The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Friday, September 19, 2008 - 3 NEWS BRIEFS Freshmen 'finest' WASHINGTON Dow rebounds, surges more than 400 points The stock market finally found reason to rally yesterday, and Con- gress promised quick action as the Bush administration prepared a plan to rescue banks from the bad debt at the heart of the worst cri- sis on Wall Street since the Great Depression. Details of the plan were still being worked out, but Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson emerged from a nighttime meeting on Capi- tol Hill to say he hoped to have a solution "aimed right at the heart of this problem." As word of a government plan began to reach Wall Street earlier in the day, the Dow Jones indus- trial average jumped 410 points, its biggest percentage gain in nearly six years., The rebound also came after an infusion of billions of dollars by the Federal Reserve and world govern- ments aimed at getting nervous banks to stop hoarding money and lend again. MADISON, Wisconsin Campaign tight in Big Ten states Barack Obama and John McCa- in are statistically tied in their race for the presidency in seven of the eight states that are home to Big Ten universities, according to a . poll released yesterday. The race is within the Big Ten Battleground Poll's margin of error in Ohio, Iowa, Michigan, Wiscon- sin, Minnesota, Indiana and Penn- sylvania. Obama has a 16-point lead in his home state of Illinois, a Democratic stronghold he repre- sents in the U.S. Senate. The poll, the inaugural from a partnership of eight Big Ten uni- versities, asked 600 randomly selected registered voters in each of the eight states for their views on the candidates. Pollsters said they show the region's states are again the most competitive in the country and will help determine who becomes the next president. BAGHDAD Mechanical error blamed in deadly 0 helicopter crash A U.S. military official said a mechanical problem appeared to be the reason for a helicopter crash yesterday that killed seven Ameri- can soldiersinIraq's southern des- ert, the deadliest such incident in Iraq in more than a year. The CH-47 Chinook was flying with three other choppers from Kuwait when it went down shortly after midnight about 60 miles west Df asra, the military said. The U.S. military relies heavily on helicopters to ferry troops, dig- nitaries and supplies to avoid the threat of ambushes and roadside bombs; and Thursday's crash high- lighted the noncombat dangers facing Americans in Iraq. PARIS Mozart fragment found in library It's a forgotten melody, sketched in black ink in a swift but sure hand. The single manuscript page, long hidden in a provincial French library, has been verified as the work of Mozart, the apparent underpinnings for a Mass he never composed. The previously undocumented music fragment gives insight into Mozart's evolving composition style and provides a clue about the role religion may have played for the composer as his life neared its turbulent end, one prominent Mozart expert says. A library in Nantes, western France, has had the fragment in its collection since the 19th century, but it had never been authenticated until now, partly because it does not bear Mozart's signature. - Compiled from Daily wire reports U.S,,DEATHS 4,168 I Number of American service mem- bers who have died in the War in Iraq, according to The Associated Press. The following service mem- ber was identified yesterday: Army Pfc. Leonard J. Guic- zynski I, 19, Carol Stream, Ill. ever, Coleman says Regents give Coleman largest raise of her term By JACOB SMILOVITZ Daily StaffReporter the regents about dealing with "a couple cloudy days" during the race and said they will next com- President Coleman gave the pete at the 2010 World Solar Chal- regents and other University lead- lenge in Australia. ers at the meeting yesterday a glimpse at how this year's fresh- WINFIELD GIVES REPORT man class stacks up on paper. She ON EMERGENCY called this year's freshman "the PREPAREDNESS finest incoming class in our his- tory." Robert Winfield, the Universi- Just fewer ty's Chief Health Officer, updated than 6,000 REGENTS the regents on the University's freshmen were NOTEBOOK emergency preparedness, saying enrolled this 25,000 people have signed up for year, and one in four of those the emergency alert system which were in the top 1 percent of their includes text and voicemail mes- high school graduating class. The sages. class had an average high school About 99,000 people are regis- GPA of 3.8, with more than half of tered to receive emergency alerts the incoming freshmen achieving from the University through a perfect 4.0. President Coleman e-mail, but the process of sending said she was "thrilled to welcome those alerts can take several hours " all the new students." to complete. SOLAR CAR TEAM HONORED The University of Michigan Solar Car team received a resolu- tion from the regents in honor of their 2008 Solar Challenge vic- tory. Regent Katherine White (D-Ann Arbor) read the resolution and handed the team members a framed version of it as Univer- sity President Mary Sue Coleman looked on. As the regents asked questions about the construction of the car and the execution of the race, 20 or so members of the team stood at the front of the room, answered questions and grinned from ear-to- ear. Coleman said their victory was due to an "amazing team effort." The team redesigns a new solar car every two years. Their most recent model won the Solar Chal- lenge by more than 10 hours and attained atop speed of 46miles per hour. Team members joked with MOORE From Page 1 young people to come out and vote," Moore said. "I'm hoping that people will download it and share it." Before screening the movie, Moore spoke for about an hour and a half. His message varied between irreverent jokes, bemoaning the Bush administration and urging the audience to participate in the political process. Moore said he had a "few modest proposals for President Obama." One of them was to reinstate the draft, but to only draft the chil- dren of families in the 95th income percentile. Such a proposal would probably cause the end of U.S. involvement in wars, he said half- jokingly. Kaitlin and Olivia Wylie, sisters and students at Washtenaw, Com- munity College, waited in line with lawn chairs and blank voter regis- tration forms. "Michael Moore's an inspira- tion," Olivia Wylie said. "I think that he's made a huge impact on society in a great way." The audience frequently broke into applause and gave Moore a NEW BUSINESS DEANSHIP ESTABLISHED The University Board of Regents voted yesterday to establish an endowed deanship for the Ross School of Business, effective Oct. 1 of this year. The Edward J. Frey Dean of Business, established with a donation of $5,000,000 from the Frey Foundation, will "serve as a significant means to retain and attract current and future deans of the school." Edward J. Frey, a Grand Rapids native, earned his undergradu- ate degree in business from the University in 1932. He established the Frey Foundation in 1974, an organization focused on support- ing hospitals, cultural initiatives, social service agencies and educa- tion. - Amy Munslow contributed to this report. standing ovation after his talk, but it wasn't without its critics. "I thought it was informative - although I remain a bit of a skep- tic," said Engineering senior Ifana Riback. "It would be easy to mis- represent information taken out of context." Moore encouraged the audience to donate to fundraisers located in the theater's lobby for Democrats challengingRepublican incumbent congressmen in Michigan. Frequently emphasizing the importance of turning out young voters, Moore noted that the high- est recorded turnout for 18- to 29-year-olds was in 2004. He sug- gested that their turnout was the reason that presidential election was so close. Brady Smith, chair of the Uni- versity's chapter of College Repub- licans, said he agreed with Moore's message of political involvement but warned of bias in the film. "Civic engagement is impor- tant," said Smith, who didn't attend the screening. However, he said he hoped viewers wouldn't be "swayed by a one-sided movie" and that they would seek out multiple sources of information. "Voting's great, but an informed vote is even better," he said. Unlike in past years, 'U' president will likely keep extra pay, spokeswoman says By JACOB SMILOVITZ Daily StaffReporter Though University President Mary Sue Coleman has turned down and returned salaryincreas- es in recent years, citing declining state funding and a weak Michi- gan economy, she was awarded a 4-percent raise yesterday at the University Board of Regents' first monthly meeting of the school year. And indications are, she's keeping it. The raise boosted her annual base salary to $553,500. In a letter read aloud by Regent Andrew Richner (R-Grosse Pointe Park), the board approved the raise to "reflect th'e full and unquali- fied support this board wishes to express for the performance of President Coleman in leading our university." Richner said the personnel committee compared data from presidents of private and public university peers when consid- ering Coleman's increase, and found the raise "consistent with this data." "President Coleman's efforts, along with those of the strong leadership team she has assem- bled, have resulted in dramatically increased financial aid for our stu- dents, new endowed chairs, hiring of new faculty, more graduate fel- lowships, and new and renovated facilities," Richner said. He went on to say that Cole- man has demonstrated "excel- lent stewardship of our financial resources" and "put the Universi- ty in a strong financial position in the face of challenging economic times." After the letter was read, Cole- man responded: "Thank you, and I am extremely grateful for your vote of confidence, thank you." A rousing round of applause ensued from the regents and other top University officials in atten- dance. "1 think I have to call a vote," Coleman said with a laugh. The regents then voted unani- mously in favor of the increase. In a phone interview Thursday night, University spokeswoman Kelly Cunningham said the raise was justified. "The board did a careful analysis University President Mary Sue Coleman was awarded a 4-percent salary hike, the largest increase ofther tenure, at yesterday's Board of Regents meeting. of what other top executives' sala- ries are, and this is a very appropri- ate increase," she said. Last year, the regents approved a 3-percent salary hike for Cole- man, which she donated to Uni- versity graduate and professional programs. Her base salary last year was $531,000. At yesterday's meeting, Cole- man made no indication that she planned to donate her pay raise back to the University. When asked if Coleman is pre- sumably accepting the raise this year, Cunningham said, "That is correct." The raise comes as the state continues to cut funding to higher education. Michigan state funding. for colleges and universities has dropped by 11 percentinthe last six years, while the average state has boosted higher education appro- priationsby 23 percent. The salary hike also comes on the heels of a 5.6 percent tuition increase for University students, approved by the regents at their June meeting. Tuition for an in- state freshman now stands at $11,037 a year. Since becoming president in 2002, Coleman has been given a small raise every year. The increas- es have usually been on par with similar raises for faculty and staff, but had never exceeded 3.5 percent. In a survey conducted by the Chronicle of Higher Education last year, Coleman ranked sixth among the highest compensated public University presidents. Along with her compensation from the University, Coleman also gets paid for her membership on the corporate boards of both John- son & Johnson and Meredith Cor- poration. Last year, the Chronicle list- ed her minimum annual pay for membership on those boards as $331,226. - Amy Munslow contributed to this report. Car Repal*r " Colwtiet tiVe rLoes "*FRigc TftaK-baide to ups * Fwavit0 owvAee - 30 jea rs Professional ProAutoTechs.com r. *. T echnicians 734.665.9707 The Driving Force in Auto Repair' p., Ann Arbor's Largest Selection of THE NORTH FACE CLOTHING and Equipment