The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Friday, November 19, 2010 - 3A
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Friday, November19, 2010 - 3A
NEWS BRIEFS
DETROIT
Tom Izzo receives
$500,000 raise
Tom Izzo vowed he would be a
"lifer" at Michigan State after turn-
ing down a chance last summer to
coach in the NBA.
Michigan State just made life a
lot more comfortable for Izzo.
Izzo's newly amended contract
gives him a $500,000 raise -
increasing his annual compensa-
tion to $3.49 million - and use of
a private plane for up to 25 hours
each year for personal use. It comes
just a few months after Cleveland
tried to lure him to coach in the
NBA.
"Tom Izzo provides so much
value to the state of Michigan and
to Michigan State that coming up
with his true value is difficult,"
athletic director Mark Hollis said
Thursday. "What we wanted to
do was make sure he's among the
highest-paid coaches in the nation
because I would say he is the best
coach in college basketball.
"If Tom Izzo had left the state, it
would've been like LeBron James
leaving Cleveland - it would've
been a blow - because he's one of
our icons who is from here and
stayed here."
WASHINGTON
Ethics committee
votes 9-1 to censure
Rep. Charles Rangel
The House ethics committee
yesterday recommended censure
for longtime Rep. Charles Rangel,
suggesting that the New York Dem-
ocrat suffer the embarrassment
of standing before his colleagues
while receiving an oral rebuke by
the speaker for financial and fund-
raisingmisconduct.
Censure is the most serious
congressional discipline short of
expulsion. The House, which could
change the recommended disci-
pline by making it more serious or
less serious, probably will consider
the recommendation after Thanks-
giving.
The ethics committee voted 9-1
to recommend censure and that
Rangel pay any taxes he owes on
income from a vacation villa in
the Dominican Republic. The five
Democrats and five Republicans
on the panel deliberated for about
three hours behind closed doors.
WASHINGTON
Troops need more
African language
skills, general says
The Pentagon needs more
troops trained in the cultures and
languages of Africa in order to bet-
ter confront the increasing terror
threat from the continent, a top
general said yesterday.
Army Gen. Carter Ham, who
has been nominated to head U.S.
Africa Command, told a Senate
committee that the threat of ter-
ror from Somalia and other areas
of East Africa is one of the com-
mand's greatest challenges.
And he said that while a number
of Special Operations forces are
trained in African languages and
cultures, the military is not mov-
ing fast enough to provide similar
training to other troops.
Al-Qaida-linked terrorist
groups in Yemen and Africa have
increasingly targeted Western
interests, with al-Shabab in Soma-
lia luring Somali-Americans home
for terror training in hopes of
sending them back to the U.S. to
wage attacks.
MOUNT VERNON, Ohio
Bodies of 2 women,
missing boy found
Three people who vanished
from a blood-spattered home more
than a week ago were found dead
inside a hollow tree Thursday,
days after the teenage daughter
of one of the victims was rescued
- bound and gagged - from the
basement of an ex-convict who
worked as a tree-trimmer.
Authorities said all three were
murdered in the home, though
they did not say how, and the ex-
convict gave information that led
investigators to the bodies in gar-
bage bags in woods in central Ohio.
He remained jailed on kidnapping
charges and was the only suspect
in the killings, Knox County Sher-
iff David Barber said.
"The tragedy today is just
devastating," said Knox County
pronecutor John Thatcher. "The
results aren't what we wanted
them to be."
- Compiled from
D[ilywire reports.
Fireworks show New technology measures electric
will include 10
minute display
after Big Chill
brain activity in people as they move
From Page 1A
The regents unanimously
voted in favor of having a close-
proximity fireworks display at
the Big Chill at the Big House
- the outdoor hockey game
against Michigan State Univer-
sity to be played at Michigan
Stadium on Dec. 11. The game
is expected to break the world
record for attendance at a hock-
ey game.
The fireworks, which will be
supplied by ACE Pyro, LLC, will
be set off from the roofs of the
new luxury boxes during player
introductions before the game
and during a 10-minute display
after the game, according to a
communication to the regents
from Tim Slottow, the Univer-
sity's executive vice president
and chief financial officer. He
wrote that fireworks will also
be shot up from the field after
every Wolverines goal.
"tm told by the Athletic
Director (David Brandon) that
to further enhance the fan expe-
rience we'd like to display some
close proximity fireworks,"
Slottow said at yesterday's
meeting. "We're going to have
a demonstration here today, no
just kidding."
Slottow assured the regents
that all precautions will be
taken to ensure the safety of the
display.
"This has been extensively
reviewed with the fire marshal,
with the general counsel and
with risk management," Slot-
tow said. "We've run these guys
through all the paces, and the
Ann Arbor Fire Department,
(too)."
State law requires that the
regents approve any such fire-
work displays, and the regents
expressed concern that any
future requests for fireworks
would have to be brought before
them for a vote.
Suellyn Scarnecchia, vice
president and general counsel
of the University, said such mat-
ters would be brought before
the regents at least once more.
"We brought this one because
it was the first request (for
close-proximity fireworks),"
Schrnecchia said. "Our intent is
to bring a second one the next
time they wish to do it and have
that blanket approval for a peri-
od of time. We think that we can
do that under state law."
REGENTS APPROVE
RENOVATIONS TO MLB,
SCHOOL OF ED.
The regents approved $3.4
million in renovations for the
Modern Languages Building
and the creation of the Brandon
Professional Resource Center
WEEK
From Page 1A
gender identity.
In addition to the activities,
volunteers visited Ann Arbor
restaurants with gender-neutral
bathrooms and gave them win-
dow decals that indicate the
presence of those bathrooms.
"This way, when people are
walking around looking for
somewhere to eat they can know
where there's a restroom they
can feel safe using," Sherry said.
In addition to the Spectrum
Center, LGBTQ student groups
like OUTbreak - an organiza-
tion that works to bridge the gap
between the LGBTQ and School
of Public Health communities
- put on various events for the
week.
"I think for this year our goal
was to make sure that students
are putting on the events that
they want to see," Sherry said.
"We try to have a diverse group
of people - people who iden-
tify as transgender, people who
identify as allies, people with
other varying identities - to get
a multitude of perspectives."
Sherry said overall, the group
of participants has been very
diverse.
"We had undergraduate stu-
dents, graduate students, com-
munity members," he said.
"There really is a strong trans-
gender community in Ann
Arbor and we're sort of capi-
talizing on the strength of that
comm nity."
and Archive of 21st Century
Education Library in the School
of Education building.
The College of Literature,
Science and the Arts will pro-
vide $2 million to renovate the
basement and the second floor
of the MLB.
As part of the renovations,
the former space of the Lan-
guage Resource Center, which
is now located in North Quad-
rangle, will be turned into the
LSA Instructional Support
Services Media Center, cur-
rently in an off-campus build-
ing rented by the University,
according to Slottow. Addition-
ally, Slottow told the regents
at yesterday's meeting that
the film editing studios in the
media center will be moved to
the MLB.
"This is a follow up from the
opening of North Quad that
allows us to request approval to
proceed with a $2-million proj-
ect to renovate 24,000 square
feet of the MLB building to cre-
ate classrooms, offices and film
editing rooms," Slottow said.
Construction is expected to
be completed next summer.
The Brandon Professional
Resource Center and Archive of
21st Century Education Library
- the result of a $1.4- million
donation by Athletic Director
David Brandon and his wife Jan,
as well as investment returns
and funds from the School of
Education - will be created
through a repurposing of stor-
age space in the School of Edu-
cation building. The project is
expected to be completed next
autumn.
REGENTS APPROVE
WINTER COMMENCE-
MENT SPEAKER
The regents also unani-
mously approved the Winter
Commencement speaker and
honorary degree recipients.
Nobel laureate Daniel Kahn-
eman, who won the 2002 Nobel
Prize in economics for his
groundbreaking Prospect The-
ory, will be the commencement
speaker, in addition to receiv-
ing a Doctor of Science degree.
Kahneman developed the theo-
ry at the University as a visiting
scientist in the mid-1960s.
"It's very wonderful, and I'm
very happy that he's going to be
the speaker," Coleman said of
Kahneman in an interview last
week.
World-renowned astronomer
Sandra Faber will be awarded
a Doctor of Sciences degree,
and Charles Munger, a Univer-
sity alum and vice chairman
of investment firm Berkshire
Hathaway, will be presented a
Doctor of Laws degree.
Students who hadn't partici-
pated in LGBTQ community-
sponsored events in previous
years also took part in the week's
events.
LSA junior Garrett Descote-
aux-Friday said he decided to
attend a screening of the film
"Transgeneration" as part of
Transgender Awareness Week
after hearing about it from his
Sexuality in Western Culture
professor.
"I was just hoping to learn
more in general about the topic,"
he said.
Tonight there will be a cer-
emony commemorating people
who lost their lives because
of their gender identities. The
ceremony recognizes the Inter-
national Transgender Day of
Remembrance - an event that's
been taking place for 15 years.
This year marks the ninth
time the University has com-
memorated the day. The names
of those who died will be read at
the ceremony, along with a brief
description of what happened
to them. Last year, 100 people
attended the event.
The goal of the week, as well
as an overall aim of the Spec-
trum Center, is to educate all
students, regardless of their
involvement with the LGBTQ
community, Sherry said.
"Wemarea space where you
can tome and sort of admit what
you don't know," he said, "and
talk to someone whose job it is
to help you to understand things
that you may not have ever been
I exposed to."
Technique
created at 'U' may
be used to harness
brain activity
By CLAIRE GOSCICKI
Daily StaffReporter
Researchers from the Universi-
ty's School of Kinesiology and the
Swartz Center for Computational
Neuroscience at the University of
California, San Diego have devel-
oped a new, noninvasive technol-
ogy to measure and potentially
harness electrical brain activity in
moving people.
According to a press release
issued by the University earlier
this month, the technology allows
scientists to identify when and
where impulses occur in the brain
by recording subjects' movements
in natural environments. In the
past, electrical brain activity could
only be measured in stationary
subjects.
Rackham student Joseph Gwin,
a graduate research assistant in
the School of Kinesiology and the
Department of Mechanical Engi-
neering who worked on the proj-
ect, wrote in an e-mail interview
that he and his research colleagues
have been able to examine brain
function during physical steps.
"(Our) techniques enable us to
study the neural control of move-
ment in ways never before pos-
sible," he wrote.
School of Kinesiology Associ-
ate Prof. Daniel Ferris, a primary
researcher on the project, said the
new technology's ability to dis-
tinguish between various neural
signals provides a unique way of
looking at the brain.
He added that there is potential
for applying the technology to a
number of fields, including medi-
cine.
"Patients with Parkinson's dis-
ease often suffer from freezing
gait, in which they physically lock
up and can't move anymore," he
explained. "Eventually we can see
installing some type of deep brain
stimulator to prevent freezing gait
from happening."
He added that the United States
military has also shown interest in
the research thanks to its potential
practicality in the field.
"The military would like to be
able to monitor brain activity of
soldiers ... such as their stress lev-
els or fatigue levels," Ferris said.
Gwin echoed Ferris's state-
ments, adding that there is the
potential for the development of
mobile brain-computer interfaces
- pathways that could allow brain
waves to control a computer or a
physical device - using the tech-
nology.
"Conventionally, brain-com-
puter interfaces have only been
possible under stationary condi-
tions," he explained. "It may now
be possible to develop interfaces
that can be used in dynamic envi-
ronments, such as while walking,
which opens up a whole new world
of possibilities."
Researchers plan to continue
improving this technology, which
Ferris referred to as a "collabora-
tive effort" between private com-
panies and academic researchers.
Gwin wrote that the next step is
to study brain activity during more
complex movement tasks, such as
walking over obstacles.
"It is not out of the realm of pos-
sibility that we could use brain
waves to help control a device that
could restore mobility to people
with severe walking impair-
ments," he wrote.
TRESPASS
From Page 1A
it is "appropriate" for the Office of
General Council to review the tres-
pass policy to determine if it needs
to be updated.
Coleman added that creating the
policy involves balancing a variety
of concerns.
"You're always walking this fine"
line," Coleman said.
Shirvell was given a trespass
order and banned from campus
on Sept. 14 after he showed up to
multiple campus events, including
an MSA meeting, where he called
for Armstrong to resign. Prior to
appearing on campus, Shirvell
attacked Armstrong on his blog
called Chris Armstrong Watch
and accused the MSA President of
promoting a "radical homosexual
agenda" on campus.
On Nov. 5, DPS modified its
trespass order against Shirvell. He
is now allowed on campus, though
ie can't appear at events that it's
reasonably expected Armstrong
will attend and he must leave any
event where he sees Armstrong
present.
The University's undergradu-
ate chapter of the ACLU sent a
letter to Coleman and DPS direc-
tor Ken Magee Tuesday, con-
demning DPS's actions toward
Shirvell and asked the Univer-
sity to review its trespass policy.
In the letter, ACLU-UM officials
said they believe the current tres-
pass policy allows the DPS direc-
tor "wide discretion in issuing
trespass bans."
- Daily News Editor Kyle
Swanson contributed to this report.
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