Wednesday, February 16, 2005 Weather Opinion 4 Chris Zbrozek finally reads The Crucible' Arts 8 Local rapper's first LP filled with pithy topics, weak rhymes itijanvaI .W'17 TOMrORRlOW: One-hundredfourteen years ofeditorialfreedom www.michirandaily.com Ann Arbor, Michigan Vol. CXV, No. 83 ©2005 The Michigan Daily FROM THE EDITOR The Michigan Daily strives to remain the ost trusted and respected source of new nd analysis for the University community In order to best serve this diverse an vibrant community and to continu roviding it with high-quality journalism, ave formed a commission of Daily editor .nd staffers to look critically at the Dail s an institution. The commission is charged with exam ning perceptions of the paper among the Daily's staff and within multicultural ommunities throughout the University t nsure that the Daily's work environment s a welcoming place for a diverse staff. ave also asked the commission to review very section's content to ensure that it i ufficiently comprehensive for a Univer ity that has changed a great deal since the aily first began publication in 1890. The commission will make recom endations to me and to the other editor after it studies these issues. To ensure the ommission's independence, I will not b member. Any questions or concerns regarding the ommission or its work can be directed o either myself or Editorial Page Edito uhael Momin, who is a member of the ommission. The Daily remains committed to serving he University community by practicing the highest standards of journalistic integrity. Jason Z. Pesick Editor in Chief New Greek rules party rule may affect fall Rush b Some students speculate IFC's new party regulations could depress the size of this year's Rush class By Paul Blumer For the Daily The days of enormous fraternity par- ties where anyone can come and let loose may be over. The Interfraternity Council recently instituted new rules and regula- tions for Greek parties. Effective Jan. 1, the changes to the Greek social policy will mean big differences in fraternity parties and events. Some of the changes include increased restrictions regarding alcohol and party size. With the new changes, any event with more than 25 women or where alcohol is present must be registered with the IFC to ensure an increased level of safety at parties. Unregistered events can be unsafe because in the event'of an emergency, no one has official responsibility. Under the new rules, non-Greek guests must be on a guest list, and the number of non-Greek guests may not exceed four times the number of sober monitors. Some students expressed concerns about how the new rules will affect Wel- come Week and Rush activities. Before the changes were put in place, fraternities could host large parties in the fall, hoping to attract freshmen. With the new regula- tions, some students feel it may be more difficult for fraternities to introduce them- selves to freshmen. "If the (new) rules are in place (next year), many freshmen will not see as many frats, See PARTIES, Page 7 CDC advises immunization New meningitis vaccine recommended for all incoming college freshmen By Kingson Man Daily Staff Reporter With a recent recommendation by a gov- ernment panel on vaccinations, incoming college freshmen may have one more thing to worry about - getting their meningitis shots. The Centers for Disease Control and Pre- vention issued a recommendation last week for many people aged 11 to 18 to receive the new meningitis vaccine Menactra, placing special emphasis on college freshmen living in dormitories - where the rate of infection is nearly five times the national average. While meningococcal infections are rare in the general population, striking only 3,000 Americans each year, the illness pro- gresses rapidly and may lead to brain dam- age or death in 10 percent of those infected. The new vaccine from Sanofi Pasteur replaces Menomune and confers longer- lasting immunity but at a higher cost - $80 to $90 a dose. With the sudden increase in demand for the vaccine, Menactra's manufacturer wor- ries it may not be able to synthesize the drug quickly enough to meet demand, according to The Associated Press. Over the next two to three years, as new factories are constructed to meet demand, there may be a shortage of vaccines available to entering high school and college students. This year, Sanofi Pas- teur predicts the availability of just over 5 million doses. At the University, "the vaccine will be rationed to the people with the highest need, that is, freshmen living in residence halls," said Robert Winfield, director of University Health Services. Epidemiologists believe the tight living quarters in dorms facilitate close contact between students, which contributes to the high rates of infection, according to a CDC advisory committee in a 2000 issue of Mor- bidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Winfield said UHS is prepared to deal with possible shortages of Menactra. He said UHS maintains stockpiles of Menomune, adding, "The rate of infection decreases sub- stantially after freshman year." CDC's Advisory Committee on Immuni- zation Practices issued the recommendation in response to findings in the past decade that showed rates of meningitis infection were substantially higher for. college students. A 2001 paper in The Journal of the American Medical Association concluded, "Freshmen who live in dormitories have an independent, elevated risk for meningococ- cal disease compared with other college students." This massive vaccination strategy adopted by the CDC parallels a similar effort in the United Kingdom where a variant of the dis- ease, meningitis c, was sharply decreased, according to a report by the National Foun- dation for Infectious Diseases. The goal of the vaccinations is to eliminate "herd infec- tion." "Herds," or age cohorts, tend to con- gregate, harboring and spreading infection among their members. By targeting individ- uals 11 to 18 years of age, the CDC hopes to create an inoculated age group that will impede the transfer of disease to future gen- erations. "If you can get enough people immu- nized, you break the cycle of outbreaks," Winfield said. Joseph Stiglitz speaks at Hale Audi- torium on Feb. 15. GLOBALIZATION GURU NOBEL PRIZE WINNER DISCUSSES THE DANGERS OF THE GLOBAL ECONOMY By Alexa Jenner Daily Staff Reporter By 4:00 p.m. yesterday, the 400-seat Hale Audito- rium was overflowing with people. Cramming into the aisles and the doorways, students, professors and members of the general public waited in anticipa- tion to hear the 2001 Nobel Prize winner and famous economist, Joseph Stiglitz, speak. "A lot of us have looked forward to this all month - he's an amazingly sharp and intelligent guy," said Economics graduate student Farzana Afridi. Stiglitz's contributions to the field of economics have allowed him to be recognized worldwide. He is well known for helping create a new branch of economics known as, the "Economics of Informa- tion" which is used by policy analysts. Stiglitz has written books that have been translated into many languages for an international audience, including his international bestseller "Globalization and its Discontents." Stiglitz addressed the ideas in these books as well personal experiences in his speech on globalization last night. Hosted by the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, Stiglitz's speech was part of a series of lectures funded by the Citigroup Foundation, honor- ing President Ford's long affiliation with Citigroup. With opinionated rhetoric and good humor, Sti- glitz explained to an intrigued audience potential problems with globalization and the free market. "Economic theory predicted the capital free mar- ket should lead to stabilization, but in reality it did not lead to economic growth or stabilization," he said. He said Third-World countries have instead been hurt by the opening of free markets, because they receive loans during good economic times and are forced to pay back loans during recessions. "The general preset of banking is never lend to anyone who needs the money, so what happens is that when the economy is in a boom the bankers are shoveling money into the economy (of Third-World countries). But when the economy goes down they say we're not sure you're going to be able to repay us, we don't trust you." he said. He went on to discuss problems with the Interna- tional Monetary Fund - the international organiza- tion that manages global finances and gives loans to struggling countries. Stiglitz's book "Globalization and its Discontents" argues that the IMF puts the interests of the United States over those of poorer countries, and he discussed this in his speech. "The last head of the IMF said poverty was not his business," he said. But he conceded that there had been a change in attitude and the IMF was working more toward rec- ognizing poverty. Along with discussing debt relief, Stiglitz talked about what he said are problems with opening up the markets to trade. "It is one of the most pretentious areas of globalization, but the theory is everyone should be better off," he said. "Instead, it created anxiety everywhere in the world. Why were all these people better off and didn't know it? Because in reality they were worse See STIGLITZ, Page 7 After elections, Iraqi democracy remains an untested proposition A marginalization of in post-Saddam politics fuel the insurgency and Sunnis could extend tion, did not vote on Election Day. Instead, many stayed at home out of fear of violence or to support a boycott orga- nized by clerics opposed to U.S. occupation. "The results reflect the intimidation and fear the Sunnis have regarding the unstable system of government that they 14 percent. Pintak said the overall effectiveness of the election has yet to be determined. "It is a wildcard now, and anyone who tells you that they can predict what's going to happen is blowing Prof. Charles Krohn said. "The Shiites, for the moment, want the U.S. to stay because it acts as a buffer against any Sunni insurgency," Pintak said. "Until we get a government in Iraq that we can work