Friday, March 18, 2005
Weather
-4--i -
-, ;' T
s s A .
Opinion 4
Sowmya
Krishnamurthy: Keep
church, state apart
Sports 9 Carr excited about
spring practice
£ qqqmmw ita g
4 :42
LOW: 31
TOMORROWM
43/32
One-hundredfourteen years ofeditorialfreedom
www.michIandaily.com Ann Arbor, Michigan Vol. CXV, No. 100 x2005 The Michigan Daily
NCAA
stncter
on grad
rates
Study says 19 teams are
currently in violation of new
academic regulations
By James V. Dowd
Daily Sports Writer
Sixty-four teams began their quest for
the men's NCAA basketball champion-
ship yesterday with a lot of familiar faces
in the field. But if some of these programs
fail to take note of new NCAA academic
regulations, some perennial contenders
might find themselves sitting out of the
NCAA tournament in future years.
The NCAA's new academic progress
rate is designed as a measure of athletic
teams' academic success, and the passing
rating of 925, based on players' academic
eligibility and retention percentages, will
indicate a 50-percent graduation rate,
according to Kent Barrett, NCAA Asso-
ciate Director of Public and Media Rela-
tions.
With Wednesday's release of a study by
Dr. Richard Lapchick of the University of
Central Florida's Institute for Diversity
and Ethics in Sport, a great deal of atten-
tion has been given to the new NCAA aca-
demic standards, which will be instituted
next year.
In coming seasons, programs that fail
to achieve a score of 925 will first receive
penalties from the NCAA. If a player on a
failing team becomes ineligible, the team
will not be allowed to re-award that play-
er's scholarship for one year. Teams must
serve the penalties during the academic
year immediately following the loss or
departure of an ineligible player. The goal
of the penalties is simply to open the eyes
of offending programs without preventing
their teams from competing.
"These penalties are not designed to
completely destroy a program," Barrett
said. "They're just a warning to let them
know that they're not doing what's expect-
ed and if they don't change, they will face
more severe penalties in the future."
Repeat offenders that fail to respond
will be subjected to a "historical penalty
structure." The exact terms of historical
penalties will be finalized in the next year
and will have greater consequences than
first-time offenses, potentially including
scholarship reductions, recruiting restric-
tions and postseason bans.
Under the new rating system, many of
the teams with subpar graduation rates,
by Lapchick's standards, can still attain
passing academic progress ratings. Illi-
nois - the top seed in the tournament
- achieved a 47-percent, six-year gradua-
tion rate for freshman that entered during
the 1997-98 season, three points below
the 50-percent threshold. But its NCAA
academic progress rating is a near-perfect
979, 50 points above the failing rating.
Since 1997-98, Kentucky, a No. 2 seed in
this year's Austin regional, has graduated
See NCAA, Page 7
Miller's
Prologue
New building will
house music theater,
drama departments
By Karl Stampil
Daily Staff Reporter
Just over a month after the death of playwright and alum Arthur
Miller, the University Board of Regents approved a schematic
design yesterday for the Walgreen Drama Center, which will
include the only theater in the world Miller granted permission to
bear his name.
"It is bittersweet that the designs come to you just weeks after
Mr. Miller's death," University President Mary Sue Coleman said
to the regents at yesterday's meeting. "He had a chance to review
some of the planning with us late last year, and I know he was
excited to see the theater becoming reality."
The drama center will stand next to Pierpont Commons on North
Campus when construction, which will likely begin this summer, is
completed in 2006. While some regents, including Andrea Fischer
Newman (R-Ann Arbor) raised concern about the parking lot that
will be partially demolished when the center is constructed, the
architects found the location to be ideal.
"Every time I visit the campus I walk it again, and I have to say
it's the best possible site you could have picked," said lead archi-
tect Tom Payne of the firm Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg
Architects. "It's right at the center of things."
The estimated cost of the entire project is $42.8 million. The
University expects more than $15 million of that to covered by pri-
vate support, including a $10 million gift by Charles Walgreen, a
University alum and retired president of the Walgreen drugstore
chain.
The 97,500 square-foot structure will house the Theater &
Drama and Music Theater departments. The drama department is
currently located in the Frieze Building, which will be demolished
to build North Quad.
At last month's meeting, the regents approved the construction
of a North Campus auditorium and stipulated that it be a part of the
Walgreen Center. The 460-seat classroom auditorium will anchor
one side of the three-story building, and the 250-seat Arthur Miller
Theater will anchor the other. Currently, the largest venue on North
Campus is the Chrysler Center, which seats 230.
Coleman announced a public groundbreaking in the fall with a
memorial celebration for Miller.
"We will invite our campus, the community and alumni to join
us in paying tribute to a man who was both an American icon and
a dear friend to the University," she said.
During construction, 250 parking spaces in the lot near Pierpont
will be lost. Fischer Newman and several other regents expressed
concerns that there will not be enough parking when the drama
center is completed.
See THEATER, Page 7
Second Floor/Mezzanine
2 IW
-.---- P--.. '7 - r~i -
~ ~. ~ 4k'. GrundFloor
The new Walgreen
Center (above) will
hold the 230-seat
Arthur.Miller The-
ater, named after the
famous University
alum and playwright.
The building will
include offices for the
music theater depart-
ment and the drama
department (left). The
drama department is
currently housed in
the Frieze building,
which will be demol-
ished andreplaced
with a residence hall.
Lower Level
'
to return burial remains to tribe
By Michael Kan
Daily News Editor
The University Board of the Regents approved yesterday the
repatriation of the Canadian burial remains of the Whitefish
River band, an indigenous people from the Ojibwe Great Lakes
tribe that has not seen the remains for more than 60 years. The
approval marks the University's first international burial remains
repatriation.
Originating from Old Birch Island cemetery in Lake Huron,
the 16 to 18 human remains, which also include cultural arti-
facts, were excavated in 1938 by University anthropology Prof.
Emerson Greenman and later preserved by the Museum of
Anthropology.
By 1983, the Whitefish River people began talks with the
University to reclaim the burial remains. After more than two
decades, last month, both sides finally reached an agreement to
repatriate, which only required final approval from the regents
to go through.
"It's been a long, arduous journey," said Esther Osche, a White-
fish River member who spoke on behalf of the band. "By putting
them home, we fix something that was done wrong to us."
Gary Krenz, special counsel to University President Mary
Sue Coleman, said yesterday's repatriation was a culmination of
decades of work to reach an agreement that satisfied both sides.
"I think there was sincere efforts on both sides," he said. "I'm
just happy we got a mutual agreement."
With the passage of the Native American Grave Protection and
Repatriation Act in 1990, public museums like the University's
are forced to return cultural items such as human remains to
native peoples who wish to reclaim them. But the law does not
extend to cultural items originating from territory outside of the
United States, nor does the law apply to Canadian tribes.
John O'Shea, curator of the Anthropology Museum, said
although NAGPRA has no jurisdiction over Canadian burial
remains, the University still wished to follow in the spirit of
the law.
"What the University became concerned about was the deep
sincerity expressed by the band," said O'Shea, who is delegat-
ed by the regents with the authority to determine the validity
of repatriation claims. "It did constitute a special case." Other
museums across the country have also conducted internation-
al repatriations such as The Field Museum based in Chicago,
which returned 150 burial remains of the Haida people who
reside in British Columbia.
No date has yet been set for the formal return of the remains,
Osche said, but the band will set a timetable soon.
See REMAINS, Page 3
GSIs prepare
for walkout
TEACH-OUT
Higher ed battle
Lecturers will
not participate in
picketing but voice
support for GSIs
By Ekjyot Saini
Daily Staff Reporter
A number of graduate stu-
dent instructors have begun to
warn their students of a possible
walkout next week, which has
yet to be formally approved, but
seems likely to pass, according
to some GSIs. The Graduate
Employees' Organization -
the union for graduate student
"I am planning on taking part
in the strike, and I will be pick-
eting for part of the day," Lovit
said. He said that he would be
holding extra office hours for
students but will not be making
up for any loss of class time.
Though he has not had a lot
of interaction with the union,
Lovit said that he feels that the
members of the history depart-
ment have a stronger desire to
support the union.
Daniel Shoup, a classical
studies GSI, echoed Lovit's
sentiments. He said that in good
conscience he could not develop
an alternative plan and that he
plans on being in the picket line
brews in
By Anne Joling
and Donn M. Fresard
Daily Staff Reporters
The state's public universities are
increasingly chafing under Gov. Jenni-
fer Granholm's continued state appro-
priations cuts, causing some to question
whether the state's current approach
to funding higher education should be
reformed.
Congressman Joe Schwarz (R-Battle
Creek), a University alum who during
his time as a state representative and
senator was known as one of the Uni-
versity's closest allies in Lansing, has
floated the idea in recent days that the
state should use a permanent funding
source for higher education rather than
Lansing
in exchange for protection from further
appropriations cuts. But after Gran-
holm proposed $30 million in higher
education cuts last month -includ-
ing $5.6 million from the Univer-
sity - some believe the governor has
reneged on the deal.
Schwarz will ask state lawmak-
ers to consider creating a separate
funding source for higher education
- even if it leads to a tax increase
- when he meets with them next
week, Marsden said.
Since the passage of Proposal A in
1994, Michigan's K-12 schools
have been funded with a perma-
nent tax source. Proposal A shifted
school funding - which was coming
from local property taxes - to the
f,. /1
.,.._..,.- ,a,
,
l
'
i