Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Science 8 'U' scientists get
microscopic
Arts 10 'Benchwarmers'
all cold
ARE ''STUDENTS SEPA RATE3D R SE:GRE~GAT7ED? i z -':/Epp
4F 4ailjj
Sports 11
Bass undergoes
surgery, status
uncertain
One-hundred-sixteen years of editorialfreedom
www.michigandaily.com Ann Arbor, Michigan Vol. CXVI, No. 110 ©2006 The Michigan Daily
What
could
MCRI do
to Cass?
N Black students from high school
renowned for quality academics have
grades to get into 'U', but recruiters
might be hard-pressed to reach them
By Christina Hildreth
Daily News Editor
Across the state, activists on both sides of the debate
are revving up for an' all-out war this fall to settle the
fate of affirmative action. Both sides will court Michigan
voters, who will decide whether to support the Michigan
Civil Rights Initiative, a proposal that seeks to ban some
affirmative action programs in the state.
Meanwhile, Tyrone Winfrey, director of the Universi-
ty's Detroit Admissions Office, visits Lewis Cass Techni-
cal High School, Detroit's
largest magnet school. In
his hundreds of visits to
the school, Winfrey, a Cass
Tech graduate and Detroit
School Board member, is
anxious to convince those
final few admitted students 'A TV MA
who have not yet decided to
come to the University next Last in a four-part
fall to commit. series
It is uncertain how the
proposal - which proponents argue would remove
unfair racial preferences used in university admissions,
government employment and public contracting - would
change the relationship between schools like Cass Tech
and the University.
Cass Tech's student body is 95 percent black. The
school usually sends more than 40 underrepresented
minority students to the University each year. This is
- largely due to the school's high academic standards as
well as intensive recruiting efforts by Winfrey and his
staff. The school offers 11 advanced placement courses
and requires students to maintain a 2.5 grade point aver-
age to stay enrolled.
Affirmative action in action
Because many of Cass Tech's seniors are academi-
cally qualified to attend the University, quantifying just
how much of an impact affirmative action admissions
policies have on the number of Technicians admitted is
nearly impossible, said Chris Lucier, associate director
of admissions. He added that this is especially true given
that the University's holistic admissions review process
considers a variety of factors other than race.
"I think that's a misunderstanding of the process to say
that (admissions officials) say, 'Because of this factor, this
student is admitted,' " he said.
He explained that application reviewers look not only
See CASS TECH, page 3
On Diag and
across nation,
immigration
laws protested
Tens of thousands of protesters take to
streets in national day of action; students
wear white, carry signs
From staff and wire reports
Tens of thousands of immigrants spilled into the streets in dozens of
cities across the nation yesterday in peaceful protests in what organizers
called a national day of action.
Protesters have been urging Congress, whose immigration reform
efforts stalled last week, to help the estimated 11 million illegal immi-
grants settle here legally.
In a more muted version of the rallies, students gathered on the Diag
to protest and educate passersby about immigration.
Standing on the steps of the Graduate Library, the students urged
people to wear white in unity. About 10 students carried signs with mes-
sages like, "No human is illegal."
Behind them stood stalks of white balloons.
"A clear path to citizenship is something we see as necessary'" RC
senior Julia Malette said. "Leaving people undocumented encourages
exploitation."
Several students said they were strongly opposed to building a wao
between the United States and Mexico to keep illegal immigrants out.-
"Building walls is not going to keep people out," Malette said.
She suggested the government look at the reasons why people wadi
to emigrate from Mexico, which she said was the comparatively poor
Mexican economy, and fix the problem at its root.
Malette criticized the bills in the House and Senate as inhumane.
"These are people contributing to our communities," she said
"They deserve to have rights as much as the next person."
The bulk of the students were from other campus groups like La
Voz Latina, Students Organizing for Labor and Economic Equality and
Migrant Immigrant Rights Awareness.
The students have formed a coalition centered on the immigration
debate. The coalition, which does not yet have a name, organized yes-
terday's protest.
One student standing near the steps of the Grad Library yesterday,
James Simpson, who splits his classes between Eastern Michigan
University and the University of Michigan, differed slightly from the
group's position.
Simpson said he supports immigration reformation, but said people
need to follow the current laws for now. He said illegal immigrants need
to be kept out of the United States.
The event's organizers were quick to point out that Simpson is not
affiliated with the group.
In the Midwest, an estimated 3,000 people demonstrated in Garden
City, Kan., a farming community that counts fewer than 30,000 resi-
dents. In Champaign, Ill., hundreds of demonstrators marched along a
busy street to the University of Illinois campus, carrying signs with slo-
gans such as: "The pilgrims had no green cards."
Yesterday's demonstrations followed a weekend of rallies in
10 states that drew up to 500,000 people in Dallas, 50,000 in San
Diego, and 20,000 in Salt Lake City. Dozens of rallies and student
walkouts, many organized by Spanish-language radio DJ's, have
been held in cities from Los Angeles to Chicago to New York over
the past two weeks.
- Karl Stampfl contributed to this report.
EMMA NOLAN-ABRAHAM IAN/ Daily
Cass Tech student Jessica Steeples raises her hand in a biology class at the high school last month. If MCRI passes in
November, University recruiters might have a harder time attracting Cass Tech grads.
AfterNovember Current under- Predicted minority enroll-
graduate minority ment under race-neutral
Experts say minority enroll- .i
ment will plummet if Michi- enrollment. admissions policy.
gan voters approve MCRI.
Here's a look at the numbers
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Levin: Congress unwilling
to investigate White House
Senator says tionally mandated system of checks As the ranking Democrat on the
and balances, Levin said. Senate Armed Services Commit-
November's midterm In Congress the controls commit- tee, Levin is intimately involved in
elections key to change tees, all of which have investigatory military affairs. The committee is
and subpoena powers. The Republi- mandated to provide "comprehensive
By Michael Gurovitsch cans currently have a 55-44 majority study and review of matters relating
Daily Staff Reporter in the Senate and a 232-202 majority to the common defense policy of the
Errant soccer ball breaks
sprinkler, floods West Quad
Students' possessions
ruined; three floors of
Wenley House evacuated
By Leah Graboski
Daily Staff Reporter
I
1
/ 1
Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) said
yesterday that Democratic efforts to
curb what he called the Bush admin-
istration's "excessive power grab"
have been fruitless and hampered by
an unwilling Republican majority in
Congress.
The current lack of Congressional
oversight amounts to the abdication of
duty and the erosion of the Constitu-
in the House.
Levin said Republican leaders on
key military and intelligence commit-
tees refuse to conduct investigations
or to order the Bush administration to
turn over key documents and memos
discussing important issues - includ-
ing the prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib
prison, interrogation techniques used
at the detention facility at Guantana-
mo Bay and Iraq war intelligence.
United States."
Levin, speaking at the Michigan
Union to Political Science Prof. Larry
Greene's "Constitutional Law and
Politics" and "Terrorism, War, and
Due Processes" classes, illustrated the
Democrats' investigatory impotence
through the lens of prisoner abuse
allegations at the Guantanamo Bay
detention facility.
See LEVIN, page 7
Researchers vie for state grants
Let this be a lesson in playing soc-
cer in dormitory hallways.
A fire sprinkler head was knocked
off by a soccer ball kicked by a stu-
dent on the second floor of West
Quad's Wenley House at about 8 p.m.
last night, triggering the rest of the
sprinkler system and flooding the
ground, first and second floors.
Three resident advisors and 82
students were affected. Some had
made their own arrangements to stay
with a friend for the night. Others
were going to be put into one of three
places. Some were placed in the two
double rooms in Cambridge House
of West Quad that are available year-
round for emergency situations, and
others in the nine available rooms
in the Michigan League's hotel.
Arrangements were also made to
send about 20 students to the Holiday
About 500 proposals
submitted to state for
share of $100 million
By Ekjyot Saini
Dailv StiffRenorter
for research. The hope is that the find-
ings could provide employment for local
job seekers. For example, with the devel-
opment of a new medication comes the
need to market it, manufacture it and
transport it.
"This resoonse is beyond our
motive and manufacturing, homeland
security and defense and alternative
energy. In life sciences, 164 proposals
were submitted, the most in any given
field, said Michael Shore, spokesman
for the group that manages the fund, the
Michigan Economic Development Cor-
i
;z