From The Daily: With their practical ambition, MForward's Chris Armstrong and Jason Raymond are the right picks to lead MSA. PAGE 4A
In this week's Statement, the editors offer up their
picks for the 10 students of the year - in our view,
the best of the Leaders and Best.
THE STATEMENT, INSIDE
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Ann Arbor, Michigan
Wednesday, March 24,2010
michigandaily.com
LIGHTS, CAMERA, ANN ARBOR
UNIVERSITY L AW SCHOOL
Students in
Innocence
Clinic called
as witnesses
Students and Ann Arbor residents enjoy music and hors d'oeuvres before the first film of the 2010 Ann Arbor Film Festival The 48th annual festival, which started yester-
day and continues through Sunday, features 170 films from more than 20 countries.
All not aboard: Plans for A
to'Detro it rai line delayed
Prosecution seeks
testimony from 'U'
law students who
worked for defendant
By KAITLIN WILLIAMS
Daily StaffReporter
A recent development in a case
being handled by the University
Law School's Innocence Clinic
has left some from the legal team
with raised eyebrows.
In an action that Innocence
Clinic co-director Bridget
McCormack calls an "unusual
move," prosecutors have put the
Innocence Clinic's law students
on the witness list for a retrial
scheduled in April.
The Innocence Clinic helped
Dwayne Provience - convicted
of the morder of Detroit resident
Rene Hunter in 2001 - get out of
jail last November citing with-
held evidence. But, since Provi-
ence has been let out of jail, the
legal team has faced many new
developments.
Wayne County Prosecutor
Robert Stevens filed a witness
list on March 5 that includes six
students who have enrolled or
interned at the Innocence Clinic,
a law student who watched some
witness interviews and a jour-
nalist from California who had
viewed Clinic sessions lastyear.
In an interview yesterday,
Wayne County Prosecutor Maria
Miller said she was unable to
comment on the case at this time.
McCormack said in an inter-
view that a Michigan court rule
states that law students work-
ing in innocence clinics may
represent and advise clients and
therefore have the same rights as
non-student attorneys do, includ-
ing not being called as witnesses.
"It's as if the prosecution put
me on the list," McCormack said.
In an e-mail interview, Inno-
cence Clinic co-director David
Moran said he thinks students
should be treated as attorneys for
the entirety of a case.
"It is improper, except under
extreme circumstances, to call
the lawyers for the other side as
witnesses in your case," Moran
wrote. "Under Michigan's stu-
dent practice rule, law students
working in a legal clinic are stu-
dent attorneys and are entitled to
be treated like lawyers."
Moranis asking WayneCounty
Circuit Court Judge Tim Kenny
to take the student attorneys and
the journalist off of the witness
list. Kenny has asked Moran for
a written argument by March
See CLINIC, Page 3A
Off
int
lin
mak
icials cite lack of train line that would run from Ann
Arbor to downtown Detroit will
erest, funds for now have to wait a while longer,
as the agency responsible for the
ie which would transportation project announced
a setback to its plans.
:e stop at airport Southeast Michigan Council of
Governments cited a lack of fund-
By SCOTT SUH . ing and interest from the public in
Daily StaffReporter the commuter service as reasons
for the delay. While SEMCOG had
ents and local residents initially planned to make the ser-
ating a new daily commuter vice available by October, it has not
yet announced a new date for the
line's opening.
The organization eventually
hopes to offer a train line that
makes four round-trips on week-
days and three on weekends. The
commuter train, which will start
from Ann Arbor, will make stops in
Ypsilanti, Dearborn and the Detroit
Metro Airport before reaching
downtown Detroit. A one-way
trip from Ann Arbor to Detroit is
expected to take approximately one
hour, with the cost of a round-trip
ticket starting at about $6 or $7.
In the meantime, SEMCOG will
provide a line service for various
special events in the Detroit area
beginning in October. Carmine
Palombo, SEMCOG's Director of
Transportation Programs, said the
organization hopes the demonstra-
tion line will promote the train
service and increase interest for its
use.
See COMMUTER LINE, Page 3A
Stud
anticip:
MICHIGAN STU-LNI ASSE, a.YA CONE FOR A CAUSE
MSA launches committee to
address diversity on campus
Diversity affairs
committee aims to
build 'welcoming'
environment
By ELYANA TWIGGS
Daily StaffReporter
LSA sophomore DeAndree Wat-
son, a current MSA representative,
says he has big plans to stir up stu-
dent advocacy on campus.
In January2010, Watson drafted
a resolution to create a Diversity
Affairs Select Committee within
the Michigan Student Assembly.
The resolution passed by a margin
of 26-8 and created a committee
with the goal of addressing issues
of discrimination on campus.
Watson said he formed the
committee because no other MSA
committee resolves issues of dis-
crimination.
Watson said he was inspired to
start the select committee after
talking with members of the Black
Student Union and discovering that
students in the group did not feel
welcome on campus, outside of their
interactions within the group itself,
"What shocked me is that they
don't feel welcome here," Watson
said. "(The University) is about
competition and survival of the fit-
test type, and it'll tear you down if
you're not ready for it." With the
help of the committee, Watson said
he plans to make the campus cli-
mate more "welcoming."
"Students need to feel comfort-
able here in order to thrive and be
successful," Watson said.
According to Watson, the Diver-
See COMMITTEE, Page 7A
MICHIGAN fOOTBALL
Students, alumni excited for
first night game at Big House
JAKE FROMM/Daily
Art & Design freshman Casey Maxwell collects donations for the Ann Arbor Summer Fairoutside Ben & Jerry's on State Street
yesterday. Maxwell said the organization teamed up with Ben & Jerry's on its free cone day to sell tickets for a free waffle cone.
Bobb to speak at School of Ed. graduation
Some concerned
about possible spike
in drunk behavior
By JENNFIER DOMINGUE
Daily StaffReporter
LSA sophomore Bri Ward had
only one word to describe the recent-
ly-announced first-ever primetime
WEATHER HI: 55
TOMORROW LO: 25
game at the Big House: "Epic."
"We are making school history
here," Ward said of the match-up
against Notre Dame planned for
Sept.10, 2011.
After last week's announcement,
many students, alumni and season
ticket holders expressed excitement
at the prospect of an 8 p.m. game at
Michigan Stadium. But some said
they wondered whether a night
game could mean increased security
or a more debaucherous atmosphere.
University alum Alberto Farah,
a season ticket holder from Troy,
Mich., wrote in an e-mail interview
thathe was surprised when he heard
about the announcement last week,
but thinks the decision was a good
move for the Athletic Department.
"I felt like it was about time we
joined the rest of our conference, and
the nation, in showcasing our Univer-
See FOOTBALL, Page 7A
Granholm's pick to
overhaul Detroit's
public schools will
speak on May 1
By KYLE SWANSON
Daily NewsEditor
University officials announced
today that Robert Bobb - the emer-
gency financial manager appointed
by Democratic Gov. Jennifer Gran-
holm to overhaul the Detroit Public
School sys-
tem - will First seen on
deliver the
ammanmt
address for
the School of Education on May l.
In his role with the Detroit Pub-
lic Schools, Bobb is responsible
for creating strategies for dealing
with the school district's academic
achievement struggles and a near-
ly $400 million deficit. Bobb has
served in the position since he was
appointed in March 2009. His term
is set to end in March 2011.
In a statement released earlier
today, School of Education Dean
Deborah Loewenberg Ball said
Bobb was an excellent choice for
commencement speaker.
"Robert Bobb has a passion-
ate determination to make urban
schools work, Ball said in the state-
ment. "He is articulate about the
urgency of the need for change
See BOBB, Page 3A
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INDEX NEW S ...............
Vol. CXX, No. tt 1 OPINION...........
2010 The Mchigan Daily SPO RTS..
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...................2A CLASSIFIEDS............. 6A
..................4A SPO RTS ............................. 8A
..................SA THE STATEMENT..................1B
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