The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Friday, October 26, 2012 - 3A
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Friday, October 26, 2012 - 3A
NEWS BRIEFS
DEARBORN
Joyride priest now
in rehabilitation
Ajudge onThursday postponed
a hearing for a priest accused of
driving naked and drunk in Dear-
born this summer because the
priest is at a Pennsylvania rehabil-
itation center receiving treatment.
The pretrial hearing for the
Rev. Peter Petroske of Sacred
k Heart Parish in Dearborn was
adjourned until Dec. 27. Dear-
born District Judge Richard
Wygonik approved the post-
ponement sought by defense
lawyer Edward Zelenak and over
the objections of a city attorney.
"He's in a lock-down facility,"
Zelenak said of Petroske, a long-
time Detroit area priest. "It's not
as if he's thumbing his nose at the
system."
AUSTIN, Texas
Texas AG says he
will arrest foreign
poll observers
Don't mess with Texas elec-
tions. That's the double-;down
message Texas Attorney General
Greg Abbott delivered Thursday
to international poll watchers
who plan to come and observe
voting on Election Day, tweeting
"BRING IT" after the group took
offense at being threatened with
criminal charges from the state's
top prosecutor.
Abbott, a Republican with a
tea party bent who has the "Don't
Tread on Me" logo on his Twitter
page, drew a highly publicized line
in the sand this week with a letter
to the Organization for Security
and Co-Operation in Europe.
OSCE observers generally are
members of parliament from of
organization members, which
include the United States and 55
countries in Europe and Central
Asia. The group has sent observ-
ers to poll locations across the U.S.
since 2002.
JERUSALEM
Israel mum after
blast rocks Sudan
munitions factory
Senior Israeli officials accused
Sudan on Thursday of playing a
key role in an Iranian-backed net-
work of arms shipments to hostile
Arab militant groups across the
Middle East, a day after a myste-
rious explosion rocked a weapons
factory near the North African
country's capital.
The tough words were likely to
add to Sudanese suspicions that
an Israeli airstrike was behind the
blast. Israel has both the motive
and means to carry out such an
airstrike, and Sudan has accused
Israel in the past of operating on
its territory.
Israel considers Iran to be a
grave threat, citing Iranian calls
for Israel's destruction, suspi-
cions that Iran is developing a
nuclear bomb, and Iran's support
for militant groups on Israel's
southern and northern borders.
Israeli officials have long con-
tended that Sudan is a central
player in Iranian efforts to fun-
nel weapons to Hamas militants
in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah
guerrillas in Lebanon.
MOSCOW
Military accused
of graft in sell-off
Russia's top investigative agen-
cy on Thursday launched a crimi-
nal probe into alleged fraud in the
selloff of Defense Ministry assets,
a high-profile case that could
shake up the nation's scandal-
marred military establishment.
It may also threaten Defense
Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, who
has enjoyed President Vladimir
Putin's support despite years of
* strong public criticism.
The Investigative Commit-
tee said that the state had suf-
fered damage of more than 3
billion rubles ($95 million) from
an alleged scheme that involved
the sale of prized land plots and
O real estate in Moscow and other
parts of Russia.
-Compiled from
Daily wire reports
At showcase, TechArb
highlights student work
20 student venture
teams share
projects at event
By ALICIA ADAMCZY X
Daily StaffReporter
Much like Diagon Alley, the
Liberty Square parking struc-
ture located at 510 E. Wash-
ington St. doesn't seem out
of the ordinary. But one floor
below the structure's surface,
student entrepreneurs are
collaborating to create the
extraordinary.
The University's Center for
Entrepreneurship, located in'
the basement of the parking
structure, held its Student Ven-
ture Showcase on Thursday. At
the event - hosted by CFE's
TechArb Student Startup
Accelerator, and co-sponsored
by the Samuel Zell & Robert H.
Lurie Institute for Entrepre-
neurial Studies, the College of
Engineering and the Office of
the Vice President for Research
- iore than 100 students and
faculty attended in hopes of
attracting investors for their
fledgling businesses.
The 20 student venture
teams in attendance were com-
prised of undergraduate and
graduate students from vary-
ing educational backgrounds.
University alum Richard
Sheridan - president and
CEO of Menlo Innovations, a
software design and develop-
ment firm located on E. Lib-
erty Street - gave the opening
remarks at the event, citing
Ann Arbor as the nextPalo Alto
in termsof startup potential.
"This is how we are going to
reinvent Michigan," Sheridan
said of the student entrepre-
neurs.
University alum Mahendra
Vora - the founder and manag-
ing director of Vora Ventures,
which helps to found and sell
technological ventures - said
he attended the event to sup-
port other student entrepre-
neurs.
"That's all I've done my
whole life, is startups," Vora
said. "I'm just excited to be
batk at my alma mater. Twen-
ty-five years later there's noth-
ing like this."
The student startups includ-
ed several Facebook and mobile
phone apps, a trivia game and
a hybrid solar energy system,
among others..
A select few of the student
presenters also had the oppor-
tunity to meet privately with
investors Thursday afternoon.
Rackham student Jus-
tin D'Atri represented Torch
Hybrid, LLC, a company that
produces power management
computer systems for hybrid
boats. He said the mentorship,
advisory roles and the indus-
try connections provided by
CFE were indispensible in his
team's startup quest.
"We wouldn't even be here
right now if it weren't for the
CFE," D'Atri said. "We just had
a silly idea a year ago and it's
turned all the way into some-
thing we can actually make
money with."
University alum Sam Beck-
ett is a member of Exo Dynam-
ics, LLC, a startup seeking to
improve the treatment pro-
cess for people afflicted with
chronic spinal conditions. He
said TechArb has been a help-
ful tool for his team in the past
six months.
"We're looking just to fur-
ther develop it ... for fund-
ing sources," Beckett said.
"(TechArb) has been very use-
ful for feedback for different
things we need to do."
TechArb members weren't
the only University students in
attendance.
In addition to the TechArb
members, several student
groups, including the entre-
preneurship organization
MPowered, came to show their
support.
Social Work student Cath-
erine Fish said she attended in
hopes of learning more about
TechArb.
"I'm interested in the start-
up scene here," Fish said. "I
thought I'd come and checkout
what other entrepreneurs are
doing."
- Stephanie Dilworth
contributed to this report.
PROTEST
From Page 1
"What do we want? Justice,"
they chanted as a few Univer-
sity employees watched from
inside the building. "When do
we want it? Now!"
LSA junior John D'Adamo,
a College Democrats member,
led chants and gave multiple
speeches throughout the event.
D'Adamo criticized University
President Mary Sue Coleman for
her lack of public response to the
coalition's goals, saying it was
inconsistent with the Univer-
sity'svalues.
"The (University) president
probably uses 'diversity' more
than any other word in the
English language," D'Adamo
remarked to a laughing crowd.
LSA sophomore Sam Hahn
stood at the front of the admin-
istration building, passing out
free coffee and fliers to admin-
istrators arriving to work. One
woman declined to accept the
flyer.
"No thanks," she said as she
headed inside. "I'd better not."
LSA senior Tatiana Hofmans,
a FOKUS member, said as a
Jamaican immigrant, she wants
to take the initiative to help other
immigrant students.
Hofmans said MyDreamIs-
BiggerThan.com - a website cre-
ated specifically for Thursday's
protest that allows students to
type their dreams and aspira-
STONE
From Page 1
other." As a result, Stone's lat-
est project, a 10-part Showtime
documentary, "The Untold His-
tory of the United States," aims
to tell the story of the evolution
of the American National Secu-
rity State.
Clips from the documentary
were shown, and while it was
a lesson in history, Stone's nar-
ration never seemed like the
monotonic drawl of a tired his-
tory teacher.
Stone talked of how, while he
is considered a political film-
maker, he primarily looks to
understand and develop charac-
ters - he merely prefers those in
political power because "history
is determined by the top," and
he, as an artist, looks toward his-
tory for understanding, or lack
thereof.
Discussing his film "Nixon,"
'Stone said that, in his movies, he
attempts to get into the shoes of
the characters of history. Stone
may not have agreed with the
decisions of the Nixon admin-
istration, saying that Nixon
wasn't a "good" person (though
he noted a respect for Nixon's
self-loathing), but nevertheless
wanted to humanize the former
president.
"I emphasized with him, but
I didn't sympathize with him,"
Stone said of Nixon.
Throughout the talk, Stone
expressed how he wanted to
inspire a younger generation
tions into a form - will compile
the student etris and send
mass a-mails to the University's
Board of Regents.
"It's a creative and fun way
for people to get involved as
well as see the information
about what the cause is all
about and why to come out,"
Hofmans said.
University spokesman Rick
Fitzgerald wrote in a statement
that Thursday's protesters were
respectful and "thoughtful" in
their approach to addressing
the issue.
"This is a difficult, compli-
cated and important topic,"
Fitzgerald wrote. "The Univer-
sity will continue its ongoing
collaboration with the coalition
and others to develop a prac-
tical response that is legally
compliant and reflects the Uni-
versity's core values of fairness
to all students and commitment
to maintaining a diverse and
inclusive community."
Sanjay Jolly, a Public Policy
graduate student and a repre-
sentative from the University's
chapter of the American Civil
Liberties Union, said the protest
was intended to demonstrate to
University officials that the fight
for tuition equality is enduring.
"All of these events are dif-
ferent ways of engaging admin-
istrators," Jolly said. "There
is enormous support for this
change and there is enormous
opposition to this discrimina-
tion against our peers."
of filmmakers with a sense of
questioning, emphasizing how
important it is to not believe
everything they learn in high
school.
Stone just laughed when he
spoke about backlash from his
attempt, as a liberal director, to
disclose an alternative history of
the United States.
"Of course I'm goingto be rid-
iculed," Stone said.
He added though, that if
you make the film entertaining
enough, both conservatives and
liberals will want to watch it.
Some audience members
found the lack of film discussion
troubling, others, like Univer-
sity of Toledo film student Sylvia
Keller said they were intrigued
by the more political nature of
the conversation.
"I thought it was a very inter-
esting topic, mostly about how
ideas in popular culture can be
divided into binaries, and how
Oliver Stone's work sort of takes
those binaries that we segregate
ourselves into and turns it into
a dichotomy, and has us look at
it from a different perspective,"
Keller said.
During a questions and
answer period with audience
members, Stone listened eager-
ly to stories about experiences
in Vietnam, Yugoslavia and
Afghanistan. It's in moments
like this where one sees past the
politics and controversies, and
recognizes the man for someone
deeply interested in the world
around him, the present and the
past.
APPLICATION
From Page 1
that process," Krenz said. "We
therefore respectfully decline to
release any part of the record."
University spokesman Rick
Fitzgerald said the University's
response to the FOIA request
is consistent with how it has
responded to previous requests
for student applications:
"It's our view that is the pri-
vate business of that individual,"
Fitzgerald said.
When asked if exempting stu-
dent applications from release is
an official procedure followed
by the University's FOIA office,
Fitzgerald said it is simply the
University's general interpreta-
tion of the law.
"It's not a policy, it's how that
type of record - we see a stu-
dent application record as not
something that we're required
to release under FOIA," Fitzger-
ald said.
Fitzgerald added that upon
review of the application, the
University believes that it is
exempt from FOIA in its entire-
ty.
"We've looked at this docu-
ment, and we believe that this
document in total ... is exempt,"
Fitzgerald said.
The University's denial
comes after officials at the
University of Iowa, the Uni-
versity of Illinois and the Uni-
versity of Alabama released
Holmes's graduate applications
after receiving requests, which
Fitzgerald acknowledged.
"I can also appreciate with
other schools in other states
operating under... somewhat dif-
ferent FOIA laws may have come
to other decision on releasing
that material," Fitzgerald said.
However, all three universi-
ties exist in states that have sim-
ilar or less restrictive FOIA laws
than Michigan.
The Illinois FOIA law
exempts from disclosure, "per-
sonal information contained
within public records, the dis-
closure of which would con-
stitute a clearly unwarranted
invasion of personal privacy."
Illinois defines "unwarranted
invasion of personal privacy" as
the "disclosure of information
that is highly personal or objec-
tionable to a reasonable person
and in which the subject's right
to privacy outweighs any legiti-
mate public interest in obtaining
the information," according to
the state's FOIA policy.
The Iowa Open Records
Law states that, unless autho-
rized, "personal information
in records regarding a student,
prospective student, or former
student maintained, created,
collected or assembled by or for
a school corporation or educa-
tional institution maintaining
such records," should be kept
confidential.
Finally, the state of Ala-
bama's Open Records law does
not explicitly exempt personal
information.on the basis of pri-
vacy, but does exempt, "records
the disclosure of which would
otherwise be detrimental to the
best interests of the public."
Frank LoMonte, executive
director of the Student Press
Law Center - a Virginia-based
nonprofitthatprotectsthe rights
of journalists - said legal priva-
cy is largely based on whether a
person has a reasonable expec-
tation of privacy.
In the case of Holmes, whose
photo and biography have been
widely disseminated throughout
the media, LoMonte said there
is no reasonable expectation of
privacy.
"Once a person is caught up in
a nationwide headline-making
crime, that person loses any rea-
sonable expectation of privacy
in information they filed with
the government," LoMonte said.
He added that it's particularly
concerning that the Univer-
sity chose to deny access to the
entire document, rather than
simply redact clearly private
information.
"Typically, public records
are not an all or nothing mat-
ter," LoMonte said. "If you
can remove the portions of the
record that give away truly
secret information, like a social
security number, then you're
supposed to remove only those
portions and disclose the rest."
LoMonte said public informa-
tion like Holmes's date of birth,
hometown and high school are
not exempt under Michigan
FOIA.
"I find it hard to believe that
there's not anypartofthatrecord
that couldn't be safely revealed
without giving away top-secret
information," LoMonte said,
adding that information such as
the date of application could be
useful in knowing if he applied
to the University after being
denied by other institutions.
LoMonte added that ques-
tionable denial of FOIA requests
appears to be a trend, noting
that many government entities
believe requestors won't chal-
lenge them in court.
"I think we're definitely
seeing more and more that
government agencies are get-
ting bolder about withholding
records because they're con-
vinced they can get away with
it," LoMonte said. "They know
that it's costly and time consum-
ing to sue, and that a lot of media
outlets - especially campus
ones - don't have the time and
money to pursue it."
LoMonte said the University
has little reason to protect the
privacy of Holmes when the
public already knows many inti-
mate details of his life, and his
reputation is already damaged
beyond repair.
"I just can't see where there's
any interest in a public institu-
tion bending over backwards for
somebody who's never going to
see life outside a jail cell again
and whose life is an open book,"
LoMonte said.
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