LOCAL/STATE
The Michigan Daily - Thursday, October 23, 2003 - 3A
c RIIME
T-shirt vendor tells
competitor to stay
off his team's turf
Department of Public Safety
reports state that a T-shirt vendor
threatened to physically abuse a
competing T-shirt vendor if he saw
him selling T-shirts at the football
game on Saturday.
The verbal assault took place on
the 500 block of State Street Mon-
day at 4:22 p.m.
Hospital patient
assaults visitor,
case pending
A person was sexually assaulted
at the Mott Children's Hospital
Monday while visiting a patient
there.
DPS said this incident, which
occurred in the month of September
and reported this week, is currently
under investigation and being han-
dled by the detective bureau.
Wallet disappears,
reappears shy of
$50 dollars
DPS said that an unidentified per-
son stole a wallet from room 1324J
of the Dental School on Monday.
The wallet had been left unat-
tended on the desk at noon. It was
recovered in a bathroom, missing
the $50.
Subjects asking
for funds on Diag
get escorted away
A caller reported to DPS that
there was a group of people solicit-
ing funds illegally on the Diag.
DPS arrived, explained the Univer-
sity's ordinance prohibiting soliciting
without the proper permit, and escort-
ed them off of the premises.
Bystander gets an
eyeful from locker
room exposeur
A white male exposed himself to
an unsuspecting person in the locker
room at the Don Canham Natatori-
um and later followed the person
home on Tuesday.
The male is described as being in
his 40s, had black hair. He was
wearing a blue shirt, white pants and
a leather jacket.
The perpetrator left the scene
before DPS arrived. The DPS detec-
tive bureau is handling the case, and
there are currently no named sus-
pects.
Parking structure
collision involves
man's head, pipe
While walking in the parking
structure on Catherine Street Tues-
day, a subject hit his head on a pipe
that was hanging overhead, and
obtained a minor injury. A DPS
report was filed.
EMU requests dog
to sniff out track
of stolen vehicle
The Eastern Michigan University
police department required a track-
ing dog for sniffing out a stolen car.
The University of MichiganDPS
K9 unit responded to provide assis-
tance by donating Brutus, one of its
trained sniffing dogs, on Tuesday at
5:21 p.m.
Vendors searching
for buyers only find
trespass citations
Two subjects were reported sell-
ing items in Wolverine Towers on
2001 State St. illegally at 5:55 p.m.,
Tuesday. A DPS unit made contact
with them, and gave them trespass-
ing violations. The subjects were
quickly escorted from the building.
Chemical splash
at loading dock
requires cleanup
DPS reported that there was a one-
liter spill of a hazardous chemical at
loading dock five at the hospital.
The incident was cleaned up, and
Occupation Safety Environmental
Hazards Department was contacted
to secure the area.
Preparing for the SAT's
Aid offered through Tech
Transfer helpful to inventors
By Michael Kant
Daily Staff Reporter
Professors and graduate research students who want to
bring their inventions to the business market should call on
UM Tech Transfer, a University office that makes University-
developed technology available for use in society.
According to their annual report, which was released earlier
this month, Tech Transfer granted more licenses to businesses
in the 2002-03 fiscal year, increasing the University's revenues
from licensing agreements. The report also stated that more
inventions were disclosed at the University that year. The
increase in inventions, licenses and revenues continues an
upward trend since 1999.
Kenneth Nisbet, the University's Tech Transfer's executive
director, said one reason for the increase was the quality of
research within the University and the support of both local
and worldwide business partners. "Michigan has one of the
largest and most successful research budgets," Nisbet said. The
staff of Tech Transfer and the commitment from the
researchers themselves also contributed to the impressive
increase, he added.
The reported stated invention disclosures rose by 8.4 per-
cent or from 237 to 257 over the year, the majority of these
inventions coming from engineering research. The number of
new license agreements was 76, an increase of 23 percent
from last year, while revenue from license agreements
increased by 60 percent, bringing in $9.1 million in total prof-
its to the University.
Established corporations have the most business partner-
ships with the University, but Tech Transfer also has many
partnerships with local startup companies. GoKnow Inc., an
educational software company based in the Ann Arbor area,
was assisted by Tech Transfer.
"University of Michigan's Tech Transfer Office has been a
dream to interact with. They have supported GoKnow a hun-
dred percent" the chief executive officer of the company, and
Engineering Prof. Elliot Soloway, said.
Soloway added that Tech Transfer helped GoKnow license
its software products designed for handheld computers and
developed by University research. "The Tech Transfer Office
threw up no roadblocks, chopped through the legalese, and
made the financial arrangements palatable for a start-up com-
pany," Soloway said.
Medical School Prof. Michael Long also benefited from
Tech Transfer's help. He started Velcura Therapeutics in 2002,
a company that specializes in curing bone injuries by stimulat-
ing new bone formation. "The tech transfer was important first
in accessing the technology, helping to get it patented and pro-
viding help in getting the company started."
Originally formed in 1983, the tech transfer office helps
transfer University inventions and research to the marketplace
by licensing technology to new startup companies and estab-
lished businesses. In 1996, the University invested more
resources into the office, making technology transfer as one of
the core missions of the University. By doing this, the Univer-
sity emphasized the importance of bringing University tech-
nology to the benefit for society, Nisbet said.
Graduate students also benefit from Tech Transfer by
obtaining licenses for their research."Graduate students doing
research jobs can get involved with Tech Transfer," Nisbet
said. Many graduate students and even some undergraduate
students can become involved in University research projects.
"When these student researchers are employed by the Uni-
versity and participate in an invention, they and their fellow
researchers can share in some of the revenues created from a
license agreement with an outside company,"he added. Anoth-
er portion of the revenue is reinvested in the University for
additional research and educational opportunities. Graduate
students studying business have also worked for Tech Transfer
through a summer internship called TechStart. "Students can
get a great educational experience by performing hands-on
work with a technology project, and they can also provide
valuable business assistance for our projects," Nisbet said.
LAURA SHLECTER /Daily
Trevor, an eight-year-old Ann Arbor resident, reads with University students at
the Edward Ginsberg Center for Community Service and Learning yesterday.
MSA targets act preventing students from voting
By Kristin Ostby
Daily Staff Reporter
Hoping to motivate more students to vote in the upcoming local
elections, the Michigan Student Assembly passed a resolution Tues-
day night vowing to make voting easier for college students.
Current law requires the town on a driver's license to match that of
the voting district, making voting in Ann Arbor difficult for the many
students who live away from home. MSA plans to support efforts in
the Michigan Legislature to pass an amendment to Public Act 118,
the act that enforces this requirement, in order to make an exception
for college students.
Public Act 118 infringes upon the right of college students to vote,
said Rachel Fisher, MSA External Relations Committee vice chair.
"Some students (are) turned away at the polls because they are
made to show their drivers license and it does not match up for one
reason or another, but the biggest problem is that students won't even
register because of concerns regarding this," Fisher said.
State Rep. Andy Meisner (D-Ferndale) is sponsoring the amend-
ment to Public Act 118.
"I don't think that students should be denied the right to vote at
school. The original Public Act 118 was politically inspired to
exclude students from the political process and I think that's wrong
and that it has a negative impact on students and I'm hoping to
reverse it," Meisner said.
Nathan Triplett, youth organizer for the Michigan Democratic
Party and a student at Michigan State University, is assisting Meisner
in writing the bill.
"Essentially what the proposed (bill) would do is create an
exception for college students from the requirements from Public
Act 118 that your drivers license address match your voter registra-
tion card. It will allow them to register at their campus address
without any sort of barriers between them and the ballot box,"
Triplett said.
"I expect it to be a pretty common-sense measure and I expect it
to get a fair amount of support (in legislature)," Meisner said.
Although a Democrat is sponsoring the amendment, "MSA is
working on (supporting) it as a non-partisan issue that affects all col-
lege students equally," Fisher said.
Triplett is also working with the ERC and Voice Your Vote Com-
mittees of MSA and with University College Democrats in order to
mobilize the student population.
When the amendment is proposed, "We're going to get students
involved in this process that includes coming to Lansing to lobby
before legislature, Triplett said.
"We're hoping to have college students from all over the state to
gather in a demonstration to show them that we're very passionate in
our right to vote and show them how important it is for them to
change this problematic act," Fisher said.
Fisher said that MSA is also going to hold teach-ins at resi-
dent halls in November to educate students about the upcoming
City Council elections and dispel some of the rumors about
Public Act 118.
"Some of the myths are that you have to get a brand new drivers
license if you register in Ann Arbor, but all it is is the sticker (showing
your current address) that goes on the back of your license." Fisher
added that it is also rumored that students may lose their parentally
provided health and car insurance if their registered address differs
from that of their parents. "None of this was true," she said.
The External Relations and Voice Your Vote Committees of MSA
will be working together to head the effort. "We have not yet spoken
to (Granholm) administration officials about our efforts, but we hope
they will be supportive;" Fisher said.
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