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Ann Arbor, Michigan


Wednesday, April 11, 2012

michigandaily.com

Santorum
i suspens
campaig

PAUL SHERMAN/Daily
Ann Arbor residents, students and faculty march to honor the death of Trayvon Martin and protest social injustice at the UM Million Hoodie March yesterday.
Students ma for rtin

'U' experts say
Romney is now
presumptive GOP
nominee
By ANDREW SCHULMAN
Daily Staff Reporter
Former Pennsylvania Sen.
Rick Santorum ended his bid
for the Republican presidential
nomination yesterday, announc-
ing the suspension of his cam-
paign with a primary contest in
his home state looming on April
24.
Santorum's withdrawal,
which he attributed to the ill-
ness of his young daughter, clears
the path to the nomination for
frontrunner Mitt Romney, who
already had a substantial advan-
tage in the Republican delegate
count. With Rep. Ron Paul (R-
Texas) and former Speaker of the
House Newt Gingrich as his only
remaining opponents, University
experts said in interviews yester-
day that Romney can now focus

on November's general election.
In a brief speech in Gettys-
burg, Pa., Santorumsaidhis cam-
paign had been avictory, striking
the same self-assured tone he
held after his wins and losses in
the Republican primary contests.
"Against all odds, we won 11
states, mil-
lions of vot-
ers, millions
of votes," he
said in his
speech.
Romney
released a statement yesterday
congratulating Santorum on the
success of his campaign and hail-
ing him as "an important voice"
in the GOP. At a campaign event
in Wilmington, Del., the former
Massachusetts governor said he
was optimistic about his chances
for the Republican nomination
and looked forward to the gen-
eral election.
"this has been a good day fdf
me," Romney said at the event.
Santorum was the longest
lasting Republican candidate
challenging Romney, after win-
See SANTORUM, Page 3A

150 gather to decry
alleged hate crime
at rally
ByALIbtIA ADAMCVZK
Daily StaffReporter
Yesterday the unexpected
snow flurries did little to sup-
press the University's activist

spirit, as more than 150 Univer-
sity students and community
members joined together for
the student-led Million Hoodie
March last night.
The march was held in honor
of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed
Florida teenager whose Febru-
ary killing was allegedly racially
motivated. The marchers began
at the Trotter Multicultural
Center on Washtenaw Avenue

before ending at the Diag. More
than 50 people arrived about
an hour before the official start
time to create signs for the
march, while watchingthe ABC
News coverage of the possible
indictment of George Zimmer-
man, the man who killed Mar-
tin as he walked through a Fla.
neighborhood wearing a hoodie
and carrying a bag of skittles
and an Arizona iced tea.

Other volunteers who arrived
early helped some of the attend-
ees register to vote. LSA junior
Patrick Parkinson, a member
of Wolverines for Diversity - a
coalition of student groups that
organized the march - said reg-
istering students to vote was one
of the main goals of the event.
"We're really pushing for
long-term change," Parkinson
See MARTIN, Page 3A


GRADUATE STUDENT EMPLOYEES
MERC motion
pauses union bid

In 2-1 decision,
discussion on
unionization tabled
By RAYZA GOLDSMITH
Daily News Editor
The Michigan Employment
Relations Commission has once
again abandoned the question
of whether graduate student
research assistants should be
able to form a union.
In its meeting yesterday,
MERC voted 2-1 to step away
from the issue of GSRA union-
ization, at least until action is
taken by another government
body, according to Ruthanne
Okun, director of the Michigan
Bureau of Employment Rela-
tions.
"They're waiting to see what
the Legislature or the courts do
and I anticipate that one or the
other is going to do something,
so that will probably result in
commission action," Okun said.
In light of Monday's deci-
sion by the Michigan Court
of Appeals to grant the House
Republicans' motion to stay,
the injunction prohibiting the
immediate effect of House Bill
4246 was nullified. Specifically,
this means GSRAs are currently
not classified as public employ-
ees in the state and thus unable
to obtain collective bargaining
rights.
Since it's a pending case, Okun
said MERC will have to meet

again to discuss GSRA union-
ization, though the body could
determine that it does not have
appropriate jurisdiction.
She said that it's likely the
GSRA issue will reach MERC's
desk again within a few months,
and noted that today's motion to
table the matter was predictable.
She also said MERC stands firm
in not taking a position on the
issue.
"The commission does not
want to take an ideological
position. They take positions
on cases that are before them,"
Okun said.
Rackham student Stephen
Raiman, founder of Students
Against GSRA Unionization.
said he believes MERC did the
right thing by abandoning the
GSRA issue until further action
is taken.
"We're happy about that,"
Raiman said. "We feel that's
the right decision. We're glad
that this state government has
decided to stay out of our affairs
and let us go about the business
of being graduate students free
from state influence and free
from outside influence."
Okun said even though the
decision was not unanimous,
it was an obvious one. She said
MERC chair Edward Callaghan,
who voted against the motion,
was probablyin favor of bringing
a permanent end to the GSRA
issue in MERC, rather than a
temporary one, which is why she
said he voted the way he did.
See GSRA, Page 3A

PAUL SH ERMAN/Daily
University President Mary Sue Coleman speaks at her monthly fireside chat at the Michigan Union yesterday.
Coleman talks amnesty Policy

CAMPUS CRIME
DPSurges
vigilance in
preventing
larcenies
Officials say theft is
up 32 percent this
academic year
By PETER SHAHIN
Daily Staff Reporter
For some students, larceny
costs a few dollars and the has-
sle of cancelled credit cards. Foi
another student, who was careful
to take his laptop and cell phone
with him as he briefly left his
seat at a library, a whole semes-
ter's worth of work disappeared
as a thief made off with the hard
drive away tucked in his back-
pack.
In a security bulletin e-mailed
to the University community yes-
terday, the University's Depart-
mentofPublic Safetyencouraged
vigilance on the part of students
as the semester winds down in
order to prevent larceny. The bul,
letin stated that the University
has faced a 32 percent increase
in the number of larcenies com-
pared to last year, with 190 so far
this academic year.
In an extended version of the
bulletin posted on the Depart-
ment's website, Interim DPS
Chief Joseph Piersante said the
stolen items - specifically lap-
tops - can be traded directly for
narcotics like heroin and cocaine.
"We've had a significant
See DPS, Page 3A

Students discuss
affirmative action,
building use at
fireside chat
By PETER SHAHIN
Daily StaffReporter
At a cozy affair yesterday,
University President Mary
Sue Coleman and E. Royster
Harper, the University's vice
president for student affairs,
answered questions from a
few dozen students during a
fireside chat in the Michigan
Union.
The fireside chat, a month-
ly tradition for Coleman and

Harper, aims to connect the
upper administrators with a
cross-section of students from
across the University's schools,
colleges and disciplines. Dur-
ing yesterday's meeting, stu-
dents discussed implementing
a medical amnesty policy at the
University, utilization of space
and buildings for student orga-
nizations, affirmative action
policy and an upcoming con-
ference on outer space.
Pharmacy student Eric
Zhao, a Central Student Gov-
ernment representative, asked
Coleman and Harper about
their position on medical
amnesty in light of a recent
resolution passed by CSG. Spe-
cifically, the resolution would
call for the implementation of

a medical amnesty policy that
would exempt students from
receiving Minor in Possession
ofAlcohol citations when help-
ing another student in medical
danger from alcohol or other
substances.
"What we hear from stu-
dents is a reluctance (to help
their friends) if it's going to get
them in trouble," Harper said
to the students. "My own feel-
ing is that it's a good thing and
I think you should do it even if
you get in trouble."
Harper added that she hopes
law enforcement officials
would use discretion when cit-
ing MIPs, especially in situa-
tions when students took the
risk to help one another.
See COLEMAN, Page 3A

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