IIE liclpgan Baily
Ann Arbor, Michigan
FUNDING THE UNIVERSITY
'U' investors
predict drop in
fund returns
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
michigandaily.com
* CAMPAIGN 2008 *
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He also said it was possible the
ping, endowment country's economic woes could
discourage potential donors from
)eCted to bring in giving money to the University.
"If they don't feel particularly
money this year wealthy, they're not going to
donate," he said.
By ANDY KROLL Lundberg was the main speaker
Daily Staff Reporter at yesterday's meeting of SACUA,
the executive committee of the
University's chief invest- University's primary faculty body.
officer yesterday predicted He spent the bulk of his time
ificant drop in investment explainingto committee members
is this fiscal year on the how the endowment operates and
rsity's nearly $8-billion what kinds of investments com-
vment. prise the endowment's total value.
)ugh the University's The ways U.S. colleges use
vment has grown by at least their endowments have come
ercent the past four fiscal under sciutiny this year by mem-
and marked a return of25.4 bers of Congress, who have ques-
nt last year, Chief Invest- tioned why growing endowments
Officer Erik Lundberg told at universities nationwide aren't
ers of the Senate Advisory being used to curb rising tuition.
iittee on University Affairs Some politicians have urged uni-
turns this fiscal year would versities to use at least 5 percent
be in the single digits. of their endowment funds on uni-
endowment, valued at $7.8 versity operations.
as of May 31, had grown The University currently
3 percent since the end of spends about 5 percent of its
revious fiscal year, which endowment each year.
June 30, 2007. Lundberg In January, University officials
final endowment figure for defended their management of
08 fiscal year wouldn't be the endowment in a letter to U.S.
ble until the next University Sens. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and
of Regents meeting, sched- Charles Grassley(R-Iowa), who
r Oct. 23 on the University's have led Congress's endowment
ampus. investigation. In the letter, Uni-
en asked what the next two versity officials wrote that the
e years willlook like for the University had earmarked $1.4
ment, Lundberg said, "It's See ENDOWMENT, Page 3
JENNIFER KRON/Daly
Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama spoke in a high school gynmasium in Farmington Hills yesterday, calling McCain's promises of change "empty words."
In MichObamafiresback
Oba
Mc
ma borrows from crowd packed into a high school
gymnasium, asettingstarkly differ-
-Cain's playbook ent from the stadium he filled at the
Democratic National Convention in
in local swing Denver. Obama fired back at John
McCain, accusing the Republican
By JULIE ROWE presidential nominee of adopting a
Daily StaffReporter platform of "change" only because
it has worked for Obama.
MINGTON H ILLS - Just a Obana's campaign stops in
fter his last visit to the state, Michigan came just days after John
ratic presidential candidate McCain denounced Obama's plat-
Obama returned to Michi- form in a visit to Sterling Heights
sterday, holding town-hall while also promising to reform the
ions here and in Flint. political process - both statements
poke here to an enthusiastic that Obama scoffed at North Farm-
ington High School on Monday.
"When you've been supporting
this current president, and you're
not offering anything new, how is it
that you're serious about change?"
Obama said. "You're not - it's
empty words."
The Illinois senator's 30-minute
speech was followed by a question-
and-answer session with audience
members - a campaigntrail format
typically employed by McCain.
Political Science Prof. Vincent
Hutchings said Obama's campaign
holds larger rallies because they
support his type of candidacy and
unite his supporters. Town hall
meetings, he said, would require
Obama to get to specific in his poli-
cy and risk alienating some voters.
"Part of his appeal is that he
tries to move beyond partisanship,"
Hutchings said. "He is a candidate
who avoids the very issues that
divide people. Such a candidate, by
definition, can't get too specific."
As a result, Obama has been
criticized as a candidate who gives
good speeches without much sub-
stance.
Hutchings said Obama will need
See OBAMA, Page 3
FARI
week a
Democ
Barack
gan ye
discuss
He s
CONSERVATION ON CAMPUS
New initiative aims to make
I L campus buildings more efficient
With energy savings in
mind, 'Planet Blue' staff
would upgrade about 30
buildings each year
By ELAINE LAFAY
Daily StaffReporter
A new campus-wide energy project
seeks to stem rising energy costs by
making buildings more efficient and
educating building occupants about
ways to better conserve energy.
Planet Blue, which was officially
launched this fall, is headed by the
University's Facilities and Operations
department. It includes three teams
comprised of engineers, mechanics,
plumbers and building managers.
Since the pilot program began in
October of last year, each Planet Blue
team has aimed to upgrade ten Univer-
sity buildings per fiscal year. The goal
of the program is to decrease the $111
million the University spent on utili-
ties in the fiscal year 2007 by about 10
percent.
A major aspect ofPlanet Blue involves
upgrading a building's facilities such
as fitting it with dual-flush toilets or
faucets with lighter water flow. Teams
also plan to install motion sensors to
decrease lighting costs and reduce the
amount of time fans run.
But before making these upgrades,
Planet Blue's leaders first choose which
buildings to renovate - a decision based
on which buildings are the most expen-
sive to run and are the least energy effi-
cient.
The decision to upgrade a building
is also based on whether the benefits of
the new improvements will outweigh
their costs over a span of eight years.
See BUILDINGS, Page 7
Miriam Lindsey, the owner of the Nawnie's Dog Gone Hot Dog stand, would be able to keep dishing up
food on Ann Arbor's sidewalks if the City Council passes an ordinance- revision it reviewed yesterday.
City Council OKs draft of
plan to let street vendors stay
THE TEXTBOOK MARKET
Private sites fill information void
Proposed code revision
follows attempt to crack
down on sidewalk stands
By SARA LYNNE THELEN
Daily StaffReporter
After three months of uncertainty, it
appears the city's street vendors will be
allowed to continue dishing up food on the
city's sidewalks.
Ann Arbor City Council unanimously
approved a draft of a revision to city code
last night that would allow food vendors to
stay on city sidewalks as long as their carts
aren't motorized, pulled over curbs or left
unattended.
Local food vendors were almost banned
from the city in March when city coun-
cilmember Stephen Kunselman (D-Ward 3)
attempted to revive a long-dead city ordi-
nance from the 1940s prohibiting carts and
trailers on public sidewalks.
Kunselman said he wanted to start
enforcing the 1947 law because some ven-
dors were blocking public signs and aban-
doning their carts overnight.
After several vendors argued against
the ordinance, the council agreed to grant
yending permit holders an extension while
city officials reexamined the ordinance.
Kunselman said drafting a fair and
enforceable policy has been difficult for city
officials.
"This certainly is something that took
staff more time than they thought it would,"
he said. "It is contentious, with people
thinking that we're running vendors out
of town, but that's not happening by any
means."
Local vendors said they thought the new
rules outlined in the new draft were a fair
compromise.
"It was kind of a sigh of relief to know
that it wasn't a push to get rid of vending,"
said Robert James, owner of the Top Dog
lunch stand. "I'm confident that they would
See VENDORS; Page 3
While University
works on program,
new sites compile
course reading lists
By KYLE SWANSON
Daily StaffReporter
Foryears,theMichiganStudent
Assembly and University officials
have promised to build a system
allowing students to view read-
ing lists early and shop around
for the best deals on textbooks.
Though a University-sponsored
textbook exchange website is
nearing completion, several inde-
pendent book exchange websites
have popped up to help students
looking for cheap books.
The sites include many of the
same features the University
plans to include on its site, which
will be hosted on CTools, includ-
ing the ability to view books by
course.
One such site, mtextbooks.
com, debuted this semester. The
Ann Arbor-based site compiles
the information from book lists
posted on academic departments'
websites.
Creator Jim Burden said he
developed the site to make it eas-
ier for students taking classes in
different departments to find all
their textbook information in one
place.
"I think the website can help
students in a lot of ways," Burden
said in an e-mail interview. "It "''i OtLL/Daii
can promote the University's own School of Dentistry graduate student Abbie Walker shops for
See TEXTBOOKS, Page 7 books at Michigan Book and Supply on State Street yesterday
WEATHER HI:70
TOMORROW LO: 47
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INDEX NEWS..........
Vol. CXIX, No.6 OPINION.....
©2008 The Michigan Daily ARTS ............
michigandaily.com
. 2 CROSSWORD. . .......6
. 4 CLASSIFIEDS.... .........6
.............5. SPO R T S ................. ..............8
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