6A - Tuesday, September 7, 2010
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
'U' administrators encourage
freshmen to expand horizons n
Thursday's New
Student Convocation
was themed 'Widen
Your Worldview'
By DAVID BUCCILLI
For the Daily
New students from across the
country and around the world
shone in specks of maize and
blue throughout Crisler Arena
on Thursday night as University
administrators and student lead-
ers welcomed the class of 2014
to the University at New Student
Convocation.
This year's ceremony was
themed "Widen Your Worldview,"
which served as the keystone
underlying each speaker's address
to the freshmen class.
The University's new provost,
Philip Hanlon, who's now two
months into the position, wel-
comed students and their families
and expressed his high expecta-
tions forthe class of 2014.
"As Michigan students you
can achieve and we expect you to
achieve great things. Go for it,"
Hanlon said.
Michigan Student Assem-
bly President Chris Armstrong
encouraged students to open up
to themselves and others by being
true to who they really are.
"Your time here in Ann Arbor is
as much about your own self-dis-
covery as it is about your career,"
Armstrong said.
Ted Spencer, associate vice pro-
vost and executive director of the
University's Office of Undergrad-
uate Admissions, spoke next about
the importance of diversity and
the magnitude that comes with
being a Wolverine.
"You will join students from
over 1,900 different high schools,
all 50 states and almost 70 coun-
tries, giving you the opportunity
to widen your worldview with
classes from many diverse back-
grounds," Spencer said.
"And after graduation you will
become part of the largest net-
work of alums in the world," he
continued.
With a record number of more
than 32,000 applicants for this
year's clas$, the University's
incoming freshmen had a mean
grade point average of 3.8, Spen-
cer said. And 13 percent of the new
class earned a perfect 4.0 GPA, he
said.
In her remarks, University
President Mary Sue Coleman
echoed with Armstrong's senti-
ment in regards to self-growth,
and also continued the theme of
the evening by speaking about
widening one's perceptions of
people and the world.
"College is about ideas, view-
points, and questions - and the
myriad directions they take your
mind," Coleman said.
Some students like LSA fresh-
man Emily Martin left the cer-
emony feeling more confident
about starting their first year at
the University than before they
entered Crisler Arena.
"Coming to Michigan, you're
scared and anxious," Martin said.
"It was comforting to hear all
these kind words."
0
0
Mich. Supreme Court knocks 'Tea Party'off ballot
Party didn't meet
technical rules in
the state law
LANSING, Mich. (AP) - A
shadowy group calling itself "The
Tea Party" won't be allowed on
the state's November ballot after
a Friday order from the Michigan
Supreme Court.
The high court's 5-2 vote
lets stand a ruling earlier this
week from the Michigan Court
of Appeals that keeps "The Tea
Party" off the ballot because it
didn't comply with some techni-
cal requirements in state law.
Republicans and tea party
activists consider "The Tea
Party" a Democrat-supported
fake aimed at siphoning away
votes from conservative candi-
dates. The effort has connec-
tions to a former Oakland County
Democratic Party official.
The appeals court ruled earlier
this week "The Tea Party" could
not be on the ballot because of an
irregularity on its petitions cir-
culated to make the ballot. The
word "the" in "The Tea Party"
title was not in 24-point bold face
type on its petitions as required
by law.
The Supreme Court denied
a request to appeal, with the
majority saying it was "not per-
suaded that the questions pre-
sented should be reviewed" by
the court.
"Today's decision by the Court
is a win for all of the dedicated
grassroots activists who are part
of the true Tea Party movement
and it is a win for democracy,"
Michigan Republican Party
Chairman Ron Weiser said in a
statement.
Messages were left seeking
message comment after Friday's
ruling with "The Tea Party"
chairman Mark Steffek and
attorney Michael Hodge.
The court battle started
last month after the Board of
State Canvassers deadlocked
2-2 on a proposal that would
have placed "The Tea Party"
on the ballot. The tie vote,
with Republicans opposing
the measure to put the group
on the ballot and Democrats
supporting it, meant "The
Tea Party" was not certified
for the Nov. 2 ballot.
"The Tea Party" was seek-
ing to run nearly two dozen
candidates including nomi-
nees for attorney general,
secretary of state, two of
Michigan's 15 congressional
districts, six of 38 seats in
the state Senate and eight of
110 seats in the state House.
The group also listed poten-
tial candidates for the Uni-
versity of Michigan Board of
Regents, the State Board of
Education and the Oakland
County Board of Commis-
sioners.
Two of the state Senate
candidates wouldn't have
qualified to make the ballot
because they are too young.
President Barack Obama speaks on the economy at the Milwaukee Laborfest in Mil-
waukee, Monday, Sept. 6, 2010.
Obama assails
GOP, pro-motes
new jobs program
0
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Republicans
respond, skeptical of
short-term relief
MILWAUKEE, Wisc. (AP) -
A combative President Barack
Obama rolled out a long-term
jobs program Monday that would
exceed $50 billion to rebuild
roads, railways and runways, and
coupled it with a blunt campaign-
season assault on Republicans for
causing Americans' hard econom-
ic times.
GOP leaders instantly assailed
Obama's proposal as an ineffective
one that would simply raise already
excessive federal spending. Many
congressional Democrats are
also likely to be reluctant to boost
expenditures and increase federal
deficits just weeks before elections
that will determine control of Con-
gress.
Jim Manley, spokesman for Sen-
ate Majority Leader Harry Reid of
Nevada, cautioned, "If we are going
to get anything done, Republi-
can cooperation, which has been
all but non-existent recently,
will be necessary."
That left the plan with low, if
not impossible, odds of becom-
ing law this year. When Con-
gress returns from summer
recess in mid-September, it is
likely to remain in session for
onlyafewweeksbefore lawnak-
ers return home to campaign for
re-election.
Administration officials said
that even if Congress quickly
approved the program, it would
not produce jobs until sometime
next year. That means the pro-
posal's only pre-election impact
may be a political one as the
White House tries to demon-
strate to voters that it is working
to boost the economy and create
jobs.
At a Labor Day speech in Mil-
waukee, Obama said Republi-
cans are betting that between
now and the Nov. 2 elections,
Americans will forget the
Republican economic policies
that led to the recession. He said
Republicans have opposed vir-
tually everything he has done to
help the economy, and have pro-
posed solutions that have only
made the problem worse.
"That philosophy didn't work
out so well for middle-class fami-
lies all across America," Obama
told a cheering crowd at a labor
gathering. "It didn't work out so
well for our country. All it did was
rack up record deficits and result in
the worst economic crisis since the
Great Depression."
He said Repubicans have consis-
tently opposed his economic pro-
posals and seem to be running on
a slogan of "No, we can't," playing
off his 2008 presidential campaign
mantra of "Yes we can."
"If I said fish live in the sea,
they'd sayno," Obama said.
Republicans made clear that
Obama should not expect any help
from them.
Senate Republican Leader Mitch
McConnell of Kentucky said the
plan "should be met with justifi-
able skepticism." He said it would
raise taxes while Americans are
"still looking for the 'shovel-ready'
jobs they were promised more than
a year ago" in the $814 billion eco-
nomic stimulus measure.
The House Republican lead-
er, John Boehner of Ohio, added
"We don't need more government
'stimulus' spending. We need to
end Washington Democrats' out-
of-control spending spree, stop
their tax hikes, and create jobs by
eliminating the job-killing uncer-
tainty that is hampering our small
businesses."
Administration officials are
hunting broadly for ways to revive
the economy. But they are likely to
drop a separate proposal to renew
a law exempting companies from
paying Social Security taxes on
anyunemployed workers they hire,
according to a White House official
who spoke on condition of ano-
nymity because the decision was
not final.
Casual in brown slacks and
open-collar white shirt with
rolled-up sleeves, Obama took a
populist tack in his speech, mixing
attacks on Republicans with praise
for working-class and middle-class
Americans.
He said he'd "keep fighting,
every single day, every single hour,
every single minute to turn this
economy around." He said interest
groups he has battled "talk about
me like a dog."
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