~I)E L4idilan DaiIai
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Monday, January 7, 2008
michigandaily.com
FINANCIAL AID
won't
be able
to match
Harvard
To draw from
middle class, some
schools increasing
packages
By DANIEL STRAUSS
Daily Staff Reporter
After Harvard University
announced last month it would
substantially increase the amount
of financial aid available to mid-
dle-class students, a number of
other universities announced they
would follow suit.
But the University of Michigan
won't be one of them.
Under Harvard's new financial
aid plan, students whose fami-
lies earn between $120,000 and
$180,000 will have to pay at most
10 percent of their family's total
income for tuition.
For families earning less than
$120,000, the cost of tuition
decreases as the family's income
does. Students whose families earn
$60,000 a year or less pay nothing.
In 2007, two full semesters at
Harvard cost about $49,000 per
year, including room and board.
Harvard officials say the goal of
the new aid program is to attract
middle class students. In recent
years, the school has had an eas-
ier time enrolling rich and poor
students, than those who fall in
between.
A number of universities have
revamped financial aid plans since
Harvard's announcement, includ-
ing Dickinson College, the Uni-
versity of Pennsylvania, Princeton
University and Pomona College.
Pomona officials said that the
See AID, Page 7A
* CAMPAIGN 2008 *
Health
system
sued over
salaries
30 female health system
employees say men were paid
more for same work
By ANDY KROLL
Daily StaffReporter
A group of female nurse practitioners and physician
assistants at the University Hospital is suing the Uni-
versity, claiming that they were discriminated against
on the basis of gender in decisions involving pay.
Court documents pertaining to the suit, filed in
Washtenaw County Circuit Court, list30 female Univer-
sity Health System employees who claim that over the
past three years the University paid them lower wages
than male colleagues working in comparable jobs.
The employees claim the University violated the
federal Equal Pay Act of 1963, which forbids employ-
ers from discriminating on the basis of sex in matters
of compensation.
The employees also claim that by paying them less
than their male colleagues the University violated the
state of Michigan's Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act,
which prohibits discrimination based upon religion,
race and sex, among other factors.
As a result, the women - who work in various
medical departments including radiology, oncology
and cardiology - are seeking back wages for the past
three years, monetary damages for the University's
discrimination and a court order forcing the Univer-
sity to compensate them fairly in the future.
Severalemployeesnamed asplaintiffsinthelawsuit
declined to comment because the case is still open.
According to a statement released to The Michigan
Daily by University Hospital spokesmen Drew Jarvis,
the University "has carefully studied the pay of the its
See LAWSUIT, Page 7A
FOR MORE INFORMATION...
Including thefull text of the lawsuit,
see www.michigandaily.com.
Students for Hillary Chair Kelly Bernero spoke at a forum yesterday, describing the impact HillarpClinstun woald have it she was elected.
After Iowa, students
talk aboutblc vote
Some question how
candidates can bridge
racial divides
By JULIE ROWE
Daily StaffReporter
Representatives of student groups
supporting various presidential candi-
dates faced questions about how their
respective contenders would solve
problems that face the black commu-
nity at a forum yesterday.
The event, a panel discussion held at
the Michigan League, was organized
by the campus chapter of Alpha Kappa
Alpha, a historically black sorority.
Students supporting Hillary Clin-
ton, Barack Obama, John Edwards and
John McCain explained their respec-
tive candidates' stances on education,
health care coverage, economic growth,
foreign policy and discussed these how
these policies would impact blacks in
the United States.
School of Nursing senior Lauren
Underwood, Alpha Kappa Alpha execu-
tive board member, said the event was
organized to expose students to the
options available to them.
"People talk a lot about the issues,
but on election day, there seem to be
Daily columnists debate the role of
young voters in American politics.
See Opinion, Page 4A.
some obstacles causing people not to
vote," Underwood said. "This event is
meant to overcome the obstacle of the
lack of information."
Underwood said the event was held
not only to encourage students to vote
in Michigan's primary on Jan. 15 but
also reduce the level of confusion sur-
rounding the primary.
Many Democratic candidates,
See FORUM, Page 7A
UNIVERSITY HIRING
'U' lures team of heart researchers
MICHIGAN THEATER TURNS 80
Hired last month,
heart specialists
making trek from
New York institute
By KELLY FRASER
Daily News Editor
In a rare recruiting move, the
University's Medical School has
hired more than 30 researchers
from a school in upstate New York
to boost cardiovascular research
programs at the University.
So far, 35 heart rhythm spe-
cialists, students and staff from
the Institute for Cardiovascular
Research at the State University
of New York Upstate Medical Uni-
versity in Syracuse are headed to
Ann Arbor. A few more research-
ers have not yet decided whether
they'll come to the University.
The University of Michigan
News Service initially reported
that 25 researchers would make
the move.
Mario Delmar, one of the team's
leaders, said most of the institute's
employees have decided to follow
him and his research partner, Jose
JalifA, after being recruited by the
University.
Along with the University's
Chief of Cardiovascular Medicine
David Pinsky, Delmar and Jalifd
will serve as co-directors of the
University's Center for Arrhyth-
mia Research, which was created
to accommodate the hires.
Delmar and his team will inves-
tigate the causes and effects of
heart arrhythmias, which occur
when the heart begins to beat
erratically. Without treatment,
arrhythmias can lead to strokes or
death.
The move is unusual because by
transferring such a large portion
of the staff, the entire New York
institute will essentially be relo-
cated to Ann Arbor, Delmar said.
It took more than a year of nego-
tiations.
Several large donations to the
University and its cardiovascular
units, including one anonymous
$50 million pledge in June of last
year, made it possible for the Uni-
versity to recruit the researchers
en masse.
Delmar and his team are now in
the process of moving lab equip-
ment from New York to their tem-
porary space on Venture Drive
south of downtown Ann Arbor.
They hope to complete the move
by March 15.
See HIRING, Page 7A
STUDENT BUSINESS
Hurting for pickup soccer, students start website
Site links players
from around the
world
By CHRIS HERRING
Daily News Editor
- -------- ---------
One night, while he was sit-
ting in his room in South Quad
Residence Hall, the pain became
unbearable for Chris Mwakasisi.
A freshman in the College of
Engineering at the time, Mwaka-
sisi needed just one thing: a game
of pickup soccer.
"We thought there should be
a better way to find and orga-
nize games, because we knew we
weren't the only ones wanting
to get out of the dorms and play,"
Mwakasisi said Saturday at a kick-
off event for his new website, pro-
jectfreestyle.com, that drew more
than 50 students.
That's why Mwakasisi, now a
senior, and his roommate, LSA
senior Jeff Lemons, decided to
create the Project Freestyle, a
social networking website for soc-
cer players and fans looking for
pickup soccer games in the Ann
Arbor area.
Mwakasisi and Lemons found
they weren't the only ones hungry
for soccer. The site, which official-
ly launched in September 2007, has
more than 1,000 users - including
some in Belgium, Croatia, England
and India - and is growing by the
day.
Perhaps more interesting,
though, is that a site that originat-
ed simply to limit the number of
boring nights spent in South Quad
now seems to have the potential to
become a successful business.
Mwakasisi and Lemons devel-
oped the idea for the site after
seeing soccermatchmaker.com -
another social networking site for
people interested in finding pickup
soccer games.
Mwakasisi and Lemons have
since been joined by Engineering
senior Aly Juma, LSA senior Brent
Medema and.Ross School of Busi-
ness senior Michael Parke on the
See WEBSITE, Page 7A
Ann Arbor Mayor John Hieftje presents a ceremonial deed to Michigan Theater
Chief Executive Officer Russ Collins and Board Chair Jean Rowan on Saturday. The
deed was given to celebrate the Theater's 80th birthday.
TODAY'S
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