Weather Tonight: Cloudy with 2-4 inches of snow, low 30%. Tomorrow: Some snow, some sun, high 33%. It I Un Unt One hundredfive years ofeditorialfreedom Friday November 17, 1995 ... . ....... Presidential search forums scheduled SNOWY VALLEY By Amy Klein Daily Staff Reporter The University Board of Regents took the first step yester- day on the long journey toward finding a new president, adopting a plan for a series of public forums set to begin Dec. 4 designed to gather community input. Adopting the second of two plans presented by Provost J. Bernard Machen at yesterday's regents meeting, the board approved a schedules for nine separate forums that provide students, faculty, deans, alumni and staff the opportunity to give their ideas and input on the selection of the next president. The plan the regents approved includes two additional forums, not yet scheduled, to be held in Western Michigan and in metro Detroit. The plan specifies which section of the community will be invited to each forum, and some meetings will be only open to alumni or faculty. Machen said the plan accommodates students' final exam and winter break schedules, and that students will have the opportunity to meet with regents on the first day of the forums. The last three forums are open to the general public. The adopted plan does not set an end date for the forums, but Machen said the board should try to conclude the sessions before the regents' January meeting. Machen said the first plan was designed for the time constraint imposed by Presi- dent James J. Duderstadt's June 30, 1996 resignation date. "The advantage to the first plan is that it's the fast track. It gets it done by the January regents meeting and still allows a wide spectrum of the University to give input," Machen said. "Plan two is dependent on the pressures of time. Obviously we have to weigh the time commitment we will need." But many regents said they favored the second plan because it gathers the broadest range of feedback from the community., "It has to be consistent with the invitation that we extended to the community at large," said Regent Rebecca McGowan (D-Ann Arbor). "To extend (the forums) to the west and to the metro Detroit area is consistent to the initial invitation. If that means adding a couple of days, then that doesn't trouble me at all." Machen said the forums will be recorded and transcripts will be provided for any member of the board unable to attend a forum. He also recommended that the regents draft a letter to the community soliciting written input from constituents. Machen said the request should be printed in major campus publica- tions, including The Michigan Daily, The Michigan Review and the Black Student Monthly. Machen said that written responses from the community would be considered public documents under the Freedom of Information Act. George Brewer, chairman of the Senate Advisory Com- mittee for University Affairs, urged the regents to conduct a public search that follows the state's Open Meetings Act. "The faculty will accept nothing less than doing what's best for the University. And please in this endeavor, don't take it for granted that the faculty are so passive, and this place so big and decentralized, that the faculty can't bite," Brewer said. Machen announced that he is also researching the University's past presidential searches and similar searches at other institutions, and will present a full report at December's regents' meeting. Presidential Forums Monday, Dec. 4: Central Campus, 2:30-4:30 p.m., faculty Monday, Dec. 4: Central Campus, 6-8 p.m., students Thursday, Dec. 14: Central Campus, 10 a.m.-noon, alumni Thursday, Dec. 14: Central Campus, 2-4 p.m, staff Thursday, Jan. 18: Flint, 10 a.m.-noon, faculty, staff, students Thursday, Jan. 18: Dearborn, 3-5 p.m., faculty, staff, students Friday, Jan. 19: North Campus, 10 a.m.-noon, open forum TBA: Grand Rapids, Western Michigan, 2-5 p.m., open forum TBA: Metro Detroit, open forum 'U, cold split from NCAA By Amy Klein Daily Staff Reporter Hinting at an ultimate split from the National Collegiate Athletic As- sociation, University President James J. Duderstadt said at yesterday's Board of Regents meeting that the association no longer represents the interests of large institutions. The NCAA, which is scheduled to convene in January in Dallas, is likely to vote on a proposal to change from an association into a federation. The association currently includes Divisions I, II and III schools, with one vote allotted to each school. Duderstadt said the switch to a fed- eration system would allow Division I, which includes the largest schools, to break off from smaller colleges to form its own governing body. "The NCAA creates an awkward situation for developing policies," Duderstadt said. "It does not serve in the best interests of larger institu- tions like .the University." The change to a federation sys- tem would re- quire a two- thirds vote by the members of the association, said Kathryn Reith, director of pub- Duderstat lic information for the NCAA. The change would set up the NCAA as an umbrella group overseeing the different divisions. While an association gives equal voice to -alf members, a federation would only permit Division I schools to vote on issues affecting Division I. Duderstadt said the Division I sec- tion of the federation would be run by an executive board of 15 presi- dents from the different schools rep- resented. Duderstadt said that if the pro- posal fails at the January conference, there is a possibility that the NCAA will dissolve as an association en- tirely. Vice President for University Re- lations Walter Harrison said that the main reason for staying in the NCAA is to keep with tradition. "There's some sense that the (smaller) schools may not agree or support this," Harrison said. "If they don't, there is some movement among the larger schools to leave the NCAA."' - Daily Sports Editor Ryan White contributed to this report. Blue tmust batte Penn State, weather By Antoine Pitts Daily Sports Editor The Michigan football team needs another win to lock up a spot in a Florida bowl game. The conditions the Wolverines will see this weekend in State College are far from anything the Sunshine State has to offer. The Wolverines (4-2 Big Ten, 8-2 overall) face Penn State (3-3, 6-3) to- morrow at snow-covered Beaver Sta- dium (noon, ABC). A win would go a long way toward securing Michigan a spot in the Outback Bowl (formerly the Hall of Fame Bowl) in Tampa for the second time in three years. Players and coaches alike declared last week's Michigan-Purdue contest the worst game conditions they've ever seen. There could be more of the same this weekend. The State College area has been pounded this week like most of the East Coast with more than 18 inches of snow. The National Weather Service is fore- casting more light snow for tonight and for tomorrow's game. "TheUniversity feels that the game with Michigan for Saturday be played as scheduled," said Penn State Senior Vice President for Finance and Business Gary Schultz. "We've had a concentrated ef- fort to clear walkways, aisleways and the seats in Beaver Stadium." What Penn State has not been able to do is to clear any of the grass fields that See PENN STATE, Page 12 FILE PHOTO Michigan linebacker- Jarrett Irons and the rest of the Wolverines are looking at another cold and snowy game. This week it is in Happy Valley against Penn State. Michigan vs. Penn State When: Tomorrow, noon Where: Beaver Stadium TV; ABC (Brent Musberger, Dick Vermil and Jack Arute) Radio: WJR 760 AM, WWJ 950 AM, WUOM 91.7 FM Tickets: Sold Out Une: Penn State by 4 1/2 Series: TIed 1-1 Coverage continues: Pages 10, 12 Regents delay code vote, until today, By Josh White Daily Staff Reporter The University Board of Regents plans to vote today on the proposed Code of Student Conduct after lengthy debate and comments at yesterday's meeting. Despite numerous public statements and a testimonial from members of the Code workgroup, none of the regents would speculate on the outcome of the vote. "I expect to vote (today) and I see no reason why we wouldn't,"said Regent Philip Power (D-Ann Ar- bor). "This is not an easy subject, and it is a serious matter that has a long his- tory. I can't speculate as to what will happen in the Hartford vote." Six members of the Code workgroup, which formulated the first draft of the document, appeared before the regents yesterday to out- line the work they did during the past seven months. Each member described a piece of the process, and all voiced their approval. Recent Law graduate Jack Bernard, a mem- ber of the workgroup, said the group followed the guidelines the regents gave them and came up with a draft that meets those guidelines. "We were asked to come up with a docu- nent that would be value-based, protect stu- dent rights, have an overarching emphasis on education and be short, clear and less legalis- tic," Bernard said. "I think that we have done that." Regent Laurence Deitch (D-Bloomfield Hills), however, asked the y workgroup ifmembers felt there was a need fora Code. "I have no problem with a Code as pertaining to academic issues," Deitch said. "As this came down, and I looked at it one more= time, I started wrestling Deitch with the issue of whether this is a Code that will make student life better at Michigan." Bernard refused comment, and said that the group was not charged with evaluating whether or not a code should be in place, rather that the regents had charged him and the rest of the group with formulation of a new Code. Regent Deane Baker (R-Ann Arbor), who has been outspoken in the past against the Code, would also not comment on the vote. "You can never tell with this group of people," Baker said. "I am not going to com- ment on how I will vote, but I will say that I have never been enthusiastic about the Code." Members of the workgroup supported the idea of a Code. Even members who had for- merly been against any Code at all, such as LSA junior Chris Hodges, spoke in favor of its adoption. "I still have a somewhat negative view, but I have learned a lot and changed a lot," Hodges told the board yesterday. "At first I thought the idea of a Code was bad, but I stand behind this Code draft we created." LSA sophomore Anne Marie Ellison, who voiced her disapproval of the Code at public comments yesterday, said the support from the workgroup was not surprising. "They were basically selling the Code, that they wrote, to the regents," Ellison said. "I am not alarmed that they did that, however. There is at least one member of the group that had serious doubts about the Code, and it didn't come out at the meeting. It really should have, See CODE, Page 7 U.S. government to appeal Baker case Early returns indicate 3 By Zachary M. Raimi Daily Staff Reporter The federal government plans to ap- peal a U.S. District Court judge's deci- sion to dismiss the case against former University student Jake Baker. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher P. Yates, who is handling the case for the government, is expected to submit a brief Tuesday, Baker's attorney Dou- glas Mullkoff said yesterday. The U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincin- nati will probably decide by spring if the case will go to trial. Yates was out of town yesterday and could not be reached for comment. Baker, 21, was suspended from the University in February after posting stories to an area of the Internet in- tended for sexual fantasies. One of the messages graphically depicted the ab- duction and rape ofa female University student, whom he named. After being suspended, Baker was arrested and spent 29 days in jail. The government indicted him on five counts related to the transmitting of threats on the Internet. In June, Federal Judge Avern Cohn dismissed the charges against Baker, saying there was not enough evidence for trial. The appeals court consists ofa panel of three judges. The prosecution and defense will both have the opportunity to argue their case before these judges. If the court rules in favor of the pros- ecution, the case would shift back to the U.S. District Court in Detroit for a jury trial, Mullkoff said. Mullkoff said he does not believe this will happen. "I think the govern-. ment is grasping at straws," Mullkoff said. A spokes- woman for the r U.S. Attorney's< Office in Detroit Baker said yesterday, "The office has no comment at this time." Earlier this week, Yates obtained approval from the U.S. Solicitor General's Office to appeal the case. No one from the office's criminal appellate division returned calls yesterday. parties split By Jeff Eldridge and Michelle Lee Thompson Daily Staff Reporters Unofficial results of this week's Michigan Student Assembly represen- tative elections had no clear party win- ner, Election Director Meagan Newman said early this morning. Although the winners' names will not be confirmed until early next week, Newman said the approximately 3,000 votes were evenly distributed between the three parties currently represented MSA vote Election Results Early this morning, the Michigan Student Assembly released the following unofficial winners in the following schools and colleges: Students' Party Education: Rajeshri Gandhi Public Health: Maureen Comfort Dentistry: Mary-Catherine Glibota Michigan Party Kinesiology: Debbie Band Medicine: Patrick Javid Wolverine Party Business: Andrew Marcus Independent Social Work: Poco Smith Music: Susan Ratcliffe elections. In other election results, Newman said all three ballot questions would probably nc "Ves-Ve-Nn" in faorrcfincreasino Comeil may punish 4 students for lewd e-mail U University of Michigan official says letter would not be censored, punished here did not consider it a problem. Morse said the Daily Sun's editorial page supported free speech, although it expressed its outrage against the contents of the message. "(The Daily Sun) supported students' right to freely express themselves but we were 66 . .The University has a plicy of interpreting stda w5am! m "M l/&a" on the assembly. "It means that people actually care about the candi- dates," Newman said. "Students ac- tually thought about who they were vot- ,a fn ar nctp of ' 11 A 'Elections I ,I I