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One-hundredsixteen years of editoriil freedom
www.mickigandaziy.com Ann Arbor, Michigan Vol. CXVI, No. 115 02006 The Michigan Daily
Police
investigate
S4M's site
attacks
For allegedly crashing a rival
party's website with a denial of
service attack, at least one member
may face up to 12 years in prison
By Dave Mekelburg
Daily Staff Reporter
For at least one student, this year's Michigan
Student Assembly elections could result in sig-
nificant time behind bars.
The Department of Public Safety is investi-
gating claims that a Students 4 Michigan party
member broke the law during last month's stu-
dent government elections. No charges have yet
been filed against the student, whose name has
not been released.
The two allegations are denial of service,
which is a felony, and computer use to commit a
crime. A denial of service, which is an attempt to
crash a website or server, is a crime that carries
up to five years in prison.
DPS spokeswoman Diane Brown said police
have been working on the investigation since the
claim was filed, which was right after the elec-
tion.
Brown said she had no information regarding
who filed the complaint, but would not release
"It's upsetting
that
something
like that
could have
happened
during my
campaign."
- Nicole Stallings
MSA president
it if she did because it's
against DPS policy.
Depending on the
maximum penalty of
the original crime - in
this case denial of ser-
vice - the penalty for
computer use to com-
mit a crime increases
or decreases. Because
the maximum penalty
for denial of service
is between four and 10
years, the penalty for
use of computer moves
up to seven years in jail
and/or up to $5,000 in
fines.
In an interview dur-
ing the election, Joe
Golden, election web-
master of the rival
Popular
Union head
reassigned
f Students on Michigan Union
Board of Representatives protest
decision to move Audrey
Schwimmer to Michigan League
By Gabe Nelson
Daily Staff Reporter
During Audrey Schwimmer's 14 years as president
of the Michigan Union, it has become "the living
room" of the University, members of the Michigan
Union Board of Representatives say.
So when John Taylor, director of University Unions,
decided last month to reassign Schwimmer to the small-
er, less-frequented Michigan League, MUBR chair Ryan
Schuman and vice-chair Andrew Gould were shocked.
"This was a total surprise," Schuman said. "She's been
a devoted servant to the Union and has spent her last 14
years making the Union the center of campus. Why would
you move someone who's excelled so tremendously?"
Schwimmer declined to comment.
Schuman and Gould, both LSA juniors, wrote a
pair of resolutions and presented them to the Michi-
gan Union Board of Representatives earlier this
u' month. The resolutions, titled "Resolution for Seri-
' +ous Reconsideration of and Direct Involvement in
Transfer of Audrey Schwimmer from the Michigan
Union to the Michigan League" and "Resolution to
Censure John Taylor," passed unanimously.
A similar resolution presented to the Michigan
Student Assembly, titled "Resolution to Disapprove
of John Taylor's Decision to Forcibly Transfer Audrey
Schwimmer," passed 17 to 10.
The debate began when Taylor created a new assis-
tant director position for University Unions. Taylor
a+ t-tpromoted League president Bob Yecke to the posi-
tion and then needed to find a replacement for Yecke.
He decided to make Schwimmer president of the
League and hire a new Union president by July.
Taylor said moving Schwimmer and replacing
her with a new president would improve the League
without sacrificing the quality of the Union.
"Just as Audrey will help the League look at things
differently, a new person coming to the Union can
build on Audrey's accomplishments and bring new
ideas and vision to serving the students and campus
community"he said in an e-mail interview.
But the Union's premier status means Taylor
shouldn't take risks with it, Gould said.
"The League's quality could go up at the Union's det-
riment," he said. "If you have an administrator who has
catered to students every step of the way, who has made
r , students her priority, why do you gamble on that?"
Schuman said he was also upset that Taylor didn't
discuss his decision with students on the MUBR
board until recently.
k thu b1n b ut aylor said he couldn't consult students until
(, the proper time.
ta e ,se o je uo aie "I shared this personnel decision with Ryan
Schuman at the same time as staff members in Uni-
versity Unions," he said. "The nature of such person-
ew Grossman j Daily Staff Reporter nel decisions is one that respects the confidentiality
of the employee, and ultimately I am responsible and
Sty's Career Center sent students an e- as human resources representatives," held accountable for personnel decisions'.
smail warning them about their online Sebille-White said. Schuman also said the timing of Taylor's decision
image earlier this month. While access to the University's se- to replace Schwimmer might exclude students from
t Lynne Sebille-White, an assistant tion of Facebook is limited to those the search process.
director at the Career Center, said with e-mail addresses ending inumich. "Most of our board is not going to be here this
employers are likely using Facebook to edu, those addresses are available to summer," Schuman said. "It's going to be extremely
screen potential hires. alt 425,000 of the University's alumni, difficult for us to take part."
This threat is increasing as Lniver- some of whom recruit or hire froi the Taylor said he is optimistic about the future of the Union,
I sity students who are familiar with University. in spite of the disagreement over who should lead it.
Facebook graduate and enter the work- Additionally, employers who aren't "I know Ryan and Andrew, and MUBR, are com-
force. alumni can accessthe site through cur. mitted to the Michigan Union being successful, and I
"Especially as we see people who rent interns or other employees with am in concurrence with that goal as well as the suc-
t were once students and have alumni University e-mail accounts. cess of all Unions at Michigan," he said. "We may
accounts going out into the workforce See FACEBOOK page 2 be seeing the path to those goals differently, but I
believe the intent in both cases is sincere."
Cultural groups elect new leaders
V 1
Michigan Progressive Party, said an S4M mem-
ber tried to shut down MPP's website in the days If ou waIr
prior to and during the election. E ~U VU
A specific file on the website was targeted and
downloaded over 200,000 times in an attempt to
overload the server, Golden said.
In a letter to the editor printed in The Michi-
gan Daily March 27, Robbie O'Brien, S4M's
party chair during the election, admitted that an embers of
S4M member had attacked the website without groups such a
the consent or knowledge of the party. higher than r
O'Brien resigned in the wake of the scandal. "I make poor life decis;
MSA President Nicole Stallings, who ran on S4M's to reconsider whether t
ticket, said that changes are needed to alter the mind- be in them.
sets of people involved with elections. The conduct The social networkii
displayed in this year's election was more borne out more attention as it gr
of tradition than personal conflict, she added. from students, but alsc
"It's upsetting that something like that could have employers, who are scr
happened during my campaign," Stallings said. files of job candidates ai
The election was marked by dirty politicking objectionable informati
by both S4M and MPP. Candidates engaged in an In response to an it
all-out political battle that involved political mud questions on the subje
slinging and mass c-mails to the student body.
Students threaten
lawsut over Coke
University officials say
suit to force permanent
reinstatement of soft drink
is legally doomed
By Christina Hildreth
Daily News Editor
Activists on both sides of the fight over
Coca-Cola, which returned to campus vending
machines this week after a four-month hiatus,
have employed every tactic from Diag demon-
strations to student government campaigns in
an effort to convey their messages.
porarily resumed business with Coke last Tues-
day, the RC sophomores sent an e-mail advising
administrators that they will still seek litigation
unless permanent contracts are signed with the
company by the end of the week.
The University's decision to halt purchasing
was based on the company's failure to com-
ply with a third-party audit of its practices last
December.
In the March 29 letter, Weber and Cunning-
ham argued that the University violated federal
case law by following the recommendations of
the Dispute Review Board, the advisory board
responsible for hearing complaints against the
Vendor Code of Conduct. The DRB laid out the
initial deadlines to investigate claims of human
New heads seek to increase
intergroup cooperation,
expand reach on campus
By Christine Beamer
Daily Staff Reporter
March Madness may be a basketball term,
but it also accurately describes the frenzy of
elections that many of the most prominent cul-
tural groups on campus conduct every March.
Now that the elections are over, the new offi-
cers will usher their groups into the next school
year. Their goals vary, but they have some
things in common.
The new leaders of La Voz Latina, a pan-
Latino organization, and the United Asian
American Organization are focused on polit-
ical issues like the Michigan Civil Rights
inititiv an nrnnn*c&(rI-.nno to immii(ra-
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