Thursday, October 5,; News 3A Opinion 5A Sports 9A Auto alliance talks called off Readers respond to Carl Cohen Blue's 'D' improves ABCs against run 2006 Bi' AATT.' . SIDE U~bri~biau ait~g One-hundred-sixteen years ofeditorialfreedom www.michirandaily.com Ann Arbor, Michigan Vol. CXVII, No. 23 ©2006 The Michigan Daily JEREMY CHO/Daily ISA junior Kavya Vaidyanathan hands out a copy of The Michigan independent on the Diag on Sept. 28 at about 3 p.m. DI AG By Kelly Fraser I Daily Staff Reporter t is the center of the University. Most stu- dents, faculty and staff pass through it at least once a day. It has been the site of countless protests, study sessions, ren- dezvous, metaphysical debates, romances. It is the most lively space on campus, not just between 9 and 5. Here's what happened from last Thursday at noon to last Friday at noon - a typical day on the Diag. The block "M" in the Diag at 2 a.m. last Friday. According to campus legend, if students step on the "M" before they take their first Blue Book exam, they will fail the test. Throughout the night, students repeatedly stomped on the "M" In defiance. NOON Four students toss a Frisbee. It's the peak of the day, but the mercury doesn't reflect it. It's barely 50 degrees - the coolest day of the semester to date. Activity on the Diag is markedly slower than during the past week. A girl in a cut-off jean skirt and Ugg boots walks by with a raspy cough. Holding bright blue buckets, the Michigan Gospel Chorale collects donations for its annual tour. Michi- gan Independent staffers distribute papers. 1:05 P.M. Members of The Gospel Chorale have a while to go if they hope to meet their goal to raise the $40,000 needed for their tour. "If you don't have money, just prayer helps," one collector says as people pass. 1:50 P.M. Traffic on the Diag picks up, filling with students headed for their 2 p.m. classes. 3:40 P.M. Two Mormon missionaries stand on the steps of the Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library. Their plastic nametags read "Elder Reyes" and "Elder Wade." They smile and chat casually with students but don't aggres- sively recruit anyone. 4:25 P.M. Engineering freshmen Nader Awni and LSA freshman Alex Chow and Karen Sta- sevich try their hand at "squirrel fishing." Their bait of choice - a sun-dried tomato bagel from the Betsy Barbour cafeteria tied to a string - isn't popular with the squir- rels. After struggling to attach an acorn to the string, the three decide peanuts would have been a better choice. 5 P.M. Eight freshmen from Mary Markley See DIAG, page 7A JEREMY CHO/Daily RC sophomore Martine Moore writes a message in chalk on the bricks of the Diag on Sept. 28 at about 6 p.m. Moore is a member of the student group Random Acts of Kindness. A view of the post-MCRI'U' PEERING IN Legendary 'M' coach dead at 87 ! Panelists from states that have banned affirmative action describe aftermath By Walter Nowinski Daily Staff Reporter Out of UCLA's incoming fresh- man class of 5,000 students this fall, 96 are black. At a panel yesterday, experts from around the country warned that if Proposal 2 passes in Novem- ber, the University could face a similar dearth in minority enroll- ment. A panel of professors, communi- ty activists and students from Cali- fornia, Texas and the University of Michigan spoke in front of a crowd of about 60 last night in Palmer Commons about the effects that the abolition of race-based affirmative action had in California and Texas. Speaking via videophone, pan- elists from California and Texas said minority enrollment at the flagship universities of the Univer- sity of California and University of See MCRI, page 7A In other states In November of 1996, the state of California passedj Proposition 209. Prop. 209 prohibits the use of any racial, ethnic or gender- based preference in public employment, public educa- tion and public contracting. The year before, a vote by the regents of the Universityj of California system bannedj any admissions decisions based on race, gender, eth- nicity or national origin. In 1996, the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled against the Uni- versity of Texas in an appeal, resulting in a statewide ban on using preferential treat- ment at public universities. In Washington state in 1998, Initiative 200 passed. It was the first major civil rights law passed directly by popular vote. The law banned preferences based on race, gender and ethnicity in state employment, education and contracting. Vic Heyliger won six NCAA hockey titles in 13 years as head coach By Amber Colvin Daily Sports Writer Look up in the rafters at Yost Ice Arena and you'll seea parade of white banners declaring the years of Michigan hockey glory. That's all they say - years, no names. They don't tell you that six of those nine banners came under the leadership of Vic Heyliger, one of college hockey's great coaches. Heyliger died yesterday at age 87, leaving behind a legacy that includes 13 seasons as Michigan's head coach. The six NCAA titles (1948, '51,'52, '53, '55, '56) he won weren't just the first for the Wol- verines - they were among the first ever. Heyliger called for the creation of an NCAA tourna- ment by writing letters to coaches around the country. The first tour- nament, consisting of four teams, took place in 1948. "All I heard about Vic Heyliger was from players who played for him and, obviously, all the success that the teams had had," Michigan coach Red Berenson said in a writ- ten statement yesterday. "He set a standard at Michigan that will probably never be equaled in terms of national championships. That was a special time in the history of Michigan hockey. He really built Michigan hockey" Heyliger owns not only the coaching record for most NCAA championships, but also the top winning percentage (.776) of any Michigan coach. The Bostonnative began hisrela- tionship with the Maize and Blue when he came to the University to play hockey in 1934 at the age of 15. By his senior year, his sweater boasted a "C." The captain also earned All-American honors and notched 116 goals over 51 games, a school record at the time. After a couple of stints in the NHL, Heyliger turned his focus toward coaching. He took his first head-coaching job at Illi- nois. By 1944, he was back in Ann Arbor and behind the bench See COACH, page 7A STEVENTAI/Daily Architecture senior Jason Doo works last night in the architecture studio on the top floor of the Art and Architecture Building on Bonisteel Boulevard on North Campus. i