The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Tuesday, November 27, 2012 - 7

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DEAN
From Page 1
members, along with a dean from
another school, a student, Uni-
versity administration staff and
alumni.
The first job of the comnittee
is to narrow possible dean candi-
dates to a group of about 12, Han-
lon said. The committee then
conducts phone interviews and
narrows the list to about six, who
are brought to campus for more
interviews and tours before the
final three are selected and pre-
sented to Hanlon and Coleman.
UNIVERSITY
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION
POLICY UNLIKELY TO
CHANGE
Coleman and Hanlon also dis-
cussed the recent ruling by the
U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals
that overturned Michigan's Pro-
posal 2 - the 2006 amendment
to the state constitution. that
banned affirmative action.
Early this month - with an 8-7
decision - the court struck down
Proposal 2, allowing university
admissions and employers to uti-

lize "preferential treatment" on
the basis of sex, race, color, eth-
nicity or national origin.
Coleman said the University
will not immediately change
any of its policies because
Michigan's attorney general has
appealed the ruling, and since
Fisher v. University of Texas,
another affirmative action
case, is before the U.S. Supreme
Court.
In this case, the Supreme
Court is reviewing the current
rule at the University of Texas
that automatically admits high
school students in the top 10
percent of their class to the uni-
versity.
The case will draw upon
several University cases, one
in which the Supreme Court
ruled LSA's use of additional
points to minority applicants -
a "mechanical review process"
- unconstitutional, and another
where the court ruled the Law
school's use of race as a "holistic
consideration" when reviewing
applicants, therefore constitu-
tional.
"Right now we are taking a
wait-and-see attitude and trying
to carefully analyze everything
at this time," Coleman said.

COLEMAN QUESTIONED
ABOUT BIG TEN
ADDITIONS
SACUA member Charles
Koopmann, a Medical School
professor, asked Coleman about
the recent addition of Rutgers
University and the University of
Maryland to the Big Ten, inquir-
ing if the transaction was for
purely monetary reasons and if
the new universities were a good
cultural fit.
Coleman acknowledged that
finances did playa role, but demo-
graphics were also part of the
decision, noting that the Univer-
sity has a "huge number" of alum-
ni on the East Coast. She said the
agreement came to fruition rap-
idly, but it will help the Big Ten
remain financially and athleti-
cally competitive in the long run.
"At the end of the day, the
geography made sense, the demo-
graphics made sense, the quality
of the institutions made sense,"
Coleman said.
The addition of Rutgers and
Maryland expanded the Big Ten
conference to 14 schools. Mary-
land will join the Big Ten on
July 1, 2014, and Rutgers is still
deciding when it will join.

GOP lawmakers now
flout anti-tax pledge


RC
From Page 1
offices will be relocated and a
sculpture garden will be added.
Goldberg explained that
architects designed the building
around the specific needs of the
RC with features like a separate
dining room for language lunch
tables for students in intensive
9 language classes.
While East Quad is closed,
RC students attend classes in
the Dennison Building. Faculty
offices are spread between South
Quad Residence Hall and Den-
nison. Goldberg said she feels
the dispersing of the RC across
campus has proved difficult, but
RC mentorship programs, forum
groups and student government
have been resurrected to enhance
a sense of community.
"The idea of residential col-
lege is to provide a small, liberal
DONOR
From Page 1
the Match Foundation.
In the past year, Michigan
jumped in state rankings of the
highest number of signed organ
donors from 42 to 39, accordingto
Holly Eliot, the project manager
at the University's Transplant
Center.
She said the electronic score-
board on the Wolverines For Life
website, established to motivate
potential donors, tracked the
number of donors between the
two schools.
"We just want to do anything
that gets people to notice," Eliot
said. "It's a decision you should
make for the right reason, but if
people do it to win a competition,
that's fine. It's a right decision
anyway."
Eliot added that the competi-
tion increases the chances that
patients on an organ waiting list
will receive a needed organ.
"The list is five years long
already, and we're tryingto short-
en that time from getting on the
UMEC
From Page 1
with the support of the Central
Student Government and sev-
eral MBA students on campus,
UMEC examined different ways
through which waste could be
made sustainable.
Though the candidates for
president, vice president, direc-
tor of publicity, corporate direc-
tor, social affairs director,
honors and services director
and student's affairs director are
running uncontested, Roberts
believes that the candidates are of
exceptional quality.
"Considering the candidates on
the ballot that I've had past expe-
riences with, I've seen nothing but
positive leadership experiences,"
Roberts said. "I have confidence
in all of them to responsibly main-
tain their responsibilities to the
council if elected."
Though there are no can-
didates currently running for
director of administration, Rob-

erts said that the newly elected
executive board would handle
the selection process internally,

arts school experience within the
larger university," Goldberg said.
"It has been a challenge for us
to scatter that small liberal arts
school outside of our home. It's
been a huge transition for fac-
ulty and staff and for students as
well."
RC sophomore Ted Ma said he
also misses the sense of commu-
nity he felt in East Quad, which
he believes is lacking in West
Quad. He noted he does not like
having classes outside of his resi-
dence hall.
"It's definitely not as good liv-
ing in West Quad this year," Ma
said. "It's very annoying walking
to Dennison all the time. Every-
thing feels dissociated from the
RC and everyone is so spread
apart. It doesn't really feel like a
community. East Quad was weird
but it definitely had character, it
was likable."
RC sophomore Emily Preuss
added that her hall this year is

mixed with students from differ-
ent programs rather than strictly
RC, which she said weakens the
community feel.
"Most of my hall was all RC
kids last year, and this year it is
not," Preuss said. "In the West
Quad common areas you don't see
as many RC kids as in East Quad."
RC sophomore Maggie Hig-
gins added that she prefers living
in East Quad, but hopes the expo-
sure to more student groups in
West Quad can reshape what she
deems "RC stereotypes."
"I think it's really good for the
RC to have exposure to other peo-
ple, like athletes, so that other.
people can better understand
what the RC really means and
what kind of people are really
in the RC," Higgins said. "A lot
of the RC stereotypes aren't cor-
rect: that it's full of hipsters and
hippies, we're all in this place
where we don't associate with
other people, it's not true."

Norquist klout
is fading among
policymakers
WASHINGTON (AP) - For
decades, conservative lobby-
ist Grover Norquist vowed to
drive Republicans out of office
if they didn't pledge to oppose
tax increases. Many lawmakers
signed on.
But now, several senior
Republicans are breaking ranks,
willing to consider raising more
money through taxes as part of
a deal with Democrats to avoid a
catastrophic budget meltdown.
Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker
says the only pledge he will
keep is his oath of office. House
Majority Leader Eric Cantor
says no one in his home state of
Virginia is talking about what
leaders in Washington refer
to simply as "The Pledge," a
Norquist invention that dates to
1986. Georgia Sen. Saxby Cham-
bliss says he cares more about
his country than sticking to
Norquist's pledge.
It's quite an about-face for
senior members of a party that
long has stood firmly against
almost any notion of tax increas-
es. And while GOP leaders insist
they still don't want to see taxes
go up, the reality of a nation in
a debt crisis is forcing some to.
moderate their opposition to any
movement on how much Ameri-
cans pay to fund their govern-
ment. Republican legislators and
Democratic President Barack
Obama's White House are hag-
gling vigorously as they look
for ways to reach agreement on
detailed tax adjustments and
spending cuts before automatic,
blunt-force changes occur at the
new year.
"Oh, I signed it," Sen. Jeff Ses-
sions of Alabama said on Fox
News about Norquist's pledge,
adding he still supports its goals.
"But we've got to deal with the
crisis we face. We've got to deal
with the political reality of the
president's victory."

The naysaying about the
pledge is raising the question
of whether Norquist - a little-
known Republican outside of
Washington - is losing his posi-
tion of power within the GOP.
It's a notion that he calls ridicu-
lous.
"Nobody's turning on me,"
Norquist said Monday.
But he indicated he would
turn on lawmakers who defy
him, starting with Corker, who
Monday published an opinion
piece in The Washington Post
outlining an alternative to the
budget breakdown that includes
more revenue.
"Corker was elected to the
Senate because he took the
pledge," Norquist said on Fox
News. "He would not be a sena-
tor today if he hadn't made that
commitment. If he breaks it, he's
going to have to have a conversa-
tion with the people of Tennes-
see about his keeping his word.
And the same thing with other
people who are elected because
they made that written com-
mitment to the people of their
state."
At the White House, spokes-
man Jay Carney said Monday
that the shifting away from
Norquist signaled an opportuni-
ty for Republicans to work with
President Obama.
"They represent what we
hope is a difference in tone and
approach to these problems and
a recognition that a balanced
approach to deficit reduction is
the right approach," Carney said.
Norquist, the head of the con-
servative Americans for Tax
Reform, opposes tax increases
of any kind, whether eliminat-
ing deductions, a position some
GOP lawmakers say they're open
to, or raising rates. He has insist-
ed on hardline positions from
lawmakers and, for years, has
held outsized sway in the party
for someone who does not hold
public office. His pledge doesn't
allow any change to the tax code
that adds a dollar to revenues.
House Speaker John Boehner
has called that notion unrealistic

and has dismissed Norquist as
"some random person."
Nevertheless, Norquist has
maintained a certain level of
clout for years.
Heading into the 2012 elec-
tions, 279 lawmakers had signed
Norquist's' pledge, according to
Americans for Tax Reform.
But some who have signed
the pledge are having second
thoughts. And when the new
House is seated next year, no
more than 212 of them consider
themselves bound by the prom-
ise.
"I'm not obligated on the
pledge," Corker told CBS News.
"I was just elected. The only
thing I'm honoring is the oath
I take when I serve when I'm
sworn in this January."
He's not alone in his stance on
the pledge.
"When I go to the constituents
that have re-elected me, it is not
about that pledge," Cantor said
on MSNBC. "It really is about
trying to solve problems."
Chambliss, a veteran senator
from Georgia, said he signed the
pledge during an earlier cam-
paign when the country's debt
was nowhere near its current $16
trillion level.
"Times have changed sig-
nificantly, and I care more about
my country than I do about a
20-year-old pledge," Chambliss
told his local television station.
"Ifwedo it(Norquist's) way, then
we'll continue in debt."
"I'm frankly not concerned
about the Norquist pledge;"
Chambliss added.
Raising taxes, whether by
closing loopholes or raising tax
rates, is seldom a vote-winning
strategy.
President George H.W. Bush
broke his campaign promise to
not raise taxes; he ended up los-
ing re-election 1992.
Other Republicans, however,
now are willing to put addi-
tional tax revenues on the table
as a bargaining chip for a deal
with Democrats to get changes
in Social Security and Medicare
and pare down.federal deficits.


list to actually getting an organ.
We don't want our patients dying
because there aren't organs out
there," she said.
Jeffrey Punch, the division
chief of the transplantation sec-
tion of general surgery at the
University of Michigan Health
System, said he believes the ath-
letic rivalry helps effectively pub-
licize the donation opportunity.
"We think it's something we'd
like to be a model for how every-
one else promotes donation as
well," Punch said. "It's something
everyone can do. There's no cost
and no real downside. When peo-
ple see the good it can do, they
really understand very clearly
why it's something people should
do."
Punch said the state of Michi-
gan should aspire to register 85
percent of its population.
"Utah has about 85 percent,
so it's an achievable goal," Punch
said. "If the entire country did
that, it would make a huge differ-
ence."
He added the biggest challenge
to attract more organ donors is
convincing them that it is a safe

process.
"If there are people that don't
believe in it, we'd like to convince
them that they shouldn't be afraid
of it," Punch said. "People think
it's a threat to them, but donation
only happens when people die.
The threat is to the people that
need the transplants that can't
getthem."
Kinesiology sophomore Bry-
anna Gardner said she donated
blood for the second time at the
University and the fourth time in
her life because her mother has
lupus erythematosus, an autoim-
mune disease.
"I've already donated blood
and bone marrow for her, so I
already know the value donat-
ing blood can do for somebody,"
Gardner said-.
She added that some of her
friends felt hesitant about giv-
ing blood, but those that she
convinced to donate were happy
they did.
"It's that feeling that you did
something," Gardner said. "You
gave a little piece of yourself that
could help so many people; to
just give a little matters."


SANDY
From Page 1
world, also took part in local
Sandy relief efforts. On Nov. 11,
the Big Apple Big Ten, a coali-
tion of alumni in the New York
City area from all of the Big.
Ten schools, convened to help
out on Staten Island crippled by
Sandy.
About 225 alumni - rep-
resenting the then 12 schools
of the conference, before the
recent addition of University
of Maryland and Rutgers Uni-
versity - were in attendance to
ride the ferry to Staten Island
together. The group included
about 75 alumni volunteers
from the University.
University alum Stephen
Snyder served as one of the co-
leaders of the volunteer effort.
"Everyone showed up wear-
ing school apparel, like Michi-

gan sweatshirts," Snyder said.
"It was like a Big Ten commer-
cial."
Once in the Dorgan' Hills
neighborhood of Staten Island,
the volunteers committed to
about 6 hours of physical labor
- tearing down walls and help-
ing with the cleanup. The fol-
lowing day, with the Michigan
basketball team playing in the
city, University alumni held a
pre-game at Professor Thom's, a
local New York bar, to fundraise
for the Sandy relief effort.
Back in Ann Arbor, advertis-
ing club 734 Promo, which helps
promote local businesses and
organizations on campus, has
also shifted its focus to Sandy
fundraising.
Business sophomore Josh
Sperling, a project manager and
one of six currently working
on the venture, is organizing a
"Thrift Shop" theme party - in
the spirit of Seattle hip-hop art-

ist Macklemore's latest hit sin-
gle - and will donate all profits
to the American Red Cross.
Sperling has negotiated a
partnership with The Necto
nightclub, and expects the
event to occur sometime Feb-
ruary. They aim. to attract
between 500 and 800 people to
the party.
"That's really how we'll mea-
sure our success - if we can
generate the campus buzz."
Sperling said.
Sperling said besides provid-
ing an opportunity for market-
ing experience in a real-world
setting, the project was for a
cause that seemed crucial to
support.
"It's really something we
can back and we can be really
enthusiastic about," Sperling
said. "This is a cause we all find
dear to us because we've all
had close friends who've been
affected by it."


with confirmation from the gen-
eral body of the Engineering
Council.
Engineering senior Crissie
Zuchora, the presidential can-
didate and current social affairs
director, explained the specific
qualities that she was looking
for in a prospective candidate for
director of administration.
"It is a pretty big role in terms
of the responsibilities," Zuchora
said. "I am looking for someone
who is going to be dedicated and
is willing to put in a lot of time
commitment."
Engineering senior Ahmad
Ayash, the candidate for director
of leadership, said he aspires to
create more skill-building oppor-
tunities for international students
on campus. Through seminars
for international students on lan-
guage improvement and interview
skills, he said he hopes to help
them secure jobs and internships.
"For many international stu-
dents, a lack of English-speaking
ability affects their chances at
securing leadership opportuni-
ties," Ayash said. "I hope to talk
to professors, encouraging them
to interact with students regard-

less of their le'vel of English."
Ayash also noted his desire
to create a greater awareness of
UMEC and other engineering
associations on campus, mainly
through advertising. One organi-
zation he has in mind is the Uni-
versity's chapter of the Society of
Women Engineers, a non-profit
working to increase opportu-
nities for woman engineers on
campus.
Though Roberts did not want
to dictate the council's agenda
for next year, he does hope the
council will work on permanent-
ly establishing an Engineering
vs. Business Olympiad - a com-
petitive three-day event taking
place between the two colleges.
Roberts also noted that the
council required improvements in
its workflow to change the "inef-
ficient operation of some depart-
ments of student government,"
and can continue to grow.
"We stand to gain a lot in
terms of operational efficiency by
improving our workflow, account-
ability and institutional memory,"
Robertsnoted. "I'lldefinitely chal-
lenge the next administration to
address this early on."


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