1$0 4 46F 466PP ic i an 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. WEATHER H1I:52 GOT A NEWS TIP? Call 734-763-2459 or e-mail TOMORROW LU:-34 news@michigandaily.com and let us know. NEW ON MICHIGANDAILY.COM 'U to offer 400 doses of H1N1 FluMist vaccine. MICHIGANDAILY.COM/BLOGS/THE WIRE INDEX NEW S -.................................2 ARTS...... ......... ..S.......... .5 Vol. CXX, No. 44 SUD KU . . ................. .....3 CLASSIFIEDS........ .... .... 6 Q009 The MichiganDaily OPINION ....... SPORTS8 michigondaily cown O I I N4 S O T ................ 4/r