Tuesday, September 21,2004
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TOMORROW:
One-hundred-thirteen years of edtoralfreedom
www.mic/ngandaily.com Ann Arbor, Michigan * Vol. CXIII, No. 165 62004 The Michigan Daily
New bills
to ease
student
voting
By Jameel Naqvi
Daily Staff Reporter
For most people, registering to vote
can be a painless process that takes
fewer than 10 minutes to complete at the
City Clerk's Office. But state college stu-
dents face too many procedural barriers
to registration, Sen. Liz Brater (D-Ann
Arbor) said yesterday. Brater says a four-
bill package she introduced last week
would remove these hurdles.
"Every citizen deserves equal access
to the political process," she said in a
speech delivered to a handful of stu-
dents in the Wolverine Room of the
Michigan Union yesterday.
Michigan Student Assembly Vice
President Jennifer Nathan, who also
spoke at the event, said any complica-
tion in the registration process, however
minor, depresses voter turnout.
"You're not going to be inclined to
vote when the process is so difficult,"
she said.
Brater conceded that her package,
which she hopes will help reverse a
"downward trajectory" in rates of vot-
ing among college-aged citizens, has no
chance of passage in time for this year's
elections.
"I don't expect even to get a hear-
ing on this issue," she said, blaming
the Republicans, who currently control
both houses of the state Legislature.
One part of Brater's package would
allow first-time voters, including many
University students who want to vote
in their hometown elections, to register
by mail even if they wish to submit an
absentee ballot. Existing laws require
first-time voters to register in person to
receive absentee ballots.
"That is something that very clearly
disenfranchises students," said College
Democrats Secretary Courtney Skiles,
an LSA senior. "Students don't have the
resources to travel to their Secretary
of State (Branch Office)," she added.
"Brater's legislation would eliminate
one more significant barrier to students
voting."
Brater's proposed legislation would
also allow a student to vote on campus
without having to affix a change-of-
address sticker to the back of his driv-
er's license.
Brater encouraged students to vote in
Ann Arbor's elections.
"Students are very affected by local
issues," she said.
"I don't see much of an advantage
to voting in Ann Arbor as opposed
to your hometown," said Students
for Bush Chair Scott Foley, explain-
ing that Democrats will win most of
the races and issues in the city. But
he encouraged students from solidly
Republican or Democratic states to
vote in Michigan, which is seen as a
swing state in the upcoming presiden-
tial election.
Skiles also said Michigan's contested
electoral votes make it important for
students to vote in the state.
Another bill would permit citizens
See VOTING, Page 7
State of the
'U,
Plans for
new dorm,
renovation
announCe
By Aymar Jean
Daily Staff Reporter
Responding to complaints concerning the
condition of University Housing, the admin-
istration plans to reveal extensive changes to
residential life this week. Proposals include
at least one new residence hall, renovations to
existing buildings and improvements to safety
and information technology within existing
residence halls.
The announcement was made in the midst
of a housing crunch that has displaced a num-
ber residents. An influx of more than 400 extra
freshmen forced the University to move first-
year students into housing usually reserved for
upperclassmen and undergraduates to gradu-
ate housing.
Administrators have been reluctant to
release concrete details on the housing chang-
es, which are still in development. University
Housing Director Carol Henry is set to unveil
a comprehensive plan at the University Board
of Regents meeting Thursday.
Issues like cost will be approved at later
meetings, and the regents will not be voting on
any plans Thursday, University spokeswoman
Julie Peterson said. More specifics will be pre-
sented later in the semester.
Administrators say they have not yet
secured a location for a new residence hall -
the first in nearly 35 years - even though Uni-
versity President Mary Sue Coleman referred
to it during her address to the Faculty Senate
yesterday.
"Multiple locations are being discussed but
they haven't made a decision yet," Peterson
said.
But the University already has some infor-
mation on the size, date of completion and
infrastructure of the changes, Residence
Hall Association President Amy Keller said.
"They probably have a location," she said.
When asked whether the hall would be built
on North Campus, Keller added that she was
"not exactly sure."
Keller added that, while student focus
groups have shown ambivalence to having a
new dorm on North campus, the University
See HOUSING, Page 7
University President Mary Sue Coleman addresses students, staff and faculty in Rackham Auditorium yesterday.
Colemn an optimistic d espi tebet cuts
By Kristin Ostby
Daily Staff Reporter
In her first speech addressed to the entire campus
community, University President Mary Sue Cole-
man outlined her intent to maintain the University's
role as a premier institution despite setbacks from
state budget cuts.
"We have had to deal with an unprecedented bud-
get scenario," Coleman said yesterday at Rackham
Auditorium. "It puts us at risk for being more cau-
tious than a great university should be. It also limits
us."
Donations are more important because of the
decline of state funding for universities, she added.
Because of this decline, the Univeristy was forced to
make $20 million in cuts this year.
She said the Michigan Difference fundraising
campaign is halfway to its goal of $2.5 billion, citing
real estate mogul Stephen Ross's recent $100 million
donation to the Business School.
Still, philanthropic donations will not entirely
compensate for the budget cuts.
"It's going to be a hard year for us" Coleman said
last week. "We're tightening our belts, and we're
going to be OK."
Coleman also said in her speech that budget cuts
will not hamper the University's commitment to
diversity. She said the University has more responsi-
bility than ever before to maintain diversity, because
of its visibility after the landmark Supreme Court
decision last summer that upheld race-conscious
admissions whil striking down the LSA point sys-
tem.
She said the University is consistently trying to,
reach out to underrepresented-minority groups.
This year, fewer minorities applied to the University,
which she said was a concern.
Also, Coleman announced that a new Spanish-
language website will provide information about
the University for Spanish-speaking families of stu-
dents, Coleman said. "The front door of our Univer-
sity will open more widely for Latinos," she said.
The website will be launched sometime this
semester, said University spokeswoman Julie Peter-
son.
"(The website will) give students who come from
See COLEMAN, Page 7
Police hand out post-tailgate trash tickets
Garbage game
AAPD issued 33 wrni ngs
for littering on Sept. 4.
On Saturday, 14 new war n-
ings were issued. Three tick-
ets were given to residents
who had already received
warnings.
Fines start at $100. Cita-
tions can be worth $1000 for
repeat offenderc-.
By Melissa Benton
and Ashley Dinges
Daily Staff Reporters
This football season, students who choose
to tailgate outside their homes before games
- abandoning their multi-colored plastic cups
and half-empty kegs - may return to find an
unwelcome ticket taped to their door.
Last spring, the Ann Arbor Police Depart-
ment started a Community Standards Unit that
enforces a city ordinance requiring residents
to clean up trash immediately.
During the football team's first game against
Miami (Ohio) on Sept. 4, the unit issued 33
warnings for trash left in yards. During Sat-
urday's football game, 14 new warnings were
issued and three tickets were given to repeat
offenders.
Under the ordinance, residents have 24 hours
after receiving a warning to clean up their
yard before the city returns to clean it and the
house is fined. The cost of the ticket becomes
increasingly more expensive for each offense,
which may cause students to think twice about
tailgating by the end of the season.
"The fines were for $100, but they can go as
high as $1,000 for repeat offenders," Deputy
Chief Greg O'Dell said.
But LSA senior Lindsay Dehne said the tick-
ets will not deter her from tailgating before
games. Dehne said AAPD should not be so
strict on game days.
"I feel like they should wait until the next day
because it's a football Saturday," Dehne said.
Many students think it is unfair for AAPD
to hand out tickets for trash during football
games.
"They don't do it during the week - for
parties and stuff - so why worry about it on
Saturday?" LSA senior Joe Connor said.
But O'Dell said it's important for the Com-
munity Standards Unit to respond to com-
plaints and try to keep the city clean.
"We're not trying to deter tailgating. All
we're trying to get people to do is to clean up
their litter so it's not blowing into the neigh-
See CITATIONS, Page 7
Back to 'Brown'
Prof promotes a push beyond diversity
By Leah Guttman
For the Daily
In the aftermath of the University's
admissions lawsuits, some believe that
to promote diversity alone is to not fully
realize the goals of affirmative action.
In her lecture, "Racial Integration as
a Compelling Interest," Philosophy Prof.
Elizabeth Anderson said she was "going
to talk about a more old-fashioned idea;
namely, racial integration. We need
to regard racial integration, not just
diversity, as the ideal of what we could
become."
"We need to regard racial integration, not just
diversity, as the ideal of what we could become."
- Elizabeth Anderson
Women's Studies and Philosophy Professor
as a method for diversifying a student
body, Anderson proposes a case for inte-
gration: "Racial integration should not be
regarded as a compensation for injuries,
but as a forward-looking tool used to fix
antidemocratic structures such as school
needs to create interracial integration
from arrival. Integrate freshmen. Have
them be roommates."
In her first few weeks at the Univer-
sity, LSA freshman Rhiannon Crawford
noticed that the majority of her residence
i