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The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, April 6, 2004 - 3

.-._.

Report: Northwest most improved airline

Talk to focus on
poetry-based
composition
Music Prof. William Bolcom and
conductor Leonard Slatkin will hold a
public conversation about Bolcom's
piece "Songs of Innocence and of
Experience" at noon today in the Edu-
cational Conference Center in the
School of Social Work building.
Bolcom began setting William
Blake's collection of 46 poems of the
same title to music when he was 17. He
completed his project 25 years later. The
piece requires more than 200 musicians
to perform, including a large chorus,
orchestra and vocal soloists from classi-
cal, operatic and pop backgrounds.
Bolcom was chairman of the Com-
position department at the University
School of Music from 1998 to 2003. In
1994, he was named the Ross Lee
Finney Distinguished University Pro-
fessor of Music. He was also awarded
the Pulitzer Prize for music in 1988 for
his "12 New Etudes for Piano."
Slatkin will conduct Bolcom's piece
Thursday at 8 p.m. in Hill Auditorium,
where it had its American premiere 20
years ago. Slatkin is in his eighth season
as music director of the National Sym-
phony Orchestra. Tickets are available at
the Michigan League Ticket Office for
that performance, but the lecture is free.
Lecture examines
effects of stress
on women 's health
University Obstetrics and Gynecolo-
gy Research Investigator Julia Seng will
speak about Posttraumatic Stress Disor-
der and its effects on childbearing today
at 4 p.m. in room 2239 of Lane Hall.
Seng will draw from three studies to
explain how the disorder might affect
the biological, psychological and social
processes of childbearing and women's
health.
Seng is also an assistant research
scientist and School of Nursing profes-
sor. Michigan Initiatives in Women's
Health will sponsor this lecture.
Music prof
addresses his
style of opera
Composer and Music Prof. Bright
Sheng will deliver a lecture called "The
Silver River" today at 4 p.m. in the
Rackham Amphitheatre. Sheng's operas
merge Western influences with musical
customs from his Chinese heritage.
In 1999, he was invited to the White
House to create a new piece for a state
dinner hosted by President Bill Clin-
ton. He has also worked with distin-
guished musicians like Leonard
Bernstein, Yo-Yo Ma and Hugh Wolff.
Sheng is a Leonard Bernstein Distin-
guished University Professor of Music
Composition.
Speaker calls on
women to enter
chemistry field
American Chemical Society Execu-
tive Director Madeleine Jacobs will
address women's roles in the field of
chemistry at 4 p.m. tomorrow in room
1640 of the Chemistry building.
Jacobs will discuss why women need
to pursue careers in chemistry and the
progress that women are making. She
will also outline the challenges that are
still present for women who want to
become active in the area of chemistry.

Jacobs was named chief executive
officer of ACS, the largest scientific
society in the world, in January. She is
also editor in chief of Chemical &
Engineering News, the ACS's weekly
magazine.
Event focuses on
writings of former
sidve, missionary
The Women of Color in the Acade-
my Project will sponsor a lecture about
the writing of slave-turned-missionary
Samuel Crowther at 4 p.m. tomorrow
at the Center for the Education of
Women, located at 330 E. Liberty St.
American culture Prof. Sandra Gun-
ning will speak on the issues of memo-
ry, gender and African community
representation in Crowther's travel
writing. A question-and-answer session
will follow the presentation.
Gunning also teaches in the Center
for Afro-American and African Studies
and the English department.
ThatAr tn sceAAn

WASHINGTON (AP) - JetBlue was No. 1 in
quality among U.S. airlines in 2003, the first year
that.it carried enough passengers to be ranked,
according to an annual study released yesterday.
Northwest Airlines, which came in sixth, was
the most improved airline in 2003. It ranked
ninth in 2002.
JetBlue had the second-best on-time perform-
ance, arriving punctually 86 percent of the time.
So few JetBlue passengers were bumped that
they did not register in the statistics used by
researchers.
JetBlue customers also filed fewer complaints -
0.31 per 100,000 - to the U.S. Transportation
Department than all other airlines but Southwest.
Southwest, with 0.14 complaints per 100,000
PALESTINIANS Bi
Continued from Page 1.
their lives," she said.
Sainath added that she participat-
ed in many other nonviolent
protests as a part of the major non-
violent movement currently under
way by many Palestinians.
The majority of the resistance is
non-violent and not through terror-
ist attacks, she said, but the media
ignores this, and as a consequence
alters Americans' view of Palestini-
ans.
"Look past the media and realize
that maybe what you are seeing is
just not true," she said.
Sainath then urged students to
pressure the American government
in acting against the Israeli occupa-
tion.
For students, the event brought a
deeper perspective to the conflict.
LSA senior Amar Daswani said
the event opened his mind.
"It was on a personal level, a dif-
ferent perspective. That's not neces-
sarily reflected in the mainstream
media," he added.
University alum Nidhi Singhal
added a similar remark by sayings
current media coverage is biased.
"In general I don't think the main-
stream media gives the full truth.
Things they cover are very political.
They are always exposed to one side
for political reasons."
Although it is an international Naomi
organization, International Solidari- Mayna
ty Movement has chapters in five Loy d
U.S. states, including Michigan. evenin
IRAQPresi
Continued from Page al-Sadr
ge protecti
from God," al-Sadr said. person t
Several hundred of his armed mili- allowin
tiamen control Kufa, holding its going t
police station and blocking a road reporter
leading to the main mosque. L. Pa
Sheik Abu Mahdi al-Rubaie, a 35- istrator
year-old al-Sadr follower at the "outlaw.
mosque, warned that any U.S. move "He i
against al-Sadr would be "a very dan- authorit
gerous thing." authorit
"They will pay a heavy price. We Bremer
will not allow them to enter Kufa ... Sund
We are ready to lay down our lives for arrest o
al-Sayed," he said, using the Arabic accused
word for "master" to refer to al-Sadr. Abdel-N
U.S. officials said the warrant prise sh
against al-Sadr - on charges of mur- tia, the.
dering a rival cleric - was issued Fighti
months ago by an Iraqi judge and that Sadr Ci
Iraqis only now want to carry it out. Baghda
The crackdown on the opponent of U.S. sol
the U.S. administration also comes as ing batt
the June 30 deadline approaches for wounde
the transfer of power from the Ameri- of tanks
cans to the Iraqis. militiam

customers, consistently generates the lowest com-
plaint rate in the industry, and it was rated as the
No. 3 carrier in the report.
Alaska Airlines came in second, America West
fourth and US Airways, ranked No. 1 last year
when it was still in bankruptcy, was fifth.
The study's authors said the ratings showed
that low-cost airlines are gaining market share
because they perform well in ways that are
important to their passengers.
It "adds further evidence to the emerging per-
formance gap between the legacy carriers and the
no-frills network carriers," said Brent Bowen,
director of the University of Nebraska's aviation
institute and a co-author of the study.
Dean Headley, the other co-author and an asso-

ciate professor of marketing at Wichita State Uni-
versity, said most of the low-cost carriers were
above the industry average on four performance
indicators last year. Most of the traditional air-
lines were below the industry average, he said.
"The low-fare carriers are definitely solid in
their ability to attract passengers, and it shows in
the market share gains that they're making,"
Headley said.
He said low-cost airlines comprised 4 per-
cent of the market when he began the study in
1991. Now they carry one-quarter of all pas-
sengers; Headley expects them to transport
four in 10 by 2006.
The report rated the 14 U.S. airlines that carried
at least 1 percent of the 587 million passengers who

flew last
Four 1
Southea
first tim
Alan
Embry-
tona Be
will stil
riers of
commer
quent fli
"This
are dow
seems t
centage
service

ycles galore

REGISTRATION
Continued from Page 1
tionship with PeopleSoft," Green said.
"They provide us with updated tax
code and federal and state tax infor-
mation. They provide us with federal
financial aid information so that we
stay compliant with federal regula-
tions for student loans. So we need
them."
The University is hoping to collect
feedback from students, MAIS Commu-
nication Consultant Nancy Firestone
said. But since the new system is
licensed from PeopleSoft, most changes
to the software may now be out of the
University's hands.
"Since it's a vendor system we have
less control over it," Firestone said.
"We are going to try
to put out the best "The Un
system we can, but
the vendor does con- has a lon
trol certain things."
Other universities relationsl
have experienced PeonleSo
problems with Peo-
pleSoft's enterprise
software in recent
years. Cleveland_
State University Michigan1
began using People- Inforn
Soft systems in
1995, the same year
as the University. However, the
school's experience was less harmo-
nious and its transition did not go as
smoothly.
Cleveland State recently filed a
$510 million lawsuit against People-
Soft and Kaludis Consulting Group,
Inc. for fraud and breaches of con-
tract, among other reasons.
According to the Cleveland State
lawsuit, PeopleSoft did not fulfill its
end of the contract and ended up cost-
ing the school significant amounts of
money.
"While I can't comment on Cleve-
land State because of the pending lit-
igation, there's no reason to tie that
to the other customers in the indus-
try," Lisa Sion, public relations man-
ager for higher education at
PeopleSoft, said.
Sion said the company is a leader in

year.
low-cost carriers - AirTran, ATA, Atlantic
st and JetBlue - met that threshold for the
e in 2003.
Bender, an aviation professor at
Riddle Aeronautical University in Day-
each, Fla., said the traditional airlines
1 offer something that the low-cost car-
ften do not: connecting flights to any
rcial airport, first-class service and fre-
ier miles.
s doesn't mean the high-cost carriers
wn and out," Bender said. "The survey
to count out the fact that a large per-
of business people need ubiquitous
at any time of day."
the field. "We've been in the field of
higher education since 1987 when
PeopleSoft was started," Sion said.
She added that the company currently
provides enterprise software for 730
colleges and universities.
The University originally decided to
replace its old system of separate data-
bases in 1995 with a new "enterprise-
wide" system - a single database with
information from multiple sources.
This type of system can be accessed
from many locations and used for a
variety of purposes, Green said.
Under the previous system -
which was almost 30 years old when
the University decided to replace it -
data could not be accessed from one
source, Green said.
For example, an address change
required separate

iversity
g-term
hip with
- Linda Green
Administration
mation Services

trips to the Office of
the Registrar, the
financial aid office
and an employer's
office. Staff then
entered the new
information into the
system at each
respective office,
requiring extensive
paperwork and leav-
ing students hoping
their information was

BRETT MOUNTAIN/Daily
i Loy lines up bicycles outside the Student Bike Shop on
ard Street yesterday morning. Everyday she and owner Bill
splay more than 100 bikes and bring them back every
mg, a process that takes almost an hour.

dent Bush yesterday portrayed
's removal as a step toward
ng democracy. "This is one
hat is deciding that rather than
g democracy to flourish, he's
to exercise force," he told
s. "We just can't let it stand."
Sul Bremer, the top U.S. admin-
in Iraq, declared al-Sadr an
s attempting to establish his
y in the place of the legitimate
y. We will not tolerate this,"
said.
ay's clashes - sparked by the
f an al-Sadr aide who is also
in the slaying of rival cleric
Majid al-Khoei - were a sur-
ow of power by al-Sadr's mili-
Al-Mahdi Army.
ing was particularly fierce in
ty, a Shiite neighborhood in
d, where militiamen ambushed
diers, killing eight and spark-
les that killed 30 Iraqis and
d 110 others. It took a column
to restore quiet and force the
nen out of police stations they

had seized after police fled.
Outside the city of Najaf, south of
Baghdad, firing between militiamen
and Spanish-led coalition troops
killed one Salvadoran soldier and 22
Iraqis on Sunday.
Violence broke out yesterday morn-
ing in another Shiite neighborhood of
the capital, al-Shoala, where militia-
men clashed with a U.S. patrol. An
American armored vehicle caught
fire, and an Iraqi ran away with a
heavy machine gun. A U.S. Apache
helicopter was hit by small arms fire
and responded with a barrage of
machine-gun rounds, the U.S. military
said.
Militiamen also traded fire with
British troops in the southern cities of
Basra and Amarah, sparking fights
that killed three Iraqis, witnesses said.
Gunmen also held sway in the
streets of the holy city of Najaf,
prompting police to flee their sta-
tions, said the Spanish Defense
Ministry, whose troops control the
region. Witnesses said the police
later returned.
nated funds six or seven years ago to
engage young Jewish adults in Judaism.
"What they realized was one of the
major experiences is to go to Israel,
Israel being at the heart of the Jewish
people," Berger said. "The idea is that
it is supposed to give these partici-
pants an Israel experience, seeing and
understanding all that is Israel - cul-
turally, politically, religiously - in all
of its many facets."
The trip lasts for 10 days and partic-
ipants travel to Tel Aviv, Haifa,
Jerusalem and Galilee. Participants
also get to meet Israeli politicians,
writers and Palestinian politicians.

I processed correctly.
"Today, you do it, you do it once,
and everyone who wants it can get it,"
Green added.
In June 2000, the University devel-
oped the original Wolverine Access to
replace the CRISP telephone-based
class registration system. Green said
the University took it upon itself to
build a functional system for students
because PeopleSoft did not have as
much experience with higher educa-
tion at that point.
There may be changes in the future
for PeopleSoft systems. Oracle, a simi-
lar company, is attempting a "hostile
takeover," according to Green. People-
Soft declined Oracle's bid but Oracle
continues to try to purchase stock from
shareholders directly.
PeopleSoft declined to comment
on the buyout possibility and Oracle
was unavailable for comment.

TRAVEL
Continued from Page 1.
But he said his family members
worry about his safety. "My parents told
me to go ... they said it was a great
opportunity. Of course they're nervous
- they'd be nervous when I would go
anywhere - but not anymore nervous
about being in Israel," Morley said.
Other students who plan to travel to
the Middle East said stereotypes of
the region are not accurate.
LSA junior Moumen Asbahi, a
member of the Muslim Students'
Association, said he hopes to visit
Dubai in the United Arab Emirates
and Syria this summer or winter to
study Arabic and Islam.
"People in the Middle East seem to
be more welcoming of others and they
are very open. ... Americans are high
on themselves a little bit, and I think
that the Middle East people just think
they are part of a greater community,"
Asbahi said.
Last fall, Asbahi participated in a
study abroad program in Cairo, Egypt.
He performed medical research and
received biology credit. He also trav-
eled to Dubai and Saudi Arabia.
"It is a wonderful place to visit
and it will change people's perspec-
tives. A lot of people believe that
(Arabs) hate Americans and hate
Western ideals, but in reality, they're

recommend bringing with you. It's
best to go with an open mind, some
background knowledge, and a little
Arabic never hurt," Haug said.
The Office of International Pro-
grams' policy is not to send students to
countries for which the U.S. State
Department has posted a travel warn-
ing, OIP Director Carol Dickerman
said. While only some countries in the
Middle East have travel warnings, the
University currently does not sponsor
any study abroad programs in the
region.
Berger said the Birthright trip was
organized after philanthropists desig-

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