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Thursday, January 24, 2008 mihgnal~o
Ann Arbor, Michigan
michigandaily.com
CLOSE-KNIT FRIENDS
UNIVERSITY TECHNOLOGY
e-mail
system not
meant for
emergencies
Alert took 10 hours from the DPS website. University
residents who lived near the loca-
to reach some, never tion of the homicide - Baits Hous-
es, Bursley Hall and Northwood
reached others Housing- received an e-mail alert
later around 10 a.m. that day.
ELAINE LAFAY Brown then sent a mass e-mail
Daily StaffReporter message Thursday at noon to the
-----entire campus of 72,000 Universi-
Last Thursday, a day after an ty affiliates - a message that took
Ypsilanti man was fatally shot less as many as 10 hours to reach some
than a mile from North Campus recipients. Those who received
with the prime suspect a Univer- message later than others were
sity student, many on campus had left wondering why their e-mails
no clue that anything out of the came so late or left unaware of the
ordinary had taken place. shooting until then.
Police have called off the search With a large database like Uni-
for the student, Engineering versity's, mass e-mails routinely
undergraduate Andrew Myrick, take up to 10 hours to reach all the
ruling the shooting justifiable recipients. One thing reason the
because Myrick acted in self- process takes so long is that Uni-
defense. But the late e-mails could versity administrators must sign
have spelled danger had the inci- off on the crime alerts before they
dent posed an immediate threat to can be sent to the entire campus.
campus security. That process can take hours.
Department of Public Safety Slow technology was the other
spokeswoman Diane Brown sent reason for the delayed alert.
out the first crime alert Thursday Alan Levy, communications
at 1:27 a.m., about four hours after manager for Information Technol-
the homicide occurred. Recipients ogy Central Services, said the Uni-
included members of the media, versity uses a mass e-mail system
department heads and individuals designed for non-emergency mes-
who had signed up to receive alerts See E-MAIL, Page 3A
EAT YOUR HEART OUT
ZACHARY MEISNER/Daily
Emily Glover (left) and Marisa Rodriguez, both School of Public Health graduate students, knitted together yesterday on the second floor of the Michigan Union.
THE STUDENT VOTE
dI ock vote, students select w m?
In event, audience
members forced to
vote on issues, not
name recognition
By JILLIAN BERMAN
Daily StaffReporter
In a mock presidential election
last night, a group of about 20
students elected a Democrat, but
the winner wasn't Barack Obama,
Hillary Clinton or John Edwards
Instead. Candidate B won in a
landslide.
The mock election, sponsored
by the University's chapter of the
NAACP, forced voters to choose
a candidate based their politics
rather than their name recogni-
tion by not including real candi-
dates from the 2008 presidential
race, organizers said.
The candidates were simply
called Candidate A and Candi-
date B. When the event mod-
erator introduced hot-button
issues like same-sex marriage or
immigration, each candidate was
given an opportunity to explain
her stance on the issue based on
the race's real contenders and
their views.
After the debate, students
picked their preferred candidate,
still unaware of the candidate's
name or political party.
When audience members
finally found out which candidate
was which, some were surprised
to learn, for instance, that the
Democrat was the one calling for
a fence on the U.S.-Mexico border
to block illegal immigrants. Like-
wise, the Republican had gone
against the conventional policy
of her party, describing herself
as pro-choice in the abortion
debate.
Ultimately, the candidate pos-
ing as a Democrat won by a large
majority, which came as a sur-
prise to the planners of the event.
LSA freshman Nina Nwachuk-
wu, who posed as the Democratic
candidate and also helped orga-
nize the event, said she didn't
expect to win by such a large
margin.
"Actually I thought it would
be a closer race because we really
didn't differ on a lot of issues," she
said.
LSA freshman Beatrice Hin-
See VOTE, Page 3A
FILE-SHARING ON CAMPUS -
MPAA admits to mistake in report
Group overshot
college student
piracy estimate by
almost 300 percent
By JACOB SMILOVITZ
Daily StaffReporter
The filmindustry's largestinter-
est group admitted yesterday that
it overestimated by almost 300
percent the amount of money the
industry lost to piracy by college
kids - a figure the group had used
to lobby for legislation that would
force colleges to crack down on
file-sharing by their students.
In the 2005 study, the Motion
Picture Association of America
claimed that because of their high
illegal download rate, college
students were responsible for 44
percent of the MPAA's total lost
revenue to piracy. Now, the asso-
ciation has lowered that figure to
15 percent.
The MPAA - the advocacy
group for six major movie studios
that leads the industry's anti-pira-
cy campaign - originally claimed
college students cost the industry
more than $18 billion a year.
MPAA representatives said the
miscalculation was the result of
"human error," the Associated
Press reported. The MPAA rep-
resentatives could not be reached
for comment when contacted yes-
terday.
Although the MPAA contends
that the impact of illegal piracy
by college students is still signifi-
cant, the misreported numbers
might disrupt pending legislation
in Congress.
Because the bill was largely
based on the original numbers
from the MPAA, some lawmak-
ers might remove their endorse-
ment from legislation. The bill
was strongly championed by the
MPAA and RIAA after its intro-
duction.
"It's unfortunate that Congress
has relied on these numbers," said
Jack Bernard, the University's
assistant general counsel, who
handles legal issues involving file-
sharing at the University.
The bill, which is currently
awaiting consideration on the
floor of the House of Representa-
tives, says that each participating
institution must not only make
public the policies and proce-
dures regarding illegal piracy to
their students and employees, but
must develop alternatives to ille-
gal peer-to-peer programs for its
members.
According to the bill, universi-
ties who fail to offer "technology-
based deterrents to prevent such
illegal activity" could potentially
lose federal aid for their students.
Bernard said that Congress
See MPAA, Page 3A
JENNicERKOuN/uaily
Davey De La Cruz competes in the Burrito Bowl at Rio Wraps yesterday. He ate three
burritos faster than four other contestants and will compete again Feb. 1.
ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITYe
Study: 'U' buildings now more efficient
STUDENT GOVERNMENT
LSA-SG looks to add new members
'U' carbon output
has decreased over
last four years
TO READ THE REPORT...
comyffe with mote detailed statistics, go to
www michigandailycom
Than
tives, th
carbon
eral yea
report
earlier
The
vide m
Univert
the first time the University's
By GABE RIVIN energy use, water use, emissions,
For the Daily waste production, mass transit
systems and other environmental
tks to environmental initia- concerns have been compiled into
he University has a smaller one document. It seems to signal
footprint than it did sev- that the University will continue
ars ago, according to a new examining the efficiency of its
released by the University building and promoting conserva-
this month. tion initiatives.
report, which aims to pro- The Annual Environmen-
ore transparency into the tal Report, charts the amount
sity's resource usage, marks See REPORT, Page 3A
UNIVERSITY EMISSIONS
Numbet in thoasands of
pounds of carbon per year
500
400
300
200
100
0 2004 2005 2006 2007
SOURCE: UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
Group aims to fill
up to 50 positions,
increase diversity in
student government
By DANIEL STRAUSS
Daily StaffReporter
In an effort to nearly double
the number of students involved
in LSA Student Government, the
organization will begin holding
interviews for dozens of vacant
positions today.
LSA-SG hopes to attract about
40 to 50 new members and
increase the level of diversity
with the organization, said LSA-
SG Appointments Chair Aaron
Miller.
Currently, about 75 students
participate in LSA-SG.
Openings are available on
most of LSA-SG's nine commit-
tees and for unelected associate
representative positions. Those
representatives must attend
three meetings to join the orga-
nization, Miller said,
The Budget Allocations Com-
mittee and the Honor Council are
the only committees reserved for
elected LSA-SG representatives.
The committees available
include Academic Affairs, Com-
munications, Public Activities,
Student Life and Multicultural
Affairs.
Students interested inapplying
will have to rank their commit-
tee preference and then inter-
view with Miller or Nick Tan,
the assembly's vice chair. Miller
and Tan will then match students
with committees.
Applicants will be notified by
e-mail about their appointments-
Wednesday, Jan. 30.
Miller said LSA-SG wants a
more diverse group of members.
"Our Multicultural Affairs
Committee is really being boost-
ed, reachingout to studentgroups
See GROUP, Page 3A
TODAY'S
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