The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Wednesday, September 22, 2010 - 5A
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Wednesday, September 22, 2010 - 5A
Military postpones two key
decisions on Guam buildup
But 8,000 marines
are already approved
to head to territory
HONOLULU (AP) - The U.S.
military has postponed two key
decisions related to its buildup of
forces on the Guam to ensure it's
complying with environmental
and historic preservation laws.
But it gave final approval to the
single biggest part of the buildup:
a proposal to move 8,000 Marines
and their dependents from Oki-
nawa, Japan to the U.S. territory
in the Pacific. The decision was
posted online yesterday.
The Navy put off deciding
where to build a live fire range
for the Marines while it consults
with preservation authorities on
how the training area would affect
the ancient village of Pagat. Stone
bowls, fishing gear, spear points
and other artifacts dating back
more than a millennium have been
found at the village, which is listed
on the National Register of His-
toric Places.
The military acknowledged in
a document called a "Record of
Decision" that a significant new
influx of population would affect
the island's indigenous Chamorro
population, and vowed to be sensi-
tive to this issue.
At its peak, the buildup is expect-
ed to boost Guam's population by
79,000 people, or 45 percent, over
its current 180,000 residents.
The Department of Defense "is
cognizant of the concerns regard-
ing the degradation of Chamorro
culture and respects Chamorro
social and cultural traditions and
will continue to strive to be good
neighbors," the document said.
The Navy also delayed decid-
ing where in Apra Harbor it will
place a new aircraft carrier berth
so it can study how construction of
the dock would affect the harbor's
coral reef.
The Environmental Protec-
tion Agency in February said the
military, in a draft environmental
impact statement, had underesti-
mated the effect the berth would
have on corals that provide essen-
tial habitats for fish and endan-
gered sea turtles.
NORTH CAMPUS
From Page 1A
tion of Math 454 and two discussion
sections of Psychology 111 are held
on North Campus this semester.
In determining which classes to
offer, LSA Associate Dean James
Penner-Hahn said LSA worked
closely with the Registrar's Office to
select large classes taken mainly by
freshmen. The classes are held early
in the morning or late in the evening
when North Campus residents are
likely to be close to home.
"We wanted to try and make it as
convenient as possible for students,"
Penner-Hahn said in an interview.
He added that the new North
Campus courses are available on a
trial basis. If student surveys report
negative reactions, the classes will
be discontinued.
"If it were to turn out that the
only people taking these classes
were there unwillingly, and that
they would have preferred to have
been on Central, then that would
affect whether or not we continue
this," he said.
LSA freshman Ethan Cohen, a
resident of Baits House I, said none
of his LSA classes are on North
Campus this semester, and he would
be interested in having classes clos-
er to his residence hall.
"Commuting is a challenge for me
because I have to calculate for bus
time," he said. "I get less sleep, and
if I have large gaps in myschedule I
really can't go back to my room."
The University is attempting to
ease the commute for Cohen and
other students by extending bus ser-
vice for the Northwood Express and
Diag-to-Diag Express.
The Northwood Express now
begins service at 7:20 a.m. and the
Diag-to-Diag Express bus has been
extended until 10 p.m. in order to
reduce crowding on the Bursley-
Baits bus.
This year, 300 more students
than last year enrolled in the
University. Because the major-
ity of these students were placed on
North Campus, the North Campus
"vibrancy" committee is attempt-
ing to familiarize students with the
campus.
The committee, which meets
bi-weekly, is comprised of repre-
sentatives from University Hous-
ing, Recreational Sports, University
Unions, Taubman College of Archi-
tecture and Urban Planning, the
School of Music, Theatre & Dance
and the Duderstadt Center.
Michael Swanigan, vibrancy
committee chair and Pierpont Com-
mons director, said the committee's
mission is to improve North Cam-
pus's social, cultural and academic
atmosphere.
"Basically we want to make North
Campus theplacetobe," hesaid.
The committee has extended
the hours of Pierpont Commons
until 2 a.m. and kept food ven-
ues open an additional hour. The
committee has also improved the
North Campus website, which
committee members believe will
be instrumental for informing stu-
dents about North Campus events.
The website, developed several
years ago, was temporarily discon-
tinued due to a lack of support but
was revitalized this year.
David Siegle, co-chair of the
vibrancy committee and the facility
manager of the North Campus Rec-
reation Building, said organizers
work to overcome obstacles like the
lack of traffic flow.
"On Central Campus students are
likely to walk through the Diag even
if they don't have class, and that's
not as likely on North," he said.
To combat the challenges of a
sparse population, the committee
strives to create events on North
Campus that have wide appeal.
Nicholas Smith, assistant direc-
tor of University Unions Art Pro-
grams and a vibrancy committee
member, said a North Campus tail-
gate held during the Notre Dame
football game received an encour-
aging response.
"We had about 500 students show
up, and we went through two food
buffets," Smith said. "The audito-
rium was full, and we had two over-
flow room spaces thatwere filled.'
In the next month, North Cam-
pus residents can expect to see
similar efforts by the committee
through events like UMix, sur-
vival bingo and nights with food
and music sponsored by the Uni-
versity.
Whiletheseeventswilltakeplace
solely on North Campus, Smith said
they are organized to entice the
entire student population to come to
North Campus.
"It's aboutcwhat's going to be that
North Campus draw for students,"
he said. "Not only those students
who live on North Campus, but
when you live on Central Campus,
what's going to make you want to go
to North."
I
MONROE STREET
-From Page 1A
vacate the road," Kosteva said.
"They primarily have to do with
the utilities in the area."
Most notably, city officials have
identified issues with the water
main currently underneath Mon-
roe Street. Sue McCormick, Ann
Arbor public services administra-
tor, said interview the water sys-
tem would need to be upgraded.
"We had identified a need to
upsize some water main in the
area and to provide some looping
of water main in the area," she
said. "So, the University has been
advised that that's one of the
things that would need to occur
for the change in use."
Presently, the water line ser-
vicing the properties surround-
ng Monroe Street is six inches
in diameter. If the road is vacat-
ed, however, those surrounding
properties will be cut off from
the water system. To avoid this,
the city is requiring that the Uni-
versity install a new water main
to circumvent the pedestrian
mall.
The University has agreed to
install a new, 12-inch water main
that would be placed beneath
Oakland Avenue, perpendicular
to Monroe Sreet, and provide
better service and water pressure
to the surrounding residents.
Kosteva said the cost for per-
forming this utility upgrade is
included in the project's $3 mil-
lion budget.
Another concern for city offi-
cials, Kosteva said, is the neces-
sity for emergency vehicles to
be able to access the pedestrian
mall. He said the space would
need to be free of barriers that
would prevent police cars or fire
trucks from passing through in
case of an emergency.
McCormick also added that
city vehicles would need to be
able to access the various utilities
to perform maintenance.
"In addition to making sure
that if we're creating a pedes-
trian mall area here, the city still
has an adequate way to access
and provide future maintenance
and service to the water mains
that are there," she said.
Other issues currently being
hashed out, Kosteva said, include
the relocation of several park-
ing spaces on Monroe Street and
potential traffic issues that could
arise.
Still, Kosteva said these
requirements were not deterring
the University from completing
the pedestrian mall.
"They're not posing a sig-
nificant obstacle," he said of
the issues with the city. "There
hasn't been any condition out-
lined that seems insurmountable.
We're evaluating the costs asso-
ciated with doing a number of
these things and then beginning
to look at the legal language."
The University hopes to pres-
ent the finalized plan to the Ann
Arbor Planning Commission by
the end of this year. If approved
by the planning commission, the
proposal would then be brought
before the Ann Arbor City Coun-
cil for a final vote on approval.
Kosteva said that ideally, the
University would like to have the
pedestrian mall completed by the
time the new South Hall is com-
pleted in 2012.
- Alex Lane contributed
to this report.
RUSH
From Page 1A
ni - and housing directors met
during the summer and decided
they no longer wanted the women
in the sororities to jump or bang
on the walls during recruitment
events.
All of the chapters in Panhel
agreed to follow the new guideline,.
which Panhel supports but doesn't
directly enforce, Conn said. If the
chapters like the new policy by
the end of recruitment, they may
vote to add it to Panhel's policies,
McCraw said.
Recruitment seems to be going
well, McCraw said, with no reports
of violations of the policy. McCraw
said she speculates this maybe due
to the sororities' emulating each
other's behavior.
"For example, if one house isn't
(jumping or banging) then the
house next door won't be either and
so on," McCraw said.
To compensate for the lack of
physical displays of excitement,
the women have instead been using
noisemakers, cowbells, whistles
and cans filled with dice. McCraw
said the purpose of those activi-
ties is to get the sorority members
"pumped" to meet the new women
and to get the potential members
excited for each house.
"It's basically a morale thing,"
McCraw said.
In addition to this new policy, a
new rule has been implemented to
improve the variety of snacks and
themed decorations by allowing
the sorority members to mix pre-
packaged foods.
McCraw said even though the
rule sounds silly, it allows themed
recruitment events to have a
greater range of detail and deco-
rations.
"If there were an under-the-
water themed party, they could
put Goldfish and blue M&Ms inthe
same bowl," she said. "They can
create trail mix basically and they
couldn't do that before."
I . I I
ACCELERATE
From Page 1A
,ity of Michigan, Michigan State
University and Wayne State Uni-
versity. Work done by BLM stems
from the Michigan Turnaround
Plan, a strategy aimed at guid-
ing Michigan back to economic
stability.
"Michigan ranks high for both
:industry and university-based
research," Gerry Anderson, chair
of BLM's Innovation Committee
and president and COO of DTE
Energy, said in the press release.
"This partnership will help focus
the efforts of both BLM and the
URC to better connect those
assets to stimulate economic
growth, encourage entrepre-
neurial activity across the state
and put an international spot-
light on Michigan as a hub for
innovation."
One of the ways the partnership
aims to increase business opportu-
nities in the state is by sponsoring
the Accelerate Michigan Innova-
tion Competition, a national leader
in business plan competitions,
according to the press release.
University spokesman Joe
Serwach said the competition is
geared toward getting Michigan
back on the map in terms of busi-
ness.
"The big focus is on what the
next Michigan will look like," said
Serwach, who is also a spokes-
man for the Accelerate Michigan
Innovation Competition.
' The student portion of the
contest, which undergraduate
and graduate state of Michigan
college students are eligible to
apply for, allows for an inter-
collegiate student competition
separate from the company por-
tion, open to any early-stage
Michigan business, according
to the website.
Serwach said he believes the
students have a lot of great, out-
of-the-box ideas to contribute to
the state's economy.
"The Dell computer started out
of a dorm room," he said.
Serwach added that the com-
petition is similar to the 1,000
Pitches campaign organized by
MPowered Entrepreneurship, a
University student group, which
he said helped to get more ideas
from University students out into
the working world.
With a $25,000 grand prize for
the winning team at stake, a judg-
ing panel of investors, Michigan
business veterans and Michigan
entrepreneurs will be scrutiniz-
ing the possibilities for a wide
range of business pitches, accord-
ing to the website.
There are three stages to the
student competition, with student
submissions eliminated after each
round. The initial application,
which includes the business idea,
is due Oct. 22, the second round
includes a three-minute video
submission and the final round
includes a 15-minute presentation
to the judges, according to a press
release issued on Sept. 16 by Accel-
erate Michigan Innovation Com-
petition.
Serwach noted that the iPod
and Google were developed by
University graduates. He said the
competition is looking for similar
business ideas that will take off
and help shape the future of busi-
ness in Michigan.
"While there are many great
lifestyle businesses (for example:
boutiques, cafes, consulting firms),
we're looking for ideas that can
scale and be valuable job creators,"
the website said.
In addition to the competition,
Accelerate Michigan also has
future plans to set up an "exchange
service" that will match the needs
of businesses and universities so
as to enable more partnerships on
research projects, according to the
press release.
"Accelerate Michigan recogniz-
es the strategic alliance between
Michigan's largest businesses and
research universities that began
with the inclusion of the research
pniversity presidents on the BLM
board last year," Anderson said in
the release.
BLM set up the Renaissance
Venture Capital Fund to iden-
tify ways to help finance innova-
tive Michigan-based companies,
according to the press release. The
RVCF recently concluded its first
closing of almost $50 million. A
second fund will be launched in
2012.
According to the press release,
Accelerate Michigan is research-
ing ways to best align university
and business research and devel-
opment. The organization will
create a Science and Innovation
Council to further this work in the
future.
"Business and universities are
both part of the solution toour eco-
nomic challenges," Wayne State
President Allan Gilmour said in
the press release. "But it's the com-
bined power that can really make a
difference. That's what Accelerate
Michigan is all about."
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