The Michigan Student Assembly approved its $415,370 budget last night, but much of the meeting centered on a push by several members of the assembly and other constituents to bring to light the probable motives of one of MSA"s most vocal factions.

Many expressed disappointment over actions by the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action and Integration and Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. BAMN has organized an anti-war rally on the Diag and begun a green armband campaign meant to show support for Arab-Americans who have been victims of harassment or violence because of the suspected terrorists" ethnicities.

Some BAMN members have also formed a new group, the Coalition to Stop Racial Scapegoating and the War.

The speakers accused BAMN of using the issue of racial scapegoating to gain visibility on campus and draw support for their group.

"They did not come to any Arab or Muslim students and ask them if they wanted that representation," said LSA Rep. Fadi Kiblawi.

Rackham Rep. Jessica Curtin, a member of BAMN, said the green armbands are part of a national campaign supported by Arab-American students at other campuses.

"It"s not true that Arab students as a whole oppose this campaign," Curtin said.

The assembly also voted down a resolution introduced by Curtin and Rackham Rep. Suzanne Perkins-Hart to stop "war hysteria."

"Terrorism is a crime and our response can only be to treat it as a crime," Perkins-Hart said.

But other members of MSA argued that the resolution was another BAMN-supported tactic to draw attention to itself.

"I would vote against war hysteria if I knew what it was," said MSA Vice President Jessica Cash.

Jackie Bray, a member of Students Organizing for Labor and Economic Equality, asked MSA to stop groups like BAMN from dominating important issues on campus.

"Please take a stand against organizations that hurt student activism," Bray said.

Curtin and other BAMN members defended the group"s involvement, saying they only promote causes they truly believe in.

"I am a socialist, but this red-baiting is just a political tactic," Curtin said.

Earlier this week, a number of affirmative action proponents not affiliated with BAMN created the group Students Supporting Affirmative Action.

Also at the meeting, MSA increased funding to the Ann Arbor Tenants Union to $26,000 from a proposed $21,100.

The union provides legal advice to students regarding their landlords" legal obligations and students" roles as tenants in Ann Arbor.

"If you want to see the AATU here this year, $26,000 is the amount it needs to survive," said Law Rep. Chris Sheehan.

The money in the MSA budget, meant to fund student groups and services, comes from a mandatory fee added to each student"s tuition. MSA supports the Ann Arbor Tenant"s Union, which is not a student group, with 5 percent to 7 percent of its budget each year.

The increase was opposed by some who argued that the money would be more beneficial if allocated elsewhere.

"Last year the AATU missed deadlines even when they were given extensions. They have done nothing and continue to do nothing," said Siafa Hage, last year"s MSA treasurer.