Friday, September 9, 2005 Opinion 4A Emily Beam on Cuba's good will / Scnooi~ op iN'h~ic iioins iw~rvvv tio>m~ i FOR E C Weather Sports 11A Football writers break down tomorrow's game against Notre Dame TOW 53 TOMORROW: One-hundredfourteen years of edtorialfreedom www.michandaily.com Ann Arbor, Michigan Vol. CXV, No. 143 2005 The Michigan Daily Four still missing in 'Gulfarea Student proposes F meeting to raise up t through donations at By Christina Hildreth Daily Staff Reporter As several dozen students gathered on the Diag for a vigil for hurricane victims, University officials reported yesterday that all but four of the University's students known to be from hur- ricane-affected areas have been accounted for. Dean of Students Sue Eklund said a fifth student has not con- tacted her office, but has been sighted on campus. Of the students who have phoned or e-mailed the Univer- sity, all are safe and sound, if a bit shaken. The University continues to search for the remaining students, Eklund said, adding that her office is doing everything it can: send- ing e-mails, asking professors and housing staff to keep an eye out for the students and contacting their departments. "Some are having a tough time getting back to campus, leaving temporary shelter or finding trans- portation. It's just taking time until they surface," she said. For now, Eklund said, energy is being devoted to helping hurricane students who are on campus. As of yesterday, a total of 66 stu- dents from colleges and universi- ties located in the devastated areas have been admitted to the Univer- sity, with dozens more applications being processed. Two professors from affecteduniversities -'Ilane plan at MSA 1 $1 million football games Can't leave for three weeks? The Red Cross needs you here. The Washtenaw County Chapter of the Red Cross is in urgent need of local volunteers, especially those who can commit to a regular schedule for the next three to six months. Things you can do: " Help receive and process donations " Assist individuals and organizations wishing to hold fundraisers " Act as front-door greeters " Answer phones Want to go? The Red Cross is also seeking volunteers for deployment to affected areas. For more information, call (734) 971-5300. Fans fume over seats By Ian Herbert Daily Sports Editor A small section of students at Michigan Sta- dium on Saturday may have to actually watch the game from their seats. Last night, the ath- letic department sent an e-mail to the approxi- mately 2,000 students whose season tickets are in the south endzone - sections 11, 12 and 13. The e-mail explained that, starting with this weekend's game against Notre Dame, the stu- dents would be required to remain seated for most of the game. "We are asking you to respect the other Wol- verine fans by not standing for the entire game," Athletic Director Bill Martin said in his e-mail to the select students. "Students standing for long periods of time are subject to removal." Associate athletic director Marty Bodnar said that, during the Northern Illinois game last weekend, there were confrontations between the Michigan students and the fans who were sitting directly behind them. Bodnar said that there were reports of people throwing food and drinks at each other in that part of the stadium. He added that they would kick people out, but only if absolutely necessary. "We don't want that," Bodnar said. "Believe me, that's our last resort." LSA freshman Wanita Espinoza, who sits in the south endzone, said that most of the students weren't being overly rowdy, but she added that Event Staff at the stadium came down to moni- tor the student section. Normally, student tickets are in the northeast corner of Michigan Stadium. The students in those sections often stand - usually on top of the bleachers - for the entire game. "We understand that students stand as a part of culture, but we just want this group to please sit down," Bodnar said. "We still want them to cheer, cheer hard, cheer loud." This year, the athletic department could not accommodate all of the student ticket requests in the student section because it received 21,053 See FANS, Page 7 history profs. Lawrence Powell and Steven Pierce - will be teaching classes at the University this fall. Financial Relief Though physically well and relocated, many of these students now face the daunting task of find- ing money to pay forfall term. To help, the University has opened its wallet. "We are being very generous with financial aid," University See KATRINA, Page 7 MIKE HULSEBUS/Dily LSA freshman Aimee Bothwell holds a candle during a vigil for Hurricane Katrina on the diag last night. The vigil was attended by a few dozen students. The University has successfully located all but four of the students from hurricane-affected areas. Congress *approves Katim aid WASHINGTON (AP) - Acting with extraor- dinary speed, Congress approved an additional $51.8 billion for relief and recovery from Hurri- cane Katrina yesterday. President Bush pledged to make it as "easy and simple as possible" for uncounted, uprooted storm victims to collect food stamps and other government benefits. "We're not asking for a handout, but we do need help," said Sen. Trent Lott - whose home state of Mississippi suffered grievously from the storm - as lawmakers cleared the bill for Bush's signature less than 24 hours after he requested it. The measure includes $2,000 debit cards for families to use on immediate needs. Bush signed the bill last night. In a statement issued by the White House, he praised Congress for "moving swiftly and in strong bipartisan fash- ion to approve these additional emergency funds" but cautioned: "More resources will be needed as we work to help people get back on their feet." The overwhelming support for the measure across party lines - it passed 410-11 in the House and 97-0 in the Senate - masked murmurs of con- cern about a rapidly rising price tag as well as a growing atmosphere of political jockeying in Con- gress less than two weeks after the hurricane bat- tered the Gulf Coast. Congressional Democratic leaders said they would refuse to appoint members to a committee that Republican leaders intend to create to inves- tigate the administration's readiness and response to the storm. House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi called the GOP plan "a sham that is just the latest exam- ple of congressional Republicans being the foxes _<.o :-in - _l -: raiat_.i - h n hrot. C nat la n 'U' By Amber Col Daily Staff Repc drops to third among public universities lvin )rter The University has dropped from its number-two spot in this year's U.S. News & World Report public university rankings, out last month, coming in behind the University of California at Berkley and the University of Virginia at number three. While none of the categories that the rankings are based on have suffered a significant drop, a few have declined slightly dur- ing the past few years. The University's number of classes with fewer than 20 students has gone down 2 percentage points in two years, from 48 to 46 percent. Small classes have become more of a luxury at the University due to state budget cuts. Alumni giving has also decreased 2 percent in the same time frame, despite a $100-million dollar donation last year from Ste- phen M. Ross to the Business School, now named for him. Also dipping in the statistics were the University's peer assessment score and graduation and retention rankings. Another reason the University is now the number-three public university is the slightly improved scores of the University of Vir- ginia, which was bumped up from three to two. Former University Provost Paul Courant said that while it was an honor for the University's achievements to be recognized in the magazine, the rankings could not always give an accurate portrait of the University. "As pleased as we are with this recognition, I think it important to recall that no simple set of statistics can cap- ture adequately the nuanced strengths and weaknesses ofa large and complex institution like (the University)," Courant said in a written statement. University spokesman Joel Seguine said the yearly rank- ing of schools does serve its purpose for college-shopping high school students, but reiterated Courant's point that they are not always accurate. U.S. News & World report releases the college guide every August, along with a guide to graduate schools in the spring. Statistics such as graduation rates, student-to-faculty ratios and SAT scores of the incoming freshmen class are used to calculate an overall score for each school. The University, with an overall score of 75 out of 100, came in as the 25th best college in the nation - a ranking it has held for a few consecutive years now, with the exception of last year's 22nd place. A new ranking this year called the Washington Monthly Col- lege Guide placed the University at number 10 in the nation. Instead of looking at alumni donations and retention rates, the new guide, according to the Washington Monthly website, prefers colleges that enrich the country rather than colleges with good academic statistics. "Universities should be engines of social mobility, they should See RANKINGS, Page 7 FESTIFALL Iraqi, U.S. forces sweep insurgent stronghold TAL AFAR, Iraq (AP) - A joint U.S.- Iraqi force punched deep into Tal Afar, a key insurgent staging ground near the Syrian border, and the Iraqi army said yesterday it arrested 200 suspected militants in the sweep - three-fourths of them foreign fighters. Most of the estimated civilian population of 200,000 have now fled this predominantly Turkmen city, where 70 percent of that ethnic group is Sunni Muslim - the sect that domi- nates the Iraqi insurgency. The U.S. military reported killing seven insurgents over the past two days amid growing indications the joint force was preparing to intensify the operation. The sweep .in Tal Afar came as election officials tallied figures from three Sunni-dom- inated provinces, where the voter registration was extended a week in preparation for the Oct. 15 nationwide referendum on the new constitution. handed control of the 275-member National Assembly to Shiites and Kurds. The new basic law was approved and sent to voters by a coalition of Shiites and Kurds, over the objections of Sunni representatives, who fear it would allow the country to split into sectarian and ethnic mini-states. That could cut Sunnis out of Iraq's enormous oil wealth. The very Sunni clerics who railed last Janu- ary against an election "under foreign military occupation" are now urging their people to take part in both the referendum and the parliamen- tary balloting in December. Rejection of the charter would mean elec- tions in December for a new parliament under the rules of the interim constitution approved in March 2004. The new parliament would start the entire process of drafting a constitution from scratch. Demographics are a big problem for the It I ; ; , . f.