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March 22, 2006 - Image 1

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The Michigan Daily, 2006-03-22

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Wednesday, March 22, 2006
News 3 Voiceovers an
overlooked career for
theatre, music grads

Opinion 4
Sports 9

David Betts reflects
on his campus legacy
Cagers prepare for
rematch with Miami

PmO' A': KL(lTqfl0 AT )UDERSTADT .ARTS, PAGE 5
One-hundred-sixteen years ofeditorialfreedom

www.michzgandaily.com

Ann Arbor, Michigan

Vol. CXVI, No. 96

@2006 The Michigan Daily

PICKING A
POVOSTS

Coleman's choice
taps into national
debate over career
administrators

By Jason Z. Pesick
Daily StaffReporter
Either out of tremendous self-confidence or respect for a valu-
able University of Michigan tradition, the University has long
given deference to internal candidates for top administrative
posts.
Allegiance to that custom, which for a number of possible rea-
sons University President Mary Sue Coleman, a relative newcom-
er to the institution, did not follow when selecting a new provost,
has caused concern in University circles over the recent search
process leading to the selection of Coleman's right-hand officer.
In January, the University announced the selection of the well-
regarded University of Texas administrator Teresa Sullivan to be
the next provost and vice president for academic affairs.
For the first time in University history, neither the president
nor the provost will be long-time Wolverines. Sullivan will also
be the first external candidate chosen to be provost since James P.

Adams in 1948, when the position entailed less authority.
To some observers, this turn of events may merely be a coinci-
dence. But to others it marks a departure from University tradi-
tion and an acceptance of a troubling national trend turning the
field of university administration into its own profession, separate
from the faculty.
According to a number of individuals familiar with the search
process, no internal candidates made it onto the list of finalists
given to Coleman by the head of the provost search advisory com-
mittee, James Jackson, even though the larger list of finalists the
committee members developed included internal candidates.
In addition, individuals who spoke with The Michigan Daily
on the condition of anonymity because of the secrecy surrounding
the search said some of the strongest internal candidates withdrew
from the process because they felt they would not be selected.
This has led to intense speculation that Coleman influenced the
search process out of a desire to select an external candidate.
See PROVOST, page 3

Alum lives
baseball
fantasy
Pursued by steroid scandals and
other bad news, author escapes into
world of fantasy baseball
By Megan Kolodgy
Daily Sports Editor
The stories were becoming all too familiar to Univer-
sity alum Sam Walker. He would pick up the paper in the
morning and flip to the sports section, only to see another
article about the steroid scandal or players holding out for

BILL COUCH/Daily

ridiculous salaries. The game of
baseball was beginning to give
off a miasmic odor rising from
the pages.
As a senior writer and sports
columnist for the Wall Street
Journal, Walker was fed up with
listening to and writing about
these disturbing tales from the
sport he loved. He wanted to get
back to the game itself - to the
numbers and the players' lives
sans 'roids and riches.
So Walker took time off to
write "Fantasyland," which
chronicles his experiences in
the world of fantasy baseball.

ALUMNI

PROFILES
Sixth in a
semester-long
series

STEVEN TAI/Daily
The charcoal drawing "Hermaphrodite" by Natsuko Katayama hangs in the back room of The Good Beans Cafe in Flint. The drawing was moved from the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and
Transgender Center at the University's Flint campus to the current off-campus location because administrators said it could make employees feel harassed.
ARTWORK SPURS CONTROVERSY AT FLINT

"I had always wanted to write a book and reconnect
with baseball," Walker said. "Plus, I had had this idea:
What would happen if I tried to actually manage and
interact with my team?"
Realizing that this dream was more complicated than
simply throwing down $50 to join a league with his bud-
dies, Walker applied to become a part of "Tout Wars,"
the most competitive, highly regarded fantasy baseball
league in the nation. Once he was accepted to the elite
group, Walker used his contacts in the game to try to alter
the destiny of his team.
"I made (the players) T-shirts, and if one of them was
playing well, I'd give him a 'Player of the Month' trophy,"
Walker said. "I would look at their stats, and if I saw an
odd one, I'd bring it to their attention. When I really got
desperate, I lobbied the managers."
Walker even went as far as to try to meddle in a couple
of real-life trades, but he was unsuccessful. But he and
several other "Touts" found Big League managers often
appreciated their input.
"They don't necessarily have the time to look at all
these numbers," Walker said.
Although he maintains that throughout this process
he never completely lost touch with reality, Walker can
think of one or two occasions that made him realize how
entrenched he was in the pretend version of the game.
"At one point, I was in second place because I had
made this amazing trade," he said. "The sense of accom-
plishment was tremendous. There was this swell of pride,
but then I looked around my apartment, and it was just
me, my computer and my dog chewing on a toy. There
was this disconnect between what I felt and what was
actually there."
The player in question was former Los Angeles Angels
of Anaheim player Jose Guillen. That evening, the Angels
were in New York to play the Yankees, and Walker took a
cab down to catch the end of the game and talk to the man
who helped him rocket up in the rankings.
"I just wanted to talk to him," Walker said. "I felt like
I had to go - for affirmation."
In general, fantasy baseball primarily revolves around
statistics, and some critics assert that baseball itself has
been trimmed down to a mere game of numbers.
"The best statistical methods can predict about 60 per-
cent of what happens in baseball," Walker said. "But 40
percent is art - the injuries, the weather, what's going
on at home. It's a people game. That 40 percent is the
redeeming quality of baseball."
Since finishing his book, Walker has returned to the
world of journalism, where he has been involved since
See FANTASY, page 7

0 Complaint that drawing of
hermaphrodite angel is sexually
intimidating sparks battle
By Gabe Nelson
Daily Staff Reporter
Administrators at the University's Office of Insti-
tutional Equity had a difficult decision to make.
They had to determine the fate of a controversial
piece of art.
Worried that a charcoal drawing of an angelic
figure with breasts and male genitalia might make
employees at the University's Flint campus feel
sexually harassed, the office insisted it be removed
from UM-Flint's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans-
gender Center.
The decision prompted people at UM-Flint's carn-
pus community to cry censorship.
The drawing, titled "Hermaphrodite," had hung

for two years when the equity office sent a letter
requesting its removal in September.
"It is very unnerving to a lot of people, because
they don't feel this is a valid expression of the human
body," said Regina Coon, a UM-Flint student and
LGBT Center advisory board member.
UM-Flint's LGBT Center obtained the drawing
from a Seattle transgender artist named Napsuko
Kapayama as part of an exhibit, said Zea Miller,
a UM-Flint student and LGBT Center volunteer.
After the exhibit ended, the office could not return
the drawing because it had lost touch with the artist,
so the drawing remained on display in the office,
Coon said.
Anthony Walesby, the senior director of the equi-
ty office, said one anonymous employee's complaint
about the drawing prompted the office to suggest
the drawing be removed, although the tipster never
filed an official complaint.
During its investigation, the office interviewed
some employees offended by the presence of the

drawing, Walesby said.
"(The equity office) conferred with their attor-
neys and decided it should be taken down because
of workplace standards," University spokeswoman
Julie Peterson said. "There are different issues at
play in workplaces than there are, for instance, in
art galleries."
The drawing poses an issue of sexual harassment,
UM-Flint spokeswoman Jennifer Hogan said. The
equity office's website says that the display of sexu-
ally offensive material is considered sexual harass-
ment when "the conduct creates an intimidating or
hostile academic, work or student living environ-
ment."
"We want an environment that's open and engag-
ing, but not discriminatory against any single
group," Walesby said.
Calling the office's decision to remove the draw-
ing censorship, some LGBT Center volunteers pro-
tested it by chalking messages on the sidewalks
See ARTWORK, page 7

Apartheid
activist talks
on experience
Ahmed Kathrada, who spent time
in jail with Nelson Mandela, speaks
on what happens when 'nonviolent
activity becomes impossible'
By Marlem Qamruzzaman
Daily Staff Reporter
Ahmed Kathrada, an activist who spent 26 years in

To balance budget, Bush
guts Americorps funding

Five-percent overall
cut's effect on 'U'
programs still unclear
By Carissa Miller
Daily Staff Reporter
President Bush's 2007 budget
request, released last month, pro-
posed a 5 percent reduction in the
federal AmeriCorps service pro-
gram funding and could complete-
ly eliminate at least one section of

in the form of grants.
The University's main Ameri-
Corps program, the Michigan
AmeriCorps Partnership, is sup-
ported by state-allocated funds,
as well as contributions from indi-
vidual colleges at the University.
Addell Anderson, program
director of the partnership, said
it is difficult to estimate what the
impact of the proposed cuts would
be on the University's program.
She said that while she doesn't
believe the program will be at risk

will not affect administrative
support, one of the crucial areas
of the the University program's
budget, because federal funding
for administrative expenses is not
permitted after a program's sev-
enth year.
I am more concerned about
other programs across the state,
which may close since they nec-
essarily depend more heavily on
federal dollars to operate their
programs," Anderson said.
After former President Clinton

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