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Ann Arbor, Michigan

Monday, October 12, 2009

michigandaily.com

COMMENCEMENT SPEAKER
Jeff Daniels
to address
winter
graduates

e k, y S
r~. r -

MAX COLLINS/Daily
Michigan quarterback Tate Forcier loses his grip on the ball leading to one of ftve Michigan turnovers during the team's 30-28 loss to No.11 Iowa at Kinnick Stadium on Saturday.
~site woes, were wanae
"Don't start off trying to create with 90 seconds in earlier, and I don't know, it's Asking us to take his decision at
something that's not there." remaining, and always a feel thing." face value is ridiculous.
"Let's not create something that's the one person And apparently Rodriguez had After Forcier's second game in
not there, guys." nearly no one a completely different "feel" than maize and blue, the 38-34 come-

v

Helen Thomas,
among others, to
receive honorary
degrees at ceremony
By KYLE SWANSON
Daily News Editor
In an exclusive interview last
week, University President Mary
Sue Coleman said officials will
announce today that Jeff Daniels
has been chosen to headline Win-
ter Commencement.
Daniels has been selected
to deliver the commencement
address and will receive an honor-
ary degree. Helen Thomas, Edward.
Wilson and Grace Boggs will also
attend winter graduation ceremo-
nies and receive honorarydegrees.
The selections, which require
approval by the University's Board
of Regents, will be released in the
regents' agenda today at noon.
Coleman said she is extremely
excited about the arrival of the
four attendees and looks forward
to their time on campus.
"They're wonderful individu-
als and they will bring some real
distinction to winter commence-
ment," Coleman said.

Daniels, a Michigan native who
lives in the nearby city of Chelsea,
is well known for his Broadway
performances, musical albums and
many film appearances. He has
been nominated three times for the
Golden Globes and once for a Tony
Award. Daniels is the founder of
the Purple Rose Theater Company
in Chelsea and is a spokesman for
the Pure Michigan Campaign,
which aims to increase travel and
tourism in the state.
"The reason we chose him is
because he's been such a pro-
lific actor both in movies and on
Broadway," Coleman said. "We're
very proud of what he's done for
Michigan."
Thomas, a widely known and
well-respectedreporter,has worked
in the White House Press Corps
since JohnF.Kennedytookoffice.
Born in Detroit, Thomas was
the first woman to serve as an offi-
cer of the National Press Club, the
first woman to serve as president of
the White House Correspondents
Association and the first woman to
become a member of the Gridiron
Club- a group of some of the most
influential leaders in the media.
Coleman, who first met Thomas
a year and a half ago in Dubai, said
she is eager to see her again.
See COMMENCEMENT, Page 8A

t

"I understand all the quarterback
questions, but let's not make more of
what it is."
-Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez on
his late-game quarterback decision.
IOWA CITY -
kay, Rich Rod. We get it.
There's not something
there.
Wait. What?
Michigan was down two points

expected to lead
the two-minute
drill lined up
in the shotgun:
freshman quar-
terback Denard
Robinson.
The reason?
"I decided to ge
Rodriguez said a
not-a-big-story di
above. "We had

everyone else. Sure, Robinson put
together a solid, run-heavy touch-
down drive on Michigan's previous
MICHAEL series. But who didn't expect Tate
EISENSTEIN Forcier - the leader of three late
comeback drives and, consequently,
two wins - to lead the Wolverines
to victory? Rodriguez even grabbed
t a little spark," Forcier by the pads to keep him
tmid the three from going onto the field. (Usually
sclaimers cited a coach tells the quarterback if he is
almost put him benched, right?)

back win over Notre Dame, Rodri-
guez couldn't praise the first-year
signal caller enough for his poise.
"Some guys, when everything's
going crazy around them, you can
see them change their personality,"
Rodriguez said. "Tate's just the
opposite."
Kinnick Stadium would defi-
nitely qualify as the craziest atmo-
sphere Michigan has played in
See EISENSTEIN, Page 9A

STATE BUDGET STRUMMING IN THE SHADE
-Lawmakers face tough
balancing act in budget ,.

D
I
wit


pr
Stat
a lot on
for an

eal must meet. gap before the end of the month.
Amid this treacherous rush,
public's needs lawmakers are forced to juggle
the competing demands of a busi-
hout burdening ness community looking to attract
more companies to a state with
rivate imdustry record levels of unemployment
with an increasingly jobless pub-
By NICOLE ABER lic who rely on state programs like
Daily StaffReporter welfare and the Michigan Promise
Scholarship to get by.
e legislators in Lansing have Since missingthe Oct.1ldeadline
n their plates as they search and narrowly avoiding a long-term
elixir to the state's budget government shutdown by pass-

ing an interim budget, lawmakers
have been working late into the
night in the past few weeks trying
to get a balanced budget in place
before the end of the month.
One of the highly contested
portions of these budget discus-
sions will affect all Michigan-
ders: taxes.
The Democratic-controlled
House of Representatives and
the Republican-controlled Senate
both passed various bills last week
See BUDGET, Page 9A

FUNDING HIGHER EDUCATION
Coleman: Letter offers wrong
means to reach important end

High school students Gabe Kaul, left on bass, and Adam Whitner, right on guitar, of the band The Witness practice on the side-
walk between North University Avenue and State Street near the Diag yesterday afternoon.
LITIGATION REPoi
Gay prof.'s lawsuit moves on, slowly

Without approval,
letter sent with
Coleman's name on it
By MATT AARONSON
Daily News Editor
In a statement released Friday,
UniversityPresidentMarySueCole-
man hinted at her disapproval of a
letter sent last week to a state legis-

lator with her name on it, but would
not go as far as to denounce it.
The letter, which bore Coleman's
name withouther explicit approval,
advocated for the passage of a state
budget plan that would eliminate
the Michigan Promise Scholarship.
The letterhead included Cole-
man's name along with 70 other
business and political leaders from
the Detroit-based Business Lead-
ers for Michigan. It was addressed
to Dave Hildenbrand (R-Lowell),

the Republican floor leader for the
state House of Representatives. It is
dated Oct. 6.
Coleman and three other state
university presidents - Jerry
Noren of Wayne State University,
Gary Russi of Oakland University
and Lou Anna Simon of Michigan
State University - are members
of the organization, but only Doug
Rothwell, the group's president and
CEO, signed the letter.
See LETTER, Page 8A

Judge sets oral
arguments to be
heard on Nov. 6
By DEVON THORSBY
Daily StaffReporter
After more than five years of
delays, a former law professor's
lawsuit claiming the University
discriminated against him because
he is gay will face yet another hear-

ing before determining whether it
will go to trial.
During a phone-in hearing Fri-
day afternoon in the 30th Judi-
cial Circuit Court, Judge James
Giddings set oral arguments to
be heard on Nov. 6 regarding a
summary disposition filed by the
University in March 2008, which
requested that the case be thrown
out. The University filed two sum-
mary dispositions for the case in
the past, both of which were denied
by the court.

Former University Law School
Prof Peter Hammer, who now
teaches at Wayne State University,
is suing the University of Michigan
after being denied tenure in 2003.
He claims the Law School's faculty,
motivated by anti-gay prejudice,
prevented his tenure in a closed-
door vote.
The hearing Friday addressed
two motions that were initially
filed by the plaintiff, Hammer. The
first sought to expedite a decision
See HAMMER, Page 10A


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