be 13id~igan 4&iImj
* Ann Arbor, Michigan
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
michigandaily.com
SOUTH U. BLAZE
Charred South
U. building to
be torn down
ROLLING OUT A BUSINESS
STUDENT RIGHTS
Revisions to
student code
in the works
Demiolition will
begin on Dec.14
and could be
finished by Jan. 6
By DARRYN FITZGERALD
Daily StaffReporter
Demolition of the former Pin-
ball Pete's building - a well-
known campus landmark that
was damaged in a fire earlier this
fall - is set to begin next week
when classes end and students
begin leaving town for winter
break.
Dennis Tice, owner of the for-
mer Pinball Pete's property that
was charred beyond repair in
late October, said demolition of
the property will begin on Dec.
14 and is expected to continue
through Jan. 6. But, based on
advice from city officials, major
demolition won't begin until after
Christmas, when most students
have left campus. What follows
after the demolition, however, is
still up in the air.
The Oct. 24 fire that ravaged
the abandoned building on South
University Avenue took firefight-
ers from two departments hours
tofullyextinguishandtemporari-
ly displaced hundreds of residents
from the neighboring Univer-
sity Towers apartment complex.
Two men, who are thought to be
homeless, were arrested in con-
nection with the blaze Dec. 3 and
have been charged with arson of
private property. A court hearing
for one of the suspects is set to
begin tomorrow.
Shortly after the fire, Tice said
he received a letter from city offi-
cials acknowledging the incident
and inquiring about what his
plans were for the property.
Tice - who has beeninnegoti-
ations to sell the building for the
past five months - said though
the fire recently occurred, he
has been waiting for years for
city approval to demolish the
building.
See DEMOLITION, Page 7
One controversial
change would lower
burden of proof to
punish students
By STEPHANIE STEINBERG
Daily StaffReporter f
Significant changes are being
considered for the document that
governs student rights, responsi-
bilities and .the consequences for
policy violations
on campus. NOTEBOOK
Speaking
before the University faculty's
leading governing body yesterday,
E. Royster Harper, vice president
for student affairs, briefed mem-
bers of the Senate Advisory Com-
mittee on University Affairs on
several controversial changes to
the Statement of *Student Rights
and Responsibilities under con-,
sideration.
The Statement of Student
Rights and Responsibilities is the
official set of regulations that stu-
dents must follow while enrolled
at the University. The document
outlines the rights students have
at the University and details
potential consequences for some
violations including illegal drug
and alcohol use, hazing and sex-
ual assaults. Every three years,
amendments are introduced to
the document, usually with little
controversy.
But this year's proposed
amendments - including ones
to the burden of proof needed in
cases brought against students,
gender-neutral policy language
and the amendment process
itself - have been a source of
contention.
From April 1 to Nov. 1, 2009,
students, faculty and staff submit-
ted proposals to the Student Rela-
tibns Advisory Committee - the
student group that works with
See SACUA, Page 7
Touted as the sober person's option for late-night eats, South U. Pizza offers a more
upscale dining experience for those looking for a greater variety in choices and
toppings. Sirce opening threeweeks ago, business has been "steady," according to
owner Nizar Elawar and employee Serena Renda (above).
GETTING INTO GRAD SCHOOL
GRE sees 'most radical'
changes since inception
CITY COUNCIL
Council passes long-awaited
plan to manage Huron River
With changes, good
scores expected to
stand out better
from the crowd.
By JOSEPH LICHTERMAN
Daily StaffReporter
After two failed attempts to
revamp the Graduate Record
Examination, Educational Test
Service announced Friday that it
is making drastic changes to the
test starting in 2011.
The test, which is used by
schools in admissions applica-
tions to graduate school, will still
include verbal reasoning, quan-
titative reasoning and analytical
writing sections, but each will be
slightly modified. In addition, the
scoring format will be changed.
Test takers will now be able to
use a calculator on the quantita-
tive reasoning section and will be
given 45 extra minutes to com-
plete the test. In addition, stu-
dents taking the computerized
version of the test will now be
able to skip questions and come
back to them.
The changes are part of a push
by ETS to increase the number of
admissions offices using the test
by making it similar to the GrAdu-
ate Management Admission Test
- the test most widely used for
admission to graduate programs
in business, including the Univer-
sity's Ross School of Business.
Andrew Mitchell, director of
0 graduate programs at Kaplan Test
Prep and Admissions, said the
changes are the most radical made
in the test's 59-year history.
"ETS, the test maker, has
announced changes to the scor-
ing scale, also to the content of the
test and even to the way the test is
navigated and to the tools that are
provided to take the test," Mitch-
ell said. "So we have pretty big
news in terms of what's going on
with the GRE."'
In 2006 'and 2007, ETS
announced changes to the GRE,
but never fully implemented them.
Those changes were supposed to
remove the antonym and analogy
verbal questions and switch to an
tnternet-based test, but only slight
changes ended up being made to
the verbal and quantitative rea-
soning sections in the fall of 2007.
The most recent changes, how-
ever, will be more far-reaching.
The new version of the test will
be scored on a scale from 130 to
170 with one-point intervals. The
current GRE is graded from 200
to 800 with 10-point intervals.
When the change is implemented,
students will be able ;o get one of
41 possible scores instead of the
current 61 possible scores.
Mitchell said the new grad-
ing system will make scores more
accurate because the more narrow
range will allow better scores to
stand out.
"It means with a smaller scale
you're going to work harder to
compete, to'differentiate yourself
based on your GRE score," he said.
"Because the scale is not as finely
tuned."
Neil Seltzer, who is in charge of
the GRE program for the Princ-
eton Review, said though the
changes will make better scores
stand out, the new system is "rath-
er insulting to admissions profes-
sionals," who have been admitting
students based on the current sys-
tem for years.
Many changes, are also being
made to the content of the exam.
Test takers will be able to use cal-.
culators on. the quantitative por-
tion of the test, which means the
questions will likely be more com-
THE NEW GRE
How the Educatiohal Test Service
plans to revamp the Graduate Record
Examination by 2011.
SCORED ON A SCALE OF:
WILL BE. 130-170
NOW 200-800
SCORED IN INCREMENTSOF:
WILL BE:one
NOW:10
TIME LIMITS:
WILL BE: 3 hours, 45 minutes
NOW: 3 hours
POSSIBLE SCORES: .
WILL BE: 41 possible scores
NOW: 61 possible scores
plex and more focused on data
analysis, according to Mitchell.
In addition, the computer-
based version of the GRE will now
allow test takers to skip questions
and come back to them. In its cur-
rent version, skipping questions is
not allowed because the difficulty
of the next question is based on
whether or not the previous ques-
tion was answered correctly.
Finally, the time limit on the .
GRE will be extended from three
hours to three hours and forty-five
minutes.
Seltzei said ETS is making the
changes in hopes of increasing use
of the GRE.
"ETS is trying to maintain the
relevance of the test and increase
their customer base," Seltzer said.
Part of this push to maintain
the relevance of the test, according
to Seltzer, relates to the growing
influence of the GMAT. ETS used
to own the rights to the GMAT, but
in 2006 Pearson bought the con-
tract for the test. Seltzer believes
the GRE's overhaul is part of ETS's
continued effort to entice business
See GRE, Page 7
t1
at
The
finally;
Impou
which
2006 -
ing mu
The
recomr
ter mat
30 rec
agreed
them,c
the Ar
The
sponso
Carster
Counci
Members table (D-Ward 4), was a motion to accept
the plan, which was created by the
)ugh questions Huron River and Impoundment
Management Plan Committee. The.
)out Argo Dam discussion on the plan lasted more
than an hour and every member on
By EMILY ORLEY the council used his or her entire
DailyStaffReporter allotted speaking times.
The Ann Arbor Environmental
Ann Arbor City Council Commission formed the Huro4
passed the Huron River and River and Impoundment Manage-
ndmentManagement Plan - ment Plan Committee three years
has been in the works since ago to formulate recommendations
- last night after implement- on how to handle the Huron River.
iltiple amendments. Hohnke opened the discus-
plan features 30 consensus sion by proposing an'amendment
mendations on how to bet- to the resolution to add. a clause
nage the Huron River. Of the to move forward on proposals
ommendations the council passed with broad support by City
to move forward'on 29 of Council members by forwarding
deciding to view the issue of the proposals to the HRIMPC.
go Dam separately. At the same time, proposals with
resolution, which was co- less consensus would be further
red by Councilmember discussed by councilmembers and
n Hohnke (D-Ward 5) and HIRMPC would present sugges-
ilmember Margie . Teall tions to City Council on how to do
so at a later time.
"We don't have resources right
now to do what we want to do, but
we have a good start," Hohnke said.
"So let's move, forward with those
others."
Hohkne said that a lot of time has
been spent trying to decide what
needs to be done with the river, and
now the focus needs to be directed
toward how those decisions are
going to be enacted.
.Mayor John Hiefjte, who said he
was unable to support a proposal
without a timeframe, proposed that
the amendment be given a one year
time period until the committee be
forced to have a final proposal for
the council. The suggestion was
passed unanimously.
Hieftje added if the council had
been voting on the status of the
Argo Dam last night, he wouldhave
voted to keep it.
Argo Dam is currently one of the
See HURON RIVER, Page 7
WAR STORIES
AAKON AUG'1BURGEK/Uaily
At Borders yesterday, Brad Leithauser, a Detroit born writer, reads excerpts from and signs his new novel "The Art Student's
War" - a book about an artist asked to draw portraits of wounded soldiers in Detroit hospitals during World War Two.
WEATHER HI: 38
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