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Ann Arbor, Michigan

Monday, October 6, 2008

michigandaily.com

THREE YARDS AND A CLOUD OF MUD

OFF-CAMPUS HOUSING
Developers
rework plan
for South U.
high-rises

JEREMY CR0/Daily
FOR MORE MUD BOWL ACTION- LSA senior Megan McWeeney of Alpha Phi gets tackled during a scoreless tie between her sorority and
Go to MICHIGANDAILYCOM/VIDEO fora video with Delta Delta Delta Saturday. In an event that was only slightly messier than Michigan's 45-20 loss against
Illinois, the sororities, along with Sigma Alpha Epsilon and Phi Kappa Psi, took part in Mud Bowl in frdnt of
clips from the other game that took place Saturday the SAE house. SAE routed Phi Kappa Psi, 36-16, in front of droves of cheering fans.
PAYING FOR COLLEGE
C FINMNDIAEA

City Council was
scheduled to discuss'
complex tonight
By SARA LYNNE THELEN
Daily StaffReporter
one day before a controversial
student high-rise building pro-
posal was slated to go before Ann
Arbor City Council, developers
submitted overhauled plans and
asked to postpone the vote.
Final plans for the project,
called "601 Forest" and located
at South University Avenue and
Forest Street, are scheduled to
be discussed at a public hear-
ing and voted on during Mon-
day's meeting, but after several
recent discussions with city offi-
cials, developers have drastically
downsized the project.
The suddenrevisions represent
dramatic compromises by devel-
opers after more than 10 months
of opposition from city officials;
area residents and students.
The proposal expected to go
before the City Council on Mon-
day is about half the size of the
original. It calls for one 14-story

building instead of two towers
21 and 25 stories high, reducing
the total number of units from
about 1,200 to between 500 and
600.
Under the new proposal, the
base of the building would only
occupy half of the 2.5-acres pur-
chased for the development.
The building would stand on the
corner now occupied by the Vil-
lage Corner convenience store
and other shops on South Forest
Street.
Councilmember Stephen
Rapundalo (D-Ward 2) said dur-
ing a pre-council caucus meeting
held Sunday night that commu-
nity outcry was "by far the most
prevailing reason" developers
decided to downsize the plan,
but said the poor state of the cur-
rent housing market may have
also been a factor in their deci-
sion.
"We're surmising they went
back and did their math," he said
of the project, originally slated to
cost $150-million.
The project's developers, Dan
Ketalaar and Ron Hughes, did not
attend the caucus and could not
be reached for comment Sunday
See HIGH-RISE, Page 7A

Officials consider
shortening 'complex,
inefficient' FAFSA
By THOMAS CHAN
Daily StaffReporter
For many students and their par-
ents, the Free Application for Fed-
eral Student Aid is a dreaded and
time-consuming yearly tradition.
If recently proposed changes
go through, though, that process
could become less grueling, start-
ing in the 2010-2011 school year.
At a speech at Harvard Uni-
versity Thursday, United States

Secretary of Education Margaret
Spellings proposed major changes
to the FAFSA form, reducing the
length of the form from six pages to
three and cutting almost 100 ques-
tions off the application.
"It's six pages long, has more
than 120 questions and it asks how
old you are three different ways,"
Spellings said in her speech.
The proposal follows the work
of the Commission on the Future
of Higher Education, launched by
Spellings, and the College Oppor-
tunity and Affordability Act of
2008.
The bill, signed into law on Aug.
14, required the Secretary of Edu-
cation to reduce the number of

questions by at least 50 percent.
The commission found that
many consider the form onerous
and confusing.
"For the typical household, the
Free Application for Federal Stu-
dent Aid, or FAFSA, is longer and
more complicated than the federal
tax return," the Commission said
in their 2006 report. "We found
that our financial aid system is
confusing, complex, inefficient,
duplicative, and frequently does
not direct aid to students who
truly need it."
The U.S. Department of Educa-
tion recently released a working
draft of what the shortened FAFSA
might look like in 2010.

Susan Dynarski, a professor of
education and public policy at the
University of Michigan, supported
the changes, saying much of the
application was unnecessary.
"You don't need 90 percent of
the FAFSA to give out federal aid,"
Dynarski said.
Rackham student Nicole Dicel-
son said she thinks the simplifica-
tions will be "great."
"Make my life easier," she said.
"When I know it's time to do my
FAFSA again it makes me sad - I
don't want to do it."
Federalagencieslike theInterhal
Revenue Service and the Depart-
ment of Education intend to share
See FAFSA, Page 7A

* CAMPAIGN 2008
'U' allows political groups
to campaign in dorms

KEEPING WARM
Report: heat
costs to rise
this winter

After meeting with
Obama campaign
lawyers, Housing

Today is the lastdaytoregister
to vote in Michigan. Visit
michigan-gov/voteforinfo.

c
Prev
ing in t
icy, the
last-dit
in most
With
to vote
tial ele
about
met at
and reg
r. The
cooroin
under L
tation
Coats S
ty's cha

:hanges policy The University is prohibited from
using public resources to support
or oppose a political candidate by
By JULIE ROWE state and federal laws.
Daily StaffReporter "It wasn't that it was banned
before," he said. "It was that it was
iously barred from canvass- a grey area."
he dorms by University pol- The group has encouraged its
College Democrats held a members who live in residence
ch voter registration effort halls to talk to their neighbors
t campus residence halls. about Democratic presidential
h the deadline to register nominee Barack Obama and help
for next month's presiden- them register to vote, but the group
ction at midnight Monday, had never held a coordinated can-
50 members of the group vassing effort before. The College
the Union to get clipboards Dems registered about 60 people
istration forms. in two hours last night.
group wasn't allowed to Before, the only group allowed
sate canvasses in the dorms to register voters in the residence
University Housing's solici- halls was Voice Your Vote, a non-
policy, said Nathaniel Eli partisan commission of the Michi-
ityer, chair of the Universi- gan Student Assembly. Voice Your
apter of College Democrats. See CAMPAIGNING, Page 7A

Experts say gas
bills for houses
will rise by more
than 20 percent
By TREVOR CALERO
Daily StaffReporter
Students living off-campus in
drafty old houses should be pre-
pared for higher energy bills this
winter.
A report released by the
Michigan Public Service Com-
mission, a division of the state
government that manages ener-
gy, communication and trans-
portation services, said heating
bills across the state are expect-
ed to increase by more than 20
percent this winter. But the high
projection is something the Uni-
versity was prepared for.
University Housing spokes-
man Peter Logan said his office

THE HEAT iS ON
How tosavemoney on you
healing bill this winter:
* Schedule a checkup to makesure
heatingsystems runefficiently
* lean or replace furnace air filters
* Make sure heat regislers ate not
blocked bydrapes or furniture
* Turn down thethermostat -each
degree saves 3 percent of heating bill
SOURCE: MICHIGAN PUBL C
sERVICE COMMISSON
foresaw rising utility costs when
planning its budget for the cur-
rent school year.
of the department's $103 mil-
lionbudget, $9millionis setaside
for utility expenses - a 13.6 per-
cent increase from the previous
year, Logan said. Though higher
energy bills don't directly affect
students living in residence
halls, University Housing rates
See HEAT, Page 7A

Actor Sean Astin of 'Lord of the Rings' speaks to the College Democrats at the
Michigan Union yesterday about the importance of registering to people to vote.


WEATHER HI:66
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