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ww.michzgandaily.com Ann Arbor, Michigan Vol. CXV, No. 105 ®2005 The Michigan Daily
Engin
dean
to step
down
By Karl Stampfl
Daily Staff Reporter
With more than a year remaining in
his term as dean of the College of Engi-
neering, Stephen Director announced
yesterday that he will step down from
the position, effective June 31, to become
provost and senior vice president of Drex-
el University in Philadelphia, Penn.
"It's coming near the end of my term,"
Director said. "I feel very good about
the accomplishments that the adminis-
tration, the faculty and I have made, but
I felt it was time to face some different
challenges."
As provost, Director's responsibilities
will include overseeing curriculum and
faculty at Drexel, the 20th largest private
* university in the country.
University spokeswoman Julie Peter-
son said such a transition - moving
from a large university like the Universi-
ty of Michigan to a more powerful posi-
tion at a smaller school like Drexel - is
common.
"A lot of people will choose to move up
the ladder by moving to a smaller institu-
tion," Peterson said. "We've had some
people who were vice presidents become
presidents at smaller institutions."
In a survey that faculty took last fall
to evaluate University administrators,
Director had one of the lowest scores
among more than 100 administrative
leaders in the category "inspires con-
fidence in overall leadership." On the
survey - administered by the Sen-
ate Advisory Committee on University
Affairs - Director scored an average
of 2.43 out of a possible 5 points in that
category, in which 162 of the 401 eligible
faculty members voted. The numbers
point toward a general dissatisfaction
with his leadership.
Director also scored poorly in the area
of including faculty in decision-making
processes. Faculty gave him a 2.01 out of
5 in that area.
Director, who said he had not seen the
survey, discounted its credibility because
only a small percentage of faculty mem-
bers voted. He said dissatisfaction among
faculty members was not among the rea-
sons he had sought new employment.
"I always consult the faculty and will
continue to do so," Director said.
In its 2002 rankings, U.S. News and
World Report ranked the University's
undergraduate engineering program
fourth strongest in the country. By 2003,
it had fallen to sixth. Currently, it ranks
seventh and the graduate program ranks
eighth. But all of the college's depart-
ments are now in the top 10 of their
respective categories.
"Deans always have their support-
ers and detractors," University Provost
Paul Courant said. "Dean Director is no
exception."
Courant said Director is leaving the
See DEAN, Page 7
S
S
W
1k
t
Instructors,
supporters
hold line
against 'U'
By EkJyot Saini
Daily Staff Reporter
Resounding chants of "No contract - no
work, no peace" could be heard all over central
campus yesterday as members of the Gradu-
ate Employees' Organization staged a one-day
walkout in protest of the University and its
alleged lack of cooperation in negotiations.
Graduate student instructors were joined by
students, members of other unions and vari-
ous faculty and staff in picket lines in front of
University buildings and construction sites.
Placards that proclaimed "I (heart) my GSI,"
"Honor thy GSI" and "Will teach for food" were
prominently displayed and caught the attention
of those who were unaware of the issues.
A rally of about 100 GEO members, along
with many supporters from the Lecturers'
Employee Organization and the student body,
was held on the steps of the Michigan Union
to conclude the walkout. Passers-by stopped to
listen, while passing drivers honked to show
their support.
Andre Wilson, lead negotiator for GEO, said
the union had made significant concessions in
the last week and that he had seen none from
the University. He also said that, with a possible
open-ended strike starting April 4 remaining
an option, GEO would need all the support it
could muster.
"Over the next week, we need you to start
thinking about April 4. We are going to need
your help," Wilson said to GEO members.
LEO President Bonnie Halloran offered her
union's support in a show of solidarity. Vari-
ous LEO members also cancelled classes and
marched alongside GEO in its picket line. It
was a scene similar to last year, when GEO
members stood in solidarity with striking lec-
turers.
"LEO and GEO stand together, shoulder to
shoulder," Halloran said. She added that the
(MIKE HULSEBUS/Daily)
TOP: Sociology
lecturer Cedric De
Leon leads GEO
supporters In a
chant on the steps
of the Michigan
Union yesterday.
FAR LEFT:
Engineering
freshman Ann
Griffin holds up
a sign as she
walks through
the Diag to show
her disagreement
with the walkout
yesterday.
LEFT: GEO members
gather on the steps
of the Michigan
Union yesterday
afternoon.
lecturers'
ago, had
union, which was formed two years
learned a great deal over the years
See GEO, Page 7
Some students, faculty question validity of demands
By Carissa Miller
and Kim Tomlin
Daily Staff Reporter
With no agreement reached in GEO negotia-
tions, graduate student instructors formed pick-
et lines in front of University building doors to
persuade students and faculty not to enter. The
picket lines yielded the desired results in many
cases - but some students and faculty ignored
the chants and entered University buildings all
over campus.
Greek and Latin Prof. Ruth Scodel crossed
the picket lines to hold her classes, where
only three of the 13 students did not attend.
Like the students, however, she had mixed
reactions to the strike.
"I feel sorry for the GSIs," Scodel said.
"I respect our GSIs, and my students want
to respect them, but I have an obligation to
show up for class," she added.
In addition, Scodel said she thinks some
of GEO's demands are "excessive" and
"foolish."
"I think the financial demands are unrea-
sonable, especially given the condition of
the state and the University's (appropriations
cuts)," Scodel said.
LSA junior Dan Calderon crossed the
picket lines to attend classes in Angell Hall.
"I felt bad, because I do support GEO, but
I have a responsibility to myself and my par-
ents to get good grades," Calderon'said. "If
I miss lecture, there are things on the exam
I won't have."
However, Calderon said he and his friends
support the walkout. Because they aspire to
work as GSIs in the future, he said, they feel
sympathetic toward GEO's desire for a better
contract.
The strongest opposition to the walkout
came from Young Americans for Freedom, a
conservative student group, which protested
GEO's contract demands and negotiation tac-
tics. Facing off outside of Mason Hall, YAF
undergraduates and GEO picketers clashed
over the union's right to strike.
See WALK-OUT, Page 5
I
Activists gather
40 years after
first teach-in
By Rachel Kruer
Daily Staff Reporter
Without a friend's persistence, Tom Hayden would be
recording history instead of creating it.
Forty years ago, Hayden was like many other students
at the University - upset with the government's involve-
ment in Vietnam, yet unaware of where to channel this
overwhelming discontent. A friend of his, Al Haber, con-
tinually pressured Hayden to join his burgeoning organi-
zation, Students for a Democratic Society.
As editor in chief of The Michigan Daily and as a his-
tory major, Hayden was already overburdened with work
and therefore was at first none too receptive to the idea.
However a fter Haher's continual nersistence. Hayden
Supporters of PIRGIM
may appeal ruling today
By Laura Van Hyfte
Daily Staff Reporter
Michigan Student Assembly representatives
are planning to file an appeal today against a
Central Student Judiciary decision that restrict-
ed MSA from voting to allocate money for a
student chapter of the Public Interest Research
Group in Michigan.
A group of MSA members is asking MSA
Student General Counsel Jesse Levine to file an
appeal against the CSJ decision. The details of the
appeal, however, are uncertain because Levine
and various pro-PIRGIM members of MSA have
different ideas of what the appeal should say.
Matt Hollerbach, an MSA representative who
wrote the initial draft of the appeal, said the intent
are at a much higher standard than what MSA
should have to meet. The final issue Hollerbach
brought against CSJ is that once the guidelines
are in place, MSA will not be able to consider
requests for money from the discretionary fund
unless an MSA committee or commission is
sponsoring that request.
"It is my contention that all of these points
constitute CSJ overstepping their power, but it
is only the third point that Levine 100 percent
agrees with; he said he will consider the others,"
Hollerbach said.
The complex and maze-like battle involving
MSA, CSJ and PIRGIM all began when PIR-
GIM asked for funding from MSA's discretion-
ary fund.
Due to the political stances that PIRGIM has
Iw ' "' ° Is
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