The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Wednesday, March 23, 2011 - 3A

The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Wednesday, March 23, 2011 - 3A

NEWS BRIEFS
LANSING, Mich.
Proposal to reject
same-sex health
benefits stalls
A bid to rescind the extension
of state-paid health insurance
coverage to same-sex partners
or other adults living with some
state employees stalled yester-
day in the Michigan House.
A resolution that would reject
the extension of benefits did not
get enough votes to pass with
the required two-thirds major-
ity in the Republican-led cham-
ber. The measure was getting
65 votes - nine short of the 74
needed - when the vote board
was cleared without an official
count announced.
Republicans say they have
until April 18 to pass the reso-
lution, and they likely will try
again before that deadline. The
resolution already has passed
with a two-thirds majority in the
Republican-led Senate.
DETROIT
UAW president
criticizes amount
of pay for Ford CEO
United Auto Workers Presi-
dent Bob King on yesterday criti-
cized the nearly $60 million in
stock awards given to Ford CEO
Alan Mulally earlier this month.
King spoke at a union meet-
ing that sets goals for bargaining
a new labor contract with auto-
makers later this year.
"I think Alan Mulally is a
great CEO, but I don't think
any human being in the world
deserves that much money,"
King said at the opening of a
three-day UAW convention in
Detroit. The UAW's current con-
tract with Detroit's three auto-
makers expires Sept. 14.
Mulally received stock valued
at $56.6 million, before taxes,
for his performance in 2009 and
2010. His total compensation for
2010 hasn't yet been released.
Ford Motor Co. responded
that Mulally's leadership has
been "widely recognized as
extraordinary."
PITTSFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich.
Video of shooting
reviewed in case
against officer
A decision to clear a Michigan
police officer of criminal wrong-
doing in the January shoot-
ing of an unarmed man is being
reviewed after a new video of the
shooting became available, pros-
ecutors said.
The patrol car video of the Jan.
15 shooting in by Pittsfield Town-
ship Officer Tracy Yurkunas pre-
viously wasn't available because
of problems with the recording
system that have since been over-

come. The review will include an
examination of the video, as well
as other evidence, Washtenaw
County Chief Deputy Assistant
Prosecutor Steve Hiller said
Monday.
WASHINGTON
FDA forbids sale
of defective heart
and lung devices
The federal government is
legally barring a Michigan com-
pany from selling life-sustaining
devices used in heart surgery,
following years of quality con-
trol problems at company facili-
ties.
The Food and Drug Adminis-
tration said yesterday it signed
a permanent injunction with
Terumo Cardiovascular Systems
and two executives that bars
them from making and distrib-
uting heart-lung bypass systems
and similar machines to new
customers. The devices are used
to circulate blood during chest
surgery.
Terumo agreed to pay $35 mil-
lion in back profits from the sale
of its devices and additional fines
if it doesn't comply with the gov-
ernment's terms.
-Compiled from
Daily wire reports

FEES
From Page 1A
went from $1 to $1.50. MSA has
implemented three fee increases
since that time.
LSA-SG Vice President Carly
Goldberg said the student gov-
ernment researched the effects
of the potential fee increase,
including its impact on student
governments at the University.
LSA-SG talked with other col-
leges and school student gov-
ernments, Royster Harper, the
University's vice president for
student affairs, and the Univer-
sity's Dean of Students Laura
Blake-Jones, who all agreed the
fee increase would have a posi-
tive effect on each student gov-
ernment, Goldberg said.
LSA-SG's research shows that
$1.50 in 1998 amounts to $1.98 in
today due to inflation - some-
thing Goldberg and Benson are
using as a central argument for
their proposed initiative.
A similar initiative on the
winter 2010 ballot, adding 50
TENURE
From Page 1A
part of the University regarding
circumstances that are beyond
an employee's control.
Three other action items
regarding the issue of tenure
probationary periods were
brought before the University
Senate at yesterday's meeting.
The group voted 51-66 against
an action item that would have
allotted more discussion time
for University Provost Philip
Hanlon's tenure probationary
period proposal, which would
allow schools to extend the
period of time in which faculty
members can be granted tenure
status from eight to 10 years.
Physics Prof. Keith Riles said
LSA-SG
From Page 1A
Laverty said Larkin has
extensive experience with bud-
getary issues and academic
affairs, while she has a strong
focus on student life at the Uni-
versity. Larkin explained that
their different perspectives and
past work are, in part, what
make the two a dynamic and
competent pair.
"The different experiences
that we've had, bringing that
together, it reflects the whole
government," Larkin said. "So
I think that's what makes us
really well qualified to run, is we
know a lot about everything that
goes on because we've done so
many different things. I person-
allywanted to be a part of Anne's
team."
The duo's platform aims to
improve multiple dimensions of
campus life, beginning with col-
laboration between LSA-SG and
other student groups and school
departments.
LSA-SG currently sponsors
Diag Days - in which represen-
tatives provide free food and
information about LSA-SG to

students - but these events have
often conflicted with the efforts
of other groups that are also
trying to fundraise or advertise
CENSUS
From Page 1A
Ann Arbor's population has
been "very steady" for the past
few years, and its rise in the
population size rank doesn't
have major implications for
the city since many Michigan
cities have similar population
numbers, Neidert said. She said
while the local results didn't
surprise her, other numbers did.
Detroit saw a 25-percent loss in
population and Wayne County
recorded a 12-percent overall
population drop, according to
the results.
Detroit's results are notable
considering that the counties
that surround Wayne County
and Detroit - like Washtenaw
County - didn't absorb Detroi-
ters who left the city, Neidert
said. Since Michigan doesn't
require residents to register their
new addresses with authorities
after they move, it's difficult to

cents to students' tuition to fund
student organizations, passed
at the time. But the initiative
wasn't taken to the University
provost or Board of Regents,
which approves the fiscal budget
every June. According to Gold-
berg, the proposal was intended
merely to garner student feed-
back on the concept.
She said students and Univer-
sity administrators have been
receptive to the proposal, add-
ing that LSA-SG holds "Lunch
with the Representatives" meet-
ings in an effort to connect to
their student constituency and
receive feedback.
Benson stressed the impor-
tance of student voter partici-
pation in the election. He said
students often express interest
ininitiatives for school planning,
but few actively participate in
the voting and election process.
He added that he is confident if
the same students who approved
last year's 50-cent increase turn
out to vote in this election, the
measure will pass.
Because of its possible impact
he didn't support the action
item because he wanted the fac-
ulty to move on with more spe-
cific actions.
James Woolliscroft, dean
of the University's Medical
School, said he is in favor of
each school being allowed to
opt for Hanlon's tenure pro-
posal on an individual basis.
He said extending the tenure
probationary period could be
important for many employees
in the Medical School.
"In the Medical School, our
faculty colleagues determine
when somebody is ready to be
put forward for promotion,"
Woolliscroft said during the
meeting. "This is done within
each department. It is a critical
process."
The University Senate
in the Diag, Laverty said. To
resolve issues like this and to get
more students involved in LSA-
SG events, Laverty said she is
planning to limit the number of
LSA-SG functions and increase
collaboration with other orga-
nizations like University leader-
ship councils.
She added that she feels LSA-
SG should be more proactive in
reaching out to students on cam-
pus.
"Right now, student govern-
ment is just not very reflective of
the constituents we represent,"
Laverty said.
Laverty and Larkin are also
aiming to make the student
government more transparent
by changing the bylaws that
address LSA-SG's election pro-
cedures.
"We're trying to change that
because we want to give more of
our body a chance to be involved
in who they selectt," Larkin said.
Another bylaw change they're
considering would call for LSA-
SG members to represent a cer-
tain group of constituents, rather
than all LSA students, in order
to increase the accountability
of representatives. Already dis-

cussed among LSA-SG members
for some time, the proposed
change would involve defining
each constituency based on spe-
cifics like concentrations or loca-
know where the departing resi-
dents ended up, she said.
Jim Kosteva, the University's
director of community relations,
said the census results aren't
particularly relevant to the Uni-
versity.
"The census has relatively lit-
tle direct impact upon the Uni-
versity since there are few, if any,
financial awards or grants that
have any relationship to popula-
tion," Kosteva said.
However, any changes
regarding city funding could
have an indirect impact on the
University community, he said.
Ann Arbor City Council
member Mike Anglin (D-Ward
5) said he thinks Ann Arbor's
population stability is most like-
ly due to a constant influx and
outflow of students, profession-
als and other people who aren't
grounded in the city.
"We have a subpopulation of
transients for sure," Anglin said,
adding that he doesn't think city
funding will be greatly affected

on all University colleges, Ben-
son said it's important for stu-
dents to vote in the election.
"It is imperative that students
understand that this directly
affects them, and not only vote,
but encourage others around
them to vote," Benson said.
"This initiative and others on
the ballot have a direct impact
on all students."
Goldberg also said if the bal-
lot initiative is approved by the
majority of voters this week,
she is confident it will pass Uni-
versity Provost Philip Hanlon's
approval process and make it
into the budget at the regent's
meeting in June.
Several students, including
LSA freshman Erin Huffnagel
and LSA senior Matt LaChance,
said they support the initiative
because the college-specific
governments do a lot for their
schools.
"Everyone has a dollar,"
LaChance said. "To say this isn't
worth it is just wrong. They do
great things and should definite-
ly have my money."
members also voted against
another action, which would
have allowed individual fac-
ulty members to pause their
tenure clock for a one-year
period without need for Univer-
sity approval. Faculty members
would have been able to exer-
cise this option twice, the time
of which they would choose
themselves.
University Senate members
motioned to add a fourth action
item, which declared the Sen-
ate Assembly's hesitance about
making any changes to the
University's Board of Regents'
bylaws concerning tenure. A
similar measure was passed
in January. The members
endorsed this action item with
70 yes votes, 42 no votes and
eight abstentions.
tions of constituents' residences,
Laverty said.
"We can learn more what stu-
dents want if you're dealing with
the same group of constituents
the whole time," Larkin said.
Laverty and Larkin are also
striving to make the LSA-SG
website more interactive for stu-
dents by updating the minutes
of weekly meetings, detailing
the resolutions passed by the
government and adding a forum
throughwhich students can pro-
vide input.
"Hopefully by allowing stu-
dents to ask questions, we can
converse with them more," Lar-
kin said. "That will get more stu-
dents engaged, it will get more
people to join student govern-
ment and be interested in what
we're doing, too."
Laverty added that another
way she and Larkin hope to gain
feedback from students is by
introducing college town hall
meetings to address pressing
issues at the University includ-
ing campus safety and problems
with the LSA course guide.
"We elicit feedback from (stu-
dents) every semester, but more
feedback doesn't hurt ..." Larkin
said. "So as we move forward

into a new age and a new chapter
at the University, what students
want is always changing, so we
always have to keep up."
by the results.
"I don't see the state funding
changing very much," Anglin
said. "I think more and more of
the burden of local government
is going to remain with local
government and that revenue
sharing ... will start to cut back."
Anglin said he thinks other
cities in the state experienced
population losses due to changes
in the automotive industry. But
Ann Arbor has a more "sustain-
able employment situation than
most," he said.
Still, Anglin said he's not sure
Ann Arbor has "good jobs" to
offer, adding that he would like
to see more manufacturing com-
panies in the city.
"The fact that someone is
employed in retail, as far as I'm
concerned, is not one of the jobs
that I would put in the middle
class," he said.
More important to the city's
population sustainability, Anglin
said, is keeping companies that
were started here in Ann Arbor.

DPS
From Page 1A
who are nominated and elected
by their representative groups.
The election system was cre-
ated after independent lawyers
told The Michigan Daily in fall
2009 that members of the com-
mittee weren't being elected in
accordance with Michigan stat-
ute Public Act 120 of 1990 - the
act that created the commit-
tee. In the past, students were
appointed to the committee by
the Michigan Student Assembly
but, the student members are
now elected during student gov-
ernment elections, which are
taking place today and tomor-
row.
Steele said her experience as a
board member of the University's
chapter of the American Civil
Liberties Union and her famil-
iarity with student rights issues
gives her a fresh perspective and
qualifies her for the position.
"I'm really passionate about
civil liberties and social justice,
and I want to bring that perspec-
tive to the DPS Oversight Com-
mittee to protect the rights of
students and anyone associated
with the University," Steele said.
If faced with a topic she is
unfamiliar with, Steele said her
interest in law would help her
form an educated opinion on the
subject.
"I have a natural curios-
ity about these legal issues, so
if there is anything that comes
to the table that I don't feel I'm
aware about or that I'm not qual-
ified to have an opinion about,
then I will do the research to
make an informed opinion,"
Steele said.
LSA senior Rebecca Egler
and LSA sophomore Hari Vutu-
kuru currently hold the student
spots on the committee. How-
ever, at the end of the semester,
Vutukuru's term will expire and
Egler - whose term officially
ends in the fall - will be stepping
down since she's graduating this
spring. Therefore, the committee
will only have one student mem-
ber come May, if Steele is elected,
and will be in violation of state
law.
To remedy this problem,
MSA rules chair Kyle Summers
said write-in candidates could
potentially fill the empty seat. He

added that if the seat isn't filled in
this week's election, it would be
open for re-election in the fall.
However, MSA Student Gen-
eral Counsel Timothy Bekkers
wrote in an e-mail interview that
he was concerned about the legit-
imacy of write-in candidates.
"One of the problems with
write-in candidates, however, is
that many times they're not actu-
ally supported by the actual indi-
vidual, so that person may not
actually want to serve even if he/
she is the runner-up from write-
in ballots," Bekkers wrote.
He added that he thinks the
new system, in which only elect-
ed students can hold a position
on the committee, is problematic
because there isn't enough stu-
dent interest in the committee to
ensure there are enough candi-
dates every semester.
Steele said if she's elected, she
would keep students' opinions in
mind whenconsideringgrievanc-
es brought before the committee.
She added that she wouldn't pro-
pose any major changes to the
committee because it only oper-
ates in an advisory role.
During her involvement in
the ACLU, Steele founded the
Civil Liberties Peer Educa-
tor Program - which informs
students about proper conduct
when encountering the police
- participated in MSA's Open
Housing campaign to instate
gender-neutral housing in Uni-
versity residence halls and
advocated to reform the Uni-
versity's trespass policy. The
trespass policy has been widely
criticized recently for its review
and expiration components,
though Suellyn Scarnecchia,
the University's vice president
and general counsel, proposed
alterations to the policy earlier
this month.
Steele said she will continue
working forthe ACLU and is cur-
rently running unopposed for
chair of the University's chapter.
She added that she would keep
her role as member of the ACLU
distinct from her position on the
DPS Oversight Committee.
"I would view my roles on the
ACLU and DPS Oversight Com-
mittee as separate, so my advo-
cacy to changes to the trespass
policy will be done as part of the
ACLU and not necessarily as part
of the DPS Oversight Commit-
tee," Steele said.


POLLING
From Page1A
tor, said.
Voting stations, which will
be staffed by student volun-
teers, will operate in locations
including the Michigan League,
Michigan Union, Pierpont Com-
mons and Mason Hall, as well
as in select residence halls. Can-
didates and campaign materials
will not be allowed within 50 feet
of voters.
Patterson said election offi-
cials, using the slogan "Vote
Because It Matters," have been
focused on making elections
more visible among the student
body.
"We are emphasizing the
financial stake people have in
MSA and LSA-SG, and how
instrumental we are in organiz-
ing peoples' funds, their pro-
grams and things that they would
like to do," Patterson said.
$7.19 of each student's tuition
goes to funding MSA's projects
and the organizations it spon-
sors, and LSA students pay an
additional $1.50 to LSA-SG,
accordingto Patterson.
"It's important for you to know
howyour moneyisspent; andyou
make sure that the official that
was elected is going to spend that
money on what needs to be done,
and in the interest of every stu-
dent," Patterson said.
Patterson said another advan-
tage of the voting stations is
being able to avoid a number of
technical voting issues that have
occurred in past years as a result
of the online method. MSA's
online elections have been inter-
rupted repeatedly over the past
10 years by technical issues and
attempted fraud. In last year's
MSA elections, problems with
the randomization mechanism
- which ensures the anonymity
of voters - on the online ballot
had the potential to affect about
1,000 votes, which were cast
before the issue was fixed.
"There's more of an opportu-
nity to take care of those prob-
lems onsite than if someone were
to say, 'Oh, my computer isn't
working,"' Patterson said.

In this week's elections, stu-
dents will also have the oppor-
tunity to vote on ballot questions
that may financially impact them
next year. One MSA ballot ques-
tion, which LSA-SG is proposing,
is to raise the amount students in
all colleges pay to their respec-
tive student governments from
$1.50 to $2.50. Another question,
on MSA's ballot, asks if students
are willing to pay up to $4 more
per semester to have access to
paper copies of The New York
Times on campus on week days.
The MSA president, vice presi-
dent and representatives elected
this week will serve a full-year
term, starting at the end of this
semester. Students will also be
able to vote for representatives in
college-specific student govern-
ment elections including LSA-SG
and the University of Michigan
Engineering Council.
To help students understand
the candidates and issues, Pub-
lic Policy junior Zac Berlin, the
election director for LSA-SG,
and Patterson compiled a voter's
guide that willbe available on the
MSA website and in paper form
at pollingstations.
"We also want voters who
aren'tjust voting randomly," Ber-
lin said. "We want people who
are informed about the election,
people who are informed about
the candidates."
Despite student government
officials' efforts, several students
said they were not interested in
the elections.
Engineering junior Greg
Caldwell said he wasn't planning
on voting, calling the student
government elections "worth-
less."
LSA sophomore Ashley Mo
said she was only aware of the
new polling plan because she
heard about it in one of her class-
es.
"I feel like I've seen something
but not a significant amount (of
advertisements)," Mo said. "I feel
like I see more cultural events on
campus advertising than voting
for elections."
- Daily Staff Reporters
Rachel Brusstar and Mike Merar
contributed to this report.

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