Tuesday, December 6, 2005
News 3 Coke Coalition
Campaign protests
outside Fleming
THIRD SEASON OF 'FAMILT GUY' AS OVER ON D-VL.. PAGE 8
Opinion 4
Sports 9
Chris Zbrozek:
executing an innocent
Three Icers to don
red, white and blue
One-/undred-ifteen years ofedtormlfreedom
11,111 OHIO ------------------------ -- - ------- - ----
www. michigandaiy. com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Vol. CXVI, No. 43
02005 The Michigan Daily
Daily
responds
to critics
A. t about the same time I started
writing for the Daily more than
three years ago, a number of
student groups launched a boycott of the
paper. They criticized our coverage of
minorities and
said the Daily was
not a comfortable
place for minority
students to work.
More than
three years later,
members of the
campus chapter
of the NAACP
have made similar
charges, specifi- JASON
cally chastising PESICK
me and other edi-
tors for allowing a Editor in Chief
provocative cartoon critical of affirmative
action to run on the editorial page.
The editorial page, which runs on page
four every day, serves as a forum for
campus debate. The columns, cartoons,
viewpoints and letters that run on the right
side of the page do not represent the views
of the Daily's editors or its editorial board.
The staff editorials on the left side of the
page, however, represent the views of the
editorial board. For years on the left side
of the page, that editorial board has consis-
tently supported affirmative action.
But the editorial board's support of affir-
mative action does not mean that we force
all of our cartoonists and writers to agree
with that position. In fact, if the editorial
page is to remain credible to our readers
and to its mission to serve as a forum for
debate, we must allow a variety of view-
points to appear on the page.
One of the reasons the editorial page
supports the use of affirmative action -
indeed the argument the University's legal
team used before the U.S. Supreme Court
- is that a racially and ethnically diverse
campus facilitates an important part of the
educational experience students receive on
campus. We are more likely to have our
own beliefs challenged and to be exposed
to a wide variety of views if not everyone
looks alike and if not everyone grew up in
the same neighborhood. The theory is that
we can learn from each other, not just our
textbooks.
But for that theory to hold true, it
requires constructive interaction between
members of a diverse student body. That
is why I am so concerned about the harsh
reaction to the cartoon.
College campuses should host a free
exchange of competing ideas, not gardens of
* groupthink. As part of an opinion that has
become a cornerstone of any interpretation
of the First Amendment, Supreme Court
Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote that
"the best test of truth is the power of the
thought to get itself accepted in the com-
petition of the market." Anyone with an
idea cannot maintain the superiority of that
idea if he shields it from competing ideas.
Censorship does not strengthen arguments.
Rather, it damages their credibility.
Instead of saying the cartoon should not
See PESICK, page 7
Hopkins
chosen as
fire4
Former Lansing fire
chief is Ann Arbor's
fourth fire chief in the
last five years
By Jeremy Davidson
Daily Staff Reporter
Ann Arbor has a new fire chief
again.
Ann Arbor's City Council
unanimously approved Samuel
Hopkins as Ann Arbor's fire chief
last night.
Hopkins will be Ann Arbor's
fourth fire chief in the past five
years.
Representatives from the city
and the Ann Arbor Fire Depart-
ment said Hopkins is a well-quali-
fied candidate and a good match
for the city.
"Mr. Hopkins was, from the
day he put his name in, one of the
top candidates for the job," Mayor
John Hieftje said.
"Everyone has spoken very
highly of him," he added.
Hopkins served as chief of the
Lansing Fire Department from
1987 to 1994, starting out as a
firefighter in 1965 and moving up
the ranks.
Hopkins said he is excited to work
with the AAFD, which he cited as
one of the most important reasons
he chose to take the position.
c!hief
He said he worked well with the
AAFD while consulting for the
department.
"It seemed like a good fit,"
Hopkins said.
City Council members and the
AAFD echoed Hopkins's senti-
ment.
"He is an outstanding candi-
date," said Councilman Leigh
Greden (D-Ward 3).
"Sam was the top choice of both
senior city managers and the fire
union leadership."
Councilman Stephen Rapunda-
lo (D-Ward 2) agreed,
"I think he's very well quali-
fied to be the next leader of the
fire department," he said.
Hopkins said he is not bring-
ing an agenda to Ann Arbor but
is excited to start working with
firefighters in the city.
Andy Box, president of the
International Association of Fire
Fighters, Local 693, said Hop-
kins is an experienced leader
who will do great things for the
community.
"(Hopkins) will accomplish
goals for the organization and pro-
vide exceptional services to the
City of Ann Arbor and its citizens
and maintain a positive working
environment for his employees,"
Box said.
"We are very, very happy to
have Sam Hopkins coming in as
fire chief," Hieftje said.
ALEX DZIADOSZ/ Daily
Samuel Hopkins, Ann Arbor's new fire chief, poses In front of a fire truck in an Ann Arbor Fire Department
station yesterday. Hopkins was approved as the city's new fire chief at last night's City Council meeting.
U' takes on tech tra
University now seventh
among schools receiving
most patents
By Bo He
Daily Staff Reporter
Traditional technology powerhouses will be
facing serious competition in the near future for
supremacy in the realm of technology transfer from
the University.
Technology transfer is the sale and licensing of
technologies developed by a school.
The University posted record profit growth for
fiscal year 2005 in technology transfer revenue.
Profits jumped by 18 percent, or $5 million,
bringing total licensing revenues for the year to
$16.7 million.
The University's Technology Transfer Office
reported 287 inventions, 86 license agreements and
seven startup firms this fiscal year. During the past
five years, the University's tech transfer efforts have
resulted in more than 40 startups. The importance
of such endeavors lies in their ability to help the
Ann Arbor area soften the blow of Michigan's eco-
nomic slump during the past five years.
"For 2005, ... (tech transfer) went as well, if not
better, overall than the last two years," said Ken-
neth Nisbet, executive director of the Tech Transfer
Office. "We have made terrific progress with such
a large increase."
But the University still has some catching up
to do before it can join the ranks of tech transfer
giants. Traditionally, schools such as Stanford and
the California Institute of Technology on the West
Coast and Columbia University and MIT on the
East Coast have dominated tech transfer.
Even though the University has stepped up its
efforts, its revenue is still dwarfed by the earnings
of programs such as MIT's, which recorded a FY
2005 profit of $46 million. MIT's tech transfer pro-
nsfer powerhouses
gram also reported 20 startup firms for this fiscal most recent period for which data are available, th
year, compared to the University's seven. Department of Commerce's Patent and Trademar
"Beyond the initial difficulty associated with Office reported that the University received the se)
licensing technology to such early-stage compa- enth most patents among U.S. universities, at 67.
nies, it's hard to compare with other top universities The California Institute of Technology led th
because resources are such a major problem in the national rankings with more than double the Un
Midwest region," Nisbet said. versity's number of patents, at 135, and showe
Another difficulty confronting the University no signs of slowing down. Caltech's tech transf
is how to identify quality partner companies program benefits from a large patent budget th
that may become excellent prospects for licens- allows the institution to be less selective in appt
ing in the future. Despite limited resources and ing for patents and aggressive in what technol
the risk involved in licensing technologies, the gies it protects.
University has become a major technological But even the best universities are concerne
hub in the Midwest. about the price tag and viability of patents.
Universities like Stanford and MIT have main- "We still have to be extremely consciou
tained their edge in part because of their location, about the cost of protection and wheth
with Stanford located near Silicon Valley and MIT the technology we are pursuing is a legit
next door to Boston. mate candidate to be useful in the marke
Even with such obstacles, the University man- place farther down the road," said Micha
aged to make steady and significant progress in Slessor, licensing associate at Caltech's
tech transfer during the past three years. For the See TECH TRANSFER, page
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I
RC profs
* debate racial
* preferences,
Carl Cohen, RC Director Tom
Weisskopf argue merits, pitfalls
of affirmative action at the 'U'
By Deepa Pondse
Daily Staff Reporter
The campus debate on affirmative action continued
last night when two University professors faced off on
the issue in the Chemistry Building.
The Latino fraternity Lambda Theta Phi presented
a debate between RC Prof. Carl Cohen, an outspoken
proponent of the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative,
and affirmative action supporter Tom Weisskopf, the
director of the Residential College.
The Michigan Civil Rights Initiative is a ballot
COKE
CAMPAIGN
TO U': CAN THE CONTRACT
What's in a
name? A lot,
transgender
student says
By Laura Frank
Daily Staff Reporter
For Sebastian Colon, the first day of class is always terrifying.
Col6n, a first year graduate student in the School of Social Work, is
a transgender student who prefers to go by his male name, Sebastin,
instead of his legal female name - but he never knows by which
name he will be called on the first day of class, or whether his profes-
sors and classmates will understand.
Even if all goes well on the first day, Col6n said he is constantly
afraid his classmates will discover his female name and use it, a situ-
ation that makes him both uncomfortable and sometimes fearful for
his safety.
I