Why you're safer than you think
The Statement
£ 1Mdtga C hi ,)ljj
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
michigandaily com
'U,'helped
lure firm
to area
Aerospace company says it will
bring 600 jobs just outside of
Ann Arbor
By EMILY BARTON
Daily Staff Reporter
A Spanish aerospace company announced yester-
day plans to open a new engineering facility just out-
side of Ann Arbor, in part because its proximity to the
University.
The company, Grupo Aernnova, says it will invest
about $10 millon in a Pittsfield Township facility that
could provide up to 600 jobs for recent graduates and
experienced workers.
One of the reasons the company chose Michigan as
its first United States location is because of the many
universities in the state with renowned engineering
programs, said Daryl Weinert, senior director of cor-
porate and government relations for the University's
College of Engineering.
Weinert said Aernnova first contacted him about a
year ago and the company said it wanted to be near
universities that could provide constant sources of tal-
ent and opportunities for research.
He said he is beginning to work with Aernnova to
provide internships and part-time positions to engi-
neeringstudents.Asthe companygrows, hesaid,there
will be opportunities to collaborate on research.
The facility isn't completed yet, and Weinert said it
won't be open for students for at least a year.
He said the company should appealnotonly to aero-
space engineers but also mechanical engineers who
might be interested in working for the auto industry,
because the company will be building planes and aero-
nautical parts.
See COMPANY, Page 7A
PETER SC
The only passenger train to Ann Arbor is the Amtrak, which runs to Detroit and Chicago.
Rail line waits for funding
Howell to Ann Arbor
link on schedule, but
waiting for grant
By ARIKIA MILLIKAN
Daily StaffReporter
A commuter rail line from How-
ell to Ann Arbor is still waiting for a
$1 million federal grant that would
help with startup costs.
The line would stop in Howell,
on Chilson Road near Brighton,
Whitmore Lake, Hamburg and at
Plymouth Road in Ann Arbor.
Ann Arbor Mayor John Hieftje
is confident that the line will be
up and running by.2009, his target
completion date for the project.
In the meantime, other organiza-
tions like the state of Michigan, the
Environmental Protection Agency
and the University of Michigan are
contributing to the project.
The projecthas received $1.7 mil-
lion in funding from the Michigan
Department of Transportation.
Diane Brown, parking and trans-
portation services spokeswoman,
said the University is committed to
pay for tickets for every staff mem-
ber who wants to ride the train to
work. The University would pay
100 percent of the total cost of tick-
ets for the first year of the railroad's
operation, 75 percent the second
year and 50 percent the third year.
The University hasn't committed
to paying anything after the third
year. Ticket prices have not been
set.
"The University has been a big
player," Hieftje said.
Brown said that out of 14,400
University employees with zip
codes listed along the US 23 cor-
ridor who responded to a survey
conducted in the winter, more than
1,200 participants said they would
be interested in riding the train to
work - some as many as five days
a week.
Brown said the University's con-
See RAIL, Page 7A
MSA to send Homecoming parade, carnival to return
letter, to
admittees
Assembly seeks to soothe
post-Prop 2 worries by mailing
assurance to admitted students
By JILLIAN BERMAN
For the Daily
At last night's meeting, the Michigan Student
Assembly unanimously voted to send an open let-
ter to all newly admitted students assuring them that
the assembly's commitment to racial diversity has
remained unchanged after state voters. passed Pro-
fposal2 last year.
The constitutional amendment banned the use of
affirmative action by public institutions in Michigan.
The move follows a resolution passed inFebruary in
which MSA demanded that there be no drop in the
enrollment of underrepresented minority students at
the University.
The letter is titled "A Statement of Our Commitment
to Diversity," and MSA plans to distribute it to students
offered admission to the University's class of 2012.
Inside the letter, the MSA reemphasizes its commit-
ment to diversity by highlighting some of the steps the
assembly has taken to ensure campus remains diverse,
like the Diversity Blueprints program.
MSA also pledges to make campus a welcoming
environment, reiterating the importance of a diverse
student body as part of the University experience.
Also in the resolution, MSA created an e-mail
address that will serve as away for admitted students
to voice their concerns about student life and the atmo-
sphere at the University. The e-mail address, msa.stu-
dentlife@umich.edu will be included in the letter.
MSA tries to revive
tradition after
11-year absence
By CATHE SHUBERT
Daily Staff Reporter
For the first time in 11 years, Mich-
igan's homecoming football game will
be preceded by a parade around Cen-
tral Campus and State Street.
The Michigan Student Assembly
approved plans at last night's meeting
to fund the first homecoming parade
and celebration since 1996. Homecom-
ing weekend was a much larger event in
the 1960s and '70s.
The parade will begin at 3 p.m. on
Oct. 11. For about 35 minutes, it will
wind its way from the Chemistry
Building on North University Avenue
to the intersection of Madison and
State streets.
MSA set aside $5,000 to rent the
streets, provide pickup trucks for the
parade and give a stipend of up to $100
for-student groups to create their own
floats.
Gibran Baydoun, an MSA represen-
tative and one of the coordinators of
the event, said he is expecting about
20 floats from Greek organizations and
student groups all over campus.
That money will also go toward the
other weekend events, such as a carni-
val on the Diag with jousting and cot-
ton candy, a showcase of student dance
and a cappella groups and a homecom-
ing king and queen election.
A committee made up of students
and administrators will pick 10 can-
didates for both king and queen, who
will be elected by a general election
See PARADE, Page 7A
Fraternity members with their homecoming float at the 1981 parade. MSA is trying to revive
the homecoming parade this year.
DATA TpH EFT
Sensitive paient data stolen from nursing buildig
'U' stresses timely
reporting of theft
By EMILY BARTON
Daily StaffReporter
Since 8,585 tapes were stolen from
the School of Nursing two weeks ago
- the third data theft in the last year
- University officials are stressing the
importance of protecting against data
theft.
The tapes were used as backups for
the school's computer database. They
contained patient information like
social security numbers and patient how the University deals with data relations office.
names and addresses. theft, any faculty or staff member who Howell said even with an extensive
One of the most important steps to notices a breach of technology secu- security system in place, data theft can
take in cases of theft is quickly report- rity should immediately report it to an still occur.
ing it to the University's Information information security coordinator. All He said the nursing school theft,
Technology Security Services office, serious incidents involving unauthor- which took place in the North Ingalls
said Paul Howell, the University's chief ized data access or data theft should Building over the weekend of Sept. 7,
information technology security offi- then be reported to the ITSS. was the first of its kind at the Univer-
cer. When a theft like the one at the nurs- sity. In the past, databases have been
He said the University's Information ing school occurs, ITSS usually assem- hacked. The most recent of these inci-
Technology Security Services office bles a security response team. Those dents was in July when two School of
has numerous processes to prevent teams are made up of different officials Education databases containing stu-
data theft, including technology prod- depending on the incident, Howell said. dent information were accessed.
ucts and training to help implement the That means they might include rep- The tapes were "ina locked box, in a
best practices. .. resentatives from the Department of locked cabinet, in a locked room," Uni-
According to a policy outlining Public Safety or the University's media See DATA, Page 7A
TODAY'S
WEATHER
H:B84 GOT A NEWS TIP?
LO: 56 Call 734-763-2459 or e-mail
news@michigandaily.com and let us know.
ON T HE DA ILY BLOCS
Obesity in college students rises
MICHIGAN DAILY.COM/THEWIRE
INDEX NEWS ..............
Vol.cxVii, No. 12 OPINION.......
may 07The Michigan Daily CLASSIFIEDS...
michigondailyrom
........2A ARTS................ A
............4A SPO RT S ............................10A
............6A THESTATEM ENT..................18
4
Pt