The Michigan Daily - michigandaily. NEWS BRIEFS WASHINGTON Stimulus package created up to 2.1 million jobs com Wednesday, February 24, 2010 - 3A U' has 90 days to respond to allegations The economic stimulus law added between 1 million to 2.1 mil- lion workers to employment rolls by the end of last year, a new report released yesterday by congressional economists said. The nonpartisan Congressio- nal Budget office study also said the $862 billion, stimulus added between 1.5 to 3.5 percentage points to the growth of the econ- omy in 2009. The controversial stimulus law combined tax breaks for individuals and businesses with lots of government spending. The report reflects agreement among economists that the mea- sure boosted the economy. But the wide range of estimates means it won't resolve the debate over how effective the stimulus has been. The White House says the stim- ulus bill has created 2 million jobs and will add another 1.5 million thisyear as economic recoverycon- tinues to take hold. PHOENIX Ariz. legislature seeks to verify Obama's citizenship Nearly half of the Arizona Leg- islature wants to force President Barack Obama to show his birth certificate to state officials if he runs for re-election. 'A state House committee on Tuesday approved the measure sponsored by 40 of the state's 90 legislators. It would require presi- dential candidates who want to appear on the ballot in Arizona to submit documents proving they meet the requirements to be presi- dent. All 40 co-sponsors are Republi- cans, comprising 75 percent of the GOP caucus. Two of them have since resigned to run for Congress. The idea was proposed by Skull Valley Republican Rep. Judy Burg- es. She says if people have to prove their citizenship to apply for a job or get a passport, they should have to prove it to run for president - WASHINGTON Clinton encourages Russia to finish * nuclear treaty Secretary of State Hillary Rod- ham Clinton yesterday urged Russia to wrap up negotiations quickly with the Obama admin- istration over a key nuclear arms reduction treaty that expired in December. Clinton spoke by phone with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to press him on complet- ing the talks, which began last year and are still ongoing in Geneva as soon as possible, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said. "She emphasized to the foreign minister that our negotiators are close to reaching a agreement and encouraged Russia to continue to move ahead, push hard so we could reach an agreement in the next couple weeks," he told report- ers. "There are some details to be worked out and we hope we can do that in the coming days." "We are at the point where we think we can reach an agree- ment relatively quickly and we are encouraging the Russian side to do its part," Crowley said. ANKARA, Turkey 0 Miners killed in northwest Turkey mine collapse A methane gas explosion caused an underground chamber in a coal mine in northwestern Turkey to collapse yesterday, killing 17 work- ers, the governor said - the second deadly explosion at the mine in four years. The blast near the town of Dur- sunbey in Balikesir province buried the miners 820 feet (250 meters) below the surface, said Erhan Orta- koylu, the mine's owner. Rescue work was called off after 29 workers were evacuated, said Gov. Yilmaz Arslan of Bursa prov- ince. Eleven workers and a mining engineer were killed inside the mine and five others died at a hospi- tal, where they were admitted with severe burns, the state-run Anato- ha news agency said. - Compiled from Daily wire reports From Page1A versity violated regulations that prohibit staff members from monitoring football players in voluntary, off-season workouts and conditioning - two activities that the athletic department is also accused of having exceeded time restrictions on. Both of those potential viola- tions first surfaced in a Detroit Free Press article that was pub- lished in late August. In the wake of that report, the NCAA and the University both launched inde- pendent investigations into the matter. The notice of allegations - the culmination of the NCAA's inves- tigation - also specifically called out Michigan football coach Rich Rodriguez for acting in a manner that "failed to promote an atmo- sphere of compliance within the football program" and for failing to sufficiently monitor the activi- ties of his program with regard to the other allegations. The athletic department is similarly charged with not prop- erly overseeing the activities of the football program with regard to the allegations. Alex Herron, a graduate assis- tant football coach, is accused of providing NCAA investigators with misleading and, at times, false information about his role in the situation. University President Mary Sue Coleman, Rodriguez and incoming Athletic Director David Brandon announced the notice of allegations at the press confer- ence yesterday afternoon. Coleman began the briefing by saying that the University "has been cooperating with the NCAA in its investigation of our football program." "Intercollegiate athletics is a fundamental feature of the Uni- versity of Michigan, and we take pride in the integrity of our ath- letics program," Coleman said. "We also take full responsibility for knowing and following NCAA rules and thus view the allega- tions seriously." Coleman added that she and other University officials are "addressing concerns, quickly and head on." -."All of us - Coach Rodriguez, David Brandon and I - are deeply committed to compliance with NCAA rules and the future of our football program," she said. Brandon announced the notice of allegations from the NCAA during the press conference. Brandon said the NCAA brought allegations of wrongdoing in the number of hours student-athletes spent practicing and violated rules governing what activities could be attended by quality con- trol staff. "We clearly made mistakes in those areas, and we have already taken action to prevent any of those mistakes from being repeated," Brandon said. Brandon then went on to pro- vide what he described as a "top-level perspective" of the allegations. "In some out-of-season prac- tices where there are alleged overages, the overage is approxi- mately two hours in a week," Brandon said. "During the season on some Sundays, the allegation is that the University of Michi- gan exceeded the daily permis- sible practice time by less than an hour. In a single instance, the allegation is that an overage caused the team to exceed its 20-hour weekly permissible limit by 20 minutes." He continued: "I have looked into these permissible prac- tice hours issues, and I want to emphasize there were no situa- tions where any student-athlete's welfare was put at risk." However, Brandon reaffirmed that he would stand behind Rodriguez and that he would return next year as the team's head coach. "Rich Rodriguez is our football coach," Brandon said during the press conference. Brandon added that he believes the reason behind some of the allegations is the result of "inter- nal confusion." "We had a lack of clarity around whether time spent in stretching and warm-up activi- ties were 'countable minutes,' and this represents a portion of the discrepancies between the NCAA's findings and our prac- tice routines," he said. "Two of the NCAA allegations relate to how the institution and the coach monitored those two areas of concern." Brandon stressed that the NCAA's notice of allegations found no loss of institutional con- trol. "This is very important, there was no charge of loss of institu- tional control - none whatsoev- er," Brandon said. However, Brandon did raise some concerns over a reference made within the NCAA's letter to Coleman that points to NCAA bylaw 19.5.2.1, which describes the so-called repeat violator rule. "We are aware that we may be subject to this rule because of the 1996 basketball case, which as we all know, was a very different situation," Brandon said. "While penalties are up to the NCAA to decide, we understand the rules do allow for discretion." "In the basketball case, the University of Michigan complet- ed its investigation of the pro- gram and self-imposed penalties in November of 2002," Brandon continued. "The NCAA did not impose sanctions in that investi- gation until May 2003,so the pro- bationary period assessed by the NCAA continued through May 2008, which overlaps with the currently alleged violations by five months." Brandon also emphasized that corrective measures were already underway, but that more would come in the near future. "We have established a new 'fail-safe' procedure to help us do our internal tracking in a timely, effective way," Brandon said. "Now if the CARA forms are late by two weeks a notice goes to the head coach and AD. If the forms are still late one week later, it goes to the president." "Another example: Our quality control staff is no longer present in any activity that could be con- strued as a coaching situation," Brandon continued. "And, we are updating and redoubling our efforts on staff education in all areas." However, Brandon admitted there was still more work that needed to be done. "We will spend time carefully reviewing all of the allegations and determining how they.match with our own internal investiga- tion that was conducted in tan- dem with the NCAA," Brandon said. "If there are any instances where details of some allega- tions do not match, we will pro- vide that information as part of our responsive materials to the NCAA." Brandon said University offi- cials may also choose to self- impose sanctions as they continue to review the allegations and pre- pare their response to the NCAA. "During this review period, we also will consider, and imple- ment, any sanctions we choose to self-impose," Brandon said. Despite today's announce- ments, Brandon said he looks forward to working with oth- ers in the athletic department to address the allegations raised by the NCAA. "As the incoming athletic director, I want to make clear that no accusation against our program is trivial. We take this report very seriously, and we will learn from it and get better," Brandon said. "I look forward to working with Coach Rodriguez and his staff to address these con- cerns and continue the forward momentum of our football pro- gram." Current Athletic Director Bill Martin was not present at the press briefing, but expressed his support for Brandon's leadership -in a statement released after the press conference had ended. "We have cooperated fully with the NCAA, and we have been rigorous in our investigation of these matters as well," Martin wrote. "Now it is important that we carefully review the allega- tions, and move appropriately through the remainder of the process, to determine findings and ensure full compliance going forward." Martin continued: "I know Dave Brandon will guide the athletic department through the remainder of this process with excellent judgment, and I have every confidence that Coach Rodriguez, the entire football program and the compliance office can work together to make any necessary improvements." In a statement released on behalf of the University's Board of Regents, Regent Andrew Rich- ner (R-Grosse Pointe Park), who serves as the chairman of the board, said steps would be taken to ensure the program's compli- ance in the future. "The Board of Regents receives the NCAA notice of allegations with disappointment," Richner wrote. "The University of Michi- gan is an institution that believes in maintaining the highest stan- dards of integrity and sports- manship within it's athletic program." "We will undertake a consid- ered and thorough review-of the allegations with the president and incoming athletic director," Richner continued. "We will expect them to take all necessary steps to ensure full compliance with both the letter and spirit of all NCAA rules." Lloyd Carr, associate athletic director and former Michigan football coach, also released a statement following yesterday's press conference. In it, Carr said he was convinced the program would be able to overcome the challenges it currently faces. "I am confident we will resolve the issues that confront us in this NCAA report. From what I understand, there isn't anything we can't improve quickly and eas- .ily," Carr wrote. "I think we'll be able to correct any concerns, put this behind us and move the pro- gram forward." The NCAA launched its probe into the allegations in October when NCAA Vice President of Enforcement David Price sent a letter of inquiry to Coleman. At the time, Price said he antici- pated the investigation would be completed by the end of last year - though he said the date was a goal and not a deadline. The investigation was focused on allegations that Michigan's football team had violated NCAA restrictions on the num- ber of hours student-athletes are allowed to spend in practice and off-season workouts. However, from the beginning, NCAA offi- 'cials said they would look into any "new information" that may sur- face during the investigation. In addition to the NCAA's investigation into the allegations, the University launched an inter- nal investigation into the matter days after the Free Press pub- lished their article. No update or comment on the internal investi- gation has been given since it was launched.. SUSTAINABILITY From Page 1A or their graduate studies," she said. Each year, Pappas said the program will accept 25 "high- achieving" undergraduate stu- dents, who have a GPA of at least 3.3 and show a strong interest in sustainability. Students will also be required to provide a resume ARTIFACTS From Page lA "Whether they're Caucasian or not, we're still going to treat them the same way when they come back with the remains," Haakanson said. "We're going to treat them the same way we would treat any of our own ances- tors. So, that's the way we're always going to treat human remains." Additionally, Haakanson said though the two groups may seem at odds, both the museums holding the remains and the Native American tribes that want them back are trying to do the right thing. "Indigenous groups want to treat the human remains with the most respect by returning them into the ground," Haakanson said in an interview after the event. "While, on the other side, the anthropologists (and) the researchers want to document and learn from the human remains. So you have a major conflict of world views com- ing together." Haakanson said in order for museums and Native Ameri- can tribes to coexist, they need to compromise and find agreements that are respect- ful to all the parties involved. He cited an example from his own museum. After speak- ing with an elder from one of the local tribes, the museum staff learned that a bearskin they had on display at the museum was of great cultur- al significance to that tribe, Haakanson said. The museum had been allowing visitors to touch and play with the skin, but upon learning of its signif- icance, immediately stopped that practice. and professor recommendations and write a brief essay. Though the deadline of March 25 is approaching and no applica- tions have been received thus far, Pappas said there have been sev- eral inquiries into the program and a large demand for sustain- ability courses in general. "We can clearly see that students want this sort of thing," she said. Pappas also said the institute will continue to offer many sus- Haakanson also said the same elder told the museum staff that the tribe believed that all bear skulls - some of which the muse- um had in its possession - need- ed to face north-northwest so that the bears' spirits could find their way home. The museum complied with the elder's wishes in order to respect the indigenous group's rituals. Those who attended last tainability programs to students. "On an ongoing basis we're offering more and more oppor- tunities for integrated sustain- ability students, and this is just another thing that we're adding to the collection of things that we're offering," she said. Engineering senior Abbas Bader said he believes one of the strengths of the program is the fact that it brings together stu- dents from different disciplines. night's event expressed frus- tration that the University and Native American tribes seem to be at an impasse regarding what to do with the remains. Haakanson said patience was required, as often times, dis- putes like these take years to be resolved. He added that in order to make any progress the Uni- versity's museum administrators and the Native American tribes "I think it'd be a good mix with some of the engineering classes, to make some all-rounded students," he said. Engineering senior Zoha Mohammed said he thinks the courses offered through the pro- gram will be better than more tra- ditional classes because students will be allowed to express their opinions in a classroom setting. "I think that with students actually being the ones who are need to have a meaningful dis- cussion. "There needs to be some kind of discourse between the tribes and the University so you can come to some kind of resolution so it doesn't end up in some kind oftlegal battle," he said. Haakanson said the lively dis- cussion was a good way to raise awareness in the community and to keep the issue on the forefront discussing and creating these ideas, it would be a lot more effective," he said. Business sophomore Megan Ullmann said she thinks the pro- gram is important because it will teach students how to live a more sustainable lifestyle. "I think it's a good thing that they're encouraging sustainabilitk and learningmore aboutit," shesaid. "That'sreallytheonlywaytochange things, if people areeducated." of people's minds. "I think it is very helpful to have these discussions because it starts to open the door to a dia; logue that, to me, has been shut and stopped," Haakanson said. "People need to listen to each other and be able to share their sides and find some kind of mid- dle ground so they can resolve something that should be fairly straightforward." If you're a high performing undergraduate with a passion for sustainability, then check out the Graham Institute's new Sustainability Scholars Program. Each year, this competitive program will accept only 25 students, who will then pursue a 10-credit series of interdisciplinary courses focused on sustainability (including a place-based course). After successful completion of the program, you'll receive an exclusive Sustainability Scholars Certificate from the Graham Institute. Upon graduation, you'll also receive a special notation on your transcript acknowledging this scholastic accomplishment. So, go ahead. Start making your mark for a better world. Check out the details and online application at www.graham.umich, and apply by March 25, 2010! GRAI HAM GRA INSTITUTE