University history: The Union that almost never was NEWS, 2A LOOKING UP CRABLE AT TOP OF HIS GAME FOOTBALLSATURDAY My Morning Jacket delivers times two ARTS, 5A Iie ilidjigan Battyl Ann Arbor, Michiga www.michigandaily.com 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 TODAY'S HI: 47 WE ATHER LO 37 GOT A NEWS TIP? Call 734-763-2459or e-mail news@michgandaily.com and let us know. 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