With his grandmother in the stands for the first time, WR Darryl Stonum's maturation paid off. PAGE 8A Jeremy Levy on why Jon Stewart's'Rally to Restore Sanity' is just what this country needs. PAGE 4A S lie 1Ikliyan 0aij Wednesday, September 22, 2010 michigandaily.com * MICHIGAN STUDENT ASSEMBLY Assembly vows to strengthen relationship with A2 Council MSA officials say students weren't consulted enough on porch couch ban By RACHEL BRUSSTAR Daily StaffReporter At its weekly meeting last night, the Michigan Student Assembly discussed strengthening relations with the Ann Arbor City Council, following the council's decision Monday night to pass a ban on upholstered furniture on porches. Though City Council unani- mously passed the resolution at its meeting Monday, MSA offi- cials said at last night's meeting that they believe the student body wasn't consulted in the process. MSA representatives added that they are determined to fortify a stronger relationship with the council by creating more open dia- logue with council members. City Council's ban was proposed in light of a State Street house fire last April that killed Eastern Mich- igan student Renden LeMasters. Authorities believe an upholstered couch that was on the house's porch fueled the fire. After last night's meeting, MSA Vice President Jason Raymond described the assembly's relation- ship with City Council as being off-and-on in the past, but said that it was also filled with obvi- ous successes, like a city-assembly partnership to address tailgates on State Street on Football Saturdays. "When it came to noise and trash violations we worked with the city handily on that," Raymond said in an interview lastnight. "But (the relationship) ebbs and flows." "Although the couch ban was in some ways a disappointment, we're hoping that we can still find some degree of consensus on a number of issues in the future," Raymond added. Campus Safety Chair and Exter- nal Relations Vice Chair Josh Buoy has been especially active in estab- lishing a more open relationship with City Council following the porch couch ban. "It would have been so beneficial to be notified.and to collaborate with (City Council) to come to a consensus of what is best to pro- mote fire safety," Buoy said in an interview last night. "Especially if this is for the students, the students should be involved." Much of the work on the ordi- nance was done over the summer, Raymond said, which meant that the student body and MSA weren't given enough time to have an ade- See MSA, Page 6A MAX COLLINS/Daily Construction near the proposed Monroe Street pedestrian mall last night. The project - which is a walkway meant to connect the current law school facilities with the forthcoming South Hall (above) - is currently stalled while University officials respond to concerns raised by the city's planning commission. Monroe St. walkwayhits roadblock amid question s City commission a pedestrian mall on Monroe campus include the pedestrian students and staff members going Street - between the current Law mall along the east side of the back and forth between the facili- wants answers Quadrangle and the new building Diag and tnga-MalI, both of ties," he said. - remains stalled before the Ann which used to be city streets. The project, according to before Law School Arbor Planning Commission. Tn an interview, Jim Koste- Kosteva, is budgeted at $3 million. a If approved, control of the va, the University's director of Nevertheless, city officials pedestrian mall, originally pro- community relations, said the need to be assured of a few posed in December 2008, would pedestrian mall would provide a things before the proposal can be By JOSEPH LICHTERMAN be transferred to the University physical and programmatic con- approved, Kosteva said. Daily StaffReporter as a public right-of-way, mean- nection between the existing Law "The city has identified a num- ing the general public would have Quadrangle and South Hall. ber of items...that they want to Despite the fact that con- the right to access and travel in "They've designed and thought make sure we complete before struction on the Law School's the space under the University's through their uses of South Hall they would give unconditional new South Hall continues, the jurisdiction. and it's going to have a lot of title, before they would formally University's proposal to create Other public rights-of-way on extensive, daily traffic of faculty, See MONROE STREET, Page SA CAMPUS COMMUNITIES BIG TEN NATION 'U' makes push to connect students to North Campus Extended bus hours, more classes are part of the effort By MICHELE NAROV Daily StaffReporter It's no secret students living on Central Campus often avoid ven- turing to North Campus, except when necessary. In a new effort to alter that mindset, Univer- sity officials are using a variety of programs to connect students to North Campus. Extended bus service hours, the addition of LSA classes in North Campus buildings and the formation of a self-dubbed North Campus "vibrancy" committee - which brainstorms how to build a communal infrastructure for North Campus - are a few of the new ways the University is trying to attract students to the campus. Though LSA classes like math and German have been held on North Campus for more than a decade, this is the first year an expansive course list has been offered. Three sections of English 125, two sections of Math 115, one sec- See NORTH CAMPUS, Page SA * GREEK LIFE Jumping banned from rush activities to protect houses Colleen Ciccone zip ties a banner to set up for the ESPN SportsNation live show to be filmed today in front of the Modern Lan- guages Building. The stop in Ann Arbor is part of the show's road trip through the Big Ten college towns. Another rule change permits mixing of prepackaged foods By VERONICA MENALDI Daily StaffReporter Traditionally, when students are greeted by sorority members at the organizations' houses dur- ing recruitment, they're not only welcomed with smiles and saluta- tions, but also with enthusiastic jumping and banging on the walls. But a recently-implemented policy may be putting a damper on the excitement by prohibiting soror- ity women from carrying through with the latter actions. The new policy - decided by the sororities' active alumni groups and local housing direc- tors - forbids sorority women from jumping up and down or banging on walls during recruit- ment events in order to prevent wrecking the houses. LSA senior Kimberly McCraw, judicial vice president of the Pan- hellenic Association, the student- run umbrella organization for 16 sororities on campus, said for the past few years a lot of damage has been done to the sorority houses during recruitment. "Sororities are really big and old historic buildings and all the banging and jumping in the past broke windows, cracked window frames, chipped the paint off the walls and caused issues with the basements by ruining the ceil- ings," McCraw said. Nursing senior Stephanie Conn, Panhel's vice president of public relations, said the sorori- ties' House Corps - organizations composed of local chapters' alum- See RUSH, Page SA With eye on stimulating Mich.economy, URC partners with business organization Accelerate Michigan Michigan announced a new part- universities and the business com nership yesterday called Accel- munity to work together where aims to make Mich. a erate Michigan, which aims to university innovation and business stimulate economic growth in the needs intersect in a way that will top state in growth state. spur economic development." "It's no longer about publish or According to the press release, By PATRICIA SNIDER and perish, it's about partner or per- the URC and BLM have part- KAITLIN WILLIAMS ish," University President Mary nered to help make Michigan For the Daily and Daily StaffReporter Sue Coleman wrote in a press a "top 10" state for economic release distributed yesterday. growth. The URC is a research The University Research Cor- "Accelerate Michigan is a new kind coalition made up of the Univer- ridor and Business Leaders for of industry-university model for See ACCELERATE, Page 5A WEATHER HI:74 TOMORROW LO: 61 GOT A NEWS TIP? NEW ON MICHIGANDAILY.COM Call 734-763-2459 or e-mail How to navigate GQ's 'Guide to Topical Humor.' news@michigandaily.com and let us know. MICHIGANDAILY.COM/BLOGS/THE PODIUM INDEX NEWS.. . . . . 2A ARTS.. . . ..........7A Vol. CXXI, No.12 OPINION................ ....... 4A SPORTS.. . . .A.......A @ 010TheMichigan Daily CLASSIFIEDS ...................... 6A THE STATEMENT.................t michigandaily.com1B p