ARTPS Daily Arts previews a number of events on the schedule 0 he da f - b.ae . ' at the Ann Arbor Film Festival this weekend. PAGE 7 d dMichigan hockey takes on Bemidji State in its NCAA P E0 first-round matchup tomorrow. PAGE 9 ~Ie 1Nid igan &xi p /V Ann Arbor, Michigan Friday, March 26, 2010 michigandaily.com MSA ELECTION RESULTS MForward's Armstrong elected MSA president Students from public colleges around the state rally in Lansing yesterday to protest cuts to state funding for higher education. Students from 'U,' other public universities rally for higher ed. Student turnout at 14 percent, highest it's been in years By ELYANA TWIGGS Daily StaffReporter LSA junior Chris Armstrong snd Business. Srhooi junior Jason Raymond of MForward were elected Michigan Student Assembly president and vice president last night, according to unofficial election results dis- tributed late last night. Armstrong and Raymond won by more than 1,000 votes - beating out the Michigan Vision Party's Ian Margolis and Tom Stuckey - in an election with a student voter turnout of 14 percent, the highest it's been in years. Students also voted to pass a new constitution drafted by Stu- dents 4 Progressive Governance, which will alter the structure of MSA. Throughout the campaign MForward promised to estab- lish a more unified student gov- ernment where students can see direct results yielded through representative's passion and advocacy. MVP's platform was TYPE-INVOTES Ourfavorite write-incandidatesfor MSA president and vice president Capt'n Crunch and Count Chocula Mickey Mouse Albus Dumbledore Batman andCoant Chocula Petet Griffin and Adi Sold' Denard Robinson and Tate Forcier Johnny Walkertand Jim Beam Pinball Pete larack Obam ChanlieBnown focused on achieving what Mar- golis called "tangibles" for stu- dents by offering events like pep rallies or concerts. After hearing the results, Armstrong's satisfaction could be heard in a jittery phone inter- view. "I am overwhelmingly aston- ished," Armstrong said. "I am sb humbled by the fact that the stu- dent body voted for us. It's really hard for me to put into words how incredibly elated I feel." Despite a problem with a ran- domization feature on the MSA voting website which may have See ARMSTRONG, Page 5 Demonstration at state Capitol aimed to show opposition to state funding cuts By DEVON THORSBY Daily StaffReporter Between 300 and 400 students from public universities across Michigan rallied in Lansing yes- terday to show state representa- tives and senators their concern over decreased state funding for public colleges. The Student Association of Michigan, a combination of stu- dent governments from public universities in the state, organized the demonstration in which stu- dents marched outside the Capitol building and met with individual legislators to discuss cuts in state funding for higher education. Part of the reason for the rally was to show opposition to a bill that passed in the state Senate on Tuesday that calls for a 3.1 per- cent cut in funding to public uni- versities and community colleges. The bill has now been sent to the House Appropriations Commit- tee. Business School junior Alex Serwer, a Business School rep- resentative for MSA, said one of the major goals of the rally was to lobby to stop cuts in state appropriations that are expected to appear in the upcoming state budget. He also said the rally focused on asking legislators to bring back the Michigan Promise Scholar- ship, which was cut from the 2010 fiscal year budget. In her budget plan last month, Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm proposed a new version of the scholarship that gives a $4,000 tax credit to students who choose to work for one year in Michigan after gradu- ation and who go to a state univer- sity. LSA sophomore Amanda Caldwell helped to organize the University's participation in the rally by arranging meetings between students and legislators in their offices. She said other See RALLY, Page 3 MICHIGAN ECONOMY Data:A2 protected from state jobs woes Expert says city's diversification of industry aids unemployment rate By LINDSAY KRAMER Daily StaffReporter While Michigan is still grap- pling with the worst unemploy- ment rate in the country, the City of Ann Arbor has managed to ride the wave of the recession with a lower unemployment rate than the rest of the state, due largely to the city's focus on a technol- ogy-based economy rather than one rooted in the manufacturing industry. In January2010, theunemploy- ment rate in Washtenaw County was the lowest in the state at 9.3 percent, while the unemployment rate for the entire state of Michi- gan was 14.3 percent, according to new statistics released by Michi- gan's Department of Energy, Labor & Economic Growth. Much of the success of Washt- enaw County, and specifically Ann Arbor, in maintaining a rela- See JOBS, Page 3 WEATHER HI: 53 TOMORROW LO: 37 DANCING FROM THE GRAVE MSA holds first election for DPS Oversight Cmte. in more than a decade Students perform in the Greek Variety Dance cometition last night. GR EK I AAFD, Office of Greek Life team up for surprise fire drills at houses Assembly had been appointing students to committee By STEPHANIE STEINBERG Daily News Editor LSA freshmen Ellie Howe and Hari Vutukuru have become the first two students to be elected to the Department of Public Safety Oversight Committee in more than a decade, according to Michigan Student Assembly election results published late Thursday night. Their election comes after MSA revamped its election pro- cedure for student represen- tatives to the oversight body following an article in The Michigan Daily that quoted inde- pendent lawyers saying that the assembly's previous election pro- cess appeared to violate state law. The two candidates who were elected - Howe from the Defend Affirmative Action Party and Vutukuru from the Michigan Vision Party - were the only two in the running. LSA senior Deandre Hicks, from DAAP, was originally on the ballot but with- drew his candidacy Wednesday morning. During this year's spring MSA elections, students at the Uni- versity could vote for two stu- dents to serve as representatives on the DPS Oversight Commit- tee - a committee with student, staff and faculty members who address citizens' grievances con- cerning the campus police. In order for the University to have a campus police force, a Michigan state statute mandates the Uni- versity to have an oversight com- mittee for the campus police. Since 1999, MSA has appoint- ed students to serve on the com- mittee. But independent lawyers told the Daily last November that MSA was violating thge statute because it calls for the student representatives to be elected to the committee - not appointed. After MSA looked into -the matter, representatives decided that the assembly was not follow- ing the statute and that election See DPS, Page 5 Fire simulations at fraternity and sorority houses aim to teach fire safety By VERONICA MENALDI Daily StaffReporter Members of some fraternities and sororities on campus have been getting a bit of a startling study break recently. As part of a new initiative to educate residents of fraternity and sorority houses at the Uni- versity, fire safety officials from the Washtenaw County Chapter of the American Red Cross and the Ann Arbor Fire Department have been visiting the houses and conducting surprise fire simulations. The fire drills and feedback sessions are part of a recent collaboration between the Red Cross, the AAFD and the Univer- sity's Office of Greek Life to test Greek houses' ability to evacuate safely in case of an emergency. Jim Rampton, community disaster education coordina- tor for the Washtenaw County Chapter of the American Red Cross, said the initiative was developed because of the 2008 See FIRE DRILL, Page 3 GOT A NEWS TIP? Call 734-763-2459 or e-mail news@michigandaily.com and let us know NEW ON MICHIGANDAILY.COM Main Street to turn off the lights for Earth Hour. MICHIGANDAILY.COM/BLOGS/THE WIRE INDEX NEWS.................. 2 CLASSIFIEDS.........................6 Vol. CXX, No.117 SUDO KU ..............................3 ARTS. . .......... ......... ...7 020t TheMichigan Daily OPINION ....4 SPORTS .... michitundoilycom OPN O .4 SP R S.................9