* 'MAN ON WIRE' MESMERIZES
SEE ARTS, PAGE 8A
E id igan Oath
ONE-HUND iiE - GHTI'EEN YEARSOF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
Monday, September 8, 2008
Ann Arbor, Michigan
A NEW TRADITION FOR THE VICTORS
Dems, GOP
set field for
regents race
0
thre
for t
ne incumbent, and a staunch supporter of the Uni-
versity's affirmative action policy
De challengers vie before the passage of the statewide
ban on race- and gender-based
wo spots on board affirmative action.
He counted hiswork on the addi-
By JULIE ROWE tion of sexual orientation as a pro-
Daily StaffReporter tected category in the University's
non-discrimination policy 'as a
Michigan Marching Band Director Scott Boerma directs the band during the game against Miami of Ohio on Saturday For more, see SportsMonday.
SAFE SEX ON CAMPUS
At UHS, birth n s
LANSING - Two prominent
Democrats received their party's
nomination at the Michigan Demo-
cratic Party Convention Saturday
for the two open seats on the Uni-
versity Board of Regents.
Laurence Deitch, a two-term
incumbent seeking re-election for
another eight-year term, is joined
by Denise Ilitch, a government rela-
tions lawyer and magazine publish-
er, on the Democratic ticket.
The RepublicanPartynominated
two University alums at their con-
vention Aug. 22 for the eight-per-
son Board: Sussn Brown, who lost
a regental bid in 2006, and John
LaFond.
Regent Rebecca McGowan,
another Democrat and two-year
incumbent, chose not to seek re-
election.
A four candidates expressed
a desire to maintain excellence at
the University, keep costs low and
work with Michigan businesses to
stimulate the state's economy and
improve educational resources.
Over the course of his two terms,
Deitch was an outspoken critic of
the Michigan Stadium expansion
significant accomplishment, along
with the addition of domestic part-
ner benefits for University employ-
ees.
Deitch said the University will
be key to the Michigan's economic
rejuvenation, which is why he said
he'd like to see continued work
with other state universities and
businesses to produce new technol-
ogy.
Deitch, who said he is not likely
to seek a fourth term if he wins in
November, said he wants to keep
the University affordable and acces-
sible to University students.
Part of iaking sure talented
students can attend the University
regardless oftheir family's econom-
ic circumstances, Deitch said, is
making sure the University's com-
mitment to financial aid increas
with tuition.
"Every year when I have to vote
on the cost of next year's tuition;
I'm very cognizantof what it means
to our students and their families,"
Deitch said. "It would be very dis-
ingenuous to say it's not going to go
up."
See REGENTS, Page 10A
After stockpile of popular
contraceptive runs out,
price more than doubles
By LINDY STEVENS
Daily StaffReporter
When the Deficit Reduction Act took
effect in January 2007, University Health
Service hoped their supplies would last long
enough to prevent birth control costs from
rising. But it couldn't hold out forever.
A Congressional measure intended to
reduce Medicare and. Medicaid costs, the
Deficit Reduction Act restricts pharmaceuti-
cal companies from selling their products at
reduced prices to some buyers - including
colleges and universities. The cost of a one-
month supply ofthe popular birth control pill
Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo jumped from $21 to $50
at University Health Service last week.
Rather than raise prices, UHS bought
an 18-month stockpile of Ortho Tri-Cy-
clen Lo last year. But now with that supply
exhausted, UHS was forced to increase the
See BIRTH CONTROL, Page 10A
* On Ramadan, students hold fast together
Muslim students
build ties at dinner
table during holiday
By CHARLES GREGG-GEIST
Daily StaffReporter
LSA freshman Seher Chowhan
wakes up at 5 each morning, while
most of campus sleeps, to eat a
large breakfast and pray.
It's an unconventional sched-
ule for most college students, but
for Chowhan it's a key part of the
observanceofRamadan, a30-day-
long holiday during which obser-
vant Muslims do not eat or drink
from sunrise to sunset. It began
Monday, the day before classes
started.
"It's tough for me," LSA fresh-
man Seher Chowhan said. "Living
in the dorms, you have to explain
to your roommate why you're
waking up at five in the morning
To maintain the community
element of the holiday, the Mus-
lim Student Association organizes
group meals to break the fast from
Monday through Thursday.
On Wednesday night, LSA
senior and MSA's social co-chair
Malik Mossa-Basha gathered
with about SO male students in
the basement of South Quad to
break their fast with 200 tacos
and burritos from Taco Bell.
"Back home, it's like a huge
event," Mossa-Basha said in
between bites of a burrito. "When
we're here, we try to make Ann
Arbor our community. It's like a
home-away-from-home thing."
Because Ramadan is deter-
iined by the lunar calendar, it
starts ten days earlier every year.
And as the start date moves fur-
ther into the summer, the days
lengthen and get hotter.
"I remember seven years ago,
fasting from7 1o4:30," LSA senior
See RAMADAN, Page 1OA
JtRtMY CHO/Daily
John McCain speaking at Freedom Hill County Park in Sterling Heights, Mich He
stopped there a day after accepting the Republican nomination.
McCain targets Michigan
voters in post-RNC swing
Mattar Iman, the mother of a freshman Engineering student, prays before the
breaking of fast for Ramadan.
to eat and pray." their fast and pray when the sun
Fasting Muslims usually eat sets, but those traditions can be
a meal before sunrise and then lost amid the bustle of college
gather for a large meal to break campuses.
CAMPAIGN 2008 *
Excitement high among College Dems
Voter registration
booming with Nov.
election looming
By TREVOR CALERO
and ELAINE LAFAY
Daily StaffReporters
Nathaniel Eli Coats Styer, presi-
dent of the University's chapter of
College Democrats, has never had
to turn people away from a meet-
ing.
But last night, more than 100
people couldn't squeeze into the
Pendleton Room of the Michigan
Union for the group's first mass
meeting of the year.
The room filled to capacity
several minutes before the meet-
ing was scheduled to begin, and
though current members were
urged to make room for newcom-
ers, students had to wait outside,
lining the stairs and blocking the
hallway.
College Democrats members
tried to speak to each person wait-
ing outside one on one, giving
them rushed introductions and
encouraging them to return.
More than 200 people remained
inside - still more thancapacity -
for a meeting that drew speakers
including State Sen. Gary Peters
(DI-Bloomfield Twp.), Rep. John
Dingell (D-Dearborn), his wife
and Democratic National Com-
mittee member Debbie Dingell,
State Senate Minority Leader
Mark Schauer (D-Battle Creek)
and former Michigan basketball
playyer and Barack Obama sup-
porter Jimmy King.
Since last Tuesday, the College
Democrats have registered 1,741
new voters, more than half the
total number of voters the group
registered in 2006. Three hun-
dred twenty-eight registered dur-
ing Festifall alone.
"The excitement on campus
is amazing," Styer said. "I don't
think that we've ever matched this
kind of excitement."
Styer said more than 300 stu-
dents signed up for e-mail fists
during last night's meeting, in
addition to 900 who signed up
over the past week - the most
interest he's ever seen during his
time at the University.
During the meeting, speakers
emphasized the importance of the
student vote, the urgency of the
See DEMOCRATS, Page 7A
C1
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ismofle
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Sterl
western
rowd of 10,000 type of Michigan community the
presidential candidates are vying
s for Republicans for - a Detroit suburb with middle
class, blue-collar residents strug-
terling Heights glingto filltheirgas tanks and make
mortgage payments. Historically,
the town has been divided fairly
By JULIE ROWE evenly. In 2004, more straight-tick-
Daily StaffReporter et voters voted Democratic by an
eight-percent margin, but George
RLING HEIGHTS - The W. Bush won the city with 51 per-
er John McCain accepted cent of the vote - 4 percent more
ublican nomination, he and than Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.).
g mate Sarah Palin made a To set the tone, Paln cited
Michigan to give speeches McCain's service in the Vietnam
to those the pair gave at War and time as a POW and his
irty's convention. reputation as a "maverick" in the
alin introduced McCain, the Senate as evidence of his willing-
member crowd at the Free- ness to defend them as president -
till Amphitheater cheered while also criticizing Obama.
lauded at nearly every line - "Our opponents have been going
Ily the jabs at Barack Obama. on quite a bitlately, about how they
ong politicians, there is the always quote, 'fight for you,"' Palin
of endless talk about great said. "But since Sen. McCain won't
and then there is the ideal- say this on his own behalf, let me
eaderslike JohnMcCainwho say it. There is only one man in
'dogreatthings," she said. this election who has ever really
ing Heights, a city in south- fought for you and that man is John
Macomb County, is the See MCCAIN, Page 7A
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