Monday, November 7, 2005
News 3A Parents worry blogs
are being misused
FIELD OCKEY .: kIS IGEN CHAMPION ... SPORTsMONDAY
46V 44V 1.
it I rtc auga
Opinion 4A
Jason Z. Pesick
reconsiders Iraq
Arts 8A Lack of action
stifles 'Jarhead'
One-hundredfifteen years ofedtorialfreedom
www.michigandaily.com Ann Arbor, Michigan m Vol. CXVI, No. 26 @2005 The Michigan Daily
Protest
at ply
to laim
gays
Anti-gay pastor and
followers plan to picket
'The Laramie Project'
By Neil Tambe
Daily Staff Reporter
The fight will be taken to the streets
on Nov. 19th and 20th, in a struggle
in which neither side wishes to throw
any punches. In one corner are mem-
bers of Fred Phelps's anti-gay Topeka,
Kansas Westboro Baptist Church
congregation. In the other corner are
members and allies of the University's
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender
community.
The confrontation is over the con-
temporary play "The Laramie Proj-
ect," which is being performed by
University students Nov. 19 and 20.
Phelps, a controversial religious lead-
er, and his congregation have a history
of protesting the play nationwide and
other events that support the LGBT
community.
"I want (our representatives) to tell
people that it's not O.K. to be gay," said
Shirley Phelps-Roper, who is Phelps's
daughter and the church's attorney.
Past demonstrations included mes-
sages such as "God hates America"
"God hates fags" and other anti-gay
messages.
The Laramie Project, which will be
performed in Mendelssohn Theatre,
depicts the events leading to and fol-
lowing the murder of Matthew Shepard,
allegedly killed because he was gay.
The demonstrators are scheduled
to picket outside the performances of
the play and at four local churches that
they say they feel preach improperly.
Phelps-Roper would not confirm
if Fred Phelps himself would attend
the protests, but did mention that she
expects 15 to 20 people from West-
boro Baptist Church to participate in
the protest.
In 2001, Phelps and his followers
protested outside the Aut Bar, a gay-
owned Ann Arbor bar and restaurant.
Members of the University LGBT
community have decided not to take
the issue lying down.
Several weeks ago, various orga-
nizations in the LGBT community
as well representatives from other
organizations like the Michigan Stu-
dent Assembly and the Department
of Public Safety, met to form a coali-
tion called Organizing For Unity, and
worked out plans for a response to the
anticipated demonstrations.
OFU has several action plans rang-
ing from a fundraising effort, with
money pledged for every minute that
See PHELPS, Page 7A
AT THE PODIUM
University
president
or CEO?
Study finds that
leaders are focusing on
money matters
By Karl Stampfl
Daily Staff Reporter
Want to be a college president?
Better sharpen your money manage-
ment skills.
College presidents are more like
CEOs of Fortune 500 companies than
educational leaders, according to a
recent survey by The Chronicle of High-
er Education.
The survey - taken by 60 percent of
the nation's 1,338 college presidents and
chancellors last summer - reveals they
spend a good deal of their time on money
matters. When asked to rank their con-
cern about 29 issues their schools face,
three of the top four involved money:
increasing health-care costs, inadequate
faculty salaries and rising tuition.
Only 41 percent of presidents said
they dealt with educational leader-
ship daily.
University President Mary Sue Cole-
man called the survey interesting but "a
bit simplistic in focusing on financial
concerns of presidents."
Coleman, who did not take the survey,
spends a lot of her time on matters con-
cerning the University's bottom line, she
wrote in an e-mail interview. She said
she spends time securing resources for
the University from its four main reve-
nue sources: the state, private donations,
tuition and from the federal government,
which mostly supplies research funds.
The state's budget cuts, which have
stripped the University of 13 percent
of its state allocation since 2002, have
heightened her attention to financial
matters.
"For me, the focus on financial matters
is important only because of our abil-
ity to fund great ideas from the faculty
and to give our students ever expanding
opportunities in the classroom, labora-
tory, studios and libraries," she said.
One of Coleman's main initiatives
during her four years at the University
has been securing fundraising for The
Michigan Difference campaign, which
seeks to increase charitable donations
with the goal of raising $2.5 billion.
More than $1.89 billion has already been
raised.
In last spring's survey by the Faculty
Senate polling instructors about Uni-
versity administrators, instructors gave
Coleman her second-highest score on her
success in raising funds for the Univer-
sity, a 4.1 out of a possible 5. But ratings
concerning her focus on more academic
matters lagged behind. She scored a 3.84
on promoting teaching excellence, a 3.72
on inspiring confidence in her overall
leadership and a 2.99, her lowest, on con-
sulting faculty before making important
decisions.
The Chronicle survey found 49 per-
cent of presidents meet with the chief
financial officer on a daily basis, only
slightly less than the 53 percent who said
they meet daily with the provost, the
chief academic officer. Next in line was
the director of development, who over-
sees fundraising, at 43 percent.
But Coleman declined to comment on
which top-ranking administrators she
See COLEMAN, Page 7A
FREST CASEY / ,aiy
Co-chair of the Young Adults for Kilpatrick Campaign Meagan Pitts voices her opinion about the
Detroit mayoral race at the Trotter House during a debate last night as Erin Hendrix, daughter of
Detroit mayoral candidate Freeman Hendrix, looks on.
Scared students watch movies the old way
Film industry looks to
curb university students from
downloading movies illegally
By Zach Borden
Daily Arts Writer
As the head of one of the University's most pop-
ular film groups - M-Flicks - and with dozens
of DVDs sitting on racks right by his desk, LSA
senior Kurt Beyerchen would seem like the person
you'd least suspect to have downloaded hundreds
of films illegally.
But as a freshman and sophomore, Beyerchen
used the peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing service
Kazaa, where he could download a movie "in a
half-hour and watch it that night."
The appeal of downloading was certainly evi-
dent: "It was a simple way to pass the time and
watch movies I would never see - either the ones
I wouldn't buy on DVD or go see in the theater,"
he said.
After his roommate was contacted by the
University for illegally downloading, Beyerchen
decided to change his ways.
Beyerchen said the Univer-
sity had been contacted by
Universal, which tracked
his roommate's IP address ?
for illegally downloading. "I
knew the consequences, but
since people weren't getting,
in trouble (at first), I wasn't
worried about it. But I knew
if I was caught, I could be
subpoenaed and face pretty Glickman
big fines," he said. "Kazaa
isn't even on my computer anymore," he added.
With the rise of P2P file-sharing networks, the
Internet has become a twisted web for intellectual
property theft. And with the escalation of film piracy
around campus due to high-speed Ethernet connec-
tions, the University has taken notice. "The University
prohibits people who use its information technology
resources to infringe copyright," said Jack Bernard,
assistant general counsel for the University. "It is a
violation of University policy to illegally download
or upload movies."
Bernard said the University, in compliance with
the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, is doing a
few things to stop piracy and spread the word about
its consequences, such as hosting a variety of edu-
cational activities on copyright infringement each
semester.
One of these events was held in September, where
Motion Picture Association of America president
and University alum Dan Glickman visited the Law
School to lecture on intellectual property protection
in the digital age. Before his talk, Glickman sat down
with The Michigan Daily to explain more about the
current piracy issues at hand and their effects.
In a parallel anti-piracy effort, at least nine Uni-
versity-affiliated individuals were contacted by the
RIAA in January of 2004 in conjunction with illegal
downloading and settled out of court.
"We estimate the movie industry loses a minimum
of about three and a half billion dollars a year to pira-
cy - and that's mostly just physical piracy and not
even piracy over the Internet," Glickman said.
"Its real impact is not on the blockbusters, but on
providing capital for all the other movies that are
produced. It has an enormous impact for all of the
copyright industries, not just movies."
One way that the University is combating the
practice is through legal downloading services; one
of these sites, Cdigix (www.cdigix.com), is partnered
with the University. According to Bernard, the ser-
vice "enables the faculty to bring licensed films and
videos to the classroom and CTools (ctools.umich.
edu)." The website also offers students personal sub-
scriptions, where they can download TV shows and
feature films.
See MPAA, Page 8A
Men targeted in
SAPAC campaign
Sexual assault prevention
program widens scope
with new programs
By Marlem Qamruzzaman
Daily Staff Reporter
While men are usually seen as the
perpetrators in sexual assault crimes, this
year the people at the University's Sexual
Assault Prevention and Awareness Cen-
ter hope to make them part of the solu-
tion, said LSA senior Lauren Sogor, a
SAPAC volunteer.
While it has typically focused on
helping women who have been victims
of sexual assault, Johanna Soet, the new
director of SAPAC hopes to expand the
organization by implementing new ser-
assault issues.
Rackham student Gabe Javier is a
volunteer for the activism program and
advocates the value of the program.
"It's important to encourage men
to talk about the issues of violence
against women," Javier said. "Part of
it is that men and, myself included,
are afforded privileges in society, and
men should use those privileges to talk
to other men about ending violence
against women."
The program has organized a work-
shop for PULSE, a student organization
dedicated to encouraging health and
wellness of students in residence halls
and in fraternities.
But Soet is not only broadening
SAPAC's focus to men. The new direc-
tor also hopes to educate international
Candidates
make final
push at debate
DETROIT (AP) - Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and
challenger Freman Hendrix brought their campaigns to
services yesterday for the last time before tomorrow's
election, asking churchgoers to let the last four years help
guide their choice for mayor.
Hendrix, who was deputy mayor under Kilpatrick's
predecessor, told the congregation at New St. Paul Bap-
tist Church that he has the leadership and determination
to deal with crime, poverty and other problems facing the
nation's 11th-largest city.
"Ask yourself ... are you better off today than you
were four years ago?" Hendrix said. "I think if you're
like most Detroiters you'll say that we're struggling. And
I think we need to do better."
At Hartford Memorial Baptist Church, Kilpatrick
focused on what he considers his first-term accomplish-
ments, from making sure the grass is cut in parks and