0 U U U I. -. go. V, 0 w 0 S. 0 -. .. . S THE EDITOR'S NOTEBOOK with ANDREW GROSSMAN A look at the big news events this week and how important they really are. Conveniently ranked from one to10. 3B THE JUNK DRAWER Find out what you should be talking about at the frat party this weekend. And what you shouldn't. 4B TALK ABOUT A DOUBLE MAJOR How students with children handle the University and how the Universityhandles students with children. 7B ARCHITECTURE WITH HEART Why the obvious metaphor about the new Cardiovascular Center is better left unsaid. 8B SANTA DOESN'T FLY NORTHWEST One student's brush with death 39,000 feet above the Pacific. 04 4 MIDEAST PEACE TALKS condi Rice announces plansfor three-party talks with the Israelis and the Palestinians. Don't look for this to come up when a group of radical anti-Israel protesters picket the Ameri- 0 can Movementfor Israel's firstmasswmeeting. BARACKING OUT Thejunior senatorlfrom Illinoisformed a com- mittee to explorea 2008 presidential bid. Your can bet that the residents ofla certain house 10 in chappequa, N.Y. area little more nervous 0 today. COME ON BABY, TRUST ME The University stopped considering race in adwissions decisions, but an applicant's race won't be hidden frow the counselors 10 conducting a "holistic" evaluation. 0 KEEP YOUR HEAD The hanging of Saddam Hussien looked humane compared with the execution ofthis half-brother. The mistakes, as the Iraqi govern- 10 ment calls them, could have larger implications 5 for sectariarttensions in the region. Iheart you Id's OverYurHa rchitecture Column 2 0 ICED OUT Lif e got a littlemore exciting this weekwhen global warmingsubsided and the resulting ice turned roads into obstacle courses. The storm t0 has reportedly taken out powerin 200,000 homes andcaused more than 30 deaths. SUPERHEROS DO EXIST A man in England intervened on behalflof police, using a samurai sword to disable the suspect officers were trying to arrest. There's a to iarrant outlfor the vigilante. PERSON OF THE WEEK EVO MORALES rule 4: We lost the Rose Bowl. Lose the com- memorative shirt. rule 5: Weed dulls the senses you need most when you're drunk. rule 6: It doesn't matter if you're wearing matching gear, jogging around campus is not an acceptable group activity. Do it alone. - E-mail rule submissions to TheStatement@umich.edu. His modest sweaters became all the rage across Bolivia dur- ing his 2005 presidential campaign, but President Evo Morales's policies have been less chic. In a country with deep ties to the coca leaf, the raw ingredient in cocaine, Morales has made U.S. drug warriors bristle by increasing legal production and encouraging new coca-based products - everything from coca bread to coca toothpaste to an "Eva Cola" soft drink. His rhetoric may have earned him brownie points with buddy and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, but it won t do much to quell the violent protests in the streets of Santa Cruz. With two dead, more than 70 injured and critics predict- ing that Bolivia could follow Zimbabwe's road, Evo Cola couldn't make its market debut soon enough. n conversation, architects generally have a hearty appetite for likening buildings to human anatomy - even structures with- out the conveniently evident symbolism that a central cardiac clinic embodies. Buildings are the organs of a city, and parks often act as its lungs. Within the city, structures are routinely and surgically transplanted from location to location. Vibrant cities are healthy, but those in decline are fibrous tumors. Corridors are dubbed spines instead of hallways:Facades are called skins or exterior membranes. And, of course, buildings could notstand without their structural skeletons. One new campus building, the University Cardiovascular Center, which is slated to open this summer, refuses to acknowledge its obvi- ous metaphor. The symbolism is clearly not lost on those involved with the project. In its press release about the building, the University Health System described the clinical care facility as rising from the "heart" of the University's medical campus and connected to other hos- pital buildings "via artery-like passages." Dur- ing construction, more beds were added to the plan to meet the "surging" demand of patients combating cardiovascular disease. The archi- tects Shepley Bulfinch Richardson and Abbott subtly fuel the metaphor by locating the clin- ic's Healing Garden in the heart of the build- ing. Yet these symbolic hints were found only through careful searching. They're relatively subtle compared to other Universitybbuildings, which rush to proclaim their clever architec- tural symbolism. The Big House is hailed as a monument to tradition. Weill Hall is a triumphant gateway to campus. The new School of Public Health STUDENT PARENTS outsidec pace with From page 6B won't to Administrators are continuing to look for ways to further subsidize FINIS the cost of child care. Arme For example, McAlpine said that the Con over the coming year she plans to Issues ha investigate the possibility of creat- cially cc ing low-interest, interest-deferred bureauct child care loans - similar to a normal potential student loan - to help decrease out- sades for of-pocket costs for student-parents. sentMay This would allow parents to repay the Susan K loans when they are further along in thather t their careers and have a larger flow of of the Stt income. Plus, their children would be recomm older, possibly in elementary school Some by this time, making child care costs ing mo dramatically lower at the time they rooms i would have to pay back the loans. been vir Gray's subsidy of about $1,800 coy- Other ers Andrew's child care for about two Effort months each semester. She and her chase 1 husband have to come up with funds insurance to cover the rest of it - all on a single dependet salary - the lowest they've had in Kauft almost sevenyears of marriage. HealthC A higher subsidy could allevi- ing that1 ate their strained pocketbooks, but extendin administrators and researchers say throught A schematic drawing of the University Cardiovascular Center, situated in the heart of the medical campus. building is a "crossroads" and a "tower." The new Business School campus will be state-of- the-art, equipped with the best in technology and communication. North Quad Residence Hall willbe on interactive learning experience. When the Cardiovascular Center opens it may be an outstanding clinic, but it will not have an architectural identity as powerful as other University buildings. The facility will have neither a snappy tag- line nor a catchy name. The clinic has decided to pass on advertising and focus on quality. It was a good move. But how could they resist? Why is the Car- diovascular Center not wholeheartedly adver- tised as a heart? The cardiac analogy is just too obvious and too distracting. It is the joke that is too cheesy. It is the end of a horrible movie where the main character explicitly tells the audience the conspicuous subplot. Exploit- ing the heart metaphor would have been an in-your-face punch line. The architects and University Health System are letting the Car- diovascular Center speak for itself. Placed at the awkward corner of Observa- tory and Ann streets, the center appears short and unassuming. This is because of the rapid, topographic decline that surrounds the Hill area and makes its way down to Fuller Road throughout the Medical Campus. To put the site in perspective: the Detroit Observatory, currently adjacent to Alice Lloyd, was con- structed in 1854 atop the highest point in the immediate area and surrounded by low fields. The portion of the Cardiovascular Center facing the street is a valid attempt to reconcile this plunge. Although certainly an improve- ment over the rambling stairway that previously negotiated the hill,the entrance to the new facil- ity remains slightly uncomfortable with its top- ographic constraints.A rather crazy fan-shaped overhang projects over the pedestrian entrance while a spiraling ramp directs cars to the park- ing garage below ground. These elements of the building's south side struggle to find an aesthet- ic unity for their disparate functions. Sinking below the views of the street, however, the rest of the facilityiswonderfully designed. Nestled at the foot of the hill,'the clinic is quietly dignified. The western portion of the building is covered with a long, curved glass surface interrupted only by a cylindrical, glass atrium. This elevation faces an elegantly land- scaped exterior garden to provide solace for both patients and visitors. This simple archi- tecture is devoid of frivolous, symbolic lan- guage, yet rich with straightforward solutions. Most ofthe building's positive features areless apparent because they are less concerned with architecture and more related to providing quality care. Sometimes, the best architecture is silent to the worldbecauseitspeaks directlytoourhearts. The Cardiovascular Center does not dwell onits appearance or its architectural image. Hum- bly efficient, the facility is reaching completion without the hype associated with many other cutting-edge University buildings. The Univer- sity Health System and the architects are allow- ing the buildingto speak with its actions and not its words. It's the perfect approach, considering that those admitted to the clinic will care about the building's abstract analogy only if the doc- tors give them the chance to worry about some- thing otherthan getting well.@0 srents in expired in May 2005. Lester Monts, 001. senior vice provost for academic unfortu- affairs, commissioned yet another 1. committee to continue their work. a neigh- But after May 2007, when that com- program mittee is scheduled to disband, the dividual University has no concrete plans to tudents, implement the rest of the 2001 task nmunity force's recommendations. home to Thebureaucraticchurningshaveno day care place in the daily interactions of most ace their student-parents' families. Andrew is ers and tooyoung,tooconcernedwithThomas or longer the Tank Engine to fret about the oper- st of cen- ating hours of his daycare center. Gray is too busy reading textbooks, cooking Universi- dinner and monitoring her son's asth- ovide an matic symptoms to worry about the forkids, installation of lactation rooms in Uni- ent versity buildings. Their lives revolve at at the around aworld ofcartoons,smallbicy- rut Cou- cles and picture books. ugh the When asked what her family does private- for fun, Gray paused, puzzled. She another asked Brian, who asked Andrew, van and "What do we do for fun?" After con- e money templating the question and sharing a beyond burst of giggles with her son and hus- uture of band, Gray answered. "We can't afford fun," she said. mandate "But we have fun somehow."* CONT'd: Miles above the ocean, flames and prayers AIRPLANE FIRE From page 8B The second announcement had to do with our meal service. As the pilot explained, Anchorage was quite a bit closer to our current location than Detroit, so to make sure we received all the meals we paid for, they were going to have to serve breakfast several hours ahead of schedule. Northwest was sorry for any minor inconvenience this might have caused us. The good news, from my per- spective, was that the pilot had some reason to believe the plane would be landing after all. The bad news was that we were still well over an hour from dry land - and judging by the precarious the stewardesses were probably angle that we were flying at, I distracted by frightened guests was not altogether convinced and preparing for a likely crash that we were going to make it to landing, and I could probably get a paved runway before touching away with disregarding the nor- down. mal rules. So I decided to violate After savoring every last bite of my SkyChefs's French toast breakfast, I began preparing the myself for a crash landing in the It turns out Pacific. I diligently reviewed the emer- Boeing 747 is a gency landing card to figure out1 the precise procedure for surviv- pretty durable ing a water-based landing and checked to make sure that there aircraft was, in fact, a life preservation device under my seat cushion. There was. It then occurred to me that the the "Fasten Seatbelt" sign and north Pacific might be rather cold retrieve my coat and scarf from the in late December. I reasoned that overhead compartment. I did not want to catch a chill while wait- ing for the rescuers to come. I also took this opportunity to move to a seat in an exit row. A careful read- ing of the crash-landing-proce- dure card had revealed that it was likely to be quite crowded on the inflatable rafts, and I reasoned it would be a wise move to make sure I was first in line for a seat. I did not want to be too uncomfortable waiting for the rescuers to come. It was Christmas day, after all. But the rescuers never had to come. Somehow the pilot man- aged to get the plane to Ted Stevens International Airport, where we were greeted by a fleet of fire trucks and ambulances. I think Northwest press- ganged every available bus driv- er in Anchorage into service that morning to shuttle me and 150 other Northwest airlines refugees to the hotel. We spent Christmas day at the anchorage Hilton waiting for a new plane - one with engines that did not explode into flame - to come and take us the rest of the way to Detroit. The other passengers seemed less than amused that they had to spend Christmas in Alaska. Because I was nearly prepared to go down in flames to avoid a few of my parents' guests, avoid- ing Christmas without having to die in the north pacific was pre- haps the greatest gift I received this holiday season. Thank you, Northwest Airlines. - Walter Nowinski of annual increases to keep h rising costs, award amounts go up anytime soon. HING THE JOB (MAYBE) d with Courant's mandate, nmittee on Student Parent ad remarkable success, espe- onsidering the University's ratic quagmire that has l to swallow earnest cru- r improvement. In a memo '31 lastyear, committeechair aufmann proudly reported team had tackled allbut nine adent Parent Task Forces' 25 endations. problems, like breast-feed- thers' need for lactation n campus buildings, had tually solved. s proved more difficult. s to allow all students to pur- University-sponsored health e for themselves and their ntshadhitaformidablebarrier. mann's memo quoted Chief Officer Robert Winfield say- the University had explored ig health insurance available the MichiganStudentAssem- bly - already an option students can select - to students' dependents. But the small number of students who purchase it, coupled with the phenomenon of adverse selection (in which those who buy insurance are often sick or expect to be sick), squelched M-CARE's willingness to bid on the extended contract. The University is still considering options to address this need. There weresomevictories. Through a new program, administrators dra- matically reduced one of the most seri- ous problems: alarge deficiency in child care availability for younger children. Outside of the child care center in the hospital (which is rarely used by student-parents because hospital staff are given priority), there were only 12 part-time spots for toddlers in 2001. There were no spots for infants in any of the four child care programs run by RackhamGraduateSchoolortheDivi- sionofStudentAffairs. This deficitleft many families - especially single-par- ent families with infants - in a bind. Using money from a U.S. Depart- ment of Education grant, the Work/ Life Program and the Center for the Education of Women launched the Child Care Access Means Pa School program in October 2 The program, despite its: nate name, works pretty well It's based on the model of borhood babysitter. The1 equips, trains and licenses in care providers. These are s student spouses and cor members who open their 1 six to 12 children as a mini- center. It allows parents to pl children (especially toddl infants) in a smaller settingfc hours for a fraction of the cos ter-based care. There are 12 homes in the I ty network. Together they pr additional108spaces available increasing capacity by 25 perc The grant money ran ou end of September of 2005,1b rant allocated funds throe provost's office to carry the home program through two years. McAlpine. Sulli others are working to secur to continue the program Fall 2007. As of now, the f the program is uncertain. COSPI's three-year i