FRESARD: QUELLING THE DATE
AUCTION CONTROVERSY
OPINION, PAGE 4

THE VIRONG MESSAGE SLUMPING CAGERS FACE TOUGH
TEST IN COLUMBUS
'MESSENGER' FAILS TO DELIVER ARTS, PAGE5 SPORTS, PAGE 9

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www.michigandaily.com

uesdayFebruary 6 20

0


Uma Thurman to star
in film of prof's novel

Select Termn

ST UDENT GOVERNMENT
REGISTERING
CHANGE,
After working for two years to reform the registration date system,
LSA-SG is almost ready to declare victory
By Emily AngellI Daily Staff Reporter


ci
go
TI
bettE
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afrai
silve
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TI
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Thur
is b
Kasi
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Life
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TI
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Gem of'U' age 17. Her friend was not so
fortunate. As the protagonist
reative writing enters middle age, the shoot-
ing begins to come back to
es to Hollywood haunt her, and she is forced to
deal with the consequences.
By Emily Barton The movie rights to "The
DailyStaffReporter Life before Her Eyes" were
purchased about five years
hey say the book is always ago, Kasischke said, but she
er than the movie. didn't find out Uma Thurman
reative Writing Prof would be starring until last
*a Kasischke, though, isn't May.
d of what she'll see on the The film's release will be
r screen when "In Bloom" the culmination of a long pro-
siers cess that left her wondering
fall. if the movie would ever be
he film, made, she said.
ingUma She said she went to the
rman, movie set with her son while
ased on they were filming at Yale Uni-
schke's versity.
I, "The "That's when it seemed
Before KASISCHKE real," Kasischke said of the
Eyes." visit to Yale.
he novel tells the story of a On the set, Kasischke and
ear-old woman who was her son Jack met Thurman
ed in a school shooting at and director Vadim Perel-

man, whose previous credits
include "House of Sand and
Fog."
Kasischke has made at least
one fellow creative writing
professor proud.
Uma Thurman smiles from
the wallofProf. KeithTaylor's
office in Angell Hall.
"There's Jack and Uma," he
said proudly, describing how
Kasischke sent him the pic-
ture after she and her son met
the famous actress.
Taylor first met Kasischke
when she came to the Univer-
sity as an undergraduate stu-
dent back in the early 1980s.
"She gives a very differ-
ent first impression from her
writing," he said, describing
Kasischke as "bouncy."
A reader might not get that
light-heartediimpression from
her work.
"Her work itself is very
dark," Taylor said. "It's kind
See AUTHOR, page 7


THINK SPRING

LSA Student Government has While LSA isn't the only Univer-
finally made good on campaign sity college that has faced problems
promises to reform the system by with its registration system, the
which registration appointments sheer size of its student population
are allotted. - the University's largest - has
Right now, students are placed in placed its registration process
groups based on the number of cred- under more scrutiny.
its they have earned. Each group The new system, proposed by
contains students within a15-credit LSA-SG, will increase the amount
range. For example, a student with of credit groups, assigning registra-
68 credits would be assigned to the tion times based more on the num-
same group as a student with 56 ber of credits students have than
credits. Within each group, times luck.
are assigned randomly. The new system will also elimi-
That means a first-semester nate what the Office of the Registrar
junior could end up with a regis- calls the random loser phenomenon
tration time 10 hours earlier than a - a relic from the days before inter-
second-semester junior. And in the net registration, when students had
race for seats in a popular class, a to register for classes in person.
few hours can make all the differ- "The problem is that if you were
ence. initially assigned a registration
When students register for class- appointment at a time you had
es for the winter 2008 term, though, class, you would automatically be
that will change. dropped into the next lowest brack-
Administrators agreed inDecem- et," LSA-SG President Joanna Slott
ber to overhaul the system that gen- said.
erates LSA students' registration In December, the random loser
appointments. phenomenon was dealt a serious
MOCK ROCK 200 Y
Wolverines ape
Mario, lions
and Mary Sue

blow by University Provost Teresa
Sullivan who voiced her support for
the LSA-SG resolution.
Following Sullivan's announce-
ment, the Academic Affairs Advi-
sory Committee, Senate Advisory
Committee on University Affairs
and the Faculty Assembly said they
would back the proposal.
"The resolution was passed with
overwhelming support," Slott said.
"All of the policy is complete, and
we are now in the programming
stages."
LSA-SG has been working to
change the systemsince 2005, when
it passed a resolution that called for
a tripling in the amount of credit
brackets. With more credit brack-
ets, students are guaranteed a reg-
istration date that is more reflective
of their academic standing.
The official number of new brack-
ets has not yet been decided.
The 2008 start time is a product
of the necessary adjustments to the
Office of the Registrar's software,
Slott said.

A pedestrian trudges past a mural of flowers outside Papa John's Pizza on the corner of East Huron and Divi-
sion Streets last night as a cold spell slammed muchof the northern United States, including Ann Arbor.
UNIVERSITY RESEARCH
'U' leading bid to
solve autism puzzle

A
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of pe
TI
appr
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the a
varie
like
and
M
fund
hono

Lhlees dnce, Reese, a Wolverine wrestler
thletesdance hdied i997.After three
sing to raise years, the Jeff Reese Schol-
arship Fund met its goal of
oney for Mott $100,000. Since then, pro-
ceeds from the event have
been donated to the C.S.
By COURTNEY Mott Children's Hospital.
RATKOWIAK Among the celebrity judg-
Daily Sports Writer es were Michigan football
players Shawn Crable, Ter-
strange array of cos- rance Taylor and Jake Long;
ed characters stood in Michigan football coach
mi-circle in front of a Lloyd Carr and his wife Lau-
.ed Hill Auditorium last rie; and Dominique Duey,
t. The costumes includ- a former Mott patient who
University President charmed the crowd witi her
y Sue Coleman, video consistent 10 ratings of acts.
e stars Mario and Luigi, Michigan alumni Jason
r Tom Cruise and a piece and Randy Sklar, hosts
pperoni pizza. of ESPN's "Cheap Seats"
he crowd cheered in who also guest starred as
eciation of the partici- conjoined twins on ABC's
s in Mock Rock 2007, "Grey's Anatomy," emceed
innual Michigan athlete the event.
ty show featuring acts "Thank God we're here in
lip-syncing, dancing AnnArbor,whereit'sbalmy,"
dressing in drag. they said during their open-
ock Rock began as a ing monologue, referring to
raiser for a scholarship the single-digit weather that
ring the memory of Jeff seemed to have little effect

11 universities
band together to
build database
By KATIE L. WOODS
Daily StaffReporter
The University is taking
the lead in a new program
designed to study and uncov-
er the mysteries of autism.
Catherine Lord, director
of the University's Autism
and Communication Disor-
der center, hopes that a new
research approach will come
closer to finding a cure for
the cognitive disorder that
affects between one and
three out of every 500 chil-
dren, according to Center for
Disease Control estimates.
Lord is heading a team of
11 universities, including the
University of Michigan, in
the Simons Simplex Collec-

tion Autism Research Ini-
tiative - a study that aims
to create a database of DNA
samples and personal histo-
ries from 3,000 patients from
the ages of five to 18 with
autism. It hopes to discover
the root causes of the range
of neurological disorder that
fall under the umbrella of
autism.
The database bank will
allow researchers unprec-
edented access to multiple
patient histories in efforts to
find patterns, Lord said.
As of now, the project is
still in its beginning stages.
Only about 20 samples have
been collected at the Univer-
sity's clinic.
The initiative is expected
to cost $10 million in its first
two years.
"The broader goal is the
try to enlist the help of all the
families (affected by autism)
across the U.S. to partici-

A CONSORTIUM
The other universities work-
ing to develop a database of
genetic information about
autism patients
* Yale University
" Harvard University
" Boston University
" Columbia University
" Washington University
" University of Washington
" University of Illinois at Chicago
" Emory University
" McGill University
" UCLA
pate, so when we find things
of interest we can go back to
them to get further samples
or find out more about height
or other aspects that could be
linked to autism," Lord said.
A database called the
Autism Genetic Resource
Exchange already maintains a
See AUTISM, page 7

ANGEL A CESERE/Daily
Members of the men's crewteam lift LSA freshman Luke Rosier
during their performance of The Lion King's "Circle of Life" at Mock
heck inHil Auditorinmlast ight.
on the event's attendance. the crowd. Their lip-sync
"Wear sunscreen. Lather tribute to New Kids on the
it down in the shape of a Block was complete with
goose-down parka." sleeveless vests and'90s boy-
The men's swimming and band moves. They followed
diving team was the first to it with a bathing suit-bar-
earn drawn-out cheers from See MOCK ROCK, page 7


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