The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Tuesday, October 5, 2010 -- 5

The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Tuesday, October 5, 2010 - 5

. At summit, Granholm says Michigan is
hungry' for potential stem cell revenue

From Page 1
"I just want you know that I'm a
scientist too - a political scientist
- and my lab is one of the laborato-
ries of democracy," said Granhom,
who received a Stem Cell Summit
Action National Leadership Award
for promoting stem cell research as
a way to create jobs in Michigan.
Granholm said she is thrilled
that the state is hosting the sixth.
annual summit - held for the first
time in Michigan - in conjunc-
tion with the University Research
Corridor, which is a research part-
nership between the University of
Michigan, MSU and Wayne State.
She said that "it takes a lot of
* chemistry" for the universities to
work together to not only sponsor
an important conference like this,
but also collaborate on research
projects.
In her speech, Granholm high-
lighted University of Michigan
researchers'recentsuccessincreat-
ing the state's first embryonic stem
cell line that will be used to study
human development. Granholm
said she hopes the achievement
will boost Michigan's economy by
attracting commercialization and
researchers to the state.
While it's estimated that the
summit itself will generate $1 mil-
lion for the state's economy, 'Gra-
nholm said the stem cell research
market is expected to grow from
about $100 million nationally in
2010 to about $8 billion in 2016.
"We're hungry in Michigan, and
we want a get a piece of that 8 bil-
PEDICAB
From Page 1
ing about the weather.
"Business has been great," Lycka
said, adding the Ann Arbor service
has seen anywhere from 80 to 200
passengers every Thursday, Friday
and Saturday night.
A trip from the fraternity house
to the Big House can be drasti-
cally shortened by getting into the
pedicab that can be seen roam-

lion," she said.
In an interview with The Michi-
gan Daily at the summit, Univer-
sity President Mary Sue Coleman
- who spoke about the University
Research Corridor in her speech -
said the field of stem cell research is
"extremely important" to the state
and the University will play a vital
role in making new research dis-
coveries.
"I think we have a unique contri-
bution to make ... and I'm just very
impressed with what's going on in
all areas," Coleman said. "There
are so many levels of work that are
important that are occurring now,
and I just feel privileged to be part
of it."
However, Coleman, who has a
background in biochemistry, said
the public should not expect mirac-
ulous cures any time soon.
"In all research like this, people
are anxious because the diseases
are so terrible," she said. "We have
to be patient because we have to
make sure things are safe."
Granholm, Levin and other
speakers at yesterday's session
stressed that embryonic stem cell
research would not have been pos-
sible in Michigan if voters had voted
down a 2008 ballot initiative which
or lifted restrictions on embryonic
stem cell research. While 45 states
allow this research, Michigan is
one of only three states that have
amended their constitutions to
include provisions for embryonic
stem cell research.
In his keynote address, Levin
said the voters are the people

who should be thanked for mak-
ing Michigan a "hub" for stem cell
research.
"Almost overnight Michigan
was transformed from a difficult
place to conduct the cutting-edge
research to one of the hot beds of
that research," Levin said.
In his speech before summit
attendees, Siegel said one of the
main reasons organizers chose
to hold the summit in Michi-
gan was because residents have
expressed their support for stem
cell research.
"Let me make it clear, the World
Stem Cell Summit would not be in
Michigan if it were not for Prop. 2,"
Siegel said.
Medical philanthropist A.
Alfred Taubman, founder of the
University's A. Alfred Taubman
Medical Research Institute, also
spoke yesterday about research
limitations before 2008 and the
struggle to pass the constitutional
amendment.
"Just two years ago our scien-
tists couldn't make new stem cells
lines," Taubman said. "Well, they
could, but they would be commit-
ting a crime and that would land
them in jail for 10 years and cost
them $10 million if they had it."
Taubman also said he's relieved
that both Michigan gubernato-
rial candidates - Republican Rick
Snyder and Democrat Virg Bernero
- support stem cell research when
the other five primary candidates
opposed it.
"(You) can vote confidently for
either a Republican or Democrat

and know that you're casting a vote
for medical science," Taubman said.
Today, Taubman will receive a
National Advocacy Award for his
research donations and efforts to
lift stem cell restrictions. In her
speech, Granholm said she appreci-
ates all that Taubman has done for
the state.
"I am a big fan not because
you are a great human being but
because you are a doer, and this
stem cell research effort in Michi-
gan is all following in your wake,"
said Granholm while addressing
Taubman.
About 14 University researchers
are expected to give presentations
or lead panel discussions during the
three-day event.
Yesterday's speakers included
Sean Morrison, the University's
director of the Center for Stem Cell
Biology, and Eva Feldman, director
of the A. Alfred Taubman Medical
Research Institute and professor of
neurology.
Morrison led a PowerPoint pre-
sentation about the role of cancer
stem cells in tumors, while Feld-
man informed the audience about
her groundbreaking human clinical
trial that is using stem cells to treat
patients with Amyotrophic Lateral
Sclerosis, or Lou Gerhig's disease.
Feldman said researchers are "on
the threshold of discovery" in terms
of stem cells and their potential.
"Not only will they help us
understand basic human biology,"
Feldman said. "They're clearly
going to help us understand disease
processes."

ARMSTRONG
From Pagel1
meeting of the semester - accus-
ing Armstrong of being aracist and
elitist.
Armstrong filed the personal
protection order against Shirvell
on Sept. 13. Armstrong said in his
request for the order that Shirvell
represented a threat to his mental
and physical security.
"Since April of this year he has
been following me throughout U of
M's campus and Ann Arbor unnec-
essarily, blogging about me exten-
sively using bias and bigotry and
poses a threat to my own personal
safety," Armstrong wrote in his
request, according to information
from a report posted on annarbor.
com.
According to the report, on one
occasion Shirvell followed one of
Armstrong's friends during a night
of bar-hopping, hoping to encoun-
ter Armstrong.
"She explained Mr. Shirvell had
been followingthem around sever-
al Ann Arbor establishments that
night with the intention of seeing
me with them," Armstrong wrote.
Shirvell also called Speaker of
the House Nancy Pelosi's office on
a number of occasions while Arm-
strong was interning there this
summer, Armstrong wrote in the
report.
"Shirvell asked Tom (Arm-
strong's supervisor) if he knew if I
was a racist and if I had affiliation
with Order of Angell when they
hired me," Armstrong wrote of the
calls. "I was told a few other times
throughout my internship in D.C.
that he called the office additional
times."
On Sept. 6,Armstrongaskedthe
University. Department of Public
Safety for an escort to the MSA
sponsored Gayz Craze because
Shirvell had been protesting out-
side his house.
"Mr. Shirvell showed up outside
my house and began protesting
me, with his sign that said 'Chris
Armstrong Watch' and had my

face with 'racist' and 'liar' writ-
ten across my face. It also had
the same picture with a swastika
superimposed on my face," Arm-
strong wrote.
The University Department of
Public Safetybanned Shirvellfrom
the Ann Arbor campus on Sept.14,
although Shirvell has appealed the
trespassing warning.
Additionally, the University
community has rallied behind
Armstrong as the story was gained
national attention.
The Senate Advisory Com-
mittee on University Affairs
condemned Shirvell's attacks on
Armstrong in a statement read at
the faculty governing body's meet-
ingyesterday.
The statement commended
Armstrong for his "strength as an
individual and as the student gov-
ernment leader for this year."
SACUA also noted that the com-
mittee finds the belief that sexual
orientation is a matter of choice
is unsupported by science. The
statement also encouraged victims
of bullying in a private or public
manner in the University commu-
nity to contact "appropriate law
enforcement authorities" on the
matter.
Last week, University President
Mary Sue Coleman also empha-
sized the importance of promoting
a safe campus environment for all
students to express themselves.
"In addition to its internal
action, the University also has
called upon others in positions of
authority to take all appropriate
action to address this situation,"
Coleman wrote in a statement
released to The Michigan Daily
last Thursday.
In addition, a number of events
and organizations have mobilized
on campus to support Armstrong.
A petition was circulated last week
by the Spectrum Center to col-
lect signatures for an advertise-
ment in support of Armstrong that
appeared in yesterday's Daily.
- Daily News Editor Kyle
Swanson contributed to this report.


ing the Hill Street area every Sat-
urday, Lycka said. And after the
game, exhausted fans can find that
same cab waiting right by the main
entrance to the stadium, he added.
Game-day business isn't quite
as lucrative as the nighttime party
scene. Still, the business typically
pulls anywhere from 20 to 50 cus-
tomers every Saturday afternoon,
Lycka said.
Though Lycka said he is happy
with the business's progress, he said
he wishes more students knew how

affordable using pedicabs can be.
"It's not an expensive thing,"
Lycka said.
The cost is at the customer's dis-
cretion. Each ride, within a mile,
costs whatever the passenger would
like to tip the driver, which typically
ranges from $5 to $20, he said.
Art & Design junior Jared Salin-
ger, who pulls one of the pedicabs
in Ann Arbor, said it isn't the money
that keeps him working. Rather, he
most enjoys interacting with his
clients.

"It's active, always moving and
meeting people. It's fun," Salinger
said last week. "Last night I had
some people who were singing."
"We are selling an experience
more so than just transportation,"
he said. "You would take a pedicab
more because you see it and it looks
fun and you've heard good things
about it."
Schemenski continued, "It's a
story to tell. You definitely tell your
friends about that crazy bike ride
you took."

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