The Michigan softball
T team took a break from The Best of Ann Arbor
Big Ten play yesterday,
pummeling Central
Michigan, 8-0.
PAGE 10A

Ann Arbor, Michigan

Thursday, April 15, 2010

FITRTNG UP THE CROWD

michigandaily.com
.NIVERSITY LAW S .HOOL
Innocence
Clinic fights
appeal in
incest case
Prosecution recanted his testimony and tried
tirelessly to clear her record.
appealed judge's University Law students Erin
Opperman, Caitlin Plummer and
decision to throw Imran Syed - who is also a col-
umnist for The Michigan Daily
out conviction - said the Clinic has been inves-
tigating Swain's case since the
By WHITNEY WILD spring of 2009 when Swain wrote
Daily StaffReporter to the clinic requesting their
assistance.
Members of the University The clinic decided to move for-
Law School's Innocence Clinic ward with the case after deter-
argued their latest case before mining that Swain was both
the Michigan Court of Appeals in innocent and that her conviction
Lansing yesterday, the next step could be overturned.
after the prosecution appealed Innocence Clinic workers
the Clinic's trial court win in the tracked down potential wit-
case of Lorinda Swain. nesses to testify on behalf of
Swain was originally con- Swain, and found two new
victed in 2002 of committing an sources for her defense. They
incestuous sex crime for alleg- were able to contact Tanya Win-
edly performing oral sex on her terburn, Ronnie's bus driver for
teenage son Ronnie. a number of years, and William
Ronnie's testimony was the Risk, an older boy living in the
only piece of evidence brought neighborhood at the time of the
against Swain during the initial alleged incident.
trial, and Swain's attorneys failed Both Winterburn and Risk
to present credible witnesses to provided testimonies that con-
testify for her innocence. tradicted Ronnie's original testi-
Swain was found guilty of the mony. Asa result, in the summer
crime, but immediately following of 2009, Judge Conrad Sindt
Swain's imprisonment, Ronnie See INNOCENCE CLINIC, Page 7A

LSA junior Joey Eisman performs last night in the talent portion of the first annual Mr. Michigan pageant presented by The Foundation for International Medical Relief of Children.
Newdow, atheis wi a cause

Law School alum
brought Pledge of
Allegiance case to
the Supreme Court
ByVERONICA MENALDI
Daily StaffReporter
"Why do we have the Fifth
Amendment right to protect peo-

ple from testifying against their
own interests? Shouldn't the law
be able to compel us to tell the
truth?"
Michelle Oberman, a friend
and former Law School classmate
of University Law School alum
Michael Newdow, recalled New-
dow asking these questions in
class one day during a lesson on
the Bill of Rights.
"He was known for asking ques-
tions that tended to derail class,

although that was not his inten-
tion," Oberman said.
This habit of questioning the
status quo of existing governmen-
tal procedures and documents has
earned Newdow a reputation as
one of the leading activists in the
country workingto have the words
"Under God" expunged from fed-
eral documents and declarations
like the United States Constitution
and the Pledge of Allegiance.
Newdow, who graduated from

(ON N UN NG R I $
the University's Law School in
1988, is best known for a lawsuit
he filed, which claimed that the
Pledge of Allegiance is unconsti-
tutional for including the words
"Under God." The case went allthe
way to the Supreme Court, though
See NEWDOW, Page 5A


AFTER THE QUAKE
Now back from Haiti,'U'relief
workers spread cause's message

DOG DAYS ON THE DIAG

Students, UHS
personnel tell stories
of time spent aiding
relief efforts
By MICHELE NAROV
Daily StaffReporter
When Haiti reached out to the
world for aid in January, many
members of the University and Ann
Arbor communities heeded the
call. In the months since then, Uni-
versity Health Service workers and
students have continued to help the
 relief effort.
Now - thousands of miles from
the houses laying in rubble and the

disastervictims theyrushed to help
- those who have returned are dis-
cussing their experiences in the
country, in an effort to advocate for
the cause and encourage students
and community members not to
forget the extent of the disaster.
Tim Hausler, an LSA freshman
who accompanied his father to
Haiti to be a part of the relief effort,
said nothing prepared him for
driving through a city where nine
out of every ten homes had been
destroyed.
"Even after seeing all the news-
reels and disaster coverage, it
doesn't really click how bad it
is," he said. "But then when you
get there and you make the drive
from the capital to the epicenter of
the earthquake, you see so much

destruction."
Hausler said he feels nervous
that now, as disaster has begun to
strike other areas and the media
has been focusing less on Haiti,
students will think the problem has
been resolved.
"We cannot forget about what is
going on," he said. "They need us
now just as much as before."
The disaster is especially star-
tling because among the intense
damages are some houses that
have withstood the quake, accord-
ing to Hari Conjeevaram, associate
professor of internal medicine. He
added that even those who haven't
lost their homes are residing close
to the destruction.
"There is so much displacement
See HAITI, Page 7A

EATING IN ANN ARBOR
New noodle cafe to open on East Liberty

TORE HAN SHARMAN/Daily
Howell resident Amanda Retzbach brought her dog Molly, a rescue dog, to the PAWS of Ann Arbor event on the Diag yester-
day. PAWS of Ann Arbor is a student run organization that aims to keep pets in the homes of their elderly owners.
Grad student reps. decry low
grad voter turnout in elections

Tomukun Noodle Bar
to offer lunch, dinner,
late night drinks
By LINDSEY MANDICH
For the Daily
Within the next week or so, a new
Pan-Asian restaurant - Tomukun
Noodle Bar - will be opening on
East Liberty Street.
Tomukun will feature traditional,
Pan-Asian dishes with primarily
soup-based noodles, co-owner Tom
WEATHER HI: 67
TOMORROW LO 40

Yon said, adding that he believes
Tomukun will be unique to Ann
Arbor.
"We want to create a nice dining
atmosphere with great food at an
affordable price," Yon explained.
Yon said he wants to try to cre-
ate an affordable dining experience
with dishes averaging in price from
seven to 12 dollars.
Yon said he co-owns the restau-
rant with Victor Kim and Noerung
Hang, who will be the restaurant's
head chef.
Yon said he believes Tomukun's
Japanese ramen dish, which con-

tains of a pork-based broth that is
slow cooked for several hours, will
likely be the most popular menu
item.
He added that the restaurant will
serve traditional yet popular dishes.
"Anyone that is familiar with
Asian food will be familiar with our
food," Yon said.
In the fall, Tomukun will be alate-
night bar in addition to a restaurant,
accordingto Yon.
The restaurant has received
approval from the city and the state
for a liquor license, which will go
See TOMUKUN, Page BA

One Rackham rep.
elected with only
votes from himself
By ELYANA TWIGGS
Daily StaffReporter
The Michigan Student Assembly
elections held last month yielded
the highest student voter turnout in
years with 5,488 ballots cast. But in

those elections, in which student 14
percent of students voted, Rackham
Rep. HamdanYousuf was the fourth
most successful candidate among
graduate students with 28 weighted
votes - all of them his own.
Yousuf, who has been an MSA
representative since 2008, is one of
four graduate students that serve
on the assembly. He said he believes
that MSA has not performed its
duty of representing graduate stu-
dents, who make up about 40 per-

cent of the University's student
population.
"It's been an ongoing struggle
for us," said Yousuf. "(We) don't see
how MSA is relevant."
Yousuf said the lack of graduate
student involvement in MSA is due
to the misconception that MSA is
the "undergraduate playground,"
adding that graduate student elec-
tions are "much less competitive"
than the undergraduate ones.
See MSA, Page BA

GOT A NEWS TIP?
Call 734-763-2459 ore-mail
news@michigandaily.com and letus know.

NEW ON MICHIGANDAILYCOM
'U launches website to discuss sustainability.
MICHIGANDAILY.COM/BLOGS/THE WIRE

INDEX NEWS ..................... 2A CLASSIFIEDS.. . . A.........6A
Vol. CXX, No. 130 SUDO KU................ .. ....3A SPO RTS.... ........... .......8A
©201 The MichiganDaly OPINION............................4A BEST OF ANN ARBOR...........1B
michigandoily.com