~!b l~ljian &iatg QNF-Ilt N 1) R F, 1) TNV I ', NTY F0 t' r t Ann Arbor, Michigan Friday, February 28, 2014 michigandaily.com ADMINISTR ATION Summary meetings of the regents draw ire John Negroponte, former US Deputy Secretary of State and former Director of National Intelligence, discusses his view on leadership and foreign policy at Weill Hall Thursday. Negroponte focused on his career in the foreign service to answer audience questions on current events. Speaker chastised at vi gi Ford School hosts controversial diplomat John Negroponte By ANASTASSIOS ADAMOPOULOS Daily StaffReporter Protesters were lined up Thursday night to condemn the Ford School of Public Policy's. guest speaker John Negroponte, a former director of national intelligence, deputy secretary of state and currently a professor at Yale University. Public Policy Prof. Melvyn Levitsky, who previously served terms as the U.S. ambassa- dor to Brazil and Bulgaria, led the event, which discussed Negroponte's work. Following the discussion, a vigil awaited Negroponte outside the Annen- berg Auditorium to chastise Negroponte's alleged crimes. Negroponte served as an ambassador to Honduras, Iraq, Mexico, the Philippines and the United Nations. The discussion was largely about Negroponte's career and his leadership posi- tions. During the discussion, Negroponte said the United States often gets too involved in international issues, and said other nations are able to find stability on their own. "Based on my experience in the foreign policy, I don't think we're too good at nation-build- ing," he said. "I don't think we do that quite very well. I don't think we are too good at regime change." Negroponte, ambassador to Iraq from May 2004 to 2005, questioned whether the inva- sion in Iraq happened too soon. He was also very critical of tor- ture as a means of extracting information. He denied that there were covert torture cen- ters while he was in Iraq and referred to Abu Ghraib - the prison in Iraq where members of the U.S. military and the CIA tortured inmates in 2003 and 2004 - as "a great humili- ation and embarrassment to the United States." He added that was not sanctioned by the gov- ernment. "If you want your troops to be treated properly under the Geneva Convention you better treat other people likewise," he said. Negroponte said his tenure in Honduras -from November See SPEAKER, Page 3 Detroit Free Press lawyer questions board's commitment to Open Meetings Act By CLAIRE BRYAN Daily StaffReporter While the monthly meet- ings of the University's Board of Regents could be considered effi- cient, complaints have recently been surfacing that the Univer- sity's governing body is abusing Michigan's Open Meetings Act. At the open and public meet- ings, held by the regents, mem- bers and executive officers address and pass new policies for the University and offer an opportunity for the public to share thoughts or concerns, as required by law. However, the regents rarely publicly disagree with one another at the meet- ings or even make statements for the record. Most discussions are assumed to occur behind closed doors and in informal sessions. According to Section 3 of Michigan's Open Meetings Act, "all meetings of a public body shall be open to the public and shall be held in a place available to the general public." On Tuesday, Feb. 18, state Rep. Tom McMillin (R-Rochester Hills) held a legislative hearing before the Michigan House of Representatives Committee to listen to the public's general con- cerns about the act. Herschel Fink, one of the Detroit Free Press' legal coun- sel and a speaker at the hearing, stated publicly that the regents are "serial abusers of the open Meetings Act." Fink called for a constitutional amendment to make clear that the regents, as well as the Board of Trustees at Michigan State University and the Board of Gov- ernors at Wayne State University, are bound by the Open Meetings Act and Freedom of Information Act. "The quote-unquote 'formal monthly meetings' are nearly perfunctory," Fink said. "They simply rubber-stamp the regents' work committees to which the public is not allowed to partici- pate or be present." Fink is not the first to com- plain about the regents' secrecy. In 2010, University alum Rob- ert Davis sued the regents for not See REGENTS, Page 3 FACULTY Dean of School of Ed. receives national award SPEAK OUT Loewenberg Ball helped create program to train new teachers ByYARDAIN AMRON Daily Staff Reporter Deborah Loewenberg Ball, dean of the School of Education, received the 2014 Edward C. Pomeroy Award for Outstand- ing Contributions to Teacher Education, the University announced Thursday. The award will be presented Monday by the American Asso- ciation of Colleges for Teacher Education - a national alliance of public and private colleges and universities dedicated to educator training - at its 66th annual meetingin Indianapolis. Loewenberg Ball said she was notified about the award via e-mail a few weeks ago. "I was very surprised, extremelyhonored - it's a major organization of all the institu- tions in the country that prepare teachers - so it's just a very big honor because there are about 1,400 different universities that prepare teachers," Loewenberg Ball said. "It's a very nice rec- ognition of the amount of work we've been doing here at Michi- gan." Gail Bozeman, vice presi- dent of meetings and events at AACTE, said the award is very prestigious and that Loewen- berg Ball is a more than deserv- ingrecipient. "Part of the award deals with recognizing outstanding con- tributions to teacher education, especially around an individual or an institution that may have produced or developed materials that will promote more effective methods of teacher education at the collegiate level," Bozeman said. Bozeman said out of 14 can- didates, Loewenberg Ball stood out for her notable involvement in numerous national teaching initiatives including Teaching- Works, an organization dedi- cated to improving the quality of new teachers. Loewenberg Ball said his- torically, first- and second-year teachers often report learning the bulk of their skills only upon entering the classroom. "What TeachingWorks is set- ting out to do is to say that kids really deserve to have skillful teaching every year that they're in school, and people who agree to become teachers deserve to be trained well enough to be responsible for children," she said. TeachingWorks is dedicated to. three main pillars: defining the key knowledge and prac- tices a new teacher needs before See DEAN, Page 3 Students protest John Negroponte following his discussion about foreign policy at Weill Hall Thursday. The oppo- nents of Negroponte claimed that he is a war criminal for his activities across several countries. THURNAU SERIES Professor draws inspira tion from multiple mediums ANN ARBOR AATA may expand its operations if vote succeeds $700,000 plan is on to the voters for final approval of more transit services ByEMMA KERR Daily Staff Reporter The debate continues over the expansion of the Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority. The future of the AATA's ser- vices is hinged on a proposed $700,000 millage that will appear on the May 6 ballot in three Washt- enaw County communities. While the "More Buses" campaign cham- pions connecting people and better serving Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti and Ypsilanti Township, the opposing campaign, "Better Transit Now," questions whether expanding the current system of transit is best when there may be other - and potentially better -alternatives. State Rep. Jeff Irwin (D-Ann Arbor) and councilmember Chuck Warpehoski (D-Ward 5) support the referendum while other coun- cilmembers remain undecided in the matter. The referendum boasts a 44-percent increase in transit services at the cost of $33 per year for residents whose homes at val- ued at $100,000. This transit plan would include extending both eve- ning hours and weekend hours, as well as services for the elderly or See AATA, Page 3 Melissa Gross uses experience to take interdisciplinary approach By PAULA FRIEDRICH Daily StaffReporter In Rembrandt's painting The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp, inquisitive doc- tors in ruffled, white collars and goatees lean over a cadaver lit in the soft focus of the paint- er's signature light. A print of this piece of inter- woven science and art is per- haps nowhere better placed than where it hangs above the desk of Melissa Gross, associ- ate professor of movement sci- ence, in the Central Campus Recreation Building. "I'm really drawn to the edges," she said. "To the in- betweens. That's where I feel comfortable." Recently honored with an Arthur F. Thurnau professor- ship, Gross has appointments in both the School of Kinesi- ology and the School of Art & Design. In her Behavioral Biomechanics Laboratory, she uses motion capture animation to quantify the way movement changes when emotion does. This line of questioning means her research reaches across and pulls from psychology, technology, art, physics and movement science. Thurnau professors are honored for their exceptional undergraduate teaching and innovation. The award comes with $20,000 as well. After finishing her Ph.D. at the University of California, Los Angeles, Gross worked as a research scientist at the Vet- erans Affairs hospital in Palo Alto before comingto the Uni- See PROFESSOR, Page 3 WEATHER HI 30 GOT A NEWS TIP? TOMORROW LO 5 Call734-418-411sor e-mail news@michigandaily.com and let us know. 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