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Ann Arbor, Michigan
Friday, February 8, 2013
michigandaily.com
ADMISSIONS
Group to
push for
aff. action
review
BAMN endorses
AG's petition to
U.S. Supreme Court
By BEN ATLAS
Daily Staff Reporter
With a potential turn in federal affir-
mative action policy on the horizon, the
University and state of Michigan may
once again be at the center of it all.
The Coalition to Defend Affirmative
Action, Integration & Immigrant Rights
and Fight for Equality By Any Means
Necessary has endorsed Michigan
Attorney General Bill Schuette's request
that the nation's highest court review
the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals'
decision to overturn Proposal 2 - the
state's 2006 ban on affirmative action
in admissions. The move comes as a sur-
prise as the parties are on opposite sides
of the issue.
George Washington, BAMN's coun-
sel of record, said the group has asked
the court for areview in hopes that they
might also strike down bans similar to
Proposal 2 in states such as California,
Arizona and Washington. The ultimate
goal of the group is to establish a new
national precedent in support of affir-
mative action.
After the Sixth Circuit Court first
overturned Proposal 2 in an 8-7 deci-
sion last October, Schuette petitioned
the Supreme Court.in November in an
attempt to reverse the lower court's
decision altogether.
If the U.S. Supreme Court decides
not to take the case, the lower court's
ban on Proposal 2 will be upheld, and
the University will be free to consider
affirmative action - consideration that
Washington said BAMN will demand.
If the court does take the case, Wash-
ington believes it will become "the most
important civil rights case in the coun-
try, by really along shot."
University alum Kate Stenvig, a
BAMN organizer, said the University
See ACTION, Page 3A
UnConference attendees discuss how to make Michigan entrepreneurially competitive by showcasing their ideas at the North Campus
Research Complex Thursday.
A "
Abusiness conference,
minus teformalities
STATE GOVERNMENT
nyder
outlines
budget
changes
University pleased with
2-percent increase in
education funding
By MATT JACKONEN
Daily StaffReporter
Gov. Rick Snyder laid out a $50.9-bil-
lion budget for fiscal year 2014-2015
Thursday morning, which includes
small funding increases to the state's
institutions of higher education.
The proposed budget, which includes
a 5-percent year-over-year growth
See SNYDER, Page 3A
SNYDER'S UPS
and DOWNS
since taking office
--oM ong Room
S DesignbyNckcruzandKristen Cleghorn
Source: mivco
UnConference eschews
ususal agenga in favor
of looser meetings
By ARIANA ASSAF
Daily Staff Reporter
When brainstorming is driven by
the piercing sound of a steam whis-
tie, there are bound to be interesting
results.
Students and professional entre-
preneurs gathered in the North Cam-
pus Research Complex Thursday for
"unConference," a non-traditional
forum in which participants were free
to suggest topics of discussion on cur-
rent economic challenges.
The event's organizers hoped par-
ticipants would thrive on its lack of
formal structure and philosophy of
free expression. After a short introduc-
tion to kick off the event, participants
were encouraged to brainstorm ideas
or topics and eventually present them
to the group of over 250 attendees.
An idea board dominated the front
of the room, covered in a colorful array
of paper notes representing a huge
variety of discussion topics. The top-
ics would be used as fuel for discussion
within smaller groups.
When it was time to move along, a
steam whistle signaled participants
to wrap up their conversations and
continue to the next idea. The whistle
was made by Maker Works, an Ann-
Arbor-based workshop for craftsmen
and designers.
UnConference was hosted by
Entrepreneurs Engage, a collabora-
tion between the University's Tech-
nology Transfer and the Michigan
Venture Capital Association. Both of
these organizations aim to develop and
market new technology as well as to
encourage venture capital in the com-
munity.
This year's conference was a contin-
uation from the inaugural conference
last June in which Governor Rick Sny-
der spoke about burgeoning business
opportunities in the state,
Funding for the event.was provided
by the Michigan Economic Develop-
ment Corporation, a statewide eco-
nomic development organization.
Kenneth Nisbet, the executive
director of Tech Transfer, said people
were encouraged to "come without an
agenda."
This year's event expanded its dura-
tion and the number of invitees over
last year. This year there were three
different sessions in which groups
could gather to discuss their ideas; up
from two last year. UnConference invi-
tations were also extended to student
entrepreneurs.
"The University is a great resource
to improve the entrepreneurial eco-
system," Nisbet said. "And the student
entrepreneurial culture here is great."
Nisbet also said that a big goal of
unConference is building relationships
between professional and student
entrepreneurs.
Engineering senior Rama Mwenesi,
a student entrepreneur and the presi-
dent and founder of E-Magine, learned
from his project that common motiva-
tions can make ateam of very different
specialists successful.
E-Magine is a student run entrepre-
neurial organization that is working
to bring solar-panel-powered Internet
access to rural areas in Africa. The
See CONFERENCE, Page 3A
- PERFOR MANCE PREVIEW
Gypsy jazz in full swing
at Kerrytown venue
ADAM GLANZMAN/Daily
Peter Solenberger, lead applications programmer analyst at the Institute for Social Research and a member of the UAW, discusses right-to-work at an
open forum held in Angell Hall Thursday.
Unions assembletooposeTW
Up-and-coming
vocalist to revive
sounds of Django
Reinhardt
By JOHN BOHN
Daily Arts Writer
In 1930s France, guitarist Django
Reinhardt and violinist Stephane
Grappelli pioneered a style of jazz
known as gypsy swing. As a self-pro-
claimed gypsy himself, Reinhardt
drew on his background with gypsy
music culture to create the unique
sound now heard internationally
among groups called "hot clubs,"
named after Reinhardt's original
Quintet du Hot Club de France.
This Friday, gypsy jazz will be in
full swing at the Kerrytown Con-
cert House, where Cyrille Aimee, an
up-and-coming voice in the genre,
will perform with her newly formed
band, The Guitar Heroes.
Aimee's story takes her close to
the roots of gypsy jazz mov'ement.
Born in Reinhardt's hometown
of Fontainebleau, Aimee became
acquainted with the style at an early
age. Gypsy culture persists into
the modern day with an estimated
500,000 Romas living in France,
and since 1968 - 15 years after
Reinhardt's death - enthusiasts
and descendants of the culture have
gathered in Samois-sur-Seine near
Fountainebleau to commemorate
the pioneer's life and legacy through
a yearly music festival.
"I started singing when I first
met the gypsies,"Aimee said."I was
obsessed with the gypsies and their
way of living and their culture."
Over the past decade, this style of
music has flourished, especially in
American cities like San Francisco
and Austin, Texas. Detroit has its
very own group of musicians, the
Hot Club of Detroit, which regu-
larly performs gypsy jazz in south-
east Michigan, as well as across the
country.
"They were one of the first to
make a career like this, just with
this music," said Kerrytown Con-
cert House Director Deanna Relyea.
She added that the group enjoys
playing in Ann Arbor.
"They call twice a year, three
times a year, depending on whether
they are in town," Relyea said."And
the audience is crazy for it, and they
always do something different."
It was with the Hot Club of
Detroit that Aim~e made her first
See JAZZ, Page 3A
Event first in night as Ann Arbor com-
munity members joined
series of labor with University students
to talk about the potential
discussions impacts of the controver-
sial law.
By AMRUTHA The event, named "Right
SIVAKUMAR to Work (for less) and Oth-
Daily StaffReporter ers," was the first of a series
of events organized to dis-
The fight over Michi- cuss and propose solutions
gan's right-to-work legis- to various forms of "auster-
lation continued Thursday ity" in Michigan. Sponsor-
ing organizations include
Washtenaw Community
Action Team, Graduate
Employees' Organization,
Lecturers' Employee Orga-
nization, Interfaith Council
for Peace and Justice and
Student Union of Michigan.
Gov. Rick Snyder signed
the right-to-work bill on
Dec.t11, which prevents any-
one from being automati-
cally enrolled in a union and
have dues deducted from
their paycheck. The legisla-
tion is proposed to go into
effect on March 27.
Sociology lecturer Ian
Robinson, a member of LEO,
said by making union mem-
bership and dues voluntary,
employees benefitting from
the collective wage bid-
ding of the unions would be
able to "freeload" from the
See WORK, Page 3A
WEATHER ; HI:29
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