Tuesday, February 22, 2005 Weather 42~ i~ Opinion 4 Sam Singer on Paul Krugman's ego Arts 8 Kings of Leon deliver on second album. £F I1 bI33 LOW, 22 TOMORROW: 30mA U.w Sports 9 Eric Ambinder on the mystery of Dion Harris One-hundredfourteen years of editorialfreedom www.michigandaily.com Ann Arbor, Michigan m Vol. CXV, No. 87 2005 The Michigan Daily MSA vote on PIRGIM postponed By Karl Stampfl Daily Staff Reporter The Michigan Student Assembly's planned vote on whether to fund a Univer- sity chapter of the Public Interest Research Group in Michigan will most likely be delayed. An injunction filed by MSA Chief of Staff Elliot Wells-Reid halted the vote - which was scheduled for tonight - by argu- ing that PIRGIM's alleged lobbying would endanger MSA's tax-exempt status. The decision to suspend the vote in lieu of a full trial was handed down by a three- member Central Student Judiciary during a preliminary hearing last night. A full trial will take place on March 9 in the MSA Chambers in the Michigan Union. Wells-Reid petitioned the CSJ because he said PIRGIM's lobbying efforts could threaten MSA's tax-exempt status - which would be difficult to regain if lost. Wells- Reid also made another argument which the CSJ rejected. He said that because PIRGIM lobbies the state legislation and the assem- bly's funding comes in part from students, for the MSA to put $20,000 toward a cam- pus chapter of PIRGIM would be violating basic freedom of expression rights. PIRGIM is a citizen-funded group that tackles issues like the environment, high prices for college books and the protection of tenants. Representatives from PIRGIM and MSA General Counsel Jesse Levine argued that funding PIRGIM would not endanger the tax-exempt status. They described a.dif- ference between lobbying - persuading elected officials to take specific stances on - and advocacy, which is doing research on issues and presenting them to legislators. Part of PIRGIM's umbrella organization, they said, is involved with lobbying, but none of MSA's funds would go to that part. If MSA provides funds to Students for PIRGIM, the organization will be renamed Student PIRGIM. "Student PIRGIM would not lobby at all," said Carolyn Hwang, Students For PIRGIM See PIRGIM, Page 3 ASHLEY HARPER/Daily Coke representative Lori Billingsley speaks alongside colleagues Percey Wells and Harry Ott at the Michigan Student Assembly debate about Coca-Cola In the MSA chambers of the Michigan Union last night. MSA to vote on anti-Coke resolution MSA listened to representatives from both Coca-Cola and the Killer Coke Coalition By Jeremy Davidson Daily Staff Reporter Members of the Michigan Student Assembly met last night to discuss alle- gations against the Coca-Cola Compa- ny concerning human rights violations in India and Colombia before voting tonight on a resolution to recommend that the University end its contract with the soft drink giant. MSA representatives had the oppor- tunity to hear from representatives from both Coca-Cola and the student- led anti-Coke campaign known as the Killer Coke Coalition If MSA votes against Coke, it will be agreeing to a resolution that would aim to pressure the University to cut its $1.2 million contract with Coca-Cola. "It was an excellent opportunity for both sides to confront the issues, for representatives to hear the concerns of both sides and for students at large to make their own judgements," said LSA senior Jason Mironov, president of MSA. MSA had originally planned the vote for last Tuesday but delayed it to get a perspective from both sides. RC Junior Ashwini Hardikar, co- chair of MSA's Peace and Justice Com- mission spoke about the significance of tomorrow's decision. "Symbolically this will help pres- sure the (University) president and others involved in making the decision about the contract to drop (it) with the University," Hardikar said. MSA first heard testimony from Laura Billingsley, a spokeswoman of the Coca-Cola company, and Harry Ott, director of Global Environmental Assurance at the Coca-Cola company. Billingsley said some of the allega- tions brought against Coke include that the company supports intimidation of union leaders, and that the company does not provide sufficient protection for its employees. "The Coca-Cola company has col- lective bargaining agreements in place with 11 different unions in Colombia, covering wages and benefits, and health and safety measures," Billingsley said. If any employee feels unsafe, she added, there are a number of safety and security measures, which Coca-Cola can utilize. These include transporta- tion to workers' houses in order to pro- tect them from possible paramilitary attacks. One of the allegations the Killer Coke Coalition and Coca-Cola workers abroad have made against the company is that it uses paramilitaries to intimi- date its workers. Billingsley added that these ben- efits are offered collectively through the union, the government and the company. Javier Correa, an activist in the anti- Coke campaign and former worker at a Coca-Cola bottling plant in Colombia, disagreed with Billingsley's statement, saying that Coca-Cola never provided See COKE, Page 7 Burglars strike homes near campus on weekend By Laura Van Hyfte Daily Staff Reporter A series of burglaries occurred this weekend at sev- eral student homes neighboring campus, resulting in the pilfering of laptop computers, iPods and other valuables. The break-ins occurred on South Division Street, East University Avenue, Prospect Street and the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity house on State Street. A crime analyst at the Ann Arbor Police Department will investigate all of the burglaries tomorrow to determine whether they are connect- ed, said AAPD Lt. Mark Hoornstra, adding that it was not possible to know yet if they were related. Sigma Phi Epsilon had an estimated $2,500 worth of valuables taken, said Sig Ep President Scott Cohen, who filed the report with AAPD. Cohen reported that a digital cable box, a DJ mixing box, one com- posite of fraternity photos and assorted other items "Students are just not as conscious of being victims in a crime." - Mark Hoornstra AAPD Lieutenant Bush wants to shift Amtrak funding to states * Proponents of the nation- al program say new proposal would lead to bankruptcy By Julia Homing Daily Staff Reporter If a provision of President Bush's 2006 budget is passed by Congress, federal fund- ing for Amtrak would go from $1.2 billion each year to zero, requiring the states to pick up the costs of Amtrak services - including those offered at the Ann Arbor train station. The proposed changes could affect the travel plans of many students who use Amtrak to travel to stops from Chicago to East Lansing. At a news conference in Chicago last week, Department of Transportation Sec- retary Norman Mineta said the proposed state. Mineta said Amtrak functions best where individual state governments make bud- getary decisions for the rail service. Steve Kulm, director of public affairs for the Fed- eral Railroad Administration, agreed with Mineta's statement. "(Under the new budget), the states will become responsible for where the service is needed, how it is operated and the funding for the service," Kulm said. "States are already in charge of transit systems, airport authorities and highways. Why should rail be different?" she added. But Liz Boyd, spokeswoman for Gov. Jennifer Granholm, said the governor hopes Congress will reject Bush's proposal and continue to fund Amtrak. The state is cop- ing with a $370 million revenue shortfall in the current fiscal year. "Our hope is that Congress would also recognize the economic and quality-of-life had been taken sometime Sunday morning. "The fraternity composite alone costs roughly $2,000," Cohen said. A majority of the items were stolen from the main floor and belonged to the chapter. Cohen said he filed the report primarily for insurance purposes. No items, to the frater- nity's knowledge, were stolen from any other floor. "To my recollection and my history here, this has never happened before. Sometimes people may steal composites just for a joke, and it doesn't bother me, but this definitely wasn't just a prank. This was a serious robbery," Cohen said, adding that he did not know why someone would steal a fraternity composite. "The composite was locked in a glass case that was built into the wall. They literally ripped it out of the wall. ... We don't believe that we will be getting it back," he said. Hoornstra said students' homes are often broken into because they are not careful or aware of the danger of burglary. It is not unheard of for a burglar to enter a home, and upon confrontation by an inhabitant, declare that they know one of the residents, Hoornstra added. "We have a number of incidents of when a burglar may say 'Oh - I'm looking for John,' and an unsuspecting kid could reply, 'John doesn't live here' - unaware that they were just being robbed. Then the burglar could turn around and walk out without anybody knowing what he was up to," Hoornstra said. "If stuff like this happens, we need to be contacted right away," Hoornstra added. The densely populated student residential areas can DAVID TUMAN/Daily Amtrak conductor Gary Turnblom helps passengers board the 355 train to Chicago yesterday at the Ann Arbor Amtrak station.