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LEFT: Protestors gather outside of the Lincoln Memorial in preparation to march to the U.S. Supreme Court with the organization By Any Means Necessary in support of affirmative action Tuesday. RIGHT: Western Michigan University sophomore Tabrian Joe, a BAMN organizer, gathers outside of the Lincoln Memorial before marching to across the National Mall to the U.S. Supreme Court Building.
Students take State’s Prop 2 hits Court to Washington to see history U.S. justices hear oral arguments on ballot initiative By TAYLOR WIZNER AND K.C. WASSMAN
BAMN leads march on National Mall toward court By TAYLOR WIZNER AND K.C. WASSMAN Daily News Editors
WASHINGTON, D.C. — When a bell sounds in the U.S.
Daily News Editors
Supreme Court it signifies the a moment of ceremonial importance: The justices each put on their robes, shake hands with one another and take their honorary seats. As the bell rang at 1 p.m. Tuesday, it also stood for the culmination of hours, months and years of people waiting on the sidelines to hear the court’s See WASHINGTON, Page 5A
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Affirmative action in Michigan has once again taken center stage in the U.S. Supreme Court. The high court heard oral arguments Tuesday for Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, which questions the legality of a 2006 amendment — commonly
known as Proposal 2 — to the Michigan State Constitution that bans race-based preferences in college admission process. The court must weigh whether or not a state ban on race- or sex-based admissions is in violation of the 14th amendment’s equal protection cause. The case brings up questions of unfair burden put upon minority communities, who would have to take to courts to change admission policy instead of that institution’s governing body. The case came to the U.S. Supreme Court after the state appealed the Sixth Circuit Court’s decision, which struck down equal protection
FACILITIES
By JENNIFER CALFAS Daily Staff Reporter
Though its home in North Hall will likely be razed, the University’s ROTC program will live on. At the monthly meeting of the University’s Board of Regents on Friday, the regents will consider a project to renovate space in several buildings to accommodate the relocation the University’s Army, Navy and Air Force Reserve Officers’ Training Corps offices from North Hall. Once the project is approved, another request will be made to demolish North Hall to make way See COLEMAN, Page 5A
Endowment report, construction projects on agenda for regents Thursday meeting to take place on Flint campus By SAM GRINGLAS Daily Staff Reporter
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Michele Norris host of the NPR show “All Things Considered” and founder of the Race Card Project delivers the University’s 2012 MLK Day Convocation address. Norris will be University’s 2013 Winter Commencement speaker.
Former NPR host to speak at Winter Commencement Norris helped bring Race Card Project to campus By PETER SHAHIN Daily News Editor
Michele Norris, a renowned journalist, will be the 2013 Winter Commencement speaker and receive an honor-
ary Doctor of Humane Letters at the commencement ceremony, the University announced early Monday. Five other distinguished individuals hailing from a variety of fields will also receive honorary degrees from the University. Norris is best known for being a former host of All Things Considered, National Public Radio’s flagship radio show. She was the organiza-
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court’s verdict. John Bursch, the state’s solicitor general, represented Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette, who appealed the Sixth Circuit Court’s decision to the court. In his allotted thirty minutes of time, Bursch argued that it is up to each state to determine whether or not they would like race-based admissions. During his opening statements, Bursch noted it’s unclear whether or not diversity has declined at the University in the wake of Proposal 2. He said the 2010 change in the mandate for reporting race, which allowed students See ADMISSIONS, Page 3A
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Coleman outlines need for lab space Pres. says upcoming renovations will provide better biology areas
concerns, based on precedent set in Washington v. Seattle School District No. 1. In that 1981 case, the Court found a statewide initiative for a neighborhood-school policy put an unconstitutional burden on racial minorities by reordering the decision-making process. In order for the court to overturn the Sixth Circuit Court’s ruling, five of the eight participating justices – Justice Elena Kagan having recused herself from this case – would have to rule against the lower court’s decision. If the justices are split in a 4-4 vote, the ruling is automatically deferred to the lower
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tion’s first Black female anchor. During her time as anchor, Norris regularly interviewed leading statesmen, academics and scientists, cultural icons and professionals from around the world. She currently heads the Race Card Project, a nationwide initiative that gathers perspectives on race and aims to foster dialogue on the subject. The University teamed up See NPR, Page 3A
At its monthly meeting on Friday, the University’s Board of Regents will consider a number of construction and renovation proposals — mostly moving along pre-approved plans. Meeting at the Flint campus, the governing body will also officially receive its 2013 endowment report, which measures the performance of the University’s massive nearly $7.5-billion portfolio. REGENTS TO APPROVE SCHEMATIC DESIGNS FOR THE EARL V. MOORE BUILDING RENOVATION Though the regents approved $23,270,000 for the Earl V. Moore Building’s renovation lastNovember, the board will vote Friday to approve the project’s schematic design and slight budget increase.
The Moore Building, the North Campus facility that houses a portion of the School of Music, Theatre & Dance, will receive upgrades and expansions to classroom spaces as well as infrastructure updates. The revised budget — which now totals more than $24 million— will allow for 4,600 additional square feet of mechanical space that was not included in the initial estimate. The renovations to the facility will include changes to both the first and second floor’s north wing. These changes will increase the number and size of practice rooms and will relocate offices originally moved for practice room expansion. The larger part of the project, a 34,000-square-foot building addition named the Brehm Pavilion, will include three classrooms, a large lecture hall, piano labs, a jazz and percussion suite, a rehearsal hall, lobby and space reserved for future expansion. The schematic designs also call for updates to the building’s fire detection and alarm systems. See ENDOWMENT, Page 5A
wolverines fall short Michigan’s not-so-happy ending in Happy Valley.
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INDEX
Vol. CXXIV, No. 11 ©2013 The Michigan Daily michigandaily.com
» INSIDE NEWS......................... 2A OPINION.....................4A ARTS...........................6A
SUDOKU..................... 3A S TAT E M E N T. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 C S P O R T S W E D N E S DAY. . . . 1 B