Friday, October 28, 2005
News 3 Peace Corps returns
to its roots
Opinion 4 Whitney Dibo
is tired of being
called a princess
Arts 5 Spoon prepares
to rock Detroit
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One-hundredfifteen years of editorialfreedom
www.michikandaily.com Ann Arbor, Michigan Vol. CXVI, No. 20 c2005 The Michigan Daily
Miers
gives
up on
court
Bush says he Wll .
announce new nominee
in a 'timely manner'
WASHINGTON (AP) - In a
striking defeat for President Bush,
White House counsel Harriet Miers
withdrew her nomination to the U.S.
Supreme Court yesterday after three
weeks of brutal criticism from fel-
low conservatives. The Senate's top
Republican predicted a replacement
candidate within days.
Miers said she abandoned her quest
for confirmation rather than give in
to Senate demands for documents
and information detailing her private
advice to the president.
Senior lawmakers on the Sen-
ate Judiciary Committee said they
had made no such request. Instead,
Republicans and Democrats said
politics forced her to withdraw, par-
ticularly the demands of Republican
conservatives who twice elected Bush
and now seek to move the high court
to the right on abortion and other
issues.
"They had a litmus test and Har-
riet Miers failed that test," said Sen.
Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.)
"In effect, she was denied due pro-
cess by members of her own party,"
said Sen. John Warner, a Virginia
Republican. And former GOP Sen.
Dan Coats, whom the White House
assigned to assist her win confirma-
tion, said outside groups and pundits
and "perhaps even some senators"
had rushed to judgment.
Bush, beset by poor poll ratings, an
unpopular war in Iraq, high energy
prices and the possibility of indict-
ments of White House officials,
offered no hint about his thinking on
a new nominee. He pledged to make
an appointment in a "timely manner."
While White House aides had
assembled a lengthy list of contend-
ers prior to Bush's selection of Miers
less than a month ago, most if not all
of them were prominent conserva-
tive jurists who could be expected to
trigger a sharp clash with Democrats.
Other, less contentious contenders
could come from outside what Bush
calls the "judicial monastery," possi-
bly a current or former senator who
could easily win confirmation on a
bipartisan vote.
Sharpton blasts
CR1
Students
gather to
oppose
MCRI
By Laura Frank
Daily Staff Reporter
PHOTOS BY MIKE
HULSEBUS/ Daily
TOP: BAMN organizer
and School of
Education graduate
student Ben Royal
leads the chants
while BAMN
supporters march
from Crisler Arena to
the Diag yesterday.
FAR LEFT: Al
Sharpton addresses
BAMN supporters on
the Diag.
LEFT: BAMN
supporters and
opponents argue
during yesterday's
Diag rally.
The Diag was transformed into a hot-
bed for political discussion yesterday, with
a number of student groups voicing their
opinions on affirmative action.
Two events in particular took the main
stage: a rally held by pro-affirmative
action group BAMN, during which for-
mer presidential candidate Al Sharpton
spoke and high school students engaged
in profanity-laced shouting matches with
affirmative action opponents; and a day-
long demonstration put on by campus
minority groups, in which students wore
gags to represent the loss of minority
voices they said would occur if affirma-
tive action is eliminated in the state.
Both groups were on the Diag to protest
the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative, a bal-
lot initiative that, if passed, would make it
illegal for public institutions in Michigan,
including universities, to consider race,
ethnicity, national origin or sex in employ-
ment or admissions decisions.
Sharpton, an outspoken advocate of
affirmative action, stood on the steps of
the Hatcher Graduate Library and com-
pared the fight against MCRI in Michigan
to the fight for civil rights in Mississippi
during the 1960s.
"It is hypocritical to mourn Rosa Parks
and then try to make sure her grandchil-
dren can't get an education,"he said.
See MCRI, Page 3
'U'
endowment grows to nearly $5 billion
By Gabe Nelson
Daily Staff Reporter
The University's endowment earned $700
million last year, upping its worth to $4.9 bil-
lion and providing much-needed stability to the
University's finances at a time when state fund-
ing is uncertain.
The state has dropped its allocation to the
University by 13 percent since 2002.
Strengthening the endowment will allow the
University to be less reliant on state funding,
University spokeswoman Julie Peterson said.
But the endowment only pays for a small
percentage of the University's operating costs.
"State funds are the core of the University,
but donor support creates the margin of excel-
lence," Peterson said. It would take an endow-
ment twice as large to make state funding
unnecessary, she added.
The University determines how much of the
endowment to spend each year by averaging its
worth over the last three years and earmarking
5 percent of the result for spending. Benefac-
tors generally dictate how they would like their
money to be used, and the University divides
these endowment profits among all the causes
chosen by benefactors.
"The methodology for an endowment is like
a savings account," said Timothy Slottow, Uni-
versity chief financial officer. "It's all about
financial stability. You only take out enough to
support day-to-day operations, and at the same
time allow it to increase in value."
Over the past five years, the rate of return
for the University's investments has been far
higher than the national median.
Since 2000, the median return on invest-
ments made by all universities has been 4.3
percent, while the University's investments
have returned an increase of 6.5 percent over
the same time period.
Slottow said the reason for the endowment's
success is its diversified holdings. Money is
invested in both U.S. and foreign markets, and
the University also invests heavily in bonds.
About 75 percent of its funds are invested in
marketable securities, and the other 25 percent
are invested in nonmarketable securities such
as energy.
"We have implemented more sophisticated
strategies because of our endowment's size, the
quality of our financial managers and the sup-
port of our alumni," Slottow said.
University President Mary Sue Coleman's
See ENDOWMENT, Page 7
Tuba, euphonium
players step out of
orchestra obscurity
By Alexandra Jones
Daily Arts Editor
When it comes to classical music, the
biggest instruments often get the least
attention from composers and listeners.
Usually, tuba players are hidden behind
the bells of their instruments in the back
row of the band or orchestra. The eupho-
nium rarely has a spot in the orchestra at
all, and your average layperson has no
idea what it is (picture, basically, a baby
tuba).
Tomorrow night, mem-
bers of the School of Music's Tuba ar
tuba and euphonium stu- MumE
dios will have a moment in
the spotlight with the help Saturday
of arranger and conductor p
Todd Fiegel. The Univer-
sity of Michigan Tuba and Britto
Euphonium Ensemble, Hall, Eai
which is made up of tubists BU
and euphoniumists from
the etndin of Mnct P..r n ;, Fri;z Ka
for an ensemble of three tubas and three
euphoniums and is known throughout the
tuba and euphonium community for its
difficulty. The program arranges excerpts
of the scores to "Raiders of the Lost Ark,"
"Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the
Clones," "Silverado,"the silent film "Bar-
ney Oldfield's Race for a Life" (which
Fiegel composed himself), "Dumbo"
and "Looney Tunes" cartoons featur-
ing Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote. An
arrangement of Franz Liszt's Hungarian
Experts: Fed
chair nominee
well qualified
Ben Bernanke, a former Princeton
economics professor, is expected to succeed
current Fed chair Alan Greenspan in February
By Bo He
For the Daily
University professors and administrators lauded the appointment
of former Princeton economics Prof. Ben Bernanke as Federal
Reserve chairman, portraying Bernanke as a scholar of the highest
character committed to fundamentally solid policymaking rather
than party politics.
President Bush nominated Bernanke on Monday to succeed cur-
rent chairman Alan Greenspan when he retires at the end of Janu-
ary. Bernanke is currently chairman of the president's Council of
Economic Advisors and former Princeton University economics
professor.
Interim University Provost Ned Gramlich, who worked with
Bernanke for three years as a member of the Federal Reserve's
Board of Governors, said he was an excellent choice.
"I personally don't think there is going to be any barrier to Ben's
success," Gramlich said.
The ongoing debate about Bernanke's qualifications revolves
around ability versus experience. One of the worries associated
nd Eupho-
nsemble
night at 8
p.m.
n Recital
irl V. Moore
ilding
Rhapsody No. 2 is on the
program as well.
"It's really exciting,"
Kaenzig said of Fiegel's
visit. "We haven't done
this (program) at Michi-
gan for almost 10 years."
It was Fiegel's friend-
ship with Kaenzig that
originally inspired him
to arrange music from
feature films for the
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