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Tuesday, March 18,2008
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PUSHING LENIENT DRUG POLICY
Speaking in an Angell Hall auditorium, Ethan Nadelmann of the Drug Policy Alliance explained why he thought the war on drugs in the U.S. should end. In his lecture, sponsored by Students-'
for Sensible Drug Policy, he focused on how current drug policy leads to higher rates of addiction and unnecessary incarceration. FOR MORE ON THE LECTURE, SEE MICHIGANDAILY.COM
MSA ELECT IONS
TH RUNNINGMFSATE S
STUDEN-ATHLETE ACADEMICS
Coleman:
e did
nothing
wrong
Report questioning use of
independent study courses drives
infighting among professors
By JACOB SMILOVITZ
Daily StaffReporter
In an interview yesterday, University President
Mary Sue Coleman said she was "disappointed" with
a story in a local newspaper that said University offi-
cials steered hundreds of student-athletes toward tak-
ing independent study courses taught by Psychology
Prof. John Hagen.
The story, which was published in the Sunday's edi-
tion of The Ann Arbor News, suggested that Hagen's
classes weren't rigorously graded and that little work
was required in them.
"I'm disappointed in the story because I think it's
pretty clear that the University's been very proactive,"
Coleman said. "If anything comes to our attention, of
course, we always investigate it."
The report found that of the 294 independent study
courses Hagen taught between fall 2004 and fall
2007, 251 were with student-athletes. The News also
reported that student-athletes averaged higher GPAs
in Hagen-taught courses than in other classes. The
article reported that 21 student-athletes averaged a
3.63 GPA in 32 of Hagen's courses- 25 of which were
independent study classes, while the same student-
athletes carried just a 2.57 GPA in other courses.
Coleman said she stoodby Hagen despite the story's
suggestions, citingtwoUniversityinvestigations of his
classes that found no wrongdoing.
"When the Provost's office was alerted that The
Ann Arbor News had an interest in Professor Hagen,
there was another investigation by the LSA and by
the Executive Committee of the department," Cole-
man said. "In both cases, it was that he followed all
the rules and everything was fine. And I believe that.
I think that he's a distinguished professor and I don't
think there's any evidence that he's done anything
wrong."
When asked whether she had any concerns about
Hagen's independent study courses, Coleman said she
didn't.
The Ann Arbor News story has also spurred discus-
sion and infighting within the Department of Psychol-
See ATHLETES, Page 3
Lopez hopes to bring
change to assembly
Sohoni aims to move
beyond MAP scandals
ByLAYLAASLANI
Daily StaffReporter
One year after running unsuc-
cessfully for the Michigan Student
Assembly presidency, LSA junior
Maricruz Lopez
is back in the
race - this time
as the Defend
Affirmative
Action Party's
vice presidential
candidate.
Lopez and LOPEZ
Rackhamstudent
Kate Stenvig,
the party's presidential candidate,
hope to take charge of the assembly,
which has been mired in scandal for
the last year under the control of the
Michigan Action Party.
Although MAP convincingly
defeated DAAP's candidates last
year, winning about 75 percent of the
vote, Lopez isn't ready to give up.
She said a line from one of her
favorite movies, "The Salt of the
Earth" - a film about prejudice
toward Mexican-American work-
ers in the 1950s - best describes her
attitude toward a second run.
"I don't want to go down fight-
ing," Lopez said. "I want to win. It's
one of my favorite quotes because it
just kind of expresses the way I feel
about fighting racism and discrimi-
nation in general."
Lopez, co-chair of the University's
See LOPEZ, Page 3
The
Arvind,
Party's
in this
Assemb
tions, is
ing him
the co:
that
MSA la
ter ant
its repu
campus
At fir
there
connect
former
By ANDY KROLL - who resigned in December after it
Daily NewsuEditor was revealed that he created a Face-
book group mocking an MSA repre-
biggest challenge facing sentative and referencing his mild
Sohoni, the Michigan Action form of autism.
vice presidential candidate Sohoni belongs to the same party
week's Michigan Student that put Yost into office during last
'ly elec- year's MSA winter elections. And,
separat- it was Yost who appointed Sohoni
iself from in April to the position of student
ntroversy general counsel on MSA's executive
marred board.
Lst semes- with a hint of unease in his voice,
I stained Sohoni said he understands how
tation on students could make the connec-
SOHONI tion between him and the events
st glance, that took place in MSA last semes-
are clear ter when filling out their ballots this
tions between Sohoni and week.
MSA President Zack Yost
See SOHONI, Page 8
SUSTAINABILITY ON CAMPUS
MSA asks 'U' to boost
usage of green energy
City extends street vendor permits
Student commission
outlines short-term
and long-term goals
By ELAINE LAFAY
Daily StaffReporter
According to members of the
Michigan Student Assembly's Envi-
ronmental Issues Commission, it's
time for the University to hop on the
renewable energy bandwagon.
The commission, which has
spent much of the last year discuss-
ing environmental initiatives with.
University administrators, submit-
ted last week a proposal with short-,
medium- and long-term goals for
the University's use of renewable
energy sources.
Less than 1 percent of the Univer-
sity's energy currently comes from
renewable sources.
The proposal asks that the Uni-
versity immediately begin to pur-
chase about 3 percent of its current
energy load in wind power. It asks
that the University buy 30 percent
of its power from a renewable ener-
gy source by 2015 and 100 percent
of it in the long-term, which wasn't
defined any more specifically.
Rich Robben, the University's
executive director of plant opera-
tions, said it would be possible to
achieve the short-term goal this
year. He said the University would
likely purchase Renewable Energy
Certificates instead, meaning the
University would pay for cleaner
energy to be used elsewhere in the
state.
Robben said he couldn't speculate
on the University's future renewable
energy use. The University admin-
istration doesn't want to agree to a
long-term contract with an energy
company because of the industry's
volatile nature, he said.
"The industry is changing so dra-
matically right now that we could
potentially go out and buy power
and pay a real premium now and in
a couple of years, it may not cost as
much," Robben said. "But see, we'll
be in a contract."
LSA senior Chris Detjen, who
chaired the commission when it
began its talks with the University,
See ENERGY, Page 7
Long-dormant ban
on sidewalk carts
would have taken
effect March 31
By SARA LYNNE THELEN
Daily StaffReporter
The Ann Arbor City Council
voted yesterday to let the city's
street food vendors stay on side-
walks for another three months.
During its twice-monthly
meeting last night, the City
Council voted unanimously to
extend the vendors' permits
for 90 days while city officials
revise a previously unenforced
ordinance that prohibits vehi-
cles from being parked on public
sidewalks.
Michigan law defines vehicles
as any device that can be pulled
onto a highway.
Because their carts have
wheels and are large enough, 12
city vendors could have been put
out of business by the 1947 ordi-
nance.
The part of the ordinance
banning the carts will not be
enforced during the extension,
but vendors will be required to
move their carts from the side-
walks when not in use.
Three vendors spoke during
the meeting's public comments
period to oppose the-revival of
the ordinance, which has been
dormant for sixty years.
The ordinance would have
been enforced starting March
31.
Councilmember StephenKun-
selman (D-Ward 3), who initiat-
ed the ordinance's enforcement,
said at the meeting that he want-
ed to enforce the code because of
carts being abandoned at night.
"I am very supportive of side-
walk vendors," he said. "I just
want to move forward."
Sebastian Escalada, the owner
of Hot Dogs on the Run, a stand
across from Ulrich's that has not
been towed all year, was one of
the vendors that aggravated
Kunselman.
Escalada put a petition called
"Save the Dog House" on the
counter of his stand across from
Ulrich's on South University
Avenue Wednesday. It has accu-
mulated 135 signatures since
See VENDORS, Page 8
MAX COLLINS/Daily
Ann Arbor Mayor John Hieftje at a City Council meeting at City Hall yesterday. He
said he supports reworking an ordinance that bans sidewalk food vendors.
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