SHOWCASE SWEEP ON THE
After a slow start, the Michigan hockey team
posted impressive wins against Minnesota and with its plansto elec
Wisconsin in the College Hockey Showcase. to the DPS Oversigh
SEE SPORTSMONDAY, INSIDE SEE
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Ann Arbor, Michigan
PATROLLING CAMPUS POLICE
Student seats
on oversight
cmte. to be
elected posts
Monday, November 30,2009
michigandaily.con
THE OPENING ACT
MSA president says
assembly made
mistake in past by
appointing reps.
By STEPHANIE STEINBERG
Daily StaffReporter
Michigan Student Assembly
President Abhishek Mahanti said
the assembly's current practice of
nominating and appointing rep-
resentatives to the Department of
Public Safety Oversight Commit-
tee will soon be dropped.
The move comes a little more
than a week after independent
lawyers quoted in a Michigan
Daily article called into question
the legality of the nomination pro-
cess.
Mahanti said the assembly will
create a resolution in the coming
weeks to revise the MSA Compiled
Code, which will add an election
each semester for student repre-
sentatives to the Oversight Com-
mittee.
"We, as an executive board,
realize our mistake in not taking a
closer look at this Oversight Com-
mittee issue," Mahanti wrote in an
e-mail interview. "We've been pro-
active in using this opportunity to
learn from our mistake in regards
to our relationship with General
Counsel and to re-prioritize and
strengthen our Campus Safety
Commission."
Officials from MSA have come
under fire lately on two fronts with
regard to the DPS Oversight Com-
mittee - a body that was formed
in 1992 to meet state law and act as
a check on DPS, which was estab-
lished that same year.
First, an article published in the
Nov.16 editionof the Dailyoutlined
MSA's election process for student
representatives to the committee
- a process that independent law-
yers said may violate state law.
Then it came to light that MSA
officials had refused to meet with
a University professor who was
concerned about the legality of
election processes used to select
students, faculty and staff to serve
on the committee. MSA officials
defended themselves by saying
they opted not to meet with Prof
Douglas Smith after consulting
with the University's Office of
General Counsel, which advised
not to talk to him.
After learning about the situ-
ation at a Nov. 17 MSA meeting,
MSA Public Health Rep. Hamdan
Yousuf cautioned MSA's executive
board from "becoming just an arm
of the administration," according
to a Nov. 18 Daily article.
See DPS OVERSIGHT, Page 9A
The Boychoir of Ann Arbor performs on the steps of Hill Auditorium yesterday just before the Vienna Boys Choir took the main stage. The Ann Arbor-based singing
group, comprised of boys ages eight to 18, performs multiple concerts during the Christmas season. It's next is at First Presbyterian Church of Ypsilanti on Dec. 11.
RE-L A U NCHING MS A'S W E BSIT E
After some delay, MSA opts for
stop-gap to launch website soon
Officials say launch
was delayed due to
server problems
By MALLORY JONES
Daily StaffReporter
After four months and more
than $1,000 in Web develop-
ment costs, the Michigan Student
Assembly will make its new web-
site available to students by next
Tuesday, according to MSA Presi-
dent Abhishek Mahanti.
Mahanti, who made the new
website one of his central cam-
paign promises last spring, wrote
in a Sept. 25 e-mail to the student
body that the site would be up in
"the next few days."
"The website will be Wiki-
based, which allows different
committee and commission chairs
of MSA to have access to their
own pages, allowing for greater
transparency and accountability
in your student government," he
wrote. "We plan on opening this
framework to the entire student
body. It'll be called Michipedia,
and we think it will allow stu-
dents, faculty and staff to have
access to all Michigan-related
information at their fingertips. It
should be awesome."
Mahanti said in a recent inter-
view that MSA's Web team, which
consists of two hired develop-
ers making $8 per hour and a
small group of MSA representa-
'tives, completed the website in
the first week of October. But on
Oct. 6, when the current site was
replaced by a message saying the
new site would be up that day, the
See MSA WEBSITE, Page 10A
MICHIGAN STUDENT ASSEMBLY
A MSA elections begin today
Assembly's leaders
think new measures
will increase turnout
By JENNA SKOLLER
Daily News Editor
Despite the notoriously poor
turnout in, Michigan Student
Assembly fall elections, MSA mem-
berssaytheyexpectincreased voter
turnout in this fall's election, which
began last night at midnight.
Last fall, 9.6 percent of the stu-
dent voting population took part
in MSA elections, while only 5.3
percent took part in the 2007 fall
elections.
Election Director Emily Win-
ter said she expects higher voter
turnout because of the competitive
nature of the election and quality of
representatives this semester.
"We have really competitive
elections this year, and some really
great candidates," she said. "And
the candidates have been cam-
paigning really hard this year and
getting out their messages."
This year, the MSA Election
Board collaborated with Informa-
tion Technology Central Services
to put a link to the voting website
- vote.umich.edu - on the desk-
top of each ITCS computer, some-
thing the Election Board has been
working to get for the past several
semesters.
Winter said she thinks put-
ting the link on each desktop will
increase voter turnout because
"it's a really easy way for people to
vote."
As in past years, Winter will also
send a campus-wide e-mail today
to remind students to vote. Addi-
tionally, individual candidates and
representatives will campaign and
See MSA ELECTIONS, Page 10A
TOKEHAN >HAKMAN/Daily
Packard Pub, a new bar at the corner of Packard and State Streets, is set to open in January, according to the pub's owner.
New bar to fill South Campus void
STUDENT START-UPS
Students start business to help
athletes make leap to the pros
Nearby residents
have mixed feelings
about new pub
By LILLIAN XIAO
For the Daily
For students living near the
corner of Packard and State, the
void of a late night watering hole
may soon be filled.
The owner of a new sports bar,
Packard Pub - set to open in Jan-
uary - says his brew house will
be a more convenient option than
his competitors up State Street.
The pub occupies what was
once Artisan Bistro, an organic
specialty cafai. The bistro closed
last December, according to Pack-
ard Pub owner Kyle Miller. The
property remained vacant until
Miller began renovations three
weeks ago, installing a bar that
runs against two walls of the pub
and adding high-tops, projectors
and wall-mounted plasma screen
TVs.
The venue includes two stories:
a lower level reserved for private
parties and an upper level for the
general public. Miller plans to
turn one of the walls of the bar
into a painted mural of the Big
House.
While construction is under-
way, Miller is awaiting the
approval of a liquor license, a pro-
cess which he says takes a mini-
mum of six months. If the license
is not granted in time for the pub's
opening, Miller plans to continue
the pub's launch as a "dry run" to
begin serving food.
Prior to opening Packard Pub,
Miller managed a restaurant in
Chesterfield, Mich., which he said
closed because of the economic
See PACKARD PUB, Page 10A
Brandon Minor and
Brandon Graham
form first client base
By JOSEPH LICHTERMAN
Daily StaffEditor
At the beginning of the year,
Michigan football players Brandon
Graham and Brandon Minor knew
they were likely to enter the 2010
NFL Draft. They also knew that
when the time came, they would
need a lot of help.
They knew they would have
to train for the NFL combine, an
annual event in which college foot-
ball players showcase their athleti-
cism in front of coaches, general
managers and scouts. But when it
came to the business side of things
- finding agents and managing
portfolios as well as numerous
other money-related issues - they
were at a loss.
That's where LSA junior Jordan
Klein and Business junior Daniel
Sillman came in. The two started
Compass Management Group to
help college athletes manage their
business affairs when they are
transitioning to the pros. Graham
and Minor are their first clients.
See START-UP, Page BOA
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