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Ann Arbor Michigan
wwwmichigandalycom
Thursday February1,2007
Say no to
pro-Prop 2
survey,'U'
tells profs
Suit that
began it
all ends
Group was trying
to smoke out
affirmative action
programs
By BRIAN TENGEL
Daily StaffReporter
An anti-affirmative action
group that filed a lawsuit
against the University has
distributed surveys to faculty
to gather information about
the University's current and
futureaffirmative action poli-
cies.
The surveys were distribut-
ed by Toward a Fair Michigan
which is associated with the
organization that coordinated
the pro-Proposal 2 campaign
last fall.
Representatives from the
group said the survey will
help document what affirma-
tive action polices around the
state look like now that the
consideration of race, gender
and national origin has been
banned.
Administrators are urging
faculty not to participate in
the survey.
In an e-mail message sent
to faculty and staff last week,
University Provost Teresa
Sullivan advised recipients
of the survey to refrain from
participating because the
group is suing the Univer-
sity.
Toward a Fair Michigan
filed suit to get the University
to comply immediately with
Proposal 2, but dropped the
case on Tuesday.
University spokeswoman
Kelly Cunningham elaborated
on Provost Sullivan's caution-
ary e-mail.
"The concern was that this
third-party was suingthe Uni-
versity on an issue directly
related to the subject matter
of the survey," Cunningham
said. "And the survey was
structured so that responses
would be recorded 'on behalf
of' the University. It was for
these reason that the office of
the General Counsel recom-
mended that recipients should
not respond."
Cunningham said the Uni-
versity doesn't have a general
policy for dealing with third-
party surveys.
William Allen, a Michigan
State University professor
and the group's co-founder of
Toward a Fair Michigan, said
the survey is meant to ensure
that institutions are comply-
ing with Proposal 2 and to
generate discussion about
affirmative action.
"Our own research has
already established that much
can be done to further equal
opportunity compatibly with
the new legal reality," Allen
said. "We believe it of value,
however, to provide full reas-
surance based on the actual
record of practices in place
and pending.",
The survey asks partici-
pants to discuss the institu-
tion's history with affirmative
action, if the institution is
currently involved in litiga-
tion and to indicate plans for
reviewing affirmative action
policies.
It is 12 questions long, and
requires a password, which
was included in the e-mails
sent to the prospective partici-
pants.
Allen said some people have
surreptitiously attained the
password and taken the exam.
But this is of no conse-
quence, he said, because only
the surveys completed by
the invited participants will
count.
Suit against'U'
admissions policy
settled after 10
years in court
By WALTER NOWINSKI
Daily Staff Reporter
A decade-long court battle
over the University's affir-
mative action policies ended
yesterday when a district
court dismissed Gratz v. Bol-
linger after a settlement was
reached.
Under the terms of the
settlement, the University
will pay Jennifer Gratz and
Patrick Hamacher $10,000
each for incidental expenses
related to the litigation. In
turn, they will drop all claims
against the University.
The University will not
pay Gratz and Hamacher any
damages.
Yesterday's settlement
brings to an end what was
perhaps the most important
court case in the University's
190-year history. By appear-
ing in headlines nationwide,
it helped define the University
as one of the foremost cham-
pions of affirmative action.
In 1997, after being denied
admission to the University,
Gratz and Hamacher filed
a lawsuit claiming that the
University's race-based affir-
mative action policies caused
them to be unfairly rejected
because they were white.
Then-University President
Lee Bollinger passionately
defended the University's con-
sideration of race andcommit-
ted the University to a court
battle that would eventually
make its way to the Supreme
Court.
Because California voters
had banned affirmative action
programs a year earlier, the
court challenge refocused the
national debate over affirma-
live action on the University
of Michigan.
By the time the U.S. Dis-
trict Court for the Eastern
District of Michigan finally
heard oral arguments on the
case in November 2000, the
case had already garnered a
considerable amount of public
attention.
Numerous corporations,
unions and civic and religious
organizations lined up behind
the University in support of
affirmative action. When the
University filed its Supreme
Court briefs in February
2003, more than 300 outside
organizations had joined the
University in its defense of
affirmative action policies.
On Dec. 13, 2000, Judge
Patrick Duggan of the dis-
trict court ruled that the Uni-
versity's admissions policies
between 1995 and 1998 were
unconstitutional but upheld
its admissionspolicies for1999
and 2000. Bollinger called
this verdict "an unequivocal
ruling in our favor" and said
the court affirmed that con-
sidering race was "completely
justified."
But the case was not to end
there.
The University continued
to consider race in admissions
as the Gratz case made its way
though the appeals process
and court after court refused
to issue an injunction prohib-
iting the University from con-
sidering race.
In December 2002, the
Supreme Court decided to
hear the Gratz case as well
as a similar case, Grutter v.
Bollinger, challenging the
University of Michigan Law
School admissions policies.
At the time, many speculat-
ed that the conservative-lean-
ing Supreme Court might rule
against the University, deliver-
ing a devastating blow to affir-
mative actionprograms.
Any questions about the
See GRATZ, page 7A
Engineering professors Stephen loather (right) and Michael Liemoho (left) with a glohe of Mars,
The two men are memhers ofUniversity-based teams competing forgrantsto send probes to explore
the Red Planet.
RED PLANET
RUMBLE
APPETITE FOR CONSUMPTION
Two'U'engineering
teams compete for NASA
grant to explore Mars
atmosphere
By PAUL BLUMER
Daily StaffReporter
They work in the same campus build-
ing. They have the same goal. And now
Stephen Bougher and Michael Liemohn
are competing against each other for a
multimillion-dollar grant from NASA.
Bougher and Liemohn are members of
two separate University teams, each with
a directive from NASA to build instru-
ments to study the upper atmosphere of
Mars.
The competition began about nine
months ago, with over 20 teams vying for
NASA funding. NASA selected two of the
teams to receive initial funding of $2 mil-
lion. Both of them happen to be from the
University.
The teams have until late 2007 to refine
their proposals, when NASA will select
one tobe part of a $475 million project to
design and build the instruments slated to
orbit Mars in late 2011.
Bougher and Liemohn are both
researchers in the Atmospheric, Oceanic
and Space Sciences department.
Bougher's project - headed by Alan
Stern at Southwest Research Institute
in Boulder, Colo. - is dubbed The Great
Escape.
Liemohn is part of the Mars Atmo-
sphere and Volatile Evolution team, which
is led by Bruce Jakosky at University of
Colorado at Boulder.
The instruments will gather data on
the structure and dynamics of the upper
atmosphere of the Red Planet. Orbiting at
more than 100 kilometers above the sur-
face, the instruments will measure the
effect of charged particles from the sun
- called solar wind - on the atmosphere.
"Both proposals are quite similar,"
Bougher said.
No matter who wins, the scientists said
the mission will benefit the University.
Because two University teams are com-
peting for the funding, the ultimate deci-
sion will "bring something to Michigan
no matter what," Bougher said.
The University will receive $4-5 mil-
lion. Both teams also include graduate
students.
The mission is scheduled for late 2011,
aiming for a window of time when the
paths of Earth and Mars are sufficiently
aligned to enable the launch and sub-
sequent orbit. The window opens every
two years.
See MARS, page 7A
Mike Powers looks for a new pair of shoes at Launch Board Shop on South
University Avenue near Church Street.
Date auction courts controversy
Fundraising effort
draws ire from
0 administration
By JESSICAVOSGERCHIAN
Daily StaffReporter
Want to eat burritos with
a likely first-round NFL draft
pick? Enchiladas with a cal-
endar model?
The members of Project
Suyana, a group that raises
money for health care in Peru,
hope you'll pay bigbucks for a
Mexican dinner with students
ranging from defensive end
Lamarr Woodley to Michelle
Rosado, who appears in a
calendar called the "Girls of
Michigan."
Project Suyana will sell
dates with twenty students
at an auction tomorrow night
in an effort to raise money for
a Peruvian women's shelter.
Attendees will bid on dinner
at Salsarita's Fresh Cantina,
a new Mexican restaurant on
East Liberty Street, with one
of 20 men and women at 7:30
p.m. tonight in the ballroom
of the Michigan Union.
The University's website
for student organizations
says a date or "slave" auction
"devalues a human being to
the level and merchandise"
and "has the appearance of
actual slave auctions."
Event organizers said they
were unaware of the advisory
policy. Project Suyana found-
er Yasmin El-Sayed said she
doesn't see anything wrong
with the auction.
The University's advisory
guidelines also stress the
risk of sexual assault when
someone is forced to go out
with someone who might be
a stranger.
The statement on date auc-
tions was added to the index
within the last few years was
taken from another school's
policy almost word for word,
said Susan Wilson, the Uni-
versity's director for student
activities and leadership.
The policy came out of a
See AUCTION, page 7A
Members of Students Supporting Affirmative Action celebrate the U.S.
Supreme Court's ruling in two affirmative action cases during a rally on
the Diag on June 23, 2003.
BIDDING FOR LOVE
Men up for auction: Women up for auction:
0 Michitar foofball player Lumart
Boodlep bpMichigancheerleaderAriel Haskins
0 Michigan Student AssemblyRep. 0 Arab StudentAssociation member
Tony Saunders Dina Ai-oburi
0 Basketball player Ron Coleman 0 Girls of Michigan Calendar model
Michelle Rosado
0 Law student Josh Tetrick
0 LSA sophomore Caitlin Cohan
d nterfruternity Council President
lured r7errch 0 [SA juniorAlisa Sumrkin
0 Mr. Engineer 2007 Brian Posfer 0 Project Suaua member Preeli pyer
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