The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.comh Thursday, November 18, 2010 - 5A GOP From Page 1A financial aid appropriations will most likely remain stable, which will generate difficulties for stu- dents as college tuition continues to rise. "The general trend that I'm expecting is the national Pell Grant is going to be stagnant, so it is not going to be keeping pace with the increasing of college costs," Kan- trowitz said. "We're going to see very sharp increases in college tuition without corresponding increases in federal grants. College is going to become less affordable for low- and moderate-income stu- dents." . Kantrowitz said he foresees that in addition to a decrease in gradu- ation rates, the increase in col- lege tuition will lead to a national downward shift in student matric- ulation in four-year institutions as they switch to more affordable alternatives. "It is in turn going to cause low- and moderate-income students at an increasing rate to switch from four-year institutions to two-year institutions, and from non-profit institutions to public institutions," Kantrowitz said. "So we're going to see declines in bachelor's degree attainment as a result." Kantrowitz added that while the future of legislation in Congress is uncertain, he sees the Republicans grappling with the choice either to attempt to block progressive legis- lation or to attempt to compromise in order to prevent "being seen as obstructionist." "I think there's going to be a lot of resistance to anything that spends more money," he said. "The difference between Democrats and Republicans is not that one party really exercises fiscal restraint, it's really rather that the Democrats spend money on programs while the Republicans spend the money on reducing taxes." He continued: "I think given that we have record budget defi- TRIBES From Page 1A pology. All of the committee's suggestions are in-line with the finalization of NAGPRA human remains transfer rules, which were completed earlier this year, according to the release. The suggestions outline that the University will develop a clear policy on how to transfer Native American human remains and how to handle requests on information about the process. Forrest made minimal changes to the recommendations, includ- ing halting all further research on culturally unidentifiable Native American remains and bringing in at least one committee member who is not affiliated with the University to bring a tribal perspective to the group, the release said. Those changes made by Forrest were based on public feedback gath- ered in October, the release stated. Other committee guidelines, all of which the office of the Vice ROOMS From Page 1A ness and Pierpont Commons on North Campus. Nader Hakim, president of the Muslim Students' Association, said his group has been a major propo- nent of these spaces, adding in an e-mail interview that the organiza- tion "provides the structural sup- port that people need to approach the administration about improv- ing and creating reflection rooms." Hakim added that the hard work of individuals are really the driving force behind MSA's efforts. "It's the motivated Muslims on campus who take it upon them- selves to help out their brothers and sisters in faith," he said. Laurie Alexander, director of the UGLi, echoed Hakim's sentiments, saying that individual students stepped forward to advocate for reflection room space. According to Hakim, LSA junior Ahmad Hasan was one of those stu- dents driving the push for reflec- tion rooms. "The administration was extremely supportive and recep- tive to our request," Hasan wrote in an e-mail interview. "They gave us a lot of room to express what we wanted the reflection room to look like and were willing to make it happen." Alexander noted that the room has already seen significant use after being re-purposed for reflec- tion. "It was definitely a need that we were able to meet," she said. Hakim said officials have also been responsive to student com- plaints about conditions of the reflection rooms. Graduate stu- dent instructor mailboxes near cits, it's goingto be very difficult to see any increases on spending on federal student aid and certainly not any kind of bold increase." Kantrowitz also said he doesn't foresee any change in recently established federal health care legislation that applies to students, like the Affordable Care Act, which extends coverage to individuals up to age 26 under their parent's health insurance plans. He said he believes this is because young peo- ple tend not to have serious health issues that lead to the use of gov- ernment resources. "I don't see them rolling health care back," Kantrowitz said. "The 26-year olds generally don't have very many health problems. It's a way of reducing the risk of the insured pool. And certainly it increases the cost of the insurance, but they typically will pass it on to the consumers indirectly soI don't see that changing." Mike Boulus, executive director of Presidents Council, State Uni- versities of Michigan, said student aid legislation within the state may face complications, since Michigan is dealing with a nearly $2 billion deficit for the 201 fiscal year, near- ly 25 percent of which includes higher education costs. "Without a new tax structure and new revenue, we're looking at possible severe cuts and higher education could be among the victims," Boulus said. "And if the state continues to disinvest in the institutions, and we want to main- tain the high standards of quality education, particularly at Univer- sity of Michigan, something has to give." Boulus said while the University has been efficient in budgeting in some sectors, it still can't prevent the imminent future increase in tuition. "Some of it is about that cost containment stuff which I think University of Michigan has really excelled at, but at some point its tuition is going to continue to rise, which means the need for more student financial aid," he added. President for Research has agreed to follow, stipulate that if the Univer- sity transfers culturally unidentifi- able remains, it should also include funerary objects in the transfer. The guidelines also state that the human remains committee will remain a standing comlittee d gontinue to advise the OVPR. The OVPR has also adopted a sug- gestion from tribal leaders, vowing to leave the remains in their current locations while deciding where to returnthem, accordingtotherelease. Forrest said in the press release that his office believes it is important to include input from committee mem- bers with tribal knowledge as the University continues to develop its remains policy. "We simply must get all parties talking to each other again," Forrest said in the release. "We believe con- sultation, on all aspects of this sensi- tive issue, is critical to developing a sharedunderstanding." According to the release, Univer- sity officials will send letters explain- ing the new transfer process to tribal leaders by the end of the month. the Chemistry Building reflection room used to interrupt students' prayers, he said. Those mailboxes have now been removed, according to Nina Grant, director of Multi- Ethnic Student Affairs and the Trotter Multicultural Center. "It was an individual student that brought that concern through the Dean of Students office," Grant said. MSA has raised issues of cleanli- ness in the Haven Hall location as well, and Hakim said maintenance has already started to improve. Though the reflection rooms are secular in nature, Muslim students are among the most frequent users. The privacy offered by the reflec- tion rooms allows them to quietly perform their five daily prayers while on campus. "I don'tknow of any other specif- ic organization that uses the reflec- tion rooms," Hakim wrote. "But I have seen other individuals sit- ting quietly in personal reflection, especially in the League reflection room." Hasan agreed with Hakim, writ- ing that he has seen students of all faiths and backgrounds make good use of the rooms, either for reli- gious purposes or "simply to enjoy some personal time." Hasan added that the rooms were intended as a safe space for University students on campus to relax and reflect. "Overall, the Muslims on cam- pus are very grateful to the Univer- sity and student leaders on campus for recognizing this need and fill- ing it," Hakim said. "Speaking for Muslims, I know these rooms are frequented every single day." Hakim said the addition of more reflection rooms remains a prior- ity for MSA, and the organization hopes to push for a location at the Union in the near future. LEAVIN' FALL BEHIND SAM WOLSON/Dail University custodian Robert Harrison shovels leaves into a trash can in front of the Michigan Union yesterday. Harrison, who drives 97 miles everyday from his home in Freeland, Mich., said picking'up the leaves is a constant battle because he knows that tomorrow he will be back to do the same thing. SATELLITE From Page 1A through multiple stages, which included design efforts, testing and interfacing to build the RAX. "We know now how it should behave in orbit," she said. According to Sloboda, the team also manufactured many of the spacecraft's materials, includ- ing parts members had originally planned to purchase. "Our team was like, 'You know what, if we want it done right, we have to do it ourselves,"' he said. Once in orbit, the RAX will relay data to the team, which intends to examine the ways Earth-to-Space- craft communication is disrupted by space anomalies called magnet- ic field-aligned irregularities. Radio signals will be trans- mitted from Alaska into plasma instabilities within the ionosphere - the highest region of the atmo- A part of sphere. The RAX will then record and process these signals before commu they are sent back to Earth to be Thou analyzed. RAX w "We have antennas that we Springn can use to 'talk' to the satellite," apprehc explained team member John membe Springmann, a Rackham student. satellite "We can send commands up to it, up to 2t and ground stations around the "It'sz world have volunteered to help us said. "N SAMANTHA TRAUBEN/Daily the student-built RAX satellite that is slated to launch this Friday. nicate with it." ugh there's a chance the ill fail - a possibility that mann said has created some ension among the group - rs are confident that the e could remain in orbit for 5 years. really just begun," Spangelo We're trying to constantly bring in new people and get them involved.It's an ongoing project." And though the satellite has yet to launch, the RAX team has already garnered attention on campus. During her Oct. 27 State of the University speech, Univer- sity President Mary Sue Coleman praised the efforts of the RAX team, calling their work "teaching and learning in action." "The University of Michigan flourishes because our commu- nity believes in a promising future, one shaped by spectacular teach- ers, life-changing science and research, and talented graduates whose creativity is, literally, out of this world," Coleman said during the speech. Newly elected IFC President Jared Jaffe talks at IFC elections last night in the Anderson Room'of the Michigan Union. ELECTIONS From Page 1A he said in his candidacy speech. "And if you are not vocal, this is detrimental to our society." In an interview after the elec- tion, Jaffe said one of his main goals as IFC president will be to improve the image of fraternities on campus. "We need to affect the commu- nity positively so that people know that fraternities aren't just about hanging out and that we do things to better themselves and the com- munity," he said. Schmidt was elected at Panhel's elections on Tuesday. In an inter- view after IFC elections last night, Schmidt said she ran on a platform of "positive visibility." "Pretty much promoting our positive image on campus, wheth- er through wearing letters or doing service in our letters," she said. Ryan Knapp, IFC's public rela- tions chair, explained in an inter- view that IFC and Panhel follow similar election protocols that use a run-off election system. "We have a slate where each candidate has interviewed with their respective member of the e-board and then as a board, they have an application process, where they have specific questions that they answer," Knapp explained on Monday afternoon before the IFC elections. "And then, we interview them, and we create a slate of peo- ple we think are qualified for the position and then we present that to the president." Knapp said candidates could submit applications between Oct. I and Oct. 22 and were interviewed by current executive board mem- bers between Oct. 22 and Nov. 10. After that, the executive board had a week to produce the slate that was presented at the elections. "Every chapter that's recog- nized by IFC has a seat at the table and each one, provided they're in good standing, has a vote (in the election)," Knapp said. IFC elections also follow a strict protocol with specific time restric- tions. "It is a long process, because to give everyone a fair shot, there are three parts," Knapp said. "There's the speech by each candidate, there's a pro and con for each can- didate, and there's a discussion afterwards." Outgoing Panhel President Katie Rosenberg explained that Panhel elections follow a similar process. SALAM tIDA/Daily "It's the same deal, the president speaks for five minutes, the other candidates for three," Rosenberg said. "We don't have the discus- sion in between and we don't do question and answer. We just do speeches, mostly pros, we don't really ever do cons." And while the process is long, Knapp explained it is necessary for the organizations to function properly. "We've had pretty good pro- tocol as far as the process goes, we're going to try to really stress upon the fact that we're real- ly electing our future leaders. We're really trying to find the best candidate for the position at this time," he said. "It's a process that's worked really well for us in the past, when you're trusted in something of this magnitude, it is really important."