P iC t an at l

SE11UNDEf)NINETEENYEARS(1)F EDITORIALFREED

VI

Ann Arbor, Michigan

Friday, April 3, 2009

michigandaily.com



IV-, I .

MICHIGAN STUDENT ASSEMBLY
Members'
low turnout
plagues MSA

This semester, 30%
of members didn't
show at meetings
By JENNA SKOLLER
Daily StaffReporter
Throughout the campaign
season for the Michigan Student
Assembly, members from both
parties made it a point that, if
elected, they would work to bet-
ter include the student body in
the governing process.
But recent attendance data
obtained from MSA shows that
Abhishek Mahanti and Mike
Rorro, the new President and Vice
President for MSA, might need
to look to participation from the
assembly's own members before
trying to tackle the campus as a
whole.
Nearly 30 percent of assembly
members, on average, have failed
to show up or stay throughout,
entire MSA meetings and other
related obligations this semes-
ter, according to the data. There
has been an average of about 12
absences and about 31 representa-

tives present at each meeting.
Additionally, 14 of the assem-
bly's representatives have accu-
mulated more than 10 absences
this semester.
Though dismal, those numbers
look much better when compared
to last semester, when an average
of 32.5 percent of members were
missing at each meeting.
There was an average of about
13 representatives missing at each
meeting and about 27 representa-
tives present. There were also 17
representatives who had more
than 10 absences and five who
had accumulated more than 20.
Former Student General Coun-
sel Michael Benson said that
while there is a 12-absence maxi-
mum, representatives maintain
assembly status and don't have
to appeal their absences until
they receive a full account of
their absences in writing. There
is often a delay in these e-mails,
and some representatives accu-
mulate upwards of 20 absences in
this way.
MSA President Abhishek
Mahanti said he recognizes that
attendance is an issue. He said
See ATTENDANCE, Page 7

ARIEL BOND/Daily

Political Science Lecturer Jennet Kirkpatrick speaks at the Lecturers' Employee Organization rally in front of the Fleming Administration Building yesterday.
'IJ,, LEO seek arbitration

CALLED TO WASHINGTON
'U' prof. tapped
'to head census

By DEVON THORSBY
Daily StaffReporter
One of the University's very
own may soon leave campus to
join the new administration in
Washington, accordingto areport
from The Associated Press.
President Barack Obama nom-
inated Dr. Robert M. Groves, a
University professor of sociol-
ogy, to be the next director of
the Census Bureau yesterday
afternoon. In his 34 years of
work at the University, Groves
has focused on methods for
improving survey response and
accuracy. With the 2010 census
approaching this could lead to
changes in how the U.S. popula-
tion is counted - a controversial

topic on Capitol Hill.
A University staff member
since 1975 and Institute for Social
Research Survey Research Cen-
ter Director since 2001, Groves
has made his career in survey
research and sociology.
James Jackson, director of the
University's Institute for Social
Research, wrote in a statement
released yesterday that Groves's
nomination reflects well on the
University asa whole.
"The intended nomination is
an honor to the University and to
ISR," he wrote.
Jackson noted that Groves's
possible appointment to the Cen-
sus Bureau, however, would be
bittersweet.
See CENSUS, Page 7

Union alleges
University shuffled
money to reduce
lecturers' pay raises
By JILLIAN BERMAN
and JACOB SMILOVITZ
DailyNewsEditors
An alleged breach of the lectur-
ers' union contract by the Univer-
sity has pushed the two parties to
seek arbitration to settle a dispute
over pay raises.
The Lecturers' Employees Orga-
nization is accusing the University
of using "creative accounting" to
move money from one "fund" to
another in order to avoid larger pay
raises for lecturers. The organiza-
tion contends these moves meant
the difference between a 4.1 per-
cent and a 2 percent salary increase
for University lecturers this year.
The four funding accounts in
question from the College of Litera-
ture, Science, and the Arts are the
"A Fund," "B Fund," "C Fund" and
"Super C Fund." Thoughnot defined
explicitly, these funds serve differ-
ent purposes, but together cover all
parts of faculty salaries in LSA.
According to documents
obtained by LEO through a Free-
dom of Information Act request,

the "A Fund" is the average faculty
salary program in LSA and is avail-
able to academic units to distribute
to faculty. The documents, which
are signed by Jeff Frumkin, associ-
ate provost and senior director for
academic human resources, state
"Virtually all faculty members are
eligible to receive an increase from
the 'A Fund."' In recent years, the
"A Fund" has fallen from 62.6 per-
cent of LSA's entire compensation
for the year in 2005 to 38.1 percent
in 2009.
The "B Fund" is used specifically
for promotion and retention, for
example, when a faculty member
becomes an associate professor or
professor. Over the last five years,
the "B Fund" has held steady at
around 20 percent of LSA's entire
compensation for the year.
The controversy lies with the
"C Fund" and "D Fund" - or as it's
called the "Super C Fund."
According to the LEO docu-
ments obtained through FOIA,
the "C Fund is used to recognize
faculty members' special achieve-
ments (e.g. in service, scholarship,
instruction) and may also be used
to address structural inequities in
the salary program." All monies
awarded from the "C Fund" are
recommended by a department and
approved by the dean. Since 2005,
the percentage of this fund rela-
tive to the entire compensation for

THE ABC'S OF LSA SALARIES
80
70
FUNDS:
0 60 MA
_ MB
So C+D
C 40-
C 30
20
4 10
0 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Year
Above are the percentages of the College of Literature, Science and the Arts's total salary compen-
sation allocated to each of thefour funds in question. LEO officials allege that the Universityhas
used the "C Fund" and "D Fund" - or'"Super C Fund"- to hide salary increases for tenure-track
faculty that should have also subsequently increased the salaries oftthe University's lecturers.

the year has varied widely, stand-
ing at about 34 percent of the total
compensation in 2007 and then
dropping to 11 percent of the total
compensation the following year.
In 2008, the "C Fund" comprised
about 20 percent of the total com-
pensation for the year.
The "Super C Fund" isn't used
by the college or dean's office to
fund the faculty salary program,
according to the FOIA documents.
Instead, it is used by the dean's
office to "account for relatively

small corrections to faculty salary
anomalies," the documents state.
The example given in the docu-
ments is when LSA must average
two different salary rates for a sin-
gle faculty member.
The documents state that in cer-
tain years, like 2008 and 2009, LSA
specifically used a portion of the "C
Fund" for "strategically targeted
purposes." One example is when
LSA improved gender pay gaps in
the college. After only comprising
See CONTRACT, Page 7


CELEBRATING ISRAEL'S BIRTHDAY

THE ECONOMICS OF SPORTS
Prof.: Final Four might not help Detroit

Winfree says games
create more hype
than economic boost
By ERIK TORENBERG
Daily StaffReporter
As this year's much-anticipated
NCAA Tournament Final Four
arrives in Detroit this weekend,
many have touted the economic
boost the games will bring to the
downtrodden city. But one Univer-
sity professor says that the games'
impact might not be as clear as
some have predicted.
Kinesiology Prof. Jason Winfree
said that the economic impacts of
these types of sporting events are

usually over-estimated.
"The Super Bowl was expected
to bring in $300 million, but in
reality it brought about one-tenth
of that," he said. "The Final Four
is estimated to bring in $30 to $50
million in revenue, but that number
isn't a big deal to the city of Detroit,"
because as he explained it's not that
much money relative to Detroit's
dire situation.
Winfree said that while having
the Final Four here might help the
city of Detroit, it may not benefit
the entire state of Michigan. Since
many people are coming from Lan-
sing because Michigan State is
competing, he said Detroit will get
that additional business, but the
state of Michigan will not see an
influx of money.

The economic effects of such
events, Winfree said, also depend
on other factors.
"How many of the businesses
involved will be local ones and how
much money will actually stay in
'Detroit are interesting questions,"
he said. "If the company's head-
quarters are in Detroit, that makes
a big difference to the city."
He said having events like the
Final Four also carries a big price
tag for the city.
"Most of the time the city spends
alot of money getting the event into
the city," he said, adding that such
funding isn't always rewarded with
a relative economic boost.
While Winfree says the games'
economic impact might not be
See FINAL FOUR, Page 7

ARIEL BOND/Daily
LSA sophomore Jen Wynn serves food to Jesse Bean, an LSA senior, on the Diag yesterday as part of an event to honor
Israel's birthday. The event, put on by University of Michigan Hillel, included Israeli music, games and free food.


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