~Ije £dii4an0aitF
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
michigandaily.com
* ELECTION DAY 2009
County
rejects
millage
Proposal would have increased
taxes to help fund area schools
By DYLAN CINTI
Daily Staff Reporter
Nearly 60 percent of Washtenaw County vot-
ers rejected a property tax increase yesterday that
would have provided additional funding to the area's
public schools.
The Regional Enhancement Millage was proposed
by the Washtenaw County Intermediate School Dis-
trict, which is comprised of10 school districts includ-
ing Ann Arbor Public Schools, to deal with mounting
budget concerns.
The millage would have increased county prop-
erty taxes by $2 for every $1,000 of taxable value
over a five-year period, with revenue distributed to
districts on a per-pupil basis.
The millage faced significant opposition from sev-
eral local groups, including Citizens for a Responsible
Washtenaw and Ann Arbor Citizens for Responsible
School Spending. The groups cited reckless school
spending and Michigan's dire economy as reasons
for opposing the millage.
CRW, a group mainly comprised of local busi-
nesspeople, devised an alternative "five-point plan
for district transformational change," according to
Albert Berriz, CRW's treasurer.
Berriz said he's pleased that Washtenaw County
voted against the millage and hopes that AAPS con-
siders his group's plan.
"Our five-point plan is what we believe in," Berriz
said. "The voters have spoken, and now we have to
put that plan into action."
AAPS Superintendent Todd Roberts told the Daily
on Monday that the district would likely face sub-
stantial cuts if the millage didn't pass.
See MILLAGE, Page 7
LSA senior Hatim Elhady, whose bid for City Council failed, marks a precinct result onsa map during his election watch party yesterday.
Council incumbents win day
In,
LS1
bid f
In th.
terday's
Sabra B
beat out
year tei
Council
yesterday's vote, Higgins defeated LSA senior Hatim
Elhady in the 4th Ward contest with
A senior Elhady's 62.11 percent of the vote, according
to unofficial elections results at 12:55
or the council fails a.m, after 122 of the 124 precinctswere
counted. Briere, who was running for
By EMILY ORLEY a seat in the 1st Ward, defeated inde-
Daily StaffReporter pendent Mitchell Ozog with 77.84 per-
cent of the vote.
e only contested seats for yes- In the uncontested races, incum-
city election, incumbents bents Mike Anglin and Stephen
riere and Marcia Higgins both Rapundalo both won re-election in the
their opponents to claim two- 5th Ward and 3rd Ward, respectively.
rms on the Ann Arbor City Former Councilmember Stephen
1. Kunselman also won an uncontested
race on Tuesday to represent the city's
3rd Ward.
In a phone interview last night,
Higgins told The Michigan Daily
she was pleased with the elections'
results. She said that she would hope
in the coming years that University
students would have a stronger voice
in the affairs of the city.
"I (would like) to see students get
more involved and I think we need to
find ways to do that," she said. "There
are task forces and commissions that
I think their input would be very
invaluable."
Higgins' campaign leading up to
the Nov. 4 election emphasized her
experiences and efficiency on the
council. She told the Daily earlier this
week that if elected she would push
for re-zoning to provide more growth
and development downtown, as well
as fixing city budget issues.
"I have spent decades in Ann Arbor
- volunteering for local nonprofits,
raising my family and working on
city government issues," she told the
Daily. "City Council is not a game. It's
a serious business that requires a real
See CITY COUNCIL, Page 7
MSA commission pushes plan for
course info to be available earlier
Policy pushes for
With 'U' Innocence
Clinic's help, Detroit
man freed from prison
some materials to be
ready before
class registration
By MALLORY JONES
Daily StaffReporter
A new academic policy in the
works may make choosing classes
every semester less of a gamble.
The Michigan Student Assem-
bly Academic Affairs Commission
has initiated a push for a policy
that would require professors to
provide more information online
about their courses before stu-
dents register for classes.
John Lin, chair of the Academ-
ic Affairs Commission, said that
this change would allow students
to make more informed choices
about courses.
"We realized that when it
comes to registering for courses
students don't really have that
much information to make their
decisions off of," Lin said.
He said the commission would
like to see professors post their
syllabuses on CTools before stu-
dents register for classes.
"By putting that online ahead
of time, you're providing students
with the information that you are
going to cover, the books you are
Dwayne Provience
served eight years
for a murder he
didn't commit
By ALEX KIRSHENBAUM
For theDaily
It has been a long road to free-
dom for Dwayne Provience.
In 2001 he was convicted of a
murder he didn't commit and after
eight years in prison, he is today
back with his family.
Last Friday, the University Law
School's Innocence Clinic, which
has been working on Provience's
case for the past nine months,
presented evidence to a criminal
court in Detroit for a motion to
relieve judgment. A prosecutor
could then decide, based on the
evidence, whether to take the case
back to court or accept the motion.
The prosecutor accepted the
motion yesterday and Provience
walked away, no longer convicted
of the murder.
Provience's journey, however,
has not been an easy one.
In 2001, Provience was charged
with the murder of Rene Hunter.
Hunter was gunned down on the
corner of Pembroke Street and
Greenfield Road onthe westside of
Detroit and Larry Wiley, a Detroit
resident, claimed Provience and
his brother were responsible for
the murder.
Earlier this year, however,
Wiley recanted his testimony,
saying he has recently been diag-
nosed with cancer and wanted to
clear his conscience of the lies he
said he told about Provience.
When he heard the news, Pro-
vience didn't wait longto act, con-
tacting the Innocence Clinic to
help clear his name.
In March, the clinic agreed to
help based on the recanted testi-
mony of the prosecution's key wit-
ness. It soon found that the case
was a bit more complicated.
When the clinic first began
looking into the case, Innocence
Clinic workers found that the
prosecution had obtained the
police officer's progress notes for
the investigation. These progress
notes revealed that the officers
had linked Hunter's murder to
the murder of Courtney Irving, a
Detroit resident who was killed
one month after Hunter.
The prosecution failed to dis-
close this information during the
trial.
See INNOCENCE CLINIC, Page 7
MSA Executive Board members converse during the assembly's weekly meeting yesterday.
going to require, your exam dates
- all the stuff that's really impor-
tant for Michigan students," Lin
said.
The commission is working
in partnership with the Senate
Advisory Committee on Univer-
sity Affairs' Academic Affairs
Advisory Committee.
Prof. Gregory Wakefield, chair
of the SACUA committee, said
in a phone interview that while
requiring professors to post their
exact syllabus may not be real-
istic, the committee supports a
general increase in the amount of
information provided to students
at registration.
"All of us want to make sure
that what we are teaching in our
classes is understood as being
here and available to our stu-
dents," Wakefield said.
At last night's meeting, MSA
reviewed a resolution that would
allow the Academic Affairs Com-
mission to continue to lobby
SACUA for this policy. Once the
Academic Affairs Advisory Com-
mittee forms a policy change, it
will submit the change along with
the committee's recommenda-
tion to SACUA for consideration,
Wakefield said.
The MSA resolution is set to be
voted on next week.
LSA sophomore Alex Levine,
who co-authored the MSA resolu-
tion, said in an interview that this
additional information could help
students find courses that they
See MSA, Page 7
WEATHER HI: 45
TOMORROW M LO: 27
GOT A NEWS TIP?
Call 734-763-2459 or e-mail
news@michigandaily.com and let us know.
Arrangements made for Robert Koonce's funeral
MICHIGANDAILY.COM/BLOGS/THE WIRE
INDEX NEWS..................................2 ARTS ...............................,5
Vol. CXX, No.40 SUDOKU.............................. 3 CLASSIFIEDS ........................6
©2009The MichiganDaily OPINION...........................4 SPORTS.......... .............8
michigondoily.com "