# G N M ds When do you have an obligation to hang with your high school friends and when is it time to let them go? PAGE 4A
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Ann Arbor, Michigan
Thursday, February 4, 2010
michigandaily.com
N AAt INVE TIGATION
In informal
meeting,
regents talk
NCAA probe
MARISA MCCAIN[Dily More photos from Lansing
Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm delivers her last State of the State address last night in the state Capitol Building in Lansing. M at f., Lansing
In the speech, Granholm called forthe restoration of the Michigan Promise Scholarship. at
SGranhoim says she plans to
restore Pro-mise Scholarship
Source says private
meeting took place
in Pres. Coleman's
conference room
By KYLE SWANSON
Daily News Editor
The University's Board of
Regents held an informal meeting
early yesterday morning to receive
an update on the NCAA's investi-
gation into the Michigan football
program, a source familiar with
the situation told The Michigan
Daily.
The meeting convened at 8 a.m.
yesterday morning in the confer-
ence room
in Univer- First reported on
sity Presi- Midhigdti)ailyconl
dent Maryx
Sue Coleman's office and lasted 90
minutes, the source said.
The NCAA investigation, which
has been officially underway since
October, is focused on allegations
that Michigan's football team vio-
lated NCAA regulations on the
number of hours student-athletes
are allowed to spend practicing
and in off-season workouts.
As he left the meeting, Regent
Andrew Richner (R-Grosse Pointe
Park) told the Detroit Free Press
to direct all questions to the Uni-
versity's general counsel, Suellyn
Scarnecchia.
Calls to other regents yesterday
went unreturned or were met with
no comment. A spokesman for
Coleman told the Daily that Cole-
man would not comment on the
meeting or the investigation.
University spokesman Rick
Fitzgerald confirmed that the
meeting had taken place, saying
notice of the regents meeting was
posted at the Fleming Administra-
tion Building yesterday. However,
Fitzgerald said because it was an
"informal meeting" and not a "spe-
cial meeting" the topic of the meet-
ing was not posted.
An informal meeting would
mean that the regents were sim-
ply briefed about something with
possible discussion, but that no
See REGENTS, Page 7A
In State of the State,
gov. announces
scholarship will be
in budget proposal
By TORREY ARMSTRONG
Daily StaffReporter
LANSING - In her eighth and
final State of the State address last
night, Democratic Gov. Jennifer
Granholm announced her bud-
get for the 2011 fiscal year would
restore the Promise Scholarship
and guard against further cuts to
education.
However, Granholm did not
reveal specific plans for funding
the scholarship's restoration.
The scholarship was elimi-
nated last November, when Gra-
nholm signed the final bills of the
2010 state budget. Granholm's
2011 budget plan will be officially
released next week when she sub-
mits it to the legislature for con-
sideration.
"The choices we face in thebud-
get are tough, but is there a single
family in Michigan that would
choose to make ends meet in hard
times by first sacrificing the needs
of the children?" she said.
The restoration of the Promise
Scholarship is especially signifi-
cant in light of rising tuition rates
in the state and the possibility of
decreasing state appropriations
for higher education. In her State
of the State last year, Granholm
called for a tuition freeze at all
public universities in the state.
But as the University experi-
enced further financial strain, the
regents voted 6-2 to raise tuition
by 5.6 percent last June.
Since then, budget shortages
have fueled speculation and even
See GRANHOLM, Page 7A
MICHIGAN FOOTBA L L
With Dorsey signing, Blue
gets major talent, concerns
SOUNDBOARD SUPREMACY
Rodriguez shoots
down criticisms over
defensive back's
criminal history
By RYAN KARTJE
Managing Sports Editor
With the majority of the Mich-
igan football team's 27-player
recruiting class already in place
by yesterday's
National Sign- NOTEBOOK
ing Day, Rich
Rodriguez's third signing day as
the Wolverines' coach proved to
be less suspenseful than his last
two.
Rodriguez even admitted that
thecoachingstaffwasonlyunsure
about the commitment of a few
players when the day began.
Michigan's final signee, Florida
defensive back recruit Demar
Dorsey, could be the jewel of
Rodriguez's recruiting class. The
Fort Lauderdale, Fla. native is
ranked as the No. 2 safety and No.
12 overall player in the country by
ESPN.
As a four-star defensiveback on
Rivals.com and Scout.com, Dors-
ey's talent isn't being called into
question. But past legal troubles
put Rodriguez on the defensive at
his press conference announcing
the signees yesteiday.
A Demar Dorsey listed on the
website of the Broward County
17th Judicial Circuit Court of
Florida, who's birthday matches
up with the Michigan recruit, is
cited on two felony charges: bur-
glary of an unoccupied dwelling
in 2007 and robbery with a dead-
ly weapon in 2008. Dorsey was
never convicted of either crime,
and both summaries list the cases
as closed.
Though Dorsey was never con-
victed, the announcement that he
was signed highlighted previous
concerns about Rodriguez's vet-
tingduringthe recruiting process.
Last August, backup quarterback
Justin Feagin, who had a check-
ered'legal past before joining the
team, was dismissed from the
team on cocaine charges.
"There's nobody on this foot-
ball team that we're signing that
has a felony conviction and there's
See SIGNING DAY, Page 7A
MICHIGAN STUoENT ASMoLY
S4PG works to revamp MSA code
iuOREHAN SHARMAN/Daly
Dave Greenspan, audio resources coordinator at the Digital Media Commons located in the Duderstadt Center, discusses the
API Vision. The soundboard is available to all University students through a series of training programs. Greenspan says that at
the moment, DMC owns two of the 14 API Vision soundboards in existence.
UPenn prof. talks diversity
in higher education at event
Perna: Increasing lenges facing higher education in "Increasing post-secondary
America. educational attainment is impor-
access to college SpeakingintheRackhamassem- tant given the changing economy
bly hall, Perna said her research is and global competitiveness," Perna
important for state's focused on understanding the way said.
.n.woicopun-1.1o.,, ie Ao--1sa ! ~ric 5g A- 47--- +1u - sue rrge-
Student group with
ties to MSA needs
1,000 signatures to
get plan on ballot
BY ELYANA TWIGGS
Daily Staff Reporter
A campus group with ties to
the Michigan Student Assembly
is looking to make big changes to
the MSA Student Compiled Code.
The process - which includes
redrafting the entire document
and seeking support for the final
version - began this month.
Last fall, MSA representatives
wanted to revise the code through
a constitutional convention, but
Rackham representative Kate
Stenvig raised concerns about the
revision, calling the action uncon-
stitutional. Because the document
could not be restructured inter-
nally, LSA senior and MSA vice
president Michael Rorro started
Students for Progressive Gover-
nance as a grassroots organiza-
tion to develop a draft.
The group is currently mak-
ing its second attempt to revamp
the document - 26 years after
the last full-scale revision. Rorro,
chair of S4PG, said the group will
have the final document ready by
Monday.
The proposed constitution calls
for a restructured assembly con-
sisting of a new legislative branch
along with the central executive
branch already in place.
Changes made to the cen-
tral executive branch will
be designed to increase its
See CODE, Page 7A
changing economy
By VANESSA NUNEZ
Daily StaffReporter
In front of a group of about 50
students, faculty and staff, Laura
Perna, an associate professor at
the University of Pennsylvania,
gave a talk yesterday on the chal-
in which public policies and social
norms affect higher education
opportunities for women, minor-
ity groups and individuals of low
socioeconomic status.
Highlighting Michigan's need
to increase educational perfor-
mance in areas like Detroit, Perna
said universities play an important
role in improvement efforts and
promoting higher education.
Crting a study fram the George-
town University Center on Educa-
tion and the Workforce, Perna said
an estimated 30 million jobs will
require secondary education by
2018.
"Unless we increase our current
levels of production, the demand
for college educated workers will
exceed the supply," Perna said.
See PERNA, Page 7A
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