Archive for February, 2008
University Prof. loses Czech presidential bid
By Julie Rowe, written on Feb. 15, 2008
The parliament of the Czech Republic finally chose a president — but not Ross School of Business Prof. Jan Svejnar.
Svejnar, widely regarded as the election’s underdog, was unsuccessful in his attempt to unseat incumbent president Vaclav Klaus. To win, a candidate needed 140 votes—Klaus received 141. Svejnar received 111.
Svejnar, a Czech native and U.S. citizen, campaigned for the role in the Czech Republic since October and formally announced his candidacy in December.
The president should have been chosen last week, but after three rounds of voting on Friday and Saturday, neither candidate earned the needed majority.
Despite having support from the majority of the legislature, Klaus, co-founder of the majority Civic Democratic Party, was not the preferred candidate of Czech citizens.
Polls showed 55 percent of Czechs would have voted for Svejnar if public elections were held.
For Facebook addicts, going clean isn’t so easy
By Emily Barton, written on Feb. 11, 2008
While it might be fun to post party pictures and write on friends’ walls now, it’s practically impossible to delete your entire Facebook.com profile, the New York Times reported.
The popular networking site offers no one-step solution to getting rid of profile content. Short of deleting an account line by line, there is no easy way to remove information. There is an option to deactivate, allowing users to hide their profiles until they’re inclined to return. If they do, it’ll be as if they never left.
But Facebook keeps an archived copy of their accounts.
This isn’t the first time Facebook has been scrutinized for privacy policies. The addition of the News Feed and the Mini Feed sparked outrage among users last year before becoming an accepted part of the Facebook routine.
The most recent outrcy was in response to the Facebook Beacon feature, which automatically informed your Facebook friends whenever you made purchases online. Facebook finally allowed it to be optional in response to a MoveOn.org petition.
Grease causes stink at Markley
By Kelly Fraser, written on Feb. 8, 2008
An awful smell has engulfed Mary Markley Residence Hall, annoying residents.
In an e-mail to Markley residents, the hall’s director John Janulis, explained that the smell is coming from the dorm’s grease traps, which needed an emergency cleaning earlier today.
The traps collect grease and other substances that would clog the building’s drains and sewers.
The cleaning is expected to be completed within the next few hours and in the meantime the truck collecting the grease was moved farther away from the building to try and lessen the smell.
In the e-mail, Janulis assured residents that an Occupational Safety and Environmental Health Department inspector confirmed that neither the grease, nor the cleaning pose a health risk.
City Council awards liquor license to local golf course
By Chris Herring, written on Feb. 5, 2008
By Sara Lynne Thelen
Daily Staff Reporter
The Ann Arbor City Council awarded the city’s Leslie Park Golf Course a liquor license last night, denying Kerrytown shop Everyday Cook and Wines a license in the process.
Council members voted 8-2 to award Leslie Park Golf Course the license.
Prior to the vote, Mary Campbell and Ron Sober, owners of Everyday Cook and Wines, urged City Council members to consider how their shop and Kerrytown as a whole could benefit by obtaining a liquor license.
Having a liquor license would have allowed Everyday Cook and Wines to sell liquor and given the shop’s customers the right to consume liquor there.
Ultimately, though, the council members voted to give the license to Leslie Park Golf Course instead, saying it would benefit more people there.
Because the liquor license is cheaper than normal — it only cost $2,000 — both the golf course and the Kerrytown shop were incredibly interested in obtaining it. Seven other shops had applied for the license.
The license will give a boost to Leslie Park Golf Course, which has struggled along Huron Hills Golf Course over the past few years. Together, a 2006 report projected that the courses could lose the city of Ann Arbor $4 million over the next six years.
A busy day at headquarters
By Scott Mills, written on Feb. 5, 2008
I walked over to the Obama volunteer headquarters in Chicago’s financial district at about 11am today – Super Tuesday – and was met with a room full of about 200 volunteers gathering signs, coordinating events around the city and making phone calls to thousands of potential Obama supporters. A few hours ago, the number of volunteers surpassed the number of phone lines – so now there are people sitting on the floor using their cellphones to call voters.
Chris Benedik, a sophomore at the University of Chicago, has been working here for months, and said he’s never seen this many people in the office. There’s definitely a palpable energy in the air.
As soon as I walked in the door and announced that I was from the Michigan Daily, about five people swarmed around me saying “Ann Arbor! Yeah Ann Arbor!” They were part of an organization called Michiganders for Obama, and they arrived here in Chicago at about 8am today.
Derrick Jackson, the statewide deputy coordinator of the organization, said their bus left Detroit at about 1:30am, stopping in Ann Arbor, Battle Creek and Benton Harbor on the way West.
Jackson, who is from Ypsilanti and went to the University of Michigan for grad school, said Michiganders for Obama worked on convincing voters in Michigan to vote uncommitted in the January 15 primary. But today’s primary here in Illinois offers him an opportunity to work on a real race, he said.
After spending the morning holding signs and talking to people getting off commuter trains at Union Station, Jackson planned to go out to the West side of the city to talk to voters near polling locations there, he said. It had already been a long day for Jackson, but the polls don’t close until 7pm.
Bills to ease license application passed in Senate Committee
By Emily Barton, written on Feb. 1, 2008
The state Senate Transportation Committee approved two bills last night that will allow legal immigrants living in the state temporarily to obtain a driver’s license.
If passed in Congress, the bills will amend a change in law made by the Michigan Secretary of State last month. The change required anyone applying for a driver’s license to be a permanent resident of the state in an attempt to crack down on illegal immigration. But it also barred legal immigrants living here temporarily for work or school from applying for a driver’s license.
The bills will likely go before Congress later this month, and Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land is hopeful they will pass.
“This legislation provides travelers with greater convenience, protects our economy and recognizes the needs of residents who are here legally but are not permanent residents. Most important, it does so without sacrificing the safety of our great state and nation. I encourage the Legislature to pass these measures without delay,” Land said in a press release.