Thursday, February 9, 2006
News 2A Three college students
arrested for setting
Ala. church fires
NORTHARD BOUND: EXPANS.N PANS FR SOH CAMPUS .1LhE STATEMENT
r~r i lOli
Opinion 4A
Chris Zbrozek
demands monarchy
Arts 5A Students bring digital
art to Duderstadt
One-hundredfifteen years of editorialfreedom
www.mic/kandaily.com Ann Arbor, Michigan Vol. CXV, No. 87 ©2006 The Michigan Daily
Plans to
expand
Entr6e Plus
stalled
" LSA-SG hopes to succeed
where MSA has tried
for years but failed
By Joelle Dodge
Daily Staff Reporter
Parents may soon be paying for bubble tea as well as
dorm food through Entree Plus if LSA Student Govern-
ment gets its way.
Students are enthusiastic about expanding Entree Plus
to nearby restaurants, but the University says it may vio-
late banking laws.
When LSA-SG members met with University hous-
ing administrators last month to discuss the expansion of
Entr6e Plus - a credit system linked to a student's M-
card allowing students to place money in a designated
account, which can be used at off-campus businesses,
and some campus locations - administrators took the
committee's resolution to the University's Office of Gen-
eral Counsel.
The counsel is now examining its legality and is
expected to deliver a decision in the next few weeks.
"Businesses are excited about it, but the University is
slightly hesitant," said RC freshman Hannah Madoff,
LSA-SG's Student Life Committee chair.
Entree plus, is currently limited to University build-
ings. There are card readers on some campus vending
machines; alternative residential dining facilities like the
Markley Hide-A-Way; and restaurants in the Michigan
Union, the Michigan League and Pierpont Commons on
North Campus.
The Michigan Student Assembly first proposed
extending entree plus to surrounding cafes and restau-
rants to the general counsel several years ago.
Since then, the counsel concluded it is illegal to have
off-campus Entree Plus.
At that time, the counsel cited banking laws as the
reason for rejecting the idea, saying that if the University
assumed responsibility for a large network of debit card
transactions it would effectively be acting as a bank.
Overwhelming student support has driven both LSA-
SG and MSA to tack it onto their list of campaign prom-
ises for years.
"This issue is a show-stopper," said Christine Siegel,
associate director of University housing.
MSA President Jesse Levine said the assembly has
been working with the housing offices for years to try
to expand the program. He said that while MSA was
responsible for instituting Entree Plus in Yost and Crisler
arenas,. it is illegal to add it in independent restaurants
or cafes.
"What I've been told is expanding Entr6e Plus to
off-campus businesses would be in violation of Michi-
gan banking laws," Levine said. "The only option is to
extend Entree Plus to University of Michigan affiliated
businesses."
In January, LSA-SG passed a resolution to make the
move off-campus. According to the resolution, several
businesses have expressed interest in using Entree Plus,
including New York Pizza Depot, Za's, Stucchi's and
Bubble Island. Madoff said LSA-SG is concerned there
are other reasons the University has limited the expan-
sion of Entr6e Plus.
Representatives said housing administrators believe
expanding Entr6e Plus will divert business away from
dinning facilities in residence halls and businesses in the
Michigan Union.
"The University is worried it might lose some rev-
enue," said LSA-SG President Andrew Yahkind.
He said he thought the University would eventually
reconsider its position.
"It's definitely feasible' Yahkind said.
The next step for the administration is to conduct a
O study of schools with off-campus Entree Plus-like pro-
grams, Siegel said.
Madoff said several schools, including Michigan
State University, George Washington University and
Yale University have successfully expanded their own
versions of Entree Plus to off-campus businesses.
But Siegel said Michigan State is not a useful com-
See ENTREE, page 7A
TOP LEFT: A view into a prisoner's cell at the Washtenaw County Jail. The jail has been forced to both convert the gym and other
rooms Into additional cell blocks, and to send some Inmates to other jails in Michigan. TOP CENTER: Views from the security camera.
TOP RIGHT: Inmates are escorted down a hallway. BOTTOM: Inmates spend time In a common room.
nside county jail son
packed inos-mall faci1it'ies
ABA
demands
diversity in
law schools
Law school dean says bar may
be overstepping its bounds, making
schools more cookie-cutter'
By Justin Miller
Daily Staff Reporter
The body that accredits American law schools
has released new standards that will require the
University's Law School to further pursue racial,
ethnic and gender diversity, even if Michigan vot-
ers outlaw minority considerations by voting in
favor of a ballot proposal this November.
The ABA's new standards are designed to pre-
vent law schools from using laws that prohibit
minority-conscious admissions as an excuse not to
pursue diversity, the ABA says. The bar says the
standards, released last month, give law schools
alternatives to race-conscious admissions if such
policies are outlawed, but critics say the language
is an invitation for some schools to break the law.
The bar mandates that schools demonstrate
their commitment to diversity with "concrete
actions." These actions can include recruitment
drives, scholarships and retention efforts, said
John Sebert, a consultant on legal education for
the ABA.
The ABA suggests these actions as legal means
of achieving diversity in states that have banned
the use of race, ethnicity and gender in admis-
sions, as well as states that have not.
Law School Dean Evan Caminker said he sup-
ports efforts to further diversify in law schools.
However, Caminker criticized what he consid-
ers the ABA's excessive involvement in school
policies.
"I have a more general sense that the ABA is
becoming too aggressive as a regulatory body in
many domains," Caminker said.
He said the bar is more involved in school oper-
ations than other similar accreditation organiza-
tions like the American Medical Association or
the American Dental Association.
"I'm not happy to see the ABA upping the ante
on more regulation and more oversight, when my
own philosophical view on this is that it would be
appropriate for law schools to have more autono-
my to (try) ... different kinds of approaches," he
said.
"Anytime the ABA regulates things more
aggressively it makes law schools more cookie-
cutter"
Caminker said he could not predict how the law
school's admissions policy would change under
the new ABA standards.
The law school already tries to attract minori-
ties with recruitment efforts and scholarships, he
said.
Caminker added that the two deans of student
affairs are making efforts to monitor and assist
minority retention.
He stressed that none of these efforts are race-
exclusive, but are part of the law school's larger
effort to attract students.
The law school's main tool to promote diversity
is currently an admissions policy that considers
all aspects of candidates, including race, gender
and ethnicity.
Caminker said if considering those factors is
outlawed in Michigan it will "absolutely" harm
the Law School's efforts to become more diverse.
There are no contingency plans if the ballot
proposal passes, Caminker said, adding that the
school has given the scenario some thought.
Law Prof. David Bernstein has a different con-
cern.
Bernstein, a visiting professor from George
Mason University Law School, said the ABA's
new standards encourage some schools to break
the law. Bernstein's criticism focuses on one sec-
tion in particular, which states:
See ABA, page 7A
As smallest county jail
per capita in Michigan,
facility has many more
inmates than beds
By Drew Philp
Daily Staff Reporter
There are so many inmates and so
little space in the Washtenaw County
Jail, about 60 prisoners are regularly
housed in the gym.
The jail regularly has to lodge
more people than it has room for. Last
night, it held 52 more inmates than it
had beds.
Washtenaw County Jail is the small-
est county jail per capita in the state.
According to the 2004 census, about
334,000 people reside in Washtenaw
County.
With 332 beds, the per capita bed
space is 0.993 per 1000 people - well
below the state's average of 1.715 per
1000 people.
Because of the people housed in the
gym, there no room for exercise. Cells
that used to hold two people now hold
four.
The cell block originally desig-
nated for disabled and sick inmates
now houses healthy people as well.
Medical care must be administered
in an inmate's cell because most of
the jail's health-care facilities have
been converted into offices or storage
space.
"We don't have adequate space for
"It was simply too much taxation. The project
was too big, and was unable to be reviewed
by the citizen community."
- Charles Ream
No Giant Jail Committee member
the daily population," said Don Bell-
man, the jail's clinical administrator.
"We have to see patients on the blocks.
Is that a good deal? Absolutely not."
Last February, the Washtenaw
County Administration and Crimi-
nal Justice Collaborative Council
proposed a $314-million millage that
would have funded an expansion of
the jail and several other changes
to the county's corrections system.
Washtenaw County voters defeated
the proposal 63 to 37 percent, leaving
the jail to deal with the problems of
the growing population on its own.
Charles Ream, a member of the
No Giant Jail Committee, protested
against the proposal.
"It was simply too much taxation,"
Ream said. "The project was too big,
and was unable to be reviewed by the
citizen community."
The last time the jail was renovated
was 1997.
When the jail moves beyond its
capacity, a judge reviews the cases
of the inmates and decides if any of
them can be released, based on their
crimes.
Those identified as low-risk can be
sentenced to a day reporting program,
placed in treatment programs or wear
a tether, a tracking device worn on the
ankle.
Sometimes criminals with non-vio-
lent warrants are not arrested because
of limited space in the jail.
"It's frustrating to police chiefs,"
Washtenaw County Sheriff Daniel
Minzey said. "Our officers are stop-
ping some people with warrants over
and over. What message does that
send?"
Sometimes inmates who cannot be
released are sent to other county jails.
But high-security inmates and those
with medial problems cannot be sent
outside the county.
"The jail ends up full of violent
offenders," said Commander Kirk
Filsinger of the county police. "It
ends up being a more volatile envi-
ronment."
Minzey said moving inmates to
other jails doesn't just negatively
affect the inmates that stay behind.
"The downside to boarding people
to other facilities is that they don't
get the same treatment programs
See JAIL, page 7A
Documentary
aims to reveal
invisible children
Prof: Revamp
reading ed
After years of studying Detroit
students, professor says they need reading
materials more applicable to their lives
Mariem Qamruzzaman
Daily Staff Reporter
Film screened last night
Lord Resistance Army in Uganda. The
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