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"ITEEN YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

Ann Arbor, Michigan

Tuesday, April 15,2008

michigandaily.com

PREPARING THE DIAG

HEALTH CARE IN MICHIGAN
Group wants
health care
mandate on
Nov. ballot
UHS director says a constitutional amendment, Mich-
igan residents would be required
plan would reduce to have access to both preventative
cost of coverage and primary care. Currently, Mas-
sachusetts is the only other state to
requiere its residents have health
By JULIE ROWE insurance,having passed a mandate
Daily Staff Reporter in 2006.
Frank Houston, deputy director
State lawmakers could be forced of the campaign committee, said
to pass legislation that requires the initiative would push the Mich-
every Michigan resident has access igan Legislature to reform what he
to health care coverage, which called a "broken health care sys-
would make Michigan the second tem," but wouldn't require a swpe-
state in the country to implement cific policy.
such a plan. "The purpose of this initiative
A proposed ballot initiative, is to create a little more urgency to
called Health Care for Michigan, this situation," he said.
would amend the state's constitu- Gov. Jennifer Granholm and Lt.
tion to require lawmakers to ensure Gov. John Cherry, both Democrats,
every resident has "comprehensive have endorsed the proposal.
and affordable health care cover- Bob Winfield, director of Uni-
age through a fair and cost effective versity Health Services, said the
financingsystem." initiative would primarily benefit
If passed, the proposal would University students from Michigan
allow the state to make sure who had inadequate health care
residents have health insurance coverage or none at all.
through "public or private mea- "For out-of-state students, I don't
sures." The proposal does not set a think this would have an impact,"
deadline for lawmakers to enact a said Winfield.
health care coverage mandate. Five percent of all undergradu-
The Health Care for Michigan ates and 10 percent of all graduate
Campaign committee is circulating students have no health insurance
a petition to add the proposal to the Winfield said. He said he wasn't
November ballot. sure how many out-of-state stu-
The petition needs 380,126 sig- dents were uninsured.
natures to get on the ballot, and Earlier this month, Winfield
organizers sayithasgarnered about spoke in support of the Michigan
100,000 so far. Student Assembly's resolution ask-
If the proposalis added to the bal- ing University administrators to
lot and a majority of voters support See INITIATIVE, Page 16A

Construction worker Terry Trame helps install new stone slabs surrounding the 'M' in the Diag yesterday in preparation for Spring Commencement. Diag construction
began yesterday for the ceremony, which is scheduled for next Saturday. This year's commencement will be the first-ever graduation ceremony held in the Diag. The
location was chosen after consultations with students when Michigan Stadium was unavailable.
FA CUoLTwY DnVE R SI ThY
Rport shows1 P Smnoriy hrsu

Over 15-year stretch,
proportion of Asian
faculty has risen
fastest among groups
By JACOB SMILOVITZ
Daily StaffReporter
According to a new faculty com-
mittee report, the proportion of
minority professors has increased
over the past 15 years, but under-
represented minorities make up
only a of that increase.

The Committee for a Multicul-
tural University, a faculty organi-
zation that promotes recruitment
and retention of minority faculty
and underrepresented students at
the University, found that the per-
centage of Asian faculty members
increased from about 8 percent in
1994 to more than 14 percent in
2008 in a report released March
17.
During that same span, though,
the percentage of black and His-
panic faculty members increased
just one percent each to 5 and 3
percent of all faculty.
See HIRING, Page 16A

ETHNIC LINES
The proportion of Asian faculty has risen faster than of black and Hispanic faculty

15% ~
12% -
9%


KEY
* Asian
faculty
R Black
faculty
Hispanic
faculty

6%
3%
0

1996 1999 2002 2005 2008
YEAR SOURCE:uOuITU RAUiv RiU

M YHE ROAD TO BEIJNG
An occasional series on Wolverines and their Olympic dreams
Olympic hopefuls: Athletes
can't let politics get in the way

LEFT BEHIND IN A2

With China's human
rights record under
fire, athletes just
want to compete
By RYAN A. PODGES
Daily Sports Writer
All around the world, people
have used the upcoming 2008
Olympic Games in Beijing as
a platform to question China's
human rights records in Tibet

and its policies toward the Darfur
region of Sudan.
Numerous protesters tried
to snuff the flame while it was
being carried through Paris. In
London, someone grabbed at the
torch, forcing officials to reroute
the torch's path without publi-
cizing the change. During the
torch's time in San Francisco, a
person scaled the Golden Gate
Bridge and raised a banner that
read, "Stop Killing." At that stop,
International Olympic Commit-
tee members went on record say-
ing organizers should consider

halting the flame's 85,000-mile
relay to Beijing.
But here, University athletes
'hoping to earn a spot in the sum-
mer games say politics and sports
shouldn't mix.
-Michigan junior gymnast Joe
Catrambone is one of those ath-
letes. He said he wants more
attention on the athletes than on
the politics.
When asked how President
Bush should respond to calls urg-
ing him to boycott the opening
ceremony for the games, Catram-
See OLYMPICS, Page 3A

Local shelter reports
30-percent rise in
pet desertion when
school lets out
By MIKE DOLSEN
DailyStaffReporter
As students start packing up
their apartments and houses next
week for summer break, they're
bound to leave things behind. For
some, it might be a box of tattered
textbooks or an old carpet. For oth-
ers, though, it's a pet who didn't
factor into post-graduation plans.
Tanya Hilgendorf, the executive
director of the Humane Society of
Huron Valley, which serves Washt-
enaw County, said her office notices
about a 30-percent increase in pet
desertions around the time school
lets out each year.
"As long as anybody can remem-
ber, the animals that are surren-
dered to us, abandoned and found
as strays spike at the end of the
school year," Hilgendorf said.
Shelter officials said the spike
could be credited in part to stu-
dents who neglect to make proper
arrangements for their pets when
their leases expire.
Hilgendorf said the animals are
oftenlefttrappedinside emptyhomes
without any food or water. Though
abandoned animals taken in by the
Humane Society are usually held for
seven days and then put up for adop-
tion, there are some cases, especially
during the warmer months, when
they haveto be euthanized.
"In our shelter, animals are euth-

CA MPUS C0NKSERATION EFF0TS
More paper used since CTools launch

'U' students printed
7 million more
pages last year
than in 2003
By LINDY STEVENS
Daily StaffReporter
Students have taken to paying
bills online and sending e-greet-
ings instead of Hallmark cards,
but the trend toward a paperless
world hasn't quite carried into the

classroom. Though more course
materials are available online now
than in years past, millions more
pages are being printed, too, cre-
ating an environmental conun-
drum.
Student printing has been on
the rise since 2001, according
to Ruth Addis, the University's
interim director for Internet and
Technology Services. University
students printed more than 26
million pages last year - a num-
ber that Addis said will likely hit
27 million by the end of this year.
Just under 20 million pages were

printed in 2003.
Along with increases in print-
ing, other green-conscious stu-
dents have complained about
bulky coursepacks that contain
unnecessary materials, can't be
reused and are often only printed
on one side of the page.
When CTools, the University's
web-based system for course-
work, was introduced to campus
in fall of 2005, it gave profes-
sors the chance to replace bulky
coursepacks with materials
hosted online. John Williams,
See PRINTING, Page 11A

CLIF R EEDER/Daily
A number of cats and dogs end up at the Humane Society of Huron Valley this time
of year, as some students abandon their pets when their leases expire.

anized for serious health or aggres-
sion issues," Hilgendorf said. "But
there are times when we have to
euthanize animals because of lack
of space. That does not happen alot,
but it certainly does happen in the
spring and summer."
Aroundgraduationtimelastyear,
Hilgendorf said, two rabbits and a
cat were left alone for a week in a
house on Division Street without

food and water. After investigating,
Hilgendorf found that although
multiple students had lived in the
house, no one took direct responsi-
bility for the pets.
"Everybody else thought some-
body else was going to take care of
the animals," she said.
It's a trend thatgoes beyondAnn
Arbor. Officials from the Capital
See PETS, Page 11A


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