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Ann Arbor, Michigan

Monday, December 14, 2009

A FIGHTER IN THE RING

michigandaily.com
Granholm
to sign ban
on smoking

JAKE FROMM/Daily
Kinesiology freshman Gabe Sheena stands on a Michigan wrestling mat on Friday. Sheena was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a form of bone cancer, when he was eight
years old. He lost most of his left leg when he underwent surgery to remove the tumor. Sheena got his first introduction to the wrestling team the summer before his fresh-
man year in high school when he attended a Michigan wrestling camp and started competing without his prosthetic leg. For more see SportsMonday Page 1B.
GE T TING INT GRAD SCHOL
Law schools seeing increased
applicants in tough: econ, omy

State Senate and
House passed bill
late last week
By BETHANY BIRON
Daily StaffReporter
Gov. Jennifer Granholm is soon
expected' to sign a bill that will
make Michigan the 38th state to
enact a smoking ban.
The much-discussed smoking
ban passed in both the state Senate
andthelHouse ofRepresentativeson
Dec. 10, and if signed by Granholm,
would take effect May 1,2010.
The bill prohibits smoking in all
bars, restaurants and work plac-
es, with the exception cigar 'bars,
tobacco specialty stores, home
offices and Detroit's three casinos.
Legislators included the exemp-
tion for casinos so Detroit casinos
would not have to compete with
tribal casinos, which do not have to
follow state law.
Though the bill has yet to reach
Granholm's desk, Megan Brown,
the governor's press secretary, told
The Michigan Daily that the gover-
nor will sign it once it does. '
Brown said that the governor
supports the bill because it will
make Michigan a healthier state.
"This is great news for Michi-
gan," Brown said. "This is truly a
gift for' our next generation and
this is all part of our effort toward
building healthier communities for

everyone in Michigan, for families
and kids and making it a cleaner,
healthier place."
In addition to the general health
benefits for the state, State Rep.
Joan Bauer (D-Lansing) noted the
importance of the ban in ensuring
employee safety, especially forthose
who inhale secondhand smoke on
a daily basis because they work in
establishments that currently allow
smoking.
"We are especially concerned
about the people who have to make
a choice between their health and
making a living in terms of jobs,"
Bauer said. "And so this really is
a bill first and foremost to protect
worker safety, and all Michigan
workplaces should be safe and
healthy."
State Sen. Liz Brater (D-Ann
Arbor) said that despite concerns
the ban could harm Michigan's
already ailing economy, she thinks
the state could model itself after
others that have already imple-
mented the ban.
"Many other jurisdictions -
including the state of New York, the
city of Rome - all are very success-
ful cosmopolitan. areas that have
adopted this ban without having
an adverse economic effect," Brater
said.
Many Ann Arbor bars and res-
taurants interviewed over the past
couple days agreed, sayingthatthey
think the ban will not be very det-
rimental to their businesses. While
. See SMOKING BAN, Page 8A

Business, medical challenging road ahead of them
than their peers applying to other
schools report professional schools.
Officials from law schools across
their numbers are the country are reporting a boom
time for applications, while their
holding steady counterparts at medical schools
and business schools say their num-
By NICOLE ABER bers are holding steady.
Daily StaffReporter As recent college graduates look
to avoid a bleak job hunt and the
Students looking to go to law recession forces more professionals
school next year may have a more to change careers, applications to

graduate and professional schools
- especially law schools - are
increasing, making admissions to
professional programs across the
nation more competitive than in
years past.
The University's Law School is
following the trend, with the num-
ber of applicants up 20 percentfrom
last year - the largest percentage
increase in seven years - at 3,000
this year, according to Sarah Zear-
foss, assistant dean and director of

law school admissions.
Zearfoss said she believes the
recession over the past year and
half is a major factor driving this
increase in applicants, a trend she
also saw duringthe economic down
times in 2001 and 2002. The Law
School saw a 30-percent increase
in its applicant pool between those
two years.
"My anecdotalbelief is that there
are a lot of people coming straight
See APPLICANTS, Page 8A


FACULTY HJRING
'U': Faculty hiring and
retention still strong

Former prof. lawsuit delayed til Jan.

Provost says state's
problems not
affecting personnel
By JOSEPH LICHTERMAN
Daily StaffReporter
While the stagnant economy
is affecting employers across the
state, the University continues to
retain current faculty members and
hire new staff, according to Univer-
sity Provost Teresa Sullivan.
Sullivan said the poor economy

and its implications for quality of
life - like education funding and
other publicservices - is not deter-
ring potential faculty members
from accepting jobs at the Univer-
sity. For example, she said every
person the University offered a
position in the College of Engi-
neering to lastyear accepted.
"Also, I just have to say the cali-
ber of the new faculty who joined
us this year is really high," she said
in an interviewlast month. "I think
they'll be a really great group."
Sullivan said the number of job
applicants has increased from last

year. She cited, in particular, the
Michigan Society of Fellows - a
Rackham Graduate School pro-
gram in which postdoctoral stu-
dents work on specific projects and
teach a few classes. Sullivan said
the program received 800 applica-
tions this year compared with the
100 they received last year.
In previous years, before the
economy crashed, Sullivan said the
University faced a lot of pressure to
retain faculty because other univer-
sities were heavily recruiting them.
However, she said, most other
See RETENTION, Page 8A

In hearing, lawyers
clash over details of
Hammer tenure vote
By DEVON THORSBY
Daily StaffReporter
LANSING - Former Univer-
sity Law Prof. Peter Hammer was
handed yet another delay in his law-

suit against the University Board of
Regents late last week.
Judge James Giddings said in'a
Lansing courtroom Friday after-
noon that he would have his deci-
sion whether the lawsuit - which
alleges that Hammer was denied
tenure in 2003 because he is gay -
will go to trial by late January.
Hammer's lawsuit has not yet
developedtothe trial phasebecause
the University Board of Regents

has filed multiple summary dispo-
sitions, which, if approved by the
judge, would keep the case from
going to trial.
Richard Seryak, an attorney rep-
resentingtheBoard ofRegents,filed
the summary disposition arguing
there is a lack of evidence that the
final decision to refuse Hammer's
tenure was based on his sexuality.
The Board of Regents has
See LAWSUIT, Page 3A

CARRYING ON TRADITION

UNIVERSITY RESEARCH
NIH, Medicare team to fund'U'study

Research will look
at the causes of
pulmonary disease
By GRACELIN BASKARAN
DailyStaffReporter
The National Institutes of
Health has recently joined up with
Medicare to sponsor a new study
at the University that will look into
why some smokers develop chron-
ic obstructive pulmonary disease
while others don't.
WEATHER HI: 32
TOMORROW 9

COPD is the fourth leading
cause of death in the United States,
affecting the lives of more than 12
million people. While cancer and
chronic heart disease mortality
rates have decreased, COPD is one
of the few major chronic diseases
in which the mortality rate has
increased, doubling in the last 30
years.
University researchers hope that
through this study they will not
only be able to stem the increase
but also reverse the trend.
Fernando Martinez, lead inves-
tigator for the study and direc-

tor of the University's Pulmonary
Diagnostic Services, said the col-
laboration between Medicare and
the NIH exemplifies the project's
significance.
"The government is a soloed
arena," Martinez said. "Medicare
is the largest insurance company
in the United States. The NIH has
typically been both an investiga-
tional agency that looks into bio-
logical problems as well as patient
problems."
"When the two of them come
together, it's a very unique and
See STUDY, Page 8A

zAcHARY MEISNER/Daily
Rabbi Alter Goldstein lights a hannukiah Saturday night on the Diag to commemorate the second night of Hannukah. The
lighting was hosted by Chabad of Ann Arbor and University of Michigan Hillel.

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