NATIONAL CHAMP Wrestler Kellen Russell won Michigan's first national championship of the school year. * INSIDE C .4i 1an '41aily 0 Ann Arbor, Michigan Monday, March 21, 2011 michigandaily.com STUDYING OVERSEAS '' 'students abroad,in A2 reflect on Japan quake CHANTEL JENNINGS/Daily Michigan point guard Darius Morris is consoled by teammate Corey Person after the Wolverines' 73-71 loss to Duke yesterday. Morris missed a shot in the final seconds of the third-round matchup that would have tied the game. For more, see SportsMonday, inside. Michigan s story is told through the sound of silence Students relieved by families' safety, plan to organize fundraisers By CAITLIN HUSTON Daily News Editor At first, LSA junior Michelle Resnick's school day at Doshi- sha University in Kyoto, Japan on Friday, March 11 started out like any other. But as she and her classmates sat in a school lounge eight hours from Tokyo, an earthquake and tsunami were uprooting the northeastern part of the country. Resnick is one of the 10 Uni- versity undergraduate students studying abroad in Japan. She, as well as other Japanese stu- dents on campus, had a personal connection to the disaster when the 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami hit the northeast coast of the country, killing an estimated 18,000 people and disrupting nuclear reactors at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. University spokesman Rick Fitzgerald said the 10 under- graduate students and six grad- uate students studying abroad in Japan at the time of the quake are all safe and were not harmed by the disaster. Still in the southwest city of Kyoto, Resnick said via a Skype interview this weekend that she is far from the epicenter of the destruction and didn't feel any- thing at the time of the earth- quake. It wasn't until turning on the news later that night that she truly saw the impact of the disaster. "I was shocked. This is the first time I've been even this close to a natural disaster on this level. You look at the pictures on the news and the destruction especially in Sendai, which is the epicenter - it was a lot to take in, honestly," Resnick said. As she watched the news, Resnick said the hardest imag- es to see were people digging through the rubble looking for their family members. While Resnick was watching, the news in Japan, LSA junior Tetsuro Matsushima, a one- year exchange student from the University-of Tokyo, was in Ann Arbor, where he avidly moni- tored tweets and e-mails from See QUAKE, Page 5A CHARLOTTE, N.C. - This wasn't a season that could be captured in a still frame. It wasn't a team that could be defined in 900 words. And it wasn't a moment that anyone - not even Darius Morris - had words for. No, to understand what hap- pened in that moment, that game, that season, you need to hear to believe. And few will actually listen for it, because you would have to look for those sounds in the unlikeliest of places. You'd have to listen to the silences., And no one is looking there.C CHANTEL Just like JENNINGS no one was looking at Michigan before this season started. All that can be said, explained and extrapolated about this team and its emotions were heard in those silences through- out Time Warner Cable Arena yesterday. It was the sound of silence as the ball left Morris' hands and arched perfectly toward the bas- ket until that idyllic silence was broken by the ding of the ball meeting the heel of the rim. But in that moment of silence, there was hope - desperate hope. The hope of a team of ragtag kids who were under- recruited and underappreciated. It was the hope that the team, led by two Indiana boys in black sneakers, has held this entire season. It was the hope of John Beilein as he leaned forward, anticipating the exact result he'd seen in practice so many times when Morris took that same shot. And then came the ding. There was the silence of the aftermath. The silence of disbe- lief. The silence that shook the team to its core that comes with See JENNINGS, Page 6A GRADUATE EMPLOYEES GEO 'U' bargaining team sign tentative agreement Contract to include more support 'for disabled employees By KAITLIN WILLIAMS Daily StaffReporter After more than 12 hours of bargaining, at 2:05 a.m. Satur- day morning, the University's Graduate Employees' Organiza- tion's bargaining team signed a tentative agreement for its new contract with the University. GEO's three-year contract expired on Friday. The tenta- tive agreement signed this past weekend will be brought to a general membership meet- ing later this week for a vote to ratify the contract, accord- ing to GEO President Robert Gillezeau, a graduate student instructor in the Department of Economics and a graduate stu- dent research assistant for the Center for Afroamerican and African Studies. Rende Echols, the lead nego- tiator of GEO and a Department of English Language and Litera- ture graduate student instruc- tor, wrote in an e-mail interview See GEO, Page 6A 0 STUDENT HOUSING RHA seeks to create group to re-examine canvassing policy Children perform traditional Native American dances at the 39th annual Dance for Mother Earth Powwow on Saturday at the Saline Middle School Feidhouse. Native American dance, traditions honored at 39th annual powwow 'U' ACLU aims to allow campaigning in residence halls By SABIRA KHAN Daily StaffReporter Canvassers campaigning for President Barack Obama or his Republican challenger in the 2012 presidential election may face new guidelines when soliciting support in University residence halls. The University's Residence Halls Association is aiming to create a collaborative group com- prised of members of RHA, Uni- versity Housing officials and other student groups, which would work to create guidelines and a long-term policy on canvassing in University residence halls. The development of the group was the subject of an RHA resolu- tion passed by the association last Thursday. LSA senior Mallory Jones, chair of the University's undergradu- ate chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union and a former news editor for The Michigan Daily, said the ACLU and the Universi- ty's chapter of College Democrats See RHA, Page SA Participants still acknowledge tension with 'U' By BRANDON SHAW For the Daily Coordinated dancee, color- ful regalia, and rhythmic ritu- als filled a gymnasium adorned with Native American artifacts and artwork and people enjoy- ing traditional food and drink. The festivities were part of 39th annual Dance for Moth- er Earth Powwow hosted by the University's chapter of the Native American Student Association. The weekend- long event, which took place at Saline Middle School, drew several hundred attendees and included three main perfor- mances by dancers and drum- mers from across the country and a multitude of vendors sell- ing art, handmade goods and food. George Martin, the host of the powwow, has been partici- pating in the event each year since its debut in 1972. He said dancers at the event range from young children to veterans like himself. Rackham student Veronica See POWWOW, Page SA WEATHER HI: 39 TOMORROW LO:32 GOT A NEWS TIP? Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail news@michigandaily.com and let usknow. 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