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Ann Arbor, Michigan
BOARD OF REGENTS
Coleman:
No NCAA
f
in future
Regents consider president's
performance, campus
safetyand construction
By KYLE SWANSON
Daily News Editor
At the monthly meeting of the University Board
of Regents yesterday, University President Mary Sue
Coleman downplayed speculation that she was in the
running to be the next head of the National Collegiate
Athletic Association.
Coleman's name has been among NOTEBOOK
those churning through the rumor
mill after NCAA President Myles
Brand passed away on Wednesday from cancer -
rumors Coleman said in an interview after the regents
meeting she had not heard.
"You know, newspaper people will speculate,"
Coleman said with a laugh. "I'm very happy here.
Very, very happy."
A report in the USA Today mentioned Coleman
as a possible successor, along with Graham Spanier,
president of Penn State, and Walt Harrison, president
of Hartford.
In spite of the speculation of Coleman's future
career options, the September meeting is also the time
every year when the regents discuss Coleman's job
performance and, usually, approve a raise for Cole-
man. But not this year.
In discussing the performance review, Regent
Andrea Newman (R-Ann Arbor) praised Coleman's
continued leadership of the University.
"The regents completed a review of the president
over the last few months," Newman said. "We are all
greatly appreciative of her leadership. We are in unan-
imous agreement that she is a great president."
Newman also said that the decision not to give Cole-
man a raise was per Coleman's own request.
Since becoming president in 2002, Coleman has been
given a small raise every year. The increases have usually
been on par with similar raises for faculty and staff, but
See REGENTS, Page 7A

Friday, September 18,2009

michigandaily.com

CHRI SiDZMBAK/Daily
Officials say that the hallways of the recently purchased and renamed North Campus Research Complex will bring together faculty and researchers from a wide range of disciplines.
At NCRC, plans start taking shape

Emphasis on expanded
research, collaboration
with private industry
By STEPHANIE STEINBERG
Daily StaffReporter
University research officials are
starting to get a clearer sense of what
will become of the former Pfizer site
near North Campus that the Univer-
sity purchased last year.
Inthe mix is expanded space for Uni-
versity scientists, further partnerships
between private companies and public
researchers. and the addition of more

than 2,000 jobs over the next decade.
All in all, they are plans that Universi-
ty officials are hoping will reshape the
state's economy and become a breed-
ing ground for new technologies to
improve people's lives.
After approximately six months
of due diligence, the University com-
pleted the purchase of the $108 mil-
lion facility in mid-June. The almost 2
million-square-foottcomplex previous-
ly owned by Pfizer was renamed the
North Campus Research Complex. The
new space provided by the NCRC will
help expand the University's research
capacity by about 10percent.
In the last fiscal year, the Univer-
sity spent the most its ever spent on

research, $1.02 billion - a harbinger
for what role University officials see
their research sector playing in the
institution's future.
Dr. Ora Pescovitz, executive vice
president for medical affairs, said the
University's main objective in buying
the site was to have a location where
researchers from various disciplines
could collaborate on projects that ulti-
mately will benefit the state and beyond.
"The hope is we'll do ground break-
ing investigations that will enable us
to do innovations that will really have
great potential for the entire state of
Michigan," Pescovitz said.
Now that University faculty have
one central location to perform this

broad range of research, Vice Presi-
dent for Research Stephen Forrest said
scientists will be able to interact with
each other, which will increase the
potential for making big discoveries.
"We canattackmuchlarger problems
facinghumanitybecause large problems
take peoplewithmany differentlevelsof
expertise and different disciplines and
with different life experiences," he said.
During the summer, more than 200
faculty members worked together
to develop plans on how to best use
the 174-acre site and determine what
types of research will take place in the
laboratories.
Medical School Dean James Wool-
See NCRC, Page 7A


GETTING AROUND THE CITY
Ann Arbor, 'U' team
up on transit station

MUSEUM RESTORATIONS

FINANCING YOUR EDUCATION
House approves
financial aid bill

Proposed center on
Fuller Road would
combine bus, rail
and bike services
By OLIVIA CARRINO
For theDaily
Many already consider Ann
Arbor to be a healthy town, but
a new project may make it even
healthier.
Fuller Intermodal Transporta-
tion Station (FITS) is the City of
AnnArbor'stransportationvision
that expands upon the existing
bus, rail and train systems and
emphasizes alternative forms of
transportation, like walking and
biking.
Phase 1 of the project will be
a facility located on Fuller Road
next to East Medical Drive. It
will feature a bike station with
storage, lockers, showers and
 rental services, a transit center
with bus loading platforms, a taxi
stand and patron waiting area,
and short-term and long-term
parking.
City officials also plan to make
improvements on Fuller Road,
adding intersections, turn lanes,
 traffic signal coordination, pedes-
trian non-motorized pathways

and crosswalks.
FITS is partnering with the
University planners and staff
from the Parking and Transpor-
tation Services as well as medical
staff to develop the transporta-
tion station.
Right now, FITS is still in its
conceptual stage and City offi-
cials are looking for community
feedback and input. Officials
ultimately hope to integrate
transit center, bicycle center,
train station and parking into
one place.
Future plans may include a
light rail and high-speed com-
muter train from Ann Arbor to
Detroit and also from Ann Arbor
to Howell.
At an open house held at City
Hall yesterday, Jeffrey Kahan,
the project manager of the
City Planning and Public Ser-
vices Departments, said when
the project is completed it will
make it easier for residents
to bike and walk around Ann
Arbor.
"This concept is one in which
multiple public agencies are look-
ing at opportunities to encourage
alternative modes of transpor-
tation, including rail and non-
motorized modes like walking,"
he said.
FITS's intent is to create a con-
See TRANSPORTATION, Page 7A

Legislation still
faces uphill battle
in the Senate,
sponsors say
Staffand WireReports
The House of Representatives
voted yesterday to pass what is
being hailed as the largest gov-
ernment investment in aid for
higher education.
The bill, which passed 253-171
would end subsidies for private
lenders and put the process in the
government's hands. This move
would save taxpayers an esti-
mated $87 billion, according to
the Congressional Budget Office,
which could be used to increase
the maximum annual Pell Grant
from $5,550 to $6,900 over the
next decade.
The measure will also shorten
the Free Application for Federal
Student Aid or FAFSA, the form
used by colleges to determine
how much a family is expected
to contribute to a child's higher
education costs. The form has
received much criticism for being
too long and complicated.
The bill, which fulfills almost

all of President Barack Obama's
campaign promises for higher
education according to The
Associated Press, will also cre-
ate grant programs to improve
community colleges and college
graduation rates.
"This plan would end the bil-
lions upon billions of dollars in
unwarranted subsidies that we
hand out to banks and finan-
cial institutions - money that
doesn't do anything to make
your loans any cheaper," Obama
said yesterday at a rally at the
University of Maryland in Col-
lege Park. "Instead we're going
to use that money to guaran-
tee access to low-cost loans no
matter what the economy looks
like."
Rep. George Miller (D-CA),
chairman of the House Educa-
tion and Labor Committee and
the bill's author, wrote in a press
release that the bill will help
return the United States to the
top of the list of country's with
the largest proportion of college
graduates by 2020 - a goal of
President Obama's.
The United States ranks
behind nine other industrial-
ized countries in the percent-
age of the population aged 25
See FINANCIAL AID, Page 7A

ARIEL BOND/Daily
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