2 - Friday, January 5, 2007
How does the University pick the
commencement speaker?
It's not a popularity contest, administrators say
Although some students may
have hoped Paris Hilton, 2006's
most-Googled celebrity, would
give this year's commencement
speech, the honor went to former
President Bill Clinton.
As it turns out, University
President Mary Sue Coleman
and the Honorary Degree Com-
mittee pick speakers who have
done something with their life'
that reflects the University's
values.
Apparently, Clinton's achieve-
ments exceed Hilton's, at least in
the University's estimation.
According to Lisa Jeffreys,
who works in Coleman's office,
speakers are chosen based on sig-
nificant stature rather than pop-
ularity. Administrators look for
someone important rather than
famous, she said. This ensures
that commencement speeches
are "meaningful, inspiring and
even brilliant," she said.
The 20-person Honorary
Degree Committee looks for
speakers who have advanced
their discipline or field. The com-
mittee gives priority to minority
or female candidates and also
tries to honor individuals who
have not yet been recognized
with other awards.
The University inquires about
the speaker's availability before
Coleman sends an official invi-
tation, and if the speaker is not
a University employee, they
receive an Honorary degree from
the University after speaking.
In previous years, speak-
ers included CNN correspon-
dent Christiane Amanpour,
Automobile Magazine founder
David Davis Jr. and head Xerox
researcher John Seely Brown.
Students who would like
to recommend a commence-
ment speaker can send a letter
with that person's biography
and the reason why that person
deserves the honor of being cho-
sen commencement speaker. The
committee considers every nom-
ination it receives.
Don't get too excited, though
- Coleman has the final say over
who gets chosen.
JAKE HOLMES
- Pondering a great mystery of
the University? Let the Daily step in
and help you out. E-mail suggestions
to news@michigandaily.com.
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TheMichigan Dailyl(SSN0745-967)ispublished MondaythroughFriday duringthe
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0
Graduating students watch as CNN correspondent Christiane
Amanpour delivers a commencement speech last spring.
CRIME NOTES
CAMPUS EVENTS & NOTES
Student reports
threatening
phone message
WHERE: School of Dentistry,
1011 North University Ave.
WHEN: Wednesday at about
noon
WHAT: A dentistry stu-
dent received a menacing
voice-mail message, the
Department of Public Safety
reported. The message said
the victim was a "bad person"
and "would be in trouble,"
DPS reported. The student
suspects the message came
from a former patient.
Model cars
stolen from
unlocked office
WHERE: Harlan Hatcher
Graduate Library
WHEN: Wednesday at about
230 p.m.
WHAT: A library staff mem-
ber returned from Winter
Break and found several
model cars and motorcycles
missing from his office, DPS
reported. The office had been
left unlocked.
Basketball
ticket scalper
apprehended
WHERE: Lot SC-4, 1100
Greene St.
WHEN: Wednesday at
about 7 p.m.
WHAT: A man not affili-
ated with the University
was caught selling tickets to
Wednesday's Michigan men's
basketball game against Illi-
nois at Crisler Arena, He had
no permit to sell tickets.
Photo exhibit
about Israel
WHAT: An exhibit titled
"The Forgotten Photographs:
The Work of Paul Goldman
from 1943-1961" that details
the early days of Israel
WHO: Hillel
WHEN: 9:15 a.m. to 7:15 p.m.
until Feb. 28
WHERE: Lounge, Hillel
Building
Opportunity to
practice English
WHAT: A chance for non-
native English speakers to
practice conversation skills,
followed by a discussion of
the Bible and free snacks
WHO: The International Stu-
dents Fellowship
WHEN: Today from 7 to 9:15
p.m.
WHERE: Ann Arbor Chris-
tjana eftrmed Church, 1717
Broadway Sc.
Organ recital
WHAT: A performance fea-
turing works by Bach, Liszt,
Coe and Messiaen
WHO: Music Performance
graduate student Alan Knight
WHEN: 8 p.m.
WHERE: Hill Auditorium
Factory photos
on display
WHAT: An exhibit of photos
from Dearborn's Rouge plant
WHO: Photographer Michael
Kenna
WHEN: Today
WHERE: University Musuem
of Art
CORRECTIONS
" The photograph on the
cover of yesterday's special
section on former President
Gerald Ford should have
been credited to the Associ-
ated Press.
Please report any error in
the Daily to correotions@
michigandaily.con.
Fox announced that it has
decided to cancel teen soap
opera "The O.C." After three
seasons,. the show's final epi-
sode will air Feb. 22. An online
petition to save the show has
already gathered over 300,000
signatures.
CerealCityUSA,an amuse-
ment park in Battle Creek,
is closing because it hasn't
drawn enough visitors to stay in
business. The cereal-themed fun
park has seen a sharp decrease
in attendance since opening
in 1998.
Michigan Visiting Nurses
are coming to campus this
afternoon to give flu and
pneumonia vaccinations. They
will be in the Wolverine Room of
the Michigan Union fromr noon
to 4 p.m. Flu shots cost $33 and
pneumonia shots cost $82.
l4 t t h Fi jicoup l eader'
va assumes top post "
SUVA, Fiji (AP) - Fiji's military
chief took office today as the South
Pacific nation's interim prime min-
ister, formally assuming the power
he seized by force one month ago in
an armed coup.
Commodore Frank Bainimarama
promised to be "a true and faithful
prime minister" during a swearing
in ceremony in Fiji's capital, Suva.
Bainimarama was sworn in by
former President Ratu Josefa Iloilo,
whom he reinstated to the largely
ceremonial post yesterday.
The military chief seized power
in a bloodless coup Dec. 5. He dis-
solved the Cabinet, suspended Par-
liament and deposed both Iloilo
and elected Prime Minister Laise-
nia Qarase, whom he banished to
his home island 190 miles north of
Suva.
The coup - Fiji's fourth in nearly
two decades - was the culmination
of a long impasse between Bainima-
rama and Qarase over bills offering
pardons to conspirators in a 2000
coup and handing lucrative coast-
al land ownership to indigenous
Fijians. Bainimarama, himself an
indigenous Fijian, said the bills were
unfair to the island's ethnic Indian
minority.
The military ruler initially
assumed presidential powers. But
he relinquish that claim and rein-
stated Iloilo after a dispute with
the country's influential Great
Council of Chiefs, which has strong
influence among Fiji's politically
dominant indigenous majority. The
council had maintained that both
Qarase and Iloilo were the legiti-
mate powers.
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