The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Tuesday, September 18, 2007 - 7-
TUG-OF-WAR
Survey also cites
career services as
drawback to Ross
RANKINGS From page 1
the business school were instead
held at restaurants,
possibly leading some recruiters to
feel as though they had been taken
for granted.
The displacement might have
come off as condescending to
recruiters, Dolan said.
"I think the construction exac-
erbated the situation," Dolan said.
"We're really trying to minimize
the number of off-campus events
this year. We went from doing 100
percent on campus to 30 percent
on and 70 percent off, and this year
we're flipping back."
Despite the critical feedback
from the recruiters, Ross students
said they still value an education
from the school.
"I mean, it was excellent to be
number one last year and I like
what the theory is behind it in
terms of what recruiters look for,"
MBA student Jeremy Sharff said.'
"But Michigan is a name, and it's
been top ten forever, and I think it
will continue to be."
will respond to that."
Other students praised the choice
of a speaker who has extensive
knowledge and experience with the
war in Iraq.
"It's an interesting choice," said
Daniel Zettner, a junior in the Col-
lege of Engineering. "It'll give the
students who have little idea about
the war exposure to the Iraqi con-
flict."
Woodruff grew up in Bloomfield
Hills and obtained his law degree
from the University of Michigan
in 1987. He received his bachelor's
degree from Colgate University.
This year's spring commence-
ment ceremony is slated tp be held
on April 26 in Michigan Stadium.
- E.. Horstman
contributed to this report.
Like Sharff, Dolan says that The
Wall Street Journal rankings are
just one of many, and prospective
students will remain interested in
Ross because it ranks in the top ten
in most of those rankings.
"I think when you talk to pro-
spective students they'll say 'Well
you're in the top five of Business-
Week,"' Dolan said.
The University's MBA program
was ranked fifth in BusinessWeek
magazine's most recent rankings.
Its bachelor's of business admin-
istration program was also ranked
fifth by the magazine.
Sharff said the drop will push
the school to improve.
"If you drop from number one to
number seven, I would expect Ross
to do things to come back," Sharff
said. "So you can spin it to be a good
thing."
Ross plans to react to the rank-
ings, according to Dolan.
"I will be in touch with the
people who did the survey and ask
them for information on what we're
doing and what we need to do," he
said.
LSA sophomore Olushola Samuel plays tug-of-war during the third annual South Quad Olympics, an event in which the houses in South Quad compete for a pizza party.
Change hailed by activists
CLAUSE From page 1
us really," she said. "The bylaws
can be open to interpretation but
they should not be open to inter-
pretation on this issue."
Regent Andrew Richner (R-
Grosse Pointe Park) could not be
reached for comment and none
of the other regents responded
to requests for comment yester-
day.
Four other schools in the Big
Ten already explicitly list gender
identity and expression in their
non-discrimination clause. Stu-
dents and faculty at two other
schools are protected by state
non-discrimination clauses that
include gender expression. That
has left many feeling that the
University of Michigan has been
dragging its feet.
"With all due respect to the
regents, we're appreciating the
change and we're glad that we're
doing it but there is a sense that
it has taken too long," said Jaya
Kalra, a former co-chair of the
University's chapter of Stonewall
Democrats, an arm of the College
Democrats that addresses LGBT
issues and has long advocated a
change in the bylaws.
Kalra said the persistent activ-
ism of student groups on this issue
has made the change possible.
"We created an environment
in which the bylaw change was
inevitable," she said.
In 2005, the Wolverine Coali-
tion for Human Rights, a group
created to change the bylaws,
began sending six speakers to
each regents meeting to lobby the
board. Activists also held days of
Transgender Remembrance to
honor individuals killed because
of their gender identity.
Kalra also said that the regents
- who are elected in partisan elec-
tions - have taken overly politi-
cized positions on this issue, and
the election of Darlow last year
may have made the board more
receptive to the measure. Darlow,
a Democrat, replaced Republican
VETERANS
From page 1
experiences overseas set me apart
from the majority of the student
population."
The group's long-term goals
include lowering tuition for veter-
ans and convincing the University
of Michigan to accept more trans-
fer credits from military colleges.
Western Michigan University
already has a program that waives
the first semester of tuition for
veterans and gives all veterans in-
state tuition rates, regardless of
their residency.
Blumke said he hopes to hold a
benefit dinner in conjunction with
campus Greek organizations that
would send proceeds to a scholar-
ship fund for the children of fallen-
soldiers.
The group also plans on hosting
a panel discussion in the Rackham
Building to inform the rest of the
student population about what it's
like to be in the military.
David Brandon.
Kalra said that after state vot-
ers passed a ban on gay marriage
in 2004, the regents, fearing for
their seats, were reluctant to sup-
port a stance that might be seen
as too liberal on issues of sexual-
ity.
"After (the ban) passed, the
regents may have perceived the
political environment to be more
hostile than it was," she said.
"They have been too cautious."
In 2004, a University task force
that investigated transgender
issues recommended that gender
identity and expression be includ-
ed in the non-discrimination
clause. The regents, though, never
voted on the measure.
Former Provost Paul Courant
sent out an e-mail in February
2004 in which he said the Uni-
versity was committed to pro-
tecting the rights of transgender
people.
Then-University spokeswoman
Julie Peterson told The Michigan
Daily at the time that the e-mail
represented the administration's
official policy.
In 2005, the Michigan Stu-
dent Assembly passed a reso-
lution urging the regents to
specifically include gender identi-
ty and expression in the discrimi-
nation clause.
That same year, the Wolverine
Coalition for Human Rights col-
lected 1,000 signatures demand-
ing the bylaws be changed. And
yesterday, the faculty Senate's
Advisory Committee On Univer-
sity Affairs voted to send a letter
to the Board of Regents encour-
aging it to approve the bylaw
changes.
While the unrelenting calls to
change the bylaw clause weren't
heeded, the University did make
tangible policy changes.
In 2005, the Graduate Employ-
ees Organization succeeded in
including gender identity and
expression in the non-discrimina-
tion clause of its contract.
Andre Wilson, the lead negotia-
"A lot of people think they
know about the military because
of what they have seen in movies
or on TV," said LSA senior Sam
Kim, who served in the Air Force
for four years. "ButI think there's
a lot of under-appreciation for the
military and its function."
In addition to raising aware-
ness about the military, the group
provides information to veterans
about what types of benefits are
available. Blumke said the stu-
dent veteran's group at the Uni-
versity of Wisconsin at Madison,
called Vets for Vets, is his group's
model. It specializes in provid-
ing veterans with information
on what types of benefits they
qualify for.
"Most of them don't know
that they are eligible to receive
thousands of dollars," said Liz
O'Herrin, president of the Wis-
consin group.
The state of Wisconsin allows
all veterans with Wisconsin resi-
dency to attend any school in the
University of Wisconsin or Wis-
tor for GEO at the time, told The
Michigan Daily that the explicit
protection of transgender employ-
ees in the contract benefited
everyone in the union.
"Having these protections
in a contract has made every
employee feel safer in their job
from arbitrary decisions," he
said. "I think there's a benefit to
the entire community in know-
ing that principles of fairness are
expressed at the very core of our
institution."
University spokeswoman Kelly
Cunningham said that while
approving the measure would be
a strongstatement from the Board
of Regents, University policy
would not change.
Cunningham said the Univer-
sity has already taken tangible
steps to create an inclusive envi-
ronment for transgender students
and faculty.
"This action is a way of reaf-
firming the University's commit-
ment to diversity and creating an
environment where all feel wel-
come and safe," she said.
In 2005, a list of gender-neutral
bathrooms was published online,
and earlier this year the Univer-
sity made it easier for transgender
students to use their preferred
name on e-mail accounts and
attendance lists.
Butfor some, like Jen Hsu, co-
chair of MSA's LGBT Affairs com-
mission, the measure is more than
just symbolic.
"This will have true effects,"
she said. "It will say that we're not
messing around when it comes to
gender identity and expression. It
will say that we are serious about
protecting those rights."
Simpson said it's important to
place this victory in the context of
other changes on campus.
"This is the result of years of
persistence around a particu-
lar issue," she said. "But it's the
emergence of social justice issues
in general that has made a differ-
ence. We're just fortunate that
now is the time."
consin Technical College sys-
tems for free.
After speaking to O'Herrin,
Blumke met with Senior Vice
Provost Lester Monts to discuss
installing paid office positions
that would deal specifically with
student veterans.
Monts said he wasn't sure such
positions would be necessary.
"We don't feel the need to
designate individuals to become
experts on veterans' issues
because of the small number of
veterans we have here at the Uni-
versity," Monts said. "All of our
academic offices are first class
and I think they are capable of
providing the kind of services
that these students need."
The University has only 48
student veterans that make up
just over .1 percent of the student
population, according to the U.S.
Department of Veterans Affairs.
This ranks the University in front
of only Northwestern University
in the Big Ten in student veteran
population.
SPEAKER
From page 1
He also appeared, on "Good
Morning America," "ABC World
News with Charles Gibson" and
"The Oprah Winfrey Show" in Feb-
ruary of 2007.
He now continues to contribute
to ABC News reports.
Many students interviewed on
campus yesterday didn't know who
Bob Woodruff was at first. But after
learning about his background, they
said they were excited at the pros-
pect of him addressing the graduat-
ing class.
"He'd be an inspiring speaker just
because of what he went through,"
said Arvind Sohoni, a junior in the
Ross School of Business. "Students
JOIN THE
DAILY.
Come to our last mass
meeting of the semester
tonight at 8 p.m. at 420
Maynard St., located just
northwest of the Union.
RECENT GRADUATION SPEAKERS
2007: Former President Bill Clinton
2006: CNN reporter Christiane Amanpour
2005: Xerox head researcher John Seely Brown
2004: Automotible Magazine founder David Davis Jr.
2003: Gov. Jennifer Granholm
2002: United Negro College Fund President William Gray
tk,