T wlJ8tjjV O 14be cLiigan4 hili, Ann Arbor, Michigan Wednesday, March 11,2009 michigandaily.com TOP OF THE TOWER THE ECONOMICS OF EDUCATION Obama ups credit, loans for students. SAM WOLSON/Doily Prof. Steven Bali performs the carillon on the 11th floor of the Burton Memorial Tower yesterday. Each weekday, a musician - either a student or professor -gives carillon performances from the bell towers on both North Campus and Central Campus starting at noon. Anyone can travel to the bell tower for the free concert. Burton Memorial Tower contains 55 bells, including North America's third-heaviest bell. HOLLYWOOD ON CAMPUS launches new ilmoffice In b p fed( for I For loans a college financi increas private recent To sibility credit Obama expans loan p budget Feb. 26 The erated educat by the' "A I should of col] ing to Ameri ensure not on lege, b obtain The the Ft )udget proposal, gram from $1billion to $6 billion per year. The number of colleges resident frees and universities participating in the program would increase from oral funds to pay 1,800 to 4,400. The University of Michigan already takes part in the higher education Perkins Loan Program. Mike Boulus, executive direc- By NICOLE ABER tor of the Presidents Council State DgilyStaffReporter Universities of Michigan, said the increase in direct -federal loans students dependent on will be more beneficial for stu- tnd lines of credit to pay for dents than loans currently offered , a lockdown on the nation's by banks and private companies ial markets has made it facing crises during the current singly difficult to access economic downturn. funding for education in "The more money available months. for loans and grants, the greater maintain college acres- opportunities students will have in light of the country's because the more federal dollars problems, President Barack available, guaranteed fromrthe fed- a has laid out plans for an eral government, the less students sion to federal grant and will have to rely on private loans rograms in his proposed which are becoming very, very presented to Congress on scarce right now," Boulus said. 5. Terry Stanton, public informa- Obama administration reit- tion officer for Student Financial its commitment to higher Services at the Michigan Depart- ion in a statement released ment of Treasury, also said the White House yesterday. increase in federal loans is impor- ack of financial resources tant during the current time, as never obstruct the promise banks and private lenders struggle lege opportunity," accord- to generate capital. the statement. "And it's "There were anumber offinancial ca's shared responsibility to institutions issuing student loans, that more of our students and a number of states wrapped up ly reach the doors of col- intheir programs orsuspended pro- ut also persist, succeed, and grams, Michigan included, because their degree." of the credit crunch," he said. "The budget proposes to expand federal government stepped in to ederal Perkins Loan Pro- See BUDGET, Page 7A With producers calling, office will coordinate bids to film on campus By ERIK TORENBERG For the Daily The glitz and glamour of Holly- wood is starting to shine in Michi- gan thanks to tax incentives from the state for the film industry, and University officials say they're ready to put the campus in the spot- light. University officials recently announced the formation of a film office to coordinate movies being filmed on campus. Demand for access to the University for filming has increased since Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed legislation offering about a' 40-percent refundable tax credit for movie productions spend- ing at least $50,000 in Michigan. To complement the state's efforts, the University is looking to help film studios by allowing them to film on campus. However, Lee Doyle, who heads the new film office, said she doesn't expect the University to make much of a profit off filming. "The University is a nonprofit entity so we have to be mindful that we're not in it for profit for every- thing we do," she said. Doyle said that while the Uni- versity isn't in it for the money, it will have the costs associated with filming on campus covered by film producers. Instead of concentrating on prof- its, the office is focusing on attract- ing film producers by building a strong reputation for Ann Arbor as a great place to make movies and portraying the University as a strong partner to the industry. "The state of Michigan is trying to get a foothold in a new industry, so part of the important work for that to happen is that filmmakers have to come here, like it, and then tell their friends," Doyle said. Doyle said the impetus for the See FILM OFFICE, Page 7A COMMUNITY SERVICE University lands top-ten spot in ONE Campaign Challenge MSA votes to support Stop the Hike initiative School that wins final round receives a free concert by Vampire Weekend By JENNA SKOLLER Daily StaffReporter The indie-rock band Vampire Weekend is providing an extra incentive for college across the country competing in the ONE Campaign Challenge. The band could perform a free show on campus in mid-April if the the University's chapter of the ONE Campaign wins the competition. The ONE Campaign is a non-profit organization focused on ending global AIDS and poverty. The Uni- versity's chapter is currently among the top 10 competitors. The ONE Campus Challenge is a competition in which college stu- dents across the country attempt to raise awareness of extreme poverty and preventable diseases. In the first round of the pro- gram, the organization's national headquarters gave each of the thousands of competing schools a weekly challenge, like calling as many congressmen as possible a d planning an event for World AIS Day. The top 10 schools accumu- lated the most points from winning these challenges. Each of the top 10 schools will receive a $1,000 grant from the group's national headquarters to be used toward an event to raise awareness on campus. The grants will be used to "build a project, program or event that See ONE CAMPAIGN, Page 7A DISCUSSING HUMAN DEVELOPMENT Nobel winner to speak on campus Campaign calls on 'U' to freeze tuition rate if state funding remains constant By JENNA SKOLLER Daily StaffReporter The Michigan Student Assem- bly passed a resolution at its week- ly meeting last night that supports the efforts of Stop the Hike, an initiative that aims to help keep tuition affordable for University students. Members of the initiative are calling on the University to freeze tuition, but only if the University's funding from the state remains constant. Engineering senior Ashwin Lalendran, who is working on the initiative, said the group formed after students discussed their personal experiences with rising tuition and explored possible solu- tions to the problem. "It started with informal dis- cussions, with personal stories of students in general in the current economy and the understanding of both sides: the University's side and the state's side, the belief that students can propose a solution," he said. The group began the campaign by formulating a survey to evaluate student perspectives on a tuition Economist Heckman will talk about adversity's impact on children's growth By CAITLIN SCHNEIDER Daily News Editor Economist and Nobel Prize winner James Heckman will speak about "The Economics and Psychology of Inequality and Human Development," on campus tomorrow. Heckman, a professor at the Uni- versity of Chicago, will speak in the Pendleton Room of the Michigan Union at 3:30 p.m. According to a press release, Heckman's lecture will center on recent research regarding the "eco- nomics of human development." Specifically, he will talk about how inequalities within the family unit and investments in children can affect the development of a child and how "optimal child investment strategies differ depending on tar- get outcomes of interest and on the nature of adversity in a child's early years." These strategies, according to Heckman's research, can be used to aid children's success. The lecture is part of a two-day conference called "The Long Run Impact of Early Life Events II" featuring economists, social epide- miologists and developmental psy- chologists. Heckman won the Nobel Prize for Economics in 2000 for his development of a theory and meth- ods regarding the analysis of selec- tive samples. He has also been the recipient of the John Bates Clark Award of the American Econom- ic Association in 1983, the 2005 See ECONOMIST, Page 7A JED MOCH/Daily , Aria Everts, a student advocate for 'Stop the Hike' - an initiative to prevent tuition increases at the University - addresses the Michigan Student Assembly last night. freeze. It can be found at tinyurl. com/stopthehike. Though the initiative is unaf- filiated with MSA or any other student group, its participants said they are looking for the support of different student organizations like the Interfraternity Council, the Residence Hall Association and LSA Student Government. Lalendran said the best way'to get the tuition freeze implement- ed is by "approaching the student governments, leveraging that infrastructure and presenting one unified voice to stand in solidar- ity." "And that's basically what we're doing," he said. Business Rep. Alex Serwer, who is working on the initiative and sponsored MSA'sresolutiontosup- port it, said Stop the Hike wants to implement plans that will not only aid current University students, but future ones as well. "We need to create asustainable infrastructure where people can carry our torch into next year," he See MSA, Page 7A WEATHER HI: 32 TOMORROW LO:16 GOT A NEWS TIP? Call 734-763-2459 or e-mail newsddmichigandailv.com and let us know. NEW ON MICHIGANDAILY.COM Michigan athletes taking home the hardware. THEGAME.BLOGS.MICHIIANDAILY.COM INDEX NEWS .............. Vol CXIX,No106 OPINION......... '2009 The Michigan Daily ARTS............... michigandailycom ............2A CLASSIFIEDS ......................6A .4A SPORTS.. . ..A.........8A ..SE........5TA STATEM ENT.........................1B ..