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." - ---.------------~----..-- ~ '~-~ ~