40 46F 46F 4c Illic 1 an,:)atlm it DT I' -'I 111 11 1, 1a k I I S 1 1 I)I°I'()111ikI I I 1 IiJ 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 TOMORROW LO 15 GOT A NEWS TIP? Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail news michigandaily~com and let us know, NEW ONMICHIGANDAiLY.COM Profilingthe Transfer Student Affairs Commission MICHIGANDAILY.COM/BLOGS INDEX NEWS ....................... 2 SPORTS....,.......,.......7 Vol.CXXiII,No,65 OPINION .....4... .... 4 SUDOKU..,. .. ,,,,,,,,.. 2 @2013TheMichiganDaily ARTS,. ~5 CLASSIFIEDS ........... 6 michigandailycam A