iC i aIZ a4dirt l
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
michigandaily.com
WARMING UP WITH THE PRE TM NT
SU DENT RI.GHTS
MSA draws
back support
for student
code revision
University President Mary Sue Coleman speaks during a fireside chat in the Michigan Union yesterday. Coleman meets with a small group of students at different loca-
tions across campus once a month to answer questions and discuss campus issues.
U NIV E RSIT Y ST EM C E LL RE SE A RC H
Researchers clear major hurdle,
can now accept donated embryos
Controversial change
would have lessened
burden of proof for
student violations
By MALLORY JONES
Daily Staff Reporter
The Michigan Student Assembly
voted last night to retract the most
contentious of seven recommend-
ed changes the body made for the
Statement of Student Rights and
Responsibilities earlier this semes-
ter.
MSA had previously endorsed
an amendment to the student code
that would lower the standard of
evidence needed in a case brought
against astudentthrough theOffice
of Student Cunflict Resolution.
But more debate on the topic -
prompted by concern expressed by
members of the Senate Advisory
Committee on University Affairs
- brought forth an opinion among
some members that the original
recommendation was made with
mostly sexual assault victims in
mind, and that the lower standard
might not be appropriate for other
types of complaints. .
Currently, OSCR requires a clear
and convincing standard to find
a student guilty of violating the
Statement of Student Rights and
Responsibilities - the main docu-
ment that governs studentbehavior
and activity on campus.
On Oct. 6, MSA approved a rec-
ommendation that the standard of
evidence be lowered to a prepon-
derance of the evidence standard.
LSA Rep. Vickie Hwang, who
co-authored the original resolution
along with LSA Rep. Adam DeSan-
tis, said the idea was to increase
the likelihood of a victim of sexual
assault coming forward.
MSA retracted the recommenda-
tion last night in a 14-13 vote, with
three representatives abstaining.
A preponderance of the evidence
is defined as "the greater weight of
the evidence," whereas the clear
and convincing standard requires
that the accusation be proven
"highly probable or reasonably cer-
tain," according to Central Student
Judiciary Justice Ryan Particka,
who read from Black's Law Dic-
tionary.
At its core, the amendment would
have lessened the burden needed to
punish a student for violating the
Statement of Student Rights and
See STUDENT CODE, Page 3A
Approval makes way
for first major 'U'
project since voters
lifted restrictions
By GRACELIN BASKARAN
Daily StaffReporter
More than a year after Michi-
gan voters passed an amendment
allowing embryonic stem cell lines
to be created in the state, Univer-
sity scientists have finally received
approval to accept donated embry-
os - a necessary step for research-
ers to begin developing stem cell
lines.
With the recent go-ahead from
two University oversight boards,
University researchers will be able
to use the donated embryos to start
the first major stem cell research
project since the passage of a state-
wide proposal last November that
reduced restrictions on stem cell
research in Michigan. Through
the project, researchers will use
donated embryos to create the
University's first human embry-
onic stem cell lines.
Eva Feldman, director of the
Alfred Taubman Medical Research
Institute, announced the approval
yesterday during a speech to the
Detroit Economic Club.
Proposal 2, a ballot initiative
passed by state voters in November
2008, allows researchers to derive
embryonic stem cell lines from
donated embryos.
But without the approval
from the University's Human
Pluripotent Stem Cell Research
Oversight Committee and the
Medical School's institutional
Review Board - announced yes-
terday - researchers couldn't
move forward with their plan to
create a human stem cell line.
The project was approved on
Nov. 11, according to a University
press release.
See STEM CELLS, Page 3A
PATRLLNG THE CAMPIJS P
rr
POST-GRAD JOB HUNT
MSA moves ahead with Site aims to keep grads in Mich.
DPS Oversight fixes
Proposal would put
0 election of student
representatives to
campus-wide vote
By MALLORY JONES
Daily StaffReporter
A resolution proposed last
night at the Michigan Student
Assembly meeting would allow
the student body to vote for the
two student members of the
Department of Public Safety
Oversight Committee.
The proposed resolution comes
after The Michigan Daily pub-
lished an article on Nov. 16 high-
lighting a series of problems with
the DPS Oversight Committee,
including analysis from indepen-
dent lawyers who said that the
assembly's current appointment
process for representatives may
violate state law.
Although state law requires stu-
dent, faculty and staff members of
the DPS Oversight Committee to
be "nominated and elected" to the
committee by the each constitu-
ency group, MSA has in recent
years appointed students to serve.
MSA President Abhishek Mah-
anti, who co-authored the reso-
lution, urged MSA members to
support it to ensure the assem-
bly would no longer violate state
law. He also said that many of the
members were motivated to get a
resolution on the table after first
hearing about the issue.
"It's nice that the entire assem-
bly got behind (the issue) to fig-
ure out what can be done to go
See DPS OVERSIGHT, Page 7A
Intern In Michigan
matches students
with employers
By SUZANNE JACOBS
For the Daily
About half of Michigan college
students leave the state once they
graduate - a sobering fact that
significantly hampers the state's
prospects for future economic and
job growth.
But Intern In Michigan, a
joint project between the Detroit
Regional Chamber and West
Michigan Strategic Alliance, is
an initiative launched earlier this
year that seeks to remedy the
state's brain drain.
Intern In Michigan matches
college students with prospective
employers through a website with a
model similar to an Internet dating
service. The programwaslaunched
this past April and already has more
than 7,000 student and 700 employ-
er profiles, according to Greg Han-
del, senior director of workforce
development for the Detroit Cham-
ber of Commerce.
Britany Affolter-Caine, the
director of Intern In Michigan, said
See WEBSITE, Page 7A
PUTTING YOUR FEET UP
GETTING INTO GRAD SCHOOL
Data show more are taking GRE
Officials point to
down economy as
reason for increase
By JOSEPH LICHTERMAN
Daily StaffReporter
With a treacherous job market
and a dismal economy, recently
released numbers show that more
students are electing to take the
Graduate Record Examination
and apply to graduate school
WEATHER HI 19
TOMORROW LU
instead of looking for jobs after
they graduate.
Statistics provided by Educa-
tional Testing Service, the com-
pany that administers the .GRE,
show there has been a 13-percent
increase this year over last year in
the number of students taking the
GREin the United States.
The GRE is used as an admis-
sions test for graduate school. The
test is made up of three sections:
verbal reasoning, quantitative
reasoning and analytical writing.
While ofAcials from the compa-
ny point to several reasons for the
increase, the most clear-cut one is
simply that students are looking at
graduate school in larger numbers
in this tough job market.
Mark McNutt, ETS manager
of media relations, said histori-
cally the number of people who
take the GRE increases during
a recession. He added that one
cause of this may be that individ-
uals with advanced degrees are
more likely to find jobs once they
leave school.
See GRE, Page 7A
MARISSA MCCLAIN/Daily
Residential College freshman Lily Springsteen relaxes by doing some yoga at an event hosted by the Health and Wellness Forum
at East Quad Residence HalI yesterday.
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