P Illic4i an4,.3at Im Ann Arbor, Michigan Friday, October 10, 2008 michigandaily.com FUNDING DISCOVERIES U' sets research spending record With federal grants harder to secure, partnerships with industry bring in more money By ELAINE LAFAY Daily Staff Reporter * University research expenses broke $875.8 mil- lion for the 2007-2008 fiscal year, a 6.4 percent increase from last year and the highest sum spent on research and development in University his- tory. For the most current year, federal funding cov- ered 69.8 percent of the research - a 2.7 percent increase from last year. The bulk of the increased funding came from private industry, which rose by 11 percent. Because of the increasingly unreliable nature of federal research spending, University officials have grown wary of depending too heavily on the government and pursued more research partner- ships with private companies. "Many in our faculty who work with industry recognize that if they're going to increase their See RESEARCH, Page 7A STUDY MONEY The University's research spending in the last three fiscal years $1B $800M $600M $ 400M $200M 0 2005 2006 2007 SOURCE: UNIVERSITY NEWS SERVICE Graduation slated for Big House After being held in Diag last year, ceremony will return to stadium By TREVOR CALERO Daily StaffReporter Spring Commencement will move back to the Big House after the University was forced to relocate last spring's ceremony to the Diag, University officials said yester- day. Last spring's ceremony was held on the Diag in a compromise with students after University officials decided the ongoing $226-million renovation project would pre- vent it from being held at Michigan Stadi- um. After that decision, the University had initially planned to hold the event at East- ern Michigan University's Rynearson Sta- dium. University spokeswoman Kelly Cun- See COMMENCEMENT, Page 7A DIPLOMA DIPLOMACY Last January, when University adminis- trators announced the ceremony would be mnved ftem Michigan Stadium to Eastern Michigan University due tonconstruction, thousands of students and University alums signed petitions to move the event back to campus. University officials weretflooded with e-mails, many demanding that commence- ment be moved back to the Big House. The University polled about 3,000 graduatingstudents about the com- mencement location, givingthem a choice between the Diag and Elbel Field. Sixty-six percentvoted tonthe Dag. The event cost the University $1.8 mil- lion, or about $1.5 million more than the average cost of holding commencement in Michigan Stadium. The ceremony took two weeks to set up. Due to space constraints, each gradu- ate was only given six tickets compared to the eight tickets usually available in the Big House. MCTOnVTN TI-TVNF.TCTNRnR SAM WOLSON/Daily Christopher Mintz-Plasse, known for portraying McLovin' in the movie "Superbad," was confronted on the Diag by preacher Michael Venyah yesterday. Venyah repeatedly called him "Hollywood Man" and told Plasse that he was going to hell. In response, Plasse said that he loved his job, before quickly being ushered away by the television staff. Plasse was on campus promoting his new movie "Role Models," which was screened last night. * CAMPAIGN 200 * STEM CELL RESEARCH After withdrawal, McCain adjusts strategy Proposal language questioned Campaign spent $1.3 million in week prior to Michigan pullout By CAITLIN SCHNEIDER Daily StaffReporter After all but conceding Michigan a week ago, Republican presidential nominee John McCain's campaign has taken on an air of urgency, * ramping up efforts in what they consider winnable toss-up states. According to the Wisconsin Advertising Project, the McCain campaign spent $1.3 million on advertising in Michigan between Sept. 28 and Oct. 4. Democratic nominee Barack Obama enjoyed a 13-point lead in the state over McCain at the end of September, according to polling data from the Detroit Free Press. The campaign's resources are now being funneled to other, more contentious swing states like Florida, Virginia, New Hampshire, Ohio, Colorado and Nevada. Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota and New Mexico are also closely contested. Because both candidates were previously doting on Michigan, once considered a swing state, many analysts said McCain's deci- sion to pull out of the state marked a turning point in the election. McCain spent time this week in Wisconsin and Virginia, and his schedule shows stops in Iowa in the See MCCAIN, Page 7A A CAMPUS DIVIDED Activists debate wording of initiative that would loosen state stem cell laws By EMILY BARTON Daily News Editor Carly Collins, like many LSA seniors, is stilluncertain about her post-graduation plans. However, her plans differ frommanyseniors because where she goes to gradu- ate school could be determined by the outcome of the November 4 election. Collins is a cellular and molec- ular biology major, and works in the neurology lab on campus, using embryonic stem cells for her research on epilepsy in rats. She hopes to go on to graduate school here at the University to research human embryonic stem cells. "If any of the schools is going to discover something it's going to be Michigan and I want to be a part of this," she said. But with Michigan's current laws, she will have to go out of state to make this possible. "We're making discoveries on animals that we can't transfer to humans," Collins said. "We can do animal stem cell research but there's no way we can move for- BENS MON/Daily A researcher works with stem cells from mice embryos in a a lab in the Biomedi- cal Science Building last Friday. wardto use it on humans,you can't put animal stem cells in people." But Proposal 2, if passed, may change that come November. The ballot initiative will over- turn a 1978 Michigan law that bans the destruction of embryos in research. It will allow scientists to use embryos that would otherwise be discarded from fertility clinics to derive their own stem cell lines. It would not change Michigan's ban on cloning. Proponents of the ballot initia- tive, members of a group called Cure Michigan, are pushingfor the proposal to pass because embry- onic stem cells have the potential to cure diseases like Parkinson's and Juvenile Diabetes. But the opposition - Michigan Citizens Against Unrestricted Science and Experimentation - says the bal- lot language doesn't provide for enough restriction to prevent the research, and resulting therapies and cures, from being misused. Cure Michigan supporters are quick to contest that view. The campaign asked Dykema Attorney Richard McClellan, who specializes in government policy, to analyze the proposal. In a letter addressed to John Schwartz, chair of Cure Michi- See STEM CELLS, Page 7A SAM 5WOLON/Daily LSA junior Josh Strazanac, a member of the College Democrats, and LSA sophomore Geoff Baier, a member of the Cvllege epub- licans, participated in a debate held last night in Weill Hall. FOR MORE ON THE DEBATE, SEE PAGE 3A. FOR A SLIDESHOW OF THE EVENT, VISIT WWW.MICHIGANDAILY.COM. WEATHER HlI 74 TOMORROW LO: 53 GOT A NEWS TIP? Call 734-763-2459 or e-mail newsdmichigandaily.com and let us know. 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