Thursday, March 16, 2006
Opinion 4A
Alison Go is wary
of AP tests
Arts 8A Design lab shows
off Detroit fashion
How A 'U' STUDENT BECAME THE NARBMBE;R '.. lE STATEMENT
One-hundredfifteen years ofedtordfreedom
Sports 11A
Softball drops
rematch thriller
in extra innings
www.michirandaily. com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Vol. CXV, No. 92
6206e Mchiga aiy
i
Designs
unveiled
for new
quad
State-of-the-art North
Quad takes students' requests
into consideration
By Gabe Nelson
Daily Staff Reporter
When administrators asked students how residence
halls could be improved, students suggested air con-
ditioning, top-of-the-line dining halls and high-tech
study areas. When the North Quad Residential and
Academic Complex is finished in three years, they'll
get their wish.
On Friday, the University Board of Regents is
expected to approve the schematic design of North
Quad. In summer 2009, North Quad will open its
doors at the current site of the Frieze Building, making
it the first residence hall the University has built since
Bursley Hall in 1968. With a set of features largely
unheard of in other residence halls, North Quad will
herald the future of student housing at the University,
administrators say.
The building's planners designed the University
dorms according to the demands of today's students,
Associate Provost Phil Hanlon said.
"We're creating a building unlike any we have, and
like very few nationally' he said. "This is one of the
most ambitious efforts we've ever made."
In an attempt to bring residential and academic life
together under one roof, the building will house 460
students, the School of Information, the Sweetland
Writing Center, the Language Resource Center, the
Communication Studies department and the Film Arts
and Culture department.
"We want this to be a magnet location for under-
graduates on campus," said Hank Baier, associate vice
president for facilities and operations.
North Quad might also house the Global Scholars
Community and the Sophomore Year Experience, two
Michigan Learning Communities in development,
University spokeswoman Julie Peterson said.
"It'll share residential and academic space in what
we hope will be a very meaningful way" Hanlon said.
North Quad will offer suite-style rooms different
from the vast majority of rooms on campus, with either
four singles or two doubles connected. The double
suites will have a shared living room. Rather than com-
munal bathrooms for each hall, each suite will have its
own bathroom.
"Personally, I am very excited about the suites, even
though I won't be here to live in one' said Darla Wil-
liams, president of the Residence Halls Association.
"This will lead to more varied housing opportunities
on central campus."
As Mosher-Jordan will when it reopens in 2008,
North Quad will have air conditioning in all rooms. The
University will likely house students in these halls dur-
ing the spring and summer semesters, Peterson said.
As per their requests, students will have ample
group-study space, Henry said. Each floor will have a
study lounge overlooking the garden behind the Rack-
ham Building.
The media gateway in the center of the building will
also contain high-tech group-study areas, including
video walls. The walls will have a video camera and
a large screen, enabling live conversation with people
See QUAD, page 9A
Quad unlikely to be an icon
Finally, a North Quad. For years I have been awaiting
this epic closure. All four cardinal directions will soon
embodied as dorms, and the quadrangle prophecy will -
be complete. It has been nearly 40 years since the University
addressed the need for more student housing by building a resi-
dence hall - Bursley in 1968.
Apparently making up for lost time, administrators are plan-
ning the most progressive and interactive dorm this campus has
ever seen. Since its announcement in late 2004, the hype has
grown. Now the schematic designs have
finally been unveiled.
Quite clearly, the administration has
addressed student desires. The design's
interior spaces optimally cater to both
students and faculty.
The exterior, though, could use a
little constructive criticism to guide
the design from this initial phase to the
fully developed design.
AUSTIN . Bottom line: The University needs
DINGWALL another fresh and exciting icon, and the
present design for North Quad doesn't
ON ARCHITEGRE2 cut it.
I truly hope that the director of University Housing meant
what she said about being open to student input as the North
Quad project progresses.
Preliminary concepts of form and material are clearly visible
in the design. Connected but distinct, the academic tower and
residential wings have completely different dynamics and are
clad to match their standard campus counterparts. Visually, the
academic tower is a contemporary Angell Hall with vertical
limestone elements that mimic Angell's columns. Red brick is
attached to the residential wings, a feature that does not stray
from other university dorms and academic buildings. Without
the abundance of glass protrusions that indicate interior group
space, North Quad would look strikingly similar to South
Quad.
Nothing is wrong with this design. Its objectives are clear
and obvious, and it works. Architecturally speaking, the design
appears rational and responsible. A ground-level storefront
offers an extension of the State Street retail corridor. The west
side is the institutional front that faces State Street, matching its
adjacent context and welcoming pedestrians.
SSAA to
uniy voice
against
MCRI
0 Revised constitution mandates
members vote before ousting
members from group
By Kelly Fraser
Daily Staff Reporter
Students across campus may be speaking out against
November's Michigan Civil Rights Initiative, a ballot initia-
tive to ban some affirmative action programs in Michigan,
but they aren't doing it in a single voice.
In an effort to remedy this, Students Supporting Affir-
mative Action unveiled its plans to focus widespread senti-
ment against MCRI into a tangible campaign against the
initiative at a meeting of campus leaders and activists last
night.
SSAA attracted controversy last December when two
members were asked to step down from their positions
because of their involvement in Michigamua, a secret soci-
ety that carries stigma with progressive groups because of
its past appropriation of Native American rituals and arti-
facts.
LSA junior Rachael Tanner, SSAA co-chair, said
although many different groups on campus oppose MCRI,
unification and cooperation are the keys to the success of
the campaign against the initiative.
SSAA member Ashwini Hardikar, an RC senior,
described the group's approach to the November elections
as two-pronged.
First, the group aims to "mobilize and energize" its
existing base of supporters and simultaneously reach out
to campus groups with the common goal of defeating the
initiative, she said. Some groups they hope to recruit don't
support affirmative action but believe MCRI would limit
University programs.
"We want to show everyone how they have a stake in con-
tinuing the discussion," she said."This is an everybody issue."
Recently the group has undergone leadership transitions
and has revamped its procedures - including revising and
updating its written constitution.
The revised constitution will help to avoid the type of
controversy stirred up last December when the group oust-
ed the two Michigamua members, SSAA members said.
In the future, if leaders of the group were to hold a posi-
tion in a group such as Michigamua that in some way
undermined SSAA's philosophy, the decision of whether to
expel a member would go to a vote of the general member-
ship, said LSA junior Brittany Marino, chair of the group's
education committee.
Previously, only a small group of dedicated members
made the decisions, Tanner said.
After a brief introduction, attendees split into small dis-
cussion groups led by SSAA members to brainstorm com-
munity outreach strategies and possible connections with
other campus organizations.
Residence hall forums, classroom announcements and
letter-writing campaigns were some suggestions.
The group is also preparing a door-to-door canvassing
campaign starting next month and is trying to generate
strong support for a state-wide action day on March 30.
Tanner called MCRI a "slow bullet" because the Novem-
ber election is quickly approaching without many signs of
awareness from the public.
Through community education, SSAA aims to dispel
misinformation about the initiative's impact, including the
myth that affirmative action is only an issue for black and
other minority students, Tanner said.
Tanner said out-of-state students also have a vested inter-
See SSAA, page 9A
PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
Design plans for North Quad. Above, the view of the building's
southwest comer from State Street. Below, the view of the
building's opposite side from Rackham.
The building's opposite side opens up to the green space
beside Rackham and has softer, more personal elements that
invite students to come eat, chill or study. The rear courtyard
and winter garden provide sunlit spaces for those who want a
change from the Diag.
Had I not been a proud University student when I first saw
the design, I would have thought nothing of the lack of presence
that the building exhibits. Having heard about the awesome
academic and residential integration that would define North
Quad would define, however, I imagined a structure that would
spatially reflect such radical notions of integration.
In my fantasies of seeing a fourth quad finally realized, I
dreamt of a magnificent signature building. Having seen other
educational institutions erect crazy schemes that drew national
attention, I wanted it to be our turn.
North Quad is the perfect outlet for the next University icon.
The structure can be creative and the aesthetics daring, espe-
cially because it's a dorm; students will live anywhere. Steven
Holl took inspiration from a sponge when he designed the
severely punctuated Simmons Hall at the Massachusetts Insti-
tute of Technology. The result was a 350-unit residence hall
that catches the eye; whether or not the eye likes it is separate
See DINGWALL, page 9A
SOLE bares skin
Student film
breaks barriers
for labor
Group is protesting
treatment of workers
making 'U' apparel
By Joolle Dodge
Daily Staff Reporter
In the world of protest, it's skin to win.
Even when it's 39 degrees.
A dozen members of Students Orga-
nizing for Labor and Economic Equality
and the University Rugby Club stripped
off their clothes in front of the Fleming
Administration Building last night in the
name of social change.
"We'd rather be naked than wear
clothes made in sweatshops:" SOLE
member Art Reyes said.
SOLE members said they held the pro-
rights
SOLE was created to fight for fair labor
practices. The group is most famous for
holding a 51-hour sit-in at then-University
president Lee Bollinger's office in March
1999 to protest the University's contract
with Nike. After the sit-in, the University
implemented a vendor code of conduct for
companies manufacturing apparel bear-
ing the University's logo.
However, members of SOLE said the
University administration is ignoring
the code.
"It's not enforced at all," Reyes said.
SOLE held another sit-in April 2001.
Soon after, the University became a
member of the Worker's Rights Consor-
tium, which helps enforce manufacturing
codes of conduct.
Six months ago, SOLE submitted
to Coleman a "Sweatfree" proposal,
Spiral Project' to
make 'U' history tonight
at Michigan Theater
By Blake Goble
Daily Arts Writer
Does this sound familiar?
Wishful cinephiles gather together
with limited resources and plenty of
love, aiming to make a movie. The
makers of "Slacker" and "Clerks" did
it well. Following their success, similar
projects have permeated theaters try-
ing to generate word of mouth and, if
they're lucky, maybe even a profit.
At first glance, "The Spiral Project,"
which premieres tonight at 7:30 p.m.
at the Michigan Theater, might seem
first movie that will be shown in high
definition at the historic theater.
Producer and LSA senior Sultan
Sharrief set out to put together a proj-
ect that could connect with University
students.
Sharrief explained how it all came
together.
"I was an R.A. at Mosher-Jordan, and
I met this kid from L.A., Jarrett Slavin.
and he was like, 'You've gotta read this
script!' " he said. "It wasn't bad, and it
had the potential of becoming some-
thing."
A veteran of several student organiza-
tions, Sharrief was no stranger to mak-
ing contacts and arranging projects.
Various family members helped him
raise about $100,000 to fund the film.
With this experience, Sharrief
BEN SIMON/Daily
Members of Students Organizing for Labor and Economic Equality strip down to their
underwear in protest of sweatshop labor in Regents Plaza yesterday.
group.
The University of Wisconsin at Madi-
"Eighty to 90 percent of those who work
in sweatshops are women," Reyes said.
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