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.