I Tuesday, October 12, 2004 Weather Opinion 4 Jason Pesick on Granholm's politi- cal shortcomings Sports 11 Offensive lineman Rueben Riley steps up in a starting role LIM~t Ruu~rnI HI: 66 LOW: 36 TOMORROW: 6a/41 One-hundred fourteen years ofedorflfreedom www.mzchigandaily.com Ann Arbor, Michigan Vol. CXV, No.10 @2004 The Michigan Daily 'U, ' limits honors on transcripts Changes prompted in part by student protests regarding secret society on transc By Kristin Ostby Daily Staff Reporter In response to student protests, the number of honors listed on student tran- scripts will now be limited, the Office of the Provost announced yesterday. The new policy notations to include ors. Previously, the list contained more than 400 honor societies, fellowships, schol- arships, awards and student orga- nization member- ships, said Lester Monts, senior vice provost for aca- demic affairs. The change was prompted in part by the efforts of Student Voices in narrows transcript eight approved hon- Approved Honors that wi transcripts Inc University Honc List, Angell Schol Phi Beta Kappa Levels of distin or schools Highest Honor; Distinction ALI OLSEN/Daily "The Rock" on the comer of Washtenaw Avenue and Hill Street Is painted In protest of Columbus Day yesterday. The Native American Student Association and La Voz are protesting the holiday because they say that the arrival of Columbus resulted in the genocide of the Americas' Indigenous people. Columbus Day sparks debate over explorers legacy ript for acceptance like an honors society. It's usually done by the discretion of the pre- vious class," Stehney added. The University's ambiguous policy triggered a revision of how the Universi- ty determines what honors should appear on the transcripts, said Monts. "None of us knew what that process was, and when we found out it was such a flimsy process, Honors we initiated some action to II appear on change it," said Jude:Monts. lude: MStehney added he is sat- isfied that the ars demands of SVA i, Tau Beta Pi were met by the change in tran- ction for colleges script policy. Previously, and with Highest a school or col- lege simply had to call the registrar's office in order to get an award placed on a transcript, and there was no formal method of approval, Monts added. He also saidsmany of the honors were obscure awards. Now, transcripts will specifically include University Honors, the Dean's List, Angell Scholars, honor societies such as Phi Beta Kappa and Tau Beta Pi. Levels of distinction for individual colleges or schools such as Magna Cum Laude, Highest Honors and with High- est Distinction will also remain on tran- scripts. "We're not trying to deny students recognition. We just think there is a bet- ter way for students to be recognized for their achievement. This new process allows students to do that," Monts said. See HONORS, Page 7 By Michael Kan Daily Staff Reporter Writing in his journal two days after setting foot in the Ameri- cas for the first time, Christopher Columbus came to a conclusion about the native peoples - "I could conquer the whole of them with 50 men, and govern them as I pleased." More than a year after his arriv- al in 1492, Columbus returned to the Americas with 17 ships and 1,200 men, enslaving the natives in search of gold. With his expe- dition also came disease, decimat- ing the population. By 1555, some claim that two million natives on the island of Hispaniola were near- ly reduced to extinction. And for this cruelty, America awards Columbus with a holiday, said Matt Stehney, president of the Native American Student Associa- tion. The explorer made his historic landing in the Americas 512 years ago today, opening the pathway to the colonization of the New World. Now, not only is he remembered through yesterday's Columbus Day, but his name is seen on street signs and bridges and is even the namesake of cities. Yet in the minds of many Native Americans like Stehney, beneath the icon lies his spirit for conquest and an untold story of genocide, which ultimately led to the gradual takeover of Native American land. In an attempt to dispel the myths behind the explorer and reinforce the need to abolish the holiday, the Native American side of the story will be told today as NASA, La Voz Latina and the Office of Multi-Ethnic Student Affairs will hold a forum examining the his- tory around Columbus and his legacy in America. This legacy has fostered Steh- ney's resentment toward Colum- bus. As a member of the Taino tribe, Stehney's people were the See COLUMBUS, Page 7 Action, a group formed earlier this year to protest student budget cuts, said Monts. Last spring, SVA staged protests and spoke at a University Board of Regents meeting for the removal of Michigamua, a secret society, as an honorary notation on transcripts. Although SVA was pushing for Mich- igamua's removal from transcripts, the administration decided to overhaul the entire honors system, said Matthew Stehney, president of the Native Ameri- can Student Association. NASA worked with SVA to remove Michigamua because of its racist practic- es, said Stehney, an LSA junior. He said the secret society's rituals denigrated Native American practices. "They are no longer affiliated with the University. There is no sort of standards ELECTIONS '04 Website urges Nader supporters to trade votes By Jamoel Naqvi Daily Staff Reporter In the 2000 presidential election, Ralph Nader's vote total in Florida exceeded President Bush's margin of victory in the state. After the dust set- tled, many liberals pointed their fingers squarely at Nader - then running on the Green Party's ticket - for taking votes away from Democratic candi- date Al Gore and denying him the presidency. To prevent a similar scenario in the upcoming Nov. 2 election, the websites like VotePair - which counts Democrats, Greens and Nader sup- porters among its ranks - are enabling supporters of Nader and other third-party candidates in swing Nader supporters can pledge to vote for Kerry to ensure victory in swing states states such as Michigan to trade their votes with backers of democratic presidential candidate John Kerry in safe states, where polls are predicting a clear victory for either Kerry or Bush. Websites also urged voters to adopt such a strat- egy in the 2000 election. On the site, wwwvotepair.org, third-party sup- porters pledge to vote for Kerry to ensure his vic- tory in their closely-contested state, while Kerry backers in safe states agree to vote for a third-party candidate. This tactic guarantees that the third- party candidate's national vote tally is not dimin- ished by the reluctance of his supporters to vote for him in states that might subtract enough votes from Kerry's side to get Bush re-elected. "Michigan is in play," said Steven Yoder, Vote- Pair's marketing coordinator and founder of Vote- exchange.org, a similar site that facilitated vote trading in 2000. "Michigan is a way for people whose first choice is Nader and (Green Party can- didate David) Cobb to have their vote registered elsewhere and not contribute to a Bush victory." In a Time magazine poll conducted last week among registered voters nationwide, the percent- age of respondents who said they would vote for Nader is greater than the margin between Kerry and Bush. That means that it is possible for Nader to become a "spoiler" candidate - a label his campaign has vigorously rejected in press confer- ences. Despite some Democrats' assertions that "a vote for Nader is a vote for Bush" and vote trad- ing's potential contribution to a Kerry victory, nei- ther campaign's Michigan organization has voiced support for the practice. "I'm not in favor of it," said Margaret Guttshall, Nader spokeswoman for Michigan. "It feeds into the lie that Nader is responsible for Bush in the White House. "What's going to determine this election is what John Kerry does, not what Nader and his support- ers do," she added. As reported by the Detroit Free Press on Sept. 22, Kerry's Michigan campaign has also said it is not encouraging vote trading. As of last night, 2,459 individuals had registered at VotePair's website. This is far short of the esti- See ELECTION, Page 7 Activist speaks up for transgender equal rights Vioxx recall affects students, two m illion Americans By Jiwon Lee and Alexandra Sloan For the Daily Jamison Green never fit in as a woman, so after several medical pro- cedures he became male at the age of 40. Green, a transgender activist and author, was yesterday's National Com- ing Out Day keynote speaker. Green said although it is easier to come out today than ever before, there are still many barriers to equal rights .-h 1 1; - .A lei a l -nAa e- Andre Wilson, a transgender gradu- ate student in the College of Architec- ture, said the gay, lesbian and bisexual communities need to further unite with the transgender community to fight for more rights. Wilson said the schism within the LGBT community has slowed progress in the transgender rights movement. "Trans people have been asked to wait for many years by the entire cul- ture. ... It's a conversation that doesn't even happen in the gay community," cau - u am ien.rh tee-cair of By Kelly McDermott For the Daily While the health plans of many senior citizens were thrown into upheaval by the recall of popular arthritis medication Vioxx, students also have been affected and trou- bled by the drug's negative health effects. "It's kind of scary," said David Curtis about the Vioxx drug recall in late September. Curtis, an LSA sophomore who has suffered from inflammatory arthritis for a few vears is one of more than two mil- students were using Vioxx. "Due to the widespread marketing of the drug, it was very common for young people to use Vioxx," Fendrick said. He said he also believes Vioxx was frequently prescribed to college ath- letes to relieve pain. Researchers are not sure why Vioxx causes an increased risk for cardiovascular disease, but most experts believe that the drug increases blood clotting. Vioxx belongs to the family of Cox-II inhibitors, which is part of a larger group of medicines called non-steroidal, anti-inflammatory