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Ann Arbor, Michigan

Thursday, April 2, 2009

michigandaily.com

WHEN A TREE FALLS ON SOUTH FOREST ...

WEST QUAD ARSON
Officials
defend fire
response

CHANEL VON HABSBURG-LOTHRINGEN/Daily
A tree fell on both a parked red SUV and a passing Hospital Security vehicle on the corner of Hill Street and South Forest Ave. around 1:30 p.m. yesterday afternoon. The
driver of the Hospital Security vehicle, a hospital security worker, was uninjured and able to resume work after the accident.
THE RECESSION'S IMPACT ON CAMPUS
C eman: helped by downturn

Students reported
confusion, delays
after fire caused
full evacuation
By JENNA SKOLLER
Daily StaffReporter
After a fire broke out in West
Quad last week, causing a full
evacuation of the building, resi-
dents reported a general sense of
confusion as they were displaced
for several hours in the wee hours
of Thursday morning.
In looking at the University's
emergencyresponse,PeterLogan,
a spokesman for University Hous-
ing, said the evacuation ran rela-
tively smoothly. But, he said, the
residence staff is working to see
how the handling of a similar
situation could be improved in
the future.
"We're in the process of ask-
ing ourselves what could we do
differently to make things a little
more fluid or expedient for the
students," he said. "But in reflec-
tion on this event, we did pretty
well, I think, in terms of handling
the emergency.
"The most important thing
is to get the students out of the
building when there is the threat
of harm," he continued. "And we
were happy that the suppression

system worked and there were no
injuries."
However, he added: "There
was a lot of inconvenience, we
acknowledge that."
Logan said the residence
staff in West Quad has already
discussed the issue of whether
they should have anticipated or
handled the situation better. He
added thatsome of the University
Housing directors will engage in
further discussion in the next few
days.
After the evacuation at about
1:30 a.m. last Thursday morn-
ing, students were evacuated to
the South Quad cafeteria and the
South Quad Community Learn-
ing Center on the ninth floor.
Once there, resident advisers and
other West Quad residence staff
alerted residents of the situation,
Logan said.
Business sophomore Morgan
Williams, a West Quad resident,
said she did not hear any informa-
tion directly from housing staff,
which she said made the situation
more confusing.
"I didn't realize it was goingto
be three or four hours," she said.
LSA sophomore- Kara Kime,
another West Quad resident,
said she did not think the
residents were debriefed well
enough right after they were
told to evacuate.
"I think it could have been a
See WEST QUAD, Page 3A

Others say economy
not the reason for
more research funds
By KYLE SWANSON
Daily StaffReporter
Many businesses are feeling the
pinch in the current recession, but
University President Mary Sue

Coleman said the sour economy has
actually presented opportunities to
the University that may not have
otherwise existed.
Speaking in an exclusive inter-
view on Tuesday, Coleman said
although the University has been
negatively affected by the economic
downturn, the dark economic situ-
ation has also contributed to a high-
er rate of research partnerships.
"I think this is an opportunity

for us," Coleman said of the reces-
sion. "As a consequence of this,
we're finding entities that want to
partner with us that if we were in
flush economic times wouldn't."
These programs like the GM/
UM Advanced Battery Coalition
for Drivetrains, a partnership
between General Motors and the
University to develop advanced
batteries, bring more money and
more opportunities for faculty and

students to campus, she said.
According to an annual report
given to the Board of Regents by
Vice President for Research Ste-
phen Forrest earlier this year, the
University's research funding
has jumped to $876 million, an
increase of 6.4 percent from last
year.
Business contributions toward
research have also seen an increase
See COLEMAN, Page 7A

FROM THE BATTLEFIELD TO THE CLASSROOM
Proposal would give student vets in-state tuition

In Lansing, students
say plan would help
state's economy
By DEVON THORSBY
Daily StaffReporter
In a testimony before state sena-
tors yesterday, University student
veterans pushed for the state to

charge veterans who attend public
universities in Michigan in-state
tuition rates no matter where they
are from originally.
The proposal - which was put
forth by members of national stu-
dent organization Student Veterans
of America - aims to take advan-
tage of a stipulation in the G.I. Bill
that was passed last year. The bill
states that the federal government
will pay the cost of in-state tuition

for any veteran of the wars in Iraq
and Afghanistan.
In Lansing yesterday, student
veterans made the argument that
by passing their proposal, the fed-
eral money allocated in the GI Bill
will be pumped in Michigan's ailing
economy.
"By encouraging all veterans
to pursue their educations in our
state, we will ensure the train-
ing necessary for the workforce of

Michigan's future, all on the feder-
al government's dime," wrote LSA
senior Carl Ireland, wrote in the
proposal. Ireland is the legislative
director of SVA's Michigan chapter.
The five-point proposal includ-
ed in-state tuition for all student
veterans of the wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan, providing on-campus
services for veterans to help with
the transition from active duty to
campus life, increased credit trans-

fers from military training and a
relaxation of application deadlines
and fees for veterans.
By providing in-state tuition
rates to student veterans, the pro-
posal, hopes to encourage a greater
number of student veterans to apply
to Michigan public universities,
routing the federal money avail-
able for student veteran tuition into
Michigan's economy.
In an interview after the hear-

ing, Co-founder and President
of Student Veterans of America
Derek Blumke, an LSA senior, dis-
cussed the importance of audit-
ing credit transfers for military
training, which is included in the
proposal and is something that
the University currently does not
allow.
"Things like the leadership
training we've received in military
See STUDENT VETERANS, Page 3A


UNIVERSITY RESEARCH
'U' scientists find
saltwater on Mars

LIVING ON NORTH CAMPUS
In three houses, Baits
goes strictly freshman

A NATURAL REACTION

Water had only been
found in the form of
ice and water vapor
before discovery
By STEPHANIE STEINBERG
Daily StaffReporter
Mars may be one step closer to
sustaining life.
Nilton Renno, professor of
Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space
Sciences and co-investigator of the
Phoenix Mars Mission, along with
a group of University of Michigan
scientists have recently discovered
the presence of liquid salt water on
Mars - a new discovery given that
water was heretofore only believed
to be on the red planet in the form

of ice and water vapor.
The discovery was made from
images taken by NASA's Mars
Phoenix Lander - aspacecraft that
landed on May 25,2008.
Liquid water is the essential
ingredient for life, and while no
organisms have been found on
Mars, the evidence of liquid water
is a major scientific discovery.
"This is the first time that liquid
water has been seen anywhere out-
side our own planet," Renno said.
Manish Mehta, a graduate
student in the department of
Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space
Sciences,worked withRennoonthe
mission. Mehta performed experi-
ments to determine the amount of
soil Phoenix was going to lift from
Mars' surface upon landing.
From his investigation, Mehta
See MARS, Page 7A

'U' Housing hopes
change will make
residence hall
more welcoming
By VALIANT LOWITZ
DailyStaffReporter
It's not uncommon for incom-
ing freshmen students to dread
the prospect of living on North
Campus during their first year
- most notably the Vera Baits
housing complex.
Equipped with a new set of
plans, University housingis hop-
ing to change that opinions.
Beginning in the fall semester
of 2009, the Cross, Conger and
Coman houses in Baits II will be
designated strictly as freshman-
only housing.

The decision came as aresult
of comments from freshman
students currently living in
Baits, according to Univer-
sity Housing Spokesman Peter
Logan.
Generally, many first-year
students have complained
about living in the Baits
Houses, noting that the resi-
dence hall isn't conducive to
the transition into college life,
according to Logan. He added,
however, that the switch to all
freshman housing "may suc-
ceed in changing perceptions"
about living in Baits.
"This is an effort to provide
more community building for
freshman in the Baits houses,"
he said.
Not all students, though,
have negative feelings about the
Baits houses. Joanna Smulska, a
See BAITS, Page 7A

LSA sophomore Charlie Steiner creates a make-shift kite out of his chemistry proj-
ect poster board. Of the kite, Steiner said, "It was impossible to keep (the poster-
board) under control while walking so I had to find out if it would fly."


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