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Ann Arbor, Michigan

Thursday, December 1,12011

michigandailv.com

STUDENT GOVERNMENT
MSAto
change
name in
January
r With regents'
approval, name will
be Central Student
Government
By GIACOMO BOLOGNA
Daily Staff Reporter
The name "Michigan Student
Assembly" will become a relic come
January, when the governing body
will change its name for the first
time since 1976 to the Central Stu-
dent Government.
MSA President DeAndree Wat-
son said MSA will change its name
in January to dispel confusion, as
many students are unaware that
the Michigan Student Assembly is
the main student governing body at
the University.
"The first question we always
get from the students is, 'What is
(MSA?),' " Watson said.
The name change will "help stu-
dents better understand who we
are and the role we serve on cam-
pus," he added.
One of the main reasons for the
change is that the word "Assem-
bly" does not accurately reflect the
current structure of MSA, Watson
said. Previously, there was only one
central assembly meeting that all
members would attend. But under
the All-Campus Constitution, which
was revised last year, there is a sepa-
ration of powers with two houses of
the legislature and a distinct execu-
tive branch.
See MSA, Page SA

WOLVERINES WELCOME WINTER

CAMPUS POLICE
DPS chief
resigns
after three
months

LSA junior Janie Cooper helps build a snowman named "Snells" near the Diag yesterday.
WliN T[R CO MM ENCEM ENTI
Despite scandal, Syracuse
chancellor to get 'U' degree

Greg O'Dell to
return to previous
position at EMU
By JOSEPH LICHTERMAN
Daily News Editor
Greg O'Dell, the chief of police
of the University's Department,
of Public Safety, announced
yesterday that he is leaving DPS
three months
after he took
the position
to return to
his previ-
ous job as r
director of
public safety
and chief
of police O'DELL
at Eastern
Michigan University.
O'Dell, who left EMU in
August to become the chief of
DPS, has resigned effective
today. O'Dell will rejoin EMU
next month and replace the
current interim chief who has
served in O'Dell's place since he
left EMU. The Eastern Michi-
gan University Board of Regents
must approve the hiring before
O'Dell can officially return to
the position.
O'Dell notified University
officials on Tuesday of his deci-
sion to resign, which he said was
a "strictly personal decision."

"I have nothing bad to say
about Michigan. I love Michi-
gan and I enjoyed working with
the people there," O'Dell said in
an interview with The Michigan
Daily today. "I just felt for me
personally, it was a better fit for
me to return to the job that I had
at Eastern."
He said a major factor in
deciding to return to EMU was
regaining the ability to continue
developing past initiatives and
ptograms he worked on during
his three and a half years at the
school.
"These are very tough deci-
sions to make, and it did come
down to that I thought this
would be the right decision for
me because I was so invested in
the changes that had happened
at Eastern."
Hank Baier, the University's
associate vice president for
facilities and operations, said
the University regrets having to
let O'Dell leave the University.
"I have known Greg for many
years, and I am truly sorry to
say he came to the decision that
U-M was not the right fit for
him," Baier said in a statement.
O'Dell's new salary at EMU
will be $149,000 - $20,000 less
than what he made before he
left to join DPS, according to an
EMU press release. O'Dell's sal-
ary at the University of Michi-
gan was $200,000, according
See DPS, Page SA

Nancy Cantor
condemns former
basketball coach's
alleged sex abuse
By RAYZA GOLDSMITH
Daily StaffReporter
Despite a sex abuse scan-
dal unfolding at Syracuse
University, the university's
Chancellor Nancy Cantor
will still be one of four recip-

ients of an
honorary
degree at
the Uni-
versity
of Michi-
gan's
Winter CANTOR
Com-
mencement ceremony.
Cantor, a former Universi-
ty of Michigan provost, will
be awarded a Doctor of Laws
degreeat the Dec. 18 cer-
emony at Crisler Arena. The
University announced Can-

tor as an honorary degree
recipient on Oct. 10.
On Sunday, Cantor fired
Bernie Fine, former Syra-
cuse University assistant
men's basketball coach, who
is accused of molesting two
former Syracuse ball boys
and another child.
Despite the Syracuse
scandal, University spokes-
man Rick Fitzgerald wrote
in an e-mail interview that
the University is not recon-
sidering its decision to
See SYRACUSE, Page SA


Attorney General
* Schuette opposes
GSRAs'unionizing

Vigil held in support of Calif. student protesters

Michigan AG says
p he will speak
out at Dec. 13
MERC meeting
By RAYZA GOLDSMITH
Daily Staff Reporter
With the intervention of
Michigan Attorney General Bill
Schuette, the plot has thickened
in the dispute over whether grad-
uate student research assistants
should be allowed to unionize.
Schuette filed a motion yester-
day stating his intent to intervene
at the Michigan Employment
Relations Commission's meeting
on Dec. 13 when the commission
. will determine whether or not
GSRAs will be allowed to hold
an election over unionization.
Previously, only those in favor
of unionization have been repre-
sented at the MERC meetings.

Schuette stated in the motion
that unionization could detract
from the University's ability to
attract the best students and
researchers. He added that at
least 19 current and former Uni-
versity deans support this stance
stating their opposition and cited
a letter they wrote to University
Provost Philip Hanlon this past
summer.
"Potential unionization will
compromise the integrity of
the mentor-mentee relation-
ship essential to a successful and
prestigious doctoral program,"
Schuette wrote in the motion.
"The imposition of (a union) into
the educational process could
make the University less attrac-
tive as a research institution."
Schuette said because the Uni-
versity receives state tax dollars,
the issue of GSRA unionization is
a matter of public interest, which
gives him the authority to.inter-
vene. A MERC ruling from 1981
See SCHUETTE, Page SA

'students
show solidarity
with UC Davis,
Berkeley activists
By BEN SEIDMAN
For the Daily
Standing in solidarity with
students. at the University of
California, Davis and Univer-
sity of California, Berkeley,
about 40 University of Michi-
gan students and faculty gath-
ered on the Diag last night.
The vigil was organized
by three Michigan Student
Assembly commissions - the
Transfer Student Commission,
the Peace and Justice Commis-
sion and the Student Rights
Commission - as a tribute to
the students at UC Davis and
UC Berkeley who faced oppo-
sition from campus authori-
ties during protests. The vigil
organizers believed that these
incidents would resonate with
Michigan students due to the
University's long-standing tra-
dition of student activism.
MSA President DeAndree
Watson said during the vigil
that students, no matter where

ERIN KIRKLAND/Daily
Students gather for a vigil on the Diag yesterday to support victims of police brutality at the University of California,
Berkeley and University of California, Davis. The vigil was sponsored by Michigan Student Assembly commissions.

they're from, should stand
up for one another and their
rights.
"We are here tonight to
show our support for students
around the world who have
been denied a fundamental

right to express themselves in
a peaceful, organized demon-
stration," DeAndree said. "We
cannot afford to sit and acqui-
esce as students are struggling
to be heard."
In November 2009 at UC

Berkeley, students were beaten
on campus for protesting the
32-percent rise in tuition pro-
posed by state officials. This
past month, protesters on the
UC Davis campus were pepper
See VIGIL, Page 5A



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