year ithout th best? The Bside explores the possibility of

having no Globes or Gscars.

The B-Side

i
an Hjl

Ann Arbor,

Thursday, January 10, 2008


michigandaily.com
MICHIGAN PRIMARY
Ballot
options
could
confuse
Uncommited vote could affect
turnout, how other states view
presidential race
By EMILY BARTON
Daily Staff Reporter
Now that the Iowa caucuses and the New Hamp-
shire primary are over, the state of Michigan is next
in line.
And although most top contenders for the Demo-
cratic nomination won't appear on the ballot, that
doesn't mean Democratic voters can't support their
favorite candidates on Tuesday.
The Democratic and Republican National Com-
mittees have stripped Michigan of half its Repub-
lican delegates and all of its Democratic delegates
because the committees don't allow any state other
than Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and
Nevada to schedule their primary elections before
Feb. 5.
As a result, the number of Democrats on the bal-
lot will be sparse and Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.)
will be the only leading candidate on it. Soon after
the announcement that Michigan would lose its
delegates, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and John
Edwards (D-N.C.) removed their names from the
state's ballot, citing commitments they had made to
the national party.
But even if voters write in the names of their
favorite candidates not on the ballot, their votes
won't count. Instead, they'll have to cast an uncom-
mitted vote.
If enough people vote uncommitted, some del-
egates who haven't pledged their support to any
candidate will be sent to the Democratic National
Convention this summer.
Republicans alsohave anuncommitted vote option
See UNCOMMITTED, Page 3A

Aaron Brown, a Washtenaw Community College sophomore, reads a flyer on the Posting Wall last night. The posters were clustered to spell "EMU-'08?".
Students rally around Big House

Thousands join tion," Victorson said. "People at
online groups Michigan are smart enough that
we can work together to figure out
asking for graduation some sort of solution."
University spokeswoman Kelly
at Michigan Stadium Cunningham said this won't be
possible.
University officials announced
By ANDY KROLL Tuesday that the University-wide
and JULIE ROWE commencement ceremony won't be
Daily StaffReporters held at Michigan Stadium because
of ongoing construction. Instead,
LSA senior Eric Victorson is the ceremony, slated for April 26,
hoping against hope. will be held at Eastern Michigan
Deep down, he still believes University's Rynearson Stadium.
there's a way for the 2008 com- Cunningham said the lack of
mencement ceremony to be held at working bathrooms and electricity
Michigan Stadium. would prevent the ceremony from
"I'm not an expert, but I still taking place at the stadium.
believe that there must be some "It's the intensity of that work
way that we can halt construc- during those months that makes it

impossible to stop working, open it
up, then resume construction soon
after commencement," said Cun-
ningham, adding that excavation
and steel structure work could also
make the stadium unsafe.
But some aren't willing to take
no for an answer.
When Victorson heard about the
e-mail, he immediately started a
Facebook.com group called "Mich-
igan's Graduation is meant to be
in the BIG HOUSE." As of 11 p.m.
yesterday, 2,279 Michigan students
had joined the group.
Victorson said he was frustrated
by the timing of the University's
announcement.
"I'm shocked that no one had the
foresight to think that the stadium
reconstruction project would per-

For more on the reaction
to the University's deci-
sion, see Op-Ed, Page SA.
turb the graduation ceremony at
the Big House," Victorson said. "I
think whoever is responsible for
planning this should have known
more than just a few weeks ago."
Individual students sent Uni-
versity President Mary Sue Cole-
man and Provost Theresa Sullivan
about 80 emails and 130 comments
through the Commencement '08
webpage, Cunningham said. Cole-
man and Sullivan plan to respond
to each message individually, she
said.
See REACTION, Page 7A


McKinley plan yields mixed reaction

Encore Records,
Orchid Lane plan to
stay as development
expands
By KELLY FRASER
and SARA LYNNE THELEN
Daily StaffReporters
Most Ann Arbor residents and
retailers agree that the sagging
stretch between Main Street and
State Street should be developed to
give the area a more exciting, down-
town feel. But few agree on how it
should be done.
At the center of this debate is the

McKinley Towne Centre, a mixed-
use development on Liberty Street.
On Monday night, the Ann Arbor
City Councilunanimously approved
expansion plans for McKinley
Towne Centre. The development,
which houses Google's AdWords
division and several other busi-
nesses and retail stores, plans to
replace the vacant National City
Bank building with two stories of
retail space.
The company hopes to begin
construction in April, if construc-
tion permits and a small ownership
issue with the city concerning the
building's lobby are approved, said
Frances Todoro-Hargreaves, assis-
tant director of commercial opera-
See DEVELOPMENT, Page 3A

STUDENT PRNACY RIGHTS
As some schools
'U' stays the same

JENNIFER KRON/Daily
Ypsilanti resident Kyle Mann shops at Encore yesterday. Landlord Ruth Fitzger-
ald refused to sell the store's property when she was approached two years ago.


IMrO

,.E

AAPD chief leaves for top EMU campus safety post

Some schools have
changed policies since
Virginia Tech
shooting incident
By JILLIAN BERMAN
Daily StaffReporter
Since last April's shootings at
Virginia Tech, some colleges have
begun to disclose more information
about students with mental health
issues, a move thatsome say is a vio-
lation of student privacy rights.
AccordingtotheWallStreetJour-
nal, more than half of the nation's
colleges have created administra-
tive teams to analyze information
about students who have exhibited
a history of strange behavior.
But the University isn't one of
those schools.
Linda Green, a director in the
Division of Student Affairs, said the
University saw no reason to change
its policy.
"It works well for both our stu-
dents and for the University com-
munity," Green said. "Our process
and guidelines for managing stu-

dents with mental illness have been
developed over a number of years,
and they are being evaluating con-
tinuously to make sure that they are
still effective."
But at schools with policies dif-
ferent from the University's, coun-
selors have been more open about
releasing information on students
with mental health concerns.
For instance, Cornell Universi-
ty's policy encourages students and
facultyto share information about a
student if they're concerned about
that person's behavior. As a result
of the policy, Cornell officials noti-
fied one student's parents when
the student was living in a Cornell
residence hall but had dropped out
of school.
Jack Bernard, assistant general
counsel at the University of Michi-
gan, said he didn't think Cornell's
intervention violates the Family
Educational Rights and Protection
Act, which bans schools fromreleas-
ing a student's education records.
"If you notice someone acting in a
peculiarway, somethingthatmakes
you concerned for their well being,
you can call the police, you can call
their parents," Bernard said.
See PRIVACY, Page 7A

After scandals, fines,
O'Dell seeks to keep
Eastern Michigan
crime in check
By JOE STAPLETON
Daily StaffReporter
In a move toward recovery,
Eastern Michigan University has
hired Greg O'Dell, deputy chief of
the Ann Arbor Police Department,
to head its campus police depart-

ment.
O'Dell replaces former Public
Safety Director Cindy Hall, who
was forced to retire after the uni-
versity came under fire for tell-
ing the campus community there
was no evidence of foul play in the
death of student Laura Dickinson
in December of 2006.
Campus police originally called
her death an accident after she was
found deadonher dormroom floor.
The case is now being investigated
as a murder.
EMU President John Fallon and
Jim Vick, vice president for student

affairs, were also ousted as a result
of the scandal.
O'Dell will start his new job Feb.
7.
"I look forward to the challenge
of moving the Department of Pub-
lic Safety forward with the ulti-
mate goal of becoming one of the
best police and safety departments
in the country," O'Dell said in a
written statement.
O'Dell, an Eastern Michigan
alum, said being open with the
campus community was his main
goal.
"We need to understand, and

fully comply with the Clery laws.
Absolutely," he said at an intro-
ductory press conference yester-
day. "The way to be successful as a
department is to be open with citi-
zens and students."
The Department of Education
fined the university $357,500 for
violating 13 counts of the Jeanne
Clery Disclosure of Campus Secu-
rity Policy and Campus Crime
Statistics Act during the Dickin-
son incident. The act states that a
college must provide "timely and
annual information about campus
See O'DELL, Page 7A


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