Monday, September 20, 2004
Opinion 4A
Dan Adams says Bush
is decisive and wrong
E MICHIGAN SURVIVES THE AZTECS, 24-21 ... SPORTSMONDAY, PAGE lB
Arts 8A Bernie Mac strikes
out with "Mr. 3000"
Weather
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TOMORROW
One-hundred-thirteen years of editorial/freedom
www.michirandaily. com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Vol. CXIII, No. 164
02004 The Michigan Daily
ELECTIONS '04
MSA
signing
up voters
in dorms
By Tina Hlldreth
For the Daily
Starting today, students living in
residence halls will have unexpect-
ed visitors.
In an effort to increase student
voter turnout, the Michigan Student
Assembly and the Residence Halls
Association are teaming up to get
students involved in the democratic
process.
Voice Your Vote, a standing com-
mission of MSA that works to raise
voter participation, will be sending
trained volunteers door-to-door in
the residence halls, registering new
voters, providing information about
the candidates and encouraging stu-
dents to get out their opinions at the
polls.
"Our goal is to get to the folks on
campus that might not take the time
to register to vote as they are walk-
ing by (voter registration tables)
on the Diag," said Pete Woiwode,
an LSA senior and co-chair of the
Voice Your Vote Commission.
Students have mixed opinions
concerning Voice Your Votes
entrance into their rooms. '
LSA freshman Sarah Benatar,
who lives in West Quad Residence
Hall, said, "It's a good idea, as long
as if you say 'No' they don't keep
banging on your door."
Sofia Salazar, an LSA freshman
who lives in South Quad Residence
Hall, said if no one went around ask-
ing students if they were registered,
students would forget to register in
the first place. "(Registering) is a
hassle," she said.
Other students had less favorable
opinions of the campaign.
Engineering freshman Shahid
Ali, who lives in Mosher-Jordan
Residence Hall, said the campaign
sounds annoying. "If I wanted to
(register to vote), I'd go out and do
it myself." He also said that if they
knocked on his door, "I don't think
I'd open it."
MSA and RHA have clashed in
the past, when students campaign-
ing for MSA representative seats
were kicked out of the residence
halls last year.
RHA and the University Hous-
ing Office have a standing policy
that any person running for publicly
elected office - be it president,
governor or student offices - may
campaign in the residence halls,
provided that they follow carefully
outlined protocol, including car-
rying proper photo identification,
calling between designated hours
and refraining from doors marked
"No Soliticing."
Last year MSA campaigners were
asked to leave when they violated
these procedures, failing to produce
photo identification and bothering
students who had posted no solicit-
ing signs.
"If you allow elected officials to
campaign in residence halls, you
have to provide a mechanism for
students to be able to vote," said
LSA senior and RHA president Amy
Keller.
After last year's incident, RHA
and MSA have worked to repair
their relationship, coming together
See VOTING, Page 7A
TOP HONORS
'U' to battle
alcohol abuse
by students.
Pograms will tra in hall directors,
health staff to spot drinking problems
By Alex Garivaltis
For the Daily
Encouraging students to think more care-
fully about their drinking habits, the Uni-
versity will begin a program this month to
train residence hall directors and Univer-
sity Health Service staffers to help students
determine whether they are drinking too
much.y
Patrice Flax, coor-
dinator of the Uni- "Lots of stud
versity's Alcohol and
Other Drug Preven- . use alcohol (
tion Program, said
one of the goals of idea of the in
the program, called
BASICS, or Brief others arourn
Alcohol Screening
and Intervention for
College Students, is
increasing the num- Associate Directoi
ber of qualified peo-
ple on campus that are available to discuss
students' alcohol use with them.
Greg Merritt, associate director of Univer-
sity Housing, said some of the University's
28 residence hall directors will be trained
to hold counseling sessions with students,
and the remainder will be taught to identify
troubled individuals and refer them to such
counseling. He said the program will aim
specifically to curb the amount of "heavy
episodic drinking"'that occurs on campus.
"We'll create an assessment tool to help
idl
r
us know how (students are) drinking," he
said. The hall directors, many of whom
hold master's degrees and retain permanent
positions within University Housing, will
be trained to meet with students for screen-
ing and counseling sessions that will last 50
minutes each.
Merritt said BASICS is "another tool in
the toolbox" that hall directors have to help
students with alcohol problems.
Schools that
ents who already use the pro-
gram include Ohio
on't have an State and Cornell
Universities. The
ipact to the Massachusetts Insti-
,c ttute of Technology,
I them. which also uses the
program, won an
Greg Merritt award for the chang-
Housing es that BASICS pro-
University Housing duced on campus.
Some University
students are skeptical that the program will
reduce drinking on campus.
Engineering freshman Adam Chin said
he would encourage friends with drinking
problems to take part in the program, but
said he wasn't convinced BASICS would be
effective.
"I think it's a step, but nothing will hap-
pen unless the kids (who drink excessively)
step up," he said. Chin added drinking is
widespread throughout the residence halls,
See ALCOHOL, Page 7A
FOREST CASEY/Daily
nvocation for University student-athletes ended with a rendition of "The Victors" at
na on Saturday.
Film weighs media s view of Mideast
Media on media
The film "Peace, Propaganda, and
the Promised Land" examines the
American media's biases in covering the
Middle East conflict.
The film analyzed, for example, how
some news outlets cover an Israeli vic-
tim of a bombing in greater details than
a Palestinian victim of an Israeli attack.
By Omayah Atassi
and Elizabeth Belts
For the Daily
What you see on the evening news about the
Middle East depends on what side of the Atlantic
Ocean you're sitting on.
"Peace, Propaganda, and the Promised Land,"
a film that criticizes the American media's influ-
ence on public opinion related to the Israeli-Pal-
estinian conflict, was shown at the Michigan
Theater by the Ann Arbor Middle East Film
Society yesterday.
Michelle Kinnucan, a member of the society,
said that the group decided to screen this film to
scope out the community's interest in the issue.
The film combines both American and British
TV news clips and compares the choice of words
and visuals that depict the events may sway public
opinion.
For instance, the film outlined how some Amer-
ican news organizations cover the Israeli victims
of a suicide bombing in greater depth than a Pales-
tinian victim of an Israeli military attack. In con-
trast, the British press presents both sides more
equally, the film argues.
The film also contained observations from
communication analysts, journalists and political
activists who critiqued American media cover-
age.
Some people said they attended the event to
learn more about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
"I'm Jewish, and I've learned about Israel
through other Jewish people," University alum
Lev Grossman-Spivack said. "I want to develop
my own understanding of the conflict instead of
basing my understanding on what people have
fed me."
See FILM, Page 7A
Broadway Bridges reopen
after $31M construction
WILLA
TRACOSAS/
Daily
The
Broadway
Bridges
received a
ceremony
mark-
ing their
reopening
Friday.
By Tanu Chaturvedi
and Kelly McDermott
For The Daily
The Broadway Bridges received a ceremonial
reopening, as neighborhood residents attending the
event mingled with city officials, including Mayor John
Hieftje in Broadway Park on Friday.
The bridge and the park are part of the Ann Arbor
Broadway Bridges Reconstruction Project, which was
completed this summer after years of planning and
construction.
The $31.2 million project, described by Hieftje as
part of a series of civic improvements, included the
reconstruction of the bridges.
The process involved demolishing, rebuilding and
improving the two original bridges, one over Depot
Street and one crossing the Huron River.
In addition, the project added handicap-accessible
paths and lighting improvements to Broadway Park, as
well as other improvements to Fuller Park and Depot
and Carey Streets.
The need for reconstruction came to light in the early
1990s when it became clear the bridges were deteriorat-
ing, said Bill Wheeler, Director of Ann Arbor Trans-
portation Services. In 1996, the city applied for federal
funding, conducted an environmental assessment in
order to insure safety of the nearby natural life and
formed a citizens advisory committee. Construction
See BRIDGES, Page 7A
China completes first orderly transfer of power as Hu steps up
BEIJING (AP) - Hu Jintao became the undis-
puted leader of China as the country completed
its first orderly transfer of power in the commu-
nist era yesterday with the departure of former
President Jiang Zemin from his top military post
- giving a new generation a freer hand to run the
world's most populous nation.
Jiang, whose term was to have run until 2007,
resiened at a meeting of the ruling Communist
rural poverty.
Hu, 61, replaced
Jiang as party leader in
late 2003 and as presi-
dent early this year. But
the 78-year-old Jiang,
who led China for 13
years, retained influ-
ence by holding onto
Hu, 61, replaced Jiang
as party leader in late
2003 and as president
early this year.
people."
There was no immediate indication why Jiang
chose to cut short his term. But it might suggest
that he felt he had succeeded in ensuring his
political legacy - especially the addition of the
pro-capitalist "Three Represents" ideology that
he championed to the party's constitution - and
the interests of his family and allies.
The ideology invites entrepreneurs into the
H u 's on first
Jiang Zemin, former Chinese
president and Communist Party
leader, relinquished his last post
as head of the military to Hu Jin-
tao, current president of China.
C