The Statement
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Ann Arbor, Michigan
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
michigandaily.com
AFTER PROPOSAL 2
Officials
outline
diversity
plans
Administrators say
future minority
enrollment uncertain
By CATHE SHUBERT
Daily StaffReporter
LANSING - Administrators
sought to reaffirm the University's
commitment to racial and ethnic
diversity by outlining the steps it
is taking to keep minority enroll-
ment from plummeting in a pre-
sentation here yesterday.
Part of the challenge of main-
taining diversity in higher edu-
cation without using race as a
preferential factor in admissions
and financial aid, which is now
illegal, is that there are quality dif-
ferences between inner-city and
suburban public schools. Students
at many failing inner-city schools
are largely black and Latino, while
students at the higher-perform-
ing suburban schools are largely
white.
"People have no idea that there
- are such disparities," said Patricia
Gurin, a professor emerita at the
University.
Lester Monts, the University's
senior vice provost, said that's why
Michigan needs to invest more
in public education in light of the
move of many students from pub-
lit schools to charter and private
schools. Better financial packages,
he said, are also needed, so that
students from lower economic
statuses are able to attend the Uni-
versity. Without that investment
in K-12 public education, students
will have a harder time succeeding
in college.
"We're bartering our future
away," Monts said.
The presentation was given to
the Wolverine Caucus, a group of
legislators, lobbyists and state gov-
ernment officials with ties to the
University.
one of the main points of the
presentation was to update the
caucus on what the University
is doing to respond to the limita-
tions of Proposal 2, which banned
affirmative action in the state last
year.
These actions include the
Diversity Blueprints task force,
which the University formed in
See FORUM, Page 7A
ANN AND ROBERT LURIE
Amount: $25 million
Date: July 2002
University unit: College of
Engineering
Seventh biggest single donation
in University history
ANONYMOUS
Amount: $25 million
Date: July 2007
University unit: Cardiovascular
Center
Eighth biggest single donation in
University history
STEPHEN ROSS
Amount: $100 million
Date: Sept. 2004
University unit: School of Busi-
ness
Biggest single donation in Uni-
versity history'
A. ALFRED TAUBMAN
Amount: $30 million
Date: Sept.1999
University unit: College of
Architecture and Urban Planning
Fifth biggest single donation in
University history
SAM AND JEAN FRANKEL
Amount: $20 million
Date: March 2005
University unit: College of Lit-
erature, Science and the Arts
Tenth biggest single donation in
University history
C.S. MOTT FOUNDATION
Amount: $25 million
Date: April 2005
University unit: University
Health System
Sixth biggest single donation in
University history
The rise of the mgagif
Number of big donations to universities increasing
Faculty,
Coleman
cash over
input
Professors want official policy
that gives them a say in
expensive projects
By KIRSTY MCNAMARA
Daily StaffReporter
With a number of major University construction
projects in the work, faculty members are clashing
with administrators over what input they should have
in spending decisions.
The major point of disagreement is a handbook
that, in part, defines how much the administration has
to consult with the faculty before making expensive
decisions.
A draft of the handbook - which was compiled by
the Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs,
the executive board of the University's faculty Senate
Assembly -included a sentence that said: "The faculty
shall be informed about and have the opportunity to
consult with the president on major expenditures con-
templated by the university prior to presentation for
approval by the regents."
After SACUA submitted the draft to University
President Mary Sue Coleman for her approval last
week, she responded with a letter rejecting that sen-
tence.
"I do not agree with and will not approve the sen-
tence that commits the University of Michigan presi-
dent to an unprecedented process of approval prior to
regental consideration," Coleman wrote in the letter.
University Provost Teresa Sullivan attended a
SACUA meeting last week where, in a back-and-forth
debate, faculty members expressed surprise at Cole-
man's rebuff of the statement.
Theysaidthatinmostcasesthe administrationdoes
consult with the faculty, and they challenged Sullivan
to explain the hesitancy to put that into writing.
See INPUT, Page 7A
FUNDING THE ARTS
Budget woes
could end
A2 Film Fest
43-year-old festival is
$160,000 short of goal
By ANDREW SARGUS KLEIN
ManagingArts Editor
The Ann Arbor Film Festival is facing a budget defi-
cit that is threatening to end its 43-year existence.
The festival - one of North America's longest-run-
ning - is about $160,000 short of its budget goal for
the upcoming year, according to Christen McArdle,
the festival's executive director.
For the last 10years, the festival has received grants
from the Michigan Council for the Arts and Cultural
Affairs, a division of the state's Department of His-
tory, Arts and Libraries, but those funds were cut off
in 2006 because of some controversial films that have
been shown at the festival in past years.
The festival's plight is getting noticed by powerful
groups in the film world.
The Ann Arbor Film Festival is one of the few
American film festivals whose winners are added to
the pool of candidates for Academy Award nomina-
tions. The International Film Festival Summit will
discuss its financial situation at the group's annual
meeting in December.
State Rep. Shelly Goodman Taub (R-Bloomfield
Hills) introduced a bill in March of 2006 that with-
held money earmarked for the festival for the 2005-
2006 fiscal year. Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed the
bill two months later. McArdle said the festival lost
between $20,000 and $25,000 as a result.
Several selections from last year's festival were
See FILM, Page 7A
By ANDY KROLL
Daily StaffReporter
The number of extremely large
donations to universities nationwide is
increasing, according to data collected
by a consulting firm.
The data, collected by the Atlanta-
based fundraisingfirmAlexander Haas
Martin and Partners, found that these
large donations, or "megagifts," are
becoming more and more important
to university fundraising campaigns,
both because they contribute to the
campaign's goal and spur smaller dona-
tions.
David King, a co-author of the study
and managing partner at the firm, said
in an online chat hosted by the Chron-
icle of Higher Education that megagifts
typically come from relationships with
donors built over time.
"What we have really seen is that
donors make these gifts in response
to a 'vision' for the institution that has
not previously been presented and they
have a desire to 'make it happen' sooner
than later," Kingsaid.
Despite the increase in megagifts
nationwide (there have been 16 of more
than $100 million so far this year), the
University of Michigan's fundraising
strategies haven't drastically changed,
said Jerry May, the University's vice
president for development.
May said the strategy used to court
a donor who can give up to $100,000 is
"very similar" to that used with a donor
with the capacity to give $50 million.
"It's all the same process, but we do
spend a little bit more time focusing
intensively on the people with the great-
est wealth who can give a million dollars
or more," May said.
May said that he, two colleagues in
the Office of Development and several
individual school directors primar-
ily work on the University's major gift
fundraising.
These megagifts are crucial to the
success of the University's $2.5 billion
Michigan Difference campaign, May
said.
Since the campaign was publicly
launched in May 2004, it has received
over a dozen gifts of $25 million and
See DONATIONS, Page 7A
FIXING BICYCLES
With Energy Dept. grant,
studying electric cars
Proximity to Big
Three helped 'U'
secure funds
By ARIKIA MILLIKAN
Daily StaffReporter
After attempts by California
government in the 1980s and
1990stosetminimumstandards
for the production of low-emis-
sion electric vehicles - which
automakers rejected, citing a
lack of demand - electric cars
disappeared faster than stone-
washed jeans.
But with the nation's depen-
dence on fossil fuels growing
as limited supplies dwindle,
the push to get plug-in hybrid
electric vehicles back on the
market has come to a shove.
The Department of Energy
announced yesterday it would
grant the University $1 million
to fund the research.
The University's grant was
part of a $20 million allotment
from the Department of Ener-
gy, designated for investigating
PHEV technology across the
country.
Kevin Kolevar, the assistant
secretary at the Department of
Energy's Office of Electricity
Delivery and Energy Reliability,
said that while one of the rea-
sons the University was picked
for the project is its reputation
See CARS, Page 7A
ROB MIGRIN/Daily
Students fix bikes at the East Quad Bike Co-op yesterday. The group repairs bikes that are donated r sa-
dents want help fixing. The co-op meets Friday, Saturday and Sunday afternoons in 23 Tyler in East Quad.
TODAY'S lHI:73
WEATHER LO 53
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