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."