A TEDIOUS ART sTPOFF 2009
With metal, acid and oil pastels, Why the Michigan basketball
Takeshi Takahara is recrafting an team is at the doorstep of the
ignored~form 'of prinfmaking.nation s elite and how it got there.
SEE B-SIDE, PAGE1B SEE A
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* Ann Arbor, Michigan

Thursday, November 12, 2009

michigandaily.com

APPLYING TO MICHIGAN
'U' may join
Common
App process

Official says shift
would help attract
larger applicant
pool every year
By ANNIE THOMAS
Daily StaffReporter
Current students who remem-
ber the University's distinctive
application process may recall
the many hours spent trying to
complete the form and tackle the
essays. But this February, that
process could become a thing of
the past if the University joins 392
other schools that use the Com-
mon Application.
According to Ted Spencer,
associate vice provost and execu-
tive director of Undergradu-
ate Admissions, the University
has applied to join the Common
Application. If the application
is approved, which Spencer said
he strongly believes will happen,
students will be able to submit the
Common Application as early as
the late summer admissions cycle
of 2010.
The Common Application is an
organization that provides one
application plus school-specific
supplements for colleges and
universities across the country
that subscribe to a holistic review
process.
The University of Pennsylva-
nia, The University of Virginia,
Dartmouth College, Northwest-
ern University and Harvard
University are among the many
schools that currently use the
Common Application.

Spencer said one of the main
reasons the University is switch-
ing over to the Common Appli-
cation is to better compete with
other large public universities
and small private schools that
already use it.
He said he has also heard from
officials at other colleges that
using the Common Application
has improved the quality and
quantity of their applicants.
Spencer said that using the
Common Application would also
attract more students from differ-
ent backgrounds.
"(Applicants) were from differ-
ent socio-economic areas, first-
generation, racial and ethnicities,
international as well as geograph-
ic diversity in terms of the kinds
of volume of applications that
they (other Common Application
schools) received," Spencer said.
Elizabeth Jamett, director of
college counseling for the Uni-
versity Liggett School in Grosse
Pointe, Mich., said the move to
the Common Application will be a
big change because "(The Michi-
gan application) is its own unique
being."
Jamett said that while she is a
"fan" of the Common Application
for prospective students because
it makes their lives easier, she also
noted that it might make it diffi-
cult for admissions officers to dis-
tinguish those students who truly
want to attend the University.
"If I am a student who is apply-
ing to those (Common Applica-
tion) schools, then maybe prior to
the University of Michigan using
the Common App I wouldn't have
necessarily applied to Michigan,"
See APPLICATION, Page 8A

FASHION FULL OF SOUL
SAMANTHA TRAUBEN/Daily
Kenneth Cole, designer and humanitarian, spoke to students at the School of Public Health yesterday afternoon. In his presentation, Cole focused on how Kenneth Cole Produc-
tions, Inc. has gone from just a fashion label to a socially conscious brand. For a full story on the event, go to our news blog, The Wire, at michigandaily.com/blogs/the wire.
MErA RING DIV ERS ITY

Survey brought on
by changes in the
Dept. of Education
data collection
By LIBBY ASHTON
Daily StaffReporter
University officials are inviting
students to update their race and
ethnicity information in an effort
to comply with changes in the way
the U.S. Department of Education
collects and reports race and eth-
nicity information.
The changes will shift the
process of reporting one's racial

information so that participating
students and faculty have to first
identify as either Latino, Hispanic
or neither. After that step, they can
then select from a longer list of
racial categories.
The hope is that with this new
system, historical undercountingof
Hispanic and Latino communities
will be avoided.
The Higher Education Opportu-
nity Act, which was passed on Aug.
14, 2008, is expected to increase
the number of students and fac-
ulty reporting as being Hispanic or
Latino, while decreasing the num-
ber of students reporting all other
racial or ethnic categories..
The law requires changes to be
adopted by 2010.

Lester Monts, seniorvice provost
for academic affairs, informed Uni-
versity students of the change by
e-mail earlier this week and invited
them to update their racial and eth-
nic information through Wolverine
Access.
The University's Committee
on Race/Ethnicity Reporting,
which was created following the
announcement of the changes,
recommended that the University
resurvey its current students and
faculty because there is "no simple
conversion between the old and
new categories," according to a
committee report.
The survey on Wolverine Access
asks University faculty and stu-
dents to identify themselves as

either Hispanic, Latino or neither
and then choose one or more of the
following racial categories: Ameri-
can Indian or Alaskan Native,
Asian, Black or African American,
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific
Islander, and/or White.
If a student decides to identify
as multiple races or ethnic groups
and none are Hispanic or Latino,
the new process doesn't allow that
student to choose a primary identi-
fication.
Gretchen Weir, assistant vice
provost for academic affairs, said
she thinks that despite the option
for multiple identifications, the
new process is limited in its ability
to reflect the variety of ways people
See RACE, Page 7A


THE COST OF COLLEGE ATHLETICS
Rodriguez 14th
highest paid coach
in college football

A DA TRY GOOD TTMF

ANN ARBOR'S NATIONAL BOOKSELLER
Borders to close
200 Waldenbooks,
cut 1,500 workers

USA Today study
finds 25 college
coaches make more
than $2M per year
By MALLORY BEBERMAN
Daily StaffReporter
A recent article in USA Today
reported that Michigan head
football coach Rich Rodriguez
will rack up $2,521,000 this
year, making him the 14th high-
est paid coach in college foot-
ball.
The article, which included
a database of all salaries of col-
lege coaches across the country,
also showed that at least 25 col-
lege head football coaches make
annual salaries of $2 million or
more.
The issue of football coach
salaries has been a point of
debate recently in higher educa-.
tion circles.
Some think that coaches are
overly compensated by institu-

tions that are meant to educate
students, despite the fact that
some athletic department bud-
gets - including the University
of Michigan's - are separate
from their academic counter-
parts. Others say that paying top
dollar for coaches is worth what
could be a resulting increase in
ticket sales, television ratings,
overall fan support and school
spirit.
UniversityRegentAndreaFis-
cher Newman (R-Ann Arbor), a
member of the Knight Commis-
sion on Intercollegiate Athlet-
ics - a college sports think tank
- said coaches' salaries are get-
ting increasingly exorbitant.
"Do I think they've gotten out
of hand? I do," she said. "On the
other hand, that's what the mar-
ket calls for."
In an interview yesterday,
University President Mary
Sue Coleman said the Athletic
Department, along with all
other departments at the Uni-
versity, make salary decisions
according to the University's
See COACHES, Page BA

Briarwood Mall
location among the
shuttered stores
By JOSEPH LICHTERMAN
Daily StaffReporter
Borders Group, the Ann
Arbor-based bookstore chain,
announced last week that it will
be closing most of its secondary
stores like Waldenbooks, Bor-
ders Express, and Borders Out-
let stores, including the Borders
Express in the Briarwood Mall.
The company also announced
that it will be laying off 1,500
workers.
Out of 330 current mall-based
stores, 200 will be closed. The
stores will remain open for the
holiday season and are expected
to be shut down by the end of
January, according to Borders
spokeswoman Mary Davis.
The list of locations slated to
close is not finaland could change,
according to a news release. The
closures do not include any of the
chain's superstores, including the

Ann Arbor location on East Lib-
erty Street.
Store closings are nothing new
for Borders' smaller stores - 112
Waldenbooks, Borders Express
and Borders Outlet stores were
closed last year. Between 2001
and 2007, an average of 66 stores
were closed annually nationwide,
according to the press release.
"Through this right-sizing, we
will reduce the number of stores
with operating losses, reduce our
overall rent expense and lease-
adjusted leverage and gener-
ate cash flow through sales and
working capital reductions," Bor-
ders Group CEO Ron Marshall
said ina statement.
Davis refused to say why, in
particular, the Briarwood Mall
store is being closed or how many
employees will lose their jobs.
"There are a variety or reasons
thatwe don'tgo into detail on and
we're not disclosing specific rea-
sons," she said.
She added thatthecutswillhelp
the company remain competitive
with other booksellers like Barnes
& Noble and Amazon.com.
See BORDERS, Page BA

Participants enjoy different types of cheeses during a cheese tasting from Grafton
Cheese Company in Grafton, Vt. at Zingerman's yesterday.

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