2014-07-16

Page 1

MichiganDaily.com

Weekly Summer Edition Ann Arbor, MI

ONE-HUNDRED-TWENTY FOUR YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

inside

CAMPUS LIFE

WELCOME TO THE ‘ U ’

Ceremony honors N. Hall before demolition

ART FAIR SPECIAL

Map and info

Need help finding your way around this iconic Ann Arbor event? >> SEE PAGE 7

NEWS

A second city

ROTC members, officers and alumni say goodbye to historic building

Students find their niche and a sense of community in Detroit. >> SEE PAGE 14

OPINION

ALLISON FARRAND/Daily

Open doors From the Daily: The ‘U’ needs to better uphold the Open Meetings Act. >> SEE PAGE 4

ARTS

Hellion The story of struggles in one Texas town delivers with flawed characters >> SEE PAGE 10

SPORTS

Yost after hours The women’s hockey club team struggles to find its place on South Campus >> SEE PAGE 16

INDEX Vol. CXXIV, No. 115 | © 2014 The Michigan Daily michigandaily.com

NEWS .................................... 2 OPINION ...............................4 ART FAIR ...............................7 ARTS ....................................10 CLASSIFIEDS....................... 12 CROSSWORD...................... 12 SPORTS................................ 13

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

LEFT: President Mark Schlissel and Governor Rick Snyder pose for a photo after an informal chat on Schlissel’s first day in office. RIGHT: The University’s new president spins the cube outside the Fleming Administration Building Monday.

ADMINISTRATION

‘U’ sued over violations of Open Meetings Act Detroit Free Press heads push for more transparency in regent’s decisions By SHOHAM GEVA Managing News Editor

In a lawsuit filed in state claims court Friday, The Detroit Free Press sued the University over violations of the Open Meetings Act in connection with meetings of the University’s Board of Regents, alleging that most decisions on University issues are made in private and votes during official meetings are just a formality. The lawsuit relies primarily on a Free Press analysis of regents meetings between January and February of 2014 which found that out of the 116 votes held, the Regents held discussion on only 12 and a no vote by one or more

Regents only occurred eight times. “These numbers establish clearly that the regents do, in fact, routinely discuss the issues they must decide and do routinely make their decisions about the University of Michigan’s governance, all behind closed doors, out of the public’s view, without public accountability, and in violation of the (Open Meetings Act) and its Constitutional obligations,” the lawsuit read. The Open Meetings Act is a 1976 state law dictating the conduct of the meetings of public bodies such as the regents. It mandates that all gatherings between members of those boards, given that they meet certain criteria to qualify as a meeting, must be open to the public with advance notice and have a record kept, among other provisions. The law defines a meeting as any situation where more than a simple majority of members of the board are present and discussion involves decision or discussion

about official business or policy. More generally, the state Constitution requires that all formal meetings of public bodies be open to the public. However, regents often meet informally to discuss issues, separate from the monthly meetings, which are considered formal. These meetings generally include two or three regents as well as University officials. The lawsuit also cited two regents meetings held January 2013 and January 2014 in California and New York, which it said violated the Act because public notice was not provided, minutes were not taken, or the public and members of the press were not allowed to attend. In an interview with the Free Press, Paul Anger, Free Press editor and publisher, said especially given the scope and scale of the University, he’s concerned about the lack of transparency to the public the analysis of meetings See LAWSUIT, Page 3

By MICHAEL SPAETH For the Daily

Friday, members of the University’s Reserve Officers Training Corps held a small ceremony on the front lawn of North Hall to pay tribute to the building they called home for 74 years in advance of its scheduled demolition. The building is being demolished to make room for the new 300,000-square foot Biological Science Building, approved by the University’s Board of Regents in February, which will house the Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and collections from the Anthropology, Natural History, Paleontology and Zoology museums. At the event, current and retired members of the University’s Air Force, Army and Navy ROTC units adapted the traditional Naval decommissioning ceremony, which signifies the end of a Naval ship’s active service, to mark the end of North Hall’s service to the University. Captain Joseph Evans, professor of Naval Science and Commander of the University’s Naval ROTC, said though the building was never commissioned as a ship, it served the same symbolic purpose. “North Hall, much like any naval ship, faithfully served us all and all See ROTC, Page 3


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.