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Ann Arbor, Michigan

Thursday, February 21, 2008

michigandailycom

TOTAL ECLIPSE

GEO votes
to postpone
deadline for
new contract

Grad student union
now has until
March17 to agree
to new contract
By JACOB SMILOVITZ
Daily StaffReporter
The Graduate Employees' Orga-
nization, engaged in contentious*
contract negotiations with the
University, voted overwhelmingly
last night to temporarily extend its
contract with the University for
two weeks after the end of spring
break.
The original contract was set to
expire March 1.
If the union and the University
can't come to an agreement by the
new deadline, union leaders say
they will meet with their mem-
bers again and decide whether to
strike.
"If we don't have another con-
tract by March 17 and the bar-
gaining team feels like we're not
making progress, that talks aren't
going anywhere, then we will talk
about job actions with the mem-
bership," said Colleen Woods, a
history GSI and the lead negotia-
tor for GEO. "We will talk about
work stoppages."
Negotiations between GEO and
the University have stalled.

The union seeks pay raises and
expanded health care coverage
in its new contract. Last month,
the University rejected all of the
union's initial proposals, saying
health care coverage couldn't be
discussed until negotiations over
wages were settled.
GEO negotiates new contracts
with the University on behalf of its
members every three years.
In 2005, the union threatened
to strike, and even staged a one-
day walkout, but a new contract
was reached about a week before
the scheduled strike date.
During last night's meeting on
the fourth floor of the Rackham
Building, the union also discussed
creating a "strike platform" with
its members.
"It doesn't mean that were
going to go out on strike," Woods
said. "Basically, it's a way for the
membership to signal their priori-
ties to the bargaining team and to
each other."
Woods said the main issues
on the GEO's strike platform are
wage increases, child care subsi-
dies and extended health care to
all employees.
None of the more than ten items
proposedto be on "strike platform"
were voted off the list last night.
"Our union members are stand-
ing strong and saying that they
want everything that's on there
See GEO, Page 7A

JENNIFER KRON/Daily
Students stood atop Angell Hall yesterday night and gathered around telescopes to watch the lunar eclipse, which occurs when the earth passes between the moon and
the sun. The spectacle was most visible around 10 p.m. last night.

C) An occasional series on Wolverines and their Olympic dreams
After'humbling' experience,
swimmer savors second shot'

With opening of caf6,
UGLi gets a pick-me-up

NCAA champion
Vanderkaay hopes to
qualify for Olympics
this summer
By RYAN A. PODGES
DailySports Writer
On Friday afternoon, inside Can-
ham Natatorium, senior co-captain
Alex Vanderkaay and his team-
mates on the men's swimming and

diving team stood on the pool deck
stretching before practice.
Meanwhile, inside his office,
Michigan coach Bob Bowman
grinned while showing off a recent
Washington Post article praising
Vanderkaay for winning his first
race. But this Vanderkaay is not a
swimmer - he is Bowman's race-
horse.
An avid fan of thoroughbred
horse racing, Bowman owns a
stable in Maryland where he buys
and trains horses. He recent-
ly purchased a new horse for

$50,000 and named itVanderkaay,
in honor of a family that has pro-
duced four successful swimmers
- Christian, Peter, Alex and
Dane. It's suitable that the horse
is a winning one because the
Vanderkaays are among the most
successful swimmers in Michi-
gan history.
While the youngest brother,
Dane, is a promising recruit and
will join the Wolverines next year,
Christian and Peter graduated in
2005 and 2006, respectively, and
See VANDERKAAY, Page 7A

Black campus leaders say'U'is
diverse, but needs cultural cohesion
Panelists believe
more could be done
to bring groups
together
By CHARLES GREGG-GEIST
Daily StaffReporter
The University is diverse, but
that alone doesn't make campus a
cohesive place, four black campus
leaders said during a panel discus-
sion last night. JENNIFER KRON/Daily
"Do we know each other?" said LSA junior Gerloni Cotton spoke on a panel yesterday to discuss the way campus
See PANELISTS, Page 3A groups interact with each other. "Do we know each other?" she asked.

Ceremony was
briefly interrupted
by protesters
By KOJO ASIEDU
DailyStaffReporter
In a ribbon-cutting ceremony
that featured balloons, blue and
white tents and protesters, Uni-
versity officials dedicated a new
caf6 in the lobby of the Shapiro
Undergraduate Libraryyesterday
afternoon.
The ceremony featured
speeches from University Presi-
dent Mary Sue Coleman and Uni-
versity alum Bertram Askwith,
who donated more than $200,000
toward the project. Askwith is
the namesake of the caf6, called
Bert's Cafe.
The new caf6 could help draw
students to study in the library,
which didn't previously have a
place to buy drinks or snacks.
other campus libraries, like the
Duderstadt Center on North
Campus, already have similar
facilities.
"I knew that this would be
popular with students," Cole-
man said. "It's just a nice place to
have coffee and goodies while in
the library, and the fact that Bert
made that possible for us and for
our students is fabulous."
LSA sophomore Alexandra
Tracy said she thinks the caf6
will be popular with students.
"Thecafeis agreatideabecause
it offers a place to relax and hang

University President Mary Sue Coleman has a cup of coffee with Bertram Askwith,
the namesake of Bert's Cafe, which was dedicated yesterday.

out for students who come to the
library to study," she said.
Coleman's speech was briefly
interrupted by protesters from
Students Organizing for Labor
and Economic Equality, a campus
activist group.
Just as she was beginning
to speak, SOLE member Jason
Bates, an LSA senior, spoke over

her, attempting to draw the
crowd's attention to the topic of
sweatshops. He criticized what
he said were unfair labor prac-
tices in factories making Univer-
sity-licensed products.
Coleman waited for Bates to
conclude his two-minute talk.
She then replied "Thank you"
See CEREMONY, Page 3A


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