Monday, January 24, 2005
News 3A Do men prefer their
subordinates?
Opinion 4A
D.C. Lee: The need for
intelligent dialogue
FIRSTI BIC TN WIN FOR WOMEN'S BASKEBlil SPORTS/ON DAY
Weather
H1, 28
TOMORROW:
Arts 8A Action film 'Assaults'
the box office and
viewers' tastes
One-hundredfourteen years of editorialfreedom
www.mchaandaziy.com Ann Arbor, Michigan Vol. CXV, No. 65 @2005 The Michigan Daily
Big
House
bidding
begins
'U' starts search/for
architectural firms
to renovate stadium
By Alison Go
and Sharad Mattu
Daily Staff Reporters
Renovations to Michigan Stadium are one step clos-
er to fruition now that the University's athletic depart-
ment has asked eight architectural firms for bids on the
design and completion of these changes.
The proposed renovations, which would dramatically
change the look of the stadium, include adding premium
seats through the addition of luxury boxes and clubseats
atop the stands on both sidelines, while also widening
seats and aisles and improving amenities, such as rest-
rooms and concession stands. The athletic department
estimates that the alterations could cost $170 million.
"The initiative for doing this is first and foremost
to fix the bowl - to bring it up to current standards,"
Athletic Director Bill Martin said. "I want to make
Michigan Stadium so that the gameday experience for
every fan is improved."
The University soliciting bids from the eight architec-
tural firms is one of the first steps in drawing up a final
plan and seeking approval from University President
Mary Sue Coleman and the University Board of Regents.
The athletic department hopes the regents will be able to
look at the plans by the end of this year, said Jason Win-
ters, chief financial officer of the athletic department.
Martin sees the process taking a few years once con-
struction begins.
"After the final football game in November you could
start construction," Martin said. "Then you work up
until the football season, then stop. As soon as football
season ends, you go back to work and finish it for the
next football season.
"The most important thing is that we do this right. So
let's take our time and let's listen to our fans, our alums
and our students. We have to reach out and involve as
many of our supporters as we can in the design and plan-
ning process."
There are several major aspects of the renovations
that are meant to address the "functionally obsolete"
aspects of the stadium, Winters said.
The plans that address these deficiencies were primar-
ily drawn up by HNTB, one of the architectural firms
offered a bid. HNTB, which is based out of Kansas City,
has also been working with the University since 2001 on
construction projects all over the athletic campus.
One major feature of the proposed renovations is
the addition of luxury boxes and club seats installed
along the east and west sidelines. The existing press
box would be torn down and rebuilt, and 5,632 seats
would be added to a new three-story structure.
Another is the addition and restoration of restroom
fixtures and concession stands. This would, among
other things, increase the number of women's rest-
rooms from 299 to 646 and increase the number of
concession stands from 273 to 406.
Finally, the athletic department is also considering
widening seats and aisles and even building additional
concourses.
When constructed, the luxury boxes - which would
See BIG HOUSE, Page 5A
new seats in 79 suites
new ADA and companion seats
new indoor club seats
new outdoor club seats
additional seats
DPS adds two new radar units
A2 buses add 8,000
hours of service
9 Radars will make i
to identify and
tic
By Karl Stampfl
Daily Staff Reporter
Speeders beware: The Department of Public
Safety has added two radar units to measure the
speed of vehicles and catch those disobeying
posted speed limits.
"We have received complaints about traffic
safety concerns around our hospitals and in
some of our housing areas, in particular," said
Capt. Joe Piersante, commander of police ser-
vices.
"(The radar units) provide us with another
tool to help us maintain a safe and secure envi-
ronment for everyone on our campus," DPS
Director William Bess said.
Soccer team
hes local
chlidrern
By Rachel Kruer
Daily Staff Reporter
t easier/or officers
ket speeding cars
Piersante said that many people who use the
roads on North Campus to avoid busier streets
on Central Campus do not comply with posted
speed limits or properly yield to pedestrians.
He said that one of the functions of the radar
will be to address these safety concerns.
Previously, officers relied on educated guesses
to pull people over for speeding, DPS spokes-
woman Diane Brown said. Patrol cars kept pace
with potential offenders to gauge their speeds.
However, it is difficult for officers to submit such
imprecise measurements in a court of law.
"Now with the radar units we'll have an
objective measurement tool that courts find
significantly dependable," Brown said. "The
results of the measurements are usually strong-
ly upheld in courts of law if they're adminis-
tered by certified operators."
Ten DPS officers are already trained to use
the radar units; the rest will be trained this
year, Brown said.
A $5,000 grant from the Michigan Office
of Highway Safety Planning paid for the units.
Certified radar unit trainers from other police
agencies helped train the officers at no cost to
DPS.
No officer will be dedicated to full-time
radar enforcement, Brown said.
Some radar units in other police fleets are
handheld, but DPS's units are mounted on the
dashboard, Brown said.
Possible penalties for speeding include civil
infractions, fines, court costs ranging from
$120 to $240 and up to four points against an
offender's driver's license.
Recent additions to DPS's crime-fighting
arsenal also include two motorcycles in 2004
and a canine program in 2002.
By Leslie Rott
Daily Staff Reporter
Following the success of the first
step of the M-Ride program - to pro-
vide free rides on city buses to stu-
dents, faculty and staff with valid
Mcards - the University and the Ann
Arbor Transportation Authority are
now expanding the program to encour-
age students, faculty and staff to take
advantage of public transportation.
Beginning yesterday, the AATA
added 8,000 hours of annual bus servic-
es. Fourteen routes have been modified,
and one new route has been created in
order to improve the frequency of trips
and service on and around campus.
The plan was designed not only to
improve service to on-campus locations,
but also to allow people on campus to
have greater access to off-campus ven-
ues, such as grocery stores, malls and
restaurants, said Mary Stasiak, manager
of community relations for AATA.
"(This) allows for people to live
pretty much anywhere they want and
have frequent service," Stasiak said.
Many students said they welcome
the changes because it will make their
lives easier.
"As a student who depends on the
AATA to get around, extended hours
really will improve my quality of life,"
said LSA junior Sarah Armstrong, who
lives off campus.
AATA had the help of University stu-
dents in deciding what routes to expand
or modify. There were four forums, in
which AATA representatives and Univer-
sity transit officials accepted student input.
AATA also sent over 400 e-mails to facul-
ty, staff and students, to which it received
an overwhelming response.
"When we surveyed our passengers last
fall, we got almost 100 service improve-
ment suggestions for about 80,000 hours of
service. We had to prioritize those 80,000
hours down to 8,000 that our customers
felt were most important," said Dave Mill-
er, Director of Parking and Transportation
Services at the University.
Most of the route changes impact
weekday peak hour times - 6 to 9 a.m.
JESSICA YURASEK/Daily
Students can ride the AATA buses for
free since the Installation of the MRide
program. The AATA will extend Its
routes by adding 8,000 service hours.
The first week Karen Van Eck's seven-year-old
daughter, Ireland, told her she had a stomach ache right
before soccer practice, she thought nothing of it. Yet,
as the season progressed, Ireland kept faking a stom-
ach ache to evade attending practice. When Ireland
delivered the excuse again for the third week, Van Eck
knew something was wrong.
"At first I took it at face value that I was pushing
her. But then I began to wonder 'Why would a child
attending school regularly without any problems burst
into tears claiming to be sick right before soccer prac-
tice?"' she said.
Van Eck said she eventually took Ireland off the
team because her daughter felt overwhelmed by girls
that had started playing earlier than she and was con-
fused about many of the rules.
As the leader of Brownie troop 338 - the second
vnn tna aronn i the Iwrar Giri Srnts of America
frequent bus times (at night)," he said.
AATA has also added more connec-
tions between their buses and University
buses at several on-campus locations
- including Pierpont Commons, C.C.
Little, the Michigan Union and the Uni-
versity Hospital.
Adding more connections makes
it easier for someone to transfer from
AATA bus service to University ser-
vice, Stasiak said.
"I think the real benefit is that these
are service hours people asked us to
add," she said.
Brian Budzyn, an Engineering soph-
omore who takes the Bursley-Baits
commuter bus, said that more bus
routes and times will help to expedite
his commute.
"More bus routes and times would
make it a lot easier to get to and from
class," he said. "It's not a lot of fun
(to wait) when it's 10 degrees out,"
Budzyn added.
Engineering sophomore Cathy Burk
also agreed with Budzyn.
"A lot of times the bus wait is longer
than 10 minutes, and it would be nice
to have more frequent buses."
- ---.------------~----..--
~ '~-~ ~