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Krishnamurthy on
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One-hundred-fourteen years of editorialfreedom
www.michiandaily.com Ann Arbor, Michigan m Vol. CXV, No. 152 @2005 The Michigan Daily
'U' backs
Google
lawsuit
in
Authors' trade group
says Google Library
project violates copyrights
By Ekjyot Saini
Daily Staff Reporter
In response to a lawsuit filed against
Google by the Authors Guild, Inc. - a
non-profit organization of 8,000 published
authors - the University issued a state-
ment yesterday affirming its support of
Google and the company's endeavor to
digitize copyrighted works in the Univer-
sity library.
The University library, along with librar-
ies at Harvard, Princeton, Stanford and the
New York Public Library, have developed
a partnership with Google to scan, digi-
tize and create a searchable database of
all works that are found in the respective
libraries.
The Authors Guild lodged a complaint
in the U.S. District Court in New York on
Tuesday stating that "by reproducing for
itself a copy of works that are not in the
public domain, Google is engaging in mas-
sive copyright infringement."
The database that Google would cre-
ate under the agreement will allow. users
to search all library books for key words.
The user would then be provided brief
snippets of text where the search term
appears and bibliographic information of
the text. The database would also provide
links for where the text could be bought or
borrowed.
Defending the legality of Google's
actions, the University said it continued to
be enthusiastic about the project.
"We are confident that this project com-
plies with copyright law," James Hilton,
an associate provost and the University's
interim librarian, said in a written state-
ment. "This project represents an enor-
mous leap forward in the public's ability to
search and find knowledge," he said.
Paul Aiken, executive director of the
Authors Guild, said the group is not
opposed to making books searchable
online in a controlled manner, but believes
it should not be done without permission
from the authors.
Google vice president Susan Wojcicki
refuted the complaints by explaining how
the project would be compliant with copy-
right laws. According to a statement that
Wojcicki posted on the company's website,
the database would function in a way that
would not allow users to see any full pages
of text but just search key words that would
lead them-to the books they needed. She
compared the database to an electronic
card catalog that would index book content
to help make searches easier for users.
Google's website goes on to say that the
company will respect those authors who
do not want their works digitized and that
all the books they have scanned thus far in
their project are consistent with the fair use
doctrine under U.S. copyright laws. The
fair use doctrine is a set of limitations on
copyrights that allow users to make copies
without author permission if the informa-
tion will be serving the public.
But according to Aiken and other
authors, Google must get an author's
approval even before making the works
available to the public. He said not gain-
ing the consent of all authors before digi-
tizing their works m2y create a precedent
for other companies who wish to infringe
upon an author's copyright.
Stanford Law School Prof. Lawrence
See GOOGLE, Page 7A
University President Mary Sue Coleman speaks at the new Detroit Center at Orchestra Place in Detroit yesterday.
Coleman opens Detroit Center
By Karl Stampfl
Daily Staff Reporter
DETROIT - The University has returned to the
city where it was founded almost 200 years ago.
The University's Detroit Center, which opened last
night, will host the 100-plus programs the University
runs that involve Detroit. The center is composed
mostly of office and common meeting space, but
will also provide classrooms. Its space totals 10,500
square feet, which is significantly smaller than most
University buildings such as Angell Hall, which has
about 252,000 square feet.
University President Mary Sue Coleman said the
center is intended to serve as a "nucleus for the many
different activities we have underway in the city's
neighborhoods, schools and businesses."
Programs that will be run out of the center include
the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban
Planning's annual Detroit Design Charette, which
requires 60 students come to Detroit for four days
each January, and an effort to provide the city with
wireless Internet by Social Work Prof. Larry Gant.
"I'm in closer proximity to the people I serve," said
Addell Anderson, program director of the Universi-
ty's Americorps program, which runs several public
service programs in Detroit. "Instead of having to
travel, I can monitor programs from here."
The center is located on the ground floor of
Orchestra Place at the intersection of Martin Luther
King Boulevard and Woodward Avenue, a location
Coleman deemed symbolic: Detroit, which is often
defined by its multiculturalism, is represented by
King, she said, and the University is represented by
Woodward, which bears the namesake of University
founder Augustus Woodward.
The University is renting the space at a cost of
$180,000 per year on a five-year lease. The Universi-
See DETROIT, Page 7A
. AEPhi secret rush may hurt chances for new chapter
By Margaret Havemann
Daily Staff Reporter
Members of Alpha Epsilon Phi, a sorority that had its Uni-
versity chapter closed last year due to hazing and drug inci-
dents, are continuing to recruit members under the guise of
the AEPhi name.
About 40 girls showed up at the Delta Sigma Phi house
- a fraternity whose charter was revoked by its national
organization in 2002 - on Monday night for a recruitment
party organized by the former AEPhi sisters introducing a
"secret society" they call PHI.
An estimated 80 invitations were handed out to freshmen,
along with specific instructions to keep the meeting a secret.
The centerpiece of the invitation, along with the banner that
hung above DeltaSig's front door, was a design featuring the
lowercase Greek letter xi. AEPhi was mentioned as the invi-
tations were handed out by recruiters, according to an anony-
mous source, who did not with to reveal her name because of
the secrecy surrounding the recruitment.
Using the AEPhi name or letters for recruitment purposes
in any way - even mentioning the sorority to recruits - "is
illegal and very concerning," said Bonnie Wunsch, the execu-
tive director of the national AEPhi organization. Wunsch said
that as soon as she has the names of the organizers of Mon-
day night's event, her attorney will be sending them cease-
and-assist letters, forbidding ex-sorority sisters from linking
themselves with AEPhi in any way.
Plans are under way to allow AEPhi to reopen by fall of
2006, a decision that will be made jointly by the Panhellenic
Association and the national AEPhi organization. However,
the recent recruitment activities may significantly hurt the
sorority's chances for re-formation, according to Wunsch.
Monday night's event "undermined the work that AEPhi
has done to come back to the University of Michigan," Wun-
sch said.
Lindsey Fediuk, spokeswoman for the Panhellenic Asso-
ciation, said "These recent recruitment activities will certain-
ly be taken into consideration" when deciding the date that
AEPhi can return to campus.
If it is determined that the former members of AEPhi have
violated the rules against misleading recruits, causing them
to believe they were being invited to join an affiliate of the
AEPhi sorority, then "legal action is certainly a possibility,"
Wunsch said.
"We have two concerns," Fediuk said. "One is the illegal-
ity of their actions, and the other is the fact that they may be
leading girls on."
A freshman whose neighbor in Markley was invited to
Monday night's event and who wishes to remain anonymous
described how the recruitment process worked.
"An ex-AEPhi member delivered the letter to my friends
roommate, and told her, 'this never happened, don't mention
this to anyone,"' she said. "It was definitely kept on the DL."
She added that the name AEPhi was definitely mentioned
during the invitation process.
Wunsch said many parents and AEPhi alumnae have con-
tacted her recently, concerned about rumors they were hear-
ing of a secret society bearing the AEPhi name.
The Markley freshman said prospective sorority sisters
were alerted to the existence of an underground group, PHI
Society, at an official Greek rush event. They were assured
that it was not at all affiliated with Greek life, and were dis-
couraged from joining.
At Monday night's meeting, inside a room enclosed in black
curtains and surrounded by about 20 former AEPhi members
dressed in black, a woman spoke to the recruits about the
See AEPHI, Page 7A
Possible A2
-Detroit
. mass transit in works
Study for project to link Ann
Arbor to Detroit will qualify for
* $100 million in federal funding
By Julia F. Homing
Daily Staff Reporter
At a public meeting organized by the Southeast
Michigan Council of Governments, a group of about
sixty local residents gave their opinions last night on
the various public transportation alternatives that
SEMCOG is currently considering for a possible
transportation link between Ann Arbor and Detroit.
The initiative is part of a federally approved
process in which the Council will decide upon the
appropriate transportation alternative to connect
Ann Arbor with the Metro Airport and downtown
Detroit. In addition to factoring in the needs of the
residents of the surrounding area, the study will
also look at environmental factors, according to the
SEMCOG website. By going through this process,
m'FM U'c transit initiative will oualifv for $100
rail options than the bus line. "It's a 48 mile long trip
(from Ann Arbor to Downtown Detroit). We're now
wondering how many people would want to ride in a
bus for that long," Palombo said.
Residents at the meeting in Ann Arbor expressed
their concern over the number of passengers that
would be able to travel within rush-hour periods, and
the facilities for handicapped passengers. They also
expressed concern over the coordination with other
trains, such as the Amtrak lines and local transit
systems such as the Ann Arbor Transit Authority.
Palombo said many of these aspects of the transpor-
tation system are still being worked out.
Once a method of transportation is decided on, the
implementation process will begin, with SEMCOG
finding another agency to operate the service.
State Rep. Chris Kolb (D-Ann Arbor) introduced
a bill in August that would create a Detroit Area
Rapid Transit Authority to take the place of such an
agency in overseeing and implementing the exten-
sion of public transportation to Oakland, Wayne,
Macomb, Washtenaw and Monroe County from
the city of Detroit. The hill is the third in a series of
Conservative
students come
out on Diag
By Tiffany Teasley
For the Daily
Reacting against what they said is a liberal
campus environment that is hostile to conserva-
tives, nearly 70 students gathered on the Diag
yesterday to "come out of the closet" and reveal
their conservative beliefs.
As part of the day's activities, pictures were
taken of students holding a poster that stated,
"I came out on National Conservative Coming
Out Day." Participants also received stickers that
read "conservative pride." Yesterday was recog-
nized as the first national conservative "coming
out day" by the Campus Leadership Program, a
department of the Leadership Institute, a national
organization committed to supporting conserva-
tive youth. Students at more than 30 campuses
nationwide participated. The event was also
sponsored by the Young Americans for Freedom,
the College Republicans and the Caucus for Con-