I 2 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, May 30, 2006 LSA-SG continues fight for credit bracket change Student government Student representatives have been installation of a new system is not leadership hopes to shrink working to promote a new policy that likely, Benson said. The office has would focus on narrowing the number of previously defended the current sys- registration group size credits in each bracket tem, arguing that large brackets leave "We will continue our work with the new space for concentrators and students By Emily Angell Provost, who may bring a new perspective completing prerequisites. For the Daily and fresh ideas to the table;" LSA-SG Vice Students who believe the Universi- President Justin Benson said. ty should change their policy say the LSA student government leaders hope Benson said LSA-SG leaders hope to brackets should be smaller to make the arrival of new Provost Teresa Sul- meet with Sullivan in the fall. the registration process more equal. livan this Thursday will help push for- While many students successfully In the past few months, LSA-SG has ward changes to the University's credit enroll in courses of interest each term, increased their work with both the Sen- bracket registration system they have the University's registration policy and ate Advisory Committee on University been developing over the past year. random assignment of appointments Affairs and the Academic Affairs Advi- The Office of the Provost, which leaves much to be desired. sory Committee to push for a new system oversees the Office of the Registrar, For years, the large amount of credits that would make the registration process manages the registration process. within each bracket has caused campus- more evenhanded. Under the current system, Students are wide distress. Under the current policy, Other Big Ten schools have reduced placed in groups, or brackets, based on the for example, a student with 12 credits may this worry by dividing brackets into much number of credits they have accumulated. register before a person with 15 credits. smaller increments, Benson said. Michi- Each bracket consists of 15 credits and Without the cooperation of Uni- gan State University separates students by registration appointments are randomly versity Registrar Paul Robinson in each credit in its registration process. assigned to each student within a bracket. making this an academic priority, the See BRACKETS, Page 3 GAS Continued from Page 1 Daniel Nemirovsky. "(A cap on profits) can have unforeseen consequences on other industries." Nemirovsky said a change in the execu- tive administration might be the solution to high gas prices. Truscott said DeVos proposes suspend- ing the state sales tax on gas after the first $1.96 of each gallon of gasoline - saving consumers about six cents per gallon. But Granholm's campaign spokesman Chris DeWitt said this proposal would cut a substantial amount of funding to public education and police and fire programs, supported in part by state tax revenue. Walter McManus, research scien- tist director at the University's Trans- portation Research Institute, said the governor's idea that Bush should cap oil profits could have negative consequenc- es in the long run. McManus said oil companies are investing in research for alternative fuels and new oil reserves. But if Bush pubs a cap on oil profits, he will reduce the incentive to find new oil because the expected profit from such an endeavor would decrease substantially, McManus said. He added that the supply of oil will be reduced and price increases will be unavoidable in the long run. McManus also explained the reason for a record in oil profits.Many oil companies bought stocks of oil years ago for much less than they are worth now, he said. By the time they sell the oil, the companies make a considerable profit. Under DeVos's plan, McManus said consumers will save an average of $36 a year. They can save more by driving more "smoothly" - not accelerating or braking rapidly and driving at a constant speed. Based on his research, this could save consumers about $133 a year. At the local level, Mayor John Hieftje proposed ideas to encourage alternative modes of transportation, such as creat- 4 ing a rail transport system that travels to Detroit, Dearborn, the Metropolitan air- port, Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor. Free LSAT Crash Course June 4th, 4:00-7:00pm Location: TBA Alyou eed t know to ace the LSAT I alE 8- rVIEW ceto Review To play: Complete the grid so that every row, column and MEMORIAL Continued from Page 1 violating the act would face a fine of up to $100,000 and up to a year in prison. Yesterday's observance at Arlington National Cemetery was not a funeral, so demonstrators were free to speak their minds at the site. Bush's motorcade passed several protestors, including a small group that held signs saying, "Thank God for dead soldiers" and "God hates fags." About 10 people from the Washing- ton D.C. chapter of FreeRepublic.com, a self-styled grassroots conservative group, stood across the road with signs support- ing U.S. troops. A large sign held by sev- eral people said, "God bless our troops, defenders of freedom, American heroes." The FreeRepublic.com group was trying to counter demonstrations by the Kansas-based group, led by the Rev. Fred Phelps, who previously organized protests against those who died of AIDS and gay murder victim Matthew Shepard. In an interview when the House passed the bill that Bush signed yesterday, Phelps accused Congress of "blatantly violating" his First Amendment rights. He said that if it became law, he would continue to demonstrate but would abide by the law's restrictions. Bush signed a second bill yesterday that allows combat troops to deposit tax-free pay into individual retirement accounts. Supporters of the legislation argued that rules governing these accounts were pun- ishing soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq who earn only tax-free combat pay. Through Veterans for Peace - a non- governmental organization represented at the United Nations - the atmosphere of Arlington National Cemetery became more tangible for some local residents. In Ann Arbor, Chapter 93 of VFP held a memorial yesterday to honor the 87 confirmed combat-related deaths of Michigan soldiers. With support from Military Families Speak Out and Iraq Veterans Against War, VFP set up the memorial, 'Arling- ton Michigan," in Hanover Square Park. Members of MFSO and VFP said See MEMORIAL, Page 3 CORRECTIONS Please report any error in the Daily to corrections@michigandaily.com. 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1327 www.mnichigandaily.com JEREMY DAVIDSON ALEXIS FLOYD Editor in Chief Business/Finance Manager davidson@michigandaily.com business@michigandaily.com 647-3336 764-0558 CONTACT INFORMATION News Tips Corrections Letters to the Editor Photography Department Arts Section Editorial Page Sports Section Display Sales Classified Sales Online Sales Finance Newsroom: 763-2459 O " s"S""TEus.11 a.m. - 2 a.m. news@michigandaily.com corrections@michigandaily.com tothedaily@michigandaily.com photo@michigandaily.com 764-0563 artspage@michigandaily.com 763-0379 opinion@michigandaily.com 763-0379 sports@michigandaily.com 764-8585 display@michigandaily.com 764-0554 classified@michigandaily.com 764-0557 anlineads@michigandaily.com 615-0135 finance@michigandaily.eom 763-3246 3 4 9 2 6 1 9 4 7 3 4 1 7 53 13 7 78 6 8 9 EDITORA uuL SAFFa Jeffrey Bloomer Managing Editor bloomer@michigandaily.com Carissa Miller Managing News Editor miller@michigandaily.com NEWS EDITORS: Kelly Fraser, Leah Grahoski lmran Syed Editorial Page Editor syed@michigandaily.com Scott Bell Managing Sports Editor bell@michigandaily.com ASSOCIATE SPORTS EDITOR:I H Jose Bosch Andrew Klein Managing Arts Editor klein@michigandaily.com ASSOCIATE ARTS EDITOR: (hris Gaerig Eugene Robertson Managing Photo Editor robertson@michigandaily.com ASSOCIATE PiOTO EDITOR: Angela Cesere Angela Cesere Managing Online Editor cesere@michigandaily.com Phil Dokas Managing Online Editor dokas@michigandaily.com BUSINESS STAFF Ben Schrotenboer Display Sales Manager ASSOCIATE SUMMER MANAGER: David Dau Matthew Peurach Classified Sales Manager Erica Brehmer Layout Manager Trent Busakowski Production Manager The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday through Friday during the fall and winter terms by students at the University of Michigan. One copy is available free of charge to all readers. Additional copies may be picked up at the Daily's office for $2. Subscriptions for fall term, starting in September, via U.S. mail are $110. Winter term (January through April) is $115, yearlong (September through April) is $195. University affiliates are subject to a reduced subscription rate. On-campus subscriptions for fall term are $35. Subscriptions must be prepaid. The Michigan Daily is a member of The Associated Press and The Associated Collegiate Press. 4 8 1I 7 6 9 1 Ilk zl tcusy ctio '.gym