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Ann Arbor, Michigan
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
CALLING ALL STORIES
michigandaily.com
ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
Program
focused on
diversity
gets funds
LSA freshman Tara Lanigan adds her story to Brandon Doman's collection of more than 4,000 anonymous journal entries outside Espresso Royale yesterday.
CITY CONSTRUCTION
After four years of debate, City
Plae constirucion set to begin
African American
Alumni Council
donates $250,000 to
LEAD Program
By CHARLENE LERNER
For the Daily
Since Michigan's ban on affir-
mative action in 2006, members
of the University community,
including alumni, have spear-
headed a variety of programs
to encourage underrepresented
minorities to attend the Univer-
sity.
One of these programs is the
Leadership Excellence Achieve-
ment Diversity Program, which-
received a $250,000 donation
from the University's chapter of
the African American Alumni
Council in October. Created by
the Alumni Association of the
University of Michigan, the
LEAD Program grants under-
represented minority students
accepted to the program a mini-
mum of $2,500 and up to $10,000
or $15,000, depending on state
residency, per year. The new
donation funds will be distrib-
uted among 10 students.
In addition to providing LEAD
Scholars with money to help
cover tuition, the purpose of the
program is to connect students
with alumni and enhance diver-
sity at the University. Currently,
there are 113 LEAD Scholars.
In an interview at an event
for the 35th All Class Reunion
of Black Graduates this past
weekend, University alum Rich-
ard Stacy, national chair of
AAAC, said his experiences at
the University as a young black
man inspired him to help other
minorities.
"I am a strong believer in the
University as an opportunity to
expand one's mind and I think
that there are a lot of youngsters,
particularly underrepresented
minorities, whose view of the
world is pretty narrow because
they simply haven't had the
exposure and the experience,"
Stacy said.
He added that Proposition 2,
or the Michigan Civil Rights Ini-
tiative - the ballot initiative in
the 2006 election that outlawed
affirmative action - wasn't the
only factor in the organization's
decision to make the donation,
which came from its Martin
Luther King Jr. Scholarship
Fund. However, the affii-mative
action ban was "a big part of the
equation," Stacy said.
The percentage of underrep-
See DIVERSITY, Page SA
Council members, apartment buildings and a park-
ing lob.
residents tried to After almost four years of
Ann Arbor City
historicize district Council dis-
cussion on the Z
By JENNIFER LEE development of O
Daily StaffReporter City Place - a
proposed hous-
Despite some city officials' ing complex
attempts to historicize the to be built on
area, seven preserved homes on the 400 block of South Fifth
South Fifth Avenue will soon be Ave. - City Planning Manager
torn down and replaced by two Wendy Rampson said the site's
construction preparation has
begun. The seven houses that
will be torn down have been at
the forefront of debate among
council members and the
residents living in the neigh-
borhood, many of whom are stu-
dents.
After a 7-4 vote at last
week's City Council meeting
that approved the project, tree
removal is underway and util-
ity installation will take place on
William Street and Fifth Avenue
this weekend. Rampson said the
next steps are to demolish the
seven houses and start excava-
tion once construction permits
have been processed.
The two flat, rectangular-
shaped apartment buildings
that will replace the houses
will have 144 units divided into
six-bedroom units. Rampson
said the cost to rent the units is
unknown at this time and will
depend on costs the developer,
See CONSTRUCTION, Page 5A
ACTIVISM IN ANN ARBOR
Famous 1960s
activists visit
Occupy A2site
SDS founder audience.
In addition to Haber's role
Alan Haber SDS, he was involved in oth
1~
in
her
discusses strengths
of movement
By CHELSEA LANDRY
Daily StaffReporter
More than 30 students, com-
munity members and activists
huddled together last night in
Liberty Plaza as the tempera-
tures dropped into the 40s to
listen to international activists
and University alumni Alan
Haber and Odile Huguenot-
Haber.
Haber, best known for found-
ing the activist group Students
for a Democratic Society in
1960, and his partner Huguenot-
Haber visited Ann Arbor's divi-
sion of the Occupy Wall Street
movement and discussed their
experiences before offering the
microphone to members of the
humanitarian causes of the
1960s including the civil rights
movement and resistance of
apartheid in South Africa. How-
ever, he said he doesn't believe
Occupy Ann Arbor could have
existed during his time at the
University because of the move-
ment's controversy.
"There would never be a gath-
ering of this kind at that time,"
Haber said. "It would be too
controversial."
He added that he believes
there are similarities between
the movements of the 1960s and
the activity surrounding Occupy
Ann Arbor and encouraged stu-
dents to be aware of their rights.
"We are beginning again such
an endeavor, and you all are
invited," Haber said.
Huguenot-Haber echoed
Haber's passion.
"We need to create an all
See ACTIVISTS, Page SA
LOCAL BUSINESSES
Liberty
St. sees
changing
stores
Several spots left
vacant after recent
business closures
By ALYSSA ADLER
Daily StaffReporter
Though once bustling with
heavy foot traffic, East Liberty
Street has recently lost much of
its usual crowd.
With the recent closures of
several local stores including
Borders, Inc., much of the south-
east corner of South State and
East Liberty streets has been left
vacant. With the empty store-
fronts, many business owners
have mixed feelings about the
area.
Ralph Welton, chief develop-
ment official of the city of Ann
Arbor, said he has seen a vari-
ety of businesses come and go
throughout the years, but the
See STORES, Page 5A
Olympic athletes Apolo Ohno and Alana Nichols speak atlan event at the Michigan Union yesterday.
Olympic medalists give talk to
inspire students' career pursuits,
SPE
Oh
Th
spoke
inspii
letes
eed skater Apolo for career advice.
Eight-time Olympic medal-
no emphasizes ist Apolo Ohno and four-time
Paralympic medalist Alana
sitive mindset Nichols were among the three
athletes who gave speeches in
By ANGELA SON the Michigan Union Ballroom
For the Daily last night at an event titled "It's
Your Race, Take the Lead."
ree Olympic medalists The event was part of a multi-
on campus yesterday to campus tour started two years
re not only aspiring ath- ago by Deloitte, a financial
but also students looking advising company and sponsor
of the U.S. Olympic Commit-
tee.
In her presentation, Nichols
explained how her aspiration
to participate in the Olym-
pics did not subside after she
was paralyzed in 2000 when
she broke her back in a snow-
boarding accident.
"You must believe you have
done everything you can in
order to be at your best," she
See MEDALISTS, Page SA
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. 5A THE STATEMENT..........1B
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