HAPPY HOUR: The best ways to
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MEN'S HOOPS: Wolverines fall to
the Illini Sports, Page 5A
C . P filic i oaI1 4,3atim
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Thursday, January 17,2008_
michigandaily.com
COKE CONTROVRS
. Some skeptical
as'U'keeps
- Coke contract
COMMNMM 2008
Following report,'U'
to continue
contracts worth
about $1.2M
By CHARLES GREGG-GEIST
Daily StaffReporter
Two days after the University.
received a report investigating
the Coca-Cola Company for alle-
gations of environmental viola-
tions in India, University officials
reaffirmed their plans to continue
contracts with the soft drink
giant.
Only nine people attended a
meeting yesterday where Univer-
sity officials explained their deci-
sion to continue the contracts,
which total about $L2 million
annually.
"In April 2006, we resumed
buying under those contracts
and we will continue buying as
needed," said Peggy Norgren, the
ONE ACTIVIST'S VIEW:
How Coke and commencement tell
the same story OPINION, Page 4A.
University's associate vice presi-
dent for finance. Norgren and
Andy Hoffman, a professor in the
Ross School ofBusiness who stud-
ies environmental sustainability,
represented the University during
the meeting.
The report found that several
of Coke's plants have contributed
to water scarcity in the region but
found no truth to allegations that
water used by the plant contained
high levels of pesticide.
The India report, released by
an independent research orga-
nization called The Energy and
Resources Institute, represents
one half of the University's dis-
pute with Coke. The University
requested a second investigation
into the company's labor practices
in Colombia after student activ-
See COKE, Page 8A
UNIVERSITY LITIGAIO
Airline files$M
lawsuit against'U'
After June crash, organ transplant team. When
the plane crashed, the team was
'U' terminated traveling from Milwaukee, Wis.
to Ann Arbor to deliver a pair
contract with of lungs for a 50-year-old man
being treated at the University
Marlin Air Hospital.
Shortly after taking off from
By ANDY KROLL Milwaukee's General Mitchell
Daily StaffReporter International Airport, the pilot
requested to return to the air-
Marlin Air, a local charter port due to an unknown emer-
airline company, is suing the gency. Soon after, the plane
University for terminating its disappeared from radar and
contract with the company after crashed into Lake Michigan.
four members of the University's Accordingto court documents
Survival Flight organ transplant in the lawsuit, the University ter-
team and two Marlin Air pilots minated its contract with Marlin
were killed when a charter jet Air in July, a month after the
crashed into Lake Michigan on accident. The contract wasn't set
June 4. to expire until Sept. 2009.
The Belleville-based compa- Scott Erskine, a Rochester-
ny was contracted to transport based attorney, filed the suit
the University's Survival Flight See LAWSUIT, Page 7A
SOLITARY STUDY
E. Royster Harper, the University's vice president for student affairs, moderated a discussion last tight about April's Spring Commencement.
'U' to survey students
At forum, students
still steaming over
graduation
change of location
By CHRIS HERRING
Daily News Editor
In order to gauge student priori-
ties for the Spring Commencement
ceremony, University officials plan
to distribute a survey to graduating
students.
The announcement came last
night at a forum held to discuss the
location of the ceremony. Univer-
sity officials announced earlier this
month that the ceremony would be
held at Eastern Michigan's Rynear-
son Stadium instead of Michigan
Stadium due to ongoing construc-
tion of luxury boxes at the Big
House.
On Monday, University officials
told students they would reconsider
holding the ceremony at Michigan
Stadium, but only part of the sta-
dium would be available for use.
Administrators said they're also
considering other options.
The survey will ask seniors ques-
tions like how many guests they
want to bring and how much they
value an on-campus graduation.
Officials said they plan to use this
information to evaluate sites for the
ceremony. Last night's meeting had
to be relocated from the Michigan
Student Assembly Chambers in the
Michigan Union to Auditorium B
of Angell Hall to accommodate the
crowd of about 200 students.
A group of University officials,
including University spokeswoman
Kelly Cunningham and E. Royster
Harper, the vice president for stu-
dent affairs, moderated the discus-
sion. Cunningham said after the
meeting that the University hopes
to distribute the survey to students
"within the next couple of days."
The two-hour-long question and
answer session quickly turned into
students telling administrators why
holding graduation at the Big House
is important.
"I remember telling myself after
the loss to Ohio State that I had
comfort in knowing I'd get to walk
throughthe Big House one last time
for graduation," LSA senior Aman-
da Perring said. "Now, I'm being
told I can't do that. If I can't gradu-
ate from the Big House, I will leave
this school with a bitter taste in my
mouth."
Many students were less senti-
mental and alot more blunt.
"Why can't we just tell them
what to do?" asked LSA senior Mike
Anton,referringto the construction
workers renovating the stadium. "If
we're paying them to do this work,
why can't we tell them what to do?"
Harper said it's not as simple as
making ademand.
"Just telling people what you're
going to do doesn't always work,"
Harper said. "I'm sure that's how
many of you all felt - that we told
See COMMENCEMENT, Page 8A
UNIVERSITY TECgNOLOGY
Following MIT's lead, 'U' to add open course website
Site would enable
anyone to access
course resources
By ELIZABETH LAI
Daily StaffReporter
In an effort to replicate the suc-
cess of resources like the Massa-
chusetts Institute of Technology's
OpenCourseWare website, School
of Information Prof. Joseph Har-
din has launched a program called
dScribe - short for digital scribe
- that would make syllabuses, lec-
tures, homework and tests from
University classes available to Inter-
net users around the world.
MIT's OpenCourseWare, a web-
site that includes course materials
from more than 1,800 classes at
the school, functions as a free edu-
cational resource for many people
outside the ivy-covered world of
academia. According to Open-
CourseWare surveys, about half of
the site's users describe themselves
as "self-learners" while the other
half are students or educators. The
site receives more than 1 million
hits a month, with about 59 percent
of those coning from outside North
America.
The dScribe program would
function like a public version of
CTools, a website where University
faculty post course resources for
their students.
John Merlin Williams, the exec-
utive producer of the Digital Media
Commons at the University, said
open course websites have value
beyond just giving students their
lectures and homework assign-
ments, particularly in regions with-
out the educational resources of the
United States.
"In an area like health sciences or
public health, there's a lot of interest
in making that information global,"
Williams said.
Although Williams said he thinks
the University could launch the pro-
gram within two to three years, the
development team will have to over-
come several obstacles before then.
Hardin's team will also need to
create policies to prevent the site
frombreakingcopyrightlaws. Legal
issues could arise when professors
use graphs or pictures they don't
own.
The team will also need to devel-
op a cost-effective way to develop
the website. The first five years of
See WEBSITE, Page 8A
JENNIFER KRON/a
LSA freshman Kelli Bosak studies at the Alumni Center yesterday morning dur-
ing Welcome Wednesdays, an event hosted by the Alumni Association.
TODAY'S HI: 33
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