WHO'S THE BIG MAN ON CAMPUS AT CONGRESSIONAL HIGH? OP-ED, PAGE 5A BEST FLICKS OF '06 CAGERS FALL TO NO.2 BADGERS IN MADISON DAILY ARTS PICKS THE YEAR'S BEST MOVIES THE B-SIDE SPORTS, PA6E 8A i I1 i iC4 l Ann ArborMichigan www.michigandaily.com Thursday, January 25, 2007 N.0 Second in an occasional series about the University's connection to the Iraq war 'U' gets low marks on prolific profs Administrators blast recently released rankings system By BRIAN TENGEL Daily StaffReporter There's a new player in the rankings game, but University administrators aren't paying much attention. Academic Analytics -a company of faculty and researchers from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and Educational Direc- tories Unlimited, Inc. - developed a new ranking system for doctoral programs that purports to mea- sure universities purely based on numerical data - ignoring factors like reputation and prestige. First released in 2004, the Fac- ulty Scholarly Productivity Index uses an algorithm to measure the productivity of faculty by consider- ing the number of books and jour- nal articles they publish. Awards and grants also factor into the equa- tion. So far, the company has only released its rankings for 2004 and 2005. For years, they were private. University of Michigan adminis- trators said the University did not actively participate in either study but was still included in the rank- ings. In a portion of the 2005 index, which appeared publicly in the Chronicle of Higher Education for the first time earlier this month, the University placed 27th in a ranking of 50 large research universities See STUDY, page 7A ROTC cadets (from left to right) Alex Tisdall, Steven Taylor, David Millikan, David Young and Patrick Doyle will be commissioned as second lieutenants in the U.S. Army after graduating from the University. BEINGALLTHEY CANBE The University's rank among 50 large research universities in a new study based on the amount ol work published by faculty Michigan State University's rank University of Wisconsin at Madison's rank University of California at San Francisco's rank (Tied with the California Institute of Technology) ROTC members grapple with likely deployment after graduation By TARYN HARTMAN Daily StaffReporter They sit fully uniformed in Thursday classes. In the warmer months, they rappel down the walls of the School of Dentistry. If you're in the Central Campus Rec- reation Building early enough - 7 a.m. early - you'll see them com- pleting physical training. These students, members of the University's Army Reserve Officer Training Corps, will likely face one of the most dangerous post- graduation job assignments of any: a tour in Iraq or Afghanistan. Some cadets come from strong military backgrounds. Others have family members who have served or serve now. Most share the same fear -of combat: not for their own lives, but for the lives of the 18- and 19- year-old enlisted privates who will be placed in the care of these new lieutenants. WHAT'S NEXT The immediate post-graduate plans for a typical ROTC cadet look like this: after receiving his "There's no bullets around here. There's no explosions. We don't have to go to sleep in a hole in the ground. Can you imagine bombs going off where you live, 24 hours a day?" - LSA senior David Young, an Army ROTC cadet who could be deployed to Iraq as early as April 2008 or her degree, the cadet is com- missioned as a second lieutenant in the Army. After another year of training, the newly commissioned officer reportsto his or her respec- tive unit and be placed in charge of a platoon of 30 to 40 enlistees. The unit typically deploys within a year, LSA junior Alex Tisdall said. "It gets real real fast when you've got 40 lives on your shoul- ders," Tisdall, an ROTC cadet, said of being thrust into the responsi- bilities of a military officer almost immediately after college. This fate looms large for LSA senior David Young, who said his earliest possible date of deployment to Iraqis sometime in April of 2008. "There's close to a 100-percent chance that I will be deployed there," said Young, who holds the rank of battalion commander, the highest post a cadet can attain. Young said cadets who graduat- ed from the University as recently as last April are already in Iraq. The final decision about whether a cadet's unit will be deployed to the region depends on the unit's deployment schedule and the nature of its job. Young, a future infantry officer, said he hopes to be assigned to the 82nd Airborne division. One of his high school class- mates, who graduated with him in 2005, is already member of the 82nd Airborne and is currently preparing for his second tour in Iraq, he said. Young said the roadside bombs, suicide bombers and improvised explosive devices worry him more than direct fire. "A lot of people that I've talked to (who have been in Iraq) have been blown up," he said. RETAINING THE RECRUITS The recruitment numbers for the University's ROTC program haven't changed significantly since the United States first attacked Iraq in early 2003, said Lt. Col. Wayne Doyle, an assistant professor of military science. "I always thought (enrollment) would have (declined)," he said. "But it hasn't seemed to matter that much." The number of recruits has even gone up slightly over the past two years. About 75 cadets are enrolled in the ROTC program, according to Master Sgt. Karol Clampitt, the recruiting operations officer. This is a slight increase from the 62 cadets enrolled last semester and the 54 during the 2005-2006 aca- demic year. "They have a high probability of ending up in Iraq or Afghani- stan or Kuwait," Doyle said. "They pretty much know what they're getting themselves into." Talyor said the Army is making packages of retention incentives that cover a cadet's tuition and fees, as well as an allowance for bookseachsemesterand amonthly stipend, more lucrative to students who need financial assistance. While these benefit packages draw some students - Young included - to the ROTC program, other cadets seem genetically des- tined for a military career. THE FAMILY FACTOR The United States had been in Iraq for a year when LSA junior See RECRUITS, page 3A REMEMBERING A DREAM In last 10 years, tuition in mren MichiganNewsService 3000 state up nearly 39 percent " c25000 While median family of-state student in Virginia. 20000 "It's a large chunk of change," Fletcher r 15000- income rose only said. V) At schools across the country, the cost 22 percent statewide of tuition has been rising steadily for 5000 years. The University hasn't escaped this 0 0 M By JAKE HOLMES trend.M Daily StaffReporter The National Center for Public Policy ~ 0 f- 0 v Oq and Higher Education found that between LE No one knows the cost of college like 1994 and 2004, tuition at four-year col- LSA sophomore Charlie Fletcher. He's leges increased by 39 percent. During that IS pursuing a triple major in Spanish, lin- time, median family income rose just 22 guistics as well as anthropology, taking 18 percent in the state. 2 LSA freshman Colleen Long walks through the exhibit "Gandhi, King, Ikeda: A Leg- acy of Building Peace" in Palmer Commons on Tuesday. The exhibit was sponsored hy the Unrvesity's Value Creation Society, a Buddhist organization. State deficit threatens 'U' 0 State could face $800 million shortfall Fromstaffand wire reports About a dozen mayors, police chiefs, university presidents and hospital representatives on Wednesday said the state's budget problems must be solved without more cuts. Sam Singh, East Lansing mayor pro-tem and president and CEO of the Michigan Nonprofit Asso- ciation, said citizens need to realize that tax cuts and the state's eco- nomic slowdown have forced less spending in areas that affect their quality of life. Since 2003, the state has been trying to cut its way out of a budget deficit. The budget shortfalls hit the University particularly hard: the state slashed the University's funding by 13.7 percent between 2003 and 2006. In response to the cuts, the Uni- versity suspended hiring in many departments, cut some courses, increased class sizes and short- ened the hours of the library system among other measures. Last summer, the state increased the University's funding by 3 per- See CUTS, page 7A credits every single semester and working as a technician to pay for tuition. Fletcher came to Ann Arbor instead of his first choice, the University of Virginia, because as a Michigan resident his tuition was inexpensive. He would have paid upwards of $35,000 in tuition as an out- Though tuition is rising, the University hasn't let tuition hikes outpace financial aid. Associate Provost Phil Hanlon said that while tuition increased 5.5 percent this school year, the University gave out 7.7 percent more financial aid. Because it's See TUITION, page 7A 9~ 6 3 - 0 - TODAY'S HI: 14 WEATHER LO: 2 GOT A NE WS TIP? Call 734-763-2459 or e-mail news amichgandaily.com and let us know. COMING FRIDAY The decline (and the possible rise) ofva University co-op NEWS INDEX NEWS .......... Vol. CXhV,SNo. 03 SUDOKU (02007 The Michigan Daily michigondaily.com OPINION .2A OP- ED. .3A SPORTS .4A ARTS.... ............. ....... 5A ................ .8 A .....................1 B 4