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Jakob Dylan takes a page from his old man'shMen's H ops sa r
book and combines a variety of styles on his
accounted for more t
latest album, Women + Country.
PAGE 5team's scorng last sel
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
michigandaily.com
* SPRING COMMENCEMENT
U' officials
expecting
80,000 at
graduation
'U' still finalizing
security plans for
President Barack
Obama's address
By ANNIE GORDON THOMAS
Daily StaffReporter
University officials are busy
preparing for President Barack
Obama's upcoming trip from the
White House to the Big House,
now saying the number of people
attending this year's commence-
ment ceremony could be twice
the number of those who attend-
ed last year.
In a meeting with the Senate
Advisory Committee on Univer-
sity Affairs yesterday, President
Mary Sue Coleman and Provost
Teresa Sullivan discussed secu-
rity and logistics for President
Barack Obama's upcoming visit
to deliver the 2010 Spring Com-
mencement address.
Coleman said University
officials are hoping more than
80,000 people will attend gradu-
ation at the Big House. Last year,
approximately 40,000 people
gathered for the commencement
ceremony.
Coleman said that expectation
is based on the size of the crowd
last year when Obama delivered
the commencement at Arizona
State University. The Univer-
sity's Sun Devil Stadium, which
holds 80,000 people, was filled
to capacity for his speech.
But Coleman said University
officials are thinking there's a
possibility that there could be
more people in the Big House
than there were at Sun Devil Sta-
dium.
"We should be able to get at
least 100 (thousand people),"
Coleman said:t
Coleman added that planning
for security measures is on track
thus far. But she added that offi-
cials are still waiting on some
information regarding security
because the Secret Service has to
See COMMENCEMENT, Page 7
ANNASCHULTE/Daily
Students and community members remember the Polish officials who died in a plane crash on Saturday last night in Regents Plaza.
Students, community gather
tomourn death of-Polish pres.
Kaczynski, other
Polish officials died
in plane crash Sat.
By SARA BOBOLTZ
Daily StaffReporter
Red and white candles burned
bright late last night in Regents
Plaza as nearly 100 students and
community members gathered to
commemorate Saturday's plane
crash that killed 96 Poles, includ-
ing the country's president, Lech
Kaczynsci, and first lady.
The candlelight vigil, hosted by
the University's Polish Club, began
with images of the Polish govern-
ment officials who died in Satur-
day's plane crash projected onto a
screen flanked by vases of red and
white flowers with the Polish flag
hanging on the side of the Fleming
Administration Building.
Members of the Polish Club and
the Polish-American Congress of
Ann Arbor (PAC-Ann Arbor) par-
ticipated in the vigil along with
their friends and other members of
the community as a way to honor
those who died on Saturday's flight
en route to Russia. The passengers
were traveling to Russia to com-
memorate the 20,000 Polish mili-
tary officers killed by Soviet forces
in WWIL
LSA senior Monica Arendt,
president of the Polish Club, said
more people than the club expect-
ed showed up to the vigil, adding
that the group ran out of candles to
distribute to the attendees.
"There's a large Polish popula-
tion in Ann Arbor, Detroit, Sterling
Heights and Hamtramck," Engi-
See VIGIL, Page 7
REINVENTING THE TELEPHONE
Grand Rapids meeting signals
regents support for west Mich.
At monthly meeting
Thursday, regents
to consider parking
fees, construction
By JOSEPH LICHTERMAN
Daily StaffReporter
In an effort to show its commit-
ment to the west side of Michigan,
the University's Board of Regents
will hold its monthly meeting in
Grand Rapids on Thursday.
As a result of the western Michi-
gan venue, several items that are
pertinent to West Michigan will be
on the agenda. While Thursday's
meeting is in Grand Rapids, the
meetings are typically held on one
of the University's three campuses
- in Ann Arbor, Dearborn or Flint.
At the meeting, the Regents will
hear reports, among other things,
about a partnership between the
University and Grand Valley State
University to assess the feasibil-
ity of off-shore wind turbines in
the Great Lakes, the future of the
University Health System collabo-
rating with other institutions and
a research collaboration to support
children with Downs Syndrome
and Autism in western Michigan.
About 1,700 current University
students and over 10,000 alumni
hail from Kent and Kalamazoo
counties - the most from any-
where in Michigan outside the
Metro Detroit area. About 1,300
students come from other counties
in western Michigan.
See REGENTS, Page 7
SAM WOLSON/daily
Architecture graduate students Erika Lindsay (left) and Courtney Chin work on their final project called (un)social-social The
assignment was to reinvent the concept of the phone booth by focusing on issues of texting and the use of handheld devices.
GOOGLE FIBER
In bid for Fiber, A2 vs. other Michigan cities
F l A N NG YO0U RE DU CA TION
State Rep. Warren, students
talk benefits of aid overhaul
Ann Arbor isn't the
only city in the state
seeking project
By SARA BOBOLTZ
Daily StaffReporter
Residents of Ann Arbor have
already shown their support for
Google Fiber via Facebook, Twit-
ter and various publicity stunts
- including a three-minute Diag
"flash mob" - before the March
26 nomination deadline.
But Ann Arbor faces stiff com-
petition from other communities
throughout Michigan and the
country that have also demon-
strated interest in the one gigabit-
per-second Internet connection,
which Google claimed on its blog
will be 100 times faster than the
average connection speed avail-
able in the United States.
One of the most notable cities
vying for Google's attention is
Topeka, Kan., which re-named
itself Google for the month of
March. The company responded
by changing its name to Topeka
for a day as an April Fool's joke.
The 600 communities that are
vying to be Google Fiber trial
See GOOGLE FIBER, Page 7
Investing in higher
education a top
priority, Warren says
By JILLIAN BERMAN
ManagingNewsEditor
State Rep. Rebekah Warren
(D-Ann Arbor) gathered with stu-
dent volunteers from Organizing
for America at a press conference
yesterday to celebrate the Student
Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act,
which was signed by President
Barack Obama last month as part
of the health care reform bill.
The act aims to overhaul the
financial aid system by making the
federal government a direct lend-
er, which will eliminate banks as
middlemen in the student lending
process. The bill will also change
the timeline for student borrowers.
Beginning immediately, students
whotake outnewloans will be able
to cut off their monthly payments
at 15 percent of their discretionary
incomes. In addition, the bill will
increase the maximum Pell Grant
to $5,550 and will tie the rise of
Pell Grants to the cost of living by
indexing it to the consumer price
index.
See WARREN, Page 7
WEATHER HI: 65
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