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Ann Arbor, Michigan
Monday, April 5, 2010
michigandaily.com
SC TURERS' UNION NEGOTIATIONS
LEO rallies
in response to
termination
of top official
928 State St.
A rental house located at 928 State St. Saturday afternoon. The house was ravaged by a fire
that began early Saturday morning that killed one person and injured two others.
909 Church St. - The Abbey
Three cars burn in a carport under The Abbey apartment building.
Students were forced to evacuate the building as a result of the fire.
City officials investigating
suspicious fires off-campus
Lecturers' union
claims move was
'union retaliation'
by 'U' officials
By KYLE SWANSON
Daily NewsEditor
University lecturers rallied
Friday afternoon to protest the
non-reappointment of one of the
Lecturers Employment Organi-
zation's top officials, a move some
lecturers are calling retaliation
against the union.
The group of about 30 lec-
turers, dressed to yellow LEO
T-shirts,
gathered
in Angell
Hall before
marching
from the Eng-
lish Depart-
ment's offices -
in Angell Hall KYLE SWANSON
to LSA Dean
Terrence Covering the
McDonald's A dmnisfration
office in the
LSA Administration Building.
The protest continued with mem-
bers ending their rally on the
third floor of the Fleming Admin-
istration Building just outside
Provost Teresa Sullivan's office.
LEO members say the decision
by University officials to not reap-
point Kirsten Herold, who has
worked as a lecturer in the Uni-
versity's English Department for
18 years and serves as the union's
vice president, is the latest of
several incidents that highlight
problematic review procedures
in place for lecturers at the Uni-
versity.
Union officials also say the
University's decision could have a
significant impact on the ongoing
contract negotiations between
LEO and the University.
Herold was going through a
remediation process with the
University when she received
notice on Wednesday that she
would not be allowed to return to
the University's English Depart-
ment after the end of this semes-
ter.
Remediation is a process in
which a lecturer's performance
is reviewed and a plan is devel-
oped to address any deficiencies
or concerns that are raised. After
the remediation plan is devel-
oped, the lecturer is given time to
implement the plan to adequately
address any concerns.
The plan's implementation and
the lecturer's progress is then
measuredby department officials
to see whether satisfactory prog-
ress was made. After review, the
See LECTURERS, Page SA
Several fires started
early Saturday
morning outside
student residences
By JILLIAN BERMAN
and DYLAN CINTI
ManagingNewsEditor and
and Daily StaffReporter
The Ann Arbor fire and police
departments are currently inves-
tigating a series of suspicious fires
that occurred at residences near
campus on Saturday.
In response to the fires, which
included a blaze in a rental house
on State
Street and First reported on
a fire under MihianDdyrcm
The Abbey
apartment building on Church
Street, the Department of Public
Safety sent out a crime alert to
the University community Satur-
day evening, alerting community
members of the fires and warning
them to take precautions.
"The fires all began outside
apartment houses at different
times (Saturday)," the crime alert
states. "One fire resulted in one
death and other significant inju-
ries."
Though officials are still inves-
tigating the cause of one of the
fires - an early morning blaze
that gutted a rental house on 928
S. State St. killing one and injur-
ing two others - officials suspect
the fire may have begun after an
upholstered couch caught fire on
the house's porch.
According to a press release
distributed by the Ann Arbor
Police Department on Saturday,
the State Street fire was reported
to have started on the porch at
about 5:15 a.m. before it spread to
the rest of the house.
Three residents wre sent to
the University Hospital. One of
the residents, former Eastern
Michigan University student Ren-
den LeMasters, died on Saturday.
LeMasters was 22 years old.
Of the two other hospitalized
residents, Department of Public
Safety spokeswoman Brown said
one is a University student who
was treated and released Satur-
day, and the other is a woman
unaffiliated with the University.
The woman remains in critical
See FIRES, Page 5A
OFFICE HOURS
In midterm elections, term
limits could cause shake-up
Experts say Mich.'s
term limits are
some of the most
restrictive in U.S.
By ALEX KIRSHENBAUM
Daily StaffReporter
Term limits in the Michigan
state legislature are some of the
i most restrictive of any state in the
country, which will make for huge
change due to the high turnover of
representatives followingmidterm
elections in November.
In interviews with The Michi-
gan Daily last week, experts on the
issue said though term limits are
detrimental to the efficiency of the
Michigan state government, elimi-
natingthemis not a feasible option.
While term limits are meant to
motivate politicians to act with
a sense of urgency during their
brief positions, some experts say
the limits - six years in the state
House of Representatives and
eight years in the state Senate -
don't give those in Lansing time
to gain experience in the legisla-
ture. This makes it more difficult
for government officials to solve
problems like budget deficits and
tax codes.
Prior to 1992, the Michigan
legislature had no term limits for
representatives. The state con-
stitution was amended in 1992 to
See TERM LIMITS, Page 3A
HASH BASH
Hash Bash offers students, activists
forum to discuss medical marijuana
Students from the University help paint at the Detroit Artists Market on Saturday as part of the Detroit Partnership Day.
Record number of students
head to Detroit for DP Day
Thousands showed
up to 39th annual
gathering on Diag
By MICHELE NAROV
Daily StaffReporter
Rain showers didn't deter the
crowd of thousands of University
students and Ann Arbor locals
- sporting tie-dye and cannabis
T-shirts - from taking to the Diag
for the 39th annual Hash Bash on
Saturday.
In addition to live music, street
vendors and civil disobedience,
the festival provides a forum for
discussion of marijuana-related
issues.
Each year, organizations lobby-
ing for marijuana support adjust
their Hash Bash agendas based on
current events surrounding the
issue.
LSA sophomore Emily Basham,
a member of Students for Sensible
Drug Policy, said throughout this
school year SSDP focused on edu-
cating people about the 2008 ballot
initiative, which legalized medici-
nal marijuana use in the state of
Michigan.
"Last year we were campaign-
ing for Proposal 1," Basham said.
"This year we're trying to facili-
tate a discussion about medical
marijuana."
Basham said Hash Bash attend-
ees are more receptive to the
group's message than participants
at other public forums.
"We know there is an audience
here that's interested in the things
we have to say," she said.
Basham said Hash Bash is an
See HASH BASH, Page 3A
On Sat., students
volunteered with
schools, churches,
community groups
By MELISSA MARCUS
Daily StaffReporter
Hundreds of students demol-
ished abandoned homes, cleaned
parks and painted murals for the
University's 11th annual Detroit
Partnership Day on Saturday.
The Detroit Partnership - a
service learning organization -
partners Universitystudents with
Detroit schools, churches and
community groups in an effort to
give back to Detroit and help stu-
dents learn more about the city.
During DP Day, participants
volunteered at 30 different sites
in northwest and southwest
Detroit from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
This year, DP Day had the largest
attendance in the past 10 years,
with nearly 1,000 students par-
ticipating. Last year, 800 students
participated in the volunteer day.
Prior to the event, DP leaders
met with officials from Detroit
to decide which sites were in
need of the most help. Business
senior Neil Thanedar, the execu-
tive director of DP, said DP has
an active role in bettering Detroit
and creating a strong partnership
between the city and University
students.
While cleaning parks and
painting murals in schools are
See DP DAY, Page 3A
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