E Illic4i1 Yt 4,3atig
michigandailycom
ACLU slams
DPS over
Shirvell's ban
from campus
ERIN KIRKLAND/Daily
Artist Ruth Green's exhibit in the Residential College Art Gallery called "49 lines in 21 days" is displayed yesterday. The installation is a combination of foreign postcards,
plastic produce cartons, wilted leaves, human hair, wire and 1950s-esque cookbook cards. The exhibit is open Wednesdays through Sundays until Nov. 24.
ST U D E NT GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS
Student governments unite to
try and increase voter turnout
In letter to Coleman,
Magee, ACLU-UM
asks for review of
trespass policy
By HILLARY BOK
Daily StaffReporter
The University's undergradu-
ate chapter of the American Civil
Liberties Union condemned the
Department of Public Safety for
its trespass order against Andrew
Shirvell the former Michigan
assistant attorney general notori-
ous for his blog attacking Michigan
Student Assembly President Chris
Armstrong.
The trespass order was put in
place after Shirvell started show-
ingup atcampus events Armstrong
was attending.
In addition to its condemnation,
ACLU-UM alho called for a review
of DPS's trespass policy in a letter
sent to University President Mary
Sue Coleman and DPS director Ken
Magee last week.
In a press release issued yester-
day, ACLU-UM officials stated that
they believe DPS's current trespass
policy allows the director "wide
discretion in issuing trespass
bans." The release also calls the
trespass policy unconstitutional.
Mallory Jones, chair of the Uni-
versity's undergraduate chapter of
the ACLU, said in an interview that
she believes the trespass warning
placed on Shirvell demonstrates
a fundamental problem with the
policy.
Once a trespass order is issued
it can only be lifted or modified
through a meeting between the
person it is issued against and the
DPS director.
"We feel it is an example of
where power is being abused,"
Jones, a formernews editor for The
Michigan Daily said. "We feel that
way because there are no charges
pending against (Shirvell) and
Chris Armstrong has withdrawn
his request for a restraining order.
We don't think it's necessary for
the University to still have restric-
tions placed against him."
DPS originally issued a trespass
warningbarring Shirvell from set-
ting foot on the University's Ann
Arbor campus on Sept. 14. The
order was modified on Nov. 5 to
allow Shirvell on campus, exefpt
for at events where it is reason-
ably assumed that Armstrong will
be present. In addition, if Shirvell
sees Armstrong at an event where
he is present, he must leave.
The letter sent to Coleman and
Magee criticizes the trespass order
against Shirvell stating that "the
First Amendment intentionally
and necessarily defends Shirvell's
offensive and appalling speech.
Our Constitution gives a citizen
See SHIRVELL, Page 7A
Elections started at
midnight last night,
will end at 11:59
p.m. tomorrow
By ROBIN VEECK
Daily StaffReporter
This fall the Michigan Student'
Assembly, University of Michigan
Engineering Council, and LSA
Student Government have been
working together to improve tra-
ditionally low turnouts for the fall
student government elections tak-
ing place today and tomorrow. *
Voter turnout is typically higher
for winter elections, when presi-
dential and vice-presidential can-
didates for MSA and LSA-SG are
up for election in March. Due to
the adoption of a new compiled
code, starting next year MSA will
no longer hold November elections
and will instead hold elections for
all assembly and executive board
seats once each winter.
Last November, only about 9
percent of the eligible student
body voted in student government
elections.
This week, 32 MSA repre-
sentative seats are up for elec-
tion, as well as seats on LSA-SG
and UMEC. The LSA ballot also
includes a list of questions about
potential changes to the LSA
Course Guide, off-campus dining
and a proposal to cancel classes on
election days.
MSA Election Director Sagar
Desphande said some students
might not vote in student govern-
ment elections because they aren't
awareof the role MSA plays in stu-
dent life.
. "The average student doesn't
realize the full value and potential
of MSA," Desphande said. "A lot
of students have complaints about
the University. They complain
that tuition is too high, obviously.
They complain that they don't like
things about how the campus, the
way it's run. But very few of them
realize there's a way to bring these
concerns to the administration,
and it's called MSA."
UMEC President Dara Fisher
said that UMEC faces a similar
problem within the College of
Engineering because many Engi-
neering students know little about
the school's student government.
See ELECTIONS, Page 7A
MKI(AIION STUDENT A SSEMBLY
MSA president willno longer
preside over weekly meetings
CRACKING THE CASE
Assembly voted
to implement new
compiled code at
last night's meeting
By ROBIN VEECK
Daily StaffReporter
The Michigan Student Assem-
bly voted last nightrto adopt a new
compiled code that fundamen-
tally alters the structure of the
assembly - strengthening the
divide between MSA's executive
and legislative branches.
Under the compiled code
approved last night, MSA execu-
tives will no longer have a vote on
the assembly or preside over MSA
meetings. Instead, the legislative
assembly will elect its own offi-
cers, the speaker and vice speaker
of the assembly.
MSA will begin operating
under the new code beginning
at the MSA meeting on Nov. 30.
In this transitional period, MSA
President Chris Armstrong will
no longer lead assembly meet-
ings. Instead, the speaker and
vice speaker will preside over the
meetings.
At last night's meeting, the
assembly elected LSA Rep. DeAn-
dree Watson and Engineering
Rep. Sean Walser interim speaker
of the assembly and interim vice
speaker of the assembly, respec-
See MSA, Page 7A
B!GFOOT'S NEXT
Urban legend or real life monster? 'U'
biologist discovers chupacabra in wild
ARIEL BOND/Daily
Kinesiology junior Doug Fischer (left) and Business junior Jordan Eckstein work on a case study as part of a case competition
event during Global Entrepreneurship Week.
Veterans talk transition to college
Mythical animal
actually a coyote
with mange
By DAVID BUCCILLI
Daily StaffReporter
The wolf-like, bat-like, snake-
like, bear-like, gargoyle-Gollum
creature from Hell that sucks the
blood out of chickens and goats
WEATHER HI: 47
TOMORROW LO 28
has been identified. Turns out,
it's a coyote with scabies, accord-
ing to a University biologist, who
studied the animal.
Biology Prof. Barry O'Connor
said in an interview that the chu-
pacabra is most likely a coyote
infested with Sarcoptic mange.
The legend of the chupacabra
started from avariation of reports
in 1995 in Puerto Rico, where
balding, bipedal creatures with
spikes on their backs were cited
killing livestock by sucking their
blood dry.
"Any legend probably has some
basis in fact," O'Connor said, add-
ing that the original source of the
legend in Puerto Rico was prob-
ably a feral monkey infected with
mange.
When the legend moved from
Puerto Rico to mainland Latin
America, the identity of the chu-
pacabra changed with location,
See CHUPACABRA, Page 2A
E
Co
we
vent organizer: vices highlighted the difficulties
student veterans often face when
llege is an 'alien assimilating to a college atmo-
sphere after spending time on
rld' after active active duty at a student-veteran
affairs symposium yesterday.
duty service According to Philip Larson, the
mediator of the event and the coor-
KAITLIN WILLIAMS dinator of the University's Student
JORDAN ROCHELSON Veterans Assistance Program, the
DailyStaffReporters goal of the symposium was to help
faculty and students understand
dent veterans and other for- the everyday struggles of student
aembers of the armed ser- veterans.
Larson said transitioning from
being a member of the armed ser-
vices to becoming a University stu-
dent can be a trying experience for
students used to military life.
"It's an alien world," Larson
said.
The keynote speaker at the sym-
posium was John Schwarz, a navy
veteran and former member of the
CIA who did tours in Vietnam,
Indonesia and Laos. Schwarz, a
Republican from Battle Creek,
See VETERANS, Page 7A
By
and
Stu
mer m
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