Nicole Auerbach: Despite obvious similarities to last year, Michigan football won't collapse this season. > PAGE 8A
'M' volleyball's 'best all-
time player' has taken the
How Phil Hanlon has risen from program to the next level.
associate professor to a potential
university presidential candidate.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Hnn Hnor, viungn
SOAKING UP THE RAYS
MICHIGAN IN WASHINGTON
'U, stem cell
researcher to
lobby Sens. to
reverse ruling
LSA senior Andy Cisler uses a photodetector to record the electromagnetic energy of the sun. The information gathered from the experiment allows for a more thorough
analysis of what kind of star the sun is.
ANN ARBOR CITY COUNCIL
Student vies for A CCoUncil seat
with unconventional approach
Judge's decision has
blocked federal
funding for new
stem cell projects
By ELYANA TWIGGS
Daily Staff Reporter
Sean Morrison, director of the
University's Center for Stem Cell
Biology at the Life Sciences Insti-
tute, will testify on Thursday in
front of a United States Senate
subcommittee in Washington D.C.
to push for the continuation of fed-
eral funding for human embryonic
stem cell research.
The hearing, called "The Prom-
ise of Human Embryonic Stem
Cell Research," will be held before
the Senate Appropriations Sub-
committee on Labor, Health and
Human Services, Education, and
Related Agencies.
The testimony comes about a
month after U.S. District Court
Judge Royce Lamberth ruled
against federal funding for human
embryonic stem cell research,
Morrison said in an interview last
night. In his ruling, Lamberth said
that an executive order issued by
President Barack Obama in March
2009 to expand funding for stem
cell research is illegal because it
could lead to the destruction of
embryos.
Scientists currently working
with embryonic stem cells funded
with federal dollars are allowed
to continue their work until a final
decision is made on the ruling, The
Associated Press reported. But
despite this caveat, Lamberth's
decision to halt funding for the
research has "thrown the field into
akind of crisis," Morrison said.
Since $6.8 million in federal
stimulus funds were awarded to
University researchers from the
National Institutes of Health last
year for stem cell-related proj-
ects, Morrison said the funding
halt would be detrimental to the
13 stem cell research projects cur-
rently underway at the University.
These studies are examining new
ways to treat diseases, he said.
At least five of the grants award-
ed to the University would be sus-
pended if the judge's ruling isn't
overturned, Morrison told The
Michigan Daily in an interview
lastweek.
Morrison said he plans to reiter-
ate the importance of legislation
that supports all forms of stem cell
research - including on adult and
embryonic stem cells - when he
speaks before the subcommittee.
See MORRISON, Page 6A
N
isr
* wa
"NI
binge
So
Newc
book
ewcombe Clark petes for a spot representing
Ward 5 on the Ann Arbor City
running for fifth Council.
The 29-year-old Ann Arbor
rd seat on Nov. 2 native explained in an interview
on Monday that the campaign
ByDYLAN CINTI slogan is part of an unconven-
Daily StaffReporter tional approach he's using to try
and connect with his audience.
ewcombe is a Gen Y Har- "I like to engage people and
r of Doom...or Change." not put them to sleep when I talk
reads University student about, say, pension fund negoti-
ombe Clark's official Face- ations," Clark said.
campaign page, as he com- A graduate student at the
Ross School of Business, Clark,
who also received his under-
graduate degree from the
University, is running as an
independent in the upcoming
Nov. 2nd elections. His cam-
paign is built around what he
calls "open source government"
- getting the general city popu-
lation directly involved in the
city council's decision-making
process.
Clark said he considers his
youthful age an advantage in
getiing more students to partici-
pate in local politics.
"I'm not going to hide that I'm
young," Clark said.
But Clark isn't the first student
to vie for a spot on city council.
In 2009, then-LSA senior Hatim
Elhady ran an unsuccessful
campaign to represent the stu-
dent-heavy fourth ward. And in
2005, Eugene Kang, who is now
a special assistant to President
Barack Obama, was defeated in
See CLARK, Page 6A
OFFICE HOURS
With talks, U.S. aims to forge lasting
peace in Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Profs. disagree on are currently engaged in direct
talks in an effort to establish a
whether process long-standing, peaceful solution
to the conflict plaguing the region.
will lead to success And though the Israeli-Palestin-
ian conflict is playing out halfway
By MIKE MERAR across the globe, scholars and
Daily StaffReporter students on campus are actively
participating in the dialogue sur-
Israeli officials and representa- rounding the current talks.
tives of the Palestinian Authority President Barack Obama's
administration helped to bring
the parties to the table in an effort
to forge a final resolution to the
ongoing instability in the region.
The talks feature Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
and Palestinian leader Mahmoud
Abbas, but Hamas, which was
elected to lead the Gaza Strip in
2006, is protesting the talks.
See OFFICE HOURS, Page SA
*PEDESTRIAN SAFETY
A crosswalk ordinance aims to
make roads safer for pedestrians
Executive Vice President of Toyota Takeshi Uchiyamada speaks in the Iacocca Auditorium on North Campus yesterday. Uchi-
yamada talked ahoot the ftore of energy efficient cars.
'Father of Prius'talks'green'
ve 1cles diferent fuel sources
Vehicles now
required to stop
fully at crosswalks
with no signal
By MELISSA MARCUS
Daily StaffReporter
A recently-implemented safety
ordinance aims to give Ann Arbor
pedestrians more rights on the
road.
The ordinance requires vehi-
cles to stop fully at crosswalks
with no traffic control signals,
instead of only yielding as they
were required to do in the past.
Currently, about 15 percent of
Ann Arbor residents walk to
work or school, and pedestrians
often encounter problems when
it comes to the safety of cross-
ing streets, according to a press
release from Ann Arbor city offi-
cials last week.
Vehicles must now stop for
those not only currently on the
crosswalk, but those approach-
ing it as well. This aims to provide
pedestrians with a greater sense
of security when approaching a
busy intersection or crosswalk.
But the ordinance dictates that
pedestrians can't enter a vehicle's
path when the driver is unable
to respond in the proper fashion.
Also, if a pedestrian does not cross
at a crosswalk, then they must
take it upon themselves to yield to
vehicles.
Eli Cooper, transportation pro-
gram manager for the City of Ann
Arbor, beganthe planning process
for the ordinance last fall, when
there was a Pedestrian Forum led
by the Washtenaw Walking and
Biking Coalition. Cooper served
as a panelist for the session, as
did individuals from the city and
community at large.
Cooper said the forum aimed
to figure out ways to enhance
pedestrian safety. City Council
members spoke about the types
of outreach elements that could
be conducted to improve the rela-
See ORDINANCE, Page 5A
Toyota Executive
Vice President also
addresses car safety
at campus event
By KAITLIN WILLIAMS
Daily StaffReporter
Takeshi Uchiyamada, executive
vice president of the Toyota Motor
Corporation, began his speech at
the Iacocca Auditorium on North
Campus yesterday by putting on a
University baseball cap, raising his
fist in the air and exclaiming, "Go
Blue!" The rest of his speech, how-
ever, was all about "going green"
when it comes to using alternative
types of cars and fuels.
"We must think seriously about
new alternative fuels," Uchiyama-
da said at the filled-to-capacity
event titled "Shaping the Future of
the Automobile."
Toyota began selling the Prius
- the hybrid car Uchiyamada is
credited with conceptualizing -
in the United States in 2000. In the
past 10 years, voltage, speed and
sales of the vehicle have increased,
Uchiyamada said.
In 2012, Toyota plans to intro-
duce new models of hybrids that
will have larger battery capacities
and the ability to recharge from an
external source. Uchiyamada said
these "plug-in hybrids" are also
projected to be more affordable
than current hybrid vehicles.
"It is important to find ways
to reduce oil consumption by
improving fuel economy," he said.
Uchiyamada, credited with
being the "Father of the Prius",
See TOYOTA, Page 5A
WEATHER HI:67
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