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Ann Arbor, Michigan

Friday, February 11, 2011

BE MY VALENTINE

michigandaily.com
GRADUATE EMPLOYEES
GEO seeks
Coleman's
response
on GSRAs

ERIN KIRKLAND/Daily
Mary Markley Residence Hall residents decorate valentines for patients at C.S. Mott Children's Hospital in Markley's South Lounge yesterday.
UNIVERSITY ACADEMICS
Graha-m Institute introduces
sustainability course in China

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'nion lobbies for group suggested the size of the
letter might prevent it from being
earch assistants' lost or ignored like previous cor-
respondence with Coleman.
membership The group also offered cup-
cakes to staff members in Cole-
yADAM RUBENFIRE man's office, which they said
Daily StaffReporter were meant to compensate for
the influx of faxes and phone
th a three-by-four foot calls the office has recently
and box of cupcakes in received from GEO members.
members of the Graduate Prior to delivering the letter,
oyees Organization gath- GEO members sent faxes and
n the Fleming Administra- made phone calls to the office
Building yesterday to lobby of the President to try to reverse
ollective bargaining rights Coleman's past unresponsive-
raduate student research ness on the issue.
ants at the University. GEO President Rob Gillezeau,
RAs currently aren't a a GSRA in the University's
of GEO - the labor union Department/of Economics, said
raduate student instruc- the battle for GSRA collective
and graduate student staff bargaining rights has been a
ants - though their wages long-term affair. According to
etermined by the organiza- Gillezeau, when GEO was found-
Because of this, GSRAs are ed in 1970, it only represented
g the University to restore GSIs. However, he said Universi-
ining rights to them if a ty officials argued GSRAs should
'ity votes to designate GEO be in the same bargaining unit as
ir bargaining agent. GSIs.
mbers of GEO drafted alet- "I think their thought was
University President Mary that having GSRAs in the bar-
Coleman outlining their gaining unit would make it so
st for collective bargain- that the union election would
ix GEO members presented fail," Gillezeau said. "We won the
nan's receptionist with the election anyway."
ged copy of the document As a result, Gillezeau said the
rday. One student in the See GEO, Page 3

Architecture
students to research
housing options
in rural areas
By RAYZA GOLDSMITH
For the Daily
Though some University stu-
dents will take classes in Ann
Arbor this spring and summer,
others plan to continue their
studies in the rural countryside

of China.
Sponsored by the Univer-
sity's Graham Environmental
Sustainability Institute, a new
field-based course on sustain-
ability will be launched near
Beijing during the upcom-
ing spring semester. Graduate
students in the University's
Taubman College of Archi-
tecture and Urban Planning
undergraduates of all majors
are being considered for the
program called "Toward a New
Sustainable Environment in
Light of the Changing Face of

Rural (and Urban) China."
Mary Ann Ray, clinical
professor of architecture at
the University, will teach the
course. She said one of the
major goals of the program,
which will run from May 9
through July 10, will be to make
the rural environment of Chi-
na's Pearl River Valley "more
viable for living."
According to Ray, the need
for sustainability projects in
China's rural areas stems from
the country's large population.
One-fifth of the world's popula-

tion lives in China, and about
half of those people live in rural
areas, Ray said.
"The cities are just not able
to take the capacity of human
beings coming into them," Ray
said.
Students taking the course
will attempt to solve problems
associated with rural living,
including a lack of access to
good health care and education
and the absence of the Internet,
Ray said. Jobs, including entre-
preneurship opportunities, are
See CHINA, Page 3


WOLVERINES ABROAD
'U' faculty members
earn Fuibright awards

11/:

Four scholars
studying in Israel,
Lebanon, India
By PAIGE PEARCY
Daily StaffReporter
For Molly Yunker, receiv-
ing a Fulbright Scholarship
means a lot of things. She can do
research, publish papers, expe-

rience a new culture and most
importantly, she can continue
learning without paying large
tuition bills.
Yunker is one of four Univer-
sity faculty members who were
recently named Fulbright schol-
ars. All four people received
the Core Scholarship, which is
available only to those with a
Ph.D. and university teaching
experience. Each year 800 core
scholarships are given out of

the 1,100 Fulbright scholarships
awarded in the United States.
With her scholarship, Yunk-
er - who finished her Ph.D.
in educational studies from
the University last year - will
study for two years at the Weiz-
mann Institute of Science in
Israel. She is examining the dif-
ficulties teachers face with out-
door classes in their efforts to
enhance students' understand-
See FULBRIGHT, Page 3

MIDDLE EAST UNREST
Amid Egyptian uprising, socialist
groups discuss political revolutions

JED MOCH/Daily
University students and ice dancers Charlie White and Meryl Davis practice on Feb. 8,2010 before heading to the Olympics.
Olympic ice dancers prepare for
World Skating Championships

Students attend
event to learn more
about protests
By LIANA ROSENBLOOM
Daily StaffReporter
The Socialist Equality Party
and the University's chapter
of International Students for

Social.Equality held a lecture
last night about the impact
of social revolutions and the
implications of the current tur-
moil in Egypt.
David North, national chair
of the Socialist Equality Party,
spoke at the Michigan League
last night before a crowd of
about 40 people at the event
titled "The World Significance
of the Egyptian Revolution."

His speech came a few hours
after Egypt President Hosni
Mubarak confirmed he would
not be stepping down from his
position despite rumors yester-
day morning that claimed he
would.
North began by providing an
overview of Egypt's political
history and the impact of revo-
lutions on various societies. He
See REVOLUTIONS, Page 2

White and Davis
gain four wins since
2010 Olympic games
By MICHELE NAROV
Daily StaffReporter
After skating their way to a
silver medal at the 2010 Winter
Olympics in Vancouver, ice danc-

ing duo Charlie White and Meryl
Davis are back for more.
Since last year's Olympic
games, the pair of University stu-
dents has competed four times -
in Japan, China, Washington and
North Carolina - and won each
contest. Though they are now
back on campus, the team is rig-
orously preparing for more com-
petitions.
White, 23, said he and Davis,

24, are competitive at this level
because they are able to remain
focused on their routines and
what they should improve, rather
than on winning.
"Figure skating obviously
takes natural talent, but it's a big
mental game," he said. "There's
verylittle margin for error."
Next week, the pair is compet-
ing at the Four Continents Com-
See ICE DANCING, Page 3


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