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Ann Arbor, Michigan_
Wednesday, February 20,2008
michigandaily.com
STATE FUNDING
Coleman
asks for
boost in
fuding
un 1g
Research university leaders
make cases for fund increases
despite state budget crunch
By EMILY BARTON
Daily News Editor
EAST LANSING - The presidents of the state's
three research universities reiterated their need for
state funding before a state Senate appropriation
subcommittee yesterday afternoon.
The University of Michigan, Michigan State Uni-
versity and Wayne State University make up the
University Research Corridor, a coalition formed in
2006 by the three schools. The coalition pushed to
have funding allocated to the three schools in a dif-
ferent bill than the one used to allocate money to the
state's 12 other public universities.
On Feb. 7, Guy. Jennifer Granholm proposed-a3
percent increase for higher education in her budget
for the 2009 fiscal year.
State funding is 25 percent of the University's
budget.
Granholm originally proposed a similar higher
education appropriations increase of 2.5 percent for
the 2008 fiscal year. State legislators grappled with
how to balance the 2008 budget, leading to tuition
increases and a four-hour government shut down in
October before a continuation budget was passed,
extending the budget deadline to Nov. 1. Colleges
and universities received at1 percent increase.
Yesterday's meeting was likely the first of many
negotiations that will determine how much funding
colleges and universities will ultimately receive.
The three presidents from the URC were the
See FUNDING, Page 7A
ROBMIGRIN/Daly
Bruce Worden spoke out against the rezoning proposal prior to it passing at yesterday night's Ann Arbor City Council meeting. He said rezoning would limit neighborhood diversity.
City Council passes rezoning plan
Plan limits student
housing in Burns Park
neighborhood
By SARA LYNNE THELEN
Daily StaffReporter
A portion of the Lower Burns Park
neighborhood may have just become
less appealing to student renters.
The Ann Arbor City Council voted
unanimously last night to change the
zoning of Golden Avenue - about two
blocks of the Lower Burns Park neigh-
borhood about a mile south of campus
- from multiple-family to single-family
housing.
Single-family housing allows a maxi-
mum of four unrelated people per resi-
dence, while multiple-family housing
- typically ideal for students - allows
up to six unrelated people per home.
All preexisting rental units on Gold-
en Avenue - 38 percent of the lots - will
be grandfathered in and will remain
unchanged by the rezoning. The plan
will also affect nearby properties on
Granger Avenue, Broadway and Rose
streets.
opponents of the rezoning suggested
that the plans were designed to keep out
students, because they were proposed
before any major changes, like the
destruction of homes to make room for
an apartment building, occurred.
The biggest advocate of the rezoning,
the Lower Burns Park Neighborhood
Association, wanted to eliminate this
possibility and argued that more multi-
family dwellings would threaten the
character of the neighborhood.
Prior to the vote, council member
Margie Teall (D-Ward 4), who lives
near Golden Avenue, said she hoped
to preserve the family dynamic of her
ward.
Nancy Leff, whose Granger Avenue
residence will be included in the rezon-
ing, said her decision to begin pushing
for the rezoning was a result of the house
next to hers was converted into student
units. She said she wants to eliminate
the possibility of existing homes being
torn down for larger commercial-style
developments, which the current zon-
ing allows.
"We have dental offices, daycare ser-
See COUNCIL, Page 3A
FOOTBALL RECRUTING
Top receiver Stonum enrolls early,
learns his way around campus
MSA to push'U' to require
insurance for all students
Ba
aft
Sto
In th
ing Brec
finally
phone.
A sen
School
rraged by calls dozens of annoying, unwanted
calls every day. But he wasn't being
er Carr retired, hounded by telemarketers or over-
bearing parents.
num remained Pete Carroll, Urban Meyer and
committed Nick Saban - some of the biggest
coaches in college football - along
with recruiting coordinators from
By ANDY REID countless marquee programs across
Daily Sports Writer the country flooded his inbox with
messages after former Michigan
e weeks after Thanksgiv- coach Lloyd Carr retired.
ak last year, Darryl Stonum But unlike some Wolverine com-
decided to turn off his cell mits, who rethought their decision
to don maize and blue when Michi-
ior at Dulles (Texas) High gan's coaching job was still vacant,
atthe time, Stonum received Stonum never considered going
anywhere else.
"To tell you the truth, I came to
Michigan for a lot of reasons other
than coaching," Stonum said. "I
mean, they played a big role, but I
made a commitment - I told them I
was coming here. Sure, I was a little
nervous, but I'm happy I stayed."
During his junior year, the Sugar
Land, Texas, native sat down with
his high school coach Jim Creech
to discuss his future. Michigan
was always high on Stonum's list
of potential schools, because Ann
Arbor was where he felt most com-
fortable.
See STONUM, Page 3A
CA MPUS CR IM E
Police find possible marijuana
plants in campus botanical gardens
Assembly President
Dar says he'll send
letter by week's end
By SCOTT MILLS
Daily StaffReporter
The University has tossed
around the idea of requiring all
students to hold health insur-
ance since 2005, but now the
Michigan Student Assembly is
trying to kickstart the process.
At its meeting last night, MSA
passed a resolution asking the
University to explore the mer-
its of a mandatory base level of
health insurance for all students.
MSA President Mohammad Dar
said he will send a letter on the
topic to University administra-
tors by the end of the week.
The University currently
offers a health insurance plan
to domestic students for $2,183
per year. In 1998, the same plan
was offered for $621. When the
premium hit $1,000 per year in
2002, the number of students
enrolled in the plan dropped
drastically.
Last night's resolution said
MSA believes a health insur-
ance mandate - and thus an
increase in the number of stu-
dents enrolled in the University
provided plan - will drive down
the yearly premium of the plan.
With more students paying into
the program, the cost per stu-
See INSURANCE, Page SA
SAID ALSALAH/Daily
Michigan Student Assembly President Mohammad Dar looks on during last
night's MSA meeting.
THE RISING COST OF INSURANCE
Premiums for Universit-provided student health plans have increased.
$2500 r
Suspected cannabis
found among student
botany projects
In greenhouse
By LISA HAIDOSTIAN
Daily NewsEditor
A student in a Practical Botany
class may have gotten a bit too
practical in the greenhouse.
A staff member at the Matthaei
Botanical Gardens, where the class
meets, found 11 "very small plants
that appear to be cannabis" in the
greenhouse, Department of Safety
spokeswoman Diane Brown said.
The apparent cannabis was
found on a table along with sev-
eral other plants being grown
by students. Police have no sus-
pects.
"We don't know at this point if
it was a student i' the class or if
it was someone else who put the
plants there or started the plants
or was growing the plants," Brown
said.
LSA sophomore Annie Bern-
stein, who's enrolled in the class
of about 80 students, said she
didn't think anyone else used
the room where students grow
plants.
Instructors give students seeds
to plant, she said, but they also
have the option of bringing their
own. e
See CANNABIS, Page 3A
$2000
$1500
$1000
2003- 2004- 2005- 2006- 2007-
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
SCHOOL YEAR
SOURCE: UNnERSITY H EALTH SERVICES
TODAY'S HI: 20
WEATHER LO: 10
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