University history:
The Union that almost never was
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Friday, October 27, 2006
Crowd slams
luxury boxes
At forum, only two
audience members
support skyboxes in
the Big House
By ALESE BAGDOL
Daily Staff Reporter
Last night, University Athletic
Director Bill Martin held the
forum he said he should have held
six months ago.
The meeting, which took place
in the Junge Family Champions
Center on South Campus, was
an opportunity for the public to
learn the details of the proposed
renovations to Michigan Stadium
and voice their opinions.
The vast majority of audience
membersvoicedtheir disapproval
of the plan to add luxury boxes to
the stadium.
Only two speakers said they
supported the renovations in
more than an hour of public com-
ments.
When the University Board
of Regents narrowly approved
the Athletic Department's plan
in May, the decision drew harsh
criticism from some faculty and
alumni who said the meeting,
which took place over the sum-
EUGENE ROBERTSON/Daily
Athletic Director Bill Martin lays out his vision for Michigan Stadium at the first
of three public forums on the plan to add luxury boxes to the Big House.
mer on the Dearborn campus, did
not provide any opportunity for
the public to voice their concerns.
Many members of the audience
protested the University's delay
in discussing the plans with gen-
eral public.
Several professors spoke pas-
sionately against the plans.
"The University places a
great deal of justifiable prior-
ity on open, informed debate,"
said Irwin Goldstein, a professor
emeritus of biological chemistry.
"What many of my faculty col-
leagues and I want to know is
why the University has waited
until now to hold these forums
after the regents initially adopted
your luxury box plan, after an
architecture firm had been hired
to execute the plan and after that
firm had prepared the drawings
of the colossal changes they want
to make to our stadium."
The audience also questioned
other possible unintended con-
sequences of the stadium reno-
vations.
See STADIUM, Page 7A
At Bursley, false alarms
prompt safety concerns
JEREMY CHO/Daily
RC sophomore Jeff Zebrowski grabs lettuce from the salad bar in East Quad Residence Hall yesterday. The lettuce was
infected with bugs earlier in the semester. The bugs are gone now that East Quad is ordering a different variety of lettuce.
Earlier this semester, East Quad residents found bugs in their
lettuce. Cafeteria officials chalk it up to the ...
Cost of sustainability
Fire alarms have
blared seven times
since beginning of
school year
By LOLITA MOSS
For the Daily
If you have any questions about
what to do during a fire drill, ask
the residents of Bursley Residence
Hall. Alarms have forced them
out of their rooms a total of seven
times since September, but only
one drill was planned.
The slew of false alarms has
desensitized some students to the
blaring sirens and flashing lights,
prompting them to remain in their
rooms, which could be a problem
in the event of a real fire.
Ian Steinman, the University's
fire marshal and an associate
director of the Department of
Public Safety, said six of the seven
false alarms were caused by mal-
functions in the system. But hous-
ing officials said a fix they made
last week will solve the problem.
The first alarm that drove
Bursley residents onto surround-
ing sidewalks happened Sept. 17
at about 8 p.m. Declan Lugin, the
housing security fire inspector,
said it was caused by an electrical
glitch in the sprinkler system.
Butthe sprinkler systemturned
out to be the least of the Bursley
residents' problems.
In August, the University fin-
ished installing a new state-of-
the-art fire alarm system, but the
new technology proved to be a
little too sensitive.
Three days after the first alarm,
Bursley residents evacuated the
building again at about 1p.m., this
time because a smoke detector in
a custodial closet malfunctioned.
At 9:48 p.m. the next day, Burs-
ley had its only planned fire drill
exercise. Each dorm on campus is
required to have one practice fire
drill per semester.
The next four alarms were
caused by glitches in the new sys-
tem. Oversensitive smoke detec-
tors went off in Bursley's kitchen
See FIRE ALARMS, Page 7A
East Quad will
still buy other foods
from local growers
By JESSICA VOSGERCHIAN
Daily StaffReporter
Residential College freshman
Elaine Gordon was eating a salad
in the East Quad Residence Hall
cafeteria last month when she
saw a spot on a piece of lettuce.
The spot was small, red and had
"creepy, little, spidery legs."
It was a dead insect - and it
wasn't an isolated incident.
"What seems like once a week
I'll find a bug and flip out," Gor-
don said.
LSA freshman Bhajneet
Kohli had a similar experience
- except the bug he found in his
salad was alive.
Susan Hyllested, manager of
the East Quad dining hall, said
she has received two complaints
from students about bugs in the
lettuce, but that the problem has
since been corrected.
Hyllested said the bugs may
have been linked to a new ini-
tiative East Quad food services
has adopted this year to support
local farmers.
The program is meant to help
sustainability, because the prod-
ucts do not have to travel across
the country, which wastes gas.
The program is also designed to
aid the local economy.
As part of the new program,
East Quad has been buying some
food items through different
suppliers than the other campus
dining halls. Bug-ridden ship-
ments of Boston lettuce likely
came from growers in Black
River, Mich., executive chef Ste-
ven Meyer said.
Meyer said the problem with
the East Quad lettuce supply
was that it wasn't put through
the three- or four-day freezing
processthatlettuce coming from
across the country undergoes.
Although the supplier cleans
and processes food shipped to
the cafeterias, a few bugs, usu-
ally dead, can often be found in
See INSECTS, Page 7A
OGLING GOOGLE
Official speaks on the U.N.'s
need and vision for reform.
Mike Rooney of Google AdWords chats up LSA senior Allison Hosking during a meet-and-greet at Pinball Pete's
yesterday. Google, which opened an office in Ann Arbor recently, provided free T-shirts, pinball and pizza.
Racial epithet found on car
New secretary general
key to rethinking
of world governing body
By EMILY BARTON
For the Daily
The United Nations is due for a
revamping.
Last night, William Davis, the direc-
tor of the U.N. Information Center, out-
lined a bit of its plans for the future.
"The U.N.'s job is to strengthen and
encourage a pre-existingcentral peace,"
he told the crowd gathered in the Koess-
ler room in the Michigan League last
night.
But it's not an easy job.
The three most important forces
at work for the future of the United
Nations, Davis said, are the new secre-
tary general, its plans for reform and
its peacekeeping missions in embattled
areas of the world.
The next secretary general, Ban Ki-
Moon, will take office on Jan. 1. Davis
said the switch could mean big changes
in all areas of policy.
"The secretary general is drawn into
more issues than one can imagine," he
said.
The United Nations has already insti-
gated substantial changes. One is the
Human Rights Council, which Davis
described as an improved mechanism to
address human rights. Davis said strict
qualifications for council membership
should ensure better functioning of the
human rights projects the organization
isundertaking.
Further reforms include a greater
emphasis on internal ethics, including
additional training for every employee
and new regulations to protect whistle-
blowers.
Davis said that while some plans will
be implemented immediately, others
may be more long-term.
"A lot remains to be done," he said.
Peacekeeping missions, which Davis
described as the other huge issue the
United Nations faces, are a growing pri-
ority.
But aid isn't always welcome, Davis
said. The Sudanese government does
not want the United Nations involved
in Dafur, preferring the African Union,'
which does not have adequate resourc-
es, Davis said. It is among many prob-
lems the peacekeeping forces are facing
that need immediate attention.
"Peacekeeping is an imperfect sci-
ence at best," he said.
Davis went on to address the impor-
tance of America's role in the organiza-
tion.
The United Nations affects the lives
of Americans more than they realize,
Davis said.
By Alese Bagdol
Daily StaffReporter
A LawSchoolstudentfound
a piece of paper with a racial
epithet written on it on his or
her car on Tuesday.
The next morning, more
than a thousand law students
received an unusual e-mail
from David Baum, the law
school's assistant dean of stu-
dent affairs, explaining what
had happened.
The note was written
anonymously and left on the
windshield of the car, which
was parked on Oakland Street
around the corner from the
Law School.
The author of the note has
not been determined. Baum
asked the students to contact
his office if they knew any
details about the incident. He
expressed his disappointment
with this behavior and made
it clear that it was out of line
with the ideals of the Law
School Community.
"We came out pretty strong
that this type of behavior is
See EPITHET, Page 7A
ANGELA CESERE/LDaily
William Davis, director of the U.N. Information
Center, speaks about the future of the organiza-
tion in the Michigan League last night.
Its impact is felt through the actions
of what he called "the U.N. family"
- organizations like the World Health
Organization and the United Nations
Children's Fund.
The five members with veto power in
the Security Council are still the allied
countries that won World War II, and a
See UNITED NATIONS, Page 7A
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