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Thursday, November 6, 2014
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‘U’ lacks policy for preserving key records RITA MORRIS/Daily
Alice Walker, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “The Color Purple,” speaks about friendship and writing at Hill Auditorium Wednesday.
Alice Walker highlights empathy in historic lecture After being uninvited last year, author fills Hill Auditorium By CHARLOTTE JENKINS Daily Staff Reporter
Alice Walker, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author, poet and social justice activist, spoke to a packed Hill Auditorium Wednesday night at the 20th
Annual Zora Neale Hurston Lecture. Walker’s most notable piece is her award-winning novel “The Color Purple.” She is also known for her work on social justice and feminist issues. The University Department of Afroamerican and African Studies and the Center for the Education of Women sponsored the annual lecture, which aims to honor Hurston, a noted African American author, by bringing
prominent scholars to campus. Walker opened by acknowledging the controversy surrounding the University’s rescindment of the invitation it had extended to her to speak at the Center for the Education of Women’s 50th Anniversary event last August. Walker was scheduled to speak at the event but was uninvited by the University, allegedly because donors for the event threatened to cancel their funding because
of her views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “As many of you know, it was not ordained that I should be here,” Walker said. “In its own way, I think it was divine justice that I should be here.” Walker said she was thrilled to speak at a lecture named for Hurston, a well-known pioneering African-American author and anthropologist whom Walker said she considers a See WALKER, Page 3A
REGENTS RACE
By CLAIRE BRYAN Daily Staff Reporter
Though Republicans dominated most races on election night, a seat on the University’s Board of Regents was not in the cards. After a long and close race, Democrats Mike Behm and Kathy White, an incumbent, won the two contested seats on the board early Wednesday morning. White led with 1,352,347 votes, followed by Behm, who received 1,263,196 votes. Republican candidate Ronald Weiser held 1,258,361 votes and Republican candidate Rob Steele held 1,254,325 votes. The race changed significantly as votes were counted throughout the course of Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning. As of 2 a.m. Wednesday, Steele led with 596,732 votes, followed by Weiser with 594,196. But after
the heavily Democratic Wayne County votes were counted, the results flipped entirely, putting White and Behm in the lead. White is the current chair of the board and will be serving her third consecutive term as regent. White balances her time between her position as regent, as a professor at Wayne State University Law School, an instructor of law at the United States Military Academy at West Point and a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve. As she continues her time as a regent, White’s priorities lie in creating civil discourse on campus, engaging students and examining the University’s structural problems. “Keeping the University of Michigan affordable enables students from all backgrounds, with different perspectives, to enrich the academic environment through their engagement with each other,” White wrote in an e-mail Wednesday. White said running for office helped get her in touch with issues voters are concerned about. See REGENTS, Page 3A
By LEV FACHER Daily Sports Editor
Of the many grievances voiced against former Athletic Director Dave Brandon before his departure Oct. 31, lack of transparency was at the forefront. Brandon’s consistent response to requests for his public records, however, was in line with University policy. Despite the fact that Michigan state law requires public bodies to “protect public records from loss, unauthorized alteration, mutilation, or destruction,” according to University spokesman Rick Fitzgerald, there is no University policy currently in place to ensure that employees retain communications in accor-
dance with state-level regulations. State law stipulates that public records be kept and disposed of in accordance with a formal schedule, which requires that correspondence be retained for two years after the date of its creation before it can be destroyed. University officials, however, claim that on-campus regulations are separate and exempt from state law. “It’s our policy that it’s up to individual users to determine their own document retention,” Fitzgerald said. “The University doesn’t have a set schedule.” In a March 28, 2014 response to The Michigan Daily, Patricia Sellinger, the University’s Freedom of Information Act coordinator, indicated “there are no responsive records” corresponding to the request submitted for “all e-mails sent to and from Athletic Director Dave Brandon between March 13 and 14, 2014.” A similar request for e-mails See RECORDS, Page 3A
ANN ARBOR
F U T U R E S TA R
Democrats win close race for regents’ seats
Though Republicans led early, White, Behm elected to governing board
Brandon’s e-mails could not be retrieved through repeated FOIA requests
Hieftje to head last meeting as A2 mayor Meeting changed to accommodate midterm election By JACK TURMAN Daily Staff Reporter ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
Brooklyn, Mich. middle school student Kianna Moore poses with junior guard Spike Albrecht after an open practice Wednesday.
ELECTION 2014
Strong showing for G.O.P. masks split ticket trend Despite reelecting Snyder, voters pick Peters for U.S. Senate By BEN ATLAS Daily Staff Reporter
On a night when Republicans took control of the U.S. Senate, made gains in governors’ races
nationwide and won nearly every statewide office in Michigan, there was one notable exception: a victory for Rep. Gary Peters (D–Detroit) in the race for Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat. Not only did Peters win, but he also tallied more total votes and won his race by a greater margin than Republican incumbents Gov. Rick Snyder,
Attorney General Bill Schuette and Secretary of State Ruth Johnson. Both common political theories as well as circumstances unique to this election cycle might explain this split-ticket outcome. Public Policy Prof. Elisabeth Gerber said midterm elections tend to swing See SPLIT-TICKET, Page 3A
Due to Tuesday’s midterm elections, the Ann Arbor City Council meeting will be held Thursday evening. The Council will discuss the resolution regarding the approval of a purchase order to the Environmental Systems Research Institute and a resolution directing City Administrator Steve Powers to negotiate with Dahlmann Corporation. This will also be the last City Council meeting run by outgoing Ann Arbor Mayor John Hieftje, who will be succeeded by current councilmember and Mayor elect Christopher Taylor. Resolution to approve a purchase order to ESRI The Council will discuss See CITY COUNCIL, Page 3A
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INDEX
Vol. CXXIV, No. 23 ©2014 The Michigan Daily michigandaily.com
NEWS......................... 2A SUDOKU.....................2A OPINION.....................4A
SPORTS.......................6A CL ASSIFIEDS...............6A B-SIDE ....................1B