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SPORTS
WINTER COMMENCEMENT
Head of NASA to address graduates Charles F. Bolden, former astronaut, worked with ‘U’ to promote sciences By CLAIRE BRYAN Daily Staff Reporter
This year’s Winter Commencement speaker is a man who names both fictional astronaut Buck Rogers and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as inspirations. NASA Administrator Charles F. Bolden, Jr. will be the commencement’s honorary guest speaker, the University announced early Monday. The commencement ceremony will take place at 2 p.m. on Sun., Dec. 14 at the Crisler Center. Under Bolden’s leadership, NASA has launched a spacecraft to Jupiter, landed a Mars rover and enhanced Earthobserving satellites. NASA aims to create U.S. vehicles to travel
Frank Clark jailed in Ohio
to the International Space Station by 2017 and launch the James Webb Space Telescope, which has been created to succeed the Hubble Space Telescope, by 2018. President Barack Obama’s tenure has seen a fundamental reorientation of NASA. Bolden increased public-private partnerships during a time of major budget cuts to NASA. Bolden is the first Black administrator of NASA. Bolden is a veteran of four spaceflights, two of which he commanded. In 1990, he commanded Space Shuttle Discovery and its deployment of the Hubble Space Telescope, and in 1994 he commanded the first joint U.S. and Russian Space Shuttle mission. Born in Columbia, S.C., Bolden was captivated by the adventures of fiction hero Buck Rogers as a child. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1968 with a bachelor’s degree in electrical science. After graduSee NASA, Page 3A
EUGENE STAYT/Daily
Kineseology Prof. Rodney Fort speaks at The Values of College Sport Conference Saturday in Hatcher.
Conference looks at role of ‘U’ athletics Theme Semester event highlights issues needing to be addressed By MARGO LEVY Daily Staff Reporter
Students and faculty gathered on the main floor of the Hatcher Graduate Library on Friday and Saturday to discuss a topic that has stirred debate across campus this week: intercollegiate sports. The two-day conference — co-hosted by the LSA Theme
L E A R N O N T H E F LY
Semester, the School of Kineseology, the University’s Office of Research, Rackham Graduate School and several departments within LSA — featured keynote addresses alongside specialized panels covering a variety of disciplines, including economics, well-being, education and ethics. The conference came as the University faces key decisions about the future of its athletics programs and closely follows University President Mark Schlissel’s candid statements regarding the state of athletics with the Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs last Monday
“We admit students who aren’t as qualified, and it’s probably the kids that we admit that can’t honestly, even with lots of help, do the amount of work and the quality of work it takes to make progression from year to year,” Schlissel said Monday. He later qualified his remarks in an interview with The Michigan Daily, clarifying that students are admitted to the University based on their expected ability to succeed in its academic environment. Event organizers said the opportune scheduling was coincidental, as planning for the conSee CONFERENCE, Page 3A
Defensive end arrested on domestic violence, assault charges By MAX COHEN Daily Sports Editor
New details were reported Sunday night regarding the weekend arrest of Frank Clark, a senior defensive end on the Michigan football team. Clark was booked into the Erie County (Ohio) jail early Sunday morning after being charged with a domestic violence offense. An additional charge of assault was added later Sunday, according to the Sandusky Register, which obtained the police report detailing the circumstances of Clark’s arrest. Clark is slated to appear in Sandusky Municipal Court on Monday at 9 a.m. According to the report, the incident took place while he and his live-in girlfriend were staying at Maui Sands Hotel See CLARK, Page 3A
ANN ARBOR
After 14 years, Hieftje leaves lasting legacy on city policies Incoming mayor Taylor aims to continue Hieftje’s approach to A 2 By EMMA KERR Daily Staff Reporter ROBERT DUNNE/Daily
Engineering junior Richard Nakkula and freshman Pascal Strumfels juggle at Miscellania’s Crash Course Convention, a workshop for students interested in new skills, Sunday at Palmer Commons.
CAMPUS LIFE
Data Dive gives students real-life experience in interpreting data Event encourages skill-sharing among participants By EMMA KINERY Daily Staff Reporter
Students and Ann Arbor residents banded together with local nonprofit organizations this weekend to discover ways to
better interpret and use institutional data in A2 Data Dive, an annual community event. Four nonprofits — SafeHouse Center, Summer in the City, Ozone House and 826michigan — contributed institutional data for the programmers to analyze. The data provided was anonymous on an individual level. Data Dive featured 102 volunteer programmers, consisting mostly of graduate students in the School
of Information. Jackie Cohen, A2 Data Dive coordinator, said the emphasis for the event this year — the third time it has been held in Ann Arbor— was to encourage skill-sharing between participants. The event was founded by Nikki Roda and Claire Barco, both 2013 graduates of the master’s program in the School of Information. They were See DATA, Page 3A
Today will mark the first Ann Arbor City Council meeting in 14 years to be presided over by someone other than John Hieftje. As the final term of Ann Arbor’s longeststanding mayor came to an end last week, a new chapter begins for the city with the succession of Mayor Christopher Taylor. Taylor, who ran on a platform of continuing in the direction Hieftje established during his time as mayor, garnered 84 percent of the vote in the general election earlier this month. His ties to Hieftje have been strong over the years, and during the past three years, Hieftje and Taylor were in agreement on approximately 84 percent of votes taken since 2012. It is likely Taylor’s stances on key issues such as Universitycity relations, development and infrastructure will echo those of Hieftje. Some of the more controversial
topics from 2014 include Hieftje and Taylor’s support of SPARK, a city-funded organization that aims to increase economic development in Ann Arbor; their decision to support the building plan of 413 E. Huron, a controversial development decision made this year; and their decision to vote against amending the city’s crosswalk ordinance, another key issue that will return to the Council under the sponsorship of Councilmember Steve Kunselman (D– Ward 3). Despite the shift in leadership and the addition of three new faces to the Council, Hieftje said he believes Taylor’s transition to the mayoral office will be a smooth one, adding that he is very optimistic about the direction the city is headed in. “I think the city is in very good shape,” Hieftje said. “I wouldn’t want to trade budgets with any other city.” “Our pension funds and our retirement funds have both gotten high grades from our auditors, and the city has very good job growth, which we found out during the recession,” he added. “We had the lowest unemployment in the state so the city appears to me to be in pretty good shape.” Hieftje said though the Uni-
versity and city have had their disagreements, their relationship has continued to improve over the years and city officials have been able to communicate and work well with University officials about issues as they arise. “We don’t like it when the University takes property off of the tax rolls, we don’t like it when they put up a giant electronic billboard outside of the stadium, the city doesn’t allow those to be built in the city limits but the University, of course, is above that,” Hieftje said. “But what people don’t understand is that there are many, many more areas where the city and the University really do cooperate.” When Hieftje ran for mayor in 2000, he was serving in his first term as a councilmember. Relatively new to Council, Hieftje held his seat as mayor for seven terms — longer than any mayor has served in Ann Arbor’s history. He said his decision to continue running for re-election stemmed from his desire to see the initiatives he began through to completion, particularly in light of the 2008 recession. “I turned out to be the longest-serving mayor and I hadn’t planned on that at all, but I think See MAYOR, Page 3A
Athletes respond Ball out WEATHER TOMORROW
Student-athletes speak out on President Schlissel’s controversial comments » PAGE 4
Basketball season is back and it began in winning fashion » INSIDE
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INDEX
Vol. CXXIV, No. 26 ©2014 The Michigan Daily michigandaily.com
NEWS......................... 2A SUDOKU.....................2A OPINION.....................4A
ARTS........................... 5A CL ASSIFIEDS............... 5A S P O R T S M O N DAY. . . . . . . . . .1 B