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Thursday, December 10,2009
michigandaily.com
CONSTRUCTING CAMPUS
" Ally. General
investigating
company in
N. Quad build
THE LAST DANCE
After worker death,
Michigan's attorney
general looking into
subcontractor
By DAVID TAYLOR
For the Daily
The masonry company cur-
rently working on the North Quad
residential and academic complex
is under criminal investigation
by the State Attorney General's
office, according to an official
from the Michigan Occupational
Safety and Health Administra-
tion.
The Attorney General's office
is currently reviewing the Fehru-
ary 2008 on-site death at the Uni-
versity of Michigan Museum of
Art, of.3-y3ear-old Leo Felty, Jr.,
a -worker for the subcontractor
Davenport Masonry, Inc.
Felty, a Pinckney, Mich.
native, fell from scaffolding last
February while working on the
$42-million addition to UMMA.
He was nearly 40 feet from the
ground when he stepped back-
wards off of his scaffold, which,
according MIOSHA construction
safety standards, should have had
a guardrail installed on all open
sides. He died on impact, officials
confirmed.
In response, MIOSHA cited
Davenport Masonry for four sep-
arate violations of construction
safety standards, totaling $61,600
in fines. Three of those were clas-
sified as "willful violations," the
most serious form of OSHA cita-
tions.
Davenport Masonry has
appealed the citations, according
to MIOSHA Construction Safety
and Health Division Director Bob
Pawlowski.
The gravity of citations classi-
fied as "willful" merit automatic
referral to the Michigan Attorney
General's office, Pawlowski said.
"When we issue willful vio-
lations, as we did in this case,
they're directly associated with
a fatality," Pawlowski said.,"This
means that an employer knew
of certain rules, and consciously
ignored them ... We are required
by law to send it to the criminal
division of the Attorney General's
office."
The Office of the Attorney
General is "currently reviewing
to determine whether or not they
See INVESTIGATION, Page 8A
5AMANTHA TRAUBEN/Daily
The Asian Pacific Islander Studies program showcased students hula dancing to celebrate the end of the semester. The performance was the culmination of a semester of
work in a class taught by Associate Prof. Amy Stillman.
U N DER RE PR ES E NTE D M IN O R ITY E N RO L M ENIT
Detroit educators respond to
ColeOman' ,sd "-Irec4OA,1ruit ment efforts
Officials: President's
pitch may push more
students to apply
By MALLORY BEBERMAN
Daily StaffReporter
Though the number of underrep-
resented minority students enrolled
at the University is decreasing, edu-
cators working in Detroit Public
Schools said University President
Mary Sue Coleman's trips to the
city's schools may be helping to
change that.
For every year since the passage
of a state constitutional amendment
in 2006 that banned the use of race-
based affirmative action, the num-
her of underrepresented minority
students enrolled at the University
has declined. According to data
released by the University in Octo-
ber, underrepresented minority
freshman enrollment is down 11.4
percent from last year.
in an effort to curb this decrease,
Coleman has been traveling to
Detroit and speaking to students
in hopes of encouraging them to
consider the University as a viable
post-high school option. in a series
of interviews over the last several
weeks, many Detroit educators said
the tactic is a practical solution to
stem the underrepresented minor-
ity enrollment declines.
In October, Coleman spoke to
hundreds of Detroit educators at the
2009 Wolverine Outreach Workshop
reception, which aimed to inspire
See DETROIT, Page 3A
TALKING ABOUT A REVOLUTION STUDYING IN THE STATES
In line with national trend,
more Chinese coming to'U'
JAKE FROMM/Daily
The full story on the Daily's news blogRomanian poet Andrei Codrescu, who is also a commentator for National
hat hegt ailye/b logs/h wre.Public Radio, speaks at Rackham Auditorium last night about the execution
atmichigardaifycom/hlogs/the wire. W I 20 years ago of Romania's dictator and the country's ensuing revolution.
SOUT H U. BLAZE
Hearing postponed one week for
suspect in abandoned building fire
Ex]
risi
in
d
A r
numb
stude
colleg
versit
espec
A
USA
nese
enroll
ties i
the c
Chine
gradu
at U.S
2009
that r
nation
China
signif
increi
demic
nese s
the U
At
officio
that t
true I
reasoi
perts say China's population on campus.
According to the University's
ing middle class, International Center's 2009 sta-
tistical report, the number of
creased wealth Chinese students enrolled at the
. Universityhasseena105-percent
riving the rise increase in the last 10 years, from
600 in the 1999-2000 academic
By ALLIE WHITE year to 1,227 in 2008-2009.
Daily StaffReporter Even this past year has a seen
- a significant rise in enrollment
new report shows that the with an additional 227 Chinese
'er of Chinese international students than the 2007-2008
nts attending United States academic year.
Yes is on the rise - and Uni- Though the University's
y officials say the trend is international reputation for aca-
ially true at the University. demic excellence is a key aspect
Dec. 8 article published by in attracting Chinese students,
Today reported that Chi- there are other factors at work as
college students have been well, officials said.
ling at American universi- Miranda Brown, associate
n record numbers. Across professor of Asian languages and
ountry, a total of 98,510 culture, cited increased wealth
rse graduate and under- and the development of a middle
ate students were enrolled class in China as major reasons
. institutions in the 2008- for the surge in students.
academic year, meaning Mentioning the one-child pol-
oughly 15 percent of inter- icy implemented by the Chinese
nal students were from government in 1979 - the popu-
. These numbers also lation control plan that restricts
y a staggering 60 percent the number of children married
ase from the previous aca- urban couples can have to one, if
year in the number of Chi- the family wishes to receive full
tudents studying abroad in government benefits - Brown
nited States, said it is now easier for parents
the University of Michigan, to afford an overseas education
als told The Michigan Daily for their children.
he same trend is holding "There's a lotmoremoney than
tere and pointed to several there used to be," Brown said. "A
ns for the growing Chinese lot of middle-class families want
BY THE NUMBERS
Increases in number of Chinese stu-
dents studying at American colleges
98,510
Numberof Chinese students studying
in the U.S. in 2008-2009
Percentage increase from 2007-2008 to
2008-2009 academic year in the
numberof Chinese students
studyingin the U.S.
1,F227
Number of Chinese students studying at
the University in2008-2009
1105% '
Percentage increase in the number of
Chinese students studying at the
University overtthe last10 years.
SOURCES: USA Today, International
Center 2009 Statistical Report
the best for their kids, and they
only have one, so they're able to
concentrate all their resources
on that child."
Echoing a similar sentiment,
Mary Gallagher, director of the
University's Center for Chi-
nese Studies, wrote in an e-mail
interview that education in
See CHINA, Page 3A
Justin Arens's
petition to
decrease his bond
denied by judge
By JILLIAN BERMAN
Daily News Editor
Justin Arens, one of the sus-
pects arrested in connection with
WE AT HE R HI: 25
TOMORROW LU 17
the blaze at the former location of
Pinball Pete last month, appeared
in Washtenaw County Court
today to postpone his preliminary
hearing until Dec. 16 to allow for
additional investigation.
His lawyer also petitioned for
Arens's family to post 10 per-
cent of his $100,000 bond, but
the petition was denied by Judge
Chris Easthope. Arens asked to
decrease the bond so he could be
released to live with his family in
Romulus, Mich.
Members of Arens's family,
including his mother, watched
the proceedings.
Arens has been charged with
arson of personal property in
connection with the Oct. 24 fire
that ravaged the South Univer-
sity Avenue landmark. The fire
displaced about 600 students that
night who were living in the Uni-
versity Towers apartment com-
See HEARING, Page 8A
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