4A - The Michigan Daily - Monday, September 18, 1995 4be di !r AILig JAmiEs I H SIGN ON THE DOTTED LiNE 420 Maynard Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan I 'I MICHAEL ROSENBERG Editor in Chief JULIE BECKER JAMES M. NASH Editorial Page Editors MSA audit uncovers some swprses in student money Unless otherwise noted, unsigned editorials reflect the opinion of a majority of the Daily's editorial board. All other articles, letters, and cartoons do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Michigan Daily. Athletic woes Regents should take eater control L ive on Michigan Sportstalk: Gary athletic administrators tojustifymakingtheir 'Moeller discusses his recent conviction own decisions, such as the Moeller and Nike on charges of assault and battery in a gems. Significant decisions in other branches Southfield restaurant. Butfirst, this message at the University run through the regents, but from our corporate sponsor, Nike. the Athletic Department enjoys a near-au- What's a sports fan to think? With the tonomous status. Department officials have University's reputation wedded to its Ath- abused this status. letic Department, the department's mistakes Much of the country views the University become the University's problems. In re- only through its athletic program, and thus sponse to recent taints on the department's bases its judgment solely on the image the reputation, University administrators are teams project. The Athletic Department seems moving to bring it more in line with the not to recognize this, making deals without University's mission. regard to how they reflect on the University Moeller, who embarrassed himself in a as a whole. dmken brawl at the Excalibur restaurant in The Board of Regents deserves a greater May, was fired from his position as head say over athletics. A committee recently fin- football coach. The Athletic Department then ished a draft of University bylaws that would gave Moeller a $386,000 parting gift without place Athletic Department business contracts notifying University officials, bringing cries under the control of University financial of- of protest from the Board of Regents. ficers. While details are scarce, the proposal Last fall, the Athletic Department signed appears to be a step in the right direction, a-contract with Nike under which the shoe making the Athletic Department more ac- manufacturer agreed to supply the countable to the University at large. The University's sports unifprms in exchange for department has had its chance to show it $7 million. The deal itself troubled many at could govern itself effectively -and blew it. the University, as it seemed to compromise The University's reputation has suffered as a the University's name and reputation. Just as result. troubling was the Athletic Department's lack Even if many in the Athletic Department of accountability in the matter -the depart- are unwilling to admit it, when the football ment alone made the sale, without even con- team takes the field on Saturday, when the sulting the regents. As in the Moeller case, hockey team steps out onto the ice, or when the regents were angry that the Athletic De- the wrestlers hit the mat, it is the University's partment and Nike had consummated their name that goes out with them. And with relationship without any oversight by the thousands of would-be University students University's governing body. Their protests tuned in to Michigan athletics, that good were entirely justified. name must be preserved. The Athletic De- The Athletic Department often acts as if it partment has proven incapable of shoulder- were a corporation unto itself. The depart- ing this responsibility - the regents must inent generates all its own revenue, leading step in and take over. Engineering a change Grant will benefit women in science This column is dedicated to those impov- erished students who wonder why we pay those inane "mandatoryfees "to the student assembly and other organizations. Every year students support the Michi- gan Student Assembly and Student Le- gal Services as part of their regularly sched- uled tuition payment. Sure, the $2.94 per term we will pay to the assembly and $4.16 per term to Student Legal Services this year seems like petty cash compared to the $10,933 per term fee for out-of-state law students or the $12,570 for out-of-state medi- cal students (it's not even enough to buy your favorite used REM CD.) But we all pay it lest we get a hold credit. So where does all that money go, you ask? First things first: What is MSA? The assembly is the University's central student government body that supposedly lobbies administrators and regents on behalf of stu- dents; representatives work tirelessly to keep tuition low and academic standards high. It also allocates funds and provides support services to recognized student groups. (For the most up-to-date MSA proceedings, check MSA Online, now showing on the World Wide Web.) Student Legal Services pro- vides free legal counseling and representa- tion to students - a nice service when it comes to fighting that $20 parking violation or that DUI charge. In April, Plante & Moran completed its $6,000 audit of MSA and Student Legal Services for the years ending Dec. 31, 1994 and Dec. 31, 1993. In discussing the audit, Andrew Wright, an MSA representative, warned that audits can "distort" the facts.. "Maybe distort is the wrong word," he quickly corrected himself. "It doesn't give you all the information. If you don't know what the numbers represent it can be mis- leading. It doesn't show the full picture of what MSA is all about," Wright said. For example, the audit doesn't tell you that roughly one-third of the money goes to student groups, one-third goes to operations and one-third goes to internal committees and commissions that lobby for students, Wright said. Nevertheless, this is what the auditors found: In its sober examination of MSA's coffers, Plante & Morgan was happy to report that our student government is still solvent. In 1994, $494,274 was collected in student fees - MSA received $200,848 and Student Legal Services received $293,426. During 1994, the assessed fee per stu- dent for each academic term was $6.62: $2.69 for the assembly and $3.93 for Student Legal Services. The assembly approves and makes allocations of such fees to the tenants union and various other student groups. MSA allocated $20,566 to the Ann Arbor Tenants Union --agroup that provides educa- tional material and guidance to tenants about their rights and obligations under state and federal law. (For example: "If you rent an apartment, you're required by law to pay rent.") MSA's former hired guns in Lansing, the Michigan Collegiate Coalition, received $11,540. MSA has since liberated itself from MCC, and in January hired Cawthorne, McCollough & Cavanagh, a private lobby- ing organization. The firm will receive up- wards of $26,000 this year, said Wright, who served on the hiring committee. Let's take a look at what happened in Lansing this past year. In the spring, state legislators threatened to withhold any in- crease in state funding to the University while offering record increases in appro- priations to our Spartan friends to the north and other smaller state colleges scattered across Michigan (also known as U-M- wannabees.) This was one of the low points in state-University relations. In July, Gov. John Engler said he would no longer support tuition waivers for Native American stu- dents - a tough deal for the dozens of Native American students at the University. Maybe our lobbyists in Lansing need more money. When money is available, you can al- ways count on our spendthrift student poli- ticians to concoct another trip to a special conference or to ask for a reimbursement for another worthy expense. Assembly mem- bers spent $6,735 on telephone bills and $5,850 on travel expenses in 1994. Mem- bers attend the conference of the Associa- tion of Big Ten Students three times per year. Students probably know the assembly best as a repository of easy money. Last year the assembly doled out $56,978 to 121 stu- dent organizations -an average of $470.89 per student group. To those who think that the University's student body is just another breeding ground for tomorrow's liberals, think again. The $300 contribution to the College Democrats was overshadowed by a $850 donation to the College Republicans. While Englergotnoth- ing, the students representing failed Demo- cratic gubernatorial challenger Howard Wolpe got a whopping $20. While it doesn't sound like much, my friend still believes that was an endorsement. The Women of Color Symposium was the big winner in 1994, topping all groups with $1,500. On the other hand, the Coali- tion of Asian Social Work Students received a measly $16 - that's probably all they asked for. There was $72 for the Estonian Club, $200 for the Palestine Solidarity Com- mittee, $650 for the Good Friday Planning Committee and $700 for the Michigan Inde- pendent. Along with those gifts were $300 to Justice for Malice Green, $500 to the Stu- dents Honoring Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching, $348 to Public Health Students of African Descent and $1000 to Hear Us Emerging Sisters or HUES. For the 100 students in the "Impover- ished Students Society" ofwhich I'm a found- ing member, we're asking MSA for $294.00 this year because we don't believe in manda- tory fees. - James Cho can be reached over e- mail at jcho@umich.edu. FREAKSY 1 ARP AS TOAST r 1 f $/4L NOTABLE QUOTABLE 'We're 4-0, and we have all the confidence in the world.' -Michigan quarterback Scott Dreisbach maim OF c S This year's entering class of the College of Engineering includes a higher per- centage of women than ever before. Earlier this week, the University took a $1 million step to ensure that such numbers continue to rise. The University matched a $473,500 grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, with all monies intended to recruit and retain female engineering graduate students. The academic fields of engineering and physical sciences have a long, notorious his- tory of being unfriendly turf for female stu- dents. However, many units of the Univer- sity are working to change this environment. For example: The Center for the Education of Women (CEW), in cooperation with the National Institutes of Health, has sponsored a residential science internship program for high school girls since 1989. Also operating in this vein is the Women in Science and Engineering program, which functions suc- cessfully as a residential, social and aca- demic program for undergraduate women in scientific fields. These programs are likely key factors in the historic increase of female undergrads in engineering and the physical sciences. However, these efforts seem to fade away at the graduate level - a disappointment, considering that the University is ranked as a national leader in science graduate programs. It has, therefore, not only an academic but a sodial responsibility to serve as an innovator in graduate education programs. Statistics fron the University's engineering and physi- cat sciences schools show that only about 5 percent of the faculty are women, which now TO CONTACT THEM amounts to a significant deficit of role mod- els for female graduate students. Such a de- gree of imbalance is unacceptable, and must be one of the top priorities when a committee sits down to decide how to spend the $1 million. The grant money has been appropriated specifically for the improvement ofthe gradu- ate school environment - it was given for the sole purpose of bettering the experiencej of female grad students. Tentative plans in- clude hiring a staff to conduct research, build databases and plan improvement programs. Publication ofa brochure is also in the works. While it is completely appropriate that the University has taken the initiative on this program, the current plans are a matter of concern. An easy way to rapidly drain a budget is to hire a few committees - who work for an extended period of time and have only a three-ring binder and a nice brochure to show for their efforts. The grant is a valu- able resource, and must be used for real improvement. Either the budget should be scaled down to fit the-current plans, keeping excess funds for a more concrete plan later- or the plan should be worthy of the sizeable budget. Combined with the efforts inundergradu- ate women's recruitment and retention, the new program should help to induce continu- ing change. The University has an important role in supporting women in science and engineering - a role it can only fulfill by creating a supportive academic environment. The new plans are an encouraging step to- ward that goal. N.' ,5 NEJ11 5SNEAL 1 r-a-v LETTERS Pitts displays sexism in column To the Daily: I am writing to respond to Antoine Pitts' lame attack on the women of this campus in his col- umn, "Baywatch actress not wel- comed by everyone in last week's r trip to Michigan." (9/14/95) I, as a student-athlete representative on the Board in Control of Intercol- legiate Athletics at Michigan, sat no further than two feet in front of dear Pitts, a guest at our meeting while I asked Athletic Director Joe Roberson to explain the cir- cumstances surrounding the pres- ence ofa blond woman, now con- firmed as Nolin of Baywatch, on the football sidelines. Yes, of course, Pitts has attested to know- ing that, in his article. But, what your writer somehow lost amidst that two feet betwixt us was that I was asking who she was be- cause I didn't know why she was there. And he left out my explain- ing that the video crew who was taping her was clothed in Nike garb. Therefore, besides our dis- may that Nolins' presence on our field solicited the shameless cheers and sexual jeers from many fans, we were concerned that this Last, because Pitts knew full well that I had no idea the reason for Nolins' presence on the field, I find his remarks about women's intolerance for attractive media persons to be completely absurd. I think Pitts' intolerance for intel- ligent women was more clearly conveyed by this tasteless piece. I would also like to point out that these opinions appeared on the sports page, not the editorial page, and nowhere was it stated that Pitts is an editorial columnist or whatever. I won't get into his sexist innuendos toward women gaining varsity status as athletes, or his snide comment about the women's varsity soccer program having earned their own field. I have faith that the intelligent people of this campus will have picked up on your acridity. Before you all reverberate the notions of your mindless col- league, I suggest that you find something better to stand behind. Alicia Smith LSA senior Pitts' remarks offend women To the Daily: Apparently the press passes need to say "No BIGOTS AL- LOW ED." While Mr. Pitts' com- since he apparently believes our greatest concern is not having other women show us up in the beauty pageant portion of life. We do much more than that, Mr. Pitts, and I dare you to show your article to your mother. I'm sure she would not appreciate being reduced to a shallow Barbie doll. That is all that Alicia Smith was requesting; that women be al- lowed the equal opportunity to be three-dimensional people who can excel at sports, academics and interpersonal skills, without being represented by a woman who is forced to make her living by catering to the stereotypes of men such as Mr. Pitts. Michele A. O'Toole U-M alum Daily editorial correct on textbooks To the DAily: Your editorial "Textbooks" (9112/95) was right on target. I would just like to elaborate on some of the points you made. When the bookstores are noti- fied early that a textbook is being used again, not only does the stu- dent selling the book receive a able to purchase that book at a lower price. Otherwise, new books would have to be ordered from the publisher at a higher cost. I know there is some surprise on the part ofthe faculty when the bookstores ask for course orders for fall by mid-April. As you point out, if the stores have the orders, they will pay more for the books. Additionally, the money paid for books from students stays on cam- pus in the student's pocket, not some publisher's bank account. Regarding coursepacks, at least two bookstores, Ulrich's and Michigan Book and Supply, al- low returns on course packs with a receipt during the first two weeks of class each semester. The only restriction is that they be in new condition. Finally, regarding open access to information, all the bookstores that participate in the TRS (Text- book Reporting Service), share this information with each other and with anyone who calls and asks. Everyone, students, faculty and bookstores benefit when this information is open and acces- sible to everyone. I join you in supporting the University's ef- forts to bring about such a sys- tem. David Richard f- nnr -..,infi',v I