Monday, March 6, 2006 Opinion 4A Science SA Mara Gay: When will the Daily learn? Maple sugar production staple of Michigan spring CAGER T OURNEY BID iN DOUBT afTERi LOS .. ORTSMONDA One-/zundred-ifteen years of edikorkzlfreedom Arts 8A Willis back to form in '16 Blocks' w ww. m ickzkandaiy.eom Ann Arbor, Michigan Vol. CXV, No. 84 ©2006 The Michigan Daily 'U' probes finances of radio, TV stations AP PHOTO Producers Paul Haggis and Cathy Schulman accept the Oscar after the film "Crash" won best motion picture of the year at the 78th Academy Awards yesterday in Los Angeles. rise best picture winner 'Cra reveals Academy 's identity crisis Michigan Public Media director, Michigan Radio development director have resigned recently By Farayha Arrine Daily Staff Reporter The University is conducting an internal financial investigation of its Michigan Public Media program after the sudden resignation of the organization's director last week. Donovan Reynolds resigned from his position on March 1. Reynolds oversaw Michigan Radio, Michigan Television and Michigan Channel, the three units that make up Michi- gan Public Media. University spokeswoman Kelly Cunningham said the investigation of Michigan Public Media would be of a financial nature. The radio station is an affiliate of National Public Radio that features news programs by local journalists like Jack Lessenberry and nationallyhsyndi- cated news shows such as "All Things Considered" and "Talk of the Nation." The internal financial review is separate from a Department of Pub- lic Safety investigation initiated by the University last year. DPS will continue the review of Michigan Radio that it started in November - the same month the station lost development director Justin Ebright. DPS spokeswoman Diane Brown said the investigation to see if there has been any criminal wrongdoing at the station is in progress. It won't deal with personnel issues such as resignations. Brown the said University administration - not the police force - would conduct any review of personnel matters. She added that there is some coordina- tion between the two investigations. DPS investigations take different forms depending on the reported activity, but can include interviews with relevant subjects or examina- tion of financial records. University representatives said they could not comment on the It didn't have to be this way. To be sure, the Oscars had its fair share of surprises, but they derived primarily from Charlize Theron's dress and a sincere concern for the unfortunate creature that died on it. There was the predictable win for George Clooney and the even more predictable speech (following in the footsteps of fellow Holly- wood leftist Tim Robbins, Clooney kept his thanks cordial and classy). Will Ferrell and Steve Carrell were appropriately inspired in their abil- ity to combine comedy and brevity, while Ben Stiller's overlong gag was more of a goof. There were too many montages, too many speeches, Fast facts Details about the investigation Investigation will focus on Michigan Radio, a nationally recognized NPR affiliate Centers on internal finances of the station Separate from a Depart- ment of Public Safety review initiated by University last year Renowned Michigan Public Media director resigned last week Radio development director resigned last November too many cuts to Jack Nicholson making a skittish starlet - Keira Knightley this year - look just a little bit uncomfortable. Even the Dick Cheney gun jokeA came out early. Oh, it was Oscar night. Every year, hundreds of millions of people around the world sit riveted to the trade awards of the world's most alluring industry. There's a certain egali- tarianism to the entire ponent of the filmmaking process in equal consideration. At the end of the night, the undiscrim- inating statue goes home with Colleen Atwood, costume designer for "Memoirs of a Geisha," and yet decidedly not with Steven Spielberg. But that provocative idea - transcending the hierarchies created by celebrity culture - gets profoundly distorted the NDA moment the telecast hits LADE the TV screen in living rooms the world over. In the sober light of the next day's For a list of Oscar winners In major categories, see page 8A reflection, the fact is that not many people care about best costume. Accordingly, the victory of "Brokeback Mountain" for best score (over legendary composer John Wil- liams and his outstanding score for "Memoirs of a Geisha") was a sur- prise ... to people who, say, follow movies, read Entertainment Weekly or maybe just logged enough hours watching pre-show pundits debate the night's more esoteric honors. The vic- tory of "Crash" for best picture, how- ever, was a revelation to everyone. See OSCARS, page 7A details of the investigations. An interim director will be named in the next four to six weeks, and then a national search will be conducted to find a permanent replacement. Michigan Radio manager Jon Hoban said Reynolds was a good friend and boss. "This organization is worse off because he has moved on to other opportunities," Hoban said in a written statement. "Donovan had the vision to know that the station needed an overhaul and put the news format into place." Under Reynolds's 10-year tenure at Michigan Public Media, Michigan Radio switched to a news format and enjoyed a threefold audience increase. The station has also won more than 80 awards in the last seven years. The station, which operates as WUOM 91.7 in Ann Arbor, was named Public Broadcasting Station of the Year last year by the Michigan Association of Broadcasters. Michigan Public Media is ,a unit of the University's Office of Con- munications and reports directly to the University's Office of the Presi- dent. AMA ANDR concept, which honors every com- Thanks to alum, 'U'has piece ofjournalism history Television journalist Mike Wallace provides scholars insight into a storied broadcasting career with donated papers By Nell Tambe Daily Staff Reporter Media scholars are drooling over 50 new filing cabi- nets in the University's Bentley Historical Library. They contain more than 150 linear feet of journalism history - notes, transcripts and research from legendary CBS correspondent Mike Wallace, who graduated from the University in 1939. Wallace, 88, was one of the founders of CBS's "60 Minutes," and has made a hefty donation of documents and notes from his work with CBS News and "60 Min- utes" to the Bentley. The collection includes transcripts from the shows, notes from interviews, background research and viewer correspondence. "This is all the paperwork," Wallace said. Videotapes of original program broadcasts will remain with CBS. CBS attorneys had to greenlight the donation of the materials, but Wallace said the documents in the collec- tion are uncensored. He said the documents would pro- vide good insight into what happened behind the scenes in television news. The materials include outlines of sto- ries that were dropped or never aired. Wallace has covered several of the biggest news sto- ries in the past decades, including an influential story on Jack Kevorkian, the Michigan euthanasia doctor, and an exclusive interview with Kofi Annan after he was the only reporter to accompany him on a mission to prevent war between Saddam Hussein and the United States in 1998. Wallace has interviewed eight U.S. presidents, many foreign heads of state and a slew of celebrities. Wallace has donated to the Bentley in the past. He said he has been working off and on for several years to make this donation. "These papers reconstruct the thinking that lay behind groundbreaking television journalism," Bentley Library Director Francis Blouin said in a written statement. "His See WALLACE, page 7A Armed robbers strike 5 victims near campus Police are investigating whether three robberies over break are connected By Drew Philp Daily Staff Reporter Three armed robberies occurred near campus over spring break. Police said similarities between the incidents have led them to believe the robberies may be connected. The string of robberies started at about 9 p.m. Wednes- day on the 1000 block of Oakland Street, the Department of Public Safety reported. Two men threatened a lone man with a handgun and demanded money. The robbers took the victim's wallet, but the he was not injured. Two more armed robberies occurred early yesterday morning within nine minutes of each other. The first incident took place on the 600 block of Monroe Street at 12:45 a.m. A student was walking down the street when two men approached him. One of the men produced a handgun. The suspects demanded money, and the student surrendered a cell phone. The suspects then fled in a dark- colored car. The second robbery happened just minutes later on the FILE PHOTO CBS journalist Mike Wallace at a luncheon on campus in 1997. Wallace has donated documents from his reporting career. Pnirticinition uin in cmnus dav for Muslims ,f