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THE CAMPUS COMMUN
Rule change
could alter
'U' handling
of remains
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
michigandaily.com
DIGITAL DRESS REHEARSAL
Museums must now
reassess culturally
unidentifiable Native
American remains
By CAITLIN HUSTON
Daily StaffReporter
A change in the 1990 Native
American Graves Protection and
Repatriation Act may force the
University of Michigan's Museum
of Anthropology - as well as muse-
ums across the country - to redis-
tribute their collections of Native
American human remains.
The act requires museums to
maintain inventories of Native
American artifacts, make inven-
tory lists available to the public and
work closely with tribes to return
artifacts that are associated with
specific tribes.
On Monday, a NAGPRA com-
mittee approved a change in the
act that will force museums -
like the University's Museum of
Anthropology - to inform Native
American tribes that "culturally
unidentifiable" remains found in
their tribal regions may potentially
be returned to them.
Before the addition to the act,
museums were not obligated to
return anyunidentifiable remains.
Currently, the University's
Museum of Anthropology houses
1,390. "culturally unidentifiable"
remains, which have been the sub-
ject of controversy in the past.
After much debate on campus
about the remains, the University
formed the Advisory Committee on
Culturally Unidentifiable Human
Remains last October to deter-
mine how to deal with the Native
American culturally unidentifiable
remains that are in the museum's
collection.
According to an Oct. 15 Michi-
gan Daily article, the committee
was created partially in response
to the expectation that NAGPRA
would soon be revised and to help
the University decide how best to
deal with the remains.
LSA sophomore Alys Alley, the
co-chair of the Native American
Student Association at the Univer-
sity, wrote in an e-mail interview
that she and other members of the
group believe that the new rule will
mean that the culturally unidenti-
fiable remains in the University's
possession will be returned to their
respective tribes.
"Many of those remains that are
held by the University of Michi-
gan Museum of Anthropology are
the ancestors of the Native Ameri-
See REMAINS, Page 7A
Video Studio Consultant Jeff Alder prepares for "Mapping the River" yesterday in the Duderstadt Center Video Studio. The show is an interdisciplinary performance on
the endless cycle of water and will be performed on Wednesday night.
RHA to survey udents today on
gender-neutral housing optons
Survey meant to
assess residents'
interest in proposal
By CHELSEY DAMBRO
For the Daily
The Residence Hall Associa-
tion will be sending out a survey
today to gauge students' interest
in the option of gender-neutral
housing to those living in Univer-
sity Housing.
In April 2009, the Spectrum
Center Student Advisory Board
drafted a proposal to reevalu-
ate the current gender-neutral
housing option. Since then, many
groups on campus like the Ameri-
can Civil Liberties Union, the
Michigan Student Assembly, and
now, RHA have supported the
proposal to make accommoda-
tions for students who may feel
uncomfortable living in same-sex
living arrangements.
Though there are options cur-
rently available for transgender
students, the proposal would offer
students more gender-neutral
housing options.
The Spectrum Center website
states that current gender-neu-
tral housing accommodations are
made on a case-by-case basis and
that applicants have no guarantee
that their preferences will be met
due to limited space.
In addition, according to the
University Housing website, stu-
dents undergoing sex reassign-
ment surgery are placed in rooms
according to their birth gender
until their surgery is complete.
LSA sophomore Lindsey
Schmuker, who is involved with
the Gender Neutral Housing
Coalition and Working Group and
chair of the Housing Advocacy
Committee of RHA, said she had
a large role in creating the survey
According to Schumker, the
survey is expected to include a
See SURVEY, Page 7A
A PURLTCI NTERVIEW
MSA pres. apologizes once
again for website expense
Website developers
say overspending
was the result of
miscommunication
By ELYANA TWIGGS
Daily StaffReporter
Michigan Student Assembly
President Abhishek Mahanti con-
tinued to apologize last night for
a failed MSA website that cost
$9,244.60.
At the assembly's meeting yes-
terday, Mahanti said though an
attempt to fix MSA's old website
cost more than $9,000, the cost
of the project was originally esti-
mated to be $3,000 to $4,000.
"This was not a line item bud-
get," Mahanti said at the meeting.
"We did not have a hard limit set."
In an interview after the meet-
ing, Mahanti said he was sorry
the project ended up being so
expensive.
"I apologize for the expendi-
ture," he said in the interview.
"I've taken responsibility for it
and hope we can move on."
At the meeting, Mahanti told
representatives that it was a
mistake for him not to inquire
further about how much money
was being spent on the website or
See MSA, Page 7A
JAKE FROMM/Daily
Jay Wilgus, a candidate vying to become the directorof the Office of Student Conflic tResolution, gives a presentation in the Wolver-
ine Room of the Michigan Union yesterday. Wilgus, the assistant dean of students at the University of Utah, explained his vision for
OSCR dyring his presentation. For a full story on Wilgus's visit to campus, see News, Page 7A.
ST. PATRICK'S DAY
While fraternities are permitted to have holiday
parties tonight, nonehaveregistered with IFC
Daily, 'U'sued by former editor
Daytime festivities
scheduled to end by
*0 1p.m., leaders say
By VERONICA MENALDI
Daily StaffReporter
St. Patrick's Day partying at fra-
ternities on campus is something
of a campus tradition, and accord-
ing to Interfraternity Council offi-
cials, the activities are sanctioned
by the IFC.
Michael Miniaci, IFC's vice
president of social responsibility,
wrote in an e-mail interview that
events that take place during the
day can't be regulated by the IFC's
Social Responsibility Committee.
But if fraternities do have daytime
parties, they're expected to fol-
low the rules laid out in the IFC's
Social Environment Management
Policy - like having sober moni-
tors and not using glass bottles.
Fraternities are allowed to have
parties tonight as long as they're
registered with the IFC, but as of
IFC's deadline Monday night, no
fraternities had registered parties,
See IFC, Page 7A
Three current and
former editors also
named in lawsuit
By JOSEPH LICHTERMAN
Daily StaffReporter
A former Michigan Daily news
editor has filed a lawsuit against
the University of Michigan, The
Michigan Daily and three current
and former Daily editors.
The former editor and current
University student, Julie Rowe,
resigned from her position as a
senior news editor at the Daily
in March 2009 after top editors
claimed Rowe had plagiarized in
two articles - one of which ran in
print and online, while the other
was discovered before publica-
tion.
In her lawsuit, filed recently in
Washtenaw County Circuit Court
and disclosed in the University
Board of Regents monthly liti-
gation report on Monday, Rowe
alleges that Gary Graca, then edi-
tor in chief of the Daily, Courtney
Ratkowiak, then managing editor
and now a columnist for the Daily,
and Jacob Smilovitz, then man-
aging news editor and current
editor in chief of the Daily, were
For the full text of the lawsuit
ksee
wrong in their assessment that
her actions constituted plagia-
rism. The suit also claims that
the University sanctioned the
newspaper's alleged unfair treat-
ment by neglecting to appropri-
ately supervise the Daily - which
claims to be editorially indepen-
dent.
Rowe has brought four charg-
es - defamation, intentional
infliction of emotional distress
and denial of substantive and
procedural due process rights -
See LAWSUIT, Page 7A
WEATHER HI: 63 GOT A NEWS TIP?
Call 734-763-2459 or e-mail
TOMORROW LO news@michigandaily.com and let us know.
NEW ON MICHIGANDAILY,COM
Daily Arts's guide to this week's online diversions.
MICHIGANDAILY.COM/BLOGS/THE FILTER
INDEX NEW S ...............2.................2A CLASSIFIEDS........... h.........,6A
Vol CXX, Not10 OPINION... . . 4A SPORTS....8A......................A
(201 TheMichiganlDaily ARTS.......5A THE STATEMENT.................B
michigondoily.com S...........
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