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ILLINOIS TOPS
ARTS, WOMEN'S HOOPS
PAGE 5 SPORTS, PAGE 8
4,000
reasons
to go to
* college
New law gives
grant to graduating
high schoolers
By ALESE BAGDOL
Daily StaffReporter
Every high school student
in Michigan who graduates in
2007 or later is now eligible for a
$4,000 scholarship at any public
university in the state.
To qualify for the Michigan
Promise Scholarship, students
must prove their status as Mich-
igan residents and take a state
assessment test. Students in the
class of 2007 will take the Mich-
igan Educational Assessment
Program test. Future classes
will take the newly-created
Michigan Merit Exam.
V Students who earn qualify-
ing scores on the assessment test
will receive up to $1,000 for their
first two years of college and up
to $2,000 if they complete two
years of post-secondary educa-
tion with at least a grade point
average of at least 2.5. If a stu-
dent doesn't qualify for a schol-
arship at first, he or she can still
earn the full $4,000 by complet-
ing two years of post-secondary
school with at least a 2.5 GPA.
The Michigan Promise Schol-
arship will replace the Michigan
Merit Award, which was estab-
lished by the state Legislature in
1999. That award provided up to
$3,000 to high school graduates.
About 50,000 graduates annu-
ally received the scholarship. It
was not contingent upon aca-
demic performance in college.
University administrators
said they welcome the changes.
"The University supports
See SCHOLARSHIPS, page 7
TEACHING THE ROPES
Public
policy
dean to
step down
Blank plans to
remain on faculty
after sabbatical
ByBRIAN TENGEL
Daily StaffReporter
Rebecca Blank, dean of
the Gerald R. Ford School of
Public Policy, has announced
that she will relinquish her
post at the end of the aca-
demic year.
Blank guided the Ford
Schoolthrough the challenges
of the past eight years, includ-
ing the fundraising for and
construction of the school's
new home, Joan and San-
ford Weill Hall. The building
opened its doors in August.
Blank will officially step
down on July 31. She plans to
spend a year on sabbatical and
then return to the Ford School
as a faculty member, where
she will pursue other endeav-
ors like research projects.
But Blank said she is keep-
ing an open mind about her
future.
"I admit that I am thinking
about other options as well,
and if the right thing comes
alongthat takes me away from
Michigan, I will pursue it,"
she said in an e-mail to Ford
School faculty on Tuesday.
"But I want to organize my
life with the assumption I will
be returning to the faculty."
In the e-mail, Blank said
that this was an opportune
time for her resignation
because this is a transition
year for the Ford School. She
said it's time for a new dean
to develop a strategy for the
school's next five to 10 years.
Throughout her eight-year
tenure, Blank helped usher
in many changes at the Ford
School. In addition to over-
seeing its relocation to Weill
Hall, she has also worked to
create a new Bachelor of Arts
program in public policy. The
school is currently consider-
ing its first ever batch of appli-
cations.
Students apply for the BA
program, which admits 50
students per year, during
their sophomore year. If they
are admitted, they spend their
remaining two years in the
Ford School.
"We really - literally
- built the Ford School," she
said. "We were responsible
for raising the money, con-
structing the building, getting
the right students and faculty
and putting the undergradu-
ate program together."
Paul Courant, a former
University provost who is now
a professor in the Ford School,
expressed his praised Blank's
tenure.
"She is a terrific dean,"
Courant said. "She built the
school up from where it was,
oversaw fundraising fof the
new building and worked out
the new undergraduate pro-
gram. We're a much better
school now than when she
took the job."
See DEAN, page 7
I
BENJI DELL/Daily
Yoga instructoriJasprit Singh pulls himself up with ropes while teaching his class at the RussaYog Yoga Studio on State Street yesterday.
For .os PUTTING ON THE
mos ~L1LL11L~ oe ~Crnmes neat campas dating
"Losing our equipment, our pass-
ports, or our lives. In that order."
- Alums Dan Spokojny and Justin Trauben on their
biggest fears during a six-month trip to Asia
holiday gift: fewer break-ins
Crime drops
in off-campus
neighborhoods
during break
By LISA HAIDOSTIAN
For the Daily
Although traditionally a
time of rampant crime with
most students out of town,
this year's winter break saw
fewer break-ins than usual,
police said.
Six off-campus student
residences were illegally
entered between Dec. 22 and
Jan. 4.
That's nine fewer than last
year, when 15 burglaries were
reported over the same time
period. In 2004, there were
nine.
Of the homes that were
entered this year, three had
property stolen. As usual,
expensive electronics were
the primary target. A tele-
vision was stolen from one
house, and DVDs were taken
from another.
The third victim of the bur-
glaries, who wished to remain
anonymous because he was
afraid someone else would
try to rob his house, received
a call from police Wednesday
saying that his home on the
100 block of Hoover Ave. had
been burglarized.
A suspect had entered
through an unlocked kitch-
en window and, ignoring a
52-inch flat-screen TV and
other electronics, stole a
computer tower, an Xbox 360
video game console and Xbox
games.
Six days later, the student
received a second call from
police, who said his property
matched stolen goods that
had been found in a parking
lot less than 100 yards from
his home.
"I was really excited, but
at the same time -I didn't
want to think 'Oh sweet, it's
definitely mine,' "the student
said.
It was. The police returned
the stolen property, worth
about $800, to his home.
Police have no suspects in the
break-in.
Sgt. Pat Ouellette of the
Ann Arbor Police Department
said he couldn't explain the
decline in break-ins.
"Itjustchanges fromyear to
year," Ouellete said. "There's
really nothing you can point a
finger at."
Because area thieves know
campus neighborhoods are
almost empty during the
holiday season, they tend to
attempt more break-ins dur-
ing that time. Typically, the
police increase the number of
patrols in student neighbor-
hoods, Ouellete said.
"We know there's going
to be a pattern of break-ins
during those times, so we
heavily patrol those areas,"
he said. "Hopefully some of
those extra patrols do pay
off."
winter break
Break-ins reported two
years ago
Break-ins reported
last year
Break-ins reported
this year
COURTESY OF VLOGABOND.COM
University alum Dan Spokojny looks out over a valley in Laos. Spokojny
and fellow 2005 graduate Justin Trauben are spending six months back-
packing around Asia and posting videos of the trip online.
Alums pick
As ia adventure
Cover 9-5 grind
Fight over Prop 2 spills into state court
Fresh off victory,
affirmative action
foes press on
LANSING (AP) - The
legal battles over Michigan's
new law banning some types
of public affirmative action
programs has spread to the
state court system.
The Center for Individual
Rights, in a lawsuit filed this
week, asked a Washtenaw
County Circuit Court judge
to order state universities
to enact changes sparked by
Proposal 2 immediately.
A Center for Individual
Rights official said yesterday
that the group will ask for
a hearing on the case to be
scheduled soon.
CIR represents Eric Rus-
sell, an Auburn Hills man
seeking admission to the
University of Michigan's law
school. The suit names sev-
eral University of Michigan
officials and Gov. Jennifer
Granholm as defendants.
Russell gained a legal vic-
tory last week when a fed-
eral appeals court rejected a
deal that would have given
the University of Michigan,
Wayne State University and
Michigan State University
more time to comply with
some parts of Proposal 2.
The constitutional amend-
mgnt bans the use of race and
gender preferences in univer-
sity admissions and govern-
ment hiring and contracting.
The measure was approved
by voters in November and
took effect Dec. 23.
A federal judge had given
the three universities a six-
month extension so they
could wrap up their current
admissions and financial aid
See PROP 2, page 7
Pair to chronicle
trip on video blog
By EMILY ANGELL
Daily StaffReporter
After graduating from the
University in 2005, Dan Spo-
kojny and Justin Trauben
wanted to avoid the monot-
ony of a nine-to-five job, so
they strapped on backpacks,
bought plane tickets and
Follow their travels at
www.viogabond.com
started a video blog.
They begin a six-month
journey through Asia this
month. Their website, vloga-
bond.com,willfeature footage
of the countries and cultures
they explore, all on what they
call a "shoestring" budget.
The video blog, which they
describe as a mini-documen-
See VLOGGERS, page 7
TODAY'S H IS: 51
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