The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Friday, February 4; 2011 -- 3 1 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Friday, February 4, 2011 - 3 NEWS BRIEFS DETROIT DSO officials to offer proposal to striking musicians Detroit Symphony Orchestra management officials say they are submitting a contract proposal to striking musicians as their walk- out reaches the four-month mark. Orchestra President Anne Par- sons said yesterday a proposal will be provided this week but declined to say when or what it includes. She says it comes amid mounting pressure from revenue losses stemming from the strike as well as a $54 million bank loan that symphony leaders are trying to renegotiate. Musicians' spokesman Haden McKay says he expects the pro- posal today and will return to the bargaining table if union negotia- tors see something to work with. CHICAGO Lake Shore Drive reopens after snow piles on Windy City Chicago emergency officials say they've reopened the city's Lake Shore Drive after a massive blizzard left the vital thorough- fare filled with hundreds of aban- doned vehicles. Chicago police say crews worked overnight to clear snow and vehicles and emergency offi- cials reopened the drive before dawn yesterday. Hundreds of motorists were stranded, some for as long as 12 hours, when a bliz- zard that began late Tuesday left more than 20 inches of snow. It was the third most severe storm in the city's history. City officials said 900 vehicles were stranded on the roadway. An Associated Press tally counted up to 1,500 cars, buses and other vehicles. City officials said closing the drive earlier would have resulted in disastrous traffic and possible accidents on other city streets. MIAMI Valentine's Day flowers checked for bugs and drugs Amid the peak Valentine's Day flower season, U.S. agents are working overtime to make sure pretty love bouquets are not used as transportation by exotic South American plant pests or cocaine traffickers. More than eight out of every 10 cut flowers imported to the U.S. during Valentine season pass through Miami International Airport, with Colombia and Ecuador by far the largest sources of roses, chrysanthemums, ger- bera daisies, Peruvian lillies and dozens of other varieties popular every Feb. 14. Those countries are also sourc- es for insects that could wreak havoc on American crops and gar- dens - and for cocaine and other drugs sold on American streets. VILNIUS, Lithuania Company plans to staff only blondes * at 'fantasy resort' Empoweringblondes or stereo- typing them? The jury is out on a Lithuanian company that plans to build a "fantasy resort" staffed only by blondes in the Maldives. Olialia (pronounced Oh-la-LA) has created a business empire in Lithuania, using its troupe of glitzy models with platinum hair to market just about anything from potato chips to pop music. There's Olialia pizza and Olialia cola, even Olialia computers. With the Maldives resort - and plansfor an airline linkingittothe Baltic republic - Olialia is taking its blond ambition to a new level. "Blond is light. It attracts peo- ple like sunshine," brand manager Lauryna Anuseviciute, a 24-year- old former model, explained at the Olialia office in downtown Vilnius. -Compiled from Daily wire reports E-TEXTBOOKS From Page 1 at the University Library. Hollar, who chairs the work- ing group, said textbooks on CourseSmart are 50 to 60 per- cent cheaper than their print counterparts. However, students enrolled in the five test classes this semester didn't have to worry about paying for course materials since the University covered the cost of their e-books. Scott Campbell, an associ- ate professor of Urban Planning and the coordinator of doctoral planning studies at the Univer- sity's College of Architecture and Urban Planning, teaches a course in the trial program. He said he appreciates the effort to get text- books online. "The more they are available online the better," Campbell said, emphasizing the reduced cost as a key incentive to use electronic materials. But Campbell said that not all the textbooks he needed for his course were available online. "I submitted a list of maybe nine or 10 texts, and a few weeks later, the library came back to me and said ... two were available," he said. Rackham student Sylvia Har- ris, who is taking Campbell's course, said she liked the expe- diency of getting her textbooks online. "At the beginning of the semester, when everybody is get- ting organized and trying to fig- ure out which books they need to buy, we can jump right into the reading material," Harris said. School of Information gradu- ate student Debbie Blumenthal, who is also taking a course in the pilot program, said one of the perks of using online textbooks is not having to carry around so many books. "You can go on any computer that has web access or even any wireless device and do your read- ing," Blumenthal said. But Harris pointed out it's a problem when instructors don't allow laptops in classes that require electronic textbooks. "It's just hypocritical to say we're in a paperless world, but we are not going to use the vehicle that you use to look at the reading material in class," she said. Additionally, the University program allows students to high- light passages of the text or take notes directly in the software.. But the online technology isn't without some concerns. Jyoti Mazumder, a professor of mechanical engineering at the University who teaches a course participating in the program, said his students "have lots of complaints" about the platform. "It's very user-unfriendly," Mazumder said. "It takes several clicks to get to the information you need, (and students) can only download one page at a time. So far students are not very happy with it." Blumenthal expressed similar frustrations with the online text- books. "There (are) certain features that don't work," she said. "It's convenient, but it definitely needs work. It could be better." According to Hollar, the working group surveyed the stu- dents and instructors last month to get their general perceptions on the project. More in-depth surveys and focus groups will be conducted next month to hear about their experiences, she said. "I'm sure that there are going to be ways this tool can be improved, and we're hoping that when we will get the stu- dent feedbacks, that will give us guidance on how this tool can be improved," Haller said. MSA From Page 1 two proposals of MSA's win- ter 2011 budget that showed a $40,000 difference between two proposed winter budgets. But Sayed wrote in an e-mail inter- view after the meeting that such a discrepancy isn't out of the ordinary, as funds tend to fluctu- ate. "MSA finances are a fluid pro- cess," Sayed wrote. "On a weekly and sometimes dailybasis, trans- actions are continuing to occur as a result of previously approved allocations. Thus, changes in the budget from previous versions that you have seen are inevitable and not a result of mistakes or inaccuracies. Such changes are fully explicable and not surpris- ing." Sayed added that MSA trans- actions are "fully transparent" and available to the public. After Sayed addressed the assembly, MSA passed its winter 2011 budget, totaling$341,406. The resolution to amend MSA's Compiled Code was tabled dur- ing last night's meeting and will be open to further consideration during nextweek's meeting. MSA also discussed the reso- lution to support the creation of a University-sponsored study abroad program in Israel. The resolution was originally intro- duced to MSA at its meeting last week by Public Policy represen- tative Steven Zuckerman, a Pub- lic Policy representative for MSA, who co-wrote the resolution. LSA sophomore Caroline Canning, who was involved in starting the original campus- wide petition for an Israel study abroad program, addressed the assembly during community concerns to speak about the reso- lution. The petition was created by WolvPAC - a student organi- zation that works to foster great- er ties between the United States and Israel. LSA senior Mohamad Issa, an LSA representative for MSA, proposed to make an amendment to the resolution to include the West Bank asa potential location for students to enroll in a Uni- versity-sponsored study abroad program. This proposed amendment spurred considerable dialogue among members of the assembly, who discussed whether support of Issa's amendment was politi- cally motivated and whether it would detract from the work already done by students who drafted the original resolution. Members of MSA voted against Issas amendment in a roll-call vote, with nine members voting in favor of the amendment and 16 members voting against it. The assembly did not vote on the proposal to support a study abroad program in Israel. Issa said he is hopeful for future MSA resolutions on the establishment of University- sponsored study abroad pro- grams in the West Bank and other worldwide locations cur- rently not offered. He said in an interview after the meeting that he participated in a Michigan State University-sponsored study abroad program in Damascus, Syria - a place the University doesn't have a program in. COMPOSTING From Page 1 "Green Backs for Green Acts" program. The initiative was created in response to the city's worries about the water treat- ment plant, Artley wrote in an e-mail interview. "The impetus for it was con- cern that (the University) was contributing too many nutrients to the city's waste water treat- ment plant, causing problems there," Artley wrote. "Offer- ing the pre-consumer program was a great way to alleviate this issue while creating a nutrient- rich soil amendment." Instead of throwing away unused food, Artley said the. program hopes to reuse it in a productive way. "The goal of our pre-con- sumer food waste composting program is to divert vegetative prep waste from the landfill and waste water treatment plant, by way of the garbage disposal, and have it turned into a useful product," Artley wrote. Betsy Barbour, East Quad, Mary Markley, South Quad and West Quad residence halls have dining halls that currently use pre-consumer waste compost- ing. Food waste in the dining halls is mixed with wood chips and is arranged so that air can circulate and the produce can decompose more efficiently,. according to Artley. Dining hall employees test the food waste after it has decomposed to see if it can be used as fertilizer or soil, accord- ing to - the University's Plant Operations website. The program has been "very successful to date," Artley wrote, and the University deliv- ered more than 60 tons of food waste to Ann Arbor's compost site in 2010. "I think the program has been very effective," she wrote. "We continue to collect veg- etative prep waste from our campus participants and have ongoing interest from potential new customers as well." Looking toward the future, Artley said her department hopes to delve into post-con- sumer composting, which would focus on composting remaining food on consumers' plates like apple cores and banana peels. "There is great interest both in our department and beyond for a post-consumer food waste composting program as well," she wrote. LSA junior Angeles Men- eses, who lived in the residence halls her freshman and sopho- more years, said she believes post-consumer waste recycling would be "a good step to going green," especially in the resi- dence halls. "People end up getting stuff on their trays that they end up not wanting, and it becomes a big deal, especially with as many students who live in the dorms," Menses said. She added that she thinks such a program would enhance existing residence hall practices like recycling. LSA senior Jaclyn Silverman, who is an Environmental Stud- ;es major and frequented the "diniing halls her fashman year, said she believes post-consumer waste composting is something that should be instituted imme- diately for residence halls. She added that she was surprised the University didn't already have a post-consumer waste system in place. INITIATIVE From Page 1 cipal investigator. "We set an ambitious goal for ourselves," Coleman said, "that by 2015 we would double the number of minority students earning bachelor's degrees in the fields where we mosteneed gradu- ates - math, science, technology and engineering." In an interview with The Michigan Daily following the event, Coleman said the Univer- sity and partner schools need to work even harder to meet the ambitious goal. "What we've seen already is a 28-percent increase year after year in the graduation of these four institutions," Coleman said. "That's terrific, but we're going to have to step it up to get to what our goal is." However, Coleman said the 28-percent increase is still better than what many other schools have seen in the same time period. "I think if you compare us nationally with what we've done, we've done well," she said. "But we have aspirations, and I think this new collabo- ration will really help us reach that goal." PJ's Records & Used CDs The Best Music Selection in Ann Arbor Since 1980 617 Packard Upstairs from Subway 633-3441 Open 7 days Paying $4-$6 for fop CD's in top condition Also buying premium LP's. Lester Monts, the University's vice provost for academic affairs and senior counselor to the president for the arts, diversity and undergraduate affairs, also spoke at the event and highlight- ed the impact of MI-LSAMP. "Nine community college partners represent a direct link between the four major public research universities and the academic talent within these community colleges," Monts said. "What this new partner- ship can provide are valuable relationships for community col- lege students and professors with engineering faculty, students and staff at the universities." Students involved in the pro- gram also attended the event yesterday to showcase projects they're working on. Rodney Singleton, a graduate student at Michigan State Uni- versity, spoke at the event and said MI-LSAMP was having a profound impact on his life. "I can stand here and truly say LSAMP has changed my life," Singleton said. Singleton began his involve- ment with the MI-LSAMP pro- gram after his freshman year. He joked that he initially joined the program not only because he was interested in math, but because he wanted togain extra brownie points with his mother. Jokes aside, Singleton said he is now working on research in vehicle infrastructure integra- tion, which focuses on vehicle communication with roads and other vehicles. "I know this might seem a little science fiction or some- thing you might see in a movie, but these are things that we are working on right now," he said. Singleton's research is one of many projects occurring as part of MI-LSAMP, with other efforts focusing on the development of autonomous robots and solar energy in automobiles. 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