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Ann Arbor, Michigan
Wednesday, October 1, 2014
michigandailycom
a1
FOOTBALL FALLOUT
Thousands
sign petition
to fire AD
(LEFT) LSA junior Alex Hartley mocks the rnistaken Coke prornotion that allowed football fans to receive discounted tickets at the President's House Tuesday.
(RIGHT) Hundreds of students rally for President Mark Schlissel to fire Athletic Director Dave Brandon.
SdS e gather to calor
Brterm ination
After controversy
Saturday, student-
driven petition
draws 10,000
By WILL GREENBERG
Daily News Editor
A University student petition
calling for Athletic Director Dave
Brandon to be relieved from his
post has collected 10,101 signa-
tures as of 1 a.m. Wednesday.
Ford School graduate student
Zeid El-Kilani has created a peti-
tion through the Central Student
Government's UPetition web-
site, stating that the University's
football program has become a
"black eye" for the University and
requests President Mark Schlis-
sel remove Brandon. The petition
summary notes the athletic pro-
gram's historic ability to provide
prestige to the University, both as
a recruiting aid for new students
and a source of pride for alumni,
saying the department currently
runs the risk of "producing a gen-
eration of alumni that are disin-
terested and disengaged."
El-Kilani's petition was
launched late Monday evening
;n tvw wue f the football team's
third loss in a row over the week-
end, a game that generated a
range of criticisms of Brandon
and the department forpoorlead-
ership and treatment of player
safety. He said the petition speaks
to broader concerns about Bran-
don's handling ofthe department.
"It didn't have anything to do
with the football field. I think
it comes at a time where we're
facing national attention and
increased scrutiny about the way
our Athletic Department handles
situations," El-Kilani said.
Since Saturday, both Bran-
don and Michigan coach Brady
Hoke have received criticism for
improper practices.. For Hoke,
his failure to remove sophomore
quarterbackShane Morris from
the game following a helmet-to-
helmet hit - causing what Bran-
don called a "mild concussion"
- had fans calling his concern for
player safety into question. Bran-
don released a statement early
Tuesday morning admitting the
situation was poorly handled,
specifically citing sideline com-
munication. Additionally, fans of
the teamhave voiced displeasure
at the team's historically poor per-
formance, as Michigan lost three
matchups in September for the
See PETITION, Page 7A
MGoBlogcom
comment initiates
protest on Diag
By STEPHANIE SHENOUDA
Daily News Editor
At 5-50 p.m. Tuesday, the Diag
looked no different than it does
on any other school day. By 6:15
p.m., it was flooded by hundreds
of students calling for the remov-
al of Athletic Director David
Brandon after the department's
widely criticized response to
Sophomore quarterback Shane
Morris' concussion in Saturday's
football game against Minne-
sota.
Initiated by a comment on the
MGoBlog.com website, some stu-
dents carried homemade signs
and vied for camera time, while
others were content to stand in
the crowd in solidarity with their
classmates. Same scrawled "Fire
Brandon" on apiece of cardboard
or notebook paper before head-
;ing to the protest, while 6ther.s Brand, The Brand, The Brand is
found more creative ways to hot The Way."
voice their dissatisfaction with Graham said Michigan foot-
the current athletic climate. ball coach Brady Hoke's failure
One student carried two bot- to remove Morris from play after
ties of Coca-Cola in addition to a he displayed concussion-like
sign reading "Buy two cokes, get symptoms was the "last offense
a new AD," in reference to a con- in a long line of transgressions,"
troversial promotional eventthat committed by the Athletic
resulted in non-student foot- Department in recent years.
ball tickets for last week's game "Dave Brandon should not
against Minnesota being sold at retain his position as Athletic
an effective 98-percent discount. Director at this University," Gra-
Business senior Ryan Graham ham said, citing increased stu-
penned a sign that read, "The See PROTEST, Page 7A
"
CAMPUS LIFE
Albanian,
P resipdent
Ptalks pride
in ethnicity
Bujar Nishani meets
with members of
Albanian diaspora
By ANASTASSIOS
ADAMOPOULOS
Daily StaffReporter
The controversial situation
surrounding sophomore quar-
terback Shane Morris has now
garneredtheattentionoftheU.S.
Congress, after it was confirmed
he suffered a mild concussion
during Saturday's game against
Minnesota, but continued to
play the remainder of the game.
U.S. Representative Bill Pascrell
Jr. (D-NJ) has submitted a let-
ter to Big 10 commissioner Jim
Delany, advising him to launch
an investigation regarding deci-
sions made in the wake of Mor-
ris' apparent injury.
Pascrell's Communications
Director Tom Pietrykoski told
The Michigan Daily that the
congressman is a longtime advo-
cate for those suffering from
brain injuries, and believes that
See CONGRESSMAN, Page 7A
GOVERNMENT
Congressman
calls for NCAA
investigation
Head of brain culture in Michigan.
UNA ANNA ARCHEY/Daily
Agnes Heller speaks after accepting The 2014 Wallenberg Medal at Rackham Auditorium Tuesday.
Wallenberg winnerrelects
on Holocaust exprec
M edal recipient and Holocaust survivor. She pre-
sented the Wallenberg Lecture
discusses philosophy, and received the Wallenberg
Medal.
resilience in annual Heller's philosophy focuses on
the role of morality and ethics in
ceremony the modern world and the resil-
ience of the human spirit in the
By EMILIE PLESSET face of evil. She and her mother
Daily StaffReporter avoided deportation during the
Holocaust, though her father
Nearly 1000.members of the was deported to the Auschwitz
University and Ann Arbor com- concentration camp and died
munity gathered at Rackham before the end of World War II.
Auditorium Monday evening to Although she was briefly a
celebrate Agnes Heller, interna- member of the Communist party
tionally recognized philosopher between 1947 and 1949 Heller
advocated for self-determination
during the Hungarian Revolu-
tion of 1956 and was exiled after
the 1968 Prague Spring. While
in exile she taught philosophy in
New York and Australia. Since
her retirement in 2009, she has
moved back to Hungary.
The University Raoul Wal-
lenberg Medal Ceremony is
sponsored by the Wallenberg
Endowment in recognition of
Raoul Wallenberg, a University
student in the early 1930s who
rescued around 100,000 Jews in
Budapest during World War II.
See MICHIGAN, Page 7A
injury task force
expresses concern
for student athletes
By STEPHANIE SHENOUDA
Daily-NewsoEditor
Though not quite the Unit-
ed Nations compound in New
York, Aventura in downtown
Ann Arbor hosted Albanian
President of Albania Bujar Nis-
hani as he concluded his activi-
ties in Ann Arbor Tuesday with
a large breakfast.
The tightly-secured event
had about 150 attendees,
including members of the
Albanian-American Student
Organization, Michigan Alba-
nian community and Univer-
sity faculty and staff. Aventura,
a Spanish tapas restaurant, is
owned by an Albanian Ameri-
can, Sava Lelcaj.
In an interview with The
Michigan Daily, Nishani said
he was especially proud of the
success of Albanian-American
"My message was just to
congratulate them for their
achievement here," Nishani
said. "We have a very good and
strong Albanian-American
diaspora here in Michigan, a
number which has increased
year after year and most of them
have been very successful in
their life."
The southeastern European
country, whose population
totals more than three mil-
lion, is the latest candidate for
European Union membership.
He spoke Tuesday about his
country's development in recent
decades, focusing on reforms
since the fall of the Soviet
Union in 1991. Although it was
never part of the USSR, Albania
maintained close relations with
Moscow until the 1960s when it
aligned with Communist China
after the Sino-Soviet split.
LSA senior Linda Camaj, the
president of the AASO, said
funds raised by the breakfast
will go to a new fund from the
Weiser Center for Europe and
Eurasia that assists Univer-
See PRESIDENT, Page 3A
WEATHER HI: 75
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Vol. CXXV, No. 3
©2013 The Michigan Daily
michigondoilycom
NEWS .........................2A ARTS.............5A
SUDOKU.....................2A CLASSIFIEDS ...............6A
OPINION.....................4A STATEMENT.........1.......1B
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