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 HILL Stanley Kubrick's ETnA UI SATURDAY, JANUARY 7 @ MIDNIGHT FOR MORE INFO VISIT WWW.MICHTHEATER.ORG/STATE.PHP 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- a ~ _a_*ls_____ r__s:_ __ m.. .. ':. I