Tuesday, February 8, 2005 Opinion 4 Sam Singer takes on Paul Krugman ThE MEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM TO BATTLE NO. 1 ILLINOIS ... SPORTS, PAGE 9 it Weather Arts 8 Leigh's direction shines in drama 'Vera Drake.' m~ 4 LOW 2 TOMORROW 33/fl One-hundredfourteen years of editorialfreedom www.michkgandaily. com Ann Arbor, Michigan Vol. CXV, No. 76 ©2005 The Michigan Daily Bush asks for more grants, -cuts to Perkins loan program would be defunded under new proposed budget, hitting 'U' students especially hard By Justin Miller Daily Staff Reporter Federal funding for the Perkins loan program, which gave $17 million in loans to 6,750 Univer- sity students last year, would be phased out over 10 years in the new federal budget President Bush submitted yesterday to Congress. But Bush's 2006 proposed budget would use the money saved from the cut to partially fund increas- es to the Pell Grant program, raising the maximum grant from $4,050 to $4,550 over the next five years and eliminating its current $4.3 billion shortfall. University Director of Financial Aid Pamela Fowler said the changes would be a net loss for University students. "The University of Michigan is either number one or two in Perkins loans universities in the nation," Pamela Fowler said. "We won't get an additional $17 million in Pell Grant funds if he takes away Perkins." Perkins loans are given to 673,000 college students yearly, or 3 percent of all college stu- loans dents nationwide. The federal government and universities currently fund the Perkins loans program together, at a cost of $7 billion annually to the federal government and $2 billion to uni- versities collectively. It is unclear whether or not schools will decide to continue giving Perkins loans with their own money should Congress revoke federal funding. Bush also plans to pay for Pell Grant increases by cutting federal subsidies for banks and lenders who provide loans to some students. The Depart- ment of Education expects the cuts to pay for half of Bush's higher education plan. Bank subsidies are given by the federal government to pay the difference between the market price of a loan for college and the amount the bank is willing to offer that loan for. The expected result of the proposed budget changes is a decrease in loans and an increase in grants for students with financial need, allowing more students to attend college overall. The lack of subsidies would result in fewer loans, said Donald Heller, a former education professor at the University who now works at Pennsylvania State University. "Without the government subsidy, banks would charge a lot more money for the loans," he said. Heller said he expects banking associations to raise the prospect of ending such loans if the gov- See BUSH, Page 7 Donors, students share concerns over stadium Most alumni who donate to athletic department support renovations, but some worry about seating capacity By Anne Joling Daily Staff Reporter Not unlike University students, major donors to the University's athletic department said they are largely pleased with last month's pro- posed stadium renovations. But some donors said they are concerned about the addition of luxury boxes and the possibility of a decreased seating capacity. Joe Parker, associate athletic director in charge of development, said the responses the depart- ment received from donors were mostly positive. "Most people are very favorable to the stadium project," Parker said. In addition to adding luxury boxes, the pro- posed renovations include improved seating and added safety measures, as well as the addition of new restrooms and concession areas. Other athletic department donors said they think the luxury boxes will generate a great deal of revenue that will be important to the future of University athletics. "The idea of having luxury boxes doesn't both- er me," said Steven Percy, a University alum who donated $26,500 in January of last year. "If they will help (the football program) to stay competi- tive and boost revenue, I support them." But some donors have expressed concerns. "I'm not really happy about the luxury boxes," said Roger Turner, a University alum who donated $15,451 in cash and stocks to the athletic depart- ment in January of last year. "I'm not sure, but they could be just one more step down the road to the commercialization of college athletics. I don't know if I really like it or not." Additionally, several donors have raised con- cerns that the renovations might decrease the number of seats in the stadium. "I look at Michigan as being the best in a lot of different areas, and to lose the distinguishing factor of being the biggest stadium in the country would really bother me," Turner said. Follette Carter, an alum who donated $20,000 last May, also expressed concerned over the pos- sible loss of seats. "I know there is some controversy about the potential decline in capacity, and I think that is See DONORS, Page 7 AMY DRUMM/Daity Athletic Director Bill Martin speaks at the Ethics in Public Life Task Force forum at the Michigan League yesterday. from ommunity at forum By Karl Stampfl Daily Staff Reporter A diverse group of University faculty, staff and students gathered in the Michigan League last night to discuss the ethical implications of every- thing from the war in Iraq to whether libraries at Greek houses give fra- ternity and sorority members an unfair advantage. The gathering was for an all-campus forum on University President Mary Sue Coleman's Task Force on Ethics in Public Life. About 75 people came to the forum, which was designed to gather opin- ions on which ethical issues the task force should concentrate on and how it should engage them. "We're trying to get input, a direction to go in," said Jason Weinstein, a member of the task force and 2nd-year Law School student. Spurred by ethical lapses in American society in areas such as big business, religion and journalism, Coleman created the task force to explore how the University could best study ethics in public life. She announced it last September as one of four major initiatives in her State of the University address. The task force plans to prepare a report by the end of March detailing what direction it believes the study of ethics should take at the University. In April, it plans to make a recommendation to Coleman. From there, the timeline blurs. See ETHICS, Page 7 Students lament lack of study abroad program in Israel PIRGIM looks for ways to lower textbook prices By Amber Colvin Daily StaffReporter For LSA junior Jennifer Rosen, Israel was the only place where she wanted to study abroad. "I wanted to be a part of the culture and live their life," said Rosen, who is spending her winter semester in Israel at the Ben- Gurion University of the Negev in the city of Beer Sheva. At Hebrew University in Jerusalem, LSA junior Sol Adelsky is also fulfilling his strong desire to study in Israel. "Although words can't do it justice, Israel is a country where I feel at home," . Adelsky said. But Rosen and Adelsky are not study- "I think for a school that strongly encourages studying abroad, it's disap- pointing that they're limiting the options for students who would prefer to study in alternative places," Gonik said. Without an Israel study-abroad program, Gonik said, University students longing to study in Israel face many obstacles. "That creates a lot of barriers for stu- dents who would like to do that ... (includ- ing) no advisors, losing financial aid and scholarships and hassles dealing with credit transfers," Gonik said. AMI, in cooperation with Hillel, started the student petition this semester. Gonik said hundreds of students have expressed interest in studying in Israel. Carol Dickerman, director of the Office According to study, textbook publishers drive up prices with frequent new editions Jeremy Davidson Daily Staff Reporter When economics lecturer Janet Ger- son saw the cost of a new edition of a sup- plementary book for her course, she went straight to the publisher of the book tell it that the price was too high. In response, the publishers lowered the price at which the book was sold at universities across the country. "We're trying to put pressure on publishing companies to change their practices," said Mike Akresh, an LSA sophomore and member of PIRGIM. The study, conducted by the Califor- nia Public Interest Research Group, con- cludes that the financial burden brought on by textbooks is an unnecessary one. The report highlights how the practices of textbook companies exploit Ameri- can college students. Titled "Ripoff 101: how the publishing industry's practices needlessly drive up textbook costs," the report addresses practices that it finds questionable among American publish- ing companies. One of the main conclusions of the report was that students in the United ,, . _