The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Thursday, April 8, 2010 - 7A
The Michigan Daily - michigasdaily.com Thursday, April 8, 2010 - 7A
Fraternity brothers shave heads
to raise money for cancer'patients
Sigma Phi Epsilon
raised $7,400 for
pediatric cancer
research
By VERONICA MENALDI
Daily StaffReporter
While many students sacrifice
their time and money for charity,
one fraternity decided they would
donate something a bit more per-
sonal.
Forty-one Sigma Phi Epsilon
fraternity brothers had their heads
shaved by Noggins' barbershop
volunteers yesterday afternoon
to raise money and awareness for
pediatric cancer.
LSA junior Josh Palka, event
organizer for Sig Ep, said so far,
the fraternity has raised $7,400
for the St. Baldrick's Foundation
- a California-based organiza-
tion that works with volunteers
who shave their heads in order to
raise funds for pediatric cancer
research.
LSA freshman Charlie Zeller,
chief of marketing for the event,
said the fraternity has raised the
money through optional personal
donations. Many of the brothers
have been raising money for the
past month by contacting friends
and family, in addition to bucket-
ing outside the event for specta-
tors who want to donate to the
cause.
The idea for the event came
from one of their members who
COLLISION
From Page 1A
the after-effects produced by the
collision are captured by detectors,
allowing researchers to analyze
data long after the particles decay.
Physics Prof. Bing Zhou said the
particles in the beam must be held
in the precise orbit by magnets
in order for head-on collisions to
occur, adding that one interesting
event is observed about every 100
trillion collisions.
"We're looking for whatever
nature provides," Chapman said.
"We're using the well-known equa-
tion from Einstein. So if you put
enough energy into the collision,
you can make anything that nature
manifests."
The University is the largest con-
tributor to the development of the
ATLAS detector, one of the four
detectors situated along the 17-mile
stretch, Zhou said. The ATLAS
serves as a general-purpose mea-
sure of the particle collisions.
Zhou said University research-
ers helped design and operate the
ATLAS detector at CERN and that
muchofthe datagatheredby ATLAS
is processed at the University.
Chapman said the accelerator is
currently running at low collision
rates and will steadily increase once
physicists and workers at CERN
become more familiar with how it
works.
"At the moment, we're not look-
ing at very many events of the inter-
estingtype,"he said. "It willbecome
very exciting when we get to higher
collision rates and that is where the
interestingphysics is."
Chapman said reaching the
LHC's full performance capacity is
a step-by-step process. The current
challenge is to ensure that every-
thing is functioning properly. He
added that.over the next few weeks,
researchers will begin to ramp up
the number of proton bunches -
groups of positively charged par-
ticles - ineach beam.
Zhou said the ultimate goal of
creating the high-energy collisions
is to uncover features of the Stan-
dard Model in particle physics that
have thus far only been the subject
of speculation.
The model, she said, theorizes
that all particles with mass are cre-
ated from an interaction with the
Higgs boson - a theoretical par-
ticle that many researchers hope to
detect through the LHC collisions.
"Only when you have energy high
enough ... can you recreate such a
particle in the laboratory," Zhou
said.
Chapman said the discovery of
the Higgs boson would require con-
siderable preliminary analysisbut is
feasible through the LHC.
"The first thing we'll do is to look
for those things we already know
about," Chapman said. "Then (we'll)
begin to look for things that are
speculated but haven't been seen."
Chapman added: "This machine
is our best guess as to how to do
that."
LSA senior Andrew O'Brien, Engineering freshman Dominic Lefere, and LSA junior Blake Ivers get their heads shaved for a
Sigma Phi Upsilon fundraiser for Saint Baldricks, an organization that raises money for pediatric cancer research.
had participated in a similar event
in his high school, Zeller said.
"We were looking for a philan-
thropic event to raise money for a
charity that our fraternity could
put on," he said.
Palka said the fraternity does
a lot of philanthropic work and
found this form of community ser-
vice to be the "ultimate way of giv-
ing back."
"Beingbald is going to show for
a while after the event is over and
will raise awareness for kids with
cancer to a lot of people," Palka
said.
Thefraternityhopes tonakethis
event an annual one, Zeller said.
"We want Sig Ep to be known
for putting on this event," he said.'
"It's such a great cause and we
want to be able to raise that money
for something worthwhile."
Palka said having his head
shaved is going to take some get-
ting used to but that the benefits
for the charity outweigh the aes-
thetics.
"I'm sure it's going to be weird
to feel my head and looking like a
Q-tipbut a lot of (kids with cancer)
don't get the pleasure of getting
their hair grown back because of
the chemotherapy," he said. "It's a
small sacrifice for us."
Palka said his cousin passed
away at the age of four from can-
cer and that participating in this
event is a way to give back to those
in need.
Though he doesn't have person-
al experience with pediatric can-
cer, Zeller said it still hits "close to
home" since his father had cancer
several years ago and is now in
remission.
Zeller said he doesn't have any
concerns about being bald for a
while.
"I'm over the fact that it might
not look the best," he said. "Since
it's for such a great cause hope-
fully people will ask me why my
head's shaved and I'll be able to
tell them about it and raise even
more awareness and possibly get
even more donations."
FIRES
From Page 1A
fatal blaze at the State Street house
as a "homicide-type investigation."
Chamberlain, however, said
AAFD officials cannot offer an
opinion as to the cause of the fires
at this point.
"There's no evidence to make a
decision at this time," Chamber-
lain said.
The AAFD's decision will only
arrive after a thorough departmen-
tal investigation into the causes of
the fires, according to Chamber-
lain.
That investigation started last
Saturday when firefighters on the
scenes used a trained dog to search
for remnants of liquid accelerants
that would have suggested arson,
Chamberlain said.
According to Chamberlain, the
dog found no trace of accelerants.
"The dog did not identify any
specific accelerant," Chamberlain
said.
AAFD officials also plan to con-
duct further tests on evidence from
the scenes of the blazes to see if
accelerants were used, Chamber-
lain said. She added that witness
accounts of the fires will also play a
big part in her department's inves-
tigation.
"We're trying to use all of our
resources," Chamberlain said.
But according to Chamberlain,
the results ofAAFD's investigation
won't be available for a while.
"It's a huge investigation pro-
cess," Chamberlain said. "After
that investigation, we make a deci-
sion."
According to the AAPD ser-
geant, the AAFD's ultimate deci-
sion doesn't affect the police
investigation.
The AAFD "can say what they
like, but they're not police investi-
gators," the sergeant said.
According to the sergeant, the
police investigation will continue
based on the assumption that the
fires were arsons.
"Given what you can surmise
from what happened that night
I would say any reasonable per-
son could deduce what caused the
fires," the sergeant said. "As far
as we're looking at it, it wasn't an
accident."
FORD
From Page 1A
Atlantic coastline, the eastern Gulf
of Mexico, and the north coast of
Alaska.
"I think it shows maturity in
politics when you can assess a situ-
ation one day and assess it another
day, and understand that things
have changed and require a dif-
ferent set of answers," Ford said.
"I applaud the president for recog-
nizing that the moment today and
the set of facts and circumstances
require a different set of answers."
Before he was elected, Obama
vehemently opposed offshore
drilling, saying it should not be
depended on to solve the energy
problems in the United States.
Once considered a viable candi-
SCHUYLER
From Page 1A
the ethics policies of the companies
they endorse every day.
One member of the audience
shrugged, saying "not really." But
across the room, another student
responded that she cared and a dia-
logue began.
Fitting in with Schuyler's inten-
tion for the presentation, students
began expressing their opinions
about the pressing and complex
issue of corporate ethics. Schuyler
said companies are trying to "fig-
ure out" whether consumers care
about the corporate responsibility
of companies they encounter regu-
larly.
"There is definitely starting to
be that correlation between people
who pick brands based on what
they're doing good," she said.
Schuyler used Toyota and Star-
bucks to exemplify the impact of
maintaining the appearance of a
"do-good" corporation.
She said that though Toyota had
a massive safety recall and was
slapped with the National High-
way Traffic Safety Administra-
tion's highest penalty for a failure
to report a severe safety issue, a
progressive and earth-friendly rep-
utation has kept them afloat in the
minds of consumers.
"Because they weren't this
company that was all-out to make
money and forget everything else,
they're getting a little bit more lee-
way," she said. "What attaches to
your brand does pay off."
Schuyler also discussed how
date to run for a U.S. Senate seat in
New York this fall, Ford dropped
out of the race last month, cit-
ing pressure from the Democratic
Party not to contest the spot cur-
rently held by Democratic Sen.
Kirsten Gillibrand.
Ford, who served as congress-
man for Tennessee's ninth con-
gressional district from 1997 to
2007, cited potentially detrimental
effects forthe Democrats as a main
reason for deciding not to pursue a
bid for the Senate.
"If I run, the likely result would
be a brutal and highly negative
Democratic primary - a primary
where the winner emerges weak-
ened and the Republican strength-
ened," Ford wrote in a March
1 op-ed piece in The New York
Times. "I refuse to do anything
that would help Republicans win a
Senate seat in New York, and give
the Senate majority to the Repub-
licans."
But this wasn't the first time
Ford made a play for a Senate seat.
Ford ran for Senate in 2006 los-
ing the election to Republican Bob
Corker after Corker ran ads against
Ford that many criticized as racial-
ly charged.
In his speech yesterday, Ford
also promoted his desire for an
open primary system, in which
candidates would be allowed to
run for office without having to
declare themselves as Demo-
crats or Republicans. He said
that oftentimes those who do not
affiliate with a party are unable
to have their views heard because
the majority of audiences tend
towards columnists and talk show
hosts who express opinions that
are either extremely liberal or
extremely conservative.
"There is no doubt that those
people deserve a voice, but they
shouldn't drown out the rest of the
country which I believe find them-
selves situated somewhere in the
middle," he said.
Ford also spoke directly to
current Public Policy students,
encouraging them not tp be dis-
suaded by political agendas that
have hampered government's abil-
ity to provide meaningful change
to its citizens.
"One of the challenges for this
generation of public policy school
graduates is to not be confined by,
or not allow the current dogma or
current conversation to limit your
thinking about answers to big pub-
lic policy problems confronting the
nation," Ford said.
LOANS
From Page IA
idea of the direct loan program and
I brought that in and developed
it with other colleagues to get it
enacted, which we did," Butts said.
"But we were never able to achieve
the goal of transforming the stu-
dent loan programs into one pro-
gram that worked well for students
and schools and taxpayers until the
(recent overhaul) bill was passed."
Butts said another key feature
of the new legislation is its real-
location of federal funding toward
education and the increase in the
amount of money available for
grants.
"One of the things that's most
important about (the bill) isn't nec-
essarily that direct lending is now
in place, but the fact that it has
redirected well over $60 billion to
education programs and a variety
of other things, particularly Pell
Grants." Butts said. "Thatis a major
accomplishment."
The bill - together with the
health care bill signed by Obama
on the same day - aims to save tax-
payers an estimated $61billion over
10 years by getting rid of bank sub-
sidies. As outlined by the legisla-
tion, the conserved funds will then
go toward increasing student loans
through Pell Grants, health care
reform and reducing the national
deficit.
The legislation also eradicates
the Federal Family Education Loan
Program at colleges across the
country and replaces it with the
Direct Loan Program, allowing the
federal government to give loans
directly to students without banks
serving as middlemen.
Butts called this a historic piece
of legislation for the country and a
"transformational moment in the
history of financing student finan-
cial aid." He compared it to past
student aid initiatives that are still
in place today like the establish-
ment of the National Defense Stu-
dent Loan Program - now known
as the Perkins Loan - in 1958, the
work study and supplemental grant
program founded in 1965 and the
Pell Grant program established in
1972.
Margaret Rodriguez - senior
associate director of the Univer-
sity's Office of Financial Aid -
worked in the Office of Financial
Aid while Butts was in Washing-
ton developing the pilot program.
After he successfully launched the
program and secured a spot for the
University among the 100 schools
chosen for the initiative, Rodriguez
took on the role of implementing
the program on campus.
Rodriguez said for many years,
she and her colleagues were work-
ing toward incorporating a direct
student lending system to the
financial aid process for University
students.
"Many of us in the financial aid
office at the time had advocated
for the program because we felt it
was a better way to provide fed-
eral loans to students and certainly
cheaper for the taxpayers," Rodri-
guez said.
While the University won't be
seeing many changes in terms of
student lending as a result of the
bill, Rodriguez said students will
still benefit from increased funding
for the Pell Grant program, as well
as the expansion of eligibility. The
Department of Education recently
issued a payment schedule for the
Pell Grant program that will go
into effect in the fall, she said.
"We're going to see some imme-
diate benefits from that," Rodri-
guez said.
Edie Goldenberg, a Public Policy
professor, wrote in an e-mail inter-
view that the increase in funding
for Pell Grants will provide assis-
tance to universities who are cur-
rently using money out oftheir own
budgets to give more financial aid
to students.
"Universities that were meet-
ing financial need with internal
resources should experience some
relief in their financial aid dollars,"
she said.
The legislation also includes the
Income Based Repayment Plan,
which will allow students who
enter a job in the public service sec-
tor to pay a maximum of 15 percent
of their income toward loans, with
any remaining debt being forgiven
following 10 years of work.
Rodriguez said she thinks the
program will play an important
role in allowing students to chose
a career based on interest, rather
than selecting one based solely on
salary in order to pay off student
loans.
"I certainly do think it will be
an effective initiative and that it
is a wonderful option to be able to
offer students who are repaying
their loans so that their employ-
ment choices can be made with less
regard to what their student loan
burden is," Rodriguez said.
Ultimately, Rodriguez said she
thinks this has been something
that students and policy makers
have been anticipating for years
and she was happy to see it finally
pass through the United States
Senate.
"I think it has been a long time
coming," Rodriguez said. "I think
the House was very forward-think-
ing in passing this legislation last
fall, and we're glad that it was able
to be passed through the Senate."
Pamela Fowler, executive direc-
tor of the University's Financial
Aid Office, mirrored Rodriguez's
sentiments and said she is glad
to finally see the bill become law
after working toward it over the
years.
"We have worked long and hard
since the Clinton administration,
when this program began, to have
the direct loan program nation-
wide," Fowler said. "For those of us
that have been working really hard
to support the direct loan program,
we're ,very happy that this has
finally come to pass."
The switch from a bank-centric
system to direct loans means the
legislation will be detrimental to
banks as they begin losing profits
they previously garnered from the
student loans, according to Gold-
berg. And while bank executives
will be upset with those lawmakers
who helped pass the legislation, it
will ultimately be a positive situa-
tion for the nation, she wrote.
"The losers here are the banks,
which were realizing profits while
the federal government was assum-
ing the risk," Goldenberg wrote.
"Major banks will not be happy
with the Democrats, but they
already tend to support Republi-
cans anyway."
Despite angry responses from
some Republicans and other oppo-
nents of the legislation, Butts said
he thinks the legislation will even-
tually gain support all around,
much like the Pell Grant program
did in the 1970s.
"I think it's going to provide a
good, stable source of funding for
federal student loans and that ...
this program will gradually have
the support of all the participants
in higher education," Butts said.
TOREHAN SHARMAN/Daily
Shannon Schuyler of PriceWaterhouseCooper talks to students at the Ross School of Business yesterday. Schuyler is the man-
aging director of corporate responsibility at the firm and a University alm.
the issue of brand-responsibility
holds a great deal of importance
on both the corporate and indi-
vidual level.
In an interview before the pre-
sentation, Schuyler said that new
graduates entering the workforce
are a brand in themselves.
"People need to be savvy to have
their own brand and figure out
what that is," Schuyler said.
She added that new graduates
need to have an "unwavering"
foundation of ethics and realize
that every member of a company is
responsible and important.
"You do make an impact," she
said. "One person can make a dif-
ference."
Schuyler said she recommends
that young talent understand how
much power they truly have, but
warns against "flaunting" it.
"You have to know that you have
that power going in," she said.
Schuyler said one of the main
reasons corporations are spend-
ing more of their resources on
their philanthropic endeavors is to
attract young talent.
"We know that 92 percent of
undergrads specifically look for a
company that is socially responsi-
ble. We know that MBA's will take
up to $14,000 less to join a company
that is responsible," Schuyler said.
"We know that 4 out of 5 employ-
ees will stay longer if we do these
things."
She explained that corpora-
tions are beginning to change their
ethics policies and are altering
their strategies to be more geared
towards philanthropy. Aside from
appealing to a more socially con-
scious talent pool, Schuyler said
corporations are taking on more
responsibility simply because it's
the right thing to do.
"It makes sense that we're giving
back," she said.