The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
N ew s Friday, October 3, 2008 - 7A
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom N ew s Friday, October 3. 2008 -
* OBAMA
From Page 1A
"Invest in America, and we will
invest in you," he said. "And togeth-
er, we will push this country for-
ward."
While Obama spoke, news cir-
culated that his opponent, Repub-
lican presidential nominee John
McCain, had decided to pull cam-
paign resources ,out of Michigan
to focus on winning other battle-
ground states this November. The
decision followed a Detroit Free
Press poll showing Obama ahead of
McCain by 13'percentage pointsin
the state.
With the state leaning toward
Obama, candidates will likely shift
their focus to other battleground
states like Ohio or Florida, meaning
fewer campaign stops in Michigan
leading up to Election Day.
Despite the news that the McCa-
in campaign was pulling its fund-
ing, Obama supporters on campus
said they still hope the candidate
makes an appearance at the Uni-
versity of Michigan.
Nathaniel Eli Coats Styer, chair
of the University of Michigan Col-
lege Democrats, said he anticipates
a visit.
"The Obama campaign considers
Ann Arbor the milk and the honey
of the state Michigan," Styer said.
"We hope that he's goingto be here
before Election Day. There's no rea-
son he should not be here."
George Schuttler, president of
the Michigan State University
Democrats, said Thursday's rally
was about energizing supporters
rather than swaying the undecid-
ed. He said East Lansing, like Ann
Arbor, is a Democratic strong-
hold.
"It's not necessarily about con-
verting area by area, but by touch-
ing voters individually," he said,
"So it's not so much that Ann
Arbor is in the bag, because to be
fair, East Lansing's in the bag too.
If you were running a campaign
that way, you would never see him
(Obama) in major cities because
most major cities vote Democrat-
ic."
Schuttler also cited MSU's
strong agricultural programs as
a possible draw for the candidate.
Peter McShane-Lewis, a Michigan
State senior and an Obama sup-
porter, agreed.
"If his promise is 'We're going
to invest in green economy and
green energy sources,' then Michi-
gan State stands to gain a lot from
that," he said. "If you can convince
rural/agriculture people that that
will be part of his plan, too, then I
have to think that's why he came
here."
Yesterday's rally was the first of
several planned visits with youth
voters in Michigan in the final
days before the state's Oct. 6 voter
registration deadline. A rally fea-
turing rock musician Bruce Spring-
steen is also scheduled Monday at
Oestrike Stadium on the campus
of Eastern Michigan University.
MCCAIN
From Page 1A
ceded a large part of the electoral
map in the heart of the industrial
Midwest.
The move underscored McCain's
troubles on the economy, which he
has acknowledged is not his stron-
gest subject. It also underscored
his struggle to beat an opponent
who has the money to compete in
many states President Bush won
four years ago. Polls show Obama
has pulled ahead or tied McCain in
many of those states.
Along with giving up Michi-
gan, McCain's campaign said it is
opening a front in Maine, which
Kerry won four years ago and
which offers four electoral votes
allocated between the statewide
winner and the winner in its two
congressional districts. The Ari-
zona senator's campaign checked
advertising rates in media markets
there this week.
Obama already has abandoned
efforts in Alaska, Georgia and
North Dakota, but the Democrat
has succeeded in making tradi-
tional Republican strongholds
Indiana, North Carolina and
Virginia competitive. Both sides
are battling it out in those states,
where public polls show Obama
ahead or tied.
The two campaigns are squar-
ing off with increasing intensity
in Colorado, Ohio, Florida, Iowa,
Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico,
which Bush won in 2004, and
Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and New
Hampshire, which went to Kerry.
Obama also is making a lim-
ited effort in the traditional GOP
bastion of Montana and McCain
is going after Democratic-tilting
Minnesota.
"This is a meaningful moment
strategically," said Obama cam-
paign manager David Plouffe.
"Their narrow path just got nar-
rower."
McCain had identified Michi-
gan early on as a potential target,
particularly in light of Obama's
troubles with white working-class
voters in other Rust Belt prima-
ries. Obama also skipped Michigan
earlier in the campaign because of
a Democratic Party fight over its
primary date and didn't set up a
campaign organization there dur-
ing the primary.
But Michigan posed other diffi-
culties for McCain. It has a Demo-
cratic governor and the nation's
highest annual average unemploy-
ment rate since 2006. McCain's
Senate voting record aligned with
unpopular President Bush, a theme
hammered by Obama, and proved
too much for the GOP nominee to
overcome.
Republican strategists said
those troubles became more acute
for McCain in Michigan after the
Wall Street collapse, and both
public and private polls showed
him sliding. On Wednesday night,
the campaign decided that the $1
million a week it was spending
in Michigan wasn't worth it with
internal polls showing Obama
approaching a double-digit lead.
"It's been the worst state of all
the states that are in play and it's
an obvious one, from my perspec-
tive, to come off the list," said Greg
Strimple, a McCain senior adviser.
McCain's decision didn't go over
well with at least some Michigan
Republicans..
"We want him in Michigan.
We want him to hear our issues,"
said Mike Bishop, the top-ranking
Republican in the 'state Legisla-
ture.
- Daily Staff Reporter Julie
Rowe and The Associated Press
contributed to this report.
Kris Hamel of Detroit joins protesters gathered at the Spirit of Detroit statue to
protest the government bailout of financial institutions Thursday.
Bailout hopes rise as
more no votes switch
WASHINGTON (AP) - A wave
of House converts jumped aboard
the $700 billion financial industry
bailout yesterday on the eve of a
make-or-breaksecondvote, aslaw-
makers responded to an awaken-
ing amongvoterstothe pain ahead
of them if stability isn't restored to
the tottering economy.
Black lawmakers said personal
calls from Democratic presidential
nominee Barack Obama helped
switch them from "no" to "yes."
Republicans and Democrats alike
said appeals from credit-starved
small businessmen and the Sen-
ate's addition of $110 billion in
tax breaks had persuaded them to
drop their opposition.
"I hate it," but "inaction to me
is a greater danger to our country
than this bill," said GOP Rep. Zach
Wamp of Tennessee, one of the 133
House Republicans who joined 95
Democrats in rejecting the mea-
sure Monday, sending the stock
market plummeting.
Still, the outcome was far from
assured. Vote-counters in both
parties planned to huddle first
thing Friday morning to compare
notes on coming up with the dozen
or so supporters needed to reverse
the stunning defeat.
Lawmakers were agonizing as
they decided whether to. change
course and back the largest govern-
ment intervention in markets since
the Great Depression. "I'm trying
desperately to get to 'yes,"' said
Rep. Carol Shea-Porter, D-N.H.
Fears about an economic down-
turn sent the Dow Jones indus-
trials down nearly 350 points
Thursday, three days after Mon-
day's historic 778-point drop. The
Federal Reserve reported record
emergency lending to banks and
investment firms, fresh evidence
of the credit troubles squeezing
the country
ObamaandhisRepublicanrival,
John McCain, phoned reluctant
lawmakers for their help. McCain,
in Denver, predicted the bill would
pass the House.
Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., told
a closed-door meeting of House
Democrats that he will support
the bill after speaking with Obama
about it. Other wavering lawmak-
ers said Obama's entreaties had
swayed them as well.
Congressional leaders worked
over wayward colleagues wher-
ever they could find them.
Rep. Steny Hoyer, the second-
ranking House Democrat, said
there was a "good prospect"
of approving the measure but
stopped short of predicting pas-
sage - or even promising a vote.
Nonetheless, a vote was expected
on Friday.
DEAN
From Page 1A
the administration to have access
to student opinion. The (dean) is
a critical partner in building and
maintaining thatrelationship. Stu-
dents should participate in the on
campus interview," said Varner.
The new search committee
consists of representatives from'
different offices throughout the
University, including LSA Student
Academic Affairs and the Office of
New Student Programs.
The committee will have three
student representatives. LSA
senior Daniil Gunitskiy and Mich-
igan Student Assembly President
Sabrina Shingwani are the two
undergraduate representatives.
Dentistry student Tiffany Tsang,
a graduate student research assis-
tant, represents the graduate stu-
dents.
Varner said the dean's role is
to oversee organizations like the
Sexual Assault Prevention and
Awareness Center, Greek Life
organizations, Counseling and
Psychological Services, Expect
Respect and Multi-Ethnic Stu-
dent Affairs. The Dean of Students
also directs the University Health
Service and the Program on Inter-
group Relations, among others.
Varner said the Dean of Stu-
dents also works with students on
a personal level if they encounter
an emergency. Last year, the Dean
of Students Office helped a group
of students who were temporarily
displaced when a fire destroyed
their off-campus house. More
commonly, the office aids students
adjust their courseloads if they've
missed significant time due to ill-
- ness.
Shingwani, a member of the
Dean of Students search commit-
tee, emphasized the importance of
the new dean in the daily lives of
University students.
"The search process is essen-
tial to students because the (dean)
directly impacts student life and
oversees a lot of offices that also
directly impact students," Shin-
gwani said. "Students go to these
offices every day."
An ad for the position was
psoted last September. Finalists
will be selected through an inter-
view process. Varner said finalists
would be announced by Febru-
ary 2009 and a final decision by
March 2009.
MAYOR
From Page 1A
be included in that category."
The most recent Ann Arbor
mayor to hold a University position
was Gerald Jernigan, who served
as a University investment officer
during his term from 1987 to 1991.
Because the state constitution
grants the University autonomy, it
doesn't fall within the jurisdiction
of the Ann Arbor city government,
meaning Hieftje doesn't have
authority over University deci-
sions as mayor.
Councilmember Stephen Kun-
selman (D-Ward 3), who works
full-time at the University as an
energy liaison with Plant Opera-
tions, said Wall's comments were
no more than "political postur-
ing."
"The city has no jurisdiction
whatsoever over any land that the
University owns," he said. "The
University is like its own city - we
don't have any control over them."
John Mulcrone, counsel for the
Michigan Senate Democrats, said
a teaching job at the University
wouldn't violate state conflict of
interest statutes because it doesn't
include administrative duties.
The statutes only prohibit pub-
lic positions from being filled by
the same person when one posi-
tion requires the "subordination,
supervision or breach of duty of
the other."
"A mere connection with an
institution doesn't implicate a
conflict of interest," Mulcrone
said. "Everybody's got a connec-
tion."
The University accounts for
about 10 percent of the city's
workforce.
Jim Kosteva, the University's
director of community relations,
said he couldn't recall any Univer-
sity positions having an adverse
effect on city appointments.
"I think the mayor and the
council, irrespective of their
employment, have consistently
affected decisions that are in the
best interest of their constitu-
ents," he said.
Kunselman added that the city
usually does not enter into official
agreements with the University,
except for sewer and utility con-
tracts that typically have non-ne-
gotiable rates.
Other college towns around the
country have similar patterns of
city officials working for the near-
by universities, but different ways
of avoiding conflicts of interest.
In Berkeley, Calif., city attor-
neys monitor potential violations
individually by reviewing state-
ments of affiliation that are kept
on file for each city official.
MarkNumainville,theassistant
city clerk of the city of Berkeley,
said at least two city commission-
ers in the past 20 years have been
employed at the University of
California at Berkeley, which, like
the University of Michigan, is the
city's largest employer.
"I would say it's a fairly delicate
situation and the elected official
just has to be very aware of their
role and conflicts of interest and
things like that," Numainville
said. "As long as they're diligent
in that regard, there shouldn't
be anything that precludes them
from being councilmembers or
commissioners."
In Madison, Wisconsin, . Eli
Judge - both a University of Wis-
consin student and a Madison City
Councilmember - works with a
group that focuses on both the
school and the city.
The city has an internal ethics
board and also files city officials'
affiliations outside of the city,
such as "student".
"Typically what (the elected
officials) do, is they will abstain
from voting on anything that
deals directly with their position,"
said Lisa Veldran, administrative
assistant to Madison's city coun-
cil. "Typically, it's a case-by-case
kind of thing."
SAT OCT 4 @ MIDNIGHT
FOR MORE INFO VISIT MYSPACE.COM/STATETHEATREA2
TELL US WHAT YOU KNOW.
IF YOU HAVE A NEWS TIP OR ANY FEEDBACK FOR THE NEWS SECTION,
E-MAIL NEWS@MICHIGANDAILY.COM
Shop.
Donate.
Volunteer.
Offering reusable
household items,
appliances, furniture,
sporting goods,
electronics and
building supplies at
affordable prices.
THE Phone (734) 222-7880
BS e 2420 S. Industrial Hwy, Ann Arbor, MI 48104
www.recycleannarbor.org
E R HOURS: Mon-Sat-a Sun 10-2
C E N T E R Donation pick-up available. Call for details.
4