Monday, October 2,2006 STOIC WOLVERINES BRING JUG BACK HOME . .. SPORTSONDAY News 3A Granholm, DeVos to square off in debate Opinion 4A From the Daily: MCRI's code- word campaign Arts 5A 'Heroes'just not super One-hundred-sixteen years of editorialfreedom www.michigandaily.com Ann Arbor, Michigan N Vol. CXVII, No. 20 @2006 The Michigan Daily NCAA grad rates up slightly Michigan baseball, men's basketball teams see dramatic jumps By Kevin Wright Daily Sports Editor According to data released last week by the NCAA, the University mirrored the overall modest upward trend in athletic graduation rates this year. In the first of two sets of this year's graduation success rates, the study revealed the rates of individual sports. The second part, due to come out later in October, will show schools' overall rates. The NCAA's overall six- year graduation rate was 77 percent, a 1-percent increase from last year's numbers. "We are continuing to make steady success,"NCAA Presi- dent Myles Brand said. "The trend lines are up in all areas." The University saw marked improvement in baseball and men's basketball from last year. Baseball jumped from 81 to 94 percent and basketball leaped 15 points from 60 to 75. While men's sports improved from last . year's data, women's sports at the University stayed relatively the same. All were well above the 80-percent goal set by Brand two years ago. While this year's rate still falls short of Brand's aspira- tions, he said he is confident M that the numbers will reach the 80-percent level within three to five years. "It's a stretch goal for us," Brand said. "We are encour- aged, but I think we still can go further. Good enough is never good enough. I believe we can stretch even further." University Athletic Direc- tor Bill Martin said he admires Brand's goal, but he doesn't believe it's feasible for some schools. Martin said he would like to see Brand set the goal of a school's athletic graduation rates matching its overall under- graduate graduation rates. During his tenure at Michi- gan, Martin has decided to focus on raising the level of ath- letic graduation success rates to the same as the undergraduate rate, which is 86.9 percent. "Our goal is always to get to the same numbers that the regular student population has;" Athletic Department spokesman Bruce Madej said. "We always try to improve and to mirror what the stu- dent population is." Even though Martin said he is happy with Michigan's percentages, he deemed unfair the penalty the NCAA applies to a school that loses student athletes to transfer or early graduation. Of the athletes who stay at Michigan for six years, Mar- tin said, 91 to 92 percent leave with a degree. Martin said the NCAA shouldn't penalize schools for allowing student athletes to pursue their dreams. Other stu- dents aren't held to that standard and are often celebrated when they leave school early to chase another opportunity, he said. The study is based on ath- letes who entered college between 1996 and 1999. PHoTOS BY ZACHARY MEISNER AND BEN SIMON/Daily LEFT: Jordan Fennema and Allison Schneider, members of the College Republicans, canvass voters in Royal Oak on Saturday. RIGHT: Andy Levin, who is running for the 13th District state Senate seat, talks with Hannah Fishman of the College Democrats. Onthe campaign trail with tp i,* the Co e ...e e u 1'CanS De-ms Groups battle for control of key state Senate seat By Walter Nowinski and Andrew Grossman Daily Staff Reporters OAKLAND COUNTY - Most volunteers for state Senate campaigns don't get a personal greeting from a twelve-term U.S. congressman. The race for the 13th District seat, though, isn't a standard state Senate contest. So when 11 carloads of College Democrats from the University arrived at the United Associa- tion of Plumbers and Pipefitters in Madison Heights, U.S. Rep. Sander Levin (D-Royal Oak) was standing in the rain to greet them. They came to campaign for Levin's son, labor organizer and attorney Andy Levin, who is in a close race with former state Rep. John Pappageorge for the 13th District state Senate seat. Winning this seat, which is being vacated by term-limited Republican Shirley Johnson, is a crucial part of the Demo- cratic effort to retake control of the state Senate for the first time since the early 1980s. The 13th District spans the tony Detroit suburbs of Troy, Birmingham and Bloomfield Hills and working-class commu- nities like Clawson and Madison Heights. Like the rest of Michigan, it has been hit hard by the auto industry's recent struggles. Troy-based auto parts suppli- er Delphi Corp. recently laid off thousands of white-collar workers in an effort to emerge from bankruptcy. The 42 College Democrats got a pep talk from both Levins before they fanned out across the district in leftover "Victory 2004" ponchos to campaign door-to-door. "While there is a possibility that we won't take back the state Senate even if I do win, Andy Levin said, "there's no chance of taking back the state Senate if I don't win." But the Republicans are deter- See CAMPAIGN, page 7A District 13 Northeast of Ann Arbor, District 13 comprises parts of Oakland County. 'U' athletic graduation rates WOMEN'S MN'S 100 - Softball 94 - Baseball 100 - Basketball 74 - Basketball 95 - CC/Track 82 - CC/Track tochester Hills 100 - Tennis 88-Soccer 90 - Gymnastics 93 - Field hockey 71- Football 50 - Soccer 100 - Gymnastics 94 - Ice hockey Bloomfield To Hills,, Bloomfiel Bw irig a i laso GRAPHIC BY BRIDGET O'DONNELL/Daily West of A2, a haven for animals Saved from slaughterhouses, animals live on 65-acre farm By Alex Dziadosz Daily Staff Reporter MANCHESTER TOWNSHIP - The Sanc- tuary and Safe Haven for Animals seems out of place in this town known for its massive community barbe- cue, the annual "Famous Chicken Broil." The farm, which shel- ters about 225 animals, has become a mecca for Midwestern vegans. Pilgrims concerned with animal rights - from University volunteers to activists from Indiana - regularly visit this 65-acre piece of land. SASHA - named for a rescued Border Collie - houses mostly livestock rescued from "unhappy circumstances." Oftenthis means slaughterhouses. The husband-and-wife team of Dorothy Davies and Monte Jackson have owned and run the farm Justin Zatkoff, executive director of the Michigan Federation of College Republicans, said he does not remember who gave him this black eye and other injuries on Sept. 23. Alleged political hate *crime not w hat it seemed McKahla Breck, 10, pets a horse at the Sanctuary and Safe Haven for Animals on Saturday. The farm houses about 225 animals saved from crueler fates. By Drew Philp Daily Staff Reporter Despite a national whirl- wind of speculation, politi- cal finger-pointing and a nasty black eye, police said rumors surrounding the assault of an Oakland Uni- versity student who woke up beaten and bruised in Ann Arbor on the night of Sept. 23 are false. Ann Arbor police said Justin Zatkoff, the executive director of the Michigan Federation of College Republicans, was not attacked by "liberal thugs," as posted on the conservative blog truth- caucus.com. Zatkoff's injuries includ- ed a broken eye socket, nose and nasal cavity. He was admitted to the emer- See CRIME, page 7A since 1981, when they moved from Westland to escape the suburbs of Detroit. In 2002, Davies left her job as a librarian and began to devote her- self to rescuing animals full-time. Like many vegans, the couple started as vegetar- ians. "We were thinking about our health," Dorothy said. As they learned more, she said, they developed an aversion to the way main- stream food companies treat animals. "I thought, 'I can't be part of that,"' she said. "You don't realize when you're a vegetarian that you still support that. When you drink milk, you're supporting the veal industry." She said Boris - a wild boar rescued from a hunt- ing ground - illustrates her point. The lean, muscular ani- mal stood out in a pen full of gelatinous pigs whose arthritic legs could barely support their weight. They are the products of decades of corporate genetic tweaking - fine- See FARM, page 7A A ) h