NEWS The Michigan Daily -Tuesday, March 15, 2005- 3 ON CAMPUS Symposium talks about music, entertainment laws The 2005 Forum on Music and Entertainment Law will feature guest- speakers Andrew W.K. Jay Cooper and Seamus Blackley, who will speak about laws affecting music and enter- tainment. The forum will be followed by a reception and will feature music throughout the day. The forum will be held today from noon to 6 p.m. in room 100 of Hutchins Hall. Meeting will addresses change in local areas The Symposium on Community- Based Work will be held today to rec- ognize ways local communities and the University work together to enact social change. Founder of the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services, Ismael Ahmed, will .give the keynote speech. The event will be held today for free in the Michigan League from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Former neo-Nazi to speak at Holocaust conference The University's Conference on the Holocaust will present Tom Mar- tinez, once a member of the racist society The Order. Martinez, a former undercover agent with the FBI and a member of the Witness Protection Program, now tours the country discussing his autobiography "Brotherhood of Murder" and warning of neo-Nazi movements. Martinez will speak about his experiences and take questions from the audience tonight from 7 to 9 p.m. CRIME " NOTES Out-of-city assault victim, finds way to hospital The University Hospital treated a patient who sustained injuries from a physical assault in Novi Sunday night, the Department of Public Safety reported. No report was filed with DPS, but the appropriate local police agency was contacted. Staff member feels threatened by glance A staffer at the University Hos- pital reported that someone glared at her, and she felt threatened early yesterday morning, according to DPS reports. THIS DAY In Daily History President Shapiro aggravates gay rights activists March 15, 1984 - Gay activists said yesterday they are disturbed by University President Harold Shapiro's comments this week after he guaran- teeing that the University would not discriminate on the basis of sexual S preference. Although the policy statement was a step forward for the gay rights movement on campus, Shapiro's comment that he had not seen any solid "evidence" of gays facing dis- crimination on campus soured the victory, said lesbian LSA Senior Cathy Godre. With that comment Shapiro "totally discounted us," Godre told a 25-mem- ber audience yesterday at Campus Meet the Press. Gay men and lesbians on campus are discriminated against in subtle MSA election board questioned over bias Letter written to the Daily accuses board members of having conflicts of interest with assembly candidates By Jeremy Davidson Daily Staff Reporter Allegations of bias were brought against the Michigan Student Assembly's election board in an e-mail addressed to editors of The Michigan Daily on Sunday. Written by Maize Rage for MSA campaign director Carl Pogoncheff, the e-mail voiced con- cerns about the makeup of the election board, the rules and elections chair and the election director. Pogoncheff specifically pointed to the friend- ships between members of the election board, the rules and elections chair, the election director and MSA presidential candidate Jesse Levine, who is the head of the Students 4 Michigan ticket. Members of the election board include Elaine Gaston, a member of Students 4 Michigan, and Sashai Alvarez, a former member of Students First, a party that retired its name last semester and whose former members largely formed Stu- dents 4 Michigan. Pogoncheff said he fears that these connections could be exploited by Students 4 Michigan if there is a dispute in the election, because the board has jurisdiction over all election complaints. But MSA Rules and Elections Chair Russell Garber said the assembly would have a tough time appointing a board that did not have a connection to Levine through one of these two parties. Because Students 4 Michigan is the dominant student party on MSA, to create a board with no connections to Levine would be impossible, Garber said. "Four-fifths of the assembly are either mem- bers of Students 4 Michigan or former members of Students First," Garber said. "Only two-fifths of the election board are composed of members from these parties." However, Pogoncheff said the fact that four- fifths of MSA has ties to Levine through one of these two parties is one of his primary concerns. "We want to be a voice for the silent majority on campus," Pogoncheff said, adding that he feels Students 4 Michigan is a "self-serving" party. The election board hears disputes that members of MSA may have during the election process. In the past, Students 4 Michigan and its prede- cessor Students First have violated election rules related to housing. Pogoncheff said he believes the election board and election director acted inappro- priately in that case. MSA election director Brian Doughty disputed Maize Rage's allegations. "I don't think they have brought forth very con- crete allegations. There are many checks in place to ensure the impartiality of the election director and the election board," Doughty said. One of the election board members that Pogon- cheff said is most biased is current MSA President Jason Mironov. Mironov appointed Levine as MSA gen- eral counsel and has campaigned with Levine numerous times, Pogoncheff said. "It would be like Bill Clinton sitting on an election board for Al Gore," Pogoncheff said. Levine defended Mironov's appointment to the board. "I think Jason has been known to operate with integrity," Levine said. Pogoncheff said the election board, which is composed of members of MSA, acted with bias during the last election when issuing a punishment for Tim Wiggins, a Students 4 Michigan candidate who was kicked out of campaigning in the dorms by University Housing last semester. Doughty was election director when this issue came up last semester, and as such was responsible for overseeing the election board. The election board's punishment for Wiggins was that he would deliver a speech to the assembly at a meeting for this semester's candidates, talk- ing to them about the importance of following the rules of RHA. "Fellow members of his party literally laughed at this punishment," Pogoncheff said. This year's election board members were elect- ed, first by notifying Garber ahead of time of their interest in a candidacy. From the list of eight stu- dents who announced their candidacies, Garber and the executive board of MSA presented nomi- nations to the general assembly. The MSA general assembly approved both the election board and the election director. Pogoncheff's e-mail also pointed out that Gar- ber and Levine are members of the same fraternity, Alpha Epsilon Pi. Garber said he counts Levine as a friend, but that it would be absurd to think that he would let friendship cloud his judgment while nominating members to the elections board. "Part of making things work in MSA is about building friendships within MSA. There are a number of people I would count as friends within MSA," Garber said. Students 4 Michigan claimed 12 seats in the MSA elections held last December. Ten indepen- dent candidates and three candidates from the Defend Affirmative Action Party were also elected last semester. Maize Rage has six candidates running in the upcoming elections, including one for president and one for vice president. Federal lawsuit postpones partial-birth ban until April . ACLU, Center for Reproductive Rights, Planned Parenthood sue state, call ban unconstitutional and vague LANSING (AP) - A new state law that bans a pro- cedure critics call partial-birth abortion will not take effect this month so that the state has more time to respond to a federal lawsuit challenging the statute. Under an agreement reached by Attorney General Mike Cox and three groups that filed suit, the abortion law was put on hold until June 15. It was scheduled to take effect March 30. , . U.S. District Judge Denise Page Hood approved the temporary restraining order yesterday. Cox spokeswoman Allison Pierce said the state need- ed more time to respond to the suit, which was filed March 1. "Attorney General Cox is doing everything he can to prepare adequately to defend the voice of the people of Michigan," Pierce said. "We had a week to respond. We can't adequately prepare a response in that amount of time." The American Civil Liberties Union, the Center for Reproductive Rights and Planned Parenthood Fed- eration of American argue the law is unconstitutional because it could be interpreted as a ban on all abortions and does not allow exceptions for when a mother's life or health are in danger. "We are relieved this extreme measure will not go into effect as scheduled," said the Rev. Mark Pawloski, chief executive officer of Planned Parenthood of South Central Michigan. The law was approved by the state Legislature last June. Hundreds of thousands of voters signed petitions to allow the bill to become law with only the approval of the House and Senate, both controlled by Republicans, after Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm vetoed the original legislation. This is the state's third attempt at stopping the abor- tion procedure referred to by medical organizations as "intact dilatation and extraction," or D&X. Previous state laws were struck down by federal courts in 1997 and 2001. The law being challenged is different from the previ- ous attempts because it does not ban a specific proce- dure. It defines the moment a person is legally born as when any part of a fetus is expelled from a woman's body. Ed Rivet, legislative director for Right to Life of Michigan, which supports the law, said the delay was' expected because the state needs time to prepare its case. The lawsuit was filed by the three groups on behalf of Northland Family Planning Clinic Inc., Summit Medi- cal Center, Planned Parenthood Mid-Michigan Alli- ance, Planned Parenthood of South Central Michigan and a group of individual physicians. SO YOU WANT TO BE A REPORTER? WRITEFOR DAILY NEwS. CALL 76-DAILY. . Perfect your craft with theatre luminari "Studying at the London Dramatic