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Ann Arbor, Michigan
Monday, February 2,2009
anichigandailycom
ANN ARBOR FOLKLORE
TRANSFER ADMISSIONS
'U' to take
in more
transfer
applicants
JED MOCH/Daily
For a slideshow of other moments from this year's Folk legend Pete Seeger performs at Hill Auditorium to close the second night of the 32nd annual Ann
Ann Arbor Folk Festival, go to michigandaily.com. Arbor Folk Festival. The festival, a yearly fundraiser for The Ark, features many of the country's most
notable folk artists. Old Crowe Medicine Show and Wilco's Jeff Tweedy also appeared at this year's event.
CAMPUS TECHNOLOGY
Wireless security gets upgrade
Officials say that
economic woes have
forced students to
return to home state
By KYLE SWANSON
Daily StaffReporter
The University plansto alter the
wayithandlestransferapplications
this year as economic hardships
pushed some Michigan natives
attending out-of-state schools to
transfer back to their home state.
University Provost Teresa Sulli-
van said she's watching the situation
very closely to see if students from
Michigan who attend out-of-state
schools need to transfer back in-state
because of financial constraints.
"We've been hearing anecdotes
about freshmen at other universi-
ties who've been told by their par-
ents that they need to come back
in-state and go to a state univer-
sity, like Michigan," she said.
University President Mary Sue
Coleman said the University does
not normally accept a large num-
ber of sophomore transfers, but
that she's willing to make excep-
tions this year. Last fall, 833 stu-
dents enrolled as transfer students
at the University, of which 32 per-
cent were sophomores.
"If there was a student who
had somehow looked at Michigan
and been admitted a year ago, but
decided to go to Dartmouth; and
now because of family circum-
stances or whatever said, 'Hey
can I come back to Michigan?' we
wanted to make sure that we were
paying attention to those stu-
dents," Coleman said.
Sullivan said students who were
previously admittedto theUniversi-
ty but chose to attend an out-of-state
school would likely be re-admitted
if they applied to transfer, though
there are no guarantees.
"Basically, if you were admit-
ted to Michigan a year ago, we feel
pretty friendlytowards you and are
notlikelyto re-think that (decision)
too carefully," she said. "It's not a
guarantee, but it's pretty routine:"
Sullivan said the tougher deci-
sions will come from students who
never applied to the University.
"I think the more difficult case
is the high school student who, for
whatever reason, did not apply to
Michigan, went out of state, now
wants to come back-and has never
applied here before," she said.
"That's a student for whom we
have to look at everything."
No official numbers have been
released yet, but Sullivan said she
has been in conversations with LSA
Dean Terrence McDonald about
how best to handle the situation.
The deadline to applyto the College
of Literature, Science and the Arts
as a transfer studentwas yesterday.
See TRANSFERS, Page 3A
University opts
for security over
expanding coverage
By ESHWAR
THIRUNAVUKKARASU
Daily StaffReporter
Students looking to check their
Facebook updates while outdoors
are currently better off relying on
their iPhones or BlackBerrys than
their personal laptop computers.
And University officials say they
shouldn't expect that to change.
According to Andy Palms, the
University's director of IT Com-
munications, the University has
no plans to broaden the reach of its
wireless Internet network on cam-
pus, but will instead focus on mak-
ing its coverage more secure.
With nearly a quarter of the U.S.
population owning a smart phone
- like iPhones or BlackBerrys -
Palms said the University has jus-
tified its lack of outdoor coverage
with the growing prevalence of 3G
networks and similar networking
systems offered by companies like
Verizon Wireless and AT&T.
"When you're walking across the
Diag, I don't know that you need
more capacity on a truly mobile
device than what a carrier provides
you," Palms said.
A push for expanded wireless
access on college campuses has
pushed some schools like Cornell
University and Dartmouth College
to offer campus-wide WiFi access
that spans a majority of indoor and
outdoors locations.
Palms attributes the difficulty
in coordinating a comprehensive
wireless Internet system to the
University's decentralized unit
structure. He said each school
and college consults with the Uni-
versity's Information Technology
Central Services but will ultimately
judge its own IT needs.
"The units are continuing to
make their own financial deci-
sions about how they spend stu-
dent tuition dollars, whether they
spend it on (WiFi) or on faculty or
whatever their local needs are."
said Palms. "It's a very autonomous
University."
The dorms have been one area
where students are particularly
concerned with wireless reception.
Mosher-Jordan Hall and Mary
Markley Hall have been among the
few residence halls equipped with
WiFi access in both public areas and
individual rooms. The same capacity
for wireless access will be extended
to Stockwell Hall and North Quad
when they officially open their doors
in 2009 and 2010, respectively.
Engineering sophomore Zach
Stoklosa lived on North Campus
last year in Baits II - one of many
residence halls lacking wireless
Internet access.
See WIRELESS, Page 3A
MICHIGAN'S PRISONS
State legislature considers
adjusting prison sentences
In keynote, entrepreneur talks
turning one's trash into profit
Szaky's company
'upcycles' used
Report proposes
shortening sentences,
could save $262M
By LINDSAY KRAMER
Daily StaffReporter
Michigan's state legislature
is considering a plan that would
shorten prison sentences and bring
them more in line with other states.
The plan, which is based on a year
long analysis of the state's prison
system, could provide a potential
savings of $262 million by 2015.
In a study published by the Coun-
cil of State Governments, an exami-
nation of the state's current process
of incarcerating prisoners revealed
that the average maximum sen-
tence in the state is three times as
long as the minimum, which is in
stark contrast to similar laws across
the nation.
With an approximate spending
of $32,000 per year on each individ-
ual prisoner, sentencing people for
seemingly extended periods of time
is costly and ineffective, according
to the report.
If Michigan's legislature enact-
ed the report's suggestions, 4,300
additional prisoners would be
released by 2015, which would be a
huge financial benefit for the state.
Prisoners would be reviewed by
the parole board and would not be
jailed any longer than 120 percent
of their minimum sentence.
However, the parole board would
be able to hold prisoners for more
than 120 percent of the minimum
sentence if they are deemed to be at
high-risk for re-offending.
According to the report, the
See PRISONERS, Page 3A
STUDENT GOVERNMENT
Town hall provides forum for students
products into goods
By EMILY ORLEY
Daily StaffReporter
Tom Szaky, a 27-year-old Princ-
eton University dropout, launched
a multi-million dollar company
with worm poop.
Szaky, who co-founded Ter-
raCycle Inc. at the age of 21 in a
grungy basement of an old office
building, was the last keynote
speaker for the Ross Net Impact
Forum, a two-day event featuring
speakers from around the country
talking on environmental sustain-
ability.
Six years after its inception in
2002, Szaky's company is the lead-
er in upcycling, a process of recy-
cling "unrecyclable'' materials.
"There is no product that can't
be made from waste, and there is
no waste that can't be upcycled,"
Szaky said to a crowd of business-
clad men and women in the ball-
room of the Michigan League.
Szakyexplicitlyexplained what,
exactly, garbage is and how it can
be reused.
Contrary to what most people
think, Szaky said that most "unre-
cyclable" objects can actually be
MSA, LSA-SG and
others to hear gripes
tonight at 7:30 p.m.
By DANIEL STRAUSS
DailyStaffReporter
Students who have a beef with
their student government represen-
tatives will have the chance to let
them know tonight at a town hall
meeting organized by LSA Student
Government.
Representatives from the Univer-
sity's major student governments,
including the Michigan Student
Assembly, will meet tonight at 7:30
p.m. in Chemistry 1300 to field
complaints and thoughts from the
student body. The town hall is also
meant to inform students about
what the student governments have
been doing lately.
Megan Madison, LSA-SG's aca-
demic relations officer who orga-
nized the event, said the town hall
meeting is about accountability.
Madison said it's important for her
and her fellow representatives to
know what's important to their
constituents.
"I just think it's kind of like,
'duh, democracy,' " Madison said.
"We've sort of gotten used to this
culture of a one-party system and a
disconnect to student governments
See TOWN HALL, Page 3A
TerraCycfe Inc. CEO Tom Szaky speaks at the Ross Net Impact Forum on Friday.
recycled.
Terracycle partners with some
of the nations largest companies,
including Capri-Sun, Oreo and
Stonyfield Yogurt. The company
has exclusive rightsto collect these
companies' used products from
consumers like yogurt cartons
or juice pouches and use them to
make school supplies, lawn prod-
ucts and cleaning products.
TerraCycle's most successful
project, creating pencil cases out
of Capri-Sun juice pouches, was
the most popular pencil case sold
See KEYNOTE, Page 3A
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