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Ann Arbor, Michigan
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
michigandaily.com
DIVIDING THE DIAG
AD Martin
accused of
shoving two
DPS staffers
_
<<
JED MOCH/Daily
Louis Carrio IV, a fifth-year Engineering student and leader of the German Residential Community, and [SA senior Dan Hefflebower commemorate the fall of the Berlin
Wall by promoting an interactive model of the wall on which students posted messages. The wall was erected on the Diag by the German Residential Community and
German Culture Club to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the wall's fall.
SOUTH UNIVERSITY BLAZE
No leads in fire investiga tio
Fire chief: AAFD is
* waiting on AAPD to
move forward
By DARRYN FITZGERALD
Daily StaffReporter
The Ann Arbor Fire Depart-
ment has yet to determine any
leads in the investigation of a fire
that engulfed an abandoned build-
ing on South University Avenue,
more than two weeks ago.
Although fire department offi-
cials have ruled out natural causes
for the blaze that devastated the
former location of Pinball Pete's,
investigators have not identified
any suspects.
"We are waiting to see if the
police detectives come up with
something that would be appli-
cable for us to follow up on," Fire
Marshal Kathleen Chamberlain
said.
There is no new information
regarding whether the fire was
started intentionally.
Chamberlain told the Daily
that the Ann Arbor Fire Depart-
ment and Police Detective's Unit
are cooperative agencies, but.
work independently with regard
to these types of investigations.
"We're following up on what-
ever leads (the detectives unit)
has," Chamberlain said. "Some-
times there isn't much to follow
up on - that's why so many fires
are undetermined."
The fire department said it has
See INVESTIGATION, Page 7
Martin apologized
for incidents at
Notre Dame,
Delaware St. games
By JILLIAN BERMAN
Daily News Editor
University Athletic Director Bill
Martin apologized yesterday for
allegedly assaulting two students
who work for the Department
of Public Safety at home football
games on two separate occasions.
At the Michigan football games
against Notre Dame and Delaware
State, Martin allegedly made phys-
ical contact with the DPS staff-
ers after he was initially denied
entry into the Regents Guest Area,
according to a DPS incident report.
In a statement released late yes-
terday, Martin said that confusion
over changes in DPS protocol was
to blame for the incident and that
he had apologized to the two staff-
ers for his behavior.
"It was a frustrating situation,
and one I should have handled
differently," Martin wrote in the
statement.
The two victims will not be
pressing charges and DPS has
closed the file, according to Uni-
versity spokeswoman Kelly Cun-
ningham.
The first incident occurred atthe
Notre Dame game on Sept. 12. LSA
sophomore Jackie Turner told DPS
she was assigned to work the north
stairwell of the Regents Guest Area
to make sure only patrons with a
Regents Area wristband gained
entry to the area.
Just before halftime, Turner
was in charge of opening doors to
let patrons out of the area when
three males wearing University of
Michigan polo shirts attempted to
come through the doors, according
to the report.
Turner told DPS she stepped in
front of the doorway and told the
man in the front of the group that
she needed to see his pass to let
him in. in response, the man, Mar-
tin, put his hand on her shoulder
and said "Honey, I'm the athletic
director," pushing her just enough
so she would get out of his way.
According to the report, Turner
decided to report the incident after
she heard fellow employees talking
about a similar incident at the Oct.
17 game against Delaware State.
Arif Kahn, an Eastern Michi-
gan student and DPS employee,
told DPS he was assigned to work
the south stairwell of the Regents
Guest Area during the Delaware
State game.
Shortly after the game ended, a
man and woman, both elderly, tried
to enter the area and walked past
him "as if he wasn't there," accord-
ing to the report. Kahn said he put
his hand on the door and asked to
see their passes. In response, the
man "forcibly grabbed" Kahn's
windbreaker and pushed him
See MARTIN, Page 7
GETTING AROUND ANN ARBOR
Study has state 3rd worst roads
Report also finds structure and Transportation He added that since the annu- roads in Michigan's 83 counties.
Association. al study began three years ago, Washtenaw County came in
Washtenaw County In the study, which evaluated Michigan's roads have worsened. fourth in the study's rankings
federally funded roads through- "(The study) shows that we're of the counties with the greatest
has fourth worst out the state, Detroit came in going in the wrong direction," distance of roads in poor condi-
first with 586 miles of roads he said. "The number of lane tion, with 977 miles.
roads of any county in poor condition, followed by , miles falling under the category Ann Arbor City Councilmem-
1
S
t
BATTER, BANTER AND BOOKS
By STEPHANIE STEINBERG
Daily StaffReporter
Ann Arbor has the third worst
roads in Michigan, trailing only
Detroit and Grand Rapids in
rankings of the 1,800 munici-
palities in the state released
yesterday by the Michigan Infra-
Grand Rapid with 200 and Ann
Arbor with 189.
Mike Nystrom, vice president
of government and public rela-
tions for MITA and co-chair of
the Michigan Transportation
Team, said in an interview yes-
terday that the study demon-
strates that roads in large urban
areas are in the worst shape.
of poor pavement condition is
growing."
From 2007 to 2008, the num-
ber of roads in poor condition
increased 7 percent. Accord-
ing to the report, "poor" roads
require total repair, which could
cost four to five times as much as
standard road maintenance.
The study also assessed the
ber Sandi Smith (D-Ward 1) said
she had not read the report and
did not know why Ann Arbor's
roads were ranked the third
worst in the state.
"Why ours rank worse, not
better, than many other cities I
don't know," she said.
She said various cities have
See ROADS, Page 7
LITIGATION REPORT
Trial begins in alum's
lawsuit against 'U'
ACADEMIC FREEDOM
Columbia prof. talks
academic censorship
In testimony, McGee
said his professor
didn't follow research
safety protocol
By DEVON THORSBY
Daily StaffReporter
Trial proceedings began this
morning in the lawsuit filed by
former University student Rob-
ert McGee against the University
Board of Regents, claiming he was
unfairly dismissed from a research
position because he reported viola-
tions of safety policies.
McGee, 54, alleges he was fired
from his position under Assistant
Prof. Michael Hartman in the
nuclear engineering and radio-
logical sciences department after
McGee reported Hartman for being
"cavalier about laboratory safety."
McGee claimed that by firing
him, the University violated the
Whistleblower Protection Act,
which protects employees who
reportmisconductintheworkplace.
He is suing the University for com-
pensation of the emotional damages
he endured after being fired.
McGee's attorney, Christine
See TRIAL, Page 7
Philip Hamburger:
Review boards to
blame for limits on
speech in academia
By BETHANY BIRON
Daily StaffReporter
Columbia University Law
School Prof Philip Hamburg-
er gave a lecture yesterday in
which he asserted that the way
academic studiesare monitored
at universities is detrimental to
First Amendment rights.
Hamburger blamed institu-
tional review boards - com-
mittees that protect research
subjects in research and exper-
iments - for limiting possibili-
ties in academic research in his
lecture "Galileo's Ghost: 17th
Century Censorship in 21st
Century America."
The lecture, which was
given in Hutchins Hall, was the
19th annual installment of the
University of Michigan Sen-
ate's Davis, Markert, Nicker-
son Lecture on Academic and
Intellectual Freedom.
Provost Teresa Sullivan
introduced Hamburger, noting
the importance of the event.
See LECTURE, Page 7
AARON AUGSBURGER/Daily
Duff Goldman, host of the Food Network show "Ace of Cakes," debuts his new book
at Borders in downtown Ann Arbor last night.
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