Friday, September 15,
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Opinion 4 Theresa Kennelly:
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2006
UE AIMS TO END ROAD WOES IN SOUTH BEND ... SPORTS, PAGE 8
One-hundred-sixteen years of edftorzifreedom
www.mic/nkandai/y.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan Vol. CXVII, No. 9
@2006 The Michigan Daily
ATHLETES BEWARE:
FACEBOOK AHEAD
For athletes with risqu6 content in their profiles,
using networking sites can be a contact sport
By Nate Sandals
Daily Sports Writer
Free cars from boosters,
steroids and academic fraud
- now some say student
athletes can add Facebook.
corn to that list of vices.
For the first time, the ath-
letic department are having
all varsity athletes sign a
"Student-Athlete Conduct
Policy Regarding Involve-
ment in Internet-Based
Social Networking Commu-
nities."
The policy states that any
online behavior failing to
"reflect the high standards
of honor and dignity that
characterize participation
in competitive sports at the
University of Michigan"
could result in punishment
up to and including "reduc-
tion or non-renewal of any
athletic scholarships."
The policy went into
effect August 1.
The University's Face-
book awareness policies
don't end there.
A crowd of more than 900
gathered at Crisler Arena
last week to learn the truth
about the popular network-
ing site.
The majority of them
were Michigan varsity ath-
letes and coaches.
In an event organized by
the Athletic Department,
Pablo Malavenda, associate
dean of students at Purdue
University - who is consid-
ered by many to be the fore-
most expert on online social
networking - gave a 90-
minute presentation called
"Welcome to Facebook:
Enter at Your Own Risk."
During his talk, Malav-
enda highlighted the advan-
tages and downsides of
being part of online social
networks like Facebook and
Myspace.com. The presen-
tation included a number of
examples of inappropriate
Facebook profiles, including
references to or pictures of
alcohol, drugs and nudity..
Malavenda stressed that
there is nothing private
about Facebook, a site whose
membership is nearing the
10-million mark. As of May,
the University of Michigan
network alone had 43,886
members, large enough to
rank sixth nationwide.
Malavenda never sug-
gested that student athletes
shouldn't be on Facebook,
but he did stress that because
of their high profile on cam-
pus,they "be more concerned
with people watching."
Malavenda urged them
to monitor their groups and
tagged photos.
In a well-publicized
series of events last sum-
mer, the website badjocks.
com obtained photographs
of athletic teams engaged in
hazing activities from web-
sites including Facebook.
The uproar resulted in mul-
tiple team suspensions, most
notably that of the North-
western University women's
soccer team.
When Malavenda asked
the students in attendance
- the Athletic Department
also invited leaders of cam-
pus groups to the presen-
tation - if they were on
Facebook, nearly all raised
their hands.
When coaches and admin-
istrators were asked the same
question, only a few admit-
ted to being members.
In his closing remarks,
Malavenda urged stu-
dent athletes to use com-
mon sense in their online
activities.
See FACEBOOK, page 7
PHOTOS BY ST EPH EN CHO AND ANGE LA CESER EDaly
LEFT: Eastern Michigan University freshmen Asqunera Geatry and Rachel Bills dance last night at Necto. CENTER: Thursday-
night revelers dance under a disco ball. RIGHT: LSA junior Dmitri Malcolm tends bar.
Rock around the clock:
Necto may be open later
FLIPPING OUT
Students excited
about extended
hours, but police
I remain skeptical
By Dhruv Menawat
Daily Staff Reporter
Picture this scene: It's 2:30
a.m. The bars and clubs are
closing. Students across cam-
pus are heading back to their
apartments and houses.
That was then,
But a recently amended
Michigan statute allows bars
and clubs that sell alcohol
to apply for a permit to stay
open as late as 7 a.m.
The catch? The amend-
ment does not modify current
law prohibiting alcohol sales
after 2 a.m. and alcohol con-
sumption after 2:30 a.m.
Necto, a nightclub on East
Liberty Street, is the only
venue in Ann Arbor that has
applied for an extended-hours
permit since the law was
amended last December.
"We tried to apply before
they even had paperwork,"
said Jon Robinson, the club's
assistant manager.
Despite many students'
enthusiasm, Necto is the only
place in Ann Arbor to seek an
extended-hours permit. Good
Time Charley's, Touchdown
Cafe, Scorekeepers and other
local bars have deemed it
not worthwhile to keep their
doors open when they can't
serve alcohol.
"We can't make any
money,' said Nick Croom,
the general manager at Good
Time Charley's. "We'd be
babysitting drunk patrons."
Croom said until the law
allows bars to sell alcohol
past 2 a.m., he sees no benefit
in applying for the permit.
Two bills calling for
extended hours for alcohol
sales are in committee in the
legislature.
Chris Lee, Touchdown
Cafe's general manager, also
said staying open later would
not be profitable.
"We'd be in here wasting
electricity, and it'd be longer
before people could clean
up," Lee said.
Necto's Robinson said
other clubs and bars in Ann
Arbor would not benefit from
extended hours permits.
"Other places won't utilize
it correctly," he said. "We are
the only nightclub in Ann
Arbor. We have more to offer
than drinking. That's why
we're 18 and up."
The Ann Arbor Police
Department has reservations
about the changes. AAPD Lt.
Mark Hoornstra said longer
hours for bars would mean
more opportunity for patrons
to run amok, extending noise
pollution into the wee hours
of the morning.
"It's hard for us to say that
it's solely the establishments'
responsibility, but certainly
after the bars close down
things quiet down," he said.
Hoornstra also said that
while some customers may
use the extra hours to sober
up before driving, there is
nothing to prevent people
from stockpiling drinks just
before closing and drinking
them later.
Applications for extend-
ed-hours permits go to the
Michigan Liquor Control
Commission, which bases its
decision on recommendations
from city councils and local
police, said Barb Sebastian of
the commission.
The Ann Arbor City Coun-
cil has yet to set a hearing
date to review Necto's appli-
cation.
See NECTO, page 7
- Student to run
as a socialist
LSA senior has
been chair of state
party since age 16
By Andrew Grossman
Daily Staff Reporter
At age 12, most students
thought socialism was some-
thing you did at a middle
school dance.
It was at that age that LSA
senior Matt Erard became a
socialist after discovering the
ideology online. Unlike those
who abandon their childhood
larks, Erard has hung on to
the radical ideas that attracted
him at such an early age.
Erard is running for state
representative in the 53rd
district, which includes most
of Ann Arbor and all of the
Central Campus area.
Erard, who is chairman of
the Socialist Party of Michi-
gan, will face Democrat
Rebekah Warren and Repub-
lican Erik Sheagren in the
Nov. 7 election. Because the
Michigan Secretary of State
does not officially recognize
See SOCIALIST, page 7
Music School freshman Blake Tereau performs a wall spin (a backfip against a wall)
on Hill Auditorium next to Burton Tower yesterday. Tereau was doing parkour, also
known as "freestyle walking," in which participants run and walk around usually urban
areas doing stunts over, under, on and through obstacles.
N
Matt Erard on ...
Capitalism: "The capitalist system is inher-
ently based on exploitation of the vast major-
ity of the population - the working class."
The two-.party system: "The United States
is a contest between the right wing and the
extreme right wing."
SSolving M ichig an's economic woes: "My
campaign calls for the abolition of corporate
welfare and for a 100 percent capital flight
tax. If any major corporation operating in
Michigan attempts to leave this state, it
does not take its assets with them."
the 'U'
Recent alum
launches campus
video site
By Katie L Woods
For the Daily
Watch out, Facebook.com.
A new student-run website
has hit campus.
As if students need anoth-
er distraction from studying,
University alum Michael
Cho recently created a new
site for the Wolverine com-
munity.
Cho, who graduated last
yearfromthe Collegeof Engi-
in youtube
neering, dedicated his sum- ries the same idea as the
mer to creating websites for popular Youtube.com but
university students to upload intends to cover Univer-
college-relevant videos. He sity topics.
created an umbrella site, "There is such a huge
myschooltube.com, that pro- influx of video content on
vides sites for the University the Web that you can't find
of California at Berkeley, what you want," Cho said.
Stanford University, Nation- "So if I design a site that is
al University of Singapore geared to Michigan, then
and Raffles Institution in whoever visits the site will
Singapore. have a better tendency to find
The University is the fifth what they want and like what
member of the site. Any- they see."
one can access the sites, The site features videos
but only students from the like a figure in a Pac-Man
member universities can suit running around the Fish-
upload videos. bowl and two men dancing
Umichtube.com car- See TUBE, page 7
LSA senior Matt Erard is running for state representative as
chair of the 50-member Socialist Party of Michigan.
P,
I