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One-hundredfourteen years ofeditorialdfreedom
www.michigandaily.com Ann Arbor, Michigan Vol. CXV, No. 74 02005 The Michigan Daily
Injury
ends
Reid s
career
By James V. Dowd
Daily Sports Writer
Senior linebacker Lawrence Reid will
no longer be playing on the football team
due to health concerns, coach Lloyd Carr
announced during Wednesday's national
signing day press conference. Reid was a
candidate for the 2004 Butkus Award, which
is given to the nation's
top linebacker, and won
the 2003 Roger Zatkoff
Award for being Michi-
gan's best linebacker.
.;. r The injury will end
Reid's football career.
"Reid played the
last half of the season
with a lot of discom-
fort, a nerve prob-
Reld lem," Carr said. "The
doctors have advised
him not to play, so Lawrence will not be
competing any longer."
Reid's discomfort was caused by the
atypical bone structure of his spinal cord.
After meeting with doctors several weeks
ago, Reid felt it was in his best interest to
stop playing football.
"I had a doctor's appointment a few
weeks ago, and he suggested that I not play
anymore," Reid said. "I decided to leave the
team, and I am just looking forward to get-
ting my degree."
While the injury reached its pinnacle this
fall, the condition has existed since Reid
was born.
"It was just something that was there and
got worse as the years went by," he said.
"There is nothing that they can do for it."
Despite the injury, Reid's 2004 season was
a successful one. Reid finished the year tied
for second on the team with 70 tackles. He
also intercepted a pass against Notre Dame
and scored the first touchdown of his colle-
giate career on a five-yard fumble recovery
against San Diego State. Reid recorded five
tackles, including one sack during the Rose
Bowl game against Texas on Jan. 1.
During the 2003 season, Reid received an
All-Big Ten honorable mention after leading
the Wolverines with 82 tackles. After recov-
ering from a blood clot that ended his 2002
season after just five games, Reid made 25
consecutive starts at inside linebacker and
emerged as one of Michigan's key defensive
players.
Reid will remain at the University to fin-
ish his degree in sociology, which he plans
to complete in December 2005.
"I don't have any specific (career) plan,"
Reid said. "I am just finishing my degree,
and I will go from there."
Because he will be on campus next fall,
Reid has plans to stay involved with the foot-
ball team but is unsure if he will continue his
association with the game after this year.
"I don't have plans to (stay involved
with football) right now - but that could
change with time," Reid said. "But I will
definitely stay with the team until I grad-
uate next fall."
' given
top credit
rating
Only two other
public universities
have AAA rating
By Jonathan Cohen
Daily Staff Reporter
Standard and Poor's Rating Services,
one of the world's leading providers of
credit ratings, moved the University's
credit rating from AA+ to AAA, the
highest possible rating, yesterday.
The AAA rating indicates the Univer-
sity's strong financial management, and
will save University dollars for future
capital investments such as the upcom-
ing North Quad building project.
The University is one of three public
universities with a AAA rating, includ-
ing the Universities of Virginia and
Texas. The Standard and Poor's rating
is highly regarded by all financial insti-
tutions and is sure to save the Univer-
sity money, Business School Prof. Nejat
Seyhun said.
"These ratings will reduce our cost
of debt in the market. This will reduce
expenditures over the long run, freeing
up money for academic priorities," said
Timothy P. Slottow, executive vice pres-
ident and chief financial officer. "The
upgrade also sends a signal to all Uni-
versity stakeholders about our success-
ful ongoing focus on financial controls,
budget discipline and 'best practices' in
financial management," he said.
The University can borrow money
at slightly lower costs because of this
rating upgrade, said Business School
Prof. Dennis Capozza. "The higher
the bond rating, the lower the cost of
borrowing."
Seyhun estimates that between 2/10
to 3/10 of a percent of future borrowed
money will be saved. These figures cor-
respond to annual interest savings of
$100 to $200 thousand dollars.
The credit rating indicates the Uni-
versity's fiscal responsibility, Univer-
sity spokeswoman Julie Peterson said.
"It's a sign of how careful we are with
our public resources."
According to the Standard and Poor's
report, the rating was mainly based on
the University's ability to maintain a
strong financial and academic record
despite a recent cut in state funding.
Other factors that were taken into
account included: the University's
national reputation for excellence in
academics and research, strong finan-
cial liquidity, the $4 billion endowment
and a strong record of fundraising.
Faculty senate
in
Wisc. passes
JOEL FRIEDMAN/Daily
Dave Foreman, author of "Rewilding North America: A Vision for the 21st Century," signs his book after
speaking at the Dana Building yesterday.
Conservationist: larger
wildlife preserves needed
divestment b'ill
By Tom Szczesny
For the Daily
Nobody enjoys approaching a dead animal at the side
of the road. But where most people's disgust is at the
sight of rotting flesh, Dave Foreman sees the sign of a
much more destructive force: humans.
As encroaching humans shrink the habitat for many
of the globe's wildlife, the world's entire ecological order
grows increasingly unstable, Foreman said.
Foreman, a renowned conservationist, spoke on this
topic before a mix of concerned citizens and students at
the Dana Natural Resources Building yesterday after-
noon. In presenting the ecological implications of cur-
rent environmental policy, Foreman outlined the dire
consequences that might result if it is perpetuated. As a
solution, Foreman also advocated a system of expanded
wildlife preserves to protect the world's ecosystems.
Foreman's current vision was inspired in part by a
visit to the University in 1989, when he met Michael
Soule, a professor in the Natural Resources Department
at the time. "This is the birthplace for who I am as a con-
servationist in the last 15 or 16 years," Foreman said.
Foreman's position as a prominent conservationist
has been cemented over the last three decades. As the
author of several books and the former editor of numer-
ous environmental action magazines, Foreman rose in
stature to claim a seat on the board of some major advo-
cacy groups, including the Sierra Club. His reputation
eventually earned him a nod as one of the top 100 cham-
pions of conservation in the 20th century by Audubon
Magazine, an environmental magazine.
Foreman is currently the director and a senior fel-
low at the Rewilding Institute, what he describes as "a
conservation think tank advancing ideas of continen-
See PRESERVES, Page 7
Karl Stampfl
Daily Staff Reporter
Tobacco companies and apartheid
South Africa are two institutions from
which many universities, including
the University of Michigan, voted to
withdraw investments. Members of the
University of Wisconsin at Platteville's
Faculty Senate hope to add the state of
Israel to that list.
On Jan. 25, the senate voted to rec-
ommend that the University of Wiscon-
sin system divest from companies that
provide the Israeli army with weapons
and other supplies.
The senate recommended that the
Board of Regents remove investments
from six companies - Catepillar,
General Dynamics, General Electric,
Lockheed Martin, Northrop-Grunman
and Raytheon - from the university's
trust fund.
There were two reasons for the rec-
ommendation, said Mark Evenson,
UW-Platteville's faculty senate chair-
man. "First, we don't want to be mak-
ing money off human rights offenses,"
he said.
Evenson said the Israeli army has
been accused by many groups of war
crimes against Palestinians in the West
Bank and Gaza Strip.
The second reason involves language
in UW's policy that prohibits holding
investments in companies that deal with
organizations that discriminate against
certain groups on the basis of race, reli-
gion or ethnicity. Evenson said Israel
would fall under that category.
"I think it's both symbolic and practi-
cal," he said. "Frankly, the holdings in
these companies are not huge. It really
won't change the U-W trust fund."
The decision to recommend the Wis-
consin system divest from Israel was
passed by a vote of 7 to 6, with one
See DIVESTMENT, Page 7
Committee may change way
student groups work with 'U'
By Rachel Kruer ger exist because it deals only with the process of policy-
Daily Staff Reporter making and not implementation, Varner said.
SOAR's ideas have not been approved yet. First, Wilson
After working at the University for 10 years, Director of and Varner with the collaboration of others have developed
Student Activities and Leadership Susan Wilson noticed tentative recommendations. They will seek input from the
that student organizations kept encountering the same prob- campus over the next several weeks, and then they will turn
lems. Unclear as to what resources were available to them, in a report with recommendations to Dean of Students,
the logistics of the University's insurance policy and their Sue Eklund. She and Vice President for Student Affairs
financial obligations, student organiza- E. Royster Harper will then add their
tions kept making the same mistakes. « input, Varner said.
When the problem did not go away Not one single event "By then we hope there will be a
with time, Wilson said she felt she had p t few surprises because of the breadth of
to do something. precipitate the idea input and publicity," Eklund said.
"I felt I wasn't doing my job as best as behind SOAR - 1t No specific organizations on campus
I could," she said. b hn-it voiced complaints that resulted in the
Wilson has been instrumental over was a critical mass." formation of SOAR. Instead, Wilson
the past 18 months in creating the Stu- said, it was the accumulation of many
dent Organization and Recognition difficulties student organizations were
Advisory Committee, a group of stu- - Susan Wilson facing.
a' -~
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