The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Thursday, October 22, 2009 - 3A
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Thursday, October 22, 2009 - 3A
NEWS BRIEFS
LANSING, Mich.
Gov.: Next round of
cuts will come, but
targets not decided
Gov. Jennifer Granhoim said
yesterday she hasn't decided where
she'll make cuts in the six remain-
ing budget bills on her desk.
But the money she vetoed ear-
lier this week from a public schools
budget is still causing waves.
The Democratic governor said
Tuesday she was forced to veto $51
million targeted for 39 school dis-
tricts from the education budget
because lawmakers didn't include
enough money to pay for the bill
as revenues have fallen. Senate
Republicans deny that and say she's
using schoolchildren as pawns to
push for higher taxes.
The State Board of Education
has moved up its regularly sched-
uled November meeting to Monday
to address education financing. The
board originally was to meet Nov.
10. The public schools budget was
cut 2.9 percent in the new budget
year that just started.
WASHINGTON D.C.
New undercover
ACORN tape
released
Two conservative activists
released a new undercover video
targeting the community organizing
group ACORN yesterday, an attempt
to reignite a simmering political con-
troversy surrounding the Democrat-
ic-leaningorganization.
The new videotape shows film-
makers Hannah Giles and James
O'Keefe, posing as a prostitute and
her boyfriend, soliciting advice
about a possible housing loan from
workers in the Philadelphia office
of ACORN Housing Corp.
Previousvideos showedthe same
pair, also posing as a prostitute and
her boyfriend, visiting ACORN
offices in other cities.
The Philadelphia visit is signifi-
cant because of a dispute over state-
ments ACORN has made defending
what took place when Giles and
O'Keefe visited the Philadelphia
office last summer.
ORANGE PARK, Fla. -
Body found but
not identified as
missing girl
Authorities saytheyhave not iden-
tified a child's body they found yes-
terday in a landfill while searching
for a missing 7-year-old girl. Family
members were hopeful the girl is still
alive, though neighbors in the girl's
community feared the worst.
The partially covered body of the
child was found in a Georgia land-
fill near the Florida state line, after
investigators followed garbage
trucks leaving from the neighbor-
hood where Somer Thompson dis-
appeared Monday.
'Sheriff Rick Beseler said investi-
gators searched through 100 tons of
garbage before findingthe body. He
first said the body was female, then
corrected himself to say he could
not confirm the gender.
Few other details about the
body, such as a possible cause of
death, were released. The Georgia
Bureau of Investigation planned an
autopsy Thursday.
RIO DE JANEIRO
Police crack down on
gangs after 32 deaths
Police in Rio expanded a crack-
down on gangs beyond the area
hit by a wave of killings that has
claimed at least 32 lives since the
weekend, officials said yesterday.
The clashes came less than three
weeks after the city was awarded
the 2016 Olympic Games. They
began when a drug gang tried to
invade a rival's territory and three
policemen were killed when a heli-
copter was shot down by gunfire
over the weekend.
Subsequent firefights between
policeandheavilyarmedgangmem-
bers have left the affected slums in
chaos. Hundreds of residents fled
their homes overnight, choosing
to sleep in streets away from their
own neighborhoods after rumors
spread that drug gangs were set to
battle again.
While the violence began in a
northern area near the Maracana
stadium, which will host the Olym-
pics' opening and closing ceremo-
nies, police searching for suspects
behind the downing ofthe helicopter
launched operations in slums in Rio's
south and center on Wednesday.
- Compiled from
Daily wire reports
2 years after trial,
woman recants story
Six people jailed
for the torture of
a woman who now
admits she lied
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -
Megan Williams' shocking accu-
sations initially strained the
imagination: Seven white people
beat her with sticks, forced her to
eat feces, raped her and taunted
her with racial slurs over several
days in a ramshackle trailer in
West Virginia.
But the suspects eventually
confessed to their actions and
pleaded guilty. All but one were
sent to prison. Now Williams, who
is black, is taking it all back.
Williams lied in 2007 because
she wanted to get back at a boy-
friend who had beaten her, her
attorney, Byron L. Potts, said yes-
terday at a news conference in his
Columbus office.
Williams no longer wants to live
a lie, Potts said.
"She told me the only thing not
self-inflicted were the bruises on
her face," Potts said.
Williams, 22, who now lives
with a caregiver in Columbus, was
LEGACY
From Page 1A
made it clear that with his most
treasured construction projects
now either approved or nearing
completion, it was time to step
down.
"We've discussed my retire-
ment for a couple of years now,
and I agreed to stay on to make
sure the (football) stadium proj-
ectwouldbe finished asplanned,"
Martin wrote. "In the last few
months I have had the chance
to make significant progress on
other issues that needed to be
set on a firm foundation as well,
including plans for the basketball
practice facility, so I think it is
now time to plan for the future."
Associate Athletic Direc-
tor Bruce Madej said he was
"caugit by surprae"._wben Mar-
tin announced his retirement.
Madej knew that Martin was
likely planning to retire after he
launched the construction of the
aforementioned $23 million bas-
ketball practice facility, sched-
uled to be completed in 2011, but
said he thought Martin would
retire in Jangsry 2011 instead of
next September.
The regents approved the con-
struction of the basketball prac-
tice facility in January 2009 and
approved schematic designs 0'
September 2009.
"If you read between the lines,
after the (Michigan) Stadium ren-
ovations, he had one more project
that he wanted to do - the basket-
ball facilities that he got off the
ground," Madej said. "Once that
was set, I knew he had accom-
plished what he wanted to."
Martin also oversaw the con-
struction of the Al Glick Field
House, a $26.1 million indoor
football practice facility that
opened in August 2009. Other
Martin-led projects have includ-
ed the completed Alumni Field
($5.5 million) and Fisher Stadium
($9 million) renovations and the
$6 million construction of a new
soccer stadium, approved by the
regents in May 2009.
But even while dealing with
teams that haven't needed as
much hands-on leadership or
massive facility overhauls, Mar-
tin's business sense has been
apparent.
"I showed him my idea of put-
ting a balcony in Yost (Ice Arena),
and he said, 'It's a no-brainer, we
have to do it,"' Michigan hockey
coach Red Berenson said. "I'd
been talking about that for five
years and nobody listened. But
Bill Martin could see, 'Look, this
will pay itself off in three years
and it'll make the building that
much more hospitable and add so
much to the building.' He's been
very supportive of anythingwe've
needed in the hockey program."
Over the past decade, Martin
has also had a hand in bring-
ing many of Michigan's current
coaches to Ann Arbor. But his
reputation for selecting coaches
may rest most on the success of
football coach Rich Rodriguez,
who was hired by Martin in
December 2007.
Rodriguez's hiring came after
Martin had been intensely scru-
tinized by the national media
for how he handled the coaching
search.4
in the office with Potts, but she did
not appear before reporters. Potts
said she has received several anon-
ymous phone calls from people
threatening her life.
"She is recantingthe entire inci-
dent. She says it did not happen,
and she's scared," Potts said.
Seven white men and women
were convicted in the case, in
which Williams had also said that
hot wax was poured on her and
that two of her captors had forced
her to drink their urine.
Policesaidthe assaults occurred
at a trailer owned by Frankie
Brewster in a rural area of Logan
County, about 50 miles from
Charleston, W.Va. Williams was
rescued after an anonymous caller
alerted authorities.
Potts said that Brewster's son,
Bobby, was the boyfriend who had
beaten Williams and that she had
stabbed herself with a straight
razor to help embellish the story
of being tortured.
Prosecutors, who knew about
the relationship even during the
case, dismissed Williams' new
claim, and lawyers for the defen-
dants would not discuss their
plans. Williams' supporters were
cautious about responding to the
statement by a woman whose
Martin had received permis-
sion to talk to current Louisiana
State University coach Les Miles
after his Southeastern Conference
championship game, but ESPN
reported on the day of the game
that Miles had already accepted
an offer with Michigan. Miles
angrily called a press conference
to refute the rumors and later
signed a contract extension with
LSU, which left Martin to answer
a barrage of questions relating to
his interactions with Miles and
his coaching search etiquette.
In the end, Martin hired
Rodriguez, who led Michigan to
its worst record in school history
(3-9) in 2008. The team is cur-
rently 5-2 in 2009.
"We've had probably a lifetime
of stories in less than two years.
I think that's natural when you
have a transition," Rodriguez said
beo visterday's football prac-,
tice. "We had a lot of laughs and
we've had a few tough moments,
but I'm hoping that we, over the
next 10 to 12 months that he has
left as athletic director, have a lot
of good moments to share as well.
We've been through some pain
together, and we'd like to have
some good moments for sure."
Martin's other big hires include
Michigan basketball coach John
Beilein, who led the Wolverines
to their first NCAA Tournament
appearance in 11 years last season,
and Michigan baseball coach Rich
Maloney, who has coached Michi-
gan to three Big Ten titles and an
NCAA Regional title in 2007.
"We were all kind of shocked,"
Maloney said of Martin's retire-
ment. "I mean, we knew at some
point this would happen. He
didn't have to have this job. He's a
very successful businessman, and
he really took the job because he
loves Michigan. And that's been
very apparent to me in working
with him over the years - his
love is very, very deep.
"I'm very appreciative he gave
me a chance to come to Michi-
gan, and this was a place where I
dreamt of coming to as a student
athlete and didn't get the oppor-
tunity. And to come back as a
coach, I will always be indebted
to Bill for that."
Martin's legacy of construction
and hires maybe more impressive
given the conditions in which he
entered the post of athletic direc-
tor. As soon as he took the job, he
immediately found himself faced
with digging Michigan out of a
financial hole and repairing the
school's damaged reputation.
After former University Presi-
dent Lee Bollinger forced then-
Athletic Director Tom Goss to
resign, Martin took over the ath-
letic director post on an interim
basis on March 6, 2000. He was
permanently named athletic
director on Aug. 1 of the same
year.
The multimillionairebusiness-
man, who successfully founded
the real estate firm First Martin
Corporation in 1968 and the Bank
of Ann Arbor in 1995, wasn't
accustomed to seeing a business
so deep in the red. The Athletic
Department suffered a $2.8 mil-
lion deficit for the 1999 fiscal
year, according to a Feb. 14, 2000
article in the University Record.
In the 2001 fiscal year, the
introduction of varsity women's
water polo and varsity men's soc-
mother described her during the
2007 case as "slow."
Potts urged prosecutors in West
Virginia to re-evaluate the case
and he said that Williams wants
people convicted to be released
from prison.
Brian Abraham, the former
Logan County prosecutor who
pursued the cases, said authori-
ties realized early in the investi-
gation that they could not rely on
statements from Williams, who
tended to embellish and exagger-
ate details. Instead, he said, the
seven defendants were convicted
on their own statements and phys-
ical evidence.
"If she's going to say that she
made it all up, that's absurd,"
Abraham said. "This looks like
another attempt to generate more
publicity."
Potts said he did not know why
the defendants have pleaded guilty
to something they did not do.
He said Williams is aware
that she could face legal conse-
quences for fabricating the story
and that he wants to have her
psychologically evaluated. He
said Williams told him certain
people were controlling her and
influencing her during the case.
He did not elaborate.
FULBRIGHT
From Page 1A
language and literature, with
geographic locations spanning
the globe - everywhere from Sri
Lanka to Guatemala.
University alum Salem Ghan-
dour spent the lastyear in Malaysia
on a Fulbright scholarship study-
ing energy policy reforms in the
country. He wrote in an e-mail that
he sat down with Malaysia's prime
minister and other top government
officials during his time there.
Ghandour wrote that although
he is disappointed that the Uni-
versity's Fulbright office does not
interview candidates, he thinks
one of the reasons the University
is so successful in the Fulbright
process is because the office is so
organized.
"Despite my complaints about
the Fulbright office at Michigan,
I have to admit that they orga-
nized, on a very regular basis, lots
of information session about Ful-
bright and were very clear with
deadlines and when to get the
application started," he wrote in
the e-mail. "I knew, after attending
a few sessions, that discipline was
key. And indeed, the info sessions
were spot on."
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cer cost the Athletic Department
an extra $600,000. The same A A
year, the University had to pay
Nike $760,000 to purchase ath-
letic equipment after it couldn't
manage to sign a contract with ZARAGON
the supplier, according to a 2004 U'S FINEST T E
article in The Michigan Daily. E F 2 21
After Martin took over, his 'Z '
business savvy started to speak '2 - E
for itself. He gave his first year's
salary back to the University,
negotiated a seven-year contract EU U E" U
with Nike and sealed a $1 mil-
lion radio contract. At the end of
the 2002 fiscal year, the Athletic
Department had already reversed
its deficit and was projected to 1 4 9 6 7
have a $5.5 million surplus.
But the Michigan Athlet-
ic Department's image issues 6
stretched beyond balance sheet
woes. In 2000, the Wolverines 2 3 7
were reeling from numerous off-
the-field issues, including the
investigation of a basketball scan- 3
dal that involved four players -
Louis Bullock, Maurice Taylor,
R obert Traylor and Chris Web-
ber - taking money from former 587
team booster Ed Martin in the
late 1980's. The Michigan basket-
ball program was placed on pro- 8 6V
bation in 2002, and Bill Martin
found himself partly responsible 7
for cleaning up the stain on the
University's reputation. S 9 3 1 8
"First of all, and some people
might not agree, hiring (for- 1* *
mer Michigan basketball coach)
Tommy Amaker (in 2001) was
a smart move," Madej said. "He
brought continuity and strength
of leadership that helped create
some of the respectability. And
then John Beilein has moved it to
the next level. I mean, his record
speaks for itself."
Martin fired Amaker in 2007
all record (43-53 Big Ten), say-
ing in his press conference that
"this basketball program is better
today than it was before he took
the job;but we both know that it
is not in the position either one
of us wants it to be after his sixth
year." :
Beilein, Amaker's successor,
finished 10-22 in his first season
but, in 2009, took the Wolverines PI
to the NCAA Tournament for the
first time in 11 years. The team's
surprising success finally pro-
vided the revitalization the team P A 3T3
desperately needed when Martin
took over nine years earlier.
Martin's decision to announce
his retirement early will give Uni-
versity President Mary Sue Cole-
man almost 10 months to find a
suitable replacement, which will
ensure the Athletic Department
will not need to scramble to find a
successor. He is leaving behind a
budget surplus and multiple con-
struction projects in the works, A
even during the current econom-
ic recession, which means the s
transition to a new athletic direc-
tor will surely be easier than it
was when Martin took the helmA ARBOR
in 2000. 929 E. ANN ST. ~734.913.9200
"I think his greatest strength 600 PACKARD ~734.741.9200
is bricks and budgets," University 1207 S. UNIVERSITY 734.827.2600
Lecturer and Michigan sportshis-
torian John U. Bacon said. "He has
no doubt attracted some critics, as 3365 WASHTENAW AVE. ~734.477.0000
any AD will over that stretch, but2 PLYMOUTH
it's got to be said, the department
is in much better shape now than YPSILANTI
when he found it." - i . .CO S
-Daily Sports Writer Ryan
Kartje, Daily Sports Editor Andy
Reid and Daily News Editor Kyle
Swanson Ontributed to this report.