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Ann Arbor, Michigan

Friday, September 5, 2008

michigandailycom

YOUNG REPUBLICANS
Diversity
lacking on
floor of RNC

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2,380 delegates They say they're being held
back by the Republican establish-
convention, 36 ment.
Zachary Laney, a high school
were black student from Pensacola, Fla., who
attended the RNC with the Junior
By ANDY KROLL State of America organization,
DailyNewsEditor said he'd like to serve as a del-
egate on the convention floor, and
PAUL, Minn. - When the thinks he could do as good a job
'as turned to those on the as the Republican Party elders.
ntionfloorduringlastnight's "The reality of it is actually the
hes from Republicans like younger Republicans are more
Giuliani, Mitt Romney and active and we're more informed
residential candidate Sarah than the senior ones," said Laney.
they showed an aging con- "But it's hard, you know. There's a
n floor awash in white. senior kind of buddy group going
ch of the discussion during on with all the delegates."
ceek's Republican National Walking with Laney was Rich-
ntion has centered on ways ard Corn, also a high school stu-
ake the Republican Party dent attending the convention
inclusive and diverse. But with the JSA.
it came to the audience on Corn said the GOP's lack of
invention floor here in the youth representation was a prob-
Tnergy Center, the GOP ste- lem for the Party, and said the
pe of being old and the white homegeneity of those on the con-
rue. vention floor was a manifestation
endees not fitting this of that.
ption were few and far A resident of Elko, Nev., Corn
en.For apartyinthe minor- decried the lack of trust between
the House and Senate and old and young party members.
the possibility of a Demo- "It's difficult for the younger
White House, the new mes- people to get elected as a del-
f inclusion so far appears to egate," Corn said. "I mean, When
pty rhetoric. you're at the county and state
re's certainly no shortage party level people look at you and
erness among young Repub- say, 'He's not experienced. We
to get out on the floor and don't know which way he's going
that their party's members to vote. .. We can't trust him to
all balding and advanced represent us because we know we
See RNC, Page 7A

CLIF REE
University President Mary Sue Coleman talks with RC junior Andrea Veltri during an open house held at the President's House yesterday afternoon. Coleman app
Amethyst Initiative, a petition to lower the drinking age to18. So far, 129 college presidents and chancellors have sign the petition.
Coleman Keep driniking age

As college leaders call
for change, University
president backs law
By JACOB SMILOVITZ
Daily StaffReporter
In an interview yesterday, Uni-
versity President Mary Sue Cole-
man explained for the firsttime her
decision not to join the Amethyst
Initiative, a petition signed by 129
college and university presidents to
start a new debate about lowering

the national drinking age from 21
to 18.
Coleman said the group's orga-
nizers contacted her when the ini-
tiative was first created and it was
an "easy" decision not to sign it.
"I certainly respect people who
want to stimulate a discussion and
I think that's what the Amethyst
Initiative was all about," Coleman
said. "What I disagree with is the
notion that lowering the drinking
age is going to somehow alleviate
the problem."
In 1984, Congress passed the
National Minimum Drinking Age

Act, which cut federal highway
appropriations by 10 percent to
states with drinking ages under.
21. All.5O states followed the act,
mainly targetedat reducing drunk
driving deaths.
With the act up for renewal next
year, many University leaders have
come forward asking lawmakers to
rethink the nation's alcohol laws.
Presidents from colleges includ-
ing Duke University, Dartmouth
College, Ohio State University and
Syracuse University added their
names to the petition, which says it
aims to curb the "culture of danger-

ous, clandestine 'binge-drinking."'
Though Coleman said she won't
consider signing it in the future,
she agrees with their characteriza-
tion of the problem.
"This whole issue of binge
drinking, particularly the kind of
destructive, frequent binging on
alcohol, is a big issue, and it's a big
problem on college campuses," she
said. "And it's one that I certainly
think deserves a lot of discussion, a
lot of attention about trying to find
solutions."
During Coleman's tenure as
See COLEMAN, Page 7A

NEAR-CAMPUS CRIME
Police arrest suspect in
attempted jogger abductions

Ann Arbor police
officer recognized
man from past arrest
- By SARA LYNNE THELEN
Daily StaffReporter
After a three-day hunt for a man who
tried to abduct two females near campus
Sunday night, Ann Arbor Police arrested
a suspect at his home Wednesday after-
The suspect, a 40-year-old Ann

Arbor man, is being held at the Washt-
enaw County Courthouse awaiting
arraignment on two counts of kidnap-
ping and two counts of assault with
attempt to commit criminal sexual
conduct. His name has not yet been
released.
"I can't even begin to tell you how hard
the officers and the detectives worked
- for all intents and purposes, we were
working non-stop, since the incident
occurred," said Ann Arbor Police Lieu-
tenant Michael Logghe. "Virtually all
the resources we had at our disposal, we
used."

At about 8:30 p.m. Sunday, a man
pulled the first woman, a 20-year-old
University student, into the bushes as she
jogged along Packard Street near Inde-
pendence Boulevard.
She broke free and ran away.
About an hour later, a man drove
alongside a 16-year-old female, jumped
out of his vehicle and struck her several
times before pulling her into his van.
The girl escaped, jumping from the
moving van.
Police say they are confident the same
man committed bothattacks.The victims
See ARREST, Page 7A

Patrons at happy hour at the new Blue Leprechaun bar on South University Avenue Wednesday night.
New campus bar aims to
reinvent a familiar location

MAYO r SCANDAL
Kilpatrick resigns, accepts plea deal

With fresh menu, decor,
Blue Leprechaun takes
over former Touchdown
Cafe space
By JILLIAN BERMAN
Daily StaffReporter
Touchdown Cafe, a longtime mainstay of
the South University Avenue bar scene, has
undergone an overhaul and name change,
reopening late last month as an Irish-themed
pub named The Blue Leprechaun.
Though the Blue Leprechaun is co-owned
by one of Touchdown Cafe's former owners
and occupies the same space, General Man-
ager Scott Meinke said it hasn't inherited
any of the former'tenant's troubles with the
Michigan Liquor Control Commission. Most

recently, the bar was forced shut down for
five days and pay a $1,600 fine last November
for hostingbeer pong tournaments.
Meinke, who also worked at Touchdown
Cafe, said he's excited about the new con-
cept. "It's been great so far," he said.
The bar isn't cateringto any demographic in
particular,Meinkesaid,andsinceitsinception
on Aug. 20, he's seen a wide variety of patrons.
"We've definitely had the older crowd, a lot of
the alumni, and also some students," he said,
calling it a "happy mix of both."
"I basically see it as a bigger, classier ver-
sion of the Jug," said Kristin Vedder, one of
the Blue Leprechaun's bartenders, who is
also a waitress at the Brown Jug.
Renovations to transform the space from
a sports bar to an Irish-style pub began in
May, and the difference is clear. The room
now feels more like a dinner spot than a
dance club, and features wooden tables and
See BAR, Page 7A

In speech, Detroit
mayor accepts
reponsibility
DETROIT (AP) - Mayor
K ame Kilpatrick took respon-
sibility for his actions yesterday,
hours after resigning as part of
plea deals in two criminal cases,
and left the door open for a return
to public life.
"I truly know who I am. I
truly know where I come from.
In Detroit I know who I am. And
I know because of that, there's
another day for me," he said in a
20-minute speech on live televi-
sion. "I want to tell you, Detroit,

that you done set me up for a
comeback."
Kilpatrick walked into a City
Hall conference room to thun-
derous applause and thanked his
family, backers and staff mem-
bers for sticking by him during
his rocky 61/-year tenure.
His wife, Carlita, and mother,
U.S. Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpat-
rick, D-Mich., watched from the
front row.
With the weight of 10 felony
charges and uncertainty of jail
time finally made clear,Kilpatrick
spoke with the same authority
and confidence that marked much
of his first t/2 terms as mayor.

APPHOTO

See KILPATRICK, Page 7A Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick addresses the media in
Detroit yesterday.


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