THE SOUND OF SUMMER FAIRT
The Boy Least Likely To
delivers an album sure to frs dn n
put you in a summer mood. g -prce es.
See Arts, Page 5 .. 41
(I1eEItgan DaiIj
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
michigandaily.com
UNIVERSITY BOARD OF REGENTS
Among $70M
in upgrades,
Couzens gets
some fix-ups
Provost Teresa Sullivan discusses potential cuts to the University's budget during yesterday's Senate Assembly meeting in Palmer Commons.
Provost outle
Telephones, capital
projects and Post-it
notes could all be on
the chopping block
By KYLE SWANSON
Daily StaffReporter
- - - --- - ------------
In a speech yesterday, Provost
Teresa Sullivan offered a glimpse at
the University's budget process and
decision-making, outlining several
cuts that she plans on proposing to
the University Board of Regents in
June.
She stressed that while these cuts
will benefit the University's budget,
they will not be to the detriment of
the educational experiences of stu-
dents on campus.
Sullivan spoke in front of the
Senate Assembly, one of the Univer-
sity's leading faculty governance
bodies, to update faculty on how
the economic crisis has affected
the University and provide spe-
cific information on some things
being done to cope with anticipated
decreases in state appropriations to
the University.
"I'm not expecting us to get an
increase in appropriations," Sulli-
van said. "I just don't think that's in
the cards."
Sullivan said she is concerned
about appropriations because the
state is experiencing such tough
economic times.
"I'm not angry about it because
the legislature has a very difficult
task," she said. "They have declin-
ing revenues coming in and they've
got lots of worthy agencies and
causes that need the money."
Sullivan told faculty that though
the University has suffered from
the current economic crisis, it has
not been as adversely affected as
other schools across the country
because it has been dealing with
the state's financial hardships for
the past several years.
Sketching out some ways Uni-
versity administrators are planning
to continue to manage tight purse
strings, Sullivan discussed five spe-
cific cost-containment measure-
ments that will be proposed.
Among the recommendations,
the University will more carefully
review and likely cut back on capi-
tal projects, Sullivan said.
"We have denied or postponed
requests for capital project fund-
ing," she said. "The number of proj-
ects we were willing to go forward
with have been blocked off for
the time being until we're certain
that we can successfully complete
those."
Sullivan's statements came on
the same day that $69.5 million in
See PROVOST, Page 7
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egents will also consideration.
The proposed renovations to the
on Engineering residence hall, located near Palmer
Field, will cost an estimated $49
building and million.
According to Peter Logan,
rking structure spokesman for University Hous-
ing, Couzens Hall, which was con-
By NICOLE ABER structed in 1925, last underwent a
Daily Staff Reporter major renovation project in 1954 -
when asix-story wing was added to
the University's Board of the east side of the main building.
ts monthly meeting this Funding for the Couzens Hall
day, proposals for three project "will be provided from
nt construction projects Housing resources and investment
gnearly $70 million will be proceeds," accordingtothe request
discussion. to the regents.
proposed $69.5 million The regents will also review
e used for the renovation a proposal for the design of the
izens Hall, additions to the Engineering Programs Building
eering Programs Building addition, which was approved in
he Thompson Street Park- December 2008.
ucture. The addition to the North Cam-
ovations to Couzens Hall pusbuildingwill createmorespace
clude new heating, plumb- for projects like the Solar Car, For-
mtilation and fire detection mula SAE and Concrete Canoe
s, according to a request teams.
the Board of Regents by E. The project would include
r Harper, the vice president improvements in "architectural,
dent affairs, and Tim Slot- mechanical and electrical work"
:he University's executive that would revamp the spaces and
resident and chief financial technological resources avail-
able for these projects, accord-
hroom renovations, air-con- ing to the request to the Board of
ng, wireless Internet access Regents by Slottow.
hout the building and a If the action requestis approved
ping of the the dormitory's by the Board of Regents, the proj-
d dining hall are also up for See REGENTS, Page 7
ALTERNATIVE ENERGY SERIES, PART 2 OF 5
Our energy future: Solar
By STEPHANIE STEINBERG
Daily Staff Reporter
Solar cells are among the most
well-known alternative sources
of energy. But Engineering Prof.
Max Shtein is working to bring
solar technology into more homes
by making solar cells more con-
ducive to daily life - like weaving
them into textiles.
Shtein said this change will
allow people to consume energy
in eco-friendly ways when using
everyday products.
"Going to the store and buying
clothes, for example, is a lot more
familiar to a lot more people than
installing a solar cell on the roof of
their house," he said.
Shtein, an assistant professor
of materials science and engineer-
ing, and a team of researchers
are developing a system to create
solar cells out of fibers that can be
woven into textiles.
"Most of those textiles are
actually dyed using organic dyes
where the molecular structure isr
very similar to the structure of the
molecules we would use to make
organic-based solar cells," Shtein
said.
Shtein has brainstormed many'
uses for his discovery including CHRISDZOMBAK/Daily
carbon fiber airplanes with solar Solar panels sit atop the Dana Building yesterday. On one sunny day in May 2005'
cells interwoven into the plane's the panels met 23 percent of the building's power demand.
structure and coats and tents made "There's a lot of instances do things they need to do," Shtein
out of solar cell fibers. He said a where you have disaster relief said.
tent that can effectively generate kind of shelters, where you want The solar cells applied to the
electricity from the power of the to be able to generate electric- fibers are very thin 'and add no
sun can solve many of the prob- ity for people to communicate, for thickness to the material. Shtein
lems caused by natural disasters. people to purify water, to read, to See SOLAR, Page 7
LOCAL GOVERNMENTS
City, county officials project
big deficits in coming years
TC
fun
for e
apping reserve bigger gap to fill, projecting to run a
$26 million deficit for the next two
ds not an option fiscal years.
Both county and city officials
ether government, point to a decline in property tax
revenues due to lower assessed
leaders say land values and the departure of
Pfizer Inc., which was the previ-
By LARA ZADE ously city's largest property tax-
Daily News Writer payer. Pfizer had accounted for 4.8
percent of Ann Arbor's total prop-
igan's staggering economy erty tax revenue in the 2008 fiscal
I an impact on Ann Arbor's year.
aancially insulated comma- According to city and county
ving the city with a project- officials, the recent budget prob-
cit of more than $2 million lems have been exacerbated by the
0 and $5.4 million in 2011. economic slowdown at the national
naw County has an even level.
At last night's City Council Work
Session, City Administrator Roger
Fraser presented council members
with his budget recommendations,
including a four-phase program to
add some stability to the city's eco-
nomic situation in hopes of dealing
with the $2 million shortfall for the
fiscal year 2010.
To handle the decline in tax
revenue, Fraser recommended the
installment of additional parking
meters on some of the city's service
drives - a change that would raise
an additional $380,000. Fraser also
recommended a 16- to 18-person
reduction in the city's police force
See GOVERNMENTS, Page 7
Mich
has had
once fin
nity, lea
ed defi
for 201{
Washte
INT ER NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS
At campus event, UN official talks
about defining, preventing genocide
Maria Stavropoulou
argues for a broader
definition of genocide
By ROGER SAUERHAFT
For the Daily
In an hour-long talk Monday
night at Rackham Amphitheatre,
Maria Stavropoulou, a consultant
to the U.N. Special Representative
of the Secretary-General on the
Prevention of Genocide, defined
genocide and outlined ways to
combat instances of it around the
globe.
"The legal term 'genocide' isn't
exactly the same as the term 'geno-
cide' when we're talking," Stavro-
poulou said.
A mix of students and Ann Arbor
residents attended the lecture, in
which Stavropoulou explained that
genocide includes a much broader
range of atrocities than simply kill-
ing.
"The definition does not require
the killing of a single person,"
Stavropoulou said. "We can have
genocide, in theory, without killing
anyone."
Stavropoulou defined genocide
as intent to destroy national, eth-
nic, racial or religious groups, and
said that acts outside of killing that
constitute genocide can include
See GENOCIDE, Page 7
WEATHER HI: 59
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