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SPOKEN-WORD PERFORMER TAKES STAGE AT POWER CENTER ... ARTS, PAGE J
One-hundredffteen years of editorialfreedom
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ww.michigandaily.com Ann Arbor, Michigan m Vol. CXV, No. 88 02006 The Michigan Daily
Wage raise bill
clears Senate,
moves to House
innesota 39, MICHIGAN 55
OUT
OF
REACH.
1' off Dance floor
Loss may keep 'M
State Senate
approves bill that would
increase minimum
wage over two years
From staff and wire reports
After months of organizing petition
drives, the Raise the Wage Coalition at
the University and similar organizations
across the state are finally starting to see
results in Lansing.
Michigan workers making the state's
minimum wage would get a raise of $1.80
an hour later this year under legislation
passed unanimously yesterday by the
state Senate.
The minimum wage is now $5.15 an
hour. Under the Senate-approved bill, the
wage would go to $695 in October and
gradually increase to $7.40 an hour by
July 2008.
If passed by the Republican-controlled
House and signed by Gov. Jennifer Gra-
nholm, the wage hike would be the first
in nine years.
RC senior and Raise the Wage Coali-
tion member Ryan Bates was wary of the
Senate's motives.
"It is unclear at this time whether this
is a legitimate move to raise the mini-
Current minimum wage:
$5.15/hour or $10,712
per year
Under the Senate-
passed proposal, the wage
would rise over time.
October 2006 wage:
$6.95
July 2008 wage: $7.40
Last time wage was
raised - 1997 (from
mum wage or just another parliamentary
procedure,"he said.
The surprise vote is a response to a
state-wide petition drive to raise the mini-
mum wage in the state constitution.
The student coalition, part of a state-
wide minimum-wage campaign, has
been actively soliciting signatures at the
University since February. The Michigan
Student Assembly passed a resolution
See WAGE, page 7
INDIANAPOLIS - The scenario was crystal
clear:
Win and earn a trip to the Big Dance. Lose and pre-
pare to enjoy another thrilling ride in the NIT.
Only a below-average Minnesota team, playing a
below-average game, stood in Michigan's path.
It seemed like the coast
was clear for a Michigan
victory and its first NCAA
Tournament bid in nearly a
decade.
There was only one prob-
lem.
The Wolverines couldn't
get out of their own way.
Michigan's implosion
certainly wasn't unprec- MATT
edented; the team has right-
fully earned a reputation for SINGER
folding in big games. But the Spitting Fire
magnitude and significance
of yesterday's collapse sur-
passes any previous choke-job of the Tommy Amaker
era.
Granted, Minnesota brought'solid defensive pres-
sure and hit the boards hard, which is what you'd
expect from a hopelessly overmatched team with noth-
ing to lose. Still, Michigan's "C" game would have
been enough to win the game comfortably.
But the Wolverines didn't bring their "C" game.
They brought their "F" game.
Michigan threw up bricks all day, connecting on
just 38 percent of its shots. The team was even worse
from downtown, shooting just 18 percent. And the
Wolverines couldn't take care of the ball, committing
21 turnovers.
Amazingly, Minnesota nearly matched Michigan's
futility in each of those categories. It appeared that the
Gophers were trying their hardest to hand the Wolver-
ines an undeserved victory.
To start, Minnesota turned the ball over six times in
the opening six minutes. But Michigan couldn't capi-
talize and never opened up a double-.igit lead.
To finish, Minnesota missed eight free throws in
the last 90 seconds, leaving the door wide open for a
Michigan comeback. But the Wolverines responded by
missing five relatively open looks from 3-point range.
Had they made just two of those shots, they would be
dancing.
The missed opportunities at the beginning and
end were maddening. But they were overshadowed
by Michigan's total breakdown in the middle of the
second half.
As Minnesota stepped up the defensive pressure,
the Wolverines simply freaked out - there's no
other phrase to describe it. Michigan's 14 second-half
turnovers weren't the forgivable type that result from
aggressive drives and passes. Nope.
They were the deer-in-the-headlights turnovers. The
ones that occur 30 feet away from the hoop. The ones
that come from playing not to lose instead of playing
to win.
Coming in, no one questioned Michigan's ath-
letic superiority. But in the second half, Minnesota
- normally a slow-it-down, grind-it-out type of squad
- excelled at the showtime game. Time and time
again, the Gophers raced past the Wolverines in transi-
tion, converting easy undefended lay-ups. On the other
j
EMMA NOLAN-ABRAHAMIAN/Daily
Music senior Carol Jantsch holds her tuba Wednesday at the music school. Jantsch
will rake in $100,000 as the principal tuba player in the Philadelphia Orchestra.
Senior snags spot
n1 Phi orchestra
end, Michigan slowed the tempo and dribbled the ball
around the perimeter, usually finishing its possession
with a turnover or missed jumper.
Watching Minnesota simply rip the ball out of Ron
Coleman and Dion Harris's hands, I could only sadly
conclude that Michigan didn't have the intestinal forti-
tude to come away with the win.
Unfortunately, the Wolverines seemed to agree. As
Minnesota surged ahead in the second frame, I expect-
ed to see Michigan ratchet up the focus and intensity.
Instead, I saw hands on hips, resigned expressions and,
most shockingly, a lack of hustle from a Wolverine
squad that had everything to lose.
With the team overthinking and underworking,
Amaker could have taken steps to reassert Michigan's
athletic superiority. In the last 1:21, the Wolverines'
See SINGER, page 7
At 20., Carol Jantsch is
first female principal tuba
player in a major orchestra
By Alexandra Jones
Daily Arts Writer
Carol Jantsch isn't a typical college
senior.
On Feb. 22, while her peers were pre-
paring to embark on spring break trips and
finishing mid-terms, the School of Music
student built on a remarkable musical
i career at the University with an achieve-
ment most musicians never realize in a
lifetime. After completing three rounds
of auditions for the position of principal
tuba with the Philadelphia Orchestra,
Jantsch aced the final round, winning
the spot with one of the country's top 10
major orchestras.
"(Winning) it was totally awesome,
basically'" Jantsch said. "It's something
you've been daydreaming about for along
time and it actually comes true."
Along with securing a job with prestige
most performers her age can only dream
about - not to mention a salary topping
See JANTSCH, page 7
STATS DON'T LIE
Wondering how the Wolverines lost to Minnesota, a team they had defeated twice in the
regular season? One glance at the team's final statistics should quench your curiousity.
Percentage
from field (21
for 56)
Three-point
percentage (4
for 22)
Number of
turnovers
committed
.4
Turnovers in the
second half alone
FOREST CASEY/Daily
TOP: Graham Brown lunges during the Wolverines'
loss against Minnesota yesterday at the Big Ten
Tournament in Indianapolis. BOTTOM: Daniel Horton
fights off a defender.
Hopefuls
compete for
endorsement
Funding groups that lobby is
major issue in College Democrats'
forum for MSA candidates
Jewish group might
allow gay rabbis
Conservative Jewish
leaders delay vote on
gay rabbis, but issue up
again in December
By Andrew Grossman
Daily Staff Reporter
Jews at the University.
Now, he has brought his faith and his
sexuality together.
"My religion is a part of my life,"Marco-
vici said. "My sexual orientation is part of
my life. One doesn't preclude the other."
Marcovici is part of the Conservative
Jewish movement, which has recently
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