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News 3A At Baker College,
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Opinion 4A Imran Syed on the
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Arts 5A Studio 60 sizzles
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5, 2006 FEL HOCKEY WNS IN OVRT NDAY
One-hundred-sixteen years ofeditorialfreedom
www.michkandaiy.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan Vol. CXVII, No. 15
62006 The Michigan Daily
"(U of M College Republicans) have this naive outlook on the world that we can
work together with the Democrats and la la la, things will happen."
- Morgan Wilkins, former College Republican National Committee intern
Speakers list
prompts tiff
'Save the Big
House' feels shorted
on chances to voice
displeasure to regents
By Gabe Nelson
Daily Staff Reporter
University Athletic Director
Bill Martin's plan to add luxu-
ry boxes to Michigan Stadium
has caused heated debates at
the Board of Regents's meet-
ings since the proposal was first
brought to a vote in May.
Yet four months into the plan-
ning process, luxury box oppo-
nents say they still aren't being
heard.
Out of the six people permit-
ted to speak about the renova-
tions at the regents meeting on
Friday, only one was opposed to
Martin's plan.
According to leaders of Save
the Big House, a group that
has petitioned the regents to
abandon the luxury boxes, that
wasn't a mistake.
The group's claims of exclu-
sion date to May 19, when the
regents approved the renovation
project.
The proposal was added to
the meeting agenda after the
deadline to sign up for public
comments had passed. No mem-
bers of the public were allowed
to speak to the regents about the
proposal.
Opponents said they were
shut out again Friday.
When Bill Wilson, a member
of Save the Big House, tried to
sign up for the speakers list on
July 19, Karen Spirl, adminis-
trative assistant to the regents,
told him the list would not open
until noon on July 21.
The list opened at 9 a.m. on
July 20.
But Wilson had relayed the
incorrect date to Pollack, who
spread the word to other Save
the Big House supporters. By
the time luxury box opponents
e-mailed to sign up for the list,
it was full.
Spirl gave Wilson a single
spot on the speakers list because
of the original mistake, but fel-
low luxury box opponents were
out of luck.
One of the speakers in favor
of luxury boxes was John Kryk,
author of a book about the
rivalry between the Michigan
and Notre Dame football teams.
In support of Martin's plan,
See SPEAKERS, page 7A
Morgan Wilkins, a former intern with the College Republican National Committee. Wilkins suggested bringing "Catch an llegal Immigrant Day" and
CONFESSIONS
of young conservative
Regents approve
M-CARE sale
After being fired,
woman behind 'Catch
an Illegal Immigrant
Day' tells her story
By Andrew Grossman
Daily Staff Reporter
Morgan Wilkins will not
make out with you if you recruit
10 volunteers for Republican
campaign efforts.
Wilkins - a field organizer
dispatched to Michigan to rally
college students - created a
group on Facebook.com prom-
ising to make out with anyone
who brought her 10 volunteers.
Wilkins, a student at the Uni-
versity of Louisville, said the
group was a joke.
The College Republican
National Committee wasn't
amused. The organization fired
her on Friday.
The creation of the Facebook
group was the final straw for the
CRNC. The national commit-
tee put Wilkins on probation
on Sept. 12 when she told The
Michigan Daily that she wanted
to plan recruiting events where
participants would shoot BB
guns at cardboard cutouts of
Democratic leaders like John
Kerry and try to catch someone
posing as an illegal immigrant.
The suggestions prompted an
outcry from both Republicans
and Democrats, including the
University chapters of the Col-
lege Republicans and College
Democrats. Republican National
Committee Chair Ken Mehlman
and Democratic National Com-
mittee Chair Howard Dean also
condemned Wilkins's ideas.
Wilkins's superiors banned
her from working on the Univer-
sity campus when she held up
a sign at a Sept. 17 rally on the
Diag for Sen. Debbie Stabenow
(D-Mich.) that said "Debbie
kills babies" - a reference to
Stabenow's support for abortion
rights.
In an interview with The
Michigan Daily, Wilkins said her
experiences have strengthened
her anti-abortion stance. She got
pregnant at age 15. Wilkins said
she could have ended the preg-
nancy for $500.
"The first thing that came to
mind: If I get $500, no one has
to know," Wilkins said. "I go to
high school, I go to college, I get
into a sorority. I'm a normal girl.
I've always wanted to be a law-
yer; I've always wanted to work
in D.C."
But she chose to have the
child.
"My son has got a personal-
ity, he likes certain things, he
doesn't like certain things, he
thinks certain things are funny,"
she said. "Just because things
are hard you don't kill a kid, a
human being with likes and dis-
likes:"
Wilkins said deciding against
having an abortion probably
helped cement her conserva-
tism.
See WILKINS, page 7A
Without investment,
insurance company
couldn't have remained
profitable for 'U'
By Kelly Fraser
Daily Staff Reporter
M-CARE will be sold for
$240 million.
The University's Board of
Regents approved the deal to
sell the health care provider to
Blue Care Network of Michigan,
a subsidiary of Blue Cross Blue
Shield, by a 6-0 vote at its meet-
ing Friday.
Regents Larry Deitch (D-
Bingham Farms) and Martin
Taylor (D-Grosse Pointe Farms)
recused themselves from the
vote. Taylor is a member of the
board of directors of Blue Cross
Blue Shield of Michigan.
Deitch could not be reached
for comment.
Blue Cross's board approved
the purchase prior to Friday's
meeting.
Before the sale becomes final,
state and federal regulators must
review the terms of the agree-
ment for antitrust violations.
The review is expected to last
several months.
The sale is slated to be final-
ized late this year or in early
2007.
No one spoke during a public
comment period created to dis-
cuss the sale, which was held
before the vote.
Robert Kelch, CEO of the Uni-
versity Health System, said that
since the sale's announcement,
his office has received about
three dozen letters from M-
See MCARE, page 7A
With revision, Phoenix
Project rises from ashes
r r r
r !! o
C;i"' s .: ; 1.1 C .
MICHIGAN 27 i i _ S
New energy institute
envisioned as central
hub for like-minded
researchers on campus
By Kelly Fraser
Daily Staff Reporter
True to its name, the Phoenix
Project is undergoing a resurrec-
tion.
When it was founded in 1948,
the project's mission was to find
safe uses for atomic energy. After
1956, the North Campus lab even
housed a nuclear reactor, which
was later shut down.
Fifty-eight years later, the Uni-
versity Board of Regents has
tweaked the project's mission. Now
instead of advocating peaceful fis-
sion, the project will be responsible
for coordinating energy research
across campus.
The lab will be called the Michi-
gan Memorial Phoenix Energy
Institute. The University is allocat-
ing $9 million to the creation of the
institute.
Engineering Prof. Gary Was,
who will be the institute's first
director, said Phoenix will help
connect researchers working on
similar projects.
"(The institute) will provide
a unified voice and a focal point
for energy research," Was said.
"Sometimes just collecting and
getting the researchers together is
a significant challenge."
The laboratory space itself is
undergoing an $11 million facelift
funded by money from the state
and University. Regents approved
the renovation in May.
The Phoenix Project was origi-
nally part of a memorial to 585
students, alumni, faculty and staff
members who died in World War
II. The idea was to find ways to use
the nuclear technology that ended
the war not for destruction, but for
human welfare.
Once completed, the lab will
house Engineering Prof. Levi
Thompson's Hydrogen Energy
Technology Lab as well as com-
mon space for the institute's proj-
ects.
"At the present time, the insti-
tute is not going to be enormous
in terms of its bricks-and-mortar
presence," Was said.
The lab won't be used as much
for research space as it will as a
collaboration center.
Was said that in addition to
researching new methods for sus-
Phoenix
basicss
The offices of the Michi-
gan Memorial Phoenix
Energy Institute will be
housed at 2301 Bonisteel
Blvd. on North Campus.
The institute will bring
together researchers
from across campus as
a central hub for energy
research.
The University has allo-
cated $9 million to estab-
lish the institute.
tainable, clean and affordable ener-
gy, the institute will also work in
the public policy sector.
Was said the University could
be a leader in public policy and the
social aspects of the energy devel-
opment.
Historically, the University
has been known for its automo-
tive and nuclear energy pro-
grams. Was said the institute is
aiming to strengthen research
See PHOENIX, page 7A
Mario Manningham (86) scores during Michigan's victory over the Wisconsin Badgers Saturday.
FOR FULL STORY, SEE SPORTSMONDAY
Touchdowns in the last two
games for wide receiver Mario
Manningham
Total rushing yards Michigan has
given up in four games
116
Steve Breaston's punt return
yards in Saturday's game, his
personal best
i