news@michigandaily.com NEWS The Michigan Daily - Friday, April 2, 2004 - 3 .... . Activists have high hopes for tomorrow's Hash Bash University honors famous alum, holds production The Department of Theatre and Drama will present "An Arthur Miller Presentation" in honor of the work of this University alum. The production will be today and tomorrow at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. in the Trueblood Theatre in the Frieze Building. The production pulls scenes from both well-known and rarely performed plays in combination with excerpts from Miller's autobiography "Timebends." Depicting three distinct phases of Miller's life, this homage explores the American playwright's artistic vision. The production is conceptualized by adjunct professor and internationally acclaimed director Mark Lamos. Pops to perform, accompanied by Bon Jovi quartet The Michigan Pops will present its unique take on chamber music with an evening of small ensemble perform- ances Sunday at 9 p.m. in the Michigan League Underground. The musical per- formances will feature the works of renowned composers and modern artists, including Joseph Haydn, PD.Q Bach, Ben Folds, Badly Drawn Boy, Oasis and Wilco. The event will also include a violin and tuba duet and a string quartet that will play Bon Jovi. Admission is free. Project strives to raise money for AIDS orphans The "Heart for Hope" AIDS Walk will begin at 2 p.m on Sunday. on the Diag to support orphans with AIDS in Malawi. The event has a $10 registra- tion fee, which will be donated to The Global Hope Project. A free T-shirt is included. The Global Hope Project is a non profit organization that seeks to build support for children whose parents 3 have died of AIDS in Malawi. It is try- ing to raise money in order to make a school and health-care facilities in the country, in addition to hiring a staff for these services. Mark Webster Reading Series draws to a close Students can join the Department of English and members of the Masters of Fine Arts community for the final reading in the annual Mark Webster Reading Series. The event will feature works by second-year students in the Masters in Fine Arts Program in Cre- ative Writing. Irene Hahn will read her fiction work and Matthew Hittinger will read his poetry tonight at 8 p.m. in the Kuenzel Room of the Michigan Union. Palestinian party leader examines Middle East conflict Azmi Bishara will speak tomorrow at noon in Angell Hall Auditorium C. Bishara will discuss resolving the Israeli Palestinian conflict in a lecture called "Bridges vs. Walls." Bishara is leader of the National Democratic Assembly - a Palestinian Arab party advocating cultural autono- my and civil rights for Palestinians in Israel. Bishara has called for a bi- national Israel that would be a "state of all its citizens." Film celebrates Asian Pacific Heritage Month As part of the Asian Pacific Heritage Month, the film "Refugee" will be shown at 8 p.m Sunday. in the Abeng Lounge in East Quad. This new documentary by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Spencer Nakasako is about three young refugees who head back to Cambodia for the first time after being raised on the streets of San Francisco's tough Tenderloin dis- trict. Food will be provided. North Campus urges students to dance night away Pierpont Commons Arts and Pro- grams will sponsor Salsa Night tonight at Pierpont Commons. Lessons will begin at 9 p.m. with open dancing until midnight. By Adhiraj Dutt Daily Staff Reporter Thousands of activists hoping to achieve the goal of legalizing marijua- na are set to descend on campus and the surrounding areas this weekend to protest the nation's war on drugs. With the Federal Building on East Liberty Street serving as their backdrop, the protesters will kick off the 33rd Ann Arbor Hash Bash at 11 a.m. Saturday. After an hour-long rally in front of the building, the activists will march to campus, converging on the Diag where they will listen to speakers including poet John Sinclair and Chef Ra, a columnist at High Times, a magazine for marijuana connoisseurs. After one hour of speeches, Hash Bash will move to Monroe Street for a block party. "This is the largest, most unadver- tised event in America and 50,000 peo- ple will show up for an event that isn't supported by the City Council, the Ann Arbor commerce bureau, the University and so on down the line," long-time organizer Adam Brook said. Beginning in 1972, Hash Bash's popularity surged after the University took organizers to court for several years to end it. The media attention led to national exposure, Brook said. "We do no advertising, but this time of the year I get calls from newspapers all over the country doing their stories on Hash Bash," Brook said. "It's a cul- tural phenomenon." Hash Bash has drawn large crowds in the past, but participation has waned recently partly due to less student involvement, increased law enforcement efforts and in some years, bad weather. "The main problem is that they don't get enough serious speakers and there's a real disconnect between the student body and those who attend the event," LSA senior Dan Sheill said. "What's interesting is this event is put under the microscope more than any other event on campus." A student organization must reserve the Diag to hold an event there. Sheill was the student sponsor of Hash Bash last year as chairman of the College Libertarians, but this year it is spon- sored by the University's chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. "In the past, the police haven't allowed us to have tables on the Diag, though we will this year," Engineering sophomore and NORML Director Josh Soper said. "We are going to try to focus more on medical marijuana this year." Brook said after the University estab- lished the Department of Public Safety 14 years ago, police officers began dis- persing Hash Bash participants from the Diag after their rally. "In the old days, we used to spend the entire day on the Diag" Brook said. The University doesn't endorse Hash Bash, but because of the huge influx of people drawn to the event, safety is among the University's top priorities. Also, because many of the people that participate are avid marijuana users inclined to light up during Hash Bash, DPS plans to have additional officers patrolling campus, making sure marijua- na users and non users obey state laws. "The (University Board of) Regents are granted their power from the state and so we enforce state laws," DPS spokeswoman Diane Brown said. As a result, the penalty for smoking marijuana on campus is a $100 fine and/or up to 90 days in jail, though the penalty for abusing the drug on city property is a $25 ticket for a civil infraction. Anyone caught possessing marijuana on campus will be fined up to $2,000 and can end up behind bars for up to one year, Brown said. However, these penalties don't stop all marijuana fanatics from lighting up at Hash Bash, Brook said. "It's not the smoking that gets you busted, it's pass- ing to your buddies," he said. "This is a political rally and we smoke in an act of civil disobedience." According to Brown, there were six arrests and citations at last year's Hash Bash and in the past five years, 198 arrests have been made at the event. Of the 198 people arrested, only two have been University students. Still, Brook said the crowds at Hash Bash are bigger, but less rowdy than crowds that football games attract in fall. "(Hash Bash) is worse than any football Saturday and we have less arrests than a football Saturday,"he said. SETH LOWER/Daily Joint Mann smokes near the Diag during Hash Bash last year. This year's Hash Bash, which will take place tomorrow, is expected to draw thousands of activists protesting for the legalization of marijuana. 'U' boasts By Jameel Naqvi Daily Staff Reporter The University boasts the highest six-year graduation rate in the state, a study from the National Center for Education Statistics reports. "We're a highly selective university," Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs Lester Monts said. "The stu- dents we accept are able to handle the rigor of the work we have here." He added that competitive schools across the country have graduation rates that are similarly high, unlike other schools with lax enrollment policies. The University graduates 84.2 per- cent of its students in six years. In comparison, 69.1 percent of Michigan State University students graduate in six years, and the six-year graduation rates of Wayne State University and Eastern Michigan University are 33.7 and 38.3 percent. The NCES study, released online last month, also provides cause for concern. The state of Michigan lags behind the national average in college graduation rates and the percentage of the population with college degrees, highest si according to the survey. "Our graduation rates have stagnat- ed over the past few years," said Mary Dettloff, spokeswoman for Lt. Gov. John Cherry. Cherry heads a commission that was appointed by Gov. Jennifer Granholm to find a way to double the number of col- lege graduates in the state over the next decade. The commission is working closely with the NCES report to discov- er problem areas and fashion strategies to meet Granholm's challenge. Dettloff said the commission may visit the University to get ideas on how to raise the graduation rates of other Michi- gan schools above the national average. The report also revealed disparities within Michigan colleges. Whites graduate at much higher rates than underrepresented minorities. At the University, 65.9 percent of blacks graduate in six years, compared with 87.8 percent of whites. Women at most Michigan schools graduate at slightly higher rates than men. This trend was pronounced at the Universi- ty's Flint campus, where 42.3 percent of women graduated in six years, com- pared to 30.7 percent of men. x-year graduation rates in state "There are a number of contributing factors," Monts explained. "A lot has to do with the cost and the level of prepara- tion." Minority students are not leaving the University because they are per- forming poorly in classes, he added. "We're trying to address those dispar- ities," Dettloff said. She added that inadequate preparation may be a factor in low graduation rates not only among minority groups, but also among Michi- gan university students in general. To better prepare students for the rigor of college coursework, the com- mission headed by Cherry is consider- ing requiring two years of pre-collegiate schooling in addition to the current K-12 national standard. It is also looking at scholarship incentives to encourage col- lege students to complete their degrees. The commission is also considering whether Michigan universities prepare college graduates for the high-tech economy. "Jobs of the 21st century require the use of technology, teamwork and critical thinking," Dettloff said. Even liberal arts majors should still have "Gone are the days when you could walk into a factory with a high school diploma and be able to have a middle-class existence." - Mary Detloff Spokeswoman for Lt. Gov. John Cherry basic computer skills, she added. Dettloff said Michigan, where degree holders comprise 22 percent of the pop- ulation, trails other states in its propor- tion of college graduates because of the state's traditional reliance on the manu- facturing sector. Many middle-aged resi- dents didn't need college degrees to get jobs in Michigan's labor-intensive auto- motive industry when they entered the work force. Those blue-collar workers often relied on overtime pay to maintain a high standard of living. Now, Dettloff said, many factories in the state require some type of post-sec- ondary schooling. "Gone are the days when you could walk into a factory with a high school diploma and be able to have a middle-class existence," she said. Young people need a college degree to compete in a knowledge- and technolo- gy-driven economy, she added. "It should be a general expectation in this state that every child goes to college." Michigan's percentage of degree holders is also depressed by its inabili- ty to retain recent college graduates. Holding onto this educated work force is one objective of Granholm's Cool Cities program, aimed at using com- munity input to make Michigan's cities more attractive to young people. The NCES study compiled statistics for full-time students who started college in 1996. It is the most recent collection of data on university graduation rates. Corrections: An article on Page 8A of yesterday's Daily should have identified the Greek Week co-director as Chris Cooke. Two articles on Page lA of yesterday's Daily misspelled the name of Jeston Lacroix, an LSA sophomore and campus coordinator for the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative. An article on Page 1 of Wednesday's Daily should have cited Kimberly Gas- ton, the new Michigan Student Assembly Communications Committee chair, as an Art and Design sophomore. 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