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SAnn Arbor, Michigan
Thursday, February 19, 2009
ROCKIN' THE CAMPUS
michigandaily.com
STEM CELL RESEARCH
Post-Prop. 2,
researchers
confident
about future
For a sldeshow of last night's Ben Folds ZACHARY MEISNER/Daly
A packed crowd awaits the start of a Ben Folds concert in the Michigan Theatre last night. During the concert, Folds
concert, go to michigandaily.com. played a combination of his classic fan favorites and also cuts of his new album, Way To Normal.
clinic defends wronged
New consortium to
oversee stem cell
research efforts
By STEPHANIE STEINBERG
Daily StaffReporter
Last year, a woman came to the
University Medical School look-
ing to donate her in vitro fertil-
ization embryos.
She had recently lost the abil-
ity to walk because of an inher-
ited spinal cord abnormality and
hoped the University's stem cell
discoveries could one day help
hen regain the use of her legs.
But that was before the pas-
sage of Proposal 2 in November.
And because of restrictions in the
state of Michigan, the researchers
were forced to turn her away.
Now they don't have to.
Alittlemore thanthree months
after the passage of Proposal 2,
University stem cell research-
ers say the formation of a new
research consortium paired with
a more research-friendly advo-
cate in the White House creates a
brightfuture forthe field in astate
that is far behind many others.
Before the proposal's passage,
Eva Feldman, director of both
the A. Alfred Taubman Medical
Research Institute and the Pro-
gram for Neurology Research &
Discovery, was forced to perform
her research in California - a
state with looserstem cell restric-
tions.
In California, Feldman has
been transplanting embryonic
stem cells into the spinal cords of
rats that carry the gene for Amyo-
trophic Lateral Sclerosis, or Lou
Gehrig's disease. The goal of here
research is to determine whether
stem cell transplantation can be
used as a potential therapy to
treat people with ALS.
Because her research uses
embryonic stem cells, her work
was illegal in Michigan before the
Nov. 4 election.
For the past couple months,
Feldman said she has been trans-
ferring equipment from her
laboratory in California to the
University of Michigan, and that
it's "really exciting for us that we
can now do what we want to do in
Michigan."
Stem cell researchers at the
University are in the process of
forming The Consortium for Stem
Cell Therapy, a facility that will
provide researchers the space to
derive new embryonic stem cell
lines.
Gary Smith, director of the
Reproductive Sciences Program,
and Sue O'Shea, director of the
Center for Human Embryonic
Stem Cell Research, will both
head the consortium when it offi-
cially opens in late spring.
O'Shea said one of the consor-
tium's goals is to create disease-
See STEM CELLS, Page 7A
Innocence Clinic
bucks trend, takes on
non-DNA cases
By AMY MUNSLOW
DailyStaffReporter
One Sunday afternoon in down-
town Ecorse, Mich., a city just
outside of Detroit, DeShawn and
Marvin Reed shot Shannon Ghol-
ston through the back of Gholston's
gold Ford Contour, paralyzing him
from the neck down.
At least, that's what Gholston
testified in 2001.
And despite conflicting eyewit-
ness testimonies, a verified alibi
for the Reeds, no physical evidence
that tied the uncle and nephew or
their car to the scene, and reports
of an alternate suspect, a judge
sentenced the Reeds to 20 years
in prison for assault with intent to
commit murder.
But because of law students at
the University's Innocence Clinic,
which officially opened its doors
this winter semester, the Reeds
may now have a shot at reclaiming
their freedom.
The clinic, a seven-credit course
taught at the Law School, provides
upper-level law students with the
skills and resources to correct
lapses in the state legal system -
like the ones that occurred in the
Reeds' case.
Similar programs around the
state, including the Innocence
Project at the Thomas M. Cooley
Law School in Lansing, work to re-
examine cases with new evidence
that could prove the innocence of
convicted persons.
However, the majority of these
other clinics only work with cases
where new DNA evidence has come
to light. The Innocence Clinic is
among a handful of programs
across the country that focus on
cases involving non-DNA evidence.
"We know a lot about the rate
See INNOCENCE CLINIC, Page 7A
reMichigan campaign
holds first mass meeting
Campaign leaders say they
want to form diverse slate
By JENNA SKOLLER
Daily StaffReporter
The reMichigan Campaign, one of the
main bidders to take control of the Michigan
Student Assembly in its upcoming election,
held its first mass meeting last night in the
Michigan Union.
Engineering Rep. Ambreen Sayed, who's
working on the campaign, started out the
festivities by discussingher time in MSA. She
focused on the positive experiences she had
working with some of the students who are
now leaders of the reMichigan Campaign.
LSA sophomore Jason Raymond, the
reMichigan campaign chair, then took the
floor. He introduced the campaign and
explained the group's plan to introduce a
diverse group of candidates.
"We intend to go beyond the Union
recruiting candidates," he said. "We feel that
See MASS MEETING, Page 7A
Jones brings diverse experience
Second candidate for dean
of students post currently
works at U. of Oregon
By ESHWAR THIRUNAVUKKARASU
Daily StaffReporter
Laura Jones has had the responsibility of
training 4,000 volunteers for the U.S. Olympic
Team Track and Field Trials. Now, she might
be looking to manage student affairs at a uni-
versity of more than 28,000 students.
Jones, the interim dean of students at the
University of Oregon, visited campus yesterday
to meet with stundents as a caendidate for the
dean of students at the University of Michigan.
At the University of Oregon, Jones serves on
the Division of Student Affairs senior leader-
ship team, according to a biography released by
the University of Michigan. Jones concurrently
holds the position of director of the Office of
Student Life.
Prior to her involvement in student affairs at
the University of Oregon, Jones was the assis-
tant director of housing and director of resi-
dence life for eight years at the University of
California at Berkeley. Jones also has had expe-
rience in student affairs at the University of
California at Davis, the University of Vermont
and Miami University (Ohio).
She earned her master's degree in student
personnel services in higher education from ZACHARY MEIsNER/Daily
the University of Vermont and her Ph.D. in Dean of Students candidate Laura Blake Jones speaks in the Union yesterday as part
See CANDIDATE, Page 7A of the interview process to take over administrative post.
Stonum pleads guilty to charge
By JILLIAN BERMAN
and COURTNEY RATKOWIAK
DailyNewsEditorandManagingEditor
Michigan freshman wide receiver Darryl
Stonum pled guilty to a charge of operating
a vehicle while visibly impaired yesterday in
Ann Arbor's 15th District Court, according
to court records.
Stonum was arrested on Sept. 28 at about
3:30 a.m., hours after Michigan's comeback
27-25 win over Wisconsin the previous after-
noon. State police pulled him over on State
Street near campus, The Ann Arbor News
reported. While passing through an inter-
section, his car was traveling at around 60
miles per hour and almost hit another vehi-
cle, according to the News report.
Police administered a preliminary breath
test at the scene, which found Stonumn's blood
alcohol content at .10, the News reported.
Stonum was 18 at the time, and under Michi-
gan's zero tolerance law for minors, it is
See STONUM, Page 7A
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