Wednesday September 7, 2005 Opinion 4A Mara Gay on America's failure to aid New Orleans CHECK OUT THE NEW STUDENT EDITION PACKED INSIDE THE PAPER! Weather Arts 12A West's ego remain intact on second album Sports 17A Blue secondary gears up for Irish HI-, 83 LOW: 81 TOMORROW: 14S53 One-hundredfowieten years of editorilfreedom www.mikianday.corn Ann Arbor, Michigan Vol. CXV, No. 141 ©2005 The Michigan Daily F bBI probe *campus group, 0 ACLU obtains records that indicate FBI investigated campus and state groups like BAMN By Rachel Kruer Daily Staff Reporter The American Civil Liberties Union has released documents from the Fed- eral Bureau of Investigation confirming that several activist groups in Michigan and at the University were investigated for terrorist ties. Through a Freedom of Informa- tion Act request, the ACLU asked for records to determine whether the state and local joint terrorism task force was investigating issue advocacy groups in Michigan. On Aug. 29, the ACLU released a document from the FBI, a synopsis from a domestic terrorism symposium hosted by the Michigan State Police on Jan. 23, 2002. The symposium was intended to edu- cate local, state and federal law enforce- ment agencies on organizations with possible ties to terrorism. BAMN, a national organization in support of affir- mative action that has a chapter at the University, and Direct Action, an anti- war group, were named at the meeting. The ACLU also used a FOIA to find information on whether the same groups were under investigation by the Michigan State Police. The state police has not yet released any documents that confirm it investigated the organiza- tions. Shanon Akans, public affairs sec- tion manager for the state police, said the department has reviewed the FOIA request but at this point in time cannot fulfill it. In a press release, the state police defended its discussion of advocacy groups. "It is common police practice to anticipate and plan for protests in order to ensure not only the safety of the pub- lic, but the protesters themselves," the * press release said. Steinberg said he is looking into fil- ing a lawsuit that would force the state police to release the information on behalf of peaceful organizations. He added that he believes the investigation of Michigan's advocacy groups consti- tutes not only an invasion of privacy, but also a drain on the police's time and energy. "We think that spying on people engaged in legitimate political dissent is a tremendous waste of police resources, and we're also concerned that police monitoring of activist groups will have a chilling effect on students and others that want to protest lawfully," he said. Sara McDonald, a member of Direct Action, said the group is now consid- ering a lawsuit to force the Michigan State Police to release any documen- See FBI, Page 7A "FINDING A NEW SCHOOL, THOSE THINGS ARE DIFFICULT, BUT THEY PALE IN COMPARISON TO WHAT OTHER PEOPLE ARE DEALING WITH," ACH BROMER, RECENFTLY ADMITTED LAW STUDENT FROM TULANE UNIVERSITY More students head to' Nine more students from hurricane-affect- ed areas have been reached, 23 remain By Christina Hildreth Daily Staff Reporter One day into the new semes- ter, the University continues to make progress in locating stu- dents from the areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina last week. Dean of Students Sue Eklund said there are now only 23 stu- dents from hurricane-affected areas that have not contacted the University, down from 32 over the Labor Day weekend. Meanwhile, University admis- sions offices are working to handle hundreds of inquiries from students who had planned to attend Tulane and Xavier uni- versities, the University of New Orleans and Loyola University New Orleans, all of which are located in the disaster-stricken areas. As of yesterday, the Office of Undergraduate Admissions has handled more than 100 inquiries. Twenty students received admis- sion, three as incoming freshman and the rest as nondegree guest students, said administrators. "We are still looking at this on a case-by-case basis," said Ted, Spencer, director of undergradu- ate admissions. "We are doing everything we can to help those students continue their educa- tion." Spencer said the majority of the students admitted were enrolled at Tulane but had hometowns in Michigan. Additional accepted students hailed from New York and Ohio. The Law School accept- How you can help The Red Cross is in need of blood and donations. Call 734- 971-5300 for more information. The School of Social Work is holding a silent auction in McGregor Commons until Sept. 9 to raise money Salvation Army is in need of donations. Call 734-668-8353 for more information. Michigan Student Assembly will hold a public meeting to discuss relief efforts in room 3909 of the Michigan Union today at 6 p.m. School of Music is holding a benefit concert for hurricane victims on Sunday at 3 p.m. at the Power Center. ed nine students, and the Rackham School of Graduate Studies also accepted one displaced student. All arrived on campus in time for the start of classes yesterday. Other schools within the Uni- versity have received inquiries but have not admitted any new students. Many of the students who had expressed interested in attending the University after the hurricane have decided to go to other univer- sities, said Al Cotrone, director of adm;n'stration for the Stephen M. Ross School of Business. As students arrive, the Office of Financial Aid has provided two or three students with emergency funds fqr food and clothing, said Pam Fowler, financial aid direc- tor. The money for this aid comes from private endowments set aside for students with drastic cir- cumstances, such as the survivors See HURRICANE, Page 7A A LDIA Z/ y Dily 3romer sits in front of the Law School where he will be taking classes until the campus recovers from hurricane damage. Rep steps down, MSA inducts new VP Stuart Wagner resigns to spend more time on Campus Improvement Commission By Jeremy Davidson Daily Staff Reporter Slightly more than a week ago, Michigan Student Assembly President Jesse Levine nominated Nicole Stallings to replace the resigning vice president Alicia Benavides. But before Levine could call consent for the nomination from the representatives at the first MSA meeting of the year yesterday, the assembly had lost another member. By the time Stallings started her official term as vice president of the assembly, MSA Rep. Stuart Wagner had resigned. Wagner, an LSA junior who has earned notoriety amongst his colleagues for his dynamic nature, offi- cially resigned at last night's meeting, saying that he wished to pursue other interests. "I'd like to start learning something at this university, and going to class and doing the reading and studying, instead of cramming the night before," Wagner said. Wagner said he also decided to leave his position as a representative in order to con- centrate his efforts on his work-as chair of the Campus Improvement Commission, a com- mission within MSA. "My message is, if you're not going to do anything on the assembly, you should step down. I just feel like I could be doing more as a commission chair." - Stuart Wagner Former MSA Rep Wagner said that the Campus Improvement Commission has not done much in the past, but has been used as a stepping stone posi- tion to establish a place within the assembly. Levine was campus improvement commission chair his freshman year. Wagner said that he hopes to change the way the CIC works, adding that many of the most dedicated commission members become MSA executives, leaving the commissions with students that were not as committed to See MSA, Page 7A . SOLE protests Eddie Bauer with sit-in AAPD campaign aims to curb thefts Activists want Coleman to take a stance aganist the clothing company By Amber Colvin Daily Staff Reporter Students Organizing for Labor and Eco- nomic Equality staged a sit-in yesterday in the lobby of University President Mary Sue Coleman's office to voice its concern regard- ing the FLA or force the FLA to make Eddie Bauer accountable for the money it owes the workers. "The FLA is supposed to monitor for sweatshops, and they're not," said RC senior and SOLE member Ryan Bates. University spokeswoman Julie Peterson said Coleman did not have time for a meeting but did receive a letter from SOLE explaining the reasoning for their sit-in. SOLE member and Engineering junior Sam Rahman said the factory workers in Police hope to stop crime by telling students to lock their doors By Julia F. Heming Daily Staff Reporter The Ann Arbor Police Depart- ment has spent about $1,000 on a campaign that it hopes will curb the city's growing numbers of thefts by encouraging students to lock their doors, comes at a time when theft constitutes 90 percent of all the city's crimes. "We unfortunately have a cul- ture in this town of not locking our doors," Oates said, referring to the 65 percent of thefts that result from an unlocked door. "And when it comes to theft crime, the over- whelming odds are that the victim will be a student," he added. But not all students seem. wor- ried about this threat. LSA junior . { n . Yei# t~x 7 f. 71 j . . :.: . .. . tin s v. ... , AR