ONE-HUNDRED-TWENTY-FOUR YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM Thursday, December 5, 2013
Ann Arbor, Michigan
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PHILANTHROPY
Fundraiser to benefit children in hospitals Students will canvass city on Galens Tag Days
ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
The Harmonettes performed among many other student a cappella groups at the Kill-A-Watt Unplugged Concert in East Hall Wednesday evening.
By ANASTASSIOS ADAMOPOLOUS
Competition kills waste Dorm challenge encourages sustainability By HILLARY CRAWFORD Daily Staff Reporter
The University has put a positive twist on its sustainability initiative with the third annual Kill-A-Watt competition,
where students in the residence halls challenge each other to decrease energy consumption in their residence halls. In a ceremony Wednesday at East Hall, Helen Newberry Residence Hall took the grand prize for using the least energy, while Martha Cook Residence Hall and East Quad Residence Hall came in second and third place, respectively. During the one-month com-
petition, students living in various residence halls collaborate with each other and form friendly rivalries with other halls. To win the competition, a residence hall must decrease its energy use by least ten percent from the same month the year before. To be officially announced as a Kill-A-Watt Energy Saving Winner, halls have to reduce their energy use
Daily Staff Reporter
by the same amount, in comparison to a more long-term standard — the average energy consumption during the past four years. Students from the winning halls are then offered opportunities to attain scholarships. Kill-A-Watt rates its participants in terms of quantifiable energy reduction and incorporates an effort-awarding See PROGRAM, Page 5A
With the first snowflakes falling, it is once again time for the Galens Tag Days fundraisers to take over the streets of Ann Arbor. The annual event, sponsored by the Galens Medical Society, strives to help children at the University Hospital and local organizations. The event traces its roots to 1927, making 2013 the 87th year of canvassing for the organization. The Galens Medical Society was founded as an honor society by medical students in 1914 but has since grown into 120-member strong charitable and service orga-
ENGI-NERD
TIMBER!
ACADEMICS
Pledges take tree down like Pitbull, Ke$ha UMPD responds to FIJI house after alleged theft of 13-foot pine By ADAM RUBENFIRE Managing News Editor
There were 16,408 trees at the University in fiscal year 2012, according to the most recent data. But University officials will need to subtract one tree from this year’s total after an incident Wednesday morning involving a fraternity’s pledging activities. Twelve students were interviewed by University Police early Wednesday after they allegedly stole a tree from a parking lot near the Industrial and Operations Engineering Building and took it to the house of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, commonly known as FIJI. Responding officers were able to determine that the tree cutting was a part of a fraternity pledging activity, but later Wednesday morning University Police would not confirm what fraternity the students were affiliated with. In response to a report
that several individuals were removing a tree at about 1:20 a.m., UMPD officers canvassed North Campus, later heading to the Oxford area on Central Campus, where police and a Housing Security officer were seen with the tree and several students at about 2 a.m. The tree was in the bed of a blue Ford F-150 pickup truck on the front lawn of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity house at 707 Oxford Road. Officers interviewed the students at the house, then escorted the pickup — with the tree in the truck’s bed — to a garage near the Campus Safety Services building on Kipke Drive, where the tree was left for storage. One officer was seen holding a hacksaw, though it’s unclear whether it was confiscated from the suspects. After the tree was stored, University Police were seen at the tree’s original location with four of the suspects, where officers continued to talk with them. A tree stump surrounded by sawdust and debris could be seen at the northeast corner of the lot. The tree is currently being classified by UMPD as a 13-foot Pine Tree, but a more accurate See PLEDGES, Page 5A
Law clinic helps prove jailed man’s innocence DNA testing shows convicted man was not guilty By RACHEL PREMACK Daily Staff Reporter
ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
Engineering junior Brian McCann works on a car for the student group MRacing Formula SAE in the Wilson Center Wednesday. Last summer, the team placed ninth at a competition at the Hockenheimring Cicuit in BadenWürttemberg, Germany.
BUSINESS
Tech companies could spur rebirth on E. Liberty Street Influx of startups could increase low rate of foot traffic By K.C. WASSMAN Daily News Editor
The lights from the Michigan Theater have shone for more than 80 years, but its constant
presence has been the exception rather than the rule for businesses on East Liberty Street. In recent years the street has seen a shuffle of businesses, most notably the closure of the flagship Borders bookstore in 2011. But the transformation of the Borders space was one of many over the course of the street’s history. Before Borders, Jacobson’s
department store occupied the space on the corner of East Liberty and Maynard Street, until it moved to Briarwood Mall in the 80s. When Susan Pollay, executive director of the Downtown Development Authority, first moved to Ann Arbor in 1983 See STREET, Page 5A
bowties and baritones
getting ink’d
A closer look at the campus’ oldest student organization
The competition and artistry in the tattoo business
» SEE PAGE 8 WEATHER TOMORROW
nization. This year’s program will begin Thursday. The fundraiser aims to fund various Washtenaw County children’s organizations and programs, including those within the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital. Medical student Devon Rupley, the co-chair of the event, said the fundraiser is a great way for the medical community and students to come together and help children outside the hospital. She added that the effort is one of the hospital’s biggest philanthropic pushes each year. The 2012 event raised slightly more than $60,000. Rupley said the amount raised typically ranges between $60,000 and $65,000. All money raised will go to beneficent organizations and the costs of organizing and running the fundraiser are covered by other funding sources. See SOCIETY, Page 5A
In a sleepy village in northern Michigan, a jury found a 22-yearold named Jamie Lee Peterson guilty of the rape and murder of a 68-year-old widow. However, semen found inside victim Geraldine Montgomery did not match Peterson’s DNA. Police decided that there must have been a second, unknown accomplice. DNA testing led to an arrest Monday of Flint-area resident Jason Ryan, in part to the Innocence Clinic the University Law School and Northwestern University School of Law. Law student A.J. Dixon led the Michigan Innocence Clinic student team on the Peterson case. He said the DNA testing proves that Peterson was not involved. “I can’t see how anyone looking at this case could come to any conclusion other than that Jamie Lee Peterson is anything but innocent and that the sole perSee CLINIC, Page 5A
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INDEX
Vol. CXXIV, No. 40 ©2013 The Michigan Daily michigandaily.com
NEWS......................... 2A OPINION.....................4A S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7A
SUDOKU.....................2A CL ASSIFIEDS...............6A B-SIDE ....................1B