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www.michzaandaily.com Ann Arbor, Michigan Vol. CXV, No. 122 02005 The Michigan Daily
ON THE LAST DAY OF CLASSES,
SENIORS SAY GOODBYE
By Amber Colvin
Daily Staff Reporter
As the class of 2005 graduates and look
toward its future, the seniors also look
back on their fondest memories from the
past four years.
Just several days after arriving at the
University, the class of 2005 was confront-
ed with the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11.
Kinesiology senior Jessie Christel
recalled Sept. 11 and its aftermath as she
became involved in the ROTC the follow-
ing year.
"I went into ROTC during wartime
basically. That really shaped my college
experience," Christel said.
In 2003, the University gained national
attention when its admissions policy was
challenged in the Supreme Court, and the
College of Literature, Science and Arts'
points-based admissions were struck
down.
"The campus got really heated up about
(the cases)," said LSA senior Markus
Sztejnberg, remembering debates on cam-
pus about affirmative action and diver-
sity.
In its sophomore year, the class of 2005
saw Mary Sue Coleman replace Lee Bol-
linger as president of the University - the
first female executive of the University.
The U.S. president was also a promi-
nent figure for seniors last year when
many exercised their right to vote for the
first time during the presidential elec-
tion that saw President Bush re-elected
over Democratic presidential nominee
John Kerry.
Despite such historical events, the
most memorable times for many students
were their Saturday afternoons at the Big
House. Sztejnberg remembered the triple
overtime thriller last October when the
football team rallied to defeat Michigan
State.
His favorite part was when he insisted
that his friends stay at the game, even as
Michigan neared defeat, and laughed at
those who did.
Though both consecutive trips to the
Rose Bowl ended in defeat, they also
provided many memories for the class
of 2005.
While football games and other sports
created some great moments, students,
friends, roommates and professors also
made lasting impressions.
For Christel, hanging out with her
friends at her house will be what she
misses most, though she said her favorite
memory of college is yet to come - her
graduation next Saturday.
RYAN WEINER/Daily
The Class of 2004 graduation ceremonies held at the Big House on Saturday, May 1, 2004.
Coleman officially inaugurated as 'U' President
March 27, 2003
By Jeremy Berkowitz
Daily Staff Reporter
At a time when lawsuits threaten the University's admis-
sions policies and state legislators threaten its budget, Uni-
versity President Mary Sue Coleman used her inauguration
ceremony to address ideas from these problems by learning
from our past.
Surrounded by former University presidents Lee Bollinger
and James Duderstadt as well as current and former regents,
Coleman centered her speech around the sankofa, a bird from
Ghana that moves forward with its head turned backward.
Coleman recalled the proverb associated with the symbolism
of the bird, saying, "Look to your roots, in order to reclaim
your future," d
"The glory of the University of Michigan resides in its
ability to re-invent itself continually, to cherish its roots while
inventing the future."
Coleman spoke about Thomas Jefferson's plans to make
the University of Virginia a great institution, and his struggles
to obtain a suitable appropriation from the state legislature.
He repeatedly wrote to state legislators suggesting money be
shifted from primary schools to higher educations.
"Some tensions have not changed in two hundred years,"
Coleman exclaimed. "Because the state benefits from hav-
ing an educated citizenry, the state supports it with public
funds. The universities, in turn, have a reciprocal respon-
sibility to the states. In this regard, outroots are not only
deep, but also broad, extending hundreds of years and hun-
dreds of miles."
Coleman also addressed keeping the University accessi-
"We are asking the court
to affirm America, by re-
affirming affirmative action"
Mary Sue Coleman
ble for all students and maintaining a diverse student body.
She noted the University's long history of a dedication to
diversity and the importance of the U.S. Supreme Court
hearings Tuesday where the University will defend its race-
conscious admissions policies.
"We are asking the court to affirm America, by re-
affirming affirmative action," Coleman said. "At the
University of Michigan, we have room for all points of
view, and for the syntheses of those views."
Preceding Coleman, the keynote speaker - Psychology
Prof. James Jackson - also touched on diversity.
"Today, as a more mature country, we often appear
afraid of changes of multiple races and ethnicities,"
Jackson said. "We need to learn from the mistakes as
well as the triumphs of the past."
At a press conference afterwards, Coleman expressed
her excited sentiments about the inauguration and the
challenges she faces ahead.
"This is a dream that I could never have imagined,"
Coleman said.
"Sure it's a hard job," she said, adding however that she
feels confident about the upcoming hearings and the budget-
-ary cisis. "You can't help to feel good about the job."
Affirmative
action upheld
June 24, 2003
By Jeremy Berkowitz
and Tomislav Ladika
Daily Staff Reporters
WASHINGTON - Considering a college applicant's race is
constitutional, the Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision yes-
terday.
But in a 6-3 vote, it struck down the College of Literature,
Science and the Arts' policy of granting points for race.
The two judgments, which gave the University guidelines for
how race can be used in its admissions systems, were the culmi-
nation of the six-year legal battle between the University and the
rejected white applicants who sued it.
The court accepted the University's argument that the need
for a diverse student body justified affirmative action.
Ac Admisio criteri
to be refor-med
June 30, 2003
By-Tomislav Ladik
Daily Staff Reporter
When administrators meet this week to begin writing an
interim College of Literature, Science and the Arts admis-
sions policy to comply with the U.S. Supreme Court's rul-
ins, their task will be fairly easy because the overturned
point system already required an individualized review of
applicants, said LSA Dean Terrence McDonald.
Petition targets
ad msion policy
January 7,2004
By Aymar Jean
Daily Staff Reporter
Despite the University's victory at the U.S. Supreme Court last June,
2004 promises to be a decisive year for its race-conscious admissions
policies.
Ward Connerly - a University of California regent and outspoken
opponent of affirmative action - is spearheading a petition drive for
an initiative on November's ballot. The referendum regards whether
state institutions can give "preferential treatment" based on race, eth-
nicity and other characteristics. If passed, an amendment effectively
banning affirmative action in the public sphere will be added to the
state constitution.
The start date for the initiative, originally set for yesterday, was post-
poned until Jan. 12 to abide by Michigan election laws. The initiative's
supporters must obtain 317,517 signatures by July 6 to place the issue
on the ballot.
"It's going to in effect put into the Michigan Constitution what every-
body thinks the Equal Protection Clause (of the 14th Amendment)
already says," said Tim O'Brien, operations director for the Michigan
Civil Rights Initiative. The initiative is a subsidiary of the American
Civil Rights Coalition, the group Connerly chairs.
MCRI gathers
James Gartenberg, an alum who was killed in the terrorist attacks left
his wife, Jill Gartenberg and his 21/2-year-old daughter Nicole behind.
Alum failed to
escape attack
September 17, 2001
By David Enders
Daily News Editor
NEW YORK - Jill Gartenberg laughs when she remembers how her
husband Jim woke her up three Saturdays ago.
"He woke up and said, 'Do you know what day it is? It's the start of
college football season!'"
But this weekend, college football was suspended, and Jim Gartenberg,
who graduated with an economics degree from the University of Michigan
in 1987, is one of the more than 4,900 people still missing this weekend
after the collapse of the World Trade Center towers Tuesday.
His friends knew him for his love of the University of Michigan. He
was the president of the New York City chapter of the University's alumni
association the largest chapter in the country for 10 years.
"He lived for Michigan football anything Michigan, he loved. He prided
himself on the fact that he went back to Ann Arbor for a game every year,"
his wife said. "He always said he would be one of those old guys who wore
the pants with the 'M' on them."
Jim Gartenberg worked on the 86th floor of Tower One for Julien J.
Studley Inc., a commercial real estate firm. He remained in phone contact
with his wife until shortly before she watched the building collapse on
television.
"He called me at quarter to nine and he called me at my machine at
work and said there was a fire at work and he didn't know if he was going
to make it," Jill Gartenberg said. "I don't even know if he even knew if it
was terrorism."
Jill Gartenberg said her husband told her he couldn't escape because the
stairwell was full of smoke and debris.
signatures
January 7, 2005
By Aymar Jean
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