THE TOP TEN HOPWOOD
WINNERS OF ALL TIME
NEWS, PAGE 2A

FROM THE DAILY: HOW TO VOTE
ON THOSE OTHER PROPOSALS
WHY IT'S NOT THE MOVIE EVERYONE THINKS IT IS ARTS, PAGE 5A OPINION, PAGE 4A

(14C iCioHn 4)atlij

Ann Arbor,_Michigan

www.michigandaily.com

Monday, November 6, 2006

PARSING PROP 2

STRUGGLING TO BREAK AWAY

Tomorrow, millions of Michiganders will
read the same 144 words: a short summary
of Proposal 2, an initiative that would ban
public-sector racial and gender preferences in
Michigan.
These 144 words are contentious. Neither side of
the debate wholeheartedly endorses the ballot lan-
guage in its final form. The Michigan Civil Rights

Initiative Committee, the organization that drafted
the proposal and collected 508,000 signatures
to place itcon the ballot, protested the use of the
phrase "affirmative action." One United Michigan,
a coalition of groups opposing the measure, said
the final summary was confusing.
But after several months of battling the State Board
of Canvassers, which approves ballot language for

INTRODUCTION
"My impression when1 read
(the summary) was that apart
from the phrase 'affirmative
action programs.' it was written
by someone who is against
affirmative action," linguistics
lecturer Kathryn Campbell-
Kibier. The text frames
affirmative action as a
preference, making it seem like
"the kind of thing we're trying
to get away from in this coun-
try," she said.

"AFFIRMATIVE ACTION"
LSA junior Alex Simmons
said the ballot language
would probably be confusing
if he hadn't heard about
the proposal in the news.
Without this phrase, he said,
it would be hard to discern
from the summary what the
proposal was actually about.

"GIVE PREFERENTIAL
TREATMENT TO"
"It's all aboutframing. People'
support abortion rights want t
themselves pro-choice and pe
who oppose abortion rights ca
themselves pro-life," said Vinc
Hutchings, an associate profe:
of political science. In the sam
"people who oppose affirmati
want to say they oppose prefe
They don't want to say theyop
affirmative action because it b
on a perception of racial intole

proposals, both groups grudgingly accepted the
working that will appear on tomorrow's ballot.
Now it's up to voters to interpret what these
words mean and decide whether they believe in
them. How they vote could dramatically change
the way the University operates.
Here's what three experts and one student think
about the language:
"RACE, GENDER, COLOR,
ETHNICITY OR
who NATIONAL ORIGIN"
o call Each side of the debate uses different
ople rhetoric, linguistics lecturer Kathryn
ll Campbell-Kibler said. When
ent proponents of Proposal 2 talk about
ssor equality, they often mean fairness, she
e way, said. Opponents use the word equity
ve action instead, placing more importance
rences. on whether affirmative action helps
ppose correct socioeconomic disparities.
orders The listing of "race, gender, color,
rance." ethnicity or national origin" is probably
a nod to the idioms of the Civil Rights

Movement and falls in line with
A PROPOSAL TO AMEND THE S' TE CONSTITUTiON TO BAN A fIRMA VE iFproponents' rhetoric, she said.
ACTION PROGRAMSTHATGIVE PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT o(GRO 'PS OR
INDIVIDUALS BASED ON THEIR ACE.GENDER, COLOR, ETHNI IT O
NATIONAL ORIGIN FOR PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT, EDUCATION O "PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT, EDUCATION
CONTRACTING PURPOSES OR CONTRACTING PURPOSES"
If it passes, Proposal2 would amend the state Constitution
with language that clearly prohibits a governmental
The pinponed cotstitutlotal amenitneni tW d entity from preferring a person for education programs,
contracts or employment on the basis of their race, said
Law School Dean Evan Caminker. "That's why it eradicates
traditional attirmative action programs, because a
s Ban public institutions fn ing a imieaction progms give Pfrei traditional atirmative action programs a a
groeps or individuals based on their mee, geoler, ckintniiti br national rigm fdr traditional affirmative action program is a program thator(one
public efpOoymet , education or cntracting apup s., Public intitutions affected b the - fotthe other considerations listed on the ballot)," he said.
propjsnal include sta ege .nasemn, local vrn ts, publicclegs and u'ersitiet,
+ n unity colleges adsh m dsrictg.
"STATE GOVERNMENT, LOCAL GOVERNMENTS,
PUBLIC COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES,
COMMUNITY COLLEGES AND SCHOOL DISTRICTS."
gender, athnicity, rum, ot r or natioun origin. (A separate provi oo the statc(e stitution Noting the emphasis on schools mentioned in the ballot
g~adtrilftl yaao, otsn~o~l i. ( searae 1101 ot ' 51911 at language, LSA ounion :AlexSimmons said the summary
already prohibits dlisrimina ion can the basis of race, c lcwr-4r natitnal oign #n.gL.Ano Al imossi hesmay
seems to highlight affirmative action's role in education.
Should this proponsa e adopted?
"PROHIBIT PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS FROM
Yes 0 DISCRIMINATING AGAINST GROUPS OR
INDIVIDUALS DUE TO THEIR GENDER,
No 0)ETHNICITY OR NATIONAL ORIGIN"
This phrase, echoed in the constitutional amendment,
THE PANEL is "redundant with traditional'federa' law that's
already on the books," Law School Dean Evan
Caminker said. Proposal2 doesn't stiffen or change
any laws on traditional forms of discrimination,
he said; it's already illegal to deny someone
employment, admission or public services because
t hmwi of race, gender, color, ethnicity or national origin.

FORESTcA SEY/Daily
Michigan running back Brandon Minor tries to run past a Ball State
defender during Michigan's 34-26 win Saturday. Two weeks before the
much-hyped Ohio State matchup, the team admitted to looking past the
Mid-American Conference Cardinals. FOR MORE COVERAGE, SEE
SPORTSMONDAY.
Alternative
poll:. Prop 2
sure to pass

Political expert
predicts initiative
will pass with
almost 70 percent
By WALTER NOWINSKI
Daily StaffReporter
One political consultant
with a history of correctly
predicting ballot proposals
while others miss the mark
is predicting a dim future for
affirmative action in Michi-
gan.
Proposal 2 will pass by
a large margin tomorrow
despite a recent poll showing
the ballot proposal trailingby
10 percentage points among
Michigan voters, said Mark
Grebner, founder of Lansing-
based Practical Political Con-
sulting, in an interview with
Inside Michigan Politics.
Grebner said that although
he opposes Proposal 2 per-
sonally, he is confident it will
pass with 60 or even 70 per-
cent of the vote.
His prediction sharply

ONE IMPORTANT THING TO REMEMBER:
This ballot language would not become actual
law. The actual Constitutional amendment
is a two-page document that details specific
provisions of the law. Still, Law School Dean
Evan Caminker said courts could use the ballot
language to help interpret the actual law.

THE POLITICAL
SCIENTIST
Vincent Hutchings isan
associate professor of
political science at the
University. He studies
public opinion, voting,
American elections and
race and politics.

Evan Carninker is dean
of the University's Law
School and an expert
on affirmative action
and constitutional law.

Kathryn Campbell-
Kibler is a lecturer in
the linguistics depart-
ment. She specializes
in sociolinguistics and
teaches a class on
language and discrimi-
nation.

Alex Simmons is an
LSA junior studying
urban planning and
history.

BY CHRISTINA HILDRETH,
DAILY NEWS EDITOR

Given history,
young Dems
still skeptical

40 DAYS AND 40. NIGHTS

contradicts recent polling,
which has shown Proposal
2 even or trailing in the
polls. The Detroit Free Press
released a poll yesterday
showing 49 percent of voters
opposing the ballot initia-
tive, 39 percent supporting
it and 12 percent still unde-
cided.
But Grebner said it is
impossible to accurately poll
ballot proposals using phone
polls.
In an interview with The
Michigan Daily in Septem-
ber, Grebner explained the
shortcomings of polling bal-
lot proposals and the method
he developed to address the
problem.
He said ballot proposal
polling is fundamentally dif-
ferent from candidate polling
because proposals require
voters to interpret ballot lan-
guage - not just pick a can-
didate.
Voters frequently mis-
understand that language,
Grebner said, which makes
it a much more complicated
process.
In phone polls, voters may
See PROP 2, page 7A
Frat
booted
from
campus
ByJESSICAVOSGERCHIAN
Daily Staff Reporter
Zeta Beta Tau, a house with
a history of running afoul of
Interfraternity Council rules
and regulations, has been
expelled from campus.
IFC spokesman Brian Mill-
man said the board expelled
ZBT last week for recruit-
ing pledges in defiance of the
terms of its one-year suspen-
sion from the IFC.
The IFC oversees social fra-
ternities at the University. It
is made up of representatives
from campus fraternities.
ZBT was suspended last
November when an investiga-
tion conducted by the Greek
Activities Review Panel and
See FRAT, page 7A

Even on top of
polls, college-age
Democrats not
wholly confident
By ANDREW GROSSMAN
Daily StaffReporter
For a whole generation of
young Democrats, the morn-
ings after elections haven't
been easy.
In 2000, they experi-
enced an extended morn-
ing after when then-Vice
President Al Gore won
the popular vote but lost
the electoral vote and the
presidency to George W.
Bush.
Two years later, Repub-

licans took control of the
Senate.
And perhaps the most
stinging defeat came in 2004
when Massachusetts Sen.
John Kerry failed in his bid
to unseat a politically weak
President Bush. To add to
Democrats' pain, their party
also lost seats in Congress.
"On the national scene,
there was absolute heart-
break in 2004," said Ryan
Werder, spokesman for the
University's chapter of the
College Democrats. "Nov.
3rd was a really rough morn-
ing."
The parents of college stu-
dentssawmorethan30years
of Democratic control of the
House as well as presidents
John F. Kennedy, Lyndon
B. Johnson, Jimmy Carter
See DEMS, page 7A

EMMA NOLAN-AsRAHAMlAN/Daily
Maia Morgenstern, a Romanian actress who played Mary in Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ," performs in a cabaret version of Aris-
tophanes's "Lysistrata," a play in which women in Greece take an oath to withhold sex so that their husbands, who are at war, embrace peacA.
The play is on tour and stopped by the Residential College last week.


TODAY'S HI: 56
WEATHER LO:43

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COMING TUESDAY:
What if ... ballot proposals2 and 5 pass and the
Regental balance of power shifts NEWS

INDEX
Vol. CXVII, No. 42 NEWS ...
(02006The Michigan Daily S U D O K U.....
michigandoily.com OPINION.....

2A ARTS.. . . ..........SA
3A CLASSIFIOED. ..A.........6A
..4A SPORTS MONDAY...............B

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