news@michigandaily.com NEWS The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, March 10, 2004 - 3 THIS WEEK IN DAILY HISTORY, Five years ago ... Faculty from the College of Litera- ture, Science and the Arts approved a resolution at a meeting yesterday to allow students to complete academic minors. More than 50 faculty members unani- mously approved the change to the fac- ulty code to add minors to the LSA curriculum. During the meeting, representatives of the LSA Student Government implored the faculty to approve the resolution, which had already been voted on by the curriculum committee and the LSA executive committee. "Peer universities offer the option and don't lose credibility by doing so," LSA-SG representative Steve Sharpe said. March 2, 1978 In light of the upcoming Spring Break, Daytona Beach police in con- junction with Daytona's City Hall and Chamber of Commerce sent memos to all major northern state universities, warning of local ordinances which pro- hibit heavy partying. "We get lots of Michigan plates down here," said Daytona Police Sgt. Jim Penkins. "By Easter week we get 200,000 kids - there's so many you can stir them with a stick. "During that week we may arrest 1,000 to 1,500 students," he added. According to Jenkins, the most abused ordinance prohibits carrying or consumption of an open alcoholic bever- age on the beach of city streets. "Stu- dents come to have some fun, sun and drink a few beers," Jenkins said. "They take the risk and get caught." March 6, 1986 One of the nation's largest defense contractors - Lawrence Livermore Laboratories - cancelled its job recruit- ment after students planned to protest its presence on campus. But a Livermore human resources representative said the cancellation was because no one signed up for interviews, not because they feared protesters. Michigan Alliance for Disarmament member and Rackham student Justin Schwartz said, "It's equally fine by me if they cancelled because of pickets or because no one signed up." March 2, 1935 Athlectic director Fielding Yost helped two fratenity pledges complete their ini- tiation tasks, thereby saving them from being assessed "black marks" and win- ning the staunch support and admiration of both. The two pledges were asked to make a topographical map of the University golf course and count the number of bricks in the south Ferry Field wall. The two pledges saw Yost in the Michigan Union and thought he could tell them where the wall was located. Yost did know - but he didn't stop there. He drove the two initiates to the Ath- letic Department administrative offices in his car and quickly disposed of their problems by going into his office and drawing a map from the huge plan of the golf course hung above his desk. The second problem was more diffi- cult. The three went out and measured the wall with the aid of a board procured by Yost. It was reported that after a heat- ed argument and the application of advanced mathematics, Yost and the two initiates came to an agreement on the number of bricks in the wall. March 5, 1985 The University lost a bid to receive funding from the National Science Foundation for one of four supercomput- er centers across the country. The NSF instead chose Princeton University, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Cornell University and the University of California at San Diego to receive the $40 million machines. Nuclear engineering Prof. William Martin said while present research proj- ects in the department will not suffer, the computers could have "started some new projects" at the University. March 6, 1968 Six members of the College Republi- cans traveled to New Hampshire pri- mary to support George Romney for president, only to find out he had with- drawn from candidacy. While on their way, they were shocked to hear on the radio that Rom- ney dropped out of the race. "Our first reaction was to cry. We felt a sense of futility at traveling 1600 miles and not accomplishing anything," Britt Procter said. SMarch 7. 1951 DAAP party to fight Michigan ballot initiative Picture perfect By Kristen Przybybskd Daily Staff Reporter The Defend Affirmative Action Party is living up to its name during this year's Michigan Student Assembly elec- tions, fighting for a cause that brought the University to the national spotlight almost seven years ago. The 18 DAAP candidates running for MSA positions are hoping to garner the votes of students who have been active in the fight for affirmative action since the University was first sued regarding its race-conscious admissions policies in the fall of 1997. "We're calling on students who are part of this action to vote and continue to fight because obviously this is not over," DAAP presidential candidate Kate Stenvig said. "Right now we are fighting to defend the victory at the (U.S.) Supreme Court and particularly to face the attack of the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative petition," Stenvig said. The Court ruled last June that the University could use race as one of many factors in admissions, but it struck down the point system it used to admit undergrad- uates. Currently, supporters of the M*A it MCRI are trying to bring a referendum . to November's bal- lot asking voters to ban affirmative d action policies at state universities. DAAP is focused on fighting the MCRI by organizing a "Decline to Sign" campaign to deter students from signing the MCRI petition. "I think the fight that we have in Michigan to fight this ballot initiative is central in the national battle for affirma- tive action," Stenvig said. "We've been doing a "Decline to Sign" campaign to try to consolidate the support for affir- mative action on campus." Another issue that DAAP is address- ing is the prevention of changes to the Sexual Assault Prevention and Aware- ness Center. "To cut SAPAC is totally outrageous," Stenvig said. "Especially knowing how rampant sexual assault and rape are on campus, it's such a step backwards." Fighting recent cuts to certain student groups and offices such as the Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgen- der Affairs is also a concern of DAAP, party vice presidential candidate said Cyril Cordor. "The University has been doing a whole series of cutbacks," Cordor said, an LSA junior. "(We want) MSA to be a real student union so that the adminis- tration doesn't feel like it can do these things" Cordor said if DAAP wins any posi- tions within MSA, its candidates would like to make MSA a more interactive group that allows for more student input, especially in terms of budgeting. "You have to come up with a series of ideas and get input from students on how to allocate money," Cordor said. But DAAP is in favor of a $1 increase in student fees this year to fund renovations of the William Monroe Trotter House, a student cultural center. On the national scale, DAAP is organizing participation in a national march on Wash- ington scheduled for May 15 in 2t' ff honor of the 50th ~ anniversary of hgthe Brown v. S v Board of Educa- tion Supreme ( tCourt decision. ,,ti f Stenvig sees the er anniversary of the decision as a e rpivotal event in ..,i . the fight for affirmative action. "Since this is the 50th anniver- sary of Brown, we have the oppor- tunity to decide which direction we're going," Stenvig said, refer- ring to whether the state and the country will choose to support or contest affirmative action. "If we lose affirmative action, there will be a 75 percent drop in minority enrollment. We've seen this in Cal- ifornia." Stenvig will be going up against presidential candidates from Stu- dents First and independent candi- dates in a debate tonight at the WOLV TV station. Elections will be held on Wednesday, March 17 and Thurs- day, March 18. W ^ILL I^XAC ^SASIaily Art and Design freshman Daniel McClendon sketches plans for the proposed School of Art and Design courtyard yesterday. MSA discusses ways to curb tuition increases at mweeting By Andrew Kaplan Daily News Editor As rising tuition fees accompany the falling number of college applicants, the Michigan Student Assembly has voted to support the federal College Afford- ability and Accountability Act, which would offer incentives for state colleges and universities to mitigate tuition hikes. The growth of tuition increases has been gaining speed since 1999 and now stands at about 14 percent, according to the American Association of State Col- leges and Universities. The act, U.S. House of Representa- tives Resolution 3519, states that schools that keep the rate of inflation of tuition fees to a "Higher Education Price Index" would receive such benefits as more Pell Grant funding.. The congressional bill makes its way through the House at the same time as a provision in Gov. Jennifer Granholm's proposed 2004-2005 budget would sap funds from Michigan colleges and uni- versities that do not rein in tuition fees increases. The act MSA voted unanimously to support last night, which was intro- duced to the House in November, would take no such measures and in fact forbids states from decreasing funding to any college to a level below the average amount provided by the states to higher education institutions in the past five years. The bill also offers cost-saving solu- tions to schools, such as "bulk purchas- ing" and "streamlining administration" in order to cut expenditures, which con- tribute to tuition increases. By voicing its support for the act, MSA began a lobbying campaign to encourage the Michigan delegation to the House to support the act. MSA will also contact other Big Ten universities to persuade their student assemblies to sup- port the act. "With Granholm's proposal, if schools are punished because tuition goes up, students will feel the burden of that. ... (H.R. 3519) says students shouldn't be held accountable for prob- lems for the state budget," said LSA jun- ior Rachel Fisher, chair of the Communications Committee. She added that the MSA resolution was not drafted specifically in response to the governor's budget proposal. Echoing the concerns of constituents representing the Lecturers' Employee Organization, the assembly also passed a resolution aiming to improve the lot of non tenure faculty at the University, giv- ing them more academic and profes- sional parity with their tenure-track counterparts. The resolution demands that admin- istrators to establish a "system of con- tinuous employment" for "high-quality" lecturers, who, unlike faculty who have earned tenure, receive no guarantee of being rehired at the end of their term here. Supporters of the resolution said that while lecturers often do not publish as frequently as professors or engage in as much research, their services to students merit certain amenities from the Univer- sity that they currently do not receive. They cited examples such as health benefits during the spring and summer terms, salaries increases more indicative of the quality of their work and guaran- teed employment if they perform their jobs well and without infractions. "Our point is we need to start treat- ing the people who do that excellent teaching accordingly," said sociology Prof. Ian Robinson, co-chair of LEO. "Once you pass a probationary period, after two years and you've been approved ... then you can assume you have continuous employment just as a tenured staffer does." According to the resolution and LEO, lecturers currently comprise half the undergraduate faculty at the University and, in the Residential College, teach about two-thirds of the courses. Corrections: Please report any errors in the Daily to corrections@michigandaily.com A Night of Persian Sounds Reza Derakshani, a vocalist and virtuoso of several Persian instruments, such as the Tar and Setar (Persian style lutes), Ney (reed flute), Tarmanche and Kamanche (bowed strings), and Daf (Persian handdrum), will perform a fusion of traditional Persian music, jazz, and other world genres. Sunday, March 14 at 6:00 p.m. Michigan League Ballroom 911 N. University, Ann Arbor Also well known as a visual artist, his paintings will be on display and available for sale prior to the concert. Information at 734-764-0350 or www.umich.edu/-iinet/cmenas The University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts presents a public lecture and reception r The Centered Self _- I www.csuonio.eau I ~. ~m