Daily Arts' annual fashion section
The B-Side
1Iic 1Nid n igariBly
Ann Arb or, vMicnigan
Thursday, March 27,2008
michigandaily.com
MARIJUANA RALL
Hash Bash
might not
be able to
secure Diag
Organizers say space is taken,
but'U' won't say who reserved it
By CHARLES GREGG-GEIST
Daily Staff Reporter
For36years, the Diaghas playedhostto amassgath-
ering of marijuana enthusiasts in early April. They've
turned out in droves through sun, rain and last year,
snow. But this year, the organizers of the annual Hash
Bash rally fear the University may put more of a damp-
er on their event than precipitation has in the past.
Twoweeks ago,LSAsophomoreAndrewKent, pres-
ident of the University's chapter of the National Orga-
nization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, went into
the Office of Student Activities and Leadership with
plans to reserve the Diag for Saturday, April 5, Hash
Bash's scheduled date. He was told another group had
already booked the entire space for that date.
"I asked what other dates were available in April,
and they said none," Kent said.
Diag Administrator Jaden Felix said the space
will be unavailable for much of the month because of
Spring Commencement, which will be held in the Diag
this year.
Adam Brook, who heads the Wayne County chapter
of NORML, said rescheduling the event for a later date
wouldn't be satisfactory, because Hash Bash has tradi-
tionally fallen on the first Saturday in April.
Asked whether Hash Bash could be moved to anoth-
er weekend, Brook said, "What, change Christmas?
No,you can't do that."
Richard Birkett, a member of Michigan NORML
who has advised student groups applying for permits
in the past, said Hash Bash has experienced schedul-
ing conflicts before. But he said the event's organiz-
ers have always been able to negotiate with the other
group planning an event for that day. The problem
this year, he said, is a University privacy policy that
forbids Diag administrators from disclosing which
groups have registered for space on the Diag at a cer-
See HASH BASH, Page 3A
MICHIGAN STUDENT ASSEMBLY
M\SAaims
to reverse,
low voter
turnout
Leaders say lack of competing
parties could be reason for decline
in student participation
By JILLIAN BERMAN
Daily StaffReporter
Though voters have been turning out in record
numbers across the country for this year's presidential
primary contests, it's clear that University students
weren't nearly as excited about last week's Michigan
Student Assembly elections.
Just 2,426 students voted in the MSA president and
vice presidentrace - 4,489 fewer than in 2006. In 2003,
nearly 6,000 more students voted than did this year.
MSA officials attributed the dismal turnout to alack
of party competition, a lack of publicity and a recent
series of scandals within MSA.
Rackham student Michael Benson, who heads MSA's
Rules and Elections Committee, said the absence of a
formidable second party in this year's election contrib-
uted to low turnout. The Michigan Action Party's can-
didates won about three times more votes than their
opponents from the Defend Affirmative Action Party.
The 2006 election, in contrast, pitted Students 4
Michigan and the Michigan Progressive Party against
each other in a competitive campaign that saw Stu-
dents 4 Michigan win the presidency by a'margin of
only 300 votes. Benson said that was the why almost
8,000 students voted that year.
"I think that just like with the U.S. elections, the
more competition people have, the more engaged peo-
ple will be," he said.
Ross School of Business junior Arvind Sohoni, the
newly elected vice president of MSA, agreed.
"If we had another equally-sized party that was
See ELECTIONS, Page 3A
Ten-year-old Caleb Lee steers a remote-controlled car on Abbott Road. The car was built by the Ypsilanti-Ann Arbor
Robotics Club. The club, which co-founders Paul Haaz and Erik Kauppi call "Geeks Night Out," meets weekly and is open
to both children and adults.
At entrepreneurship summit, 'U'
alum urges students to take chances
The University has joined an initiative aiming to cut the amount of power used by computers in half by 2010.
To save power, 'U' joins
'green Computing ini iative
Neagle, now working
for Google, calls for
leadership on campus
By IVY WEI
Daily StaffReporter
Google employee Matthew Nea-
gle took a small tea bag from his
pocket, claiming it was a rocket.
Although one might imagine
that building a rocket would take
a team of engineers, extensive
planning and an intricate under-
standing of rocket science, Neagle
needed none of these things.
With a couple of quick folds
and a flick of his lighter, the tea
bag shot up from the table.
Neagle's intent was to demon-
strate the entrepreneurial value
of "the capacity to believe in
something beyond what you can
see or imagine."
Neagle, a 29-year-old Univer-
sity alum, led a hands-on lecture
with about 100 students yester-
day in the Stamps Auditorium
of the Walgreen Drama Center.
He stressed the importance of
taking leadership positions in
extracurricular activities. His
presentation was sponsored by
the Epeians Engineering Leader-
ship Honor Society.
In his address, Neagle gave
three keys to success: strong
vision, genuine interest and a
solid network. He urged students
to take risks.
"Somewhere in your world,
there's a choice," he told the
crowd. "There is risk involved, and
you have to take that chance, that
Michael Neagle, a University alum and Google employee spoke yesterday at the
Walgreen Drama Center, urging students to take leadership roles. "There is risk
involved," he said, "and you have to take that chance, that choice."
Powering campus
computers costs 'U'
$5-6 million per year
By ELAINE LAFAY
Daily StaffReporter
Energy-efficient computing
sounds like an oxymoron.
Computers emit enough carbon
into the atmosphere each year to
make environmentalists' hair curl,
and it's clear that computers aren't
going anywhere anytime soon.
But according to the Climate
Savers Computing Initiative, ener-
gy-efficient computing can be done,
and the group is pushing for 2010.
The national initiative kicked
off at Palmer Commons earlier this
week.
Joan Witte, a spokeswoman for
Michigan Administrative Informa-
tion Services, which oversees the
University's information technol-
ogy systems, said today's event is
meant to encourage University fac-
ulty and students to change their
computing habits to save energy.
"How can we get individuals
to turn off their computers?" she
asked rhetorically. "How can we
get them to turn off their print-
ers, not print so much paper, print
double-sided or use power-man-
agement tools that come on their
PC's to reduce the energy they con-
sume?"
The University joined the pro-
gram as one of two academic affili-
ates last year after Larry Page,
Google co-founder and University
alum, asked University President
Mary Sue Coleman to join the proj-
ect.
CSCI spokeswoman Barbara
Grimes said the goal of the initia-
tive is to cut the amount of power
used by computers in half by 2010.
Grimes said the goal of "green"
computing is twofold - to conserve
energy and develop more energy-
efficient computers.
John King, co-sponsor of the ini-
See COMPUTING, Page 7A
choice. Don't spend time chasing
after what someone else has cre-
ated. Create it for yourself."
Neagle spent eight years fill-
ing his resume before taking a
job with Google about two years
ago. He said was rewarded for
taking personal risks to pursue
a job with the web giant. He said
he was attracted to the company
for its innovative business model,
saying innovation is a key compo-
nent to success.
The end of Neagle's talk
focused on networking. He asked
audience members to mingle, net-
work and meet as many people as
possible.
Engineering junior Ashwin
Lalendran, co-founder of the
student entrepreneurship group
MPowered and one of several
students to speak at the event,
said he was already fulfilling
Neagle's request, describing
MPowered's members as "mis-
sionaries spreading the religion
of entrepreneurship to campus."
Other students seemed to enjoy
the event. Engineeringsophomore
Akshay Patel was one of them.
"I thought the lecture was
fresh, interesting and lively," he
said.
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