The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Tuesday, November 9, 2010 - 7 FIRESIDE CHAT From Page 1 diversity)," Coleman said. Coleman was also asked about how she reconciles the importance of diversity and academic excel- lence. She responded by saying the University never lowers its aca- demic standards to increase diver- sity, but rather that it takes a holistic approach among qualified appli- cants thatcincludes looking at a wide range of factors to build a class of students with diverse backgrounds and opinions. And diversity on campus, Cole- man said in response to other ques- tions, is one of the things graduates say was one of the best parts of attending the University. "I'm proud of what we've done, but we've got a lot of work left to do. We're not there yet," Coleman said. The ethnic diversity of the incoming freshman class of Univer- sity students increased this year for the first time since the state passed a ban on affirmative action, which took effect in 2007. The population of underrepresented minority stu- dents increased from 9.1 percent of the total freshmen class in 2009 to 10.6 percent of the total freshmen class this fall. But topics discussed at yester- day's fireside chat also included more light-hearted questions, like the most recent novel Coleman read. Coleman said her most recent read was a book titled "The Pas- sage," which is about a military project gone awry and the ensuing struggle that the only remaining colony of people in existence face as the power station that helps to preventvampires from entering the city and killing all its citizens begins to fail. "It's sort of a vampire book, but it's not like Twilight," Coleman said, explaining to the group that she received the book as a gift when attending a meeting of University presidents from across the country at Rice University earlier this year. A student followed up with a question for Coleman about wheth- er the president also liked the Twi- light saga by Stephenie Meyer. "Stephenie Meyer is a genius, and she's made a lot of money off Twi- light," Coleman said. "But Twilight books don't hold a candle to 'The Passage." The light-hearted topics also included questions about Coleman and Harper's favorite places to eat near campus. Coleman told stu- dents she likes to eat at Red Hawk Bar & Grill on South State Street, while Harper said she likes to eat at the Ann Arbor staple Blimpy Burger. Another student asked Harper and Coleman to name one thing on their bucket lists. Harper used her iPad to pull up a copy of her bucket list, joking that she'd have to look at it to find some- thing she could share and adding that she wants to become techno- logically literate. "I really love paper and pencils, and the more beautiful paper is and the nicer theink is the more Ilike it," Harper said, holding up her iPad. "I really do have to get over that. This has been a big help for me." Coleman's list included a more traditional bucketlist activity - vis- iting the Inca ruins at Machu Pic- chu. "It's high on my list," Coleman said. In second day of hearing, Shirvell fired from position SNYDER From Page 1 worlds together," he said. Snyder also eschewed party labels during the press confer- ence, saying he chose Dillon and Posthumus based on their expe- rience not their party affiliation. "Let's stop fighting over the extremes and recognize Michi- gan is in a crisis," Snyder said. "And we're going to move for- ward, we're going to roll up our sleeves, solve the problems, that's what the people elected us to do." Posthumus holds the record for the longest-serving Senate majority leader in Michigan and is also the former CEO of Com- patico, a furniture manufactur- ing company in Grand Rapids. In addition, he served as lieutenant governor to former Republican governor John Engler. SMOKING BAN From Page 1 go home not smelling like a bar." Art & Design freshman Mad- eline Young echoed Evers, saying she likes the ban because she's doesn't like the smell of smoke. "I love the ban," Young said. "I like not having to go to a bar and smell like smoke." Recognizing patrons like Young, some bar owners are even redeco- rating to get rid of the old smoke smell. Adam Lowenstein, owner of the Alley Bar on West Liberty Street, Posthumus's role as a senior adviser will be to assist Snyder and his team in developing pub- lic policy and translating it to legislation. At the press confer- ence, Snyder said he looks for- ward to working with Posthumus and lauded his vast experience in both the public and private sec- tors. "I'm extremely excited about having Dick join the administra- tion," Snyder said. "His back- ground is absolutely fabulous ... He's got great legislative experi- ence. And he's really going to be a leader in helping us on legislative affairs." Posthumus said at the press conference that he never antici- pated taking on the role as senior adviser and merely suggested Snyder create the position to ease the transition from the private sector to the public sector. "Coming from the outside, things are a little different to accomplish in Lansing mode," Posthumus said at the press con- ference. "To accomplish things in the legislative process is a little different than the private sector and I urged him to bring some people on to assist lieuten- ant governor-elect (Brian) Calley in working with the process to implement legislation for Michi- gan." Posthumus said he initially declined the job because he "wasn't looking for a job in administration," but he was soon persuaded by Snyder to join his team. "If any of you a month ago would have said I would have been here to talk about this sub- ject today I would have said you were crazy," Posthumus said. "The governor-elect and his team is pretty persuasive and they convinced me that maybe some of the experiences I have in a very small way could help the administration succeed so that's why I'm here today," he contin- ued. At the press conference Snyder said that like Posthumus, Dillon has a "fabulous combination of experience" that will be benefi- cial to the Snyder administration. Though Dillon was vying to run as a Democrat for governor earlier in the year before Lan- sing Mayor Virg Bernero won the Democratic nomination, he said he decided to join Snyder's team because he's "very impressed with the governor-elect's vision for the state." "We need fundamental change in Michigan," Dillon said at the press conference. "I also believe that because these changes are so dramatic, we've got to shed the labels. Democrats and Republi- cans need to work together." From Page 1 Armstrong worked this past sum- mer - during work hours, the press release states. Shirvell tried to get Armstrong fired from his job with Pelosi's office, according to Cox's statement. Also, "Shirvell would, at times, post attacks on Armstrong on the Internet while at work," Cox wrote in the press release. Shirvell is the creator of a blog titled Chris Armstrong Watch on which he has accused the MSA president of promoting a "radical homosexual agenda." The decision to fire Shirvell was also based on his dishonesty with other assistant attorneys general who investigated Shirvell's case throughout his disciplinary hear- ing, Cox wrote. The disciplinary hearing to determine Shirvell's employment status with the state's attorney general office began on Friday. Deborah Gordon, Armstrong's lawyer, wrote in a statement released today that Shirvell must "realize there are consequences for his reckless, outrageous state- ments and actions..." "This is clearly the correct decision by the attorney general's office," Gordon wrote. "The next step must be a complete retraction of all the malicious lies and fabri- cations by Mr. Shirvell, and a pub- lic apology to Chris Armstrong, his family and the others Mr. Shirvell has slandered." Calls to Shirvell'slawyer weren't immediately returned yesterday. In a phone interview this eve- ning, Gordon said Cox's decision to fire Shirvell didn't come as a sur- prise. "I wasn't surprised really because I looked into the matter," she said. "I know the attorney gen- eral's office has been doing a full investigation and there's so much wrongdoing there." Gordon said she assumes the panel at the disciplinary hearing "made a recommendation" to Cox regarding Shirvell's employment status. "I think it had to be an obvious end for him, for Shirvell," Gordon said. "You can't conduct yourself that way and remain an assistant attorney general." Gordon said she and Armstrong intend to follow through with their complaints to the Michigan Attor- ney Grievance Commission. They have requested an investigation of Shirvell's recent actions and pos- sible disciplinary action, up to and including potential disbarment. Gordon said she also filed a supplemental complaint, including Shirvell's blog, with the Attorney Grievance Commission on Friday. But there has yet to be any prog- ress on the complaints filed, she said. "Typically, it's not a fast pro- cess," Gordon said, adding that there isn't a lot of precedent for a case of this nature.. Gordon said Shirvell should be disbarred due to his actions involv- ing Armstrong. "He should lose his right to practice law based on his behav- ior," Gordon said. "You have to be trustworthy and reliable and I don't see (that) that's possible with him." In addition to pursuing the com- plaints with the Attorney Griev- ance Commission, Gordon said she and Armstrong are evaluating other "legal options." "We continue to look at our other legal options; no decisions have been made," she said. Gordon told the Daily last week that she and Armstrong believed Shirvell's actions had been in vio- lation of the Michigan Rules of Professional Conduct - a guide state attorneys must follow. This alleged violation led Gordon and Armstrong to file the complaints, she said at the time. Shirvell was previously barred from setting foot on campus due to a trespass order issued by the University's Department of Pub- lic Safety. However, the order was modified last Wednesday so that Shirvell can now be on campus but cannot attend events where Arm- strong is present, including MSA meetings. Gordon said DPS's trespass order modification was "sensible." "I think it was a reasonable decision on their part," Gordon said. "That's a tough issue, to bar people from campus completely; legally that's a tough issue." said when he took ownership of the bar in August, he and his part- ners made an effort to eliminate the lingering smoke smell by tear- ing out the old carpet and putting a fresh coat of paint on the walls. "Old smoke smell is worse than new smoke smell," Lowenstein said. "And the best smoke smell is no smoke smell." other local business owners whose bars were non-smoking before the ban say they have not been affected by it. Ben Hammond, day manager at Good Time Charley's on South University Avenue, said the ban has not impacted business because the indoor area was already non- smoking before the ban. However, customers could smoke in the out- door caf6. Since the ban took effect, cus- tomers cannot smoke in Charley's outdoor caf6 while eating meals. Lowenstein, who also owns Good Time Charley's and BTB Cantina above Charley's, said he agrees with the ban but thinks people should be able to smoke out- side while being served food. But Higgins said smokers still go to restaurants and bars even though they cannot smoke inside. "Definitely, there are crowds outside smoking, but it's not ridicu- lous," Higgins said. Higgins, who said the smoking ban helped him kick his smoking habit, added that his customers who smoke still come to Ashley's despite the fact that they cannot enjoy their cigarettes at the bar. "It's not like anyone else offers smoking," Higgins said. "There's nowhere else for them to go." Though a smoker herself, LSA freshman Brogan Dysert said she supports the statewide smoking ban. "I think it's good because obvi- ously the health risks of breathing secondhand smoke, (and) I think it will help people quit," Dysert said. . 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