0 The Michigan.Daily - michigandaily.com
Monday, March 29, 2010 -- 5A
Candidates talk law and order,
economy at Democratic forum
After law change,
University now
deciding how to
return remains
Democratic attorney
general, secretary
of state candidates
answer questions
By BETHANY BIRON
Daily StaffReporter
The Washtenaw County Demo-
cratic Party hosted a forum yes-
terday at the Pittsfield Township.
Administration Building for Demo-
cratic candidates vying for the posi-
tions of state attorney general and
secretary of state.
The panel of candidates included
Genessee County's prosecuting
attorney David Leyton, whois vying
for the Democratic nomination for
attorney general and Mark Bern-
stein, who represented his brother
and attorney general candidate
Richard Bernstein - a Farmington
Hills attorney and University lec-
turer - who was in Los Angeles for
Passover.
Also present were Michigan sec-
retary of state candidates Janice
Winfrey, a Detroit city clerk, and
Wayne State University Law Prof.
Jocelyn Benson.
The town hall-style meeting
was open to the general public and
attendees were encouraged to ques-
tion candidates about issues impor-
tant to their respective offices.
Before the question-and-answer
session, each candidate opened with
* abriefintroduction,highlightinghis
or her achievements and why he or
she decided to run for the positions.
Benson said her lifelong career in
voting advocacy makes her a solid
candidate for secretary of state and
that her biggest effort as secretary
of state would be making sure that
all votes are accounted for on elec-
tion days.
"I'm running for secretary of
state because, like many of you, I'm
an advocate," Benson said. "I've
worked for my entire career as an
advocate for justice, as an advocate
for equality, but most importantly,
as an advocate to ensure that every
single vote counts in this county on
Election Day."
Benson said she is eager to use the
knowledge she gained while travel-
ing around the country visiting sec-
retaries of state in 36 other states in
preparation for her book, "Democra-
cy and the State Secretary of State,"
which was published this month.
"I've seen that there's a lot to be
done in Michigan to really take us
to the next level as we embrace this
new economic era that we're in,"
Benson said.
Winfrey, Benson's opponent,
noted that her work as Detroit city
clerk, in addition to her status as a
life-long Michigan resident, makes
her the best candidate for the posi-
tion. -
PACKARD PUB
From Page 1A
"We have 14 TVs and a mural that
we have prepped for three projec-
tors, so come football season, I'll
have three projectors on the wall,"
Miller said.
Miller said his pub differs from
other spots near campus because he
offers quality food, including what
Miller claims is the "best burger in
town."
"What separates me is the food for
one thing," Miller said.
LSA junior Doug Noveroske went
to the pub Saturday night, after
deciding against going on Friday
when he saw thelongline outside the
entrance. While he had heard a few
complaints from his friends about
the bar, Noveroske said he was excit-
ed to check it out.
"I had heard it was too bright and
the music was too loud, but someone
must have said something because
the lights were down and the music
HOCKEY
From Page 1A
goaltender Shawn Hunwick and the
RedHawks' sophomore goalie Con-
nor Knapp seemed to try to outdo
each other on save after save.
But the save Hunwick couldn't
make made the difference.
Miami (29-7-7) carried the play
0 for most of the third period with
the score dead even at 2-2. The
RedHawks watched a puck that
bounced over Hunwick's left shoul-
der clang off the post with three
minutes left in the game. Then, less
than three minutes into the first
overtime, a referee blew a play dead
for a penalty on Miami right before
freshman forward Kevin Lynch
knocked home a loose puck.
"I thought it was a goal," senior
defenseman Steve Kampfer said.
Democratic candidates for attorney general and secretary of state speak at the Pittsfield Township Administration Building yesterday.
"I grew up in this state, and I've
been here all of my life," Winfrey
said. "I attended and graduated
from Michigan schools, colleges and
universities. I am Michigan, if youu
will, and who better than one who
has invested a lifetime in the state
to lead into recovery? I know and
understand the people of this great
state."
As city clerk, Winfrey has worked
toward making Detroit one of the
first cities to provide full results of
elections before the end of election
nights - a success she said was "a
great feat in election administra-
tion."
As secretary of state, Winfrey
also said she would extend her work
toward ensuring quality election
administration.
Mark Bernstein said his brother
is qualified for the position of attor-
ney general because he has worked
extensively in the courtroomto fight
for the rights of the disadvantaged
and mentally challenged.
"What you have is a person who
has a deep-seeded belief in the
power of the law to transform this
state to protect the most vulner-
able citizens, the elderly, the young,
people who don't have a voice,"
Bernstein said. "And that's what he
wants to do. That's why he's running
for this office."
Though his brother is blind,
Bernstein said Richard Bernstein
has never "shied away from tough
battles."
"He has fought, and he has won
every time," Bernstein said.
Leyton, Bernstein's opponent,
noted that when the citizens of
Michigan go to the polls in Novem-
ber, theywillbe lookingfor someone
with experience - something he
feels that he possesses.
"They look for someone who's
battle tested, experienced and ready
to do the job, and I've done the job,"
Leyton said.
wasn't too loud," he said. " I don't
know if it's really like anything else
on campus. I live right across the
streetcpretty much, so ever sincethey
first put in the sign we've been look-
ing forward to it."
Packard Pub has 20 taps, with
18 different beers, six of which are
from local Michigan brewers. Drink
specials will be running throughout
the week and weekend, with a daily
happy hour from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.
According to Miller, the weekend's
biggest seller, both on tap and by the
bottle, was Bud Light.
Despite the selection, some stu-
dents complained that the pub's
drink specials didn't really compare
to those of otherbars on campus.
"They didn't have all their beers
on tap, and their drink list was min-
iscule," LSAjunior Samantha Green-
berg said.
Because it was only the opening
weekend, Greenberg - who said she
often goes to Good Time Charley's
on the weekend - said she thinks the
pubis stillgetting organized and that
"We were all jumping up and down
on the bench. I don't know. Right
there and then you get the momen-
tum, they're down and out. And I
think we applied a lot of pressure
right after that. It's hard to lose a
game like that when you outplay a
team in overtime."
The Wolverines picked up their
intensity in the first overtime while
it seemed that Miami was playing
more timidly, as Michigan outshot
the RedHawks 20-6. But Knapp
kept Miami in the game, stopping
all of the Wolverines' shots.
And so the fight continued.
The game was scoreless for near-
ly 60 minutes after Miami knotted
the game at the beginning of the
second period. That is, until a puck
trickled under Hunwick's pads foru
the game-winning goal.
"I think this (game) hurts the
most," Kampfer said. "on a stand-
"A lot of people think a prosecu-
tor is a lock 'em up and throw away
the key kind of guy, and that is not
true in my case," Leyton said.
Leyton said he's established drug
and mental health courts in Genes-
see County as well as an attendance
court to ensure that high school stu-
dents attend school. He added that
he also runs a truancy program for
elementary students.
After they introduced them-
selves, the candidates were asked
a series of questions from the audi-
ence. Among the topics addressed
were No Reason Absentee Voting,
the Asian carp dilemma in the Great
Lakes and a proposed 2010 Michi-
gan Constitutional Convention.
Both Benson and Winfrey are
strong advocates for No Reason
Absentee Voting, which would
allow Michigan citizens to apply to
vote absentee without listing a rea-
son, as is currently required by law.
Benson said No Reason Absen-
tee Voting has been established in
30 states already and that, in order
to get it passed in Michigan, it will
require a secretary of state who
works ardently to get legislation
changed.
"The difference between our
state and those 30 states that have
No Reason Absentee Voting on
the books is that those states had a
secretary of state who didn't just
support it but worked tirelessly to
advocate for it," Benson said.
Winfrey echoed Benson's senti-
ments, saying No Reason Absentee
Voting is something that is actually
a "very easy task to accomplish" and
one that won't require any changes
in law - just a difference in the way
it is administrated.
"We are absolutely ready for No
Reason Absentee Voting in Michi-
gan," Winfrey said.
The Asian carp issue was a con-
cern to all candidates present at the
forum. They agreed that the carp
more drinks will be offered soon.
"We are really excited for Pack-
ard Pub a month from now because
it's going to be epic," Greenberg
said.
Despite the long lines, Miller said
the pub wasn't lax on security. Miller
said no one under the age of 21 will
be allowed in the bar after 9 p.m. He
added that security will confiscate
any fake ID cards.
"The first night we got six fake
IDs," Miller said. "We got a heck of
a security team here, and they have a
lot of experience."
As summer approaches, Miller
expects business to slow down a bit
as students leave campus, but based
on what he has heard from other
local business owners, he said busi-
ness shouldn't decline too much.
"It may slow down a bit, but out-
side of locals, you are going to have
out-of-towners here for the (Ann
Arbor) Art Fair," Miller said.
He added that he also expects
University Athletic Department
staffers to visit the pub during their
point of we weren't supposed to
be here, we had a great run going.
And now, our season came to a halt
fairly quickly. And it's unfortunate
it has to come like that."
Michigan scored five goals on
the CCHA Player of the Year, soph-
omore goaltender Cody Reichard,
when the teams met at Joe Louis
Arena on March 20. Sunday night,
Blasi decided to go with Knapp and
the netminder validated his coach's
decision, making 55 saves. Knapp's
counterpart, Hunwick, finished
with a career-high 32 saves.
"You're so close," Berenson said.
"If we would have gotten (to the
Frozen Four), this team was really
making believers out of everyone
that two months ago wouldn't have
u given us hope in heck of making a
Ford Field, Frozen Four appear-
ance. This would've been great.
And it was great, but it's not as
are an immense threat to the Great
Lakes ecosystem and Michigan's
economy.
Leyton said the carp are destruc-
tive to essential plants and nutrients
that are important sources of food
for other fish that live in the lakes.
"The downside to all that is the
end of the fishing industry, the
health of the lakes and ultimately,
we would lose not only our wonder-
ful fishing industry and all the jobs
associated with that, but it would
impact the tourism industry," Ley-
ton said. "It's just bad for the envi-
ronment and has to be stopped."
Another topic of discussion was
the Constitutional Convention,
which would allow Michigan citi-
zens to amend legislation included
in the currentstate constitution that
has been the same since 1963.
All the candidates, with the
exception of Leyton, were in sup-
port of the convention. Winfrey said
it would provide a chance for Michi-
gan citizens to change the laws to
better suit the times.
"I'm for it because it gives us the
opportunity to revisit some of our
laws," Winfrey said. "I think a lot
has changed in our society, and I
think it's good that we're able to take
a look at where we are today and the
relevant changes that might need to
occur."
Leyton said he feels "the timing is
not right" and that the large amount
of funding it would take to hold a
Constitutional Convention could be
better allocated to issues that are
more pressing at the moment, but
he noted that the state would still
be able to make changes by passing
new legislation.
"Michigan has a lot of issues,
many of them are resource related,
and a (Constitutional Convention)
would be very, very expensive and
would divert the funds that I think
the state needs to solve some other
criticalproblems," Leyton said.
down time.
"There's faculty down here at the
Athletic Department that have been
dying for me to get open, and I'm
sure I'll start seeing them here for
lunch," Miller said.
Ben Hammond, daytime manager
for Good Time Charley's, said he
doesn't think Packard Pub will cre-
ate too much competition for Char-
ley's or otherbars in the area.
"I think it's always good to have
competition to give people other
options," Hammond said. "But I
think they are far down enough that
it won't have an effect on the South
U. businesses."
After evaluating this weekend,
Miller said he's received great feed-
back and, other than a few small
kinks that need tobe worked out, the
sports bar is successfullyup and run-
ning.
"We are pretty well ironed out,"
he said. "(We) just (need) tobe a little
more efficient with the computers
- we are still updating our system.
People love the food."
good."
And the Wolverines went toe to
toe with the No. 1 seed in the entire
NCAA Tournament Sunday for 82
minutes. They were alucky bounce
away from dancing all the way to
Ford Field.
"It's a fine line between win-
ning (and losing)," Berenson said.
"I don't even feel like we lost. I feel
so good about our team and what
they've accomplished. ... The thing
I like about this team was that they
really came together, There was
no individual agendas. There was
no one worried about the wrong
things. Everybody was for the team.
And that had to be a great feeling
for these guys in the locker room. I
know it was for me as a coach."
A minute and 54 seconds into
the second overtime, Michigan's
season was over and the climactic
battle had finished.
From Page 1A
away irreplaceable evidence, but
the law's the law," O'Shea said.
Those remains will be distrib-
uted to tribes across the 37 states
when the ruling takes effect on
May 14, according to the press
release.
Forrest wrote that the Univer-
sity plans to consult leaders of
various tribes as it prepares for
the transfer.
"Now that the Department
of the Interior has clarified the
rule for transferring culturally
unidentifiable human remains,
it is important that the Univer-
sity reach out to tribal leaders and
facilitate the transfer process,"
Forrest wrote.
University spokesman Rick
Fitzgerald said University officials
responsible for deciding what to
do with the remains have mixed
feelings about the new ruling.
In October, the University
formed a committee of 10 faculty
members and one graduate stu-
dent to figure out how the Univer-
sity would deal with the remains
in light of the expected change in
the law.
"There are feelings on both
sides," Fitzgerald said. "I think
the frustrating thing for every-
body involved is that there was a
clear rule to follow from the fed-
eral government, and now what's
happening is the Department of
the Interior has clarified the rules
on what to do with the remains
DANCE MARATHON
From Page 1A
students were summoned to the
dance area by a song compilation
that included "The Lion King"
theme song, "Jump on It" and
the theme song from "The Fresh
Prince of Bel-Air." The med-
ley signaled the start of the line
dance - a 14-minute dance that
the students learn throughout
the marathon.
In an interview Saturday
morning, LSA freshman Joshua
Simon said the beginning chore-
ography for the line dance was
challenging.
"It was pretty difficult to pick
up, but we have 30 hours to learn
it," Simon said.
Throughout the event, stu-
dents also participated in games,
viewed performances from Uni-
versity and local dancers and
bands and interacted with their
DMUM families and co-dancers.
Several families were at the mar-
athon early Saturday, with some
parents and children joining the
dancers and playing basketball.
In an interview yesterday,
Kristina Greene, who is the
mother of one of the families
involved with Dance Marathon,
said her daughter really enjoyed
working with the students and
interacting with them at the mar-
athon. Greene said they attended
the marathon both days because
they like4l spending time with
their student supporters.
"She loves it," Greene said,
referring to her daughter. "This
has been a wonderful experi-
ence."
Business School senior Tyler
Hauck, who is external director
of Dance Marathon, said in an
interview Saturday morning that
the biggest challenge for him is
staying up for the entire event,
without the aid of any caffeine,
which participants are forbidden
from consuming. Hauck - who
has participated in DMUM the
last three years - said his trick
for staying awake is observing
and meeting the students around
him.
"I feed off the energy of the
HARRIS
From Page 1A
as long as Harris doesn't hire an
agent.
If Harris does declare for the
draft, it will certainly mean a new
look for the Wolverines. Harris.
and senior DeShawn Sims, who
will be graduating this spring,
have been Michigan's two leading
scorers for the past three years.
Harris was a prolific scorer this
year, averaging just over 18 points
per game, but ran into problems
when he was suspended for a
game for "unsportsmanlike con-
duct" in practice. He said after the
that are culturally unidentified."
Despite different opinions
about the new law, Fitzgerald said
Forrest and the committee are
"moving ahead quickly" to estab-
lish the process of how to trans-
fer the remains before the May 14
deadline.
LSA sophomore Alys Alley,
co-chair of the Native Ameri-
can Student Association, wrote
in an e-mail interview that she
is thrilled that the University is
planning to return remains to
the Native American communi-
ties.
"Many of those remains that
are held by the U of M museum
of anthropology are the ancestors
of the Native American students
on campus, including myself, and
I can say confidently that we are
looking forward to the return
of our ancestor's remains to our
communities," Alley wrote.
Alley added that the controver-
sy surrounding the remains in the
last few years has caused a lot of
distress for members in the Native
American community.
"As a Native American student,
it has been hard and painful to
walk through campus knowing
that my ancestors arebeing kept in
the U of M Museum of Anthropol-
ogy," Alley wrote. "I hope to see
all of the 1,390 remains returned
to their homes so that we can
finallybegin the healing process."
- Daily News Editor Stephanie
Steinberg contributed to this report.
building," Hauck said.
Though the event is physically
grueling for the students, Hauck
said the exhaustion is nothing
compared to what the families
have had to endure.
"At the end of the day, it's the
families and the kids that mat-
ter," he said.
New this year was an "inspira-
tion tent," which included videos,
pictures and letters from many of
the DMUM families. If dancers
were feeling tired, they could go
in the tent for a boost of inspira-
tion.
LSA sophomore Katie
O'Donnell said in an interview
towards the end of the marathon
that interacting with her DMUM
family was the best part of the
experience.
"It's been really amazing,"
O'Donnell said. "I've really
'enjoyed getting to know the fam-
ilies and spending time with col-
lege students who are dedicated
to such a good cause."
LSA senior Jessica Brierly-
Snowden, who is community out-
reach chair for Dance Marathon,
said the selfless character of the
students participating in the
event is something that makes
the organization unique.
"The people who have stood
here for 30 hours didn't do it to
put itcon their resume," she said.
As the marathon began to
wind down late Sunday after-
noon, students were called to the
dance area once more for a final
countdown. However, instead of
running, the dancers fell to the
floor upon reaching zero, as they
were finally allowed to sit down.
Their enthusiasm mounted
once more as the number for the
final fundraising amount was
displayed on a screen and also
held up by DMUM leaders.
At the end of the event, though
he was tired, Hauck said he was
very excited about the large
amount of money raised for the
families.
"We try not to focus too much
on the final figure number, but
with a number like that, we can't
help but be proud of the fact that
our event and our year went so
well," Hauck said.
suspension that he had "learned a
great deal from this situation" and
he didn't"ever want to have it hap-
pen again."
Though Harris was a consistent
scorer, it seemed throughout the
year that the team was lacking a
third scorer after Harris and Sims.
Harris ended his year on an
impressive note. Despite los-
ing to Ohio State in the Big Ten
Tournament quarterfinals, he
almost single-handedly kept the
Wolverines in the game and put
his team up two in the closing
seconds. Buckeye junior Evan
Turner made a long 3-pointer at
the buzzer to win and end Michi-
gan's season.