Friday, October 14, 2005
News 3 Granholm wants
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Fixs. PENt\JX~T~i~iL~&.Y ~E ~ OP.TI~11±; PYi7 J~ LANS &OTALLSATIUA
Opinion 4
Whitney Dibo doesn't
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Arts 5 Death Cab hits the
Michigan Theater tonight
One-hundred-ifteen years ofeditorialfreedom
www.michzgandaily.com Ann Arbor, Michigan Vol. CXVI, No. 12 x2005 The Michigan Daily
Ludacris
to perform
on campus
By Kelly Fraser
For the Daily
Hip-hop artist Ludacris is coming
to Hill Auditorium Nov. 3, organizers
announced yesterday.
After roughly six months of plan-
ning, the concert has become a reality
for Michigan Student Assembly Rep.
Melton Lee and others who have been
working on getting the hip-hop artist
to campus.
"This is history in the making," Lee
said. "This is the first time a major hip-
hop act has ever played a major campus
venue in the history of the University,"
Lee said.
The event is the product of the com-
bined efforts of MSA and co-sponsors
Big Ticket Productions - a subcom-
mittee of the University Activities
Center - and Hillel.
Organizing the concert did not
come without some problems. While
Hill Auditorium staffers were initially
apprehensive about holding a hip-hop
concert in the newly renovated facility,
Lee said, after some discussion their
fears were settled.
Lee said he didn't think the Hill staff
would have had as much of a problem
if he had approached them about bring-
ing in an alternative rock bank or some
other type of artist.
Lee was quick to add, however, that
any misunderstandings that arose were
understandable because this is the first
major hip-hop artist to come to a cam-
pus building.
Organizers said Ludacris was cho-
sen not only for his "massive crossover
appeal," but also for his recent work
concerning social-justice issues, most
notably in the film "Crash." MSA offi-
cials said they hope to capitalize on
Ludacris's presence on campus with
additional events that will emphasize
diversity and social issues on campus.
Ludacds concert
Tickets for the concert will go
on sale today at noon.
Students can purchase
tickets at the Michigan Union
Ticket Office, which is located
in the basement of the Michi-
gan Union.
Student tickets will be $25
for balcony seats and $30 for
floor and mezzanine seats.
Students can purchase up to
four tickets and must present a
valid Mcard.
Remaining tickets will be avail-
able to the general public on Oct.
25 through Ticketmaster.
"Our primary goal is to bring stu-
dents of diverse backgrounds togeth-
er in a way that's never been done
before," Lee said, adding MSA hopes
to bring similar events of this scale in
the future.
Confusion over the concert arose
after a Sept. 6 monthly e-mail from
Hillel prematurely announced the
concert before all contract details had
been finalized. The mishap was the
result of an internal misunderstand-
ing, Lee said.
"We submitted a bid to Ludacris's
agent, and it was accepted. Typically,
in the music industry, when a bid is
accepted that's when they announce
the show, but understandably the Uni-
versity administration wanted to wait
until all details were final," Lee said.
In addition to contractual issues,
managing and funding an event of
See CONCERT, Page 7
IUMMAOU GUMtE/ Uaily
Ghostface Killah, a founding member of the Wu-Tang Clan, performs at The Blind Pig yesterday.
Ghostface brings classics to Blind Pig
By Evan McGarvey
Daily Music Editor
In the hazy, sweltering confines
of The Blind Pig Wednesday night,
all it took was one knowing wink
from Ghostface Killah early in his
set to make the crowd ripple into
booming cheers.
A founding member of the Wu-
Tang Clan, his streak of consistently
dense, rewarding albums has made
him one of the only singularly grip-
ping rappers alive; Ghostface could do
no wrong this night. With no hype, no
PR trumpets announcing his arrival
over the previous weeks, he seemed
to slip into Ann Arbor visible only to
those wise enoggh to keep their ears to
the ground.
Even after a confidence-shaking
opening set from rap duo Swollen
Members, whose awkward, sterile
onstage demeanor didn't do anything to
boost their pointless boasts and maud-
lin confessions, Ghostface prowled the
small stage at the crowded Pig and tore
through a captivating range of moods
as he rattled off verses from stone-cold
Wu-Tang classics, crowd favorites from
his solo work and even a slice of his
upcoming disc, Fish Scale.
Accompanied by Theodore Unit, his
clique of hungry but as-yet-unremark-
able MCs (save for the surprisingly
adroit and cool Trife Da God) and his.
frighteningly haggard and desperate
one-time Wu-Tang associate Capadon-
na, Ghostface ambled his way through
the expected Theodore Unit efforts
like the thumping drama of "Smith
Brothers" before giving his compatri-
ots their last moments in his spotlight.
See GHOSTFACE, Page 5
Vigil held for victims
of Asian earthquake
Between a benefit dinner
and donations received on its
website, the Pakistani Students'
Association has raised $1,500
"You know about the tragedy now.
You can't say that you didn't know," said
LSA senior Megha Desai, logistics chair
for SAPA. "Dig deep into your pockets,
because whether it's one dollar, two dol-
lars or five dollars, the money will go a
'U' favors
Coke in
contract
decision
Anti-Coke student groups
send letters to administrators
protesting decision
By Jeremy Davidson
Daily Staff Reporter
long way."
By Gabe Nelson About 35,000 Pakistanis, 1,300 Indi-
For the Daily ans and four Afghanis have been report-
ed dead since the earthquake struck, and
About 150 stu- millions across the area
dents, candles in are homeless. The 7.6-
hand, stood before "w e can work magnitude earthquake
the steps of the Har- left substantial damage
Ian Hatcher Gradu- together because to the infrastructure of
ate Library last ,et - the area and prompted
night in a Diag vigil Ph" s arent divling the United Nations
for the victims of us These disasters and the government of
the earthquake that Pakistan to petition the +
struck South Asia aren't man-made world for donations
six days ago. Many students at the
The Pakistani - they just happen." vigil have family mem-
Students' Asso- bers living in Pakistan -
ciation, the South and India. None of the
Asian Progressive -ahrigh students' families have
Alliance and the SAPA external relations co-chair been affected, with the
Indian-American possible exception of
Student Association one Pakistani student's
each sent represen- distant cousin, said JEREMY CHO/Dil y
tatives to speak about the importance of Nida Javaid, executive chair of PSA and Students remember the victims of the South Asian earthquake that has killed more than 25,000
increasing student awareness and raising an LSA junior. But the thought that many people, during a vigil on the Diag last night. About 150 students gathered in an event put together
money for the victims of the earthquake. See VIGIL, Page 7 by a number of student organizations.
Students push for Israel study abroad program
Despite student objections, the Univer-
sity announced yesterday that Coca-Cola
has successfully met the first deadline of its
contract renewal process, while under inves-
tigation for alleged human rights violations.
After the University's Dispute Review
Board announced in June that it had found
credible evidence that Coke violated human
rights in Colombia and India - includ-
ing misuse of toxic pesticides in India and
corrupt labor practices in Colombia - the
University's chief financial officer, Timothy
Slottow, adjusted Coke's contracts, requir-
ing that the company meet a series of dead-
lines over the next year in order to continue
doing business with the University.
The DRB operates as a judicial com-
mittee that interprets the Vendor Code of
Conduct. The code, which was created last
year, mandates that all vendors who con-
duct business with the University adhere to
specific labor- and human-rights standards.
As a result of its own findings last semes-
ter, which support allegations of significant
human rights violations by Coca-Cola, the
DRB ordered a third-party investigation to
Administrators say a
program will not be initiated
r-n+ l 4-01 +c+a PT)nr m,-n+'c
Now Friedman is working with the student group
American Movement for Israel to help give other
students the opportunity to travel to Israel.
When the U.S. State Department issued a travel
research and a place to practice Hebrew.
Last spring, AMI gave a presentation to the Uni-
versity's International Travel Oversight Committee
on the issue, and it has not yet received a definite
program to Israel once the State Department warn-
ing is lifted.
Kuhn said she believes security concerns may
not be the only reason the University has refused to
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