The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Thursday, March 28, 2013 - 3A
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Thursday, March 28, 2013 - 3A
NEWS BRIEFS
LANSING, Mich.
Group submits
petitions for vote
on wolf hunting
A coalition of environmental
and animal welfare groups says
it has filed petitions seeking a
statewide referendum on wolf
hunting.
The group called Keep Michi-
gan Wolves Protected submitted
253,705 signatures to the secre-
tary of state's office in Lansing
on Wednesday.
If officials verify that at least
161,305 of the signatures are
valid, the issue could be placed
on the November 2014 election
ballot.
LANSING, Mich.
Snyder signs
$23M bill for
recreation
Gov. Rick Snyder has signed
legislation to spend $23 mil-
lion for land purchases, trail
upgrades and other recreation
projects.
The money in the bill signed
Wednesday comes from the
Michigan Natural Resources
Trust Fund, which consists of
royalties from sales and leases
of state-owned mineral rights.
Most of the 76 grants will go
to local governments that also
cover part of the projects' costs.
The biggest grant goes to
Hayes Township in Charlev-
oix County, which gets $3.4
million to buy 20 acres with
1,400 feet of Lake Charlevoix
shoreline. It previously was the
location of a summer camp.
MIAMI
Guantanamo
prisoners say guards
withold water
Prisoners taking part in an
expanding hunger strike at
Guantanamo Bay leveled new
complaints about their military
jailers Wednesday as a team
from the International Com-
mittee of the Red Cross made a
fact-finding trip to the U.S. base
in Cuba.
In an emergency motion filed
with a federal court in Wash-
ington, lawyers say guards have
refused to provide drinking
water to hunger strikers and kept
camp temperature "extremely
frigid," to thwart the protest.
A spokesman for the detention
center denied the allegations.
"The reality is that these men
are slowly withering away and
we as a country need to take
immediate action," said Mari
Newman, a human rights lawyer
based in Denver, who was among
those who submitted the motion.
ATHENS, Greece
Bomb explodes
near Acropolis in
central Athens
A bomb exploded outside a
Greek ship owner's house near a
crowded pedestrian area under
the Acropolis in central Athens
on Wednesday night, causing
minor damage but no injuries,
police said.
The explosion a few hundred
meters from the country's most
famous monument occurred at
about 8:30 p.m., after a warning
call to a Greek newspaper.
There was no immediate
claim of responsibility for the
blast, which follows a string of
bomb attacks in the financially-
struggling country by anarchist
groups that have caused no
major injuries or loss of life.
Police spokesman Panagiotis
Papapetropoulos said officers
were able before the blast to
evacuate one or two people from
the building and to seal off the
area.
"Judging by the minor extent
of the damage, it can't have been
a very strong explosive device,"
he said.
- Complied from
Daily wire reports
E-MAIL
From Page 1A
for the party.
"Mr. Davis is the party chair,
not legal chair," Lane said. "He
was not authorized to disclose
this information. Mr. Davis
regrets the error in question."
Swider released an individu-
al statement as well, expressing
disappointment with the inci-
dent and concern with the use
of blackmail.
"I am incredibly disappoint-
ed with the lack of integrity,
character, and honor by forUM
and its leaders," Swider said.
"Obviously, I don't give a damn
about a personal attack against
my appearance."
This incident, however, illu-
minates a larger issue - pre-
paring and filing complaints to
gain a competitive advantage
over other campaigns. Com-
plaints are heard by the UEC,
the CSG judicial branch, and
can results in demerits. Par-
ties and candidates can only
be issued 10 and five demerits
respectively before they're dis-
qualified.
A suit was filed last year
against Business senior Man-
ish Parikh and LSA sopho-
CONTRACTS
From Page 1A
the last week before right to
work takes effect Thursday.
Collective bargaining units rep-
resenting University workers
announced that union members
from five different labor groups
have ratified new tentative
agreements with the Univer-
sity over the last few weeks: the
American Federation of State,
County and Municipal Employ-
ees; the Graduate Employees'
Organization; the House Offi-
cers Association; the Lecturers'
Employee Organization and the
Michigan Nurses Association.
Together, these five unions rep-
resent about 11,000 University
employees.
The recently ratified agree-
ments - which will last four
to five years, depending on
the organization - don't ful-
fill Pscholka's 10-percent cut
threshold.
"While it's not completely
clear how the 10 percent would
be measured, we do not believe
10 percent savings is achiev-
able," University spokesman
Rick Fitzgerald said in an email.
Pscholka believes the Univer-
sity could reduce tuition costs
by spending some of its $8-bil-
lion endowment on scholar-
ships and by spending some of
ENDOWMENT
From Page 1A
paign, said she predicts the Uni-
versity could begin divestment
in five years.
"It's also about putting our
values here at the University of
Michigan into practice and say-
ing that as a socially responsible
institution we should be socially
responsible in our investments,"
Pfeiffer said.
Marvin said that while the
energy sector of the Univer-
sity's endowment has been the
"top performer" during the last
decade, past success doesn't
ensure future success.
"You can't use historical
returns to predict the future.
That's just poor investment
practice," Marvin said. "So
the argument that the energy
industry has done terrific and
will continue to do terrific just
because it has been doing well
doesn't have any basis in reality."
The campaign has about 150
total members, which includes a
VIDEO
From Page 1A
director, wrote in a statement
that the "video showed poor
judgment, in our view, and an
insensitivity to race issues.
This was bad leadership."
In a letter to the editor pub-
lished in Wednesday's edition
of The Michigan Daily, LSA
senior Nol Gordon wrote that
the video was a "clearly not-so-
veiled attempt at showing us
just how "with it" - read: black
- youMich really is."
more Omar Hashwi - then
candidates for CSG - regard-
ing a supporter who e-mailed
listservs he didn't own. In
the end, the UEC voted 3-2
the duo would only receive
four demerits. That complaint
alone delayed the release of the
results by nearly 10 hours and
eventually delayed the ratifica-
tion of the election results sev-
eral weeks.
"My impression is that the
way that these things normally
work is that you don't take any
legal action really until after
the election is over or until
very close to the election being
over," Lane said.
Lane added that forUM has
been doing nothing out of the
ordinary in this regard.
"Everything that we are
doing is exactly what all the
other parties are doing. It's
exactly what the other par-
ties are doing," Lane said. "It's
exactly what parties have done
in the past."
Still, Lane said forUM does
not plan on using complaints
or hearings as a way of win-
ning elections, but that parties
"keeping tabs" on one another
is the norm.
"We all mutually under-
stand that that's the reality of
the situation," he said.
its "unencumbered reserves."
"Cost-saving measures are
a good thing that can help you
save tuitiondollars and still have
a good, high-quality education,"
Pscholka said. "Chances are
your parents aren't getting five-
and eight-year contract exten-
sions with guaranteed raises."
Though some feel universi-
ties are being attacked by the
bill, Pscholka said he is simply
standing up for his constituents.
"If some universities choose
not to participate in the (spend-
ing) increase, that's their choice,
not mine, and they should be
held accountable for it," Pschol-
ka said. "It seems everybody has
a lobbyist (in Lansing) except
students and parents and tax-
payers. So I plan to be a lobbyist
for students, parents and tax-
payers."
Pscholka questioned the
University's motives for get-
ting a contract done earlier this
month, consideringthe impend-
ing change to union's rights in
the state.
Negotiations for the LEO
contract began back in Novem-
ber, before the right-to-work
legislation was passed. Fitzger-
ald said such a timeframe is typ-
ical for these negotiations.
"I would just point out that
legislation doesn't take effect
until (Thursday), and that's
what the legislature approved,"
Fitzgerald said.
range of students, the campaign
has partnered with numerous
organizations, including the
Program in the Enviornment
club, the Public Health Sustain-
ability Initiative, Students for
Clean Energy and the Student
Sustainability Initiative. Pfiefer
said the group plans to raise
awareness on campus by attend-
ing regents' meetings and host-
ing a DiagsDay on April 3.
The movement has not been
met with widespread acceptance.
While LSA Student Govern-
ment passed a resolution in sup-
port of divestment from fossil
fuels two weeks ago, the Cen-
tral Student Government voted
down a similar resolution after
weeks of deliberation.
Rackham Rep. Wonwoo Lee
voted in favor of the resolution
to support divestment from fos-
sil fuels.
"As an institution - as the
Leaders and the Best - we real-
ly, truly have to consider these
institutional divestments as a
necessary measure to curb cli-
mate change," Lee said.
The video was also brought
up at Tuesday night's CSG
assembly meeting when LSA
sophomore Chavon Taylor
addressed the assembly in
community concerns.
"A lot of people in my com-
munity - the African-Amer-
ican community - were very
offended by this video," Tay-
lor said, adding that the video
was "ignorant" and "insensi-
tive."
At the meeting, CSG presi-
dent Manish Parikh said he
hadn't seen the video, but it
said it's important that if stu-
Business junior Scott
Christopher, the independent
presidential candidate, LSA
sophomore Laurel Ruza, the
chair of youMICH, and Clancy
said they don't plan on holding
or preparing any complaints
to file on Thursday. All three,
however, declined to absolute-
ly rule that possibility out.
"I do know some people are
thinking of strategies on how
to file lawsuits, but we haven't
put much thought into that,"
Christopher said.
Ruza noted the negative
connotation with filing com-
plaints late.
"We try not to wait until
the last minute," Ruza said. "I
think that does look like you're
trying to kick somebody out
specifically."
Ruza said that when suits
are filed to counter other suits,
smaller infractions that are
commonly ignored might come
into play.
"If we're being attacked with
small violations and that sort
we do have those violations that
we've seen as well," Ruza said.
"It's nothing that we want to
embark on, but at some point
parties start doing these stra-
tegic little petty UEC violations
and it kind of is a back and forth
at that point."
Pscholka emphasized that
the government and the pub-
lic should act with a greater
sense of urgency in dealingwith
tuition costs and other fiscal
issues, noting that the country
is in $78 to $90 trillion in debt
and unfunded liabilities.
"I'm not trying to go after
unions, not trying to screw
anybody," Pscholka said. "I'm
very concerned about the fis-
cal condition of the nation and
the state. I'm not going to spend
money I don't have, and I'm not
going to put more debt on the
next generation."
State Rep. Jeff Irwin (D-Ann
Arbor) said ratifying LEO's
new contract was not just about
combating right to work, but
also "about trying to make up
for a chronic issue of underpay-
inglecturers." Pscholka claimed
that old labor contracts for Uni-
versity employees compensated
them fairly.
Irwin said he also felt that
the motives for Pscholka's bill
were different than those that
he had expressed.
"(Republicans) want to
hamper the effectiveness of
labor unions because it serves
their political interests," Irwin
said. "The reason Republicans
passed right to work is because
they wanted to weaken the
Democratic Party. It's all about
politics - it has nothing to do
with good public policy."
LSA junior Russ Hayes, an
LSA representative, said he
doesn't think divestments are
something student government
should focus on.
"We're a student government
that ought to be supporting real-
istic, tangible, impactful reso-
lutions for campus," he said. "I
don't think the divestment reso-
lution, while well-intentioned,
met those goals."
The issue has also become
an issue in the CSG presidential
elections. The Divest and Invest
campaign endorsed forUM can-
didates.
forUM, the Defend Affir-
mative Action Party and the
campaign of independent Scott
Christopher said they support-
ed divestment from fossil fuels
in individual statements. you-
MICH, however, said that while
it supports sustainability, divest-
ment is not the best solution.
"YouMICH supports sustain-
able efforts on campus through
research and clean energy,"
the statement read. "However,
divestment from the 900 million
dents are doing anything that
may be insensitive toward
other students, it should always
be brought to the attention of
the campus, not just during an
election.
"Whenever such content
anywhere on campus happens
for any community, I think all
of us should be vigilant about
this throughout the year," he
said, adding that he believes
Business junior . Michael
Proppe and LSA sophomore
Bobby Dishell - youMICH's
presidential ticket - are "very
fine individuals."
DINGELL
From Page 1A
your government. I work for you."
Dingell also spoke about his
rebuttal to Congressman Paul
Ryan's (R-Wis.) budget plan. He
said Ryan has been vague and
misleading with his use of future
tax reforms, and claimed his
policies are not geared towards
increasing affordability for U.S.
citizens.
"Frankly, it's fiction," Dingell
said. "He takes and repeals all of
the Affordable Care Acts, except
things that are going to increase
federal revenue. He eliminates
all the things that are going to
provide additional care."
Dingell is against Ryan's
replacement of Medicare's
defined benefit plan with a
voucher system because, infla-
tion occurs and the cost of living
increases, benefits will decrease
since they won't be adjusted for
inflationary measures.
Dingell said stability in the
financial sector is vital for
investment in the economy and
the United States is on the verge
of an economic boom.
"The U.S. is ready for a period
of economic greatness," he said.
"And the corporate treasuries
are bulging with money, but they
don't want to spend ... They want
to invest and make jobs because
they don't have any apprecia-
tion of the financial system we're
looking at, because until the bud-
get is finally decided, and they
have certainty - and business
needs certainty. If they get cer-
tainty, they'll invest."
Public Policy senior Mad-
elynne Wager, a member of
TCKB, said she thought Ding-
ell's perspective as the longest-
serving representative on the
national debt is vital for creating
a successful plan of action for the
future.
"So if we can understand his
experience, and the types of
issues he faces, we can then re-
orient our actions in the most
effective manner," Wager said.
Public Policy junior Matt
Andonian said he wanted to take
advantage of the unique oppor-
tunity to see Dingell, and agreed
that the budget is not practical
for the future.
"Obviously (the budget) isn't
sustainable. I think there's quite
a few things they need to really
look at."
SCOTUS concludes
hearing on DOMA
Several justices
expected to
invalidate part of
marriage law
union of an
purposes of
It affect
statutes in
tus is rele
tax breaks!
Social Sect
efits and, ft
WASHINGTON (AP) - Con- health insu
cluding two days of intense care for spo
debate, the Supreme Court sig- Kennedy
naled Wednesday it could give Marriage A
a boost to same-sex marriage by on the pow
striking down the federal law chosen to
that denies legally married gay sex marria
spouses a wide range of benefits federal sta
offered to other couples. "which in
As the court wrapped up its that the fe
remarkable arguments over gay intertwined
marriage in America, a major day-to-day
ity of the justices indicated they risk of runr
will invalidate part of the fed- what has ah
eral Defense of Marriage Act - be the essen
if they can get past procedural power, whit
problems similar to those that riage, divo
appeared to mark Tuesday's nedy said.
case over California's ban on Other ju
same-sex marriage, creates wha
Since the federal law was Ginsburg c
enacted in 1996, nine states and marriage, f
the District of Columbia have marriage."
made it legal for gays and lesbi- If the coi
ans to marry. Same-sex unions part of DC
also were legal in California resent a vi
for nearly five months in 2008 advocates.]
before the Proposition 8 ban. thing short
Justice Anthony Kennedy, of gay m
often the decisive vote in close that someF
cases, joined the four more-lib- justices agi
eral justices in raising questions hear the fi
Wednesday about a provision challenge t
that defines marriage as the same-sex m
THE NEW LINE CHINESE CUISINE
SPECIALIZING IN HONG KONG, TAIWANESE,
SZECHUAN & HUNAN STYLES
734-995-1786
116 S. MAIN STREET
E ENW.HURON AND WASHINGTONST.)
ANN ARBOR
WWW.KAIGARDEN.COM
man and a woman for
f federal law.
s more than 1,100
which marital sta-
evant, dealing with
for married couples,
urity survivor ben-
or federal employees,
urance and leave to
ouses.
said the Defense of
ct appears to intrude
er of states that have
recognize same-
ges. When so many
atutes are affected,
our society means
deral government is
d with the citizens'
life, you are at real
sing in conflict with
ways been thought to
nce of the state police
ch is to regulate mar-
rce, custody," Ken-
stices said the law
at Justice Ruth Bader
alled two classes of
full and "skim-milk
wrt does strike down
OMA, it would rep-
ctory for gay rights
But it would be some-
of the endorsement
arriage nationwide
envisioned when the
reed in December to
ederal case and the
o California's ban on
arriage.