4
RETURN TO THE TOP
Hockey team narrowly misses sweep of top-ranked Miami (Ohio)
SportsMonday
Nc 1Bidigan Daily
IT
)F EDITORIAL FREEDOM
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Monday, February 11, 2008
michigandaily.com
TOP CHEF TURNS ON THE HEAT AT HILLEL
SPRING COMMENCEMENT
Graduation
will be held
on the Diag
66 percent of those BACKUP PLANS
surveyed chose Diag 3,OO2graduating studentsvoted torthe Diag
over Elbel Field
CHRIS HERRING
and ANDYKROLL
Daily News Editors
After a month-long process that included
online surveys, student forums and failed
protests, all in reaction to the announce-
ment that spring commencement wouldn't
be held at the Big House, University officials
announced Friday that April's graduation
ceremony will be held on the Diag.
In an e-mail sent to graduating students,
University Provost Teresa Sullivan and
E. Royster Harper, the University's vice
president for student affairs, said Univer-
sity President Mary Sue Coleman and Uni-
versity executive officers agreed;to hold
the ceremony on the Diag after the venue
received 66 percent of the 3,002 votes cast
in an online survey.
The decision came almost one month
after University officials announced that
SOURCE: UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGN'
the ceremony would take place at Eastern
Michigan University's Rynearson Stadium
rather than Michigan Stadium because of
ongoing construction in the Big House.
Following the original announcement,
angry callse-mails and letters from students
and alumni pressured the University to
reconsider its decision to move the ceremony
off campus.
In response, University officials surveyed
graduates on arange of issues related to com-
mencement, including whether they would
prefer to hold the event on campus and
See DIAG, Page 3A
CZECH PRESIDENTIAL RACE
'U' prof.still in hunt
for Czech presidency
After three rounds, CZECH PRESIDENTIAL
deputies still haven't ELECTION RESULTS
reached a majority vote Through three rounds of voting
Ilan Hall, winner of Bravo's Top Chef, competed against Hillel's own Chef Emil insa special competition yesterday. The proceeds of the event will help
fund Hillel's upcoming alternative spring break trips to Nicaragua, Rio de Janeiro and New Orleans.
TEACH FO R AMERICA
'U' leads nation in program applicants
Seniors on pace to break
application record for
teaching program at
underprivileged schools
By JOE STAPLETON
DailyStaffReporter
Teaching underprivileged students in
impoverished areas of the country may
seem like a thankless job to some, but Uni-
versity students have turned out in record
numbers this year with hopes of joining
the increasingly popular Teach For Amer-
ica program.
With the program's final application
deadline Friday, about 300 applications
have been submitted to join the program
next year, Teach For America representa-
tives said.
In addition, more than 640 applications
for the program have been started at the
University, between undergraduate and
graduate students. That's the most of any
college in the country, ahead of the Uni-
versityofCaliforniaatBerkeley,whichhas
produced about 400.
The University has consistently been
the leader in applicants for Teach For
America. But this year, the number of
applicants is on track to make history.
"The University is on pace to have more
students join Teach For America than any
school ever," said LSA senior Will Fogel,
a campus campaign coordinator for the
organization. "Everybody has their own
theory as to why the numbers are way up
this year."
Teach For America, one of the largest
nonprofits in the country, places college
graduates in underprivileged and under-
funded schools throughout the country to
work for two years asa teacher.
According to the organization's web-
site, half of the students growing up in
low-income communities will not gradu-
ate from high school by the time they are
18, and of the half that do graduate, just
one in1 will graduate from college.
So far, Teach For America has accepted
more than 50 applicants. Fogel said that
only five have declined their offer.
LSA senior Elizabeth Mann, who plans
See PROGRAM, Page 7A
By JULIE ROWE
Daily Staff Reporter
After six hours of intense debate, three
rounds ofvoting and the hospitalization of
two deputies, the parliament of the Czech
Republic is no closer to
choosing the country's
next president.
Incumbent presi-
dent Vaclav Klaus is
challenged by Ross
School of Business
Prof. Jan Svejnar, who
received U.S. citizen-
ship after fleeing his SVEJNAR
native Czechoslovakia
while the country was a communist state.
The election should have been decided
after three rounds of voting by the parlia-
ment on Friday. But six hours of debate
See ELECTION, Page 7A
1ST ROUND ON FEBRUARY 8, 2008
Ta win, a candidateoneeds a majnrityvoe from the
Chamber of Deputies(101votes) and the Senate
(41 vales).
KLAUS:139 SVEJNAR: 138
2ND ROUNDON FEBRUARY8,2008
To win, a candidate needs a majority from present
Deputies and present Senators.
HOUSE OF DEPUTIES:
KLAUS: 94 SVEJNAR: 104
SENATE:
KLAUS: 48 SVEJNAR: 31
3RD ROUND ON FEBRUARY 9,2008
To win inthe final round, a candidate needs a
majority from a joint vote of the House and Senate.
Of the 281 parliament members, 278 voted.
KLAUS: 139 SVEJNAR: 113
SOURCE: CZECH PRESS AGENCY
WASHTENAW WIRELESS
Cash shortfall slows down coverage
County's wireless
plan could be 18
months away
By MATT GALVAN
For the Daily
Because of funding shortfalls,
the completion of a project that
would blanket all of Washtenaw
County with free wireless Inter-
net service remains at least a year
away.
Washtenaw Wireless, a pri-
vately funded initiative to estab-
lish outdoor wireless access for
the entire county, was original-
ly supposed to be complete by
December 2007, but the project
fell behind schedule after several
investors backed out.
Dan Skratek, Wireless Washt-
enaw project manager for 20/20
Communications, the company
behind the project, said he's con-
fident the project will soon have
enough financial support to move
forward. He said he expects the
project to be complete in 16 to 18
months.
Originally estimated to cost
$26 million, the project's cost has
been reduced to $9 or $10 million,
Skratek said. Skratek attributed
the savings to improvements in
technology since the planning
stages of the project.
While many cities, including
Ann Arbor, have supported the
project by allowing 20/20 Com-
munications to mount equip-
ment on street signs and other
public structures, no public or
taxpayer money is being used
to the fund the project. That's
one reason the project has hit a
snag..
"Private investors have been
very interested, but they have
been scared off by the skittish
economy," Skratek said.
See WIRELESS, Page 3A
Lecturer critiques racial gap in health care
Wayne State prof.
says iniquities stem
from past failures
By SARA LYNNE THELEN
DailyStaffReporter
The lives of 83,500 black people
could be saved each year if the
racial health care gap were nar-
rowed, a Wayne State professor
said in a lecture yesterday.
Willie Underwood, a Wayne
State University professor of urol-
ogy, argued in a presentation that JEREMY CHO/Daily
the disadvantages blacks face in Willie Underwood, a professor of urology at Wayne State University, spoke on the
health care can be attributed to the racial disparities in health care in the Wedge Room of West Quad yesterday. He
See LECTURE, Page 3A was invited by Alpha Kappa Alpha, a campus sorority.
TODAY'S
WEATHER
H I:14 GOT A NEWS TIP?
LO: 11 Call 734-763-2459 or e-mail
news@michigandaily.com and letus know.
ON T HE DAIY ILOGSE
Is the U.S. scared of its own shadow?
MICHIGANDAILY.COM/THEPODIUM
INDEX NEWS................2A CROSSWORD.....................6A
Vol.CXVIII,No.94 OPINION...........................4A CLASSIFIEDS .............. 6A
micHTheMichiganailp ARTS............................ A SPORTSMONDAY. B
,~ . -..i r .: f 5