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One-hundredfourteen years of ediorialfreedom
www.michzgandaily.com Ann Arbor, Michigan * Vol. CXV, No. 5 62004 The Michigan Daily

Applicants
who sued
'U' seek fees
University lawyers say
requests are too high
By Kristin Ostby
Daily Staff Reporter
Although the University's admissions lawsuits
ended with last year's U.S. Supreme Court decisions,
the two sides continue to tussle over the cases, with
a new brief filed Friday by lawyers representing two
of the plaintiffs.
The rejected white applicants who sued the Uni-
versity to stop its use of race-conscious undergradu-
ate admissions policies won their case, although the
court allowed affirmative action at the University
to continue in a modified form. Now, the success-
ful plaintiffs are seeking compensation for their legal
fees in the case.
In response, University lawyers and officials said
the requests are unreasonably high.
In a plaintiff's motion, lawyers for Jennifer Gratz
and Patrick Hamacher - who sued the University
after being rejected from the College of Literature,
Science and Arts - are asking for $2.1 million,
which would cover the $1.74 million in legal fees and
$334,000 in other costs they say have amassed since
the lawsuit was filed in October 1997.
Such a motion is standard procedure in the after-
math of a lawsuit, University officials said. The Cen-
ter for Individual Rights, a Washington-based law
firm which represents Gratz and Hamacher, origi-
nally motioned for the award in early August. CIR
declined to comment for this story.
In June 2003 the Supreme Court ruled in favor of
the Law School's race-conscious admissions policy
but struck down the LSA system for awarding 20
points to blacks, Hispanics and Native Americans.
A district court judge in Michigan will decide the
next step in determining attorney's fees, University
spokeswoman Julie Peterson said. The judge may
decide to call a hearing or may encourage the two
sides to reach a settlement outside of the courtroom,
she added.
The motion, written by lawyers for CIR, said,
"Plaintiffs are entitled to their requested attorneys'
fees because they ultimately prevailed in obtaining
a final adjudication that the defendant's admissions
systems ... are unlawful and unconstitutional."
University attorneys filed a legal brief countering
the plaintiff's motion for an award, in which they said
the amount requested is a "grossly excessive award."
The brief, filed in September, also said the request
fails to take into account the plaintiff's limited suc-
See FEES, Page 7

WATCHING FROM AFAR

Week celebrates gay identity,
By Justin Miller
Daiy__af__eprterNa tional Coming Out Week in full swing

On Oct. 11, 1987, a half-million people marched in Washing-
ton for gay and lesbian rights, attracting national media atten-
tion and launching celebratory events in 18 states. Seventeen
years later, the march has spurred National Coming Out Week
events on college campuses across the United States.
The week of celebration for and awareness of lesbian, gay,
bisexual and transgender students started yesterday and will
continue throughout the week with luncheons, movies, discus-
sion sessions, games and a rally on Friday.
"National Coming Out Week brings visibility to lesbian,
gay, bisexual, transgender and queer issues and gives students
an opportunity to celebrate their LGBTQ identities within a
culture that is not fully supportive of LGBTQ folks," said Kelly
Garrett, assistant director at the Office of Lesbian Gay Bisexual

and Transgender Affairs.
The "week" is designed to help gay students tell their fami-
lies, friends and communities of their sexual orientation.
LSA senior Christian Knudson said while he did not use the,
week as a venue for coming out, he supported National Coming
Out Week. "I think that anything to give comfort or to provide
a source of support for gays and lesbians that are considering
coming out is a great idea," Knudson said.
Not all students may come out during the week, but Garrett
believes it can help those who do.
"If students come to our rally and see how many people are
supportive, including heterosexual allies, they may feel empow-
ered to come out to themselves or others," Garrett said. "Also,
sometimes a student may be 'out' to themselves, and they're

ready to come out to others, but they don't know how to do it."
The event features different venues for students to meet
other gay students and staff, who can aid those who are ready
to come out. "Support is the key, and we strive to provide sup-
port," Garrett said.
Even the Friday rally on the Diag will have a closet door
through which people can "come out."
For all the fun in the atmosphere, there remains a feeling of
anxiety for some students.
"It's an especially trying time for minorities in this
country," said Knudson. "In light of the anti-gay pro-
posals circulating in many states - some of which have
already been approved - there's definitely a great sense
See WEEK, Page 7

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ELECTIONS 'U4
Economists say Kerry
can't stop outsourcing

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By Donn M. Fresard
Daily Staff Reporter

"When you think of all the other problems the
economy is facing, (outsourcing) has gotten attention
out of all proportion to its significance," said Gary
says curtailing job Saxonhouse, a University economics professor.

LSA freshman Justin Cuellar
outsourcing tops his list of eco-
nomic reasons for supporting
Democratic presidential can-
didate John Kerry. "Jobs are
going overseas with Bush, and
I think less would go overseas
with Kerry."
According to a Zogby Inter-
national poll released last
month, 71 percent of Ameri-
cans believe outsourcing is bad
for the U.S. economy.
But economists say the idea
that Kerry can alter the tides of

"... (Outsourcing) has
gotten attention out
of all proportion to
its significance."
- Gary Saxonhouse
Economics Professor

Saxonhouse cited recent
reports by the General Account-
ing Office and Department of
Labor, which found in a survey
of 2003 mass layoffs that only
13,000 job losses - less than 1
percent of the 1.5 million lost in
layoffs of more than 50 workers
- were due to offshore reloca-
tion.
"While it's extremely painful
for the 15,000 people who, in a
year, might lose their jobs to a
company moving its operations
an important economic issue for

COURTESY OF PROFESSOR MARTIN JAKOBSON, UNIVERSITY OF STOCKHOM
Swedish icebreaker Oden smashes through ice last month for the Arctic Coring Expedition. The ship, one of three expe-
dition vessels, was fitted with scientific equipment and living space for scientists from eight countries.
I Arctic expedition breaks
ice on global warming

the global economy may be one of the most pervasive
misconceptions in this presidential campaign. For all
the attention given to job outsourcing this election
year, most economists maintain that it is an inevi-
table part of global trade and a relatively small factor
in the economy and in the loss of jobs.

overseas, it's not

the economy as a whole," Saxonhouse said. "Prob-
ably any economist that doesn't work for a union has
a similar view."
But if Kerry's economic team and economic plan
See KERRY, Page 7

Study: Low-income students
don't consider college entry

By Naila Moreira
Daily Staff Reporter
Anyone dreading the onset of winter might shiver at the
thought of the frigid Arctic. But a team of 19 scientists, includ-
ing a University geology professor and a former University
graduate, braved the region's chill this fall to confirm that
balmy, subtropical weather once dominated the North Pole.
Last month, the team brought home the first deep sediment
samples ever drilled below Arctic ice. Previous attempts to

of oceanic mud that span 80 million years of Arctic history.
The sediment cores, which arrive onboard in long plastic
cylinders, record geological clues that provide a crucial record
of changing climate at the Pole. Most importantly, Moran said,
the sediments include an interval considered the warmest in
Earth's history since the extinction of the dinosaurs - the
Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, which occurred 55
million years ago. Scientists had predicted a warm climate for
the Arctic during the PETM, but the expedition's researchers
are the first to show unequivocally that no ice covered the Pole

By Alexa Jenner
For the Daily
The competition of the job market continues to
increase stress across the nation for jobseekers with
college degrees - but the employment search is even
worse for students from low-income families, whose

"I think they have the desire, but they don't under-
stand that it's doable. They think. 'Because I'm poor
I can't spend four years getting a degree,' " Fowler
said.
Although the Pell Institute reports that 11 percent
of students at public four-year universities nationwide
are from the lowest income group, only 8 percent
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