~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. 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