The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Friday, November 5, 2010 - 7A

The Michigan Daily - michigandailytom Friday, November 5, 2010 - 7A

NCAA
From Page 1A
tigation seriously from the first day
and that she was proud of how the
University cooperated with the
NCAA.
"To the University of Michigan
(this) could not be more serious,"
Coleman said.
But Coleman made it clear that
such violations should never have
happened.
"Theyshouldnothaveoccurred,"
Coleman said of the violations, add-
ing that corrective measures have
been implemented.
Speaking atcthe press conference,
Athletic Director David Brandon
said he was happy the process was
over and that he wasn't surprised
by the NCAA's findings.
"There will be no appeals
because there's nothing to appeal,"
Brandon said. "They're major viola-
tions, absolutely. We've admitted to
them and we're moving forward."
However, Brandon stressed
that at no time was the welfare
of student-athletes put in danger.
Brandon cited a "very high-profile
story" reported by a local newspa-
per, which he did not name, that
suggested the football program
was putting student-athletes at
risk.
In August 2009, the Detroit Free
Press published a report alleging,
wrongdoing on the part of the foot-
ball program. The story led both the
NCAA and the University to launch
investigations into the program.
"The article quoted several
unnamed sources and extracted
several quotes from several named
individuals that were made at dif-
ferent times and in many cases
completely different contexts,"
Brandon said at the press confer-
ence. "We strongly believe that a
detailed and thorough investiga-
tion would prove these allegations
to be false and misleading, and
based on our internal investiga-
tion and the extensive investigation
conducted and now completed by
the NCAA, this important issue has
been addressed."
But Brandon made clear that he
did acceptffull responsibility forthe
charges and the penalties issued by
the NCAA.
"We were absolutely guilty of a
failure to monitor," Brandon said of
the institution and officials at the
University.
Brandon said he was pleased that
the NCAA agreed with the Univer-
sity that Rodriguez did not fail to
promote an atmosphere of compli-
ance.
"We all know and we recognize
that we made mistakes," Brandon
said. "But we felt it was important
for us to take a strong position on
that."
Reading a statement at the press
conference, Rodriguez said he was
happy the process is over.
"Certainly I'm glad this process
has come to a close," Rodriguez
said. "We've worked hard to ensure
that internal breakdowns do not
happen again."
Rodriguez added that he's
relieved to be done with the NCAA
investigation and hearing and that
he's focused on Michigan's game
against Illinois this weekend.
Asked about her evaluation of
the Michigan football program,
Coleman said she was "proud" of it
and happy to have Brandon leading

the Athletic Department, hinting
that it would beup to Brandon to
make any necessary changes in the
Athletic Department.
"This is ultimately his call,"
Coleman said.
However, Coleman added that
she viewed this case very differ-
ently from the University's previ-
ous violations of NCAA rules and
regulations by its men's basketball
program.
Michael Buckner, an attorney
who consults with universities
in NCAA-related cases, told The
Michigan Daily in an interview yes-
terday that he felt the NCAA's rul-
ing and sanctions were fitting.
"I think that the committee's
sanctions were very appropriate
considering the violations they
found," Buckner said, explaining
that the NCAA's Committee on
Infractions considers not only the
severity of the violations but also
the level of cooperation provided
by the institution throughout the
investigation and what sanctions
were self-imposed. "It's apparent
by the tone and tenor of the infrac-
tions report that the committee
believed an extra year of probation
was the most appropriate sanction
in this case," Buckner added.
Buckner said it was also impor-
tant to note the committee's deci-
sion to change the charge leveled
against Rodriguez from failure to
promote an atmosphere of compli-
ance to failure to effectively moni-
tor the program.
"The committee did not feel that
coach Rodriguez's actions rose
to that standard in the bylaws,"
Buckner said. "Though that still is
a major rules violation ... it wasn't
as serious as what everyone once
believed."
Michael Jones, an attorney who
also consults with universities
under investigation by the NCAA,
agreed, saying a violation under
NCAA Bylaw 2 was less serious
than Bylaw 11, meaning the out-
come was more favorable for the
University than the original set of
allegations.
"Bylaw 11 sanctionsawere specifi-
cally designed to hold head coaches
more accountable for specific over-
sight," Jones said. "In my opinion, a
finding of just a lack of monitoring
my takeaway is that it's less seri-
ous."
Jones added that though he
wasn't familiar with the specific
elements of the University's hear-
ing before the Committee on
Infractions, he cited two possible
reasons for the bylaw change.
"It's very possible that the work
of the coach and the institution
involved had something to do with
there being a different citation
involved," Jones said. "Or it could
very well be that the nature of the
information that got shared at the
hearing simply convinced the com-
mittee that a different bylaw was
the more appropriate one to cite."
Buckner told the Daily in the
past that the University was aptly
positioning itself to leave its options
open regarding Rodriguez's
employment as Michigan's football
coach.
He told the Daily yesterday that
Coleman's remarks at yesterday's
press conference reaffirmed their
strategy to continue fully support-
ing Rodriguez so that no one can say
he's receiving anything less than full
supportifrom the institution.
"They're going to wait," Buckner

said. "They're not going to rush to
any hasty judgment as to the future
employment of coach Rodriguez."
Buckner explained, "They had
a major rules violation in place, so
they could exercise the termina-
tion with cause, but it appears that
the president is going to give her
AD enough latitude in order to
facilitate a full assessment of coach
Rodriguez's program both on the
field and off the field."
Jones noted that going forward
University officials will likely
amplify efforts around its compli-
ance office to ensure it avoids the
threat of having another violation
occur within the window of the
repeat violator statute.
"if another violation occurs, they
will be a repeat violator," Jones
said. "That alone puts you in a posi-
tion where you have to be redou-
bling your efforts."
However, he added that no mat-
ter what a program's history with
the NCAA is, every program in the
country must constantly evolve its
compliance efforts to stay up-to-
date and in compliance with NCAA
rules and regulations.
"Every compliance program in
the nation always has to be con-
stantly evaluating and tweaking its
program," Jones said. "No one is
above that. it's ongoing."
Yesterday's announcements,
which come after the University
imposed voluntary sanctions on
itself in response to charges from
the NCAA and testified before the
NCAA's Committee on Infractions,
resolves more than 14 months of
controversy surrounding allega-
tions of misconduct in the Michi-
gan football program.
In the NCAA's report of findings,
officials wrote that the violations
wereseriousbutless extensive than
first reported.
"The committee noted that the
violations of the daily and weekly
countable hour rules, though seri-
ous, were far less extensive than
originally reported that no stu-
dent-athletes were substantially
harmed," officials wrote in their
report.
The controversy began follow-
ing the Detroit Free Press article in
August 2009, which led University
administrators to start an investi-
gation into possible misconduct.
In October 2009, the NCAA fol-
lowed suit, notifying the University
that it would conduct its own inves-
tigation of the Michigan football
program for potential violations of
NCAA rules and regulations.
In February, the NCAA sent the
University a formal notice of alle-
gations that outlined five primary
violations it believed had occurred.
The University promptly held a
press conference and said it took
responsibility for all the allega-
tions, with the exception of the
charge that Rodriguez "failed to
promote an atmosphere of compli-
ance" within the program.
The other charges - that the
Athletic Department did not appro-
priately oversee the program, that
the program exceeded the number
of hours student-athletes practiced
and the number of coaches who
worked with them, that staff in the
Athletic Department monitored
student-athletes during voluntary
workouts against NCAA policy and
that a graduate assistant football
coach lied to NCAA investigators
- were not contested by the Uni-
versity.

HAWK
From Page 1A
sort of crossing for pedestrian safe-
ty," Ramirez said.
In an interview before the meet-
ing yesterday, Ann Arbor City Coun-
cil Member Mike Anglin (D-Ward
5) agreed with Ramirez, saying
council has been discussing safer
crossing measures for years.
"We've had this continuing dis-
cussion of ... how we get people
across the street safely," Anglin said
in the interview.
During yesterday's meeting, Ang-
lin said HAWK might be the solution.
"There's been years talking about
this, and it's here tonight," Anglin
told council.
In a separate interview last night,
Jim Kosteva, the University's direc-
tor of community relations, said
the University plans to monitor the
city's first HAWK "with interest" to
see if such a system would be suc-
cessful on campus.
"We have a number of locations
that are somewhat similar ... so we'll
be watching this installation with a
fair degreeofinterest," Kosteva said.
In their joint address to coun-
cil, Ramirez and Martin said the

HAWK is designed with the pedes-
trian in mind.
Under the HAWK system, pedes-
trians will push a button that will
immediately trigger a reaction on
the overhead lights seen by drivers,
Ramirez said.
As Ramirez explained, the over-
head light will start flashing yellow
as soon as the button is pushed -
signaling to drivers that a pedes-
trian has pressed the button.
When it's time to completely stop,
the lightwill display notone buttwo
solid red lights.
After that a single red light will
flash which means, "proceed with
caution if clear," according to apam-
phlet distributed by MDOT. But as
Ramirez pointed out in an interview
after the presentation, the overhead
lights will remain completely blank
when not activated by pedestrians,
meaning traffic can flow freely and
without interruption.
"They will only be active when
a pedestrian pushes a button,"
Ramirez said. "Otherwise, it's
dark."
According to Ramirez and Mar-
tin, this has not presented an issue
in Tucson, Ariz., where the HAWK
system was developedl to alleviate
traffic congestion.

Council members at yester-
day's meeting widely supported
the HAWK project, saying it offers
a unique opportunity to improve
pedestrian safety.
"It'll be exciting to see this," Coun-
cil Member Marcia Higgins (D-
Ward 4) told Ramirez and Martin.
Anglin also said in the interview
that he supports the project and is
looking forward to seeing how it
works as a safety measure.
"I've been excited about (HAWK)
only because it's a new type of safety
thing, and we're really trying to
push pedestrian safety in the city,"
Anglin said.
Though the Huron Street HAWK
is set to debut at a formal ribbon-
cutting ceremony on Nov. 17, Mar-
tin emphasized that it isn't part of
a broader plan to fill the city with
HAWK devices - at least notyet.
According to Martin, MDOT will
test the effectiveness of this first
HAWK before lookingto expand its
reach.
For his part, Anglin said he's
anxious to see the expansion of a
HAWK-like system to the rest of
the city.
- Devon Cox contributed
to this report.


GAME DAY
From Page 1A
from visiting teams and Michigan
fans gather at Conor O'Neill's to
hang out before, during and after the
game. Halsey said he notices that on
Football Saturdays, there's a signifi-
cant increase in the amount of tips
he makes.
"That's usually because we get
slammed on football game days,"
Halsey said. "Every table, every seat
gets full. It's agreat atmospherehere
in the pub for people to watch the
game."
Halsey added that the amount in
tips he makes sometimes depends
on which school the Michigan foot-
ball team is playing. Certain visiting
fans, he said, tend to tip local waiters
less.
"If Ohio State comes in town or
something, those fans are in Ann
Arbor and they tend to try and stick
it to us and will tip a little less,"
Halsey said.
Though Conor O'Neill's is usu-
ally packed on game days, Halsey
said it's a crowd of older people and
Ann Arbor residents, while students
tend to stick to the South State Street

area.
One of the restaurants in that area
that sees a lot of students on football
Saturdays is Quickie Burger Bar
and Grill, which puts an additional
burger stand outside on game days.
Quickie Burger's owner, Varujan
Arman, said the cart provides an
easy way for people to graba bite on
their way to Michigan Stadium.
"All it's doing is creating a quicker
service so you don't have to wait,"
Arman said.
Arman, a University alum, said
the restaurant sees at least "a one-
and-a-half times" increase in the
amount of food it sells and profit it
makes on game days. The big differ-
ence, he said, is that on game days,
in addition to students, many more
Ann Arbor residents and visitors
come to eat at the establishment,
which is located at the intersection
of South State and Hill streets.
"It's a completely different clien-
tele," Arman said.
Though football Saturdays are
some of his busiest days of the year,
Arman said the restaurant would
still do well regardless.
"The thing people don't under-
stand about Fpotball Saturday is
We --n -' -"t b ^ rn n]n 0 r--

said. "What it does is create a 53rd
week of the year. If it didn't exist, we
would stillibe fine."
Arman added that certain game
days, like days with noon games,
actually hurt his business the night
before, since students tend to go to
bed earlier and Quickie Burger stays
open until 4 a.m. But he said the
increase in sales the next day ends
up balancing it out.
For Church Street restau-
rant Pizza House, however, sales
increase the whole weekend of a
home game, Pizza House owner
Dennis Tice said.
"Football Saturdays are obviously
great and it's not just Saturday but
Friday and Sunday too," Tice said.
There's definitely an increase in
the amount of food the restaurant
sells on game days, but, like Quickie
Burger, Tice said the eatery is nor-
mally very busy so it doesn't make
that much of a difference. Tice added
that where the restaurant sees a real
difference in sales is in pizza deliver-
ies on game days.
"We probably make about 20 per-
cent more deliveries,"Tice said. "We
will end up having 30 delivery guys
out there as opposed to the usual 19
-n" "n1


RODRIGUEZ
From Page 1A
to monitor those mistakes.
Over an extended period of
time, the Wolverines exceeded
the' maximum amount of count-
able hours for athletic-related
activity by 65 hours. Brandon said
that 57 of those hours were com-
mitted due to misinterpretations
of the rules involving stretching
and warm-ups. The extra time -
which Brandon was quick to point
out was counted in minutes, not
hours - added up incrementally.
Based on those violations, there
were four penalties levied that
will affect Rodriguez and the
program: public reprimand and
censure, three years probation
(one more year than Michigan
self-proposed) and a reduction of
130 hours of countable, athleti-
cally related activity hours over a
specific period of time. Rodriguez
must also attend the 2011 NCAA
Regional Rules Seminar.
Of those 130 hours that the Wol-
verines will lose, 32 of them have
already been accounted for and
Rodriguez said that all of them
should be complete by the end of
next summer - about nine months
ahead of the deadline.
The most pressing results might
be the added pressure on Michi-
gan's head coach. It's notjust about
wins and losses when Brandon sits
down to evaluate his coaches.
"Wins and losses matter," Bran-
don said."So does the management
of your staff. So does the pipeline
of recruits. So does the academic
performance of your student ath-

letes. So does the academic perfor-
mance of your prospective student
athletes. So does the conduct of
your student athletes. There's a lot
of statistical measures in athlet-
ics. There's no lack of information.
And there's no lack of benchmark-
ing opportunities to look at other
programs in similar positioning
that we are in, in any of one of our
27 sports."
Michigan is still one win away
from becoming bowl eligible for
the first time since Rodriguez took
over the program in 2008. The
Wolverines had made a record-34
straight bowl appearances prior

to that year. And there is still time
to impress with matchups against
highly-ranked Ohio State and
Wisconsin remaining on the 2010
schedule.
"We still have a season to play,"
Brandon said. "We still have sev-
eral important games to play, that
will be great tests for our football
program. Let's just go play the
games. And let's let our coach and
our players be focused on the task
at hand. And then at the end of the
season, we'll do what we do at the
end of every season: we'll review
and see where we've gotten better
and where we need to improve."

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