Tuesday, September 7, 2004
News 3A The major summer
campus news
Weather
Opinion 4A
Steve Cotner on the
pornography of war
Surprise starter Chad Henne leads Michigan in opener ... Sports, Page 13A
HI: 77
LOW: 53
TOMORROW;
72/53
Arts 9A R.Kelly's piss-poor
performance
One-hundred-thirteen years ofedor l freedom
www.mir'iandaziy.com Ann Arbor, Michigan n Vol. CXIII, No. 155 @2004 The Michigan Daily
Student found dead in dorm
By Emily Kraack Diane Brown, Department of Public Safety found her. said that emergency meetings had been called
and Aymar Jean spokeswoman, confirmed that DPS was inves- West Quad students said an ambulance for staff members, but none would discuss the
TO OUR READERS Daily Staff Reporters tigating a "student's sudden death" and said no pulled up to the main entrance to Cambridge content of those meetings. Other staff members
signs of foul play were evident. Cause of death House and pulled a stretcher into the elevator in Cambridge House would not comment and
The Michigan Daily welcomes you back Residents of West Quad Residence Hall and has not yet been released. at about 10 p.m. referred calls to DPS.
to your first day of classes. Cambridge House were left stunned and con- She was not able to release the woman's name Students observed two police officers stand- Brown said student services would be setting
This issue marks the beginning of the fused last night after police officers discovered or room number, though police officers closed off ing outside a first-floor dormitory room from 7 up counseling today for students who knew
Daily's coverage of campus news during a sophomore woman dead in her residence hall a first-floor hallway in Cambridge House. p.m. until around 11:45 p.m. the woman. Residence-hall staff said counsel-
the 2004 semester. room. Officers may have performed the welfare The officers would not release any informa- ing will be offered through the University's
Police said the officers responded to a request check as early as 7 p.m. yesterday, and the tion, but began clearing out people from the Counseling and Psychological Services. CAPS
e o y ejoy the New udent by the student's parents to perform what is woman's body appeared to have been removed first floor of Cambridge House at about 11:15 can be reached at 764-8312, or at www.umich.
Edition and all the issues to come. known as a welfare check, which is usually from Cambridge House around 11:45 p.m. p.m. and closed the house to visitors soon after- edul-caps.
- The Editors requested when contact with a student cannot Brown said she had no information on how ward - Daily Staff Reporter Ashley Dinges con-
be made for a prolonged period of time. long the girl was in her room before officers Several Cambridge House resident advisors tributed to this report.
'CHALLENGE AND BE CHALLENGED'
'U'
awaits
state budget
to set tuition
By Aymar Jean
Daily Staff Reporter
Although tuition rates are
typically set in July, the Uni-
versity has yet to establish an
official rate for this year. The
administration is waiting for
the state Legislature to pass
its higher education budget,
which University officials
hope will happen this week.
In January, as part of her
State of the State address,
Gov. Jennifer Granholm said
that state universities could
Tuition troubles
Under the deal, tuition
increases must match the
inflation rate, initially set at
2.8 percent
If final state budget
includes a higher rate, the
University will have to charge
more tuition
face lower budget cuts by holding tuition increases at or below the
rate of inflation. The University, realizing it would lose more funding
by denying the proposal, accepted it and tentatively raised tuition by
2.8 percent, which was estimated in July to be a $226 increase for
incoming freshman.
The University could make tuition changes this term, University
spokeswoman Julie Peterson said, but those should not shift dramati-
cally from the rates set this summer. University officials anticipate the
state to set the rate that the University must match somewhere between
2.4 to 3 percent, she said. If the state's rate is different from the 2.8 set in
July, the University would either send students a rebate if the rate is lower
or an additional bill if it's higher.
"We're basically on hold," Peterson said. "We're all hopeful that
the state will find the money to fund us at the level they promised."
While it is unlikely that the state will renege on its promise, it's
not impossible. This year's budget process has been challenging for
legislators, said Cynthia Wilbanks, the University's vice president
for government relations for the University. Possible reasons include
limited resources and legislators being absent because of the Repub-
lican and Democratic conventions.
When the state House and Senate conference committee meets
today, it will try to resolve differences in the House and Senate bills
in order to pass the higher education budget. The rest of the state
budget has been resolved.
The Republican-controlled committee will have to contend with
at least one major difference between both bills: The House bill pro-
poses the state stop funding for universities that consider race when
admitting students. The amendment is sponsored by Rep. Leon
Drolet (R-Clinton Twp.) who helps run the Michigan Civil Rights
Initiative, a ballot campaign seeking to eliminate the use of race in
public education.
Since the amendment to the House bill was introduced in June, the
University has lobbied to have it removed. Officials say the amend-
ment would harm the University, hampering its ability to recruit
underrepresented minorities.
It is also possible that Granholm, who opposes the amendment, could
veto the budget if it includes this amendment. Granholm has not made a
public comment on this possibility. But it is unlikely that the amendment
would make it to the final bill, Wilbanks said. The Republican-controlled
Senate has already expressed disdain for the House's action.
"It is a point of difference and the conference committee is sup-
posed to resolve points of difference," Wilbanks said.
When the University Regents passed the tentative tuition increase
in July, many were reluctant to have the state dictate what the Uni-
versity should or should not do. Some, such as Regent Andrea Fisch-
er Newman (R-Ann Arbor), said Granholm's proposal was political,
and that the University should not respond to such ploys.
'New students kick off year in style
By Andrew Kim
and Melton Lee
Daily Staff Reporters
Michigan's largest-ever freshman class was wel-
comed by representatives from the University's various
academic departments who took center stage to usher
in a new year, with enthusiastic speeches and musical
performances.
On Thursday, a crowd of more than 6,000 students
and parents gathered at Crisler Arena for the Universi-
ty's New Student Convocation, the official kick-off to
the annual welcome week activities.
University Provost Paul Courant imparted several
points of advice for the incoming class and emphasized
the importance of maintaining an open-minded attitude,
encouraging dialogue among people with different per-
spectives and ideas.
"The University is a place to explore ideas and that
includes space to persuasively articulate your views, to
challenge and be challenged, to re-think and to form
different ideas," he said.
Silvia Pedraza, vice chair of the Senate Advisory
Committee, spoke on the goals of education, noting that
its major goal is not only to find a satisfying job but to
stimulate personal growth.
"The best education ... fits you for a career, imparts
your heritage to you, proves personally engaging and
liberating, teaches you how to acquire knowledge and
exposes you to difficult ethical dilemmas," Pedraza
said.
MSA President Jason Mironov reflected on his per-
sonal experiences as a first-year student at Michigan
and encouraged students to take full advantage of
their college experience.
See FRESHMEN, Page 6A
Number of alcohol-related
violations increases dramatically
Don't watch the bus fly by
Additions and alterations to the University's bus system
$y Emily Kraack
Daily News Editor
Welcome week brought an unwelcome sur-
prise for many students. The Department of
Public Safety, which polices on-campus loca-
tions such as the residence halls and the Diag,
reported that liquor violations such as minors
in possession of alcohol and open- bottle cita-
tinns had risen dramatically from the numbers
DPS issued 66 MIP citations during welcome week this
year. Only 15 were issued at the same time last year.
* MRide: Students, staff and faculty
can ride free on fixed routes on Ann
Arbor Transit Authority's The Ride
with an Mcard. Visit www.tAheri .org for
routes and schedules.
Last bus to North Campus on week-
ends is no longer at 3:00 a.m. On Fri-
day, last bus leaves at 2 a.m., and on
Saturday, last bus leaves at 2:30 a.m.
* North Campus weekend service:
New Route: Oxford Shuttle, runs
weekdays from C.C. Little to Oxford
Residence Hall on Oxford Road via Wil-
liam Monroe Trotter House.
* Bursley-Baits service increased in fre-
quency from 10 minutes to five minutes.
* North Campus weekend service
rerouted: On weekends, students no lon-
ger have to go through Northwood to get
to Central Campus. Students getting on
. + l ..ris ._.lnne...rfr% .. rno . s
the weekend. "The cops don't bother you
unless you're acting ridiculous," she said,
adding that people should "drink responsi-
bly."
The numbers culminated in an unusu-
were indicative of welcome week as a whole.
"Some of the alcohol numbers were follow-
ing what we had seen the first few days (of
welcome week), and that trend is rather dis-
turbing."