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TOMORROW:
One-hundred-fourteen years ofeditorial freedom
www.)nchzigandaily.com Ann Arbor, Michigan Vol. CXV, No. 43 02004 The Michigan Daily
LSA dean
to discuss proposals
By Justin Miller
Daily Staff Reporter
Language
requirement flexibility, new academic minors
The College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
is considering changes ranging from new academic
minors to a restructured foreign language require-
ment, and students will have the opportunity to
hear and ask questions about them at today's State
of the College address at 6 p.m. in the Michigan
Union.
A speech by LSA Dean Terrence McDonald
will cover these topics and others, including a pro-
posed international studies minor and the Residen-
tial Life Initiative aimed at improving on-campus
housing.
LSA Student Government President Ryan Ford,
a senior, will also speak, addressing the possible
changes to the language requirement, the expand-
ed academic minors and a re-evaluation of race
and ethnicity classes.
LSA-SG has proposed these changes to the col-
lege's administration, while LSA itself is consider-
ing the proposals - even moving some proposals
such as language requirement changes through
committees, said Marjorie Horton, LSA assistant
dean for undergraduate education.
The proposed foreign language requirement
would allow a student who tested out of two terms
of a language to complete their requirement by
taking three terms of a different language, com-
pared to the current requirement of four semesters
in one language. The proposal must be approved
in LSA committees before it can take effect.
"We have to really work with in the param-
eters of what's feasible in the college. We did a
lot of research on things and helped draft dif-
ferent ideas for the foreign language commit-
tee," Ford said.
Although the proposed change would only
apply to students who test out of
half of the language requirement, LSA Sta
some students said it would be College
beneficial because it would allow
them to more easily gain profi- Tonight
ciency in two languages. Pendlet
"If (the students) have shown The Mich
they can demonstrate basic skills,
then good. Four semesters is an
awful lot," said LSA junior Daniel Son.
Another proposal being floated by LSA is the
addition of four minors in kinesiology, chemistry,
international relations and religion. Ford said he
hopes these minors will be available for the 2005
fall term.
"It's good
ate of the
Address
at 6 p.m.
on Room,
igan Union
to have a broad range of college
learning," said LSA senior Kelly
Swartz, adding that she wants to
see more flexibility in concentra-
tions. "It's important to have mul-
tiple disciplinary approaches."
LSA is also considering
revising which courses students
can take to fulfill the race and
ethnicity requirement. The pro-
to be addressed
don't really fit the description of it," Ford said.
"There's talk of going through and taking a
hard look at what the requirement is and mak-
ing sure that every course that's under the race
and ethnicity requirement actually discusses
race and ethnicity."
LSA-SG has not taken a stance on any pro-
posed changes to the race and ethnicity require-
ment, leaving it up to the college administration.
Horton said this proposal would not be a major
departure from how the LSA currently evaluates
race and ethnicity classes. "The collegertnejy
does take stock of the curriculum. We work with
departments to make sure their curriculum is rig-
orous," Horton said.
See LSA, Page 5
posal will also be discussed at the address.
"A lot of students feel that a lot of the courses
that fulfill therace and ethnicity requirement
Vice president
of MSA resigns,
new VP selected
By Tomislav Ladika
Daily News Editor
MIKE HULSEBUS/Daily
LSA senior Jennifer Nathan, right, speaks before resigning as MSA vice president yesterday evening. At left Is MSA President Jason Mironov, a
Business School senior.
Nearly two weeks after elections,
MSA has yet to announceresul
Michigan Student Assembly Vice
President Jennifer Nathan resigned
last night, saying she could no longer
handle the burden of her position and
take enough classes to graduate in four
years.
MSA Treasurer Anita Leung was
appointed by a vote of the assembly to
take Nathan's place at yesterday's MSA
meeting. She will serve until a new
president and vice president are elected
in the next student government elections
in March.
"After roughly seven months of
neglect, my studies must come first for
the'next four months," said Nathan, an
LSA senior. "Being vice president is a
huge responsibility ... but I need to be
able to not have that responsibility right
now. I need to put myself first for a
while."
MSA President Jason Mironov said
Nathan "could never have predicted the
academic challenges facing her next
semester." Both he and Nathan declined
to specifically detail those challenges.
Nathan's resignation was not
announced to the assembly before last
night's meeting, and several representa-
tives expressed surprise when she told
them she was departing.
But Nathan said for the past few weeks
she had been reassessing whether she
could commit herself to the assembly
and feeling out how the other members
of MSA's executive board would feel
about her departure. Eventually MSA
President Jason Mironov suggested she
leave, she said.
"I don't know who first said it to who,
but ... we all realized it was time for me
to move on," she said.
Nathan has served various positions
on the assembly since her freshman
year. In the elections last March she and
MSA President Jason Mironov won the
two main spots on the executive board
running on the ticket of the now-defunct
Students First party. Leung ran for vice
president under the also-defunct Univer-
sity Party, which finished--second in the
elections.
The MSA vice president is responsible
the organizing different committees and
projects, and frequently has to commu-
nicate - with Unviersity administrators,
Mironov said. Nathan added that she did
not believe she could continue to fulfill
her task of being available to schedule
meetings every day.
Mironov said the greatest challenge
facing the assembly in the wake of
Nathan's resignation will be informing
all of the University administrators who
Nathan worked with of her departure,
and making sure that Leung has all the
proper contacts with the University.
But Nathan said MSA will not be
affected by her departure because one of
Leung's greatest strengths is that she "is
extremely well organized."
"Anita is so dedicated and capable, I
have no doubt that she will be an incred-
ible vice president," she said.
"She's determined to be successful
on the projects she picks up," Mironov
said.
Nathan departed from the assembly
reading the poem "Ulysses" by Alfred,
Lord Tennyson, which earned her a
standing ovation. But after the speech
Leung joked that she "didn't really
understand the poem."
MSA also officially inducted its new
representatives who won last month's
student government elections at yester-
day's meeting.
"I don't know who first
said it to who, but ...
we all realized it was
time for me to move on.
-Jennifer Nathan
Former MSA vice president
By Alex Garivaltis
Daily Staff Reporter
Although online voting in student government
elections closed on Nov. 19, the Michigan Student
Assembly has yet to publicize a list of names of its
winning candidates. As of 8 p.m. yesterday, the vot-
ing website, vote.www.umich.edu, said "the results
are being tallied" even though the final results
were in fact known as early as the Sunday before
Thanksgiving.
MSA Vice President Anita Leung, an Engineer-
ing senior, said, "It never occurred to us to put it on
the website." Leung said the omission was unintend-
ed and that in future years MSA will post results on
Shoppmng
season results
unclear so far
By Adhiraj Dutt
Daily Staff Reporter
With the holiday shopping season underway,
consumers are sending mixed indications about
the strength of the economy and their intention to
spend during the weeks leading up to Christmas
this year.
The shopping season opened strongly Friday
when consumers spent $8 billion - nearly 11 per-
cent more than last year on that day, according to
retail researcher ShopperTrak. But the next day,
m businesses witnessed sales that were 6.5 percent
its website as soon as they become available.
A complete list of the newly elected MSA
representatives can be found on The Michigan
Daily's website, at www.michigandaily.com. Stu-
dents can also call MSA at 763-3241 to receive a
list of candidates.
MSA Rules and Elections Committee Chair Russ
Garber, an LSA junior, said no one would read the
results even if they had been posted on the website.
Rackham student Darren Easton, an MSA rep-
resentative, said the assembly should publish a list
of successful candidates in some fashion, but added
that the Daily should publish the results. "I'm kind
of a neophyte to all this electronic stuff - I'm a
paper and pencil kind of guy," he said.
In years past, the Daily has published how many
candidates get elected in student government races,
but has not typically published all the names of
winning candidates.
For the past several years MSA had counted on
student "blog" websites to publish results, said for-
mer MSA Vice President Jenny Nathan, an LSA
senior.
LSA freshman Ben Kalayjian, who voted in the
elections, was critical of the assembly. "I don't think
they had any bad intentions, but on the other hand,
what's the point of voting if they won't tell us who
won?" he said.
The winning candidates were informed privately
via e-mail.
'U' recruits profs for
prestigious spots
By Aymar Jean
Daily Staff Reporter
Earlier this fall, New York University
announced a $2.5 billion fundraising
campaign to build on the private univer-
sity's reputation. In its plan, it proposed
adding 125 new faculty members to
its liberal arts college by raising about
$200 million. Recently it achieved that
goal and has even wooed one professor
away from the University.
In response to the competition for
top faculty in the world of academia,
the University is actively seeking to
recruit highly accomplished professors
more endowed positions will allow it to
retain and attract top faculty. But prog-
ress could prove difficult, since numer-
ous schools like NYU have the financial
resources to lure prime faculty away.
"We don't want other universities hir-
ing away our best faculty. We want to
keep them. And this isn't the only way
to keep them, but it is one way to keep
them," said Janet Weiss, associate pro-
vost for academic affairs.
As the competition grows between
public and private universities for
top professors, the University is find-
ing these positions increasingly more
important.
- ~L