The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
NEWS BRIEFS
WASHINGTON
White House says
economy is sound
despite 'mess'
The economy is fundamen-
tally sound despite the temporary
"mess" it's in, the White House
said yesterday in the kind of upbeat
assessment that Barack Obama had
mocked as a presidential candi-
date.
Obama's Democratic allies plead-
ed for patience with an administra-
tion hitting the two-month mark
this week, while Republicans said
the White House's plans ignore
small business and the immediate
need to fix what ails the economy.
After weeks projecting a dismal
outlook on the economy, admin-
istration officials - led by the
president himself in recent days -
swung their rhetoric toward opti-
mism in what became Wall Street's
best stretch since November.
Duringthe fall campaign, Obama
ielentlessly criticized his Republi-
can opponent, Sen. John McCain,
for declaring, "The fundamentals of
our economy are strong." Obama's
team painted the veteran senator as
out of touch and failing to grasp the
challenges facing the country. .
WASHINGTON
Outrage sounded
over AIG bonuses
Leaders of the White House eco-
nomic team and the Senate's top
Republican bellowed about bonuses
at a bailed-out insurance giant and
pledged to prevent such payments
in the future.
From one Sunday talk show to
the next, they tore into the con-
tracts that American International
Group asserted had to be honored,
to the tune of about $165 million
and payable to executives by Sun-
day, even as the company has ben-
efited from more than $170 billion
in a federal rescue.
AIG has agreed to Obama
administration requests to restrain
future payments. Treasury Secre-
tary Timothy Geithner pressed the
president's case with AIG's chair-
man, Edward Liddy, last week.
"He stepped in and berated them,
gdt them to reduce the bonuses fol-
lowing every legal means he has
to-do'this," said Austan Goolsbee;
staff director of President Barack
Obaia's Economic RecoveryAdvi-
sory Board.
KABUL, Afghanistan
Bomb kills 4 U.S.
soldiers in eastern
Afghanistan
Aroadsidebombkilled fourAmer-
ican soldiers in eastern Afghanistan
yesterday - new evidence of rising
violence in a region where clashes
and attacks in the first two months
of 2009 more than doubled from the
same period a year ago.
The spike in violence along the
border is an early indication that
roadside bombs and other ambush-
es are likely to surge as thousands of
new U.S. forces arrive in Afghani- '
stan this year.
Brig. Gen. Richard Blanchette, a
spokesman for the NATO-led force
here, confirmed that. a roadside
bomb killed four U.S. troops in east-
ern Afghanistan. A U.S. statement
indicated the troops were based in
Jalalabad.
A suicide bomber, meanwhile,
attacked a NATO convoy in Kabul
on Sunday but instead killed two
passers-by - among18 people killed
Sunday, officials said.
EAST LANSING, Mich.
City authorities
look to fix riot laws
Authorities want to fine-tune the
city ordinance against rioting.
The existing law in part defines
a rioter as someone who assembles
or acts "in concert with four or
more other persons for the purpose
of engaging in conduct constituting
the crime of riot... "
Police Chief Tom Wibert says
that leaves "a lot of room for inter-
pretation," and he's supporting
revised language more specific to
riot-related behavior.
Wihert tells the Lansing State
Journal that the new categories
would include throwing' objects,
taunting police, discharging fire
extinguishers, "mooning" people
and wearing a gas mask to avoid the
effects of tear gas..
The amendments are being pro-
posed almost a year after Cedar
Fest, which attracted 4,000 people,
resulted in at least S5 arrests.
- Compiled from
Daily wire reports
Ross School opens its doors
By EMILY ORLEY The ribbon-cutting ceremony
Daily StaffReporter culminates many years of plan-
ning and construction that left
It only took $145 million. the Business School community
But after three years in the mak- fragmented throughout campus.
ing, the Stephen M. Ross School "It creates a sense of commu-
of Business officially opened the nity," Business senior Josh Cipkala-
doors to its new home last Friday Gaffin said of the building. "For the
at a ribbon-cutting ceremony. pastfewyearsour classes havebeen
Stephen M. Ross, after whom all over; now it is a one-stop shop."
the building was named, counted After the ribbon cutting, the
down as he, President Mary Sue crowd moved inside to hear
Coleman and Business Dean Rob- remarks from Ross, Coleman and
ert J. Dolan stood on the steps of Dolan. Ross spoke about his vision
the new building and prepared to for the school, laughing when he
cut the blue ribbon emblazoned referred to the building bearing
with the school's name. his name.
Ross' $100 million donation "Today it is greatto see what we
funded the majority of the build- set out to do," Ross said. "We've
ing's construction - the largest created a home for the best busi-
single donation to the University ness school in the world."
in the school's history. The new building, located at 701
As Ross counted down to zero, Tappan St., is laden with some of the
a roar of applause could be heard most advanced technology around.
from the crowd of faculty, stu- Coleman referred to the build-
dents and alumni who had gath- ing as "a signature resource for
ered for the event. the school."
TOURNAMENT
From Page1A
was also feeling the pressure.
"I told Coach (John) Mahoney
after the second (regional) that
we were probably going to be in
the last group, not really believing
it, but just kind of trying to psych
myself out," Jackson said.
When Michigan's name
appeared on the screen, the Wol-
verines jumped out of their seats
on the sideline and hugged each
other in a team huddle.
The lowerbowlwas mostlyfull a
half hourbefore the selection show,
and the Jumbotron was dropped to
about 10 feet from the floor so fans
could easily watch the broadcast.
When Beilein did an interview with
CBS 15 minutes before the start of
the selection show, he had to cover
his right ear because the Crisler
crowd was so loud.
Beilein joins Lefty Driesell,
Eddie Sutton, Tubby Smith, Rick
Pitino, Lon Kruger and Jim Her-
rick as coaches who have taken
four different teams to the NCAA
Tournament.
"We were hugging so many
people," Beilein said. "I don't
know if I saw the looks on (the
players') faces. There was a lot of
joy in the room. There was a lot of
passion out there."
The selection is the program's
21st all-time NCAA Tournament
appearance, and Michigan has a
41-19 overall record in the tourna-
ment. The bid comes just one year
after the Wolverines finished with
a dismal 10-22 record in Michigan
coach John Beilein's first season.
The Wolverines' strong RPI
(44) and strength of schedule (11)
were key to earning a bid. Non-
conference wins over Duke and
UCLA and Big Ten wins against
Illinois, Purdue and twice against
Minnesota, all teams that made
the tournament, also helped
Michigan's cause.
Despite sitting on the bubble
for the past few weeks, the Wol-
verines essentially locked a bid
after topping Iowa 73-45 in the
first round of the Big Ten Tour-
nament on Thursday. Even after
dropping its quarterfinal match-
up against Illinois, Merritt was
confident that Michigan had done
enough to earn a bid.
"Hopefully. I think we've made
a case," said Merritt when asked
Friday "We've played everybody
this year, haven't strayed away
from playing anybody. We've com-
peted in a tough conference. It's,
one of the best in the country."
Michigan could be difficult for
any tournament team to handle.
Dolan added that the new school
will help to improve the level of
education at the Business School.
"We have a distinctive approach
to education based around action
based learning and you need a
different kind of facility to sup-
port that work," Dolan said. "The
amount of space dedicated to
informal gathering right here in
the Winter Garden and the num-
ber of group study rooms, that was
really the kind of functionality
that we didn't have before."
Ross said he believes the Uni-
versity business community will
continue to rise to the occasion
and become the global business
school of the future.
However, Ross said that while
the physical construction is com-
plete, the school will not stop
being innovative.
"The school will continue to
build in order to make sure we
are creating future leaders of the
world," he said.
There aren't many teams who play
as much 1-3-1 and 2-3 zone defense
as the Wolverines. Michigan also led
the Big Ten in 3-pointers attempted,
meaning if the Wolverines get hot
from behind the arc, they have the
potential to go onbig runs.
The Wolverines were on the
other 'side of the tournament
bubble in 2007 after they fin-
ished with a 21-12 record. A pair
of losses to top-ranked Ohio State
in their regular-season finale and
the quarterfinals of the Big Ten
Tournament diminished their
tournament hopes.
In 2006, Michigan was 16-3
before losingsix of its last eight reg-
ular season games. The Wolverines
then lost to Minnesota in the first
round of the Big Ten Tournament.
Michigan settled for the Nation-
al Invitation Tournament in both
seasons, losing to South Carolina
in the title game in 2006. The Wol-
verines won the NIT in 2004.
In 1998, the last time Michigan
earned an NCAA Tournament
berth,.Beilein was in his first year
as head coach at Richmond and
freshman guard Stu Douglass was
seven years old.
Although Beilein said making
the tournament in his second year
with the Wolverines 'is ahead of
his initial rebuildingprocess, both
the team and fans appear ready.
DAVIDSON
From Page 1A
Davidson has given more than
$55 million to the University,
with $30 million going toward the
founding the WDI.
Coleman wrote that Davidson's
impact on the University commu-
nity will "last for generations."
"His generosity as an adviser, a
business executive and a philan-
thropist enhanced the teaching
and research experience for U-M
students and faculty," she wrote.
"He did not hesitate to share his
knowledge and expertise, and our
university is stronger for it."
Davidson also gave $20 million to
the Weizmann Institute of Science in
Rehovot, Israel, funded the William
Davidson Graduate School of Jew-
ish Education in New York, and pur-
chased the DetroitPistons for around
$7millionin 1974fromFred Zollner.
When Davidson bought the
team it was considered by many
to be a dying franchise. But during
his time as owner, Davidson trans-
formed the program that is today
worth $500million. Detroit Pistons
head coach Michael Curry wrote in
DEBATE
From Page 1A
have a maximum of one and a half
minutes to answer. There will be no
rebuttals,but Page willbe permitted
to ask follow-up questions.
Presidential candidates will be
given a minute and a half for an
opening statement and two min-
utes for a closing statement.
MSA Election Director Emily
Winter, who helped organize the
debate, said questions will be on
subjects like how the current econ-
omy will affect students, how the
future president will make MSA
more transparent and the direc-
tion each candidate sees MSA mov-
ing toward in the future.
Current MSA Vice President
Arvind Sohoni and Jason Raymond,
rules and elections committee chair,
also helped to organize the event.
Page said he will select "salient
and challenging questions from
a stack of questions submitted by
interested students."
Winter said she thinks the can-
didates for this election have more
focused goals for MSA than in
years past, which she said should
make the debate more interesting.
"I think the parties this year are
really into this election and really
have clear visions for what they
want to do on campus," she said.
Monday, March 16, 2009 - 3A
a statement that he and the rest of
the team are "deeply saddened" by
the news of Davidson's death.
"He's been a great owner who
genuinely cared for players, coach-
es and employees," Curry wrote.
"He will not only be remembered
as a great owner but also as a per-
son who made a difference in many
people's lives. Our thoughts and
prayers are with Mrs. D and the
entire Davidson family."
When Davidson was inducted
into the Basketball Hall of Fame in
September, Pistons President Joe
Dumars said Davidson was a great
man, the Detroit News reported:
"It was just a great, great, great
comfort for me to know I had
someone who was the owner of
the Pistons who just epitomized
everything you wanted in a great
owner: incredible character, hon-
est, straightforward," Dumars said.
"When someone is a trailblazer, a
risk-taker, an innovator, that per-
son should be recognized. If any
person deserves to be in there (in
the Hall of Fame), it's this guy right
here. It's Bill Davidson."
- The Associated Press
contributed to this report.
"So I think it'll give the debate an
actual debate atmosphere. I think
there will be a lot more talking
about issues rather than focusing
on nitty-gritty stuff."
Though an MSA debate is notheld
every year - it has been an on-again
off-again tradition in recent election
cycles - the Election Board decided
tohostonethisyearduetothestrong
interestvoiced by the candidates.
The inclusion of vice presiden-
tial candidates, however; has not
occurred inrecenthistory.The deci-
sion to include vice presidential can-
didates was largely based on party
concerns that the position should
not be overlooked, Winter said.
"In the past, things can hap-
pen and presidents can decide to
resign," she said. "And (the candi-
dates) felt like it was an important
position and that their point of
views should be included."
Winter said she thinks includ-
ing the vice presidential candidates
will help better inform students
about each party, as they will hear
platform positions "from different
people."
Page said the candidates have
taken interest in important issues,
.which he thinks will make the
debate interesting.
"I expect a lively, interesting
debate," he said. "The parties have
staked out compelling issues. Stu-
dents should attendthis; it'llbefun."
AccontingMS.A.
Biology MS.
Biostatistics MS.
Business Administration MA.
Coll and Molecular Biology M.S
Communications MS
Computer Information Systems MS
CriminalJusticeM MS.
ESucationM.EES.
M.Ed.-Reading /a ago As
SchoolCounseling,orSpecialEducation
Educational Specialist in Leadership Ed.S.
Engineering M.S.E.
English M.A.
Hea/th Administration M.H.A.
Health Sciences M.H.S
Medicaland ioiafora ts MS.
Nursing M.S. N.
Occupationa Therapy M.S
PhysicaTherapy D.RT
Physician Assistant Studies M.E A.S
P"bcAdSmi stratio M.PA
S aWton M.S.W
Taxation, M.SET
EXCELLENT CHOICE. Grand Valley offers 80 areas of
study in 26 respected graduate programs, including
business, education, engineering, and health care. U.S.
News and World Report rated us first in the Best
Universities-Master's category in their review of up-and-
coming schools in the Midwest in part because of
our reputation for academic excellence, outstanding
faculty, and affordable tuition. Call or visit online to learn
more about the programs, people, and partnerships that
make Grand Valley an excellent choice for a graduate
degree. gvsu.edu/grad 616.331.2025
GTRANDVALLEY
STATE UNIVERSITY
SPEN AT 1AM
FREE
GREEN EGGS & IAE*
$3.50 Green Beer ALL DAY!
$2.SS Shut Specials!.
Wing Special ALL DAY!
WRIF Live10 p.m.-Midnight
YOU HAVE TO BE HERE TM
2055 . State Si. ANN ARBOR
*3497sp143p
buffalowildwings'com
*While supplies last
4 A
A
A