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The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Friday, October 24, 2008 -- 7A
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Friday, October 24,2008 - 7A
" .U. honors jailed
Chinese dissident
STRASBOURG, France (AP)
- A jailed Chinese activist won
the European Union's top human
rights prize on yesterday despite
strongpressure fromBeijing,which
scorned the honor and said it would
cause serious harm to China's rela-
tions with the 27-nation bloc.
Ignoring repeated warnings
from China, the European Parlia-
ment chose Hu Jia over two other
nominees for the Sakharov Prize.
"Hu Jia is one of the real defend-
ers of human rights in the People's
Republic of China," said EU assem-
bly's president Hans-Gert Poettering.
"The European Parliament is
sending out a signal of clear sup-
port to all those who support
human rights in China."
Before the announcement, the
Chinese Foreign Ministry said Hu
Jia was a criminal and that honor-
ing him would constitute interfer-
ence in China's internal affairs.
Hours later, the furious ministry
said the selection of Hu violated
universal rules of respect.
Hu, an outspoken advocate on
human rights, the environment
and social fairness, is serving a
3 1/2-year jail term for sedition.
The authorities in Beijing say he
planned to work with foreigners
to disturb the Olympic Games that
were held there in August. China
had exerted similar pressure
before the announcement of this
year's Nobel Peace Prize, when Hu
had been suggested asa candidate.
That prize went to former Finland
President Martti Ahtisaari.
CAPS
From Page lA
though the office will see students
in need of emergency counseling
on the same day.
Since the site's initial launch,
CAPS staff has surveyed students
about the site's content and con-
figuration, and expanded it to
include more multimedia features
and topic pages, officials said.
On the site, students can screen
themselves for mental health
conditions, learn how to help a
suicidal friend, watch videos for
students talking about the stigma
of seeking help or download yoga
exercise videos to their iPods.
The most widespread issues'stu-
dents reported in the survey were
stress and depression. The site also
has topic pages with information
about sexual orientation, anxiety,
grief and sleep disorders.
Sevig said CAPS decided to
expand the Do Something cam-
paign because it garnered a posi-
tive response last year.
"This is a very active generation
of college students who are really
into helping each other," he said.
According to online statistics
providedby CAPS, the MiTalk site
was viewed 3,737 times in Sep-
tember by a total of 907 people.
The most frequently visited pages
were "tour the site", "identify a
problem" and "multimedia."
Sevig said he thought students
were more likely to use the CAPS
website instead of other general
mental health websites because
it was specifically tailored to Uni-
versity students.
"The beauty of this is that we've
worked with UM students to take
the mental health profession and
the field and the literature and to
really focus exclusively on, 'how
do college students experience it
on this campus?' " he said.
Engineeringsophomore Colleen
Budd said she was drawn to the
CAPS table in the Union yesterday
for the free T-shirts, but after see-
ing some of the statistics on men-
tal health issues among University
students, she decided to stay and
learn more about MiTalk.
She said she thinks the website
does a good job of giving students
optionsofhowtheywanttoapproach
their individual problems.
"This is somethingstudents can
do if they're embarrassed to say,
'Hey, I think I'm sad,' " she said.
"They can watch videos to help
them relax if they have anxiety
problems or individually address
any other problems they have"
ENDOWMENT
From Page 1A
stands as the eighth largest in the
country among all institutions of
higher education and the second
largest among public universi-
ties. The National Association of
College and University Business
Officers (NACUBO), which ranks
endowments, has not yet released
its rankings for this year.
White credited the growth of
the endowment to - the generos-
ity of alumni and other donors, as
well as the University's investment
team, headed by Eric Lundberg,
the University's chief investment
officer.
The 6.4 percent increase was a
better return than major market
indexes posted during the period.
The Standard & Poor's 500, an
index of large U.S. stocks, fell 13.1
percent during the same period,
while the Dow Jones Industrial
Average fell 13.4 percent.
According to research cited in
The Wall Street Journal in Sep-
tember, large endowment funds
lost an average of 4.4 percent in
the fiscal year that ended in June.
Harvard University's endowment
- the nation's largest - posted
an 8.6 percent return, bringing its
value to $36.9 billion, while Yale
University's endowment increased
4.5 percent to $22.9 billion.
In an interview after the meet-
ing, Lundberg said the growth of
the endowment stemmed from a
diversified but simple long-term
investment strategy.
"We try tobe up when the mar-
kets are up," he said. "And when
the markets are down, we try tobe
down less."
Lundberg said the University
was able to avoid much of the beat-
ing suffered by stock portfolios
and retirement plans around the
country in recent months because
the University's portfolio has a lot
of investments "that are specifi-
cally designed to do well when the
markets are down."
University President Mary Sue
Coleman praised the success of
Lundberg and his staff in an inter-
view after the meeting.
"We have got the best invest-
mentteam inthe country," she said
with a laugh.
During the meeting, Coleman
said maintaining a robust endow-
ment affects funding for all the
university's activities, includ-
ing scholarships for students and
research projects for faculty mem-
bers.
"The strength of our finances is
the backbone of our excellence in
teaching and research," she said.
"The prudent management of our
resources has been more evident
than ever with the recent fluctua-
tions in the market."
CANDIDATE
From Page 1A
Robert, a former University foot-
ball captain, have been married
for 45 years. They live in Kalama-
zoo, where the couple is workingto
launch a pre-school education pro-
gram for local children.
Though Brown said campaign-
ing as a Republican has been a
challenge in the current political
climate, she said her passion and
long-term involvement in educa-
tion prompted her decision to make
a second run for regent. She said
she was confident about her chanc-
es for victory on Nov. 4, citing her
conservative values.
"I think I have a good chance
because I think people are look-
ing harder at the ticket and I think
they are jumping around," Brown
said. "So when people vote I hope
they will remember Susan Brown
and realize that the Board needs
diversity."
Brown said her volunteer expe-
rience and previous involvement
in higher education would bring
a new perspective to the current
board, which includes seven mem-
bers out of eight who have a back-
ground in law.
As a long-time resident of
southwest Michigan, Brown
said she would bring new ideas
and "geographic diversity" to
the Board and help spread the
University's economic impact
throughout the state. Brown said
she would work to bolster the
state's economy'with a program
to keep recent University gradu-
ates from leaving Michigan, by
connecting them with in-state
alumni.
Brown said she thought the
board would benefit from term
limits, and that she wouldn't seek a
second term if elected. She said she
doesn't have plans for a third cam-
paign if this year's proves unsuc-
cessful.
"It doesn't make any difference
if they're Republicans or Demo-
crats," Brown said. "We just need
new people, but that's hard to get
right now."
Endorsed by regents Andrea
Fischer Newman (R-Ann Arbor)
and Andrew Richner (R-Grosse
Pointe Park), Brown is a member
of the Michigan Republican Party,
Citizens for Traditional Values,
National Right to Life, and calls
herself a supporter of the Second
Amendment.
Richner, who has served on
the Board since 2002, said Brown
would bring a budget-minded
approach to her decisions.
"Susan has a long and distin-
guished history of support for the
University and has a true passion
for her alma mater," Richner said.
"She would be an effective voice on
the Board for fiscal responsibility
and tuition restraint."
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