Friday, January 6, 2006
News 3 LSA prepares for
theme semester
on evolution
WOMEN'S HOOPS FALLS TO HAWKEYE ..SPORTS, PAGE 8
i g a u i a i ,
Opinion 4
Emily Beam hates
Red Delicious apples
Arts 5 "Munich"tackles
Middle East conflicts
One-hundred-fifteen years of editorialfreedom
www.michigandaily.com Ann Arbor, Michigan Vol. CXVI, No. 49 ©2006 The Michigan Daily
Dispute over
language slows
MCRI approval
Michigan Civil Rights
Initiative and BAMN still
arguing over language
By Justin Miller
Daily Staff Reporter
With the proposal to ban some affirma-
tive action programs already a lock for this
November's state ballot, the State Board of
Canvassers has one final chance to settle a
dispute over the language.
The Michigan Civil Rights Initiative,
the group sponsoring the proposal, and
BAMN, which opposes it, are still argu-
ing over whether the initiative's language
is misleading.
The Michigan Court of Appeals origi-
nally mandated that the board agree on the
proposal's language and put it on the ballot.
But last month, the board deadlocked on a
decision to put the initiative on the ballot.
Two Republicans voted in compliance with
the ruling, but one Democrat voted against
the measure and another abstained.
The appeals court responded to this
impasse by putting the proposal on the
November ballot and gave the board a sec-
ond chance to agree
on the proposal's lan- "Court ord
guage.
Attorneys for MCRI shmourt or
and BAMN will make
their cases to the board
at the tentatively sched- - Luke Massey,
uled Jan. 19. national co-chair
If the board cannot
agree on the wording,
the appeals court will
decide what the lan-
guage of the proposal will be.
Luke Massey, national co-chair of
BAMN, said the language on the petition
and ballot proposal is misleading. Massey
said thousands of people who signed the
petition thought the proposal would uphold
affirmative action, not outlaw it.
MCRI has denied the language was mis-
leading.
BAMN's allegations were not enough for
the court to keep the proposal off the ballot.
But the claims have prompted the Michi-
gan Civil Rights Commission to schedule
a public hearing about them on Jan. 11 in
Detroit.
Massey said the alleged fraud was reason
MCRI developments
Fall 2005 to present
Nov. 1- State Court of Appeals
rules affirmative action proposal will
be on the ballot
Dec. 9 - State Court of Appeals
denies appeal to reconsider placing
intiative on the ballot
Dec. 14 - State Board of Can-
vassers fails to move forward on bal-
lot proposal
Jan. 19 - Tentatively scheduled
meeting for State Board of Canvass-
ers to hear last proposals for ballot
language
enough for the board's Democrats to dis-
obey the court's order to put the initiative
on the ballot.
"Court order, shmourt order," Massey said.
"Courts can order unjust and dishonest things.
The responsibility of the hoard of Canvassers is
to protect the Michigan electorate from fraud.
(The court order is) an ille-
gitimate order that attempts
to strip a public body of its
der." power to protect the Michi-
gan electorate from fraud.
That type of court order
should be defied."
of BAMN Republican board chair
Kathy DeGrow said the board
did not have the authority to
investigate such claims or
decide the proposal's merits.
"We just validate the fact that someone
circulated a petition and collected enough
signatures on it," she said.
DeGrow said she could not predict
whether the board would come to an agree-
ment on the language at its next meeting
after the previous gridlock.
When the groups met in front of the
board last month, protestors from BAMN
knocked over a table and chanted before
Lansing police arrived and restored order.
Massey defended the protesters' actions.
"The truth is this: Every single success-
ful civil rights action has been attacked as mob
rule or a mob action - every single one," he
See MCRI, Page 7
e
r
ro
Fifteen burglaries reported in A2 during holidays
::;;:
By Drew Philp
Daily Staff reporter
While out of town over winter
break, LSA senior Katie Awood
received surprising news from a
friend who had gone to her house
to feed her lizard: Ann Arbor
police had arrived to investigate a
break-in.
Awood was a victim of one of
the 15 holiday burglaries in the
Ann Arbor area over break.
The burglaries took place at 11
locations between Dec. 16 and
Jan. 3. A total of $10,500 was
reported stolen, mostly computer
equipment, DVD players and other
electronics.
Ann Arbor Police Chief Greg
O'Dell noted that the number of
break-ins decreased from the same
period last year, during which 24
home invasions were reported,
resulting in a total loss of $55,000
in cash and property.
Police have increased patrols
around the student areas south
of campus because of the thefts.
Police arrested a suspect Sunday
on the 1100 block of Packard Street
who was acting suspiciously. The
man was found near a house and
charged with disorderly prowling.
LSA junior Emily Nykaza,
whose apartment on the 700 block
of Arch Street was burglarized,
said she was surprised the thieves
chose to target her house because
of the presence of police in her
area.
"They always sit in the park
across the street to try and catch
people turning left," she said.
See CRIME, Page 7
PHOTO
ILLUSTRATION
BY RODRIGO
GAYA/Daily
A student
stands next
to a broken
door in her
Sybil Street
house that
was bur-
glarized
over winter
break.
IRNAWSMOWMAWOWASOM MeMMYOWWWWWWRO,
NO R....O/ S ~ . ., <.,c, *~~*%C ~....
Regents approve
undergrad public
policy degree
'U'
students vote in
Iraqi national election
'U' will admit first
class of 50 sophomores
in 2007 to new program
By Joolle Dodge
Daily StaffReporter
Prof. John Chamberlin and
other faculty in the Gerald R. Ford
School of Public Policy have been
waiting for an undergraduate public.
policy program for over a decade.,
At the last meeting of the Universi-
ty Board of Regents, it finally came
to fruition.
During the board's Dec. 15 meet-
ing, it approved a bachelor's degree
in public policy.
The University will join the
ranks of other top-tier schools that
offer a degree in the emerging field,
including Princeton University,
Duke University and Stanford Uni-
versity.
The school will admit its first
class of students a year from now to
begin the two-year program in fall
of 2007. Each year 50 sophomores
will be accented to the program.
in history or political science will
be drawn to public policy.
The program's exact curriculum
is stillundefined.
Requirements are still subject to
change, but students applying to the
program will need Economics 101
and 102 and another introductory
social science class, Chamberlin
said. There will be core courses
and some optional courses with a
"strong application of domestic and
international issues," Blank said.'
The center of the program will
be a required seminar made up of a
maximum of 25 students assigned a
public policy problem to solve, such
as social security or small arms
trade. Students will apply what
they learned in their courses to a
real-world problem in their semi-
nar. There will also be speakers'
who have worked on public policy
for institutions such as the Unit-
.ed Nations. Chamberlin said the
course would be a hands-on appli-
cation of social science theory.
The degree's creation will
require hiring additional staff as
well as a new learning facility. The
Students cast votes in
election for four-year, 275-
member National Assembly.
By Mariem Qamruzzaman
Daily Staff Reporter
As some students fretted over studying
for finals, LSA sophomore Anthony Pattah
drove to Farmington Hills Manor with his
dad and exercised his right to vote.
Pattah and his father were voting in
Iraq's landmark election for a four-year,
275-member National Assembly.
"It's sending a message to the Arab world
that democracy can work," Pattah said.
Pattah, who is Chaldean, a kind of Chris-
tian, said he wanted to diversify represen-
tation in the government.
"I voted for the Christian bloc over
there," he said. "I also voted because I
wanted to see my own people have a part in
the government. I thought it might bring an
end to the terrorism."
Voting for Iraqis in the United States
took place from Dec. 13 to 15 and on Dec.
15 in Iraq.
The results of the election have not been
announced because of allegations of fraud,
intimidation and irregularities in the vot-
ing. An international team is currently
investigating these complaints.
In the United States, as many as 28,500
expatriates voted, according to Michael
Youash, spokesman for Iraq Out-of-Coun-
try Voting Program USA.
Expatriates had to meet one of two
requirements to vote. Either they could be
18 years or older and be able to prove their
citizenship to Iraq or they could prove one
of their parents is Iraqi.
Detroit, Dearborn, Washington, Chica-
go, Nashville and three cities in California
served as polling stations.
"[The voting process] was much smooth-
er than we expected and it was done with
less resources," Youash said.
Youash said that most voters in Detroit
probably came from Michigan because
Dearborn has the second-largest Iraqi pop-
See IRAQ, Page 7
RODRIGO GAYA/Daily
Iraqi voter and LSA sophomore Anthony Pattah. Pattah trav-
eled to Farmington Hills, Mich. to cast his vote In the Iraqi
National Assembly election.
EMU tightens security after rapes
Sexual assault cases
CnM ,c l t. m.nIn..k . f.a
I
i
i