Tuesday September 23, 2003 @2003 The Michigan Daily Ann Arbor, Michigan Vol. CXIII, No. 16 One-hundred-twelve years ofedtorafriedom TODAY: Showers in the morning and partly cloudy by noon with winds up to 17 miles per hour. z 67 LOW, 51 Tomorrow; I- ,. J :' wwwmkhigandailycom Utilities failures rattle Power outage, broken watermain inconveniences businesses and students By Emily Kraack Daily Staff Reporter It was a bad weekend for utility services in Ann Arbor. Kicking off the troubles was a broken water main, which compromised water pressure in residence halls on the Hill and the Life Sciences Institute for most of Sunday. To compound the difficulties, an unrelated power outage hit busi- nesses and student housing yester- day. Power lines downed by stormy weather led to the outage, which started around 11 a.m. yesterday. The downed lines affected two cir- cuits, serving a total of 2,000 cus- tomers, DTE Energy spokeswoman Lorie Kessler said. DTE Energy owns Detroit Edison, the electrical utility company which supplies power to the Ann Arbor area. The University's Towsley Center parts on Forest Avenue and University Hillel on Hill Street were hit. Off- campus housing from north of For- est Court to south of Granger Avenue and east of Ferdon Road to west of State Street experienced outages. Kessler said power was restored to customers throughout the day yesterday and all customers were back online by 4 p.m. Businesses along South Universi- ty Avenue such as the Coffee Bean- ery, Beyond the Wall and TCF Bank closed down due to the outage. Ulrich's Bookstore posted a sign saying it was closed and that Michi- gan Book and Supply would be offering a 5-percent discount for the inconvenience. Store employees said yesterday's power outage was bad for business. One manager said that yesterday was the last day of sorority rush, and shutting down her clothing store for five hours meant losing a critical business day. One store employee said the busi- ness he works for is already strug- gling and closing for the day added of A2 to the store's financial difficulties. Most students said the outage did not affect them very much because they were in class or not at home. Some students reported having trouble withdrawing money from ATMs along South University or being inconvenienced because their favorite stores were closed. While some students struggled with blinking clocks and lack of tel- evision yesterday, others spent Sat- urday and Sunday watching water crews dig holes outside their dorm room windows. The water-main rupture, the cause of which is still under investi- gation, occurred Saturday at 9 a.m. under the east side ramp supports of the new pedestrian bridge over Washtenaw Avenue, said Diane Brown, Facilities and Operations spokeswoman. Brown said she was unsure if water services were lost in buildings on the Hill for the dura- tion of the rupture, but said water was shut off to Hill residence halls and to the Life Sciences Institute early Sunday morning so that a new See UTILITIES, Page 3 BRENDAN O'OONNELLIDaily During the power outage yesterday, UlrIch's closed temporarily. The power outage was not the only utility problem In the last week - a watermain broke on North Campus over the weekend, flooding Palmer Field. I Kerry visits Detroit to promise job growth AATA to bu YMCA, new 'Y' in t e works By Andrew Kaplan Daily Staff Reporter DETROIT - During his 1992 presiden- tial campaign, former President Bill Clin- ton captured the gist of his agenda in a sentence - "It's the economy, stupid." Now, in preview of the 2004 presidential primaries, U.S. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) is trying to win his party's nomination with a similar message. e Addressing ctlon several hundred . of his support- ers - which included Michigan residents, members of the Detroit Economic Club and some high school students - at the DEC yesterday, Kerry made his case for the presidency by proposing his own roadmap to relieve the nation's economic malaise. Focusing his speech on reviving manu- facturing jobs across the nation and in Michigan - which has a higher unemploy- ment rate than nearly any other state - Kerry said tax breaks, investing in new technologies, encouraging firms to produce domestically and decreasing health care costs will help restore private production. "While some see Detroit and Michigan as relics of America's economic past, I believe that you are on the frontlines of America's economic future," he said. " Manufacturing is at the heart of my economic plan because it is at the heart of the hopes and troubles and realities of the 21st century American econo- my we have entered." Kerry, who is now serving his fourth term as senator, touts a diverse professional back- ground in politics and law. Prior to his elec- tion to the Senate in 1984, he served as a Massachusetts prosecutor and then lieutenant governor of the state in 1982. Once elected to Congress, he served on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee - a position he claims as having given him the experience neces- sary to construct a sound foreign policy. He has also chaired the Senate Small Business Committee. "No on-the-job training for this candi- date," he said. In addition to offering improvements to the economy, Kerry drew from his foreign relations experience during his speech to evaluate President Bush's post-war man- agement of Iraq. "As important that it is we hold Saddam accountable and enforce U.N. resolutions, it is important to do it right," he said, citing United Nations resolutions commanding Iraq to terminate its nuclear arsenal and comply with weapons inspections. "What we need to do is internationalize this effort to the greatest degree possible." By Mona Rafeeq Daily Staff Reporter Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) addresses the Economic Club of Detroit yesterday. Although Kerry has lambasted Bush's post-war policies, he originally cast his vote in favor of the preemptive strikes. With respect to industry, Kerry cited Michigan's mammoth auto industry as a tar- get of economic growth for his presidency. "I believe Michigan - the nation's industrial heart - will lead the way as it has before," he said, adding that one out of every six manufacturing jobs in Michigan have been cut since 2001. "I know who I want to build that car (of the future) - I want it built in America, in Michigan and by the (United Auto Workers)." From 1987 through 2001, manufacturing has normally generated the third highest output of any industry in the private sector, according to the U.S. Department of Com- See KERRY, Page 5 University students have a new recreational facil- ity to look forward to, while others can anticipate better access to city buses. Last Wednesday, the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority Board of Directors approved a sales agreement to purchase the Ann Arbor YMCA for $3.5 million. The deal still relies on whether City Council will exercise its first right of refusal and matching offer right, which expire in 20 days. If the YMCA can also work out the details of the current management contract and clearing the building of its tenants, the purchase will take effect. Earthwork - a process in which officials test soil for contamination - began Sept. 12 on a new Ann Arbor YMCA facility, which will move frther away from Central Campus. The 'Y' is slated to be built on Washington, Third and Huron streets and is expected to open in the spring of 2005. According to the website, "the new YMCA will occupy a 30,000 square feet footprint, elevated off the ground, with parking at street level, under the building." Occupying about 82,000 square feet, the new building will also offer nearby parking. LSA senior Diana._Ganz, who works at the Ann Arbor YMCA, spoke enthusiastically about using the YMCA. "I hate the CCRB and I'm tired of the other facil- ities that the University offers. Here, it's not as busy "I hate the CCRB and I'm tired of the other faciities that the University offers. Here it's not as busy or crowded' - Diana Ganz LSA senior employed by the YMCA or crowded," Ganz said. She added that with the renovations being made at the University facilities, many students have been becoming members at the 'Y' on South Fifth Street. Ganz also said that the upcoming YMCA will have a larger pool and better studio fitness center acoustics. All programs that are currently offered will con- tinue at the new 'Y', with the exception of long- term housing accommodations. The YMCA will continue to run its recreational and hotel facilities in the interim before the new Ann Arbor 'Y' is completed. Responding to concerns about the loss of hous- ing, AATA plans to offer low-to-moderate income housing above its expanded transit center, which will be located where the current YMCA building and Blake Transit Center are. "This new transit center would enable us to move See YMCA, Page 3 094 Million dollar research funding Increase firom 2002 800 14.3% More funding 700 Largest'increase since 1987 600 0 0500- '400 (0 300 0 200 100 Q 99 '00 '01 '02 '03 'U' sees largest increase in research funding since '87 Last sunny days slip away By Aymar Jean Daily Staff Reporter Tuition does not pay for everything, though some students would like to believe otherwise. As a research institution, most of the Universi- ty's funding comes from outside sponsors. Over the past year, research funding and expenditures increased 14.3 percent to $749 million, the largest increase since 1987. Funding for the life sciences, financed prima- rily through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, increased by $47 million for the 2003 fiscal year, accounting for about 50 percent of the total increase in federal spending. "The two agencies that have the largest increases in federal allocation have been the DHHS and National Science Foundation. We get a fair amount of money from the Department of Defense, but overall, it hasn't been growing as much," said Lee Katterman, an assistant at the Office of the Vice President for Research. The largest proportional increase in spending did not come from DHHS, which funds clinical, biological and genetic studies, but from the state of Michigan. The state's funding to the Universi- ty more than tripled, while funding from trade and professional organizations doubled. The University measures its research in terms See RESEARCH, Page 5 Papers start up journals for gen. Y readers By Maria Sprow Daily StafReporter Allison Groenendyk has something to admit, and when she says it, she sounds almost embarrassed. "I normally don't read newspapers," she says. "I read them when I lived at home before I came to college, but now I don't read anything besides The (Michigan) Daily." Sittine down for a quick dinner in the her news off the Internet, or from what- ever free publications she happens to pass by on her way to class. "I'm really out of touch with current events when I'm at college," she said, adding that, when it comes to newspa- pers, "If I see it, then I pick it up so I have something to do between classes." Groenendyk is not alone. Although many University students have become masters of multitasking - talking on cell ohones while walking to class. per has been mostly left behind. For many newspaper publishers, Groenendyk is not the exception - she is the rule, and it's a rule that has led several of the biggest national newspa- per publishers to come up with new ways of attracting college-age students and young adult commuters to their audience. Among the most popular of those new methods may be the free, com- muter-oriented daily tabloid that has "Express" just last month. And last week, Tribune Publishing Co. - which publishes Newsday and The Los Angeles Times, among other publications - announced that after a two-year hiatus, New York 'City can once again be added to the list of cities. The company plans to debut the free tabloid "amNewYork" later this year. The publications are designed specifi- cally for young commuters - anywhere from 12 to 30 pages long, they feature 0 1 ___________________________________________________________ -- ~ - - - - I