The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Tuesday, September 4, 2007 - 7A
BUDGET: 'U' funding
from state still not set
Police say someone attending a party at Theta Chi yelled racial slurs at two black police officers making a traffic:
When the officers entered the house, they found three kegs of beer - a violation of the national chapter of Theta
alcohol in the fraternity's houses around the country.
FRATERNITY
From page 1A
drinking with the people in the car,
the report said.
"They're drunk," the person
yelled, according to the report.
"Get them."
The car's driver was white and
its two passengers were black.
After hearing the slurs, the offi-
cersletthe drivergo and approached
the house, the report said. Inside
the house, officers found three kegs
of beer and cited a minor, who said
he lived in the house, for minor in
possession of alcohol and having
three fake IDs.
A member of Theta Chi - who
was granted anonymity because
the fraternity's national chapter has
prohibited members from speaking
to the press - said the person who
yelled was not affiliated with the
fraternity but that the fraternity
accepts responsibility for anyone
on its property.
The member said about half of
the 30 people on the porch weren't
in the fraternity and thathe doesn't
DRESSER
From page 1A
Thursday morning when several
people began shouting anti-gay
slurs from a second-floor balcony.
The man told police a piece of
wooden furniture had smashed
onto the pavement a few feet
behind him.
Police found broken pieces of a
drawer on the sidewalk, said Sgt.
Brad Hill of the Ann Arbor Police
Department. Inside the apart-
ment, officers arrested Brown and
Williamson.
Bondforeachwassetat$25,000.
They have both been released from
custody.
TEXTBOOKS
From page 1A
the point of the task force was to
consult with faculty, talk to local
textbook stores, local publishers
and national retailers. Them doing
that allows us to ask more pointed
question about the industry as a
whole."
The University has made some
effort to encourage professors to
send textbook lists to students
before the start of the fall 2007
semester.
Gretchen Weir, assistant vice
provost for academic affairs, said
University Provost Teresa Sulli-
APP. STATE
From page 1A
I-A. So why schedule the Moun-
taineers at all?
Schedule Buffalo or Temple,
Utah State or Baylor - known
opponents that lose 10 to 12 games
every season and that past oppo-
nents have provided numerous
blueprints for beating.
If the goal is to get some respect
from the voters for scheduling
a tougher opponent, then plan
a couple years in advance, work
hard and diligently, and get an
Oklahoma or a Miami.
But this game with Appalachian
State was halfway in between
- and was therefore a lose-lose
situation from the beginning.
Even a win probably would have
hurt a Wolverine bid to get to the
National Championship game. The
Wolverines would have beaten a
Football Championship Subdivi-
sion team. I don't know that any
voters would have much respect
for a win like that, certainly not
more respect than for a win over
an inferior Division I-A team.
Yes, hindsight is 20-20.
know who yelled at the officers.
IFC President Jared Averbuch
filed a complaint Saturday with
the Greek Activities Review Panel
against Theta Chi for violating the
IFC's Statement for Human Digni-
ty. The statement - part of the IFC
constitution - calls for "an atmo-
sphere where respect for human
dignity of all individuals is a value
of the highest priority." Averbuch
said the racial slurs violated those
guidelines.
The panel will rule on the com-
plaint after a hearing within the
next month. If it finds Theta Chi
guilty of violatingthe statement, the
panel will also decide on a punish-
ment.
Averbuch said he's confident
that the panel will rule against the
fraternity, but he said it probably
won't kick Theta Chi off campus.
The panel could make members
undergo sensitivity training.
Theta Chi faces stronger sanc-
tions from its national office, the
fraternity member said. He said
the chapter could be put on proba-
tion, removed from campus or sus-
pended. If suspended, alumni and
A preliminary hearing is sched-
uled for Sept.12 at tp.m.
On Friday afternoon, Jackie1
Simpson, director of the Universi-
ty's Office of Lesbian Gay Bisexuali
and Transgender Affairs, sent anj
e-mail to students on LGBT mail-
ing lists about the incident.
"Such events have a chilling and1
frightening impact on the LGBTj
and Ally Communities," Simpson
wrote in the e-mail, which was co-
signed by University Dean of Stu-I
dents Sue Eklund and her seniorI
assistant, Sharon Vaughters. "WeI
want to reassure the communityI
that this situation has our full
attention."
Simpson said in an interview'
that it is not common for people in
van sent e-mails to professors int
June asking them to compile lists
for the fall term and send them tot
students.
But Weir said she doesn't expect
the lists to be available to all stu-I
dents without the online platform.
That means students will have1
to wait until at least fall of 2008
- Weir's target date for the launch
of the system that will be linked to
Wolverine Access.
Even when the system is int
place, professors won't be required:
to use it.I
"I don't really know if we can,
enforce (the suggestion), but we
can try to encourage it," Monts
said. "We really have to spin this
Before this game, everyone was
complaining about the opponent
and that it wasn't even a Division1
I-A team, especially because people1
thought the quality of Michigan's
competition is part of what kept itt
from a championship rematch with
Ohio State last season. 1
But a little foresightshould have
set off some serious alarms. 1
Appalachian State matched up
excellently with the Wolverines.'
It has a mobile quarterback and
runs the spread offense. The last
time Michigan's defense faced
the spread offense, it allowed 42
points to Ohio State.'
Secondly, the Mountaineers
knew that. According to the Win-
ston-Salem Journal, the Moun-
taineers "practically begged U-M
athletic director Bill Martin for3
the matchup."
When Martin commented on
the matchup for the Journal, he
compared ASU to Utah, a Michi-
gan opponent next season. The]
difference is that if the Wolver-
ines lose to Utah, that's a loss to
a respected Division I-A program
that has recently won a BCS bowl
(the 2005 Fiesta Bowl).
The idea to present Appalachian
an adviser from the national office
would run the University chapter.
Pressure from the national office
centers largely on the alcohol in the
house, where drinking is banned,
the member said. He said the Uni-
versity chapter internally punished
the members in the house who
ordered the kegs.
Representatives from Theta
Chi's national office in Indianapolis
could not be reached for comment
yesterday.
This is not the first time the Uni-
versity's chapter of Theta Chi has
come under fire.
In 2002 and 2003, the fraternity
received sanctions from both the
University and its national office
for excessive alcohol consumption
and hazing.
Although the alcohol consump-
tion is an issue, the racial epithets
are the focus of the IFC's investiga-
tion, Averbuch said.
If the person who yelled at
the officers is found, he could be
charged with disorderly conduct
or intimidation, said Sgt. Brad Hill
of the Ann Arbor Police Depart-
ment.
Ann Arbor to be physically threat-
ened because of their sexual orien-
tation.
"I don't think this particular
incident is an indicator of the cli-
mate of Ann Arbor or the Univer-
sity," she said.
Williamson refused to comment
for this story. Brown could not be
reached for comment.
Ann Arbor police said William-
son is also a University of Michi-
gan student, but he is not listed in
the University's directory. He is,
however, listed in Eastern Michi-
gan University's online student
directory.
According to court records,
Williamson and Brown live in an
apartment on East Ann Street.
to faculty and convince them it's
something that will benefit them
too."
History Prof. Maris Vinovskis
said it's better for the University
to suggest professors release lists
sooner rather than force them to.
Professors sometimes changetheir
minds about textbooks, he said.
"I think they have to voluntarily
suggest a final list," Vinovskis said,
"Because there have been situa-
tions where I wanted to look for an
alternative text or where I found a
less expensive version after the list
was sent out."
- Daniel Strauss
contributed to this report.
State as the two-time national
champions they are and to portray
the game as a difficult test was
laughable, no matter how true it
was. Nobody would have bought
that, and by the end of the year, a
win over the Mountaineers would
have barely registered with voters.
But a Michigan loss to the two-
time defending Division I-AA
champions is unforgivable. If the
Wolverines win every game for the
rest of the season by a score of 50-
3, the most memorable part of their
season will still be that first loss.
The great Michigan Wolverines
lost to the (not so) lowly Appala-
chian State Mountaineers.
And the University paid ASU
about $400,000 - a fee bigger
schools often pay smaller ones to
play in games like this - for the
right to lose to ASU.
The fans lost a chance to watch
their team either roll over an infe-
rior opponent or compete with a
legitimate BCS contender.'
And the players may have lost
the opportunity to play in the
National Championship game.
- Contact Daniel Bromwich
at dabromwi@umich.edu.
From page 1A
State funding makes up about 25
percent of the University's budget.
Rep. Pam Byrnes, a Democrat
whose district includes the Uni-
versity of Michigan's North Cam-
pus, sponsored a pair of bills in
the House to increase funding.
She said she hopes an increase
in appropriations will persuade
universities to re-evaluate raising
tuition.
The University of Michigan's
Ann Arbor campus raised under-
graduate tuition by 7.4 percent this
year, and public universities in
general raised tuition by an aver-
age of 50 percent.
But even if the Senate pass-
es the funding increase, the
tuition increase is unlikely to be
reversed.
CynthiaWilbanks,theUniversi-
ty's vice president for government
relations, said differences in bud-
gets from yearto year make it diffi-
cult for appropriations and tuition
to always correspond. She refused
to speculate on the possibility of
a tuition decrease for the winter
term if state funding is increased,
especially because the proposed
funding increase is far from being
signed into law and could be gut-
ted by the Senate.
Any change in tuition would
have to be approvedby the Univer-
sity Board of Regents at one of its
monthly meetings.
State Democrats blame tuition
hikes on Republicans. A statewide
student group called StopRaising
Tuition was formed over the sum-
mer to protest the tuition hikes.
The group filmed a series of You-
Tube videos on campuses around
the state that show students criti-
cizing Senate Majority Leader
Mike Bishop (R-Rochester) for
refusing to agree to increased
funding for universities.
Group member Travis Radina,
who is also a member of the Uni-
versity's chapter of the College
Democrats, said the group aims to
increase support for higher educa-
tion in the Michigan legislature.
"I think that certain govern-
mental leaders are doing their
part," Radina said in a written
statement. "Governor Granholm
has proposed increases in higher
education funding, but the Demo-
cratic Party doesn't control all of
Lansing. The state Senate, and
Majority Leader Bishop are not
acting with the urgency that is
needed in these situations."
Granholm has launched www.
lowermituition.com, which
includes posters intended for stu-
dents to hang on their dorm doors
blaming the legislature's failure to
increase higher education appro-
priations earlier in the year for the
tuition hikes.
One of the posters is a mock
postcard to college students from
vacationing legislators apologizing
for the tuition increases. Another
reads, in part: "Missing: Our state
legislature. Last seen on vacation
while tuition rates rose."
Becauseofthe deficit,Bishophas
opposed increasing funding levels
for higher education this year. In
a statement released last month,
Bishop suggested that universities
should decrease the salaries and
benefits of their administrators.
Republicans have called for cuts
across state government to make
up for the deficit.
The Senate passed abilllast week
that would allow 28 percent of state
employees to retire early, but many
Democrats oppose the measure.
Democrats have suggested new
revenue sources, including income
taxhikes and allowinghorsetracks
to open casinos, but the House
hasn't voted on any. Many Repub-
licans say they won't support tax
increases to cover the deficit.
If the two chambers can't agree
on a budget by the start of the fis-
cal year onOct.1, the state govern-
ment could face a shutdown. That
means state agencies wouldn't
have money to spend and most
non-essential services would stop.
The University, which receives
almost $30 million from the state
every month except September,
would be forced to.
The funding increase, passed by
the House last month, was sepa-
rated into two bills.
In a change from past budgets,
the House approved separate
appropriations bills last month -
one for the state's three research
universities, including the Uni-
versity of Michigan, and one for
the state's 12 other public univer-
sities.
Officials from the University of
Michigan, Wayne State Univer-
sity and Michigan State Univer-
sity pushed for such a system since
year.
"We were pleased that the
House supported that move," Wil-
banks said.
Supporters say the change will
allow legislators to dole out funds
for the extra research that the
three universities perform.
Opponents claim that the
separation of the appropriations
system will create a two-tier uni-
versity system in Michigan that
will result in the smaller schools
gettingless money.
Kathy Wilder, a spokeswoman
for Central Michigan University,
said the school opposes separate
funding because it will be easier to
encourage funding for higher edu-
cation if all the universities stay
together.
"Separation distracts and takes
us into another conversation," she
said.
Wilder said it also suggests that
the students and alumni of the
.12 smaller universities are not as
important to the state.
- The Associated Press
contributed to this report
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