WHAT DICK CHENEY SHOULD
PUT IN BUSH'S STOCKING
OPINION, PAGE 4A
FREE SAMPLES
DAILY ARTS RECOMMENDS SOME FAVORITES B-SIDE
WHY THE BCSSYSTEM
ISN'T AS BAD AS YOU THINK
SPORTS, PAGE 5A
( (NE HUND ED-SIXT'EI.N YEA IS 1 E ITI i EiTiDM
Ann Arbor, Michigan
wwwmithigandaily.com7
Thursday, November 30 2006
BIG HOUSE RENOVATIONS
Disabled vets:
Stadium plan
violates law
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advocacy group resolve this issue, but they didn't
indicate how far they would go
says proposal to do that," Harris said. "If they
make a good faith effort, we're
)lates ADA rules willingto do so also."
University spokeswoman Kelly
By GABE NELSON Cunningham said the meeting
Daily StaffReporter was productive and the Univer-
sity will continue to discuss hand-
University's Athletic icapped accessibility with the
tment might have to deal veterans group.
nother road block before it "As we have throughout every
gin construction on a plan stage of the project, the Universi-
i luxury boxes to Michigan ty continues to welcome feedback
im. from all interested persons," she
Michigan Paralyzed Vet- said in an e-mail interview.
of America has threatened Two weeks ago, Harris e-
rniversity with a lawsuit, mailed all eight members of the
the proposed renovations University Board of Regents about
violate the Americans with the potential ADA violation.
lities Act by providing an At the board's meeting earlier this
cient number of wheel- month, Regent Kathy White (D-
accessible seats and placing Ann Arbor) motioned to postpone
all in one location. consideration of the renovation plan
are all wheelchair users," until University lawyers could look
Michael Harris, the group's into the the group's concerns.
executive director. "This is At the time, University General
e that we take very seriously." Counsel Marvin Krislov said he
renovation would move had looked into the matter and
heelchair-accessible seating decided the renovation qualified
'ehind both end zones to the as a "repair" of the seating bowl
w of seats on the west side and therefore was not required to
stadium. meet ADA regulations.
veterans group considers The act says that renovations
violation of the ADA, which or alterations must comply with
es that disabled people be the standards, and it is an issue
multiple seating options, of semantics what the Athletic
ng different prices and views. Department's plan is.
rr the planned renovation, White's motion failed, and the
adium would contain 76 regents approved the stadium
chair-accessible seats. designs by a 6-2 vote.
t's not enough, Harris said. Harris said he expects the
said the University should University to comply with ADA
the model of Notre Dame regulations and change their ren-
m, which has 17 different ovation plan to accommodate dis-
g options for wheelchair abled people.
and more than 400 wheel- Alawsuitseems unlikelyexcept
accessible seats. as a last resort, he said.
ause Notre Dame Stadium "I would be surprised if it ends
odeled after Michigan Sta- up going that route," Harris said.
ndwas designedbythe same Harris said the University has
cts, there's no reason the been sensitive to these types of
sity of Michigan can't follow concerns in the past.
Dame's lead, Harris said. "The University of Michigan
met with lawyers from the has a history of inclusion and
sity yesterday morning to- diversity, and I feel confident that
s his group's concerns. they're going to do what's right,"
ey definitely wanted to Harris said.
PrHOOS anrETR sCHOnnoNtcS/Daily
Jarrett Smith (right), president of Phi Beta Sigma, and Jared Averbuch (left), president of Pi Kappa Alpha, in the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity house last night. The two fraterni-
ties co-sponsored a party at the Pike house last month to promote mingling between members of fratemities that are largely divided by race.
After years of
self-segregation,
Greeks say it's time to THE SYSTEM
Bv Aleax f7iadszc7 I fDail St af f Recnr+er
n the Friday night before Hal
Kappa Alpha President Jared
watched something strange u
party at his Washtenaw Avenue fratern
It wasn't the number of people - a
ed 1,500 cramming Pike's dance floor
and narrow hallways - that was unus
It was their faces: a mingling of
white on a level he had never seen.
And it wasn't the festive "Get Your
emblazoned across the event's custom
shirts that made him smirk with pride
It was the Greek letters above the s
ones that listed Phi Beta Sigma, a tra
black fraternity, as the party's co-spo
The feeling was something "you
words on," Averbuch said.
He described a gushing of energy a
ment so profound that its afterglow
into the streets and stayed there for w
This was the kind oftranscendence o
Uy MIALL y pJLLJI1 IXt:PSJIL5t
loween, Pi Race and the Greeks system's f
1 Averbuch ._ action is t
anfold at a This is thefirst article in a two-part Greek1
nity house. series on race in the Greek system. A designedt
.n estimat- second installment on how Greeks are one at Pik
s, porches This ye
sual. addressing the issue will appear on black and
black and Monday. signing up
of Helleni
Booze On" al racial boundaries that the diversity advocates in tionally do
m-made T- the University administration dream about. Last yea
e. But it takes a particular social allure - some- nity found
logan, the thing the administration often lacks - to pull exclusivit
aditionally off an event on this scale. Randal
nsor. Student organizations have a unique ability torically b
can't put to break down the racial, ethnic and religious said chang
boundaries that often split the student body. "This is
nd excite- of these groups, few are better positioned to
spilled out create change than the University's huge net-
veeks. work of fraternities and sororities. Averbuc
ftradition- And now, accordingto executives in the Greek
our governing councils, the desire for
aking hold.
leaders are discussing social events
to break down racial barriers, like the
e, on an unprecedented scale.
ear, growing numbers of historically
Latino fraternities and sororities are
p for Greek Week, a seven-day torrent
i pride in March that has been tradi-
ominated by majority-white houses.
ar, a chapter of Pi Lambda Phi, a frater-
Jed at Yale in 1895 to counter the racial
y of the era, sprang up on campus.
Seriguchi, vice president of the his-
lack National Pan-Hellenic Council,
ge is overdue.
stime to wake up," he said.
EFFECTS OF PROP 2
ch might appear an unlikely candidate
See GREEKS, page 7A
cOURTESY OF THE ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT
An artist's rendering of proposed renovatians to Michigan Stadium. A disabled
veterans grasp is arguingobhe plans do noat fallow ADA guidelines.
Penguins + Weird Al+
red heels Mr. Engineer as _
MCAT CHANGES
Way to med school?
Point and click.
Women engineers
crown winner in
annual pageant
By EMILY ANGELL
Daily StaffReporter
This year's Mr. Engineer knew
he needed an edge to win the com-
petition. So he dressed as a woman.
When Engineering junior Brian
Foster was first introduced to a
crowd at the Chrysler Center last
night, he sported a penguin-print
tie and claimed to love dorm food.
During the talent portion of the
competition, he abandoned the suit
and replaced it with a pink sweater,
a knee-length skirt and red heels. It
was in this getup that he sang a ren-
dition of Weird Al's "Truck Driving
Song." At this point, he appeared to
have the competition in the bag.
Foster would end up winningthe
annual Mr. Engineer last night. The
Society of Women Engineers creat-
ed the competition in 2000 to bring
together the engineering commu-
nity. It has since become a tradition
on North Campus.
This year, the 13 contenders
represented a variety of engineer-
ing societies on campus like Theta
Tau, Sigma Gamma Tau and Pi Tau
Sigma.
The night began with brain teas-
ers.
Contestants were given one min-
ute to answer a riddle. While most
contestants came up with ridicu-
lous solutions and fed off of the
See MR. ENGINEER, page 3A
Computerized
MCAT shorter,
given more often
By ALESE BAGDOL
Daily StaffReporter
Please put down your pencils. The
MCAT is becoming computer-based.
Over the summer, the Association of
American Medical Colleges revamped
the test to improve efficiency and elimi-
nate unnecessary paperwork. The new
format, which takes effect in January
2007, will be administered over the
computer.
The shift from paper and pencil to a
computer-based test will shorten the
length from eight hours to just over
five.
Because of the changes, the test will
now be offered on 19 testing dates per
year. Currently, the MCAT is admin-
istered twice a year - in April and
August.
Steven Gay, the University Medical
School's assistant dean of admissions,
said the changes to the MCAT were
"fairly positive."
"The increase in the number of test-
ing dates will give students the oppor-
tunity to take the test when they are
most comfortable," Gay said.
See MCAT, page 7A
STEVEN TAI/Daly
Engineering junior Brian Foster is crowned Mr. Engineer 2007 at the
annual Mr. Engineer pageant in the Chrysler Center last night.
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