Orientation Edition 2008
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Affirmative action anned in Michigan
Proposal 2 gets 58
percent of vote
By WALTER NOWINSKI
Daily News Editor
Nov. 8, 2006 - Michigan voters
dealt a firm blow to the University's
affirmative action programs yes-
terday, voting decisively in favor of
Proposal 2, which bans the consid-
eration of race, gender or national
origin in college admissions, hiring
and contracting.
University President Mary Sue
Coleman, a vocal opponent of the
proposal, reaffirmed the Universi-
ty's commitment to diversity late
last night in a statement released
before the election was called.
"We defended affirmative action
all the way to the Supreme Court
because diversity is essential to our
mission as educators," Coleman
said. "Regardless of what happens
with Proposal 2, the University of
Michigan will remain fully and
completely committed to diver-
sity."
LSA junior Ryan Fantuzzi, co.
chair of the the group that cam-
paigned for the amendment, said
he was overjoyed at the proposal's
passage.
"It is like Christmas," Fantuzzi
said. "The government can't dis-
criminate against people anymore
- and that is a beautiful thing."
Not all students were quite so
jubilant at the news.
LSA senior Rachael Tanner,
who campaigned against Proposal
2 with Students Supporting Affir-
mative Action, resigned herself to
defeat last night.
"We did a great job on campus,"
Tanner said. "But ultimately the
lies and deceptions prevailed."
While Michigan voters approved
Proposal 2 by a 16-percent margin,
University students voted deci-
sively against the amendment. In
predominantly student precincts
around campus, Proposal 2 failed
75 to 21percent.
School of Business sophomore Arvind Sohoni somberly watches Proposal 2 results trickle inon election night ir
4
Minority enrollment down
Burned: Students hit with
RIAA infringement suits
Undergraduate
admissions numbers
released for 2007,
By ARIKIA MILLIKAN and
JESSICA VOSGERCHIAN
Daily News Editors
June 4, 2007 - The University
has closed shop on admissions for
the 2007-2008 year, and the final
numbers show that the January
enactment of the legislation dras-
tically affectedthe acceptance rate
of under-represented minorities.
Although there were 175 more
minority applicants this year than
in 2006, the University admitted
111 less than it did last year.
While the changes in both the
total number of applications, and
the applications from under-rep-
resented minorities increased
by about 6.5 percent, the total
number of admitted applicants
increased 15 percent while the
number of admitted minorities
dropped by 7.4 percent.
The University accepted 502
minority applicants in the months
before Proposal 2 passed, an
increase of about 85 percent from
the 270 it accepted at the same
time last year.
Chris Lucier, the University's
director of recruitment and oper-
ations, said that this figure could
likely be attributed to a more
aggressive recruiting approach
rather than priority given to
applications from minority stu-
dents in anticipation of the pas-
sage of Proposal 2.
"We did have a number of
recruitment events this year
where we encouraged minor-
ity applicants to apply and apply
early," Lucier said.
The numbers indicate that the
loss of the advantage granted
by affirmative action brought
the ratio of minority applicants
accepted to a level almost on par
with non-minority applicants.
Twelve percent more minor-
ity applicants were accepted than
non-minority applicants in 2006,
while in the final 2007 admis-
sions numbers the gap closed to
put minority acceptance at about
1 percentage point less than non-
minority acceptance.
Lucier said this year's data do
not entirely reveal the impact
of the affirmative action ban on
admissions because two process-
es were used during the cycle.
"I believe that there was an
impact," he said. "But I can't
assess the magnitude of the
impact. Part of the decrease of 7.4
(percent) was attributed to Prop
2."
But although the University
was forced to reject some minor-
ity applicants who may have been
admitted with affirmative action,
more of those accepted admission
offers from the University.
Four percent. more admitted
minority applicants put down
a deposit this year to confirm
plans to attend than did last year.
Accepted minority. applicants
paid deposits two percent more
often than accepted applicants as
a whole.
The numbers ease adminis-
trators' concern that minority
students would be deterred from
attending the University because
of the perception that its campus
wasn't welcoming to minorities
after the passage of Proposal 2,
Lucier said.
Lucier said he thought the high-
ernumberscanbe attributedtothe.
University's outreach programs as
well as the overall increased inter,
est in the University from students
applying to college.
"It shows the efforts made in
the aftermath of Prop 2 to talk to
students about the opportunities
the University of Michigan pro-
vides were successful," he said.
4
By KATHERINE MITCHELL
Daily StaffReporter
May 21. 2007 - The Recording
Industry Association of America
announced Thursday that it is
delivering on its threat to sue copy-
right infringers at the University.
The RIAA, which represents
several record labels, said in a press
release on May 17 that 12 lawsuits
were filed against University net-
work users whose IP addresses the
trade group claims are connected
to illegal peer-to-peer file sharing.
The lawsuits are against network
users who were issued pre-litiga-
tion settlement letters on April 11.
The University passed on 23 letters
to alleged copyright infringers that
offered the chance to accept a set-
tlement deal to avoid a lawsuit filed
by the RIAA.
The RIAA could only issue the
letters to IP addresses. If accused
users wished to accept the pre-set-
tlement terms, they had to contact
the RIAA to reveal their identities.
Based on the number of lawsuits
filed, 11 alleged users chose to settle
with the trade group.
The RIAA said in the press
release that the pre-litigation set-
tlement offer included lower fines
than accused individuals would
face if found guilty in court.
The RIAA began sending settle-
ment letters to copyright infring-
ers in February as part of an effort
to crackdown on peer-to-peer file
sharing on college campuses.
An e-mail sent by the University
in Marchto students, staff and fac-
ulty said past settlements for Uni-
versity students averaged between
$4,000 and $4,500. These students,
though, were not offered pre-litiga-
tion terms.
The RIAA settlement letters
allow accused users 20 days to con-
tact the trade group.
The lawsuits are filed under the
name "John Doe" until the trade
group issues a subpoena to the Uni-
versity requesting the identities of
the network users in question.
Bernard said the trade group
could have issued the subpoenas at
the same time it filed the lawsuit,
but chose not to do so.
On April 11, 20 other universities
also received pre-litigation settle-
ment letters, but it is unknown if
any lawsuits have been brought
against recipients at those univer-
sities who chose not to settle.