity

Arts 8 "ChildrenofaUganda"
come to campus
Sports 9 The basketball team
looks to rebound
from a tough week

One-hundred-thfrteen years ofedtmrialfreedm

Weather
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TOMORROW:
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©2004 The Michigan Daily

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www.michigandaily.com

Ann Arbor, Michigan Vol. CXIII, No. 99


Survey:
Freshmen
politically
informed
By Ejyot Saini
For the Daily
LSA freshman Andy Frohlich was
surprised at the results of a University
survey released this week showing that
less than of half of his class follow pol-
itics. But the University still says the
class of 2007 is the most politically
interested in a decade.
An annual survey of the entering
freshmen class conducted by the Uni-
versity's Division of Student Affairs,
reveals that 45 percent of freshmen
keep themselves politically informed.
Students completed surveys during
new student orientation last summer.
The University's average continues
to remain higher than the national aver-
age of 40 percent found at other "high-
ly selective" public universities.
Malinda Matney, senior research
associate at the Division of Student
Affairs, said this percentage is the
highest seen since 1993.
"(It recorded) a rising level of
engagement in political interest," Mat-
ney said.
Matney attributed the ongoing 2004
presidential campaign and the Univer-
sity's recent cases in the U.S. Supreme
Court regarding its race-conscious
admissions policies as possible reasons
for such a high curiosity in current
events.
"Quite a lot of interesting and engag-
ing things were occurring" she said.
Matney added that this high percent-
age shows an increase in students
becoming involved in public affairs.
The survey shows that 93 percent of
students performed community service
in high school and that 35 percent par-
ticipated in demonstrations during their
senior year.
See SURVEY, Page 7

Kerry pulls
out win in
Wisconsin

Dean aides say former
frontrunner will consider
endorsLg another candidate
By Jameel Naqvi
Daily Staff Reporter
John Kerry squeaked by John
Edwards to claim a narrow victory in
Wisconsin's open Democratic primary
last night.
With 99 percent of precincts
reporting last night, Sen. Kerry of
Massachusetts had captured 40 per-
cent of the vote, barely ahead of Sen.
Edwards of North Carolina with 34
percent. Former Vermont Gov.
Howard Dean finished a distant third
with 18 percent. Rep. Dennis
Kucinich of Ohio finished with 3
percent of the state delegate equiva-
lence and the Rev. Al Sharpton
brought up the rear with 2 percent.
"A win is a win," Kerry said to
supporters.
Kerry's victory came on the heels of
a fortuitous endorsement from retired
Gen. Wesley Clark, who exited the
race after third-place finishes in Ten-
nessee and Virginia in his native South
last week. It is his 15th win out of 17
nominating contests held so far.
On Saturday, the Massachusetts sen-

ator celebrated first-place finishes in
caucuses in Nevada and the District of
Columbia Saturday.
Dean was the victor in D.C.'s non-
binding primary last month. But he
was the only candidate of those polling
in the double digits at the time to par-
ticipate in the unofficial contest.
Dean originally said he would cease
his efforts to win the Democratic presi-
dential nomination if he did not come
out on top in Wisconsin. He since has
contradicted his statement and is
unclear if he will stay in the race. "We
are not done yet," he declared last night.
Kerry expanded his labor creden-
tials yesterday with an endorsement
from the Alliance for Economic Jus-
tice, an 18-union coalition that
backed Rep. Dick Gephardt of Mis-
souri before his early exit from the
race after a fourth-place finish in last
month's Iowa caucuses. The senator
is expected to receive the formal
backing of the AFL-CIO, the nation's
largest union, tomorrow.
Kerry currently leads the delegate
count with more than triple the number
of delegates Dean has. Edwards, with
166 delegates before last night's pri-
mary, will soon surpass Dean in the
delegate race if he continues to finish
ahead of the former frontrunner in
See PRIMARY, Page 2

APPHOTO
Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, with his wife Elizabeth at right, greets supporters at the American Serb Hall In Milwaukee last
night. Edwards finished second In yesterday's Wisconsin primary, just behind Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts.

IFC resolving conflict between houses

By Ashley Dinges
and Donn M. Fresard
Daily Staff Reporters
This Office of Greek Life and the Interfraterni-
ty Council have begun investigating the fight that
broke out last Friday night between the Delta
Kappa Epsilon and Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraterni-
ties at the DKE house.
The University also responded to criticism of
the Ann Arbor Police Department's handling of
the incident.
Vice President for Student Affairs E. Royster
Harper said the University has sought assurance
from the AAPD that in the future it will take vio-
lence at fraternity houses more seriously.
"I think they are going to be more responsive,
and I think they understand that fights and vio-
lence aren't childish play. People can get hurt,"
Harper said.
The AAPD received criticism earlier this week

when Sgt. Tom Seyfried told The Michigan Daily
that the department did not pursue the fighting
and vandalism because it considered the incident
"childish nonsense."
SAE president Dustin Nelson said after first
establishing contact with DKE, his fraternity is now
working to resolve the issue within the house.
"Our second step was to discuss the matter
internally and figure out which individuals
were responsible. We have narrowed it down to
about eight brothers and two current pledges,"
Nelson said.
He also said his fraternity will discipline any
members involved in the situation, citing commu-
nity service as an example of a planned discipli-
nary measure.
"We are taking this event very seriously.
We're taking this event as individuals making
the decisions and not as a house," Nelson said.
DKE President Alex Dengel declined to com-
ment on the situation.

Nelson added that a couple SAE members
received facial bruises and one was more severely
beaten.
But despite the fighting and broken windows at
DKE, the AAPD did not issue any citations for
property damage or assault. Lt. Mark Hoornstra
of the AAPD said one citation for a minor in pos-
session of alcohol and one citation for improper
identification were issued.
"For destruction, it indicates that no one
wanted to prosecute, according to the report,"
Hoornstra said. "It says in the report that the
officer took one of the people from each frater-
nity and they agreed to exchange phone num-
bers of the presidents of each.
"They both indicated at the time of the report
that they wanted to resolve the issue between the
two fraternities and did not want to pursue crimi-
nal charges," he added.
Because neither fraternity chose to file charges
against the other, Hoornstra said the AAPD will

"If we can let them resolve
it on their own, it helps to
save the court system and
everybody a lot of time and
effort."
- Lt. Mark Hoornstra
Ann Arbor Police Department
not investigate the situation further. He added that
if the two fraternities were to change their minds
and decide to file charges, a detective and prose-
cutor would decide what to do next.
"If we can let them resolve it on their own, it
helps to save the court system and everybody a
See IFC, Page 3

U.S. prosecutor
sues Ashcroft for
interfering in case

Almost there

AFFIRMATIVE ACTION
Ballot initiative
receives dubious
endorsement of Klan

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Justice
Department is exaggerating its perform-
ance in the war on terrorism and has
interfered with a major terror prosecu-
tion and compromised a confidential
informant, a federal prosecutor alleges
in an extraordinary lawsuit against
Attorney General John Ashcroft.
The lawsuit by Assistant U.S. Attor-
ney Richard Convertino is the
latest twist in the Bush admin-
istration's first major post-Sept.
S 11 terrorism prosecution, a
Detroit case jeopardized over
allegations of prosecutorial
misconduct.
Convertino was the lead
prosecutor on the case, in
which the government did not
provide defense attorneys a
letter alleging that a prosecu-
tion witness lied until long after a trial
had ended.
In his lawsuit, Convertino says the
Justice Department is retaliating

and violent crimes section informed
Convertino that news reports concerning
the department's anti-terror efforts were
not accurate and that the "press gives us
more credit than we deserve." The law-
suit alleges "gross mismanagement" in
the terrorism and violent crimes sec-
tion.Convertino says he complained
repeatedly to the Justice Department in
Washington that it placed
"perception" over "reality" to
the serious detriment of the
war on terror.
Convertino came under
internal Justice Department
investigation last fall after
telling a Senate committee
of his concerns. Regarding
the Detroit case which
Convertino handled, the
government late last year
turned over a jail inmate's letter to
defense lawyers. In it, the inmate
alleged that prosecution witness
Youssef Hmimssa had lied.

By Aymar Jean
Daily StaffReporter
The initiative to end affirmative
action in Michigan recently received a
dubious and opponents say, symbolic
endorsement from an anti-civil rights
organization.
The Mystic Knights of the Ku Klux
Klan - a nationwide white suprema-
cist group - recently pledged support
for the Michigan Civil Rights Initia-
tive. The MCRI is waging a campaign
to amend the state constitution to end
the use of race in public education,
employment and contracting.
Grand Kleagle Phil Lawson of the
KKK's Michigan chapter recently con-
demned in a written statement what
affirmative action opponents call
"racial preferences."
"To let a lesser-qualified minority into
college over a better scoring White stu-
dent (is) an injustice to all people," Law-

MCRI campaign manager Tim
O'Brien said he was surprised about the
endorsement, unaware that it had been
posted. "It is news to me," said
O'Brien, who added that he has not
received any requests for petitions
from the group. "They can say whatev-
er they want on their website. I have no
control over it."
Receiving support from a group that
opposes civil rights has raised ques-
tions about MCRI's commitment to the
ideals of equality.
MCRI asserts that the purpose of its
ballot initiative is to guarantee equal
protection under the law, regardless of
race, ethnicity or sex. For this reason,
the group presents itself as a civil
rights initiative, heralding the ideals of
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In numer-
ous interviews, O'Brien has invoked
the activist days of the '60s. He has
often quoted King's idea that "individ-
uals should be judged not by the color

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