NEWS

The Michigan Daily - Friday, November 4, 2005 - 3

ON CAMPUS
Pierpont piano
0 lounge to host
Music at Midday
Engineering junior Jeff Wenzinger
will play the piano tomorrow at the Pier-
pont Commons piano lounge from noon
to 1 p.m. tomorrow. Wenzinger will play
an electic set. His interests range from
Beethoven to music from video games
such as the "Final Fantasy" series. The
event is free.
LG BT office
leads talk about
anti-gay slurs
The University's Office of Lesbian,
Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Affairs is
sponsoring a discussion called "What's
in a Name?" from noon to 1:30 p.m.
tomorrow at the Michigan Union in the
MSA chambers on the third floor. Prof.
Gayle Rubin and Prof. Esther Newton
will lead a discussion on the historical
meanings of "queer," "gay," "dyke" and
other similar slurs. The event is free and
open to the public.
Conference to
examine nature's
anticarcinogenic
properties
The School of Public Health is
sponsoring a conference on nature's
anticarcinogenic properties from 1
to 5:30 p.m. tomorrow at St. Joseph
Mercy Hospital. Speakers plan to pro-
vide an overview of recent research
on phytochemicals and cancer preven-
tion. The featured speaker is Suzanne
Dixon, a cancer nutrition specialist
and epidemiologist. The cost for stu-
dents is $10 and $20 or $25 for non-
students is at the door.

Panel nudges women
toward MBA degrees

By Kelly Fraser
For the Daily
Unlike in graduate programs like medicine
and law, where women compose a large por-
tion of students, the percentage of graduate
business students who are female is about 35
percent nationwide.
Two organizations seeking to increase that
number held a panel discussion last night in
the Michigan Union about the advantages of
an MBA.
The discussion was part of the "Leader-
ship Launch" pilot program organized by the
Forte Foundation and the University's Society
of Woman Engineers. The Forte Foundation
is a national group, composed of 25 business
schools, 17 corporations and two nonprofits,
that was founded in 2001 to promote opportu-
nity for women in the business world.
The Stephen M. Ross School of Business,
whose MBA program is 31 percent female
students - four percentage points below the
national average - is a Forte member.
University representatives and women rep-
resenting various businesses spoke about how
to incorporate passion into a career, build con-
nections early and define career goals.
Most of the roughly 40 attendees were
undergraduate seniors looking to explore their
options.
Organizers aimed to clear up mispercep-
tions women have about the business world
and earning an MBA, Forte-executive director
Alyssa Ellis said.

"Our research shows that women have this
idea that business careers are not going to be as
fulfilling - that they can't do as much good,"
Ellis said.
She added that an MBA provides diverse
options other than working 80 hours a week
on Wall Street.
One of Forte's missions is to spread aware-
ness about the importance of having strong
business skills in any career.
Mary Hinesly, program manager of student
services at the B-School, added that many
women don't realize the degree is flexible.
"An MBA does not change your path - it
just adds a couple of more lanes to your high-
way," Hinesly said.
Recent research is helping organizations
like Forte understand the barriers obstruct-
ing women, such as the common perception
among women that earning an MBA means
getting stuck in an unfulfilling Wall Street job,
said Mariska Morse, the organization's direc-
tor of marketing.
"These issues are coming to the sur-
face because companies are realizing the
importance of diversity in their leader-
ship," she said.
Although the University's business school
is below the national average in its proportion
of women, it is the nation's only program to
employ a separate staff solely dedicated to the
advancement of women in business.
As a founding partner and member of Forte,
the University's MBA program awards three
$40,000 scholarships to women each year.

State agency suggests
new welfare reforms

LANSING (AP) - A state agency is
suggesting welfare reforms it says would
improve the chances for Michigan's poorest
families to become self-sufficient.
The Department of Human Services
also said in a report to a legislative work
group yesterday that the changes could help
reduce the state's welfare caseload, which

Jerry Kooiman, a Grand Rapids Republi-
can among the leaders of the welfare work
group. The panel is reviewing who gets
assistance and what changes could be made
in the system.
The House Republican plan emphasizes
giving welfare recipients more job skills
training and education, Kooiman said, in

Legislature votes to remove
most state phone regulations

CRIME
NOTES
Coffee table
broken in Mosher-
Jordan lounge
An act of malicious destruction was
reported Wednesday at about 10 a.rn:
when a coffee table was broken in a
Mosher-Jordan Residence Hall lounge,
according to the Department of Public
Safety. The incident likely occurred the
night before. There are no suspects at
the time.
Books stolen from
Graduate Library
Books were reported stolen Wednes-
day at about 10 a.m. from the Harlan
Hatcher Graduate Library, DPS report-
ed. There are no suspects.
Suspect caught
with substance,
possibly marijuana
DPS officers arrested a subject in the
Church Street carport on Wednesday
around 9:15 p.m. for possession of a
substance suspected to be marijuana.
THIS DAY

i

in September,
had 211,402
recipients on
cash assistance,
down slightly
from the 2004
monthly average
of 211,569.
The state

"I am hopeful we can come
up with a plan that looks
at additional benefits as
well as responsibilites."
- State Rep. Jerry Kooiman (R-Grand Rapids)

exchange for
more account-
ability.
"I am hopeful
we can come up
with a plan that
looks at addi-
tional benefits as
well as responsi-
bilities," Koo-

spends nearly
$395 million
annually on cash assistance to low-income
families.
The proposed changes target a Michigan
program called "Work First" that seeks to
find jobs for welfare recipients. About half
of the people who now go through the pro-
gram return to the welfare rolls within a
year.
"Although we have been able to help
many families connect with the work force,
those connections are too often temporary
with wages insufficient to move the fami-
lies from poverty," a DHS report said.
"Many are working at jobs with wages
and hours that are not sufficient to close
their cash assistance cases. Whether work-
ing or not, they often have low skill levels.
and poor work histories."
House Republicans and the Senate also
are offering welfare reform plans, said Rep.

a i

iman said.
The plans seek to reduce the number of
welfare recipients, particularly those who
have been on welfare for at least four years.
Low education and literacy levels are
among the biggest barriers to welfare recip-
ients getting and keeping jobs. But the cur-
rent program limits educational and training
opportunities, the DHS report said.
Physical health, mental health and sub-
stance abuse problems also contribute to
problems welfare recipients have holding a
job, as does a lack of reliable transportation.
The DHS report suggests changes that
include developing a specific self-sufficien-
cy plan for each family in the program that
would replace Work First. The plan would
outline services to be provided - such as
remedial education and skills training -
and the family's responsibilities for receiv-
ing them.

LANSING (AP) - Michigan residents could
buy one basic calling plan with rates approved by
state regulators while phone companies could set
prices for all other plans and services under a bill
headed for Gov. Jennifer Granholm's desk.
The Legislature voted overwhelming Thursday
to approve a rewrite of the telecommunications
law that would remove much of the state's over-
sight of phone rates. Gov. Jennifer Granholm is
expected to sign the legislation.
The bill would limit the Michigan Public
Service Commission's rate-setting authority to
a basic plan that provides 100 outgoing calls a
month, 12,000 outgoing minutes per month and
unlimited incoming calls. All business' plans
and other residential plans would be unregu-
lated, including extra services such as caller ID
and call waiting.
Legislators said changing the law will spur
more competition and give consumers more
choices, but critics said it won't do enough to pro-
tect customers against higher prices.
"Elected officials hung up on Michigan con-
sumers," said Rick Gamber of the Michigan Con-
sumer Federation, who criticized lawmakers for
giving residents just one basic regulated plan.
He said many customers make more than 100
calls per month, which means they're likely to
want a different plan.
"You can go with a deregulated plan based on
the market," he said. "But in many areas of the

"But in many areas of
the state, there is no
market. There's one
provider. That's it.
- Rick Gamber
Michigan Consumer Federation
state, there is no market. There's one provider.
That's it."
But Rep. Mike Nofs, a Battle Creek Republi-
can, said his bill is good for both consumers and
business.
"The bill recognizes the changing nature of
the telecommunications industry and helps set
the stage for increased competition and invest-
ment in Michigan while maintaining impor-
tant protections for consumers," Nofs said in a
statement.
The current law, which expires at year's end,
requires companies to offer regulated rates in
monthly plans of 50 calls, 150 calls, 400 calls
and an unlimited number of calls. The bill would
require one 100-call plan, and its price could be
changed just once a year. Prices for unregulated
plans and services could go up more than once
a year.

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In Daily

History

Man chips at
rock, finds plaque
underneath paint
Nov. 4, 1986 - An Ann Arbor
native chipped away at the three-
quarter-inch-thick layer of paint on
The Rock at the corner of Hill Street
and Washtenaw Avenue to reveal a
monument to George Washington.
The existence of the plaque com-
memorating Washington's 200th
birthday is little known to most stu-
dents and Ann Arbor residents.
The rock was placed on the cor-
ner by Parks Commissioner Eli Gal-
lup in 1932. Found in a gavel pit on
Pontiac Road, The Rock is estimated
to be 30,000 years old and is con-
sidered one of the finest examples of

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