NEWS
The Michigan Daily - Thursday, January 5, 2006 - 3A
'ON CAMPUS
Traditional folk
dance to be
taught at Union
There will be a contra dance today
from 8 to 11 p.m. in the Pendleton
Room on the 2nd floor of the Michi-
gan Union. A speaker from the Ann
Arbor Council for Traditional Music
and Dance will speak about the
American folk tradition of contra
dance. Students can attend the event
for $5 and are encouraged to wear
comfortable clothing and shoes.
From 7:30 to 9 p.m., artists can
draw live models. Instruction and
limited supples are available. No
experience is necessary.
*Award-winning
opera comes to
School of Music
Student musicians and perform-
ers in the School of Music will be
featured in a production of "Where
the Cross is Made," an award-win-
ning opera by Nancy Van de Vate.
The performance is at 8 p.m. and is
located in the McIntosh Theatre of
the E.V. Moore Building. Admission
is free.
CRIME
NOTES
School of Public
* Policy building
burglarized
A caller reported to the Depart-
ment of Public Safety yesterday that
over the holiday break the basement-
level mechanical room at the School
of Public Policy was broken into.
According to DPS, it is unclear if
anything was stolen.
Suspect arrested
in Thayer Street
carport burglaries
DPS reported that officers arrested
a subject Sunday who had broken into
vehicles parked in the Thayer Street car-
port. Officers at the scene collected evi-
dence. The subject was released while
the warrant is under review.
Dog bite victim
treated at UHS
A dog bite victim was treated at
the University Hospital Sunday, DPS
reports. The Ann Arbor Police Depart-
ment was notified.
Backpack stolen
from South Quad
DPS reported a backpack was stolen
from South Quadrangle Residence Hall
on Tuesday. DPS returned lost items to
the owner.
LEO protests at graduation ceremony
Lecturers allege that the
University has not fulfilled all
contract obligations
By Ekjyot Saini
Daily Staff Reporter
Lecturers in bright red "M-Labor" shirts greet-
ed graduating seniors, parents and administrators
with smiles and leaflets at all entrances of Crisler
Arena on Sunday morning. But it didn't stop at
the doors - members of the Lecturers' Employee
Organization and its supporters packed into the
aisles and crowded concession stands.
About 50 LEO members and supporters came
to protest the University's alleged faulty imple-
mentation of LEO's June 2003 contract. Cederic
DeLeon, a sociology lecturer, said he felt overall
reaction to the protest was positive.
"Parents told us they supported us," he said.
"Almost every single person took and kept a
leaflet."
University spokeswoman Julie Peterson said the
protest was peaceful and that the University did
not receive any complaints from parents or others
about LEO's presence at graduation.
LEO's flyers alleged a contradiction between
the administration's massive wealth and the high
tuition, and its low pay for lecturers.
Other complaints include laid-off lecturers
not rehired in a timely manner, and malfunc-
tions with a complicated title change for lec-
turers. The changes, or reclassifications, are
important because they can affect a lecturer's
salary.
Lecturers classified as level I and II teach class-
es, while those classified as III and IV teach and
perform some administrative duties. Following
the reclassification of lecturers' titles, LEO has
claimed that some of them are incorrect. Over a
dozen grievances have been filed with the Univer-
sity claiming misclassification.
LEO has also indicated problems regarding
wage increases for lecturers who have successfully
passed performance evaluations, claiming that it
is taking up to 18 months for some lecturers to
receive their raises.
Peterson said the contract between the Univer-
sity and LEO allows a three-year period to com-
plete lecturer reviews and for corresponding raises
to be put into effect. She added that although the
University understands LEO's desire for haste, a
significant amount of time is necessary to com-
plete them.
LEO has succeeded in preventing the School
of Nursing from reclassifying lecturers, DeLeon
said. He said that although a promise was made at
a meeting with the school, there is no way to verify
whether that promise will be kept.
"Although we believe nursing instructors who
teach students to practice in a clinical setting are
properly classified as clinical instructors, the Uni-
versity has not taken any action on this yet," Peter-
son said.
Problems with the School of Art and Design
and LEO have not been settled entirely. A lec-
turer who was laid off in fall 2004 and placed
on a recall list - a list of lecturers who are
to be offered positions first as they become
available - was not called back even after
allegedly being promised by Art and Design
dean Bryan Rogers that she would be rehired.
LEO plans to continue pressuring the University
on issues it feels remain unresolved.
"All in all, there is more bad than good,"
DeLeon said. "But our members have nev-
ertheless been able to win incremental
gains by putting collective pressure on the
administration."
Regents approve activities building face-lift
$8.5-million renovations include
larger visitor center, improved entrances
and new auditorium
By Karl Stampfl
Daily Staff Reporter
Think back to your first impression of the University while visit-
ing as a high school junior or senior. For many, it's not the Diag,
Angell Hall, the Michigan Union or even the Big House.
It's the Student Activities Building - the University's visitor cen-
ter and starting point of campus tours for prospective students.
With that in mind, the University Board of Regents greenlit plans
for an $8.5-million redesign of the building at its monthly meeting
yesterday.
According to Chris Lucier, senior associate director of admis-
sions, the building serves as the University's gateway to tens of thou-
sands of prospective students and their families.
"For many prospective students, a visit to the SAB forms an
impression of the University of Michigan which will influence their
decisions of whether or not to apply to U-M," Lucier said.
The 40,000 square-foot project will mostly renovate the inte-
rior, leaving the outside virtually the same. The goal is to make
the building more user-friendly, including increasing the size of
the visitor's center and adding technology such as multimedia
presentations.
The most noticeable change may be the creation of an auditorium
dubbed the maize-and-blue room, which will be primarily be used to
screen presentations to tour groups. To get to the auditorium, visitors
will walk down a hallway with a floor-to-ceiling mural depicting the
University marching band.
Another improvement will be increasing ease of entry from the
entrance on Maynard Street as well as the door on East Jefferson
Street and making it clear where visitors should go after entering.
"What doesn't exist now is an ability to walk in the building and
figure out where you're supposed to go," said Diane Brown, Univer-
sity facilities and operations spokeswoman.
A new reception desk opposite the entrance will make that clear.
"It's going to be obvious that you go up to that desk," Brown said.
COURTESY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
A rendering of the new atrium planned for the redesigned Student Activities Building.
New windows will allow visitors to see a courtyard behind the
building while standing in the atrium, which is the main part of the
structure. The courtyard is currently only visible through a few win-
dows in a conference room, Brown said.
Construction is scheduled to begin next fall and continue through
summer 2008. The building will stay open during that time, using
internal space to house temporarily displaced offices.
The architectural firm is Gensler Architecture, Design & Plan-
ning of Detroit.
Built in 1959, the building had two additions. The first came in 1960
and the second was the 1996 addition of the Huetwell Visitor's Center.
In addition to serving as a place for visitors, the building houses
the Office of Financial Aid, the University housing and the M-Card
office, which will move to the lower level.
MIDNIGHT MOVIES
EVERY OTHER SATURDAY NIGHT
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SATURDAY, JANUARY 7 @ MIDNIGHT
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THIS DAY
In Daily History
1 Ann Arbor group
asks council to
repeal $5 pot fine
*0 Jan. 5, 1983 - A group of Ann
Arbor residents has asked the Ann
Arbor City Council to add a proposal
to the April ballot that would repeal
the city's law which fines residents
found with marijuana $5.
The group went to the Council
after it failed to come up with enough
signatures to place the initiative on
the ballot on its own. Only 2,000 of
the necessary 5,200 signatures were
gathered, but members said this was
due to a lack of time and not to a
lacking support.
"We only had about two weeks,"
Huron High School teacher Bradley
Spencer said. "There was more than
enough interest."
Repeal campaign supporter Wil-
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