The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Tuesday, April 13, 2010 - 7
Football Saturday bag ban to
be in effect at commencement
At vigil, Polish
community
shows support
for fallen leader
From Page 1
approve the University's plans for
security.
"So far, so good," Coleman said.
"There haven't been show stop-
pers, things that they've said
'absolutely not."'
Coleman said that a limiting
factor in the process could be
the security equipment that each
person will have to go through
in order to get into the stadium.
According to data from the Secret
Service, it took about five hours to
get everyone into their seats last
year at ASU, Coleman said.
She added that ASU reported
that they had everyone seated 40
minutes before the start of the
ceremony.
"We're trying to be very real-
istic with people," Coleman said.
"You have to get there early, you
have to be in your seat."
At yesterday's meeting, Sul-
livan discussed Obama's upcom-
ing visit to the University as well,
telling SACUA members that the
rules regarding bags on Football
Saturdays will be in effect and
that she hopes it will cut down
the time it takes to enter the Big
House. Currently visitors are pro-
hibited from bringing bags into
the stadium unless they are for
medical needs.
Sullivan also addressed the
issue of seating and placement in
the stadium.
"Another issue is that the
Secret Service, for very good rea-
son, is making a careful study of
the Big House, trying to figure out
if there are sections that should
be closed," Sullivan said.
Coleman said that it will be very
important for the community to
cooperate with University guide-
lines for the ceremony. Two years
ago when commencement was
held on the Diag due to renova-
tions at the Big House, it went of
without a hitch because attendees
REGENTS
From Page 1
$26 MILLION IN
CONSTRUCTION UNDER
CONSIDERATION
The regents are also expect-
ed to approve two construction
projects on the Medical Campus
and at the Institute for Social
Research at Thursday's meeting.
If approved, $23 million will be
used for an addition to the Insti-
tute for Social Research Building.
The project would be partially
financed with funds from the
American Recovery and Reinvest-
ment Act of 2009.
The project will build a four-
story addition that will add
WARREN
From Page 1
Chris Wolff, regional field direc-
tor for Organizing for America,
opened the event by discussing the
benefits of the overhaul, which he
said the group was able to achieve
due to the dedication of "amazing
volunteers" like those at the Uni-
versity.
Wolff introduced LSA sopho-
more Nina Bhattacharya - who
works with Organizing for Ameri-
ca - to discuss the benefits she and
students like her will reap from the
overhaul.
Bhattacharya said that for most
of high school she was part of a
"middle-class family living com-
fortably in the suburbs," but then
her dad was "suddenly laid off"
and her family was forced to live
off of her mom's salary from a part-
time job.
She added that things that
she used to take for granted like
appointments at the eye doctor or
dentist or her parents' medication
suddenly became a huge expense.
"When my dad lost his job, we
also lost our health insurance,"
Bhattacharya said.
Bhattacharya said that though
her father was a graduate of both
the University's School of Pub-
lic Health and the Ross School of
Business, he was still sending out
* resumes every day for 14 months
before he found another job. With
this in mind, Bhattacharya said she
applied only to in-state schools,
though she knew even attending
the University could be a struggle.
"The thought of putting the bur-
den of out-of-state tuition on my
parents didn't sit well with me,"
she said.
Though Bhattacharya was able
to get through her freshman year
pretty easily with the help of schol-
arships and loans, she said with
ANNA SCHULTE/Daily
University Provost Teresa Sullivan at the weekly meeting at Senate Advisory Cvmmitte an University Affairs yeterday.
listened to the instructions of Uni-
versity officials, Coleman said.
University officials are advising
those attending this year's com-
mencement ceremony to arrive to
the stadium early because of the
additional security. To help with
this process, University officials
announced last month that they
would start commencement at
11 a.m. - an hour later than they
originally planned - to make sure
attendees had enough time to get
through security.
And once inside the Big House,
Coleman told SACUA members
that there will be activities for peo-
ple to take part in while they are
waiting for graduation to begin.
"(We) hope the time will go fast
and of course we hope it doesn't
rain," she added.
Coleman said there will also be
free water available.
Before the ceremony, the
graduates will assemble on Elbel
Field, where there will be "good-
ies" and low-cost breakfast items,
Coleman said, adding that the
food will not be sold to make a
profit but only to cover costs. "We
want to make this a wonderful,
fun experience for everybody,"
she said.
In addition to discussing the
logistics for commencement, Cole-
man also discussed the process of
getting Obama to speak at gradu-
ation. Coleman told SACUA mem-
bers that during a trip to California
last week she answered questions
about how the University got
Obama to come to the Big House.
"Well we had the secret weap-
on and that's all these people in
the White House who are Michi-
gan alums," Coleman said.
"Now I'm just worried about
next year," Coleman added, jok-
ing with SACUA members who
suggested the Pope or Queen
Elizabeth as potential speakers
for next year.
One challenge that could
emerge at this year's commence-
ment is the limited availability
of parking, Coleman said, adding
that certain security barriers will
be in place around the stadium
that may not allow for all the
usual game-day parking areas to
be available.
However, Coleman said there
will be shuttles available for
attendees to get to the stadium
from remote parking areas.
"They have to get approval for
everything and I don't know that
they've gotten approval yet," she
said.
For those elderly family mem-
bers or those who don't want to
brave the crowds, Sullivan said
that some deans are planning to
broadcast the speech live on TVs
in certain areas on campus. The
ceremony will also be on the Big
Ten Network, on a University
webcast and on the University's
local television station, Sullivan
said.
From Page 1
neering senior Phil Grecki, secre-
tary of the Polish Club, said.
The event featured a record-
ing of the Polish national anthem,
and many in the crowd sang along
with the words projected onto the
screen.
After the national anthem,
Arendt invited several leaders
in the local Polish community to
speak, including Michael Olsize-
wski, a member of PAC-Ann
Arbor.
"These people were very dear
to us, but they also had a connec-
tion with Ann Arbor and with this
community," Olsizewski said, ref-
erencing Kaczynski's 1999 visit to
Ann Arbor.
Kaczynski visited Ann Arbor
before he became president of
Poland to participate in a con-
ference held by the University's
Center for Russian and Eastern
European Studies.
Ewa Malachowska-Pasek, a
lecturer in the Slavic Languages
and Literature department, spoke
after Olsizewski. She described
Kaczynski as a "controversial pol-
itician" whose death was none-
theless a loss for the European
Union as well as for Poland.
Malachowska-Pasek also
praised the "solidarity" and
"resilience" of all Poles in the
wake of their national tragedy.
PAC-Ann Arbor President
Wlodek Wielbut discussed the
implications of the plane crash,
which occurred in Russia's Katyn
forest not far from where the Pol-
ish military officials were killed in
WWII.
"There's the layer of irony, the
fact that this tragedy happened
on the 70th anniversary where
over 20,000 Polish officers were
murdered by Stalin's henchmen,"
Wielbut said. "So this cursed land
once again is soaked in Polish
blood."
Herbert Eagle, associate pro-
fessor of Slavic languages and
literature, discussed Kaczynski's
key role in Poland's Solidarity
movement - a non-communist
trade unionthat came about in the
1980s when Poland was a commu-
nist country heavily influenced by
the Soviet Union.
"Poland has just lost the flower
of its recent civic reawakening,"
Eagle said.
But Eagle stressed the impor-
tance of maintaining peaceful
relations between Poland and
Russia, though the countries'
relationship has traditionally
been strained.
"To reconcile differences
peacefully is the best thing we can
do to commemorate those who
died," he said.
Engineering junior Patryk
Mastela and LSA sophomore
Joanna Smulska, two members
of the Polish Club, then read the
names of all 96 plane crash vic-
tims aloud. A moment of silence
followed.
The event ended with a prayer
led by Father Dennis Dillan of St.
Mary's Student Parish, and a Pol-
ish prayer commonly spoken at
funerals.
"It really was a wonderful
event," Malachowska-Pasek said.
"Everybody was touched some-
how, because it was aimed at all of
us - especially the prayer at the
end. It was really very touching."
44,700 square feet to the building
and will renovate 7,200 square
feet of current building. The addi-
tion will result in new office and
research spaces, meeting areas
and safe data and biospecimen
storage.
The regents will also consider
using $3 million to improve the
pneumatic tube system - used
to send and receive patient docu-
ments between 120 stations in
the University of Michigan's
Health System - on the medical
campus.
The current pneumatic tube
system is 23 years old and the
controlling computer system is
outdated, making the service
unreliable. The upgraded service
will increase security and make
the response and delivery times
30 to 40 percent faster, Ora Pesco-
vitz, executive vice president for
medical affairs, and Timothy
Slottow, executive vice president
and chief financial officer for the
University, wrote in a letter to the
regents.
REGENTS TO CONSIDER
INCREASE IN PARKING FEES
The regents are expected to
approve a proposal to increase
parking rates by 3 percent annual-
ly over the next three fiscal years.
According to a regents com-
munication sent by Slottow, the
increase in revenue from the
higher parking rates will help pay
for the addition to the Thompson
Street Parking Structure and the
new Fuller Road Station.
The price of a Gold Permit
will increase from $1,443 in
2010 to $1,577 in 2013. Currently,
Blue Permits cost $611 but will
increase to $667 in 2013. Yellow
and Orange Permits will cost $153
and $76, respectively, in 2013, an
increase from their current prices
of $141 and $70.
The new rate for the Gold
Permits will remain consistent
with parking rates in city-owned
structures as determined by the
Ann Arbor Downtown Develop-
ment Authority.
The rate increases are meant
to encourage parkers to use the
remote Yellow and Orange Per-
mits, which are serviced by Uni-
versity buses, as opposed to the
on-site Gold Permits, Slottow
wrote in his letter to the regents.
have to cut through once they
GOOGLE FIBER were here."
From Page 1 Volunteers also collected
video endorsements from vari-
locations include the Michigan ous city government and eco-
cities of Grand Rapids, Lansing, nomic leaders in Grand Rapids
Birmingham, Detroit, Royal Oak and submitted them to Google,
and Kalamazoo. Google stated on Brand said.
its blog that it wishes to imple- Tremaine Phillips, member
ment a "fiber-to-the-home" con- of the economic development
nection in "a small number of organization Accelerate Lansing,
trial locations" throughout the said the capitol and surround-
country. ing municipalities submitted an
"We plan to offer service at application together.
a competitive price to at least In order to get the community
50,000 and potentially up to involved in the initiative, Phil-
500,000 people," the blog states. lips said a town hall meetingtook
According to a statement on place to discuss the network.
the Office of the Governor's web- A Facebook fan page was also
site, Jennifer Granholm met with established that has attracted
Google officials in California on more than 4,000 members.
March 10 to promote Michigan Added to Lansing's credentials
cities as test sites. is the fact that Google co-founder
"Google Fiber is a perfect Larry Page attended East Lan-
fit here, as no state can match sing High School.
the exploding new technology "We had a cardboard cutout
investment in Michigan in recent of Larry Page that we carried
years," Granholm said in the around town as a promotional
statement. piece," Phillips said.
Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo Of course, the fact that Page
launched websites - Goog616. received his undergraduate edu-
com and Kalamazoogle.com, cation from the University of
respectively - to garner support Michigan gives Ann Arbor a sim-
for bringing Google Fiber to the ilar advantage.
cities. The websites also provide If selected, the fiber network
visitors links to nominate the would provide a "significant
communities for Google Fiber. economic boost" to the Lansing
On March 19, hundreds of region, she said.
Grand Rapids residents formed But fiber-based broadband is
a "flash mob" in the city's iconic not a completely original con-
Calder Plaza. The city's Google cept.
Fiber Facebook fan page was also Lansing has already received
the largest among cities across some federal funding to estab-
the country, with over 38,000 lish a fiber network, which the
members. Lansing-based Internet provider
In addition to organiz- Arialink has begun to install,
ing public displays of support, Phillips said.
Grand Rapids volunteers poured This type of broadband con-
through Google's blog, look- nection is already widespread in
ing for criteria the company some places outside of the United
would use in determining a test States, like Sweden, Portugal,
site, according to Peter Brand, Japan, Hong Kong and the Neth-
a Grand Rapids business owner erlands, for a price of $200 to
involved with Goog616.com. $300 per month, according to a
"There were a few cities that February 11 GigaOM.com article.
tried to do gimmicky things to Google will announce which
try to catch (Google's) attention," city or communities are to
he said. "But we needed to show receive its fiber connection for
them that there was going to be a trial period by the end of the
no red tape they were going to year.
WANT TO WORK
FOR THE DAILY'S
NEWS SECTION?
E-mail berman@michigandaily.com
to get started.
L SA sophomore Nina Bhattacharya talks about her own challenges with the financial aid system at a press conference yesterday.
Bhattacharya discussed the hurdles her family faced paying for college after her father was laid off.
Michigan's struggling economy,
her situation became more chal-
lenging this year.
"This year was a lot more diffi-
cult," she said. "Without the fed-
eral loans, I wouldn't have gotten
through this year."
Bhattacharya went on to say
that the financial aid overhaul is
important because it will give stu-
dents across the country the aid
they need.
"This isn't just my story; it's
the story of thousands of other
students," she said, adding that
the bill "has a lot of components
that help struggling students like
myself."
Warren said the economic
downturn has not only meant dif-
ficulty for students like Bhattacha-
rya but also for the state's economy.
She emphasized the need to fund
higher education, adding that
Michigan residents can't count on
manufacturing jobs that were a
staple of the state's economy.
"Those jobs are gone and they're
not coming back," she said.
Warren said that to cope with
this job loss, the state needs to
increase its investment in higher
education.
"We know that that's the great
equalizer, that's the investment
we want to make, but we've been
struggling," she said.
Warren added that the finan-
cial aid overhaul will be extremely
important to students throughout
her district and the state.
In an interview following the
press conference, Warren said that
though the legislature has been
forced to make "difficult deci-
sions," "investments in higher edu-
cation have to be the priority."
Warren said in the interview
that her commitment to higher
education is an important part
of her campaign for state Sena-
tor. Warren is running against
state Rep. Pam Byrnes (D-Lyndon
Twp.) for the Senate seat currently
occupied by state Sen. Liz Brater
(D-Ann Arbor).
Warren said her campaign is
based on her "values" and her
"vision for Michigan," which
includes making sure a college
education is affordable for every
Michigan student.
"We're not goingto have a whole
class of students be priced out," she
said.
Warren added that she wants to
decrease the burden of tuition on
Michigan families.
"Every time our state pays less,
our students and families have to
come up with more," she said. "And
sometimes they just can't."