The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 - 3A
NEWS BRIEFS
GROSSE ILE, Mich.
Coast Guard
investigates report
of body in river
The U.S. Coast Guard says it's
searching the Detroit River near
Grosse Ile after a witness report-
ed seeing what appeared to be a
body in the water.
Lt. Justin Westmiller says the
Coast Guard sent out a helicopter
and ship after getting the report
yesterday afternoon.
The report comes five days
after a 27-year-old worker on the
Ambassador Bridge fell 150 feet
into the water. Several days of
searching failed to find him.
Ken Morton of Garden City
was doing maintenance work on
the bridge linking Detroit and
Windsor, Ontario. Grosse Ile is
about 10 miles downstream.
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C.
Jon Huntsman
quits Republican
presidential race
Republican Jon Huntsman
has dropped out of the GOP pres-
idential race and has endorsed
Mitt Romney.
Huntsman said the former
Massachusetts governor gives
the Republican Party its best
shot at defeating President
Barack Obama in the November
general election.
After staking his candidacy
on New Hampshire, Huntsman
finished third in the primary
there last week. He faced a likely
defeat in South Carolina's prima-
ry on Saturday.
Huntsman's resume had sug-
gested he could be a major con-
tender for the GOP presidential
nomination. But the former Utah
governor and diplomat found a
poor reception for his brand of
moderate civility, which he had
hoped would draw support from
independents as well as Republi-
can moderates.
CARACAS, Venezuela
* Venezuela sends
Miami consulate
personnel home
Venezuela is withdrawing
personnel from the country's
consulate in Miami more quickly
than planned because the per-
sonnel have been threatened by
exiles with links to terrorism,
the foreign ministry announced
yesterday.
"With the intention of pre-
serving their physical and moral
integrity, the government of the
Bolivarian Republic of Venezu-
ela has decided to withdraw its
consular personnel," the foreign
ministry said in a statement.
The decision comes shortly
after President Hugo Chavez
said his government would close
the consulate in response to
Washington's expulsion of a dip-
* lomat there.
The accused exiles reject the
terrorism charges.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador
Funes apologizes
for massacre after
20 years of denial
El Salvador President Mauri-
cio Funes apologized yesterday
for the 1981 El Mozote massacre
of 936 civilians in an army coun-
terinsurgency operation. Funes
also commemorated the 20th
anniversary of the 1992 peace
accords that put an end to the
country's 12-year civil war.
Funes said the El Mozote mas-
sacre, named for the town where
it occurred between Dec.11 to 13,
1981, was "the biggest massacre
of civilians in the contemporary
history of Latin America." He
formally acknowledged the gov-
ernment's responsibility for the
killings.
He also asked for forgiveness
from the relatives of the estimat-
ed 12,000 people disappeared in
the conflict, which left 75,000
dead.
-Compiled from
Daily wire reports
SUSTAINABILITY
From Page 1A
topics - climate action, waste
prevention, healthy environ-
ments and community aware-
ness.
The University's climate
action sector has implement-
ed programs geared toward
energy conservation, reduced
carbon and renewable energy
technologies and "alterna-
tive" University transporta-
tion options, the report states.
In order to continue devel-
oping these initatives, there
will be a renewed focus on
the mitigation of greenhouse
gas emissions, energy use
and University transportation
energy demand.
The report indicated that
energy use on campus has
decreased by 21 percent
since fiscal year 2004, which
can largely be attributed to
the involvement of Univer-
sity buildings in sustain-
able efforts, like Planet Blue
Operations. According to the
report, the Chrysler Center on
North Campus reduced ener-
gy use by 30 percent, the Insti-
tute for Social Research also
saw a 30-percent decrease and
Angell Hall had a reduction of
18 percent.
Despite these successes,
total greenhouse gas emis-
sions increased 7.5 percent
from fiscal year 2010 to fiscal
year 2011. The report attribut-
ed this change to a population
increase and greater electric-
ity needs due to construction
of University buildings during
the period.
The report added that the
Universityexpects to decrease
fuel use by 30 percent by inte-
grating biodiesel buses and
additional hybrid sedans to
complement the transporta-
tion systems' ethanol and
electric vehicles.
Sustainable efforts for
waste prevention are also
being currently being devel-
oped for the University. The
report indicated that Uni-
versity programs such as the
Student Move Out program,
which has produced more
than 140 tons of donations for
local charities, have assisted
with the green movement on
campus.
Due to these efforts, from
fiscal year 2010 to fiscal year
2011, there has been a decrease
of approximately 3 percent in
total waste production and
an approximate 4 percent
decrease in annual trash dis-
posal, according to the report.
The healthy environments
theme area of the report
describes the University's
SNYDER
From Page 1A
an America."
Snyder spokeswoman Sara
Wurfel wrote in an e-mail
statement to the Daily that the
governor appoints emergency
managers to make certain that
citizens are protected when
dire financial circumstances
arise.
"The last thing the Gover-
nor wants is to have to appoint
emergency managers, as he
views that as a failure point,"
Wurfel wrote. "However,
he and the state have a criti-
cal obligation to protect the
health, safety and welfare of
its citizens and to ensure that
residents are not cut off from
basic services ... and taxpayers
are protected from the conse-
quences of a municipality fail-
ing to take action."
Residents of Benton Harbor,
Pontiac, Ecorse and Flint - all
cities currently under control
of emergency managers -
spoke out at the rally about the
abuses of management in their
cities.
Alison Woods, who identi-
fied herself as a "former resi-
dent" of Benton Harbor, said
the emergency financial man-
ager law has impacted the
city's credibility.
"The voice of Benton Har-
bor is not being heard any
longer," Woods said. "City offi-
cials, city managers don't mat-
ter. It's just a lot of corruption
plans to preserve local habi-
tats and water resources while
aiding in sustainable food
"sourcing." According to the
report, the student-supported
program "Go Blue, Eat Local"
contributes to sustainabil-
ity on campus by purchasing
locally grown food for dining
hall meals.
"By purchasing locally pro-
duced food, U-M can support
Michigan's economy while
preserving prime agricultural
land," the report states. "Local
produce tends to minimize
transportation and process-
ing, and is sold sooner after
harvest maximizing fresh-
ness, flavor and nutrient
value."
The report added that the
University's efforts to pursue
healthy environment initia-
tives aided in the preserva-
tion of endangered peregrine
falcons.
"A pair of endangered per-
egrine falcons who have been
seen on campus since 2006
gave birth for the first time
after taking up residence in
a nesting box built by a local
Eagle Scout that U-M Staff
located on the roof of the Uni-
versity Hospital," the report
states.
Water conservation mea-
sures are also in place due to
increased water use in recent
years. The University's water
consumption increased by
6.2 percent during fiscal year
2010, but decreased by 7.1 per-
cent from fiscal year 2004,
according to the report.
The University uses irriga-
tion technology, including the
computerized irrigation sys-
tem Maxicom, to lessen water
consumption, which has suc-
ceeded in decreasing water
use by 22 million gallons
annually on Central and North
Campuses.
The University also aims to
collaborate with the campus
community and Ann Arbor
residents through developing
programs that promote com-
munity awareness. The report
describes efforts geared
toward increased engage-
ment, such as the Planet Blue
Ambassador Program, that
connects students, faculty and
staff in sustainability move-
ments around campus.
"Promotingthe type of soci-
etal change required to instill
sustainability related values
is an extremely challeng-
ing task," the report states.
"By providing education and
opportunity, we can initiate
a culture shift where sustain-
able choices become a way of
life and are no longer looked
upon as additional responsi-
bility or burden."
goingon whether or not people
don't see it."
Flint resident Cheryl Jor-
dan said though an emergency
manger is brought in to rem-
edy a failing government, their
complete control over the city
can lead to devastating results.
"The emergency manager
has extensive powers and can
sell public assets, whatever he
chooses," Jordan said. "... We
hope he is going to be a benev-
olent dictator, but there is no
guarantee that that will be so."
Jordan said she fears that in
losing the right to control the
government by electing lead-
ers, other civil liberties may
also be dismissed.
"We live in the land where
there is supposed to be democ-
racy, and we have none in our
city," Jordan added.
Ann Arbor resident Mar-
tin Vega also said he feared
democracy was in danger, add-
ing that he is concerned about
the possibility of the imple-
mentation of an emergency
financial manager in Detroit
and how it may impact the
city's African American com-
munity.
"It is a flagrant violation
of civil rights that disenfran-
chises a large group of people,
disproportionately African
Americans," Vega said. "If
an emergency manager is
installed in Detroit, roughly
half the African American
population in Michigan will
have lost its vote on a local
level."
AUSTEN HUFFoRD/DAILY
Keynote speaker Michele Norris gives a talk for Martin Luther King Jr. day at Hill Auditorium yesterday.
From Page 1A
writing her book, "The Grace of
Silence: A Memoir." Throughout
the process of drafting the book,
Norris said she learned about her
African American family's activ-
ism, including actions her father,
who is a World War II veteran,
took.
"(My father and fellow black
veterans) experienced a special
kind of patriotism because they
saw themselves as America,"
Norris said. " ... They saw that
they could show America what
it could be by showing America
what they could be."
Norris added that learning
about family stories from before,
during and after the civil rights
movement taught her that activ-
ism is not just comprised of large
protests and rallies, but also
smaller-scale movements and
behaviors that often go unseen.
One of the stories Norris
shared was about her grand-
mother, who made a living by
dressing up as Aunt Jemima in
order to sell instant pancake
mix around the Midwest in the
1940s. Norris talked about how
her grandmother played a role
in advocating for black equality
by refusing to behave in offen-
sive preconceived manners of
black behavior demanded by her
bosses.
"When I think about her and
I think about activism, what
she did was a brand of activism
because when she was hired
by Aunt Jemima to go out and
do this job there were certain
expectations that she would look
a certain way, that she should
wear a uniform, but also that she
would speak a certain way," Nor-
ris said. "... But what I learned
from (local) newspaper articles
was that she took the job, she
wore the uniform, she wore the
headscarf - but she spoke like
an educated woman because she
was an educated woman."
Norris said that by observ-
ing actions taken by her father
and grandmother, she learned
that the groundwork in taking
a stand for African American
rights lays in even the most min-
ute efforts.
"Sometimes activism whis-
pers," Norris said. "Sometimes
activism is just the act of show-
rig that you can be more than
anyone expects you to be."
University President Mary
Sue Coleman also spoke at the
Keynote Memorial Lecture,
welcoming the audience before
Norris took the stage. During
her address, Coleman accepted
a replica of the Martin Luther
King, Jr. National Memorial that
was given to the University to
acknowledge its contribution in
constructing the memorial hon-
oring King in Washington, D.C.
that opened last year.
"Establishing, funding,
designing and erecting this trib-
ute was no easy task," Coleman
said. "It took years of discussion
... and dedication for it to become
the stunning ... exhibit it is."
Coleman acknowledged the
three members of the Univer-
sity community who contrib-
uted to the planning, designing
and construction of the memo-
rial - James Chaffers, a profes-
sor emeritus in the College of
Architecture and Urban Plan-
ning; University alum Ed Jack-
son Jr., who was the memorial's
executive architect; and Adjunct
Senior Lecturer Jon Lockard,
an adjunct senior lecturer in the
Department of Afroamerican
and African Studies.
"This year for the first time
ever, we as a society celebrate
Dr. King's life, knowing there is
now a glorious memorial on the
National Mall in Washington,
D.C.," Coleman said.
Contribute to the conversation on Twitter
SEND US A LINK WITH THE HASHTAG
#MICHLINKS
Contact U-M Peace Corps Representatives:
SCott Burgess and Mackenzie Knowling
International Opportunities Center, Room 10,603 E. Madison St.
peace.corps@umich.edu, 734.647.2182, facebook.com/UMpeacecorps
PEACE CORPS NEEDS APPLICANTS
WITH DEGREES AND SKILLS IN:
Education - English Teaching - Agriculture
Forestry. Environment. Public Health
Math .oScience -oFrench -eSpanish
For campus office hours & events, visit peacecorps.gov/events.
Find us at the 1/17 SNRE Career Fair or 1/19 Info Session!
Sign up for updates atpeacecorps.gov/info.
Life is calling. How far will you go? 800.424.85801 peacecorps.gov
Like the Daily on Facebook
A