Monday, March 22, 2004

News 3A
Opinion 4A
Arts 1OA

Greek Week begins
with high expectations
Columnist Joel Hoard
comments on a war
now one year old
A five-star review for
'Eternal Sunshine'

Michigan's man by the pool retires after 22 years in Ann Arbor ... Page 8B
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Ann Arbor, Michigan Vol. CXIII, No. 117

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STUDENT GOVERNMENT

'S1'

clinches

MSA race
in landslide

By Clanna Freeman
and Kristen Przybysd
Daily Staff Reporters
The Students First party emerged vic-
torious this weekend, reaffirming its con-
trol over the Michigan Student Assembly
by dominating an election in which fewer
students voted than in past years.
Jason Mironov and Jenny Nathan from
Students First will take over as president
and vice president of MSA, and the party
also won the majority of MSA seats and
the LSA Student Government.
Voters also approved a ballot initiative
to fund the William Monroe Trotter
House by raising student fees by $1. LSA
students also voted against new voting
procedures for electing the president and
vice president of LSA-SG.
The question on the LSA-SG ballot, if
approved, would have changed proce-
dures so that only voting members of
LSA-SG would elect the president and
vice president. Currently, the president
and vice president are on a single ticket
and are elected by LSA students.
"When the results came in, I was

ecstatic," Mironov said. "I look forward
to serving the student body in the upcom-
ing year, whether it's expanding student
services or offering a forum for students
to come and discuss their issues, whatever
they happen to be."
Mironov also said he was thankful to
the campaign staff and student voters.
"Now it's my turn to make sure that the
job of the Michigan Student Assembly is
carried out, and that the quality of student
life at the University improves throughout
the tenure of my term."
Only 5,139 students voted in this year's
elections, compared to about 8,500 stu-
dents in last year's winter elections. About
37,000 students attend the University.
Mironov and Nathan captured 2,261
ballots, almost twice as many as the
runners-up, independent presidential
and vice presidential candidates Tim
Moore and Anita Leung, who received
1,201 votes. The Defend Affirmative
Action Party and the Other Political
Party executive candidates received less
than 500 votes each.
Students First clinched 18 out of 24
See MSA, Page 5A

Views on Iraq: one year later

By Lucille Vaughan
Daily Staff Reporter
To mark the first anniversary of the beginning
of the war in Iraq, Ann Arbor residents joined oth-
ers around the world to honor the victims of the
war and to protest the United States' continuing
involvement in Iraq.
More than 2,500 people marched through Ann
Arbor Saturday, packing the Diag for music,
speeches and a candlelit vigil.
The rally, titled "The World STILL Says No to
War" and sponsored by the Ann Arbor Area Com-
mittee for Peace, Anti-War Action! and Veterans for
Peace, was part of a greater protest throughout the
world. In London, two anti-war activists climbed
the landmark Big Ben clock tower with a sign read-
ing "Time for Truth." In New York City, a crowd of

more than 30,000 congregated in Manhattan.
Protesters in Ann Arbor brandished signs with
slogans including "Why Is There Always Money
For War But Not For Health Care?" and "It Sucks
When Sauron (Bush) Rules Over America."
Ann Arbor resident Scott Alf said he participat-
ed in the rally to raise community awareness of the
situation in Iraq. "We need to reach outward," he
said. "As we march around, this is to get the word
out and create public discourse."
Alf added that America faces a critical struggle
in the future. "We need to organize and we need to
bring the battle home," he said. "The real battle-
field is here at home."
LSA sophomore Pamela Baker, who attended
the rally, said anti-war protest is still relevant even
though a year has elapsed since the U.S. invasion
began. "A lot of people think it doesn't matter any-

more because we already went to war," she said.
"But it's important in an election year because a
lot of people are concerned about the direction the
U.S. is going, especially in foreign policy."
According to Baker, Americans should question
the Bush Administration's strategies. "Even though
it took place a year ago, students and citizens in
general don't need to be complacent with our hor-
rible foreign policy," she said.
Ghanim Al-Jumaily, chief executive officer of
Life for Relief and Development, said the war
caused great harm to his native country of Iraq. "If
there is any motivation for people to stop wars, they
should go look at the human cost of war," he said.
He described the war-torn city of Baghdad,
where he said children are kicked out of orphan-
ages and forced to roam the streets, where they
See IRAQ, Page 5A

New waitlistrl e
troubles students

Hamas founder killed in Israeli strike

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - Sheik Ahmed
Yassin, the founder and leader of the Hamas militant
group that targeted Israelis in suicide bombings, was
killed by missiles fired from Israeli helicopters as he
left a mosque at daybreak today, witnesses said.
Tens of thousands of Gaza residents, many of them
in tears, poured into the streets after Hamas
announced the death of the quadriplegic Yassin over
mosque loudspeakers. Masked fighters at Shifa Hos-
pital in Gaza City, where Yassin's body was taken,
shot into the air in rage.
Hamas vowed revenge against Israeli Prime Minis-
* ter Ariel Sharon.
Witnesses said Israeli helicopters fired three
missiles at Yassin and two bodyguards as they left
the mosque, killing them instantly. He was carried
around in a special car that could accommodate his
wheelchair.

A total of four people were killed and 12 were
wounded in the attack, witnesses said.
Yussef Haddad, 35, a taxi driver, said he saw the
missiles hit Yassin and the bodyguards.
"Their bodies were shattered," he said.
Yassin was by far the most senior Palestinian mili-
tant killed in more than three years of Israeli-Palestin-
ian fighting. Since September 2000, 474 people -
the majority of them Israelis - have been killed in
112 Palestinian suicide bombings, most of them car-
ried out by Hamas.
One Israeli official recently said Yassin was
"marked for death." Sharon's government has gone
after militant leaders using Israeli helicopter gunships
in a controversial policy that has resulted in a number
of civilian casualties in addition to the deaths of senior
figures in Hamas and other groups.
More than 150 Palestinian militants have been

killed in targeted raids, according to Palestinian med-
ical officials, though that total also includes militants
killed resisting arrest.
Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat con-
demned the killing.
"Assassinations, incursions, walls, will not produce
peace and security, on the contrary, it will just add fuel
to the fire,"he said.
Yassin was viewed as an inspirational figure by his
followers in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. His death
could spur violent protests not only in the Palestinian
areas but in the wider Arab and Islamic world, where
he was well-regarded as a symbol of the Palestinian
battle for independence.
In announcing Yassin's death, Hamas said,
"(Israeli Prime Minister Ariel) Sharon has opened
the gates of hell and nothing will stop us from cut-
ting off his head."

Students may only
waitlit for one section per
class startnzg spring term
By Anne Joling
Daily Staff Reporter
Many students on campus are frus-
trated after learning of a new Universi-
ty waitlist policy. The changes, which
might force students to choose courses
more carefully during registration,
were detailed in an e-mail sent last
week from the Office of the Registrar.
Effective next Monday when regis-
tration for spring, summer and fall
2004 terms begins, the former waitlist
procedure has been altered so students
will be able to either enroll or waitlist
in only one section of a course during
the same term.
Previously, students were able to
waitlist and enroll in multiple sections
of a class, in the hopes of securing the
most desirable section.

Many students said they are upset
with this change because it will force
them to make a decision whether to
enroll in an undesirable section -
because it's available - or waitlist in a
preferred section that may never open.
"I don't like this change, I think it's
just going to make it harder to get into
classes," LSA sophomore Rupa Mehta
said. "There are already a lot of people
trying to get into core classes, and they
don't make extra sections, so this will
just make everything more difficult."
University Registrar Paul Robinson
defended the decision, saying in the
long run the new waitlist procedure
will benefit students and staff because
it gives them a better idea of what
classes remain open during the regis-
tration process.
"The practice of allowing students
to waitlist in multiple sections of the
same course often resulted in an
inaccurate picture of enrollment and
waitlist demand," Robinson said.
See REGISTRAR, Page 5A

Marathon dancers take a
stand for children's charity

By Michael Kan
Daily Staff Reporter
Early yesterday morning, LSA fresh-
man Erica Johnson couldn't resist slip-
ping into a short nap during this
weekend's 30-hour-long Dance
Marathon.
At the Marathon, held in the Indoor

ued her walk around the gym. That was-
n't a very good idea, she said. "I was
walking and feel asleep. Then I almost
walked into a sign," she said.
Like Johnson, at times during the
weekend's marathon many students
couldn't keep their eyes open. An annual
University fundraising event to help
children with disabilities, the marathon

I've done for these kids;' LSA junior
Christine Victor said.
While the marathon is only a two day
event, the organization holds year-long
activities between students and disabled
children. The marathon is the organiza-
tion's main event. This year, the event
raised $248,955 dollars - highest
amount ever made. At the marathon

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