Posts by Emily Barton
Michigan Dems scrap primary plan
By Emily Barton, written on Apr. 4, 2008
Michigan will not be holding another Democratic primary or caucus.
The Michigan Democratic Party released a statement today saying “it is not practical” to hold a new election.
“We will continue to work with the Working Group, the DNC and the candidates to resolve this matter in a manner which is respectful of the views of Democrats in Michigan, and which is fair to those who voted in the January 15 Democratic primary,” the statement said.
Michigan was stripped of its delegates following the decision to move its primary before Feb. 5. A committee of Michigan Democrats — Sen. Carl Levin, Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, Democratic National Committee member Debbie Dingell and United Auto Workers President Ron Gettlefinger — has been pushing for a do-over primary, which would have been funded through private donors. The proposed primary needed to be approved by the Michigan Legislature, Gov. Jennifer Granholm, the MDP, the DNC and both presidential campaigns.
The DNC and the committe released a joint statement today, saying they would still be working to seat the delegates.
“While there may be differences of opinion in how we get there, we will continue to work together to ensure that a Michigan delegation is seated and that the logistics are in place for a Michigan delegation in Denver,” the statement said.
Rep. Bart Stupak (D–Mich.) wrote a letter this week to Howard Dean, chair of the DNC, proposing a plan to seat Michigan’s delegates partially based on the Jan. 15 primary results and partially based on the popular vote of the rest of the primaries.
Other potential plans to seat Michigan’s delegates include splitting the delegates evenly between Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama or a mail-in caucus.
Judge dismisses voting requirement
By Emily Barton, written on Mar. 26, 2008
A judge dismissed a portion of a primary election law this afternoon that gave the Republican and Democratic parties access to voter information and forbid any other organization from accessing lists of primary voters and their party affiliation.
The law was passed in August 2007.
The complaint was filed in January, and lists the Libertarian Party, the Green Party of Michigan, the Reform Party of Michigan and the Metro Times and Winning Strategies, a political consulting firm, as plaintiffs. They were represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan.
Judge Nancy Edmunds issued an opinion claiming the secrecy requirement violated the rights of third parties to have equal access.
“The State is not required to provide the party preference information to any party,” she said in the statement. “When it chooses to do so, however, it may not provide the information only to the major political parties.”
Michigan Dems closer to primary agreement
By Emily Barton, written on Mar. 14, 2008
Michigan will likely hold a new presidential primary election in June, the Associated Press reported.
After Michigan moved violated party rules and moved its primary before Feb. 5, the Democratic National Committee stripped the state of its delegates, rendering the Jan. 15 election meaningless. The candidates were prohibited from campaigning in the state, and all of the top contenders removed their names from the ballot, with the exception of Sen. Hillary Clinton.
Four Michigan Democrats — Sen. Carl Levin, Democratic National Committee member Debbie Dingell, Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick and United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger — are negotiating with the campaigns of Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama today to draft a plan to seat Michigan’s delegates. If they do decide on a primary, it will probably be held on June 3.
Granholm has said the state won’t pay for a new election, so plans must be approved quickly to determine how to use private fundraising. Earlier this week, Democratic officials estimated that a replacement election would cost between $8 and $10 million.
Any plan must be approved by both campaigns, the DNC, and Gov. Jennifer Granholm. DNC rules state the primary must be held before June 10.
Possible caucus unlikely to bring economic boost
By Emily Barton, written on Mar. 13, 2008
Now that the Democrats are turning their heads toward Pennsylvania, the state will experience an onslaught of campaign volunteers, reporters and the money they’re spending, the Pennsylvania Inquirer reported.
Would a new caucus or primary bring Michigan the same kind of short but much-needed economic boost?
At first glance it seemed likely — with the delegate count so close, Michigan might finally receive the attention it was looking for in the first place when it moved its primary before Feb. 5.
But the experts disagree.
Rich Robinson, director of the Michigan Campaign Finance Network, estimated the Democrats would spend about $1 million per week campaigning in the state if a new democratic caucus or primary were held, with most of that money going to televised ads.
Compare that with the $ 2 million spent each week during the 2006 gubernatorial election and it’s only a drop in the bucket of campaign spending, Robinson said. He didn’t think any amount of money spent here would change the race.
“Regardless of what they spend, they won’t move the needle that much in terms of delegates unless someone gets a wide advantage elsewhere,” he said. “This is all going to be sorted out by superdelegates.”
The Michigan Democratic Party is still negotiating with the DNC and both Sen. Hillary Clinton’s and Sen. Barack Obama’s campaigns about whether or not to hold another democratic caucus or primary election.
Gov. Jennifer Granholm has said she will not use state funds for a new election, so it’ll be up to the MDP to find the money.
MDP spokeswoman Liz Kerr said a full-fledged caucus would cost somewhere between $8 million and $10 million. She said the party would raise the money solely through fundraising, but how party members will go about this remains a mystery.
Political Science Prof. Mike Traugott said the only economic benefits will go to the local television stations.
An article in TV Week said the Clinton campaign spent $4.6 million total on ads in Ohio and Texas. The Obama campaign spent $8 million.
Traugott said he didn’t think Michigan would draw enough campaign activity in the same way Iowa and New Hampshire did.
What it’ll really come down to is timing, he said.
“I think that there would be more attention devoted to this if it came before Puerto Rico,” he said. “When we get to the end we’ll get a sense of who’s ahead and who’s behind, and it’s unlikely that it’ll affect the outcome of the race. But if it’s before, it’ll have some psychological impact on the race.”
Public Policy Prof. John Chamberlain said there might be some last effort fundraising in the state, but not enough to bolster the economy in any way.
“It’s not going to be a feeding frenzy like there was in Iowa,” he said.
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.
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.
Cost of pre-paid tuition to rise
By Emily Barton, written on Jan. 14, 2008
By Jillian Berman
High school freshmen and middle school students better start saving up their allowance, because they’ll be paying more for pre-paid college tuition than their upperclassmen counter parts, the Detroit Free Press reported.
On February 1 the cost of a semester of college tuition bought through the Michigan Education
Trust will be $ 5,175, 3.7% higher than the current cost of $ 4,988.
The MET helps to make sure students aren’t plagued by rising tuition costs by offering participants the chance to fix the rate of a semester of tuition. MET contracts are valid at the University and other in-state public institutions as well as Michigan private colleges and out-of-state universities. The contracts can also be deferred to other eligible family members.
The success rate of MET — the first program of its kind in the United States – is relatively high. Since the program began in 1988, 90% of high school graduates with MET contracts have gone on to colleges and universities. Seminars open to the public are scheduled all around Detroit this month to help explain MET as well as educate those interested in learning about saving for college.
‘U’ rises in value rankings
By Emily Barton, written on Jan. 7, 2008
Despite a rise in tuition costs this year, the University moved up on Kiplinger’s list of the 100 Best Values in Public Education, the Detroit Free Press reported.
In-state tuition placed 16th on the list, three places higher than last year’s 19th place. Out-of-state tuition placed 14th. Michigan State University also rose from 85th to 61st in in-state tuition and placed 81st for out-of-state tuition.
The factors used to determine the top 100 schools included enrollment, test scores, admission rates, student to faculty ratio, financial aid and average debt at graduation.
First on the list is the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, followed by the University of Florida. The entire list can be seen here.
With diversity in mind, ‘U’ reveals outreach program
By Emily Barton, written on Oct. 5, 2007
The University announced plans yesterday to establish an educational outreach program that will connect with K-12 school districts in Detroit and Southfield, Mich.
The announcement was made at a summit of University officials held in the Michigan League, the Ann Arbor News reported. The program will involve students as well as faculty and staff in its efforts to promote partnerships and encourage potential University students.
The program was first conceived as a part of the Diversity Blueprints task force, formed after Proposal 2 passed last November banning all affirmative action programs. The task force released a report in March recommending ways the University can maintain diversity on campus despite the ban.
Vice President and General Counsel leaving for Oberlin?
By Emily Barton, written on May. 7, 2007
The University might have to find someone else to help them with its legal woes.
Oberlin College announced Friday that Marvin Krislov, University vice president and general counsel, had been selected by its Board of Trustees as the final candidate in the search for a new Oberlin president.
Krislov successfully defended the University during the 2003 Supreme Court case in which the Supreme Court ruled to uphold affirmative action in the college admissions process — an act he described to The Oberlin Review as his “headline accomplishment.”
The Oberlin Board of Trustees unanimously voted to select Krislov, according to a letter written by Oberlin Trustee Robert Lemle that was posted on Oberlin’s website.
The board endorsed Krislov as the finalist in a national search process, said Oberlin spokesman Scott Wargo said.
Krislov will visit Oberlin this week to meet with faculty, staff and students, Wargo said.
He said after Krislov’s visit the Oberlin Board of Trustees will convene and make a final decision about whether to offer him the office.
“Nothing’s finalized yet,” Wargo said. “He is the finalist, but he is still a candidate.”
Krislov first came to the University nine years ago as the University’s vice president and general counsel.
As University general counsel, Krislov advises administrators on legal issues concerning the University.
Krislov also teaches a seminar as an adjunct professor in the Law School as well as two undergraduate political science classes.
Krislov told the Review that he will accept the position if it is offered to him.
University spokeswoman Kelly Cunningham said the University will not comment on Krislov’s potential departure at this time.