The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Friday, October 7, 2011- 5

PETITION
From Page 1
"It has been too long since
Michigan had a woman speak-
er," Kursman said, "and I think
Tina is a great role model."
Fey is known for her work
on NBC's sketch comedy series
Saturday Night Live and the TV
show 30 Rock. She starred in
the films "Baby Mama," "Date
Night" and "Mean Girls," which
she also wrote. Fey has received
seven Emmy Awards, three
Golden Globe Awards, four
Screen Actors Guild Awards and
four Writers Guild of America
Awards.
Though Kursman said she
originally thought of Fey as a
speaker several years ago, she
put the plan into action after
hearing about the nomination of
Zuckerberg.
"It became a petition because
there was a movement for Mark
Zuckerberg, and I just really was
displeased with the idea of him
giving a speech to our graduat-
ing class," Kursman said.

LSA senior Jake Steinerman
started the petition in support
of Zuckerberg this past summer.
However, Kursman said inter-
est in Fey has already surpassed
Zuckerberg.
"In the first two days, we
garnered over 600 signatures
for the petition," Kursman said.
"The Zuckerberg petition has
been up since the summer and
only has 250."
She added that because Uni-
versity commencement speakers
traditionally receive an honor-
ary degree, the nominees must
meet specific criteria set by the
Honorary Degree Committee,
which consists of two University
students, faculty, alumni and
administrators.
"The nominee should have
demonstrable distinguished
achievement in an activity relat-
ed to the University's missions
of research and scholarship,
education, or service," or a spe-
cific connection to the Univer-
sity or the state of Michigan, the
criteria states.
The nominees approved by
the committee are then shown

to University President Mary
Sue Coleman. In response to
the recommendations for com-
mencement speakers, Lisa Con-
nolly, project manager in the
University's Office of the Presi-
dent, wrote in e-mail interview
that Coleman carefully consid-
ers all options presented by stu-
dents.
"President Coleman appreci-
ates recommendations for com-
mencement speakers and does
take them into consideration,"
Connolly wrote.
Like Steinerman, who has
promoted Zuckerberg for speak-
er through Facebook, Kursman
said the social networking site
has been the best way to gain
support for the Fey campaign.
But she said spreading the word
by mouth is also important, as
her application and petition are
due today.
"(If) students sign the peti-
tion, it would be greatly appre-
ciated because I know there are
a lot of students out there that
would love for Tina Fey to speak,
and I think she would be a really
great fit," Kursman said.

MISCONDUCT
From Page 1
probable or reasonably certain
that the sexual harassment or
violence occurred," the guide-
lines state.
Every allegation of sexual
misconduct brought against a
student will be evaluated and
potentially investigated by the
Office of Student Conflict Reso-
lution and the University's Title
IX Coordinator, according to
Harper's and Scarnecchia's
e-mail.
"(If) the University deter-
mines, based on a preponder-
ance of the evidence, that a
student is responsible for sexual
misconduct, sanctions or inter-
ventions will be applied to elim-
inate the misconduct, prevent
its recurrence and remedy its
effects," Harper and Scarnec-
chia wrote.
While the e-mail to students
stated that the interim proce-
dure "supersedes" the perma-
nent policy, Fitzgerald said the
University's Statement of Stu-
dent Rights and Responsibili-
ties - the set of regulations all
University students must

follow - has not been changed
for good.
"This isn't an amendment
to the Statement of Student
Rights and Responsibilities,
but it is a new procedure for
how allegations of sexual mis-
conduct will be handled, and
that new procedure is based
on the guidance provided by
the Department of Education,"
Fitzgerald said.
He added that the interim
procedure will remain in place
until a permanent amendment
is adopted in the Statement. A
permanent amendment can only
be proposed by an executive offi-
cer of the University, the Senate
Assembly - the faculty's gov-
erning body - or the Michigan
Student Assembly.
Numerous University groups
were involved in developing and
reviewing the interim procedure
including OSCR, the Division
of Student Affairs, the Depart-
ment of Public Safety and the
Sexual Assault Prevention and
Awareness Center, according to
Fitzgerald.
In December 2009, the Senate
Advisory Committee on Univer-
sity Affairs - the lead faculty
governing body - recommend-

ed that MSA pass a measure
to permanently require a pre-
ponderance of evidence when
investigating all violations of the
Statement of Student Rights and
Responsibilities - not just sexu-
al misconduct. Though MSA ini-
tially endorsed the amendment,
it retracted its support because
it felt that the lower standard of
evidence shouldn't apply to all
types of complaints.
MSA President DeAndree
Watson could not be reached for
comment on the policy change.
Fitzgerald said he hopes the
change dictated by the Depart-
ment of Education and the ini-
tiation of the interim policy will
prompt MSA and the University
community to discuss and create
a fixed procedure in the State-
ment regarding the standard of
evidence needed in substantiat-
ing cases of alleged sexual mis-
conduct.
"(The interim policy) also
allows us to havea much deeper,
richer discussion as a University
community, which will abso-
lutely involve MSA, the students
and all aspects of the University
community ... as we craft and
put in place a permanent policy,"
Fitzgerald said.

MITCHELL
From Page 1
beat for NBC News in 1988.
The women remained friends
during Betty Ford's battle with
breast cancer and Mitchell's
more recent encounter with the
disease. Bales recalled Mitch-
ell's visits to her family's home
in Beaver Creek, Mich. Dur-
ing these trips, Mitchell and
her husband, economist Alan
Greenspan, would engage in
lengthy discussions with Bale's
parents.
"During the many, many
Beaver Creek stays with my
parents, discussions among
the four of them were lively,
and I mean very lively," Bales
said. "No matter what, wheth-
er during the day or evening,
there was an image that never
changed. It was an image that
I have always remembered and
hold dear. The image of the
ever-present smiles of mother
and dad whenever they were
with Andrea and Alan."
During her speech, Mitchell
spoke fondly of her time spent
with the Ford family. She talked
about a visit to their home in
which Betty Ford helped Mitch-
ell pack her suitcase as she pre-
pared for a last-minute trip to
Havana for a breaking story on
Fidel Castro. Moments like this,
Mitchell said, exemplified the
compassion the Fords extended
from their Michigan home and

into the White House.
"(The Fords) created a cli-
mate of normalcy in the White
House," she said. "I say that
with so much admiration.
When you think of the pomp
and circumstance, and security
and everything that goes into
being in that house ... they did it
with such grace and humility."
Mitchell lauded Ford's presi-
dency, particular his global
awareness and consideration of
other countries in his foreign
policies.
"He so understood the
importance of global integra-
tion," she said.
Mitchell compared the dif-
ference in political climate
between the time of Ford's pres-
idency and today. Mitchell said
she traces the argumentative
atmosphere of today's Congress
back to modern media..
"Think of the contrast of
politics then and politics now,"
Mitchell said. "What would
Gerald Ford ... say of the delib-
erate and accidental miscom-
munication of this summer's
debt ceiling crisis?"
Mitchell said that begin-
ning with the Clarence Thomas
hearings in 1991 - in which
the U.S. Supreme Court justice
was accused of sexually harass-
ing Anita Hill, a law professor
at the University of Oklahoma
- broadcast networks began
operating with a "new velocity
of information." Mitchell urged
those in attendance to demand

more analytical and compre-
hensive coverage of politics
from their media sources.
From sparring with former
British Prime Minister Mar-
garet Thatcher to covering the
Reagan-Gorbachev Summit,
Mitchell said her diverse jour-
nalistic experience stems from
having a broad-based educa-
tion focused on the merits of
reading and writing. She said
these skills are crucial for stu-
dents aspiring to have careers
in broadcast journalism.
"Writing is the most under-
valued talent," Mitchell said,
naming journalists like NBC
Nightly News anchor and man-
aging editor, Brian Williams,
who exemplify the power of
writing in the broadcast jour-
nalism industry.
LSA sophomore Andrew
Craft, an aspiring journalist,
said Mitchell's lecture was a
window into the life of a broad-
cast journalist.
"I like hearing reporters tell
their stories," Craft said. "They
get to meet famous people and
travel the world."
LSA sophomore Molly Mayer
said she enjoyed listening to
Mitchell's lecture since she is
an avid viewer of her work.
"I grew up watching her,"
Mayer said. "Getting to know
the other side is definitely
exciting."
- Daily News Editor Bethany
Biron contributed to this report.

I

MOVEMENT
From Page 1
employed by the University of
Michigan Health System, the
rising cost of higher education
and the lack of press coverage of
the Occupy movement across the
country.
Occupy Ann Arbor developed
after University alum Whitney
Miller started a Facebook group.
In an interview after last night's
event, Miller said she registered
the page as a group, but needed
to change it into a "cause" once
she began receiving requests to
join at a more rapid rate than she
was able to respond to.
Despite the interest - the
Facebook page had 970 "likes"
by 2 a.m. this morning - Miller
said she was unsure how many
people would attend the meet-
ing. She stressed that the gath-

ering was not meant to be a
demonstration but rather an
event to facilitate increased dia-
logue about the issues. She said
she was pleased by the crowd,
which stretched halfway across
the Diag.
"I think it was very produc-
tive, judging by all the collec-
tive information that we got
from individuals who want to
help out, who have resources
they can offer," Miller said. "I
would say that it was very suc-
cessful."
Part of the success, she added,
stemmed from the array of
grievances voiced by the speak-
ers, who had three minutes each
to address the crowd. The audi-
ence applauded every speaker
consistently and exchanged pro-
ductive ideas, Miller said.
"There was a good amount of
diversity," she said. "I feel like
the crowd supported each other

and acted democratically when
something was outside of the
box ... People were open to lis-
tening to each other."
Lucianna Sabgash, a sopho-
more at Wayne State Univer-
sity and an organizer of Occupy
Detroit, agreed that the meeting
would be effective in generating
conversation.
Sabgash said she attended the
event out of frustration of the
slow pace of political change in
the nation.
"If we are the majority, maybe
we could actually be represent-
ed by some political action," she
said. "I voted for none of this. I
voted for change and saw all the
same."
Though Miller and Sab-
gash said they don't anticipate
any future Occupy Ann Arbor
events, Sabgash said she is look-
ing forward to organizing more
gatherings throughout the state.

I

APPLICATION
From Page 1
something that inhibits other
note-taking devices, said Schiff,
a former Michigan Daily colum-
nist.
"The product vision is to be
the quickest, easiest way for
you to keep track of tasks, ideas
and anything that you want to
remember," Schiff said. "We're
trying to provide just enough of
a feature set, but keep it simple
enough that it's really compel-
ling and easy to use."
In addition to being avail-
able online, Fetchnotes will be
compatible with iPhones and
Androids and accessible through
texting and instant messaging.
Lee said a key business strategy
for the start-up is integrating
Fetchnotes with other prod-
ucts that consumers already use
such as Google Chat, Jabber and
Yahoo. The product uses hash
tags to organize notes by cat-
egory and "@ tags" to send notes
to others.
Fetchnotes will serve as an
effective tool for students, espe-
cially those participating in
group projects, Lee said.
"It's an easy way to coordi-
nate projects and to communi-
cate," Schiff said. "And it really
makes it a lot easier for you to get
things done with other people."
To receive customer feedback
on their product, Schiff and Lee
had a pre-launch marketing
campaign in March using a com-
bination of social media sites.
Testing for Fetchnotes was com-
pleted via a beta trial that ends
at the end of November.
After the free beta period,

customers can use the basic
functions of Fetchnotes at no
cost or purchasea premium plan
for $4.99 per month, accord-
ing to Schiff. The premium
plan includes more services like
access to more groups and tex-
ting notes.
With the exception of legal
costs, Lee and Schiff funded the
entire project themselves.
"We're trying to bootstrap
our business," Lee said. "Basi-
cally, we are not taking outside
investments."
The students created the
application after they took a
course at the University's Cen-
ter for Entrepreneurship. Doug
Neal, managing director of the
Center for Entrepreneurial
Programs and adjunct assis-
tant professor of entrepreneur-
ship, said Schiff and Lee further
developed Fetchnotes in his
entrepreneurship class, "The
Practicum," which is part of the
nine-credit Entrepreneurship
Certificate.
Neal said he believes Fetch-
notes has the potential to be
successful while simultaneously
serving as a learning tool for
Schiff and Lee.
"They are really embracing
the entrepreneurial mindset,
trying ideas and working with
costumers and experimenting
through a variety of business
models to try to find a variety,
a combination to yield success,"
Neal said.
But he added that success
isn't the only thing that should
be measured in the students'
pursuit.
"I think what's really impor-
tant is that we do not focus
on the success of the venture.

We need to be very comfort-
able with failures and learn-
ing from these failures," Neal
said."Entrepreneurship - it's
about trying to do the impos-
sible, and when you try to do the
impossible, many times you will
fail, but that's OK. That's just
part of the process. You get back
up and you try again."
Schiff echoed Neal's senti-
ments and said learning how to
be innovative is one of the most
important skills in the business
realm.
"I think that this is one of the
most valuable skills we picked
up as entrepreneurs is knowing
how to look at situations and
asking, 'How can we do this a
different way?"' Schiff said.
Schiff praised Ann Arbor's
entrepreneurial atmosphere
for the support the community
gives to aspiring entrepreneurs.
He added that he thinks the
University is a "pay-it-forward
community" and said he is
excited Fetchnotes is a part of
it.
"It's almost shocking how
supportive people are," Schiff
said. "You ask people for help,
and they're like, 'Sure, it's
done."'
Business junior Matt Kanter-
man wrote in an e-mail inter-
view that he uses Fetchnotes
to help him manage his daily
affairs and stay organized.
"Fetchnotes allows me to
bring all my ideas into one place
easily, effectively and instan-
taneously," Kanterman wrote.
"It really makes it so that I can
organize my life in down times,
and in stressful busy times I can
leave myself notes just by tex-
ting."

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