The scandalous stories behind the namesakes of campus buildings. The Statement.
e Jidigan BuIly
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Wednesday, September12, 2007
michigandaily.com
SRace to
stay on this
year s apps
Administrators say officers
will ignore factors
banned by Prop 2
By KIRSTY MCNAMARA
Daily StaffReporter
University officials have decided to continue mak-
ing race, gender and national origin information vis-
ible to admissions officers.
In November, voters approved Proposal 2, a ballot
initiative that banned the use of affirmative action by
public institutions in Michigan, but University didn't
delete that information from applications. Some criti-
cized the University, arguing that admissions officers
would either consciously or unconsciously take that
information into account when judging an applicant.
The University is required by federal law to ask for
race, gender and national origin information on appli-
cations.
Admissions officials said in March that they hadn't
decided whether to restrict that data. But they decided
over the summer to keep the information available for
this admissions cycle with the understanding that it
would not play a role in decisions, said Erica Sanders,
the interim director of recruitment and operations for
undergraduate admissions.
Sanders said she didn't think letting admissions
officers see the data would pose a problem.
"We simply have stated that race and gender can-
not be considered in the process," she said.
See APPLICATION, Page 7A
REMEMBERING SEPT. 11, 2001
Sales of
controversial
book resume
Anti-Zionist text
called 'propaganda'
By ANDREW GROSSMAN
and JESSICA VOSGERCHIAN
Daily StaffReporters
The University of Michigan
Press will resume distributing
a controversial book critical of
Zionism, the press's executive
board decided yesterday.
The book, called "Overcom-
ing Zionism," argues that Zion-
ism and democracy don't work
together and that Israelis and
Palestinians should form a single,
secular state that isn't explicitly
Jewish or Palestinian.
The University Press distrib-
utes the book through a contract
it has with Pluto Press, a London-
based publisher that prints left-
wing, scholarly books on social
sciences.
In its Aug. 13 newsletter, the
Michigan chapter of the pro-
Israel group Stand With Us con-
demned the book and asked its
members to call the press's direc-
tor and ask why the press decided
to publish the book.
The group called the book a
"collection of anti-Israel propa-
ganda, misquotes, and discred-
ited news stories, and is carried
forward throughout by declared
contempt for Judaism and its
adherents."
The University Press stopped
distributing "Overcoming Zion-
ism" in August in response to
what University spokeswoman
Kelly Cunningham called "seri-
ous questions raised by several
members of the University com-
munity about the book."
The press's executive board,
which is made up of University
professors, reviewed the book,
written byBard College Prof. Joel
Kovel, before making its deci-
sion.
Kovel said he was glad the
press restored distribution of his
book, but said the controversy it
created was an example of an all-
to-common problem.
"People have to join together
and combat the tendency to sup-
press alternatives, particularly
where the state of Israel is con-
cerned," he said.
In a statement, the University
Press's executive board said ithas
"deep reservations" about "Over-
coming Zionism," but because
its contract calls for it to distrib-
ute all of Pluto Press's books, it
wouldn't break the contract for
that book alone.
"Such a course raises both First
Amendment issues and concerns
about the appearance of censor-
ship," the board said. "As mem-
bers of the University community
See BOOK, Page 7A
ANGELA CESERE/Daily
Flags set up on the Diag yesterday. College Republicans at campuses around the state set out flags
to commemorate the victims of the Sept.11 terrorist attacks. The attacks were marked with memorial
services around the country.
On Sept. 11, a call for human rights
Amnesty Int'l USA
head slams response
to attacks
By ALESE BAGDOL
Daily StaffReporter
The American response to the
Sept. 11 terrorist attacks has fueled
the degeneration of human rights
in the United States and the rest of
the world, Larry Cox, the executive
director of Amnesty International
USA, told an audience at Rackham
Auditorium yesterday.
Cox slammed the American gov-
ernment's reaction to the terrorist
attacks.
"In the world we aspire to, this
day should be marked exclusively
to honor those who died on Sept.11,
2001," Cox said. "Instead, this day
has become 9/11, the political tool.
It has become the rallying cry for
a war for which none of us volun-
teered."
Coxsaidthegovernmentusedthe
nation's fear from Sept.11 to openly
defy the idea of human rights. He
said the government's defense of
the events at Guantanamo Bay and
the 2006 Military Commissions Act
- a bill that strips access to federal
courts for people the administra-
tion deems "unlawful enemy com-
batants" - helps dictatorships in
other countries to justify their own
acts of cruelty.
"How can we criticize Syria or
Egypt for torture when we sent
people (to Guantanamo) knowing
they will be tortured?" Cox said.
He said the best way to combat
terrorism is to set an example for
the rest of the world and work to
increase human rights. He lauded
the United Nation's adoption of the
Declaration of Human Rights in
1948 and said the American legis-
lature needs to encourage similar
acts in the future.
"The whole world has seen that
those who fight for human rights
have the power to open prison
doors and transform society," Cox
said.
Cox's lecture was the sixth in a
series of annual lectures that was
established in 2002 by former Uni-
versity Prof. Marilynn Rosenthal.
Rosenthal's son, University
alum Joshua Rosenthal, was killed
while working in a south tower
office of the World Trade Center
for Fiduciary Trust International.
He received his graduated from the
University in1979.
"My mother established this lec-
ture series to try to make sense of
See SEPT. 11, Page 7A
Want safe sex?
It's going to
cost you more
Law school kicks off environmental program
Fmr. EPA head
tells students to
focus on service
By EMILY BARTON
Daily StaffReporter
Speaking at the Law
School last night, Carol
Browner, a former head of
the Environmental Pro-
tection Agency head chal-
lenged students to get
involved in public service
by focusing on environ-
mental concerns like cli-
mate change.
And that's what the Law
School is hoping to encour-
age with its new Environ-
mental Law and Policy
Program.
"If this generation
doesn't solve it, we will
leave to the next genera-
tion a problem they cannot
solve," she said.
Browner said colleges
are places of ideas and
leadership, and that she
believes the new program
will change the way people
address environmental
problems.
David Uhlmann, a lec-
turer and program man-
ager at the Law School, said
the creation of the program
comes at a critical time for
environmental concerns.
"In our country today,
people are focusing on
environmental issues in
ways they haven't in 25
years," he said.
Unlike other schools,
the University's law school
doesn't offer specific con-
centrations. Instead, it
See GREEN, Page 7A
Contraceptive
prices rise on
campuses around
country
By KIMBERLY CHOU
Daily StaffReporter
Sex is getting more expensive
for students.
The price of contraceptives has
begun to climb as a result of the
Deficit Reduction Act, a measure
passed by Congress in February
2006 that changed Medicare cal-
culations and made it harder for
manufacturers to sell their prod-
ucts to certain buyers - like uni-
versities - at discounted rates.
Since the bill went into effect
in January, prices for prescription
contraceptives have spiked.
Many universities and clinics
that provide discounted contra-
ceptives to low-income women
and college students have been
forced to raise their prices. Oth-
ers, including University Health
Service at the University of Mich-
igan, are concerned about rising
prices, said UHS chief pharma-
cist Gwendolyn Chivers.
Several organizations, includ-
ing the American College Health
Association, are lobbying for a
reversal, Chivers said.
"It was something that hap-
pened inadvertently and we're
trying to get it fixed," said Lori
Lamerand, the president of
Planned Parenthood Mid-Michi-
gan Alliance. "We consider birth
control basic health care, but we
simply, as an agency, cannot eat
the cost."
Some clinics have seen prices
for brand-name prescription con-
traceptives rise from as little as
$5 a pack to $55.
"We've stockpiled some things
so we haven't had to pass on the
price increase to our patients,"
Lamerand said. "We're hoping
it can last another two to three
months."
Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo, the most
commonly prescribed brand of
oral contraceptive, is available
for about $20 per cycle at the
11 Planned Parenthood centers
Lamerand oversees, includingthe
two in Ann Arbor.
The price of the pill at UHS has
hovered around $20 for the last
See BIRTH CONTROL, Page 7A
Former EPA chief Carol Browner said the law school's new environmental law program will help
change the way people deal with environmental problems.
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