BUCKEYES BOUNCED STAMPFL: BETTER THAN BEFORE Men's hoops beats OSU for third straight victory Why graduation should be on the Diag next year, too SportsMonday Opinion, Page 4A 'Ile 1id~gan D3atIV N I '1 )Ii'( El(. mrin muov unga Monday, February 18, 2008 michigandaily.com CENTER: FILE PHOTO; LEFT AND RIGHT: JEREMYTCHO/Da The City of Ann Arbor began cracking down on trash violations in 2002. Over the past three years, the number of citations has more than quadrupled as a result. Near campus, a dirty war over garbage As city cracks down on lawn trash, some say Ann Arborites use policy to target students 'U' prof loses bid for Czech presidency Svejnar will return to Ann Arbor, but might consider another run in home country By JULIE ROWE Daily StaffReporter Although Ross School of Business Prof. Jan Svejnar was narrowly defeated by incumbent Vaclav Klaus for the presidency of the Czech Republic last Friday, Sve- jnar said he considers his showinga "major success." Initially the election's underdog, Svejnar gained support from a significant number of parliament emembers with varied pclitical affiliations. Friday's election marked the Czech parliament's second attempt to choose a presi- dent. In the first election, held Feb. 8 and 9, neither candidate had the 140 votes necessary to hold a majority. During that election, Klaus received 139 votes and Sve- jnar received 113. The second time around, two Svejnar supporters changed their SVEJNAR allegiances, leavingKlaus with 141 votes to Svejnar's 111. Many Czech officials, including Svejnar, said they believe the two parliament members received a "sig- nificant monetary payoff" to support the incumbent. Svejnar said part of the reason he ran was to com- bat rampant bribery in the Czech government. "There was an incredible amount of pressure tac- tics and corruption," Svejnar said. "What we have done is, I think, contributed in a major way to the progress of the young democracy that exists here." After he finishes his sabbatical, Svejnar plans to return to his position at the University. In addition to his post at the Business school, Svejnar is also the director ofthe International Policy Center in the Ford School of Public Policy and an Economics professor in LSA. Klaus'victorywas not unexpected, but Svejnar held widespread support witl4 citizens and legislators. Svejnar beganhis run as the candidate of the Green Party, which accounts for just 2 percent of the par- liament. As he campaigned, though, Svejnar slowly gained the support of most of the Czech Republic's many political parties, including the Social Demo- cratic Party, which nominated him for president. The majority party - the right-wing Civic Demo- cratic Party - which controls 45 percent of parlia- ment, supported Klaus. See ELECTION, Page 3A By SARA LYNNE THELEN yard slap Daily StaffReporter the city. "We a Dan Kovel, an LSA senior who were gon lives on East University Avenue, Kovel' was tired of getting trash violations who fee] from the city. studentI The LSA senior and his house- violation mates, who routinely hosted tail- Ann P gates outside their house before recently football games last season, decided campus it wasn't worth it to party outside Vaughn the house before the Ohio State - "prob game. They worried that doing it number would draw another fine. receives, Now, the housemates laugh, But man recalling the result of that experi- that, in s ment. They came home from the drawn f game to find their nearly-empty spotless. A FINED MESS WE'RE IN 300 200 100 2004 2005 2006 2007 YEAR SOURCE: ANN ARBOR POLICE DEPARTMENT pped with a $750 fine from lmost did it just to prove we na get one," Kovel said. is just one of many students Is the city unfairly targets housing when giving trash IS. Arbor Mayor John Hieftje called specific streets on - East University Avenue, Street and State Street lem" areas because of the of complaints the city about trash on those blocks. ty student residents claim ome cases, their yards have ines even when they were "They're going out of the to try to screw us over," sa: senior Nathan Wicker, one o el's housemates. City records show that th, ber of citations issued has inc each year since 2004, when 6 tions were issued. In 2007, 26 tions were given. During each of those yea number of violations was 1 during football season. The n of citations nearly doubled, the fall months between 20 2007. The city cracked down ot in 2002, adopting a more st set of codes and violations cal Clean Communities program ir way Hieftje said he developed the id LSA stricter codes when he got tired of f Kov- taking walks on Sunday mornings to seeyards where "you couldn't e num- even see the ground." He said he reased intended to improve the living envi- i2 cita- ronment for students. i6 cita- "My motivation was to help the residents of these neighborhoods .rs, the not have to live with these kind of highest conditions," he said. umber The penalties for yard trash are during $100 or more for the first ticket, 06 and between $250 and $500 forthe sec- ond and up to $1,000 for each addi- n trash tional violation within the same. ringent two-year period. The exact amount led the of each ticket is left to the discretion See TRASH, Page SA THE COST OF TRASH How much Ann Arbor trash violations cost First offense: $100+ Second offense: $250-500 Additionaloffenses: $1000 maximum "We just don't feel that young boys can maintain a historic house." - Ann Arbor resident Cynthia Nixon STUDENT CHIlD CARE THE INTERNATIONAL UNVERSITY PEACEFUL PROTEST Policy gives more leave to Coleman to use Africa trip to grad students with babies develop more joint programs Rackham seeks to relieve twin burdens of classes, kids By BETH WITTENSTEIN Daily Staff Reporter In an effort to help graduate students with children balance the demands of schoolwork and rais- ing a child, the Rackham Graduate School has passed a policy granting time off to new parents. The Graduate Student Paren- tal Accommodation Policy, open to both male and female students, is open to those who are adopt- ing children under the age of six or those expecting the birth of a child. It gives graduate students a six-week leave period with light- ened deadlines and expectations so new parents can take more time to be with their children. Darlene Ray-Johnson, director of Graduate Student Affairs, said the policy was originally drafted a year ago and officiallytookeffectat the end of January. Johnson said she spoke with focus groups consisting of students and program staff to understand student and staff concerns about balancing education and parent- ing. Four focus groups agreed that Rackhamneeded a universal policy to accommodate graduate student parents. Johnson said they felt six weeks would give parents enough time to adjust to raising a new child while minimizing the interruption to class work. To be eligible, parents must use the six-week leave immediately fol- lowing their child's birth or adop- tion. Rackham student Annie Hesp, whose first child is due nextmonth, said in an e-mail interview that the new policy would be helpful. "For me, this policy provides peace of mind," she said. "Simply by having a written policy, it means that I know what kind of support See POLICY, Page 3A Two-week visit will mirror U president's 2005 trip to China By CHARLES GREGG-GEIST Daily StaffReporter While many University stu- dents plan to head home or fly to the beach for spring break, which starts Friday, University President Mary Sue Coleman will travel to Ghana and South Africa to devel- op joint programs between the University of Michigan and Afri- can institutions. Gary Krenz, Coleman's spe- cial counsel, said Coleman plans to meet with the president of Ghana, the American ambassador to Ghana, the king of the Ghana- ian Asante Tribe, and top officials at eight universities in Ghana and South Africa during her two-week stay. She will be accompanied by Krenz and a delegation of 12 Uni- versity professors and administra- tors on the trip. The trip is being funded almost entirely through undesignated private donations made to the University of Michigan's general fund, Krenz said. The delegation has four main goals: to improve health care systems following the World Health Organization's guide- lines, increase the availability of health-related resources through the Internet, strengthen faculty expertise at African Universities and study how African institutions preserve local heritage. Coleman will deliver three lectures during the triyS. Ghana and South Africa were selected for the visit because they are the two South African coun- tries where the University's pres- ence is the greatest, Krenz said. Coleman plans to meet with students studying in the Univer- sity of Michigan's study abroad program at the University of Cape Town during her visit and renew the contract with the school, Krenz said. She will also award See TRIP, Page 3A I mW W CHANEL VON HABSBURG-LOTHRINGEN/Daily A few minutes aftera rally against the war in Iraq concluded at the center of campus Friday, a protester rests her sign on the bricks in the center of the Diag. TODAY'S WEATHER H I: 32 GOT A NEWS TIP? LO: 14 Call 734-763-24s9 or e-mail news@michigandaily.com and letus know. ON THE DAILY RLOGS Men's hoops prospect logs triple-double MICHIGANDAILY.COM/THEGAME INDEX NEWS...............................2A CROSSWORD...............6A Vol.CXVI i,No.99 OPINION...........................4A CLASSIFIEDS ................ 6A 92008TheMichiganDaily ARTS.. . . . . 5A SPORTSMONDAY.................1B michgaeduily cue