ONE-HUNDRED-TWENTY-FOUR YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM Thursday, March 20, 2014
Ann Arbor, Michigan
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ENGINEERING
Judiciary invalidates student gov. election ADAM GLANZMAN/Daily
Students occupy the Central Student Government chambers in the Michigan Union Wednesday night to protest the body’s decision to indefinitely postpone voting on a resolution that will call on the University to divest from a number of companies that do business with the Israeli military.
Divest sit-in calls on CSG to pass stalled resolution Administrators meet with SAFE members, CSG leaders late at night By ALICIA ADAMCZYK Daily Staff Reporter
In response to the Central Student Government’s decision Tuesday to indefinitely postpone voting on a
resolution that would call for the University to divest from companies allegedly involved in human rights violations in Palestine, more than 100 University students, alumni and community members came and went throughout the night during an “indefinite” sit-in in CSG chambers Wednesday to demand a vote on the measure. Students Allied for Freedom and Equality, a pro-Palestinian student organization, arranged the sit-in and also
sponsored Tuesday’s protest in favor of divestment from companies including Caterpillar, Inc. and Hewlett-Packard. SAFE contends that the companies’ involvement in Israel makes them culpable in the country’s eviction of Palestinians from East Jerusalem, and do not want their tuition dollars invested in these companies. CSG postponed a vote on passing a divestment resolution by a vote of 21-15, with one abstention.
In addition to demanding CSG vote on the resolution, SAFE initially called on CSG to make all of its meetings open to the public and to allow students unlimited speaking time at meetings. CSG currently allots 30 minutes for community concerns, and students are individually permitted three minutes of speaking time. Three members of SAFE met with Dean of Students Laura See SIT-IN, Page 3A
CSJ ruling states Engineering Council procedures violated Constitution By KRISTEN FEDOR Daily Staff Reporter
Early Wednesday morning, the Central Student Judiciary released an official ruling stating the Engineering Council, the student government for the College of Engineering, violated its own constitution and bylaws by improperly conducting its December election. CSJ ordered the current UMEC Executive Board members to step down and be replaced by interim officers at the authority of the UMEC General Council. Permanent Executive Board members will be decided in the upcoming elections to take place at the same time as the winter Central Student Government elections.
GOVERNMENT
TECHNOLOGY
Dingell, Levin to leave impact after retirement Michigan leaders established vital relationships on Capitol Hill By SAM GRINGLAS Daily News Editor
When Sen. Carl Levin (D– Mich.) and Rep. John Dingell (D–Mich.) step aside from their congressional positions early next year, there may be more to forfeit than personal legislative clout. With almost a century of combined experience on Capitol Hill, Dingell and Levin’s retirements could also signal a period of waning Washington influence for Michigan. With federal research dollars and other policy initiatives on the line, their retirements have an equally significant effect on the University. Aaron Kall, director of the University’s debate team and expert on election politics, said the departures would have a lasting impact.
“Any time you have such longserving members of Congress retire, it’s inevitable there would be some decline in influence,” he said. However, clout is difficult to measure, as connections with political leaders are difficult to replace and dependent on personal relationships. An ear at the White House or connection to committee chairs or members of the leadership carries weight and provides additional entry points to trumpet the state’s priorities. Levin has also been a fixture of the Sunday morning political talk show circuit — representing the state on millions of screens across the country. “Those things are invaluable,” Kall said. “Phone calls, communication could lag a little bit if those kind of connections are lost with these retirements.” Cynthia Wilbanks, the University’s vice president for government relations, said she is confident that Levin and Dingell’s successors will champion the state’s priorities and it’s public institutions upon entering See RETIREMENT, Page 3A
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Engineering graduate student Kyle Lady, the Eta Kappa Nu representative for UMEC, and Engineering senior Kelsey Hockstad, an officer of Tau Beta Pi, filed the suit against UMEC for alleged undemocratic behavior earlier this month. Engineering graduate student Michael Benson served as counsel for the petitioners. Lady and Benson both said they were pleased with the CSJ decision. “It definitely provides a mechanism to try and improve the student government for engineers,” Lady said. Petitioners found a myriad of irregularities with the UMEC elections, which took place in December. According to Article IV of the UMEC Bylaws, results should have been released to the public by Dec. 9. The Michigan Daily reported on March 10 that they were given to the plantiffs in Janurary; however, they have not yet been released to the public. Additionally, Rackham student Boying Liu received the See JUDICIARY, Page 3A
SafeRide app seeks to increase efficiency New interface will provide alerts, updates for students By KRISTEN FEDOR Daily Staff Reporter VIRGINIA LOZANO/Daily
Hunter Morrison , director of the Northeast Ohio Sustainable Communities Consortium Initiative, speaks at the CLOSUP lecture series at the Ford School of Public Policy Wednesday.
Policy experts look at Ohio town for urban renewal Panel discusses planning for a greener city By MAYA KALMAN For the Daily
Youngstown, Ohio — a town that lost over 60 percent of its population since the 1960s — may be an emerging model
the v-side
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of urban planning, panelists at a Ford School of Public Policy discussion Wednesday said. The optimistic outlook on Youngstown has strong implications for the futures of Detroit and other transitioning cities throughout the country. The Ford School’s Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy hosted a panel discussion titled “Lessons from
Youngstown: Planning for a Smaller, Greener City” with about 40 community members Wednesday afternoon. The panel featured Ian Beniston, Hunter Morrison and John Russo, all urban planning professionals involved in the Youngstown Project. Urban Planning Profs. Margaret Dewar and June Manning Thomas moderated See URBAN POLICY, Page 3A
With the help of a new application, student SafeRide users now have the option of ordering a ride directly from their phone or computer. The app, called Campus SafeRide, alerts users when rides are en route and arrive at a pickup stop. It launched this past weekend. Engineering seniors Andrew McGrath and Summit Shrestha, both Computer Science majors, created the app as a continuation of a class project they worked on together. McGrath was a SafeRide driver for more than a year and said he noticed certain inefficiencies with the program — faults he wanted to fix with the creation of the app. When presented with a class assignment that provided See SAFERIDE, Page 3A
Arts looks into the upcoming Vagina Monologues & MUSKET show.
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Vol. CXXIV, No. 86 ©2014 The Michigan Daily michigandaily.com
NEWS......................... 2A SUDOKU.....................2A OPINION.....................4A
SPORTS.......................6A CL ASSIFIEDS...............6A T H E B -S I D E . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 B