Thursday, February 19, 2004
News 3A Panel discusses
concerns of gay
minorities
Opinion 4A Steve Cotner on cops
and fighting
Daily Arts highlights some Oscar snubs ... Weekend Magazine, Page lOB
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eather
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S30
TOMORROW:
Sports 8A
Men's basketball
defeats Penn State
One-hundredthirteen years of editorialfreedom
www.michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan * Vol. CXIII, No. 100
©2004 The Michigan Daily
Dean(
bid in
House
Formerfrontrunner withdraws
without having won any pfnmaries
By Andrew Kaplan
Daily News Editor
Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean's run for
the Democratic presidential nomination, after
starting strong and only recently slowing down,
came to an end yesterday. Less than a day after
placing a distant third in the pivotal Wisconsin
primary, Dean announced his withdrawal from
the White House contest.
"Today my candidacy may come to an end -
but our campaign for change is not over," Dean
said in a statement on his website. "Although my
candidacy for president may end today, the most
important goal remains defeating George W.
Bush in November, and I hope that you will join
me in doing everything we can to support the
Democrats this fall."
Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, who leads
the race, thanked Dean for energizing the cam-
paign following the announcement.
"The Democratic Party truly owes Governor
Dean a debt of gratitude for the tremendous new
energy he has brought to our party' Kerry said in
a speech yesterday in Dayton, Ohio.
Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, who fin-
ished second in the Wisconsin primaries, echoed
Kerry's statement.
"Howard Dean has brought so much to this
race - not just his ideas and passion for change,
but hundreds of thousands of Americans who had
never participated in a campaign before,"
Edwards said in a written statement.
Dean's poor finish in Wisconsin has been typi-
cal of his performance in all 17 primaries thus far.
Although his national delegate count is second
only to Kerry ' Dean leaves with 201 pledged
ends
White
race
delegates to the Democratic National Convention,
while Kerry has already gained 608 representa-
tives - Dean's campaign had tapered off over the
past month while his rivals' campaigns gathered
speed. Dean staked much of his $40 million cam-
paign nest egg on the Iowa caucuses and New
Hampshire primary last month, both of which he
failed to win.
"I don't think Howard Dean's been a contender
since after Iowa, so I've seen it as a two-person
race since after Iowa," said political science Prof.
Jenna Bednar, saying Kerry and Edwards have
been top candidates for the nomination.
In the weeks leading up to Wisconsin, Dean
vacillated over the importance of the state to con-
tinuing his candidacy. In a Feb. 5 interview with
The Michigan Daily in Royal Oak, Dean said
Wisconsin held most of his campaign resources.
But as late as Tuesday, he told the New York
Times that he would likely prolong his bid
regardless of the outcome in Wisconsin.
Even after his decision to pull out of the race,
Dean still signaled some hope for his cause.
"Dean for America will be converted into a
new grassroots organization," Dean said in a
speech from Burlington, Vt. yesterday, referring
to his campaign effort. "We need everybody to
stay involved.aWe are - as we always have -
going to look at what you had to say about which
directions we ought to be going in, and what we
ought to continue to do together."
Ramya Raghavan, chair of Students For Dean,
said she found her candidate's desire to run
despite costly primary losses inspiring, though at
times confusing.
"He still wants to continue Dean for America
and continue advocacy work, which I think
speaks volumes of his character. ... That to me is
still the mark of a great political leader," Ragha-
van said.
See DEAN, Page 5A
LAURA SHLECTER/Oaily
Rackham student Mya Gosling, left, leaves Borders Books and Music with a purchase in hand yesterday. Despite increased earning for the
company, salary raises were not Increased.
B O e
Borders ain will not
brng greater. salary raises
By Koustubh Patwrdhan
Daily Staff Reporter
Borders Group Inc. ended the year 2003 on a
positive note, despite suffering setbacks due to
labor disputes in the Ann Arbor store.
But Borders officials said they would not
raise salaries for their employees beyond what
was agreed to in their deal with workers, despite
an expected 12-percent increase in earnings
from the previous year.
Recently released unaudited results for the
holiday season and the full year 2003 show that
retail sales and earnings per share rose from the
last year.
Jim Kirk, an employee at the Ann Arbor
store, said he was pleased with the profit
results, as they would allow the company to pay
its employees more.
But Anne Roman, corporate spokesperson
for Borders, said the question of raising benefits
and wages does not arise in Ann Arbor since the
agreement signed with the union covered all
A ter three
RC radin
Total sales for the
company were $3.7 billion,
up 6.1 percent from same-
store sales last year.
the union's demands.
Borders has an ongoing commitment to
awarding increases in pay, she said. "Last year
we awarded a 3 percent increase, and again
this year we are awarding a 3 percent
increase," she said.
She added that Borders does assess market
conditions around the nation and adjusts wages
accordingly.
Total sales for the company were $3.7 billion,
up 6.1 percent from same-store sales last year,
and the holiday season seemed to be more
upbeat than expected, according to a company
press release.
Sales during the fourth quarter increased 7.5
percent from the same period last year.
Added to this, Borders management revised
earning estimates upwards for 2004. Manage-
ment expects a 12 to 15 percent rise in earnings
per share in 2004 as compared to 2003.
Hal Brannan, a long-time Borders employee
at the Ann Arbor store, said that the store in
Ann Arbor did not earn as much as other Bor-
ders and Walden Books stores around the coun-
try. Borders owns Walden Books.
"Sales were down 50 percent. On some days
they were down as much as 75 percent," said
Brannan.
He added that he attributed this drop to pick-
eting during the holiday season.
For almost a year ending in January the Ann
Arbor store experienced disputes with union
employees. The union ultimately went on
strike. Disagreements ranged from wage issues
to job security to communication about job sat-
isfaction.
In early January, after numerous discussions
See BORDERS, Page 7A
Former Vermont
Gov. Howard Dean
speaks to
supporters In a
Feb. 1 campaign
stop in Roseville.
Dean tried to
jump-start his
campaign over the
last month, only
to announce his
decision to end
his bid for the
presidential
nomination
yesterday.
FOREST CASEY/Daily
years,
/-nolIcv
STUDENT CoVERNMEN'
Room with a view
gets mixed reviews
MSA hopefuls to file
candidacies for 2004
presidential elections
By Rachel Boyman
For the Daily
Three years since the Residential Col-
lege began administering letter grades in
addition to written evaluations, the sys-
tem has earned both the praise and crit-
cism of students.
The change, which "For a WH
* began in the fall of
2001, excludes pre- impute a v
proficiency lan-
guage courses. For GPA' and 1
the first time in RC nroblemat
history, professors r
assigned letter we didn't I
grades to students. g r
RC Student Ser- graoes for
vices Assistant
Charlie Murphy
arrived after offi- Director,
i cials chose to make
i,
.F
the RC lacked a grade point average to
submit to other institutions after gradua-
tion - a reason Tom Weisskopf, direc-
tor of the RC, cited as the motivating
factor for the shift.
"The main rationale was that there was
increased demand for GPAs on the part
of graduating
we had to students who
were going (on)
ould be to graduate pro-
fessional school,".
iat was he said. RC
r because alumni expressed
concern when
we actuai applying to insti-
c tutions because
IC ourses. they were unable
to present a clear
- Tom Weisskopf GPA, he said.
Residential College "For a while
we had to
By Cianna Freeman
Daily Staff Reporter
Tomorrow is the deadline for stu-
dents to file for candidacy for offices
in the Michigan Student Assembly.
So far, the University can expect
candidates from the familiar parties:
Defend Affirmative Action Party,
Students First and the University
Party.
Last semester, an estimated 8,500
students voted in the MSA election,
granting Students First control of the
executive board and 15 of the 35
seats available to incoming represen-
tatives.
Jason Mironov, prospective Stu-
dents First candidate for MSA,
praised the accomplishments of the
new representatives.
the Assembly, but also ensure exist-
ing projects are brought to fruition."
The two other parties are not as
optimistic about the current state of
MSA.
Business School senior Timothy
Moore and the University Party's
likely presidential candidate, said he
feels that presently MSA does not
have any concrete goals.
MSA should be much more of a
student union and more accountable
to the students, said potential MSA
presidential candidate Kate Stenvig
from DAAP.
Other candidates from last semes-
ter's election remain hopeful about
the upcoming election.
Prospective MSA vice president
candidate Anita Leung from the Uni-
versity Party said it was optimistic
I . , -. t --