iefAidligan 0aij ONE-1IUNOI EI)-TWENTIN'ONE1N l S OF EI)IT( RIA FIIL E )OM Ann Arbor, Michigan Friday, February 18,2011 michigandailycom STATE BUDGET Snyder cuts higher ed. funding by 15 percent *University President Mary Sse Coleman speaks daring a Bnard at Regents meeting in the Fleming Administration Building yesterday. Med Shol faulty show support for tenure change Officials to look at how decrease could affect 'U'- operations By BETHANY BIRON Daily News Editor Republican Gov. Rick Snyder announced his proposed budget for the 2012 fiscal year in Lansing yesterday, outlining substantial cuts in government spending, including a 15-percent decrease in higher education funding. After hearing word of the proposed decrease in funds for higher education, University offi- cials said they had expected cuts and will take them into account when planning the University's budget. Democratic legislators also expressed disappointment yesterday in the possibility of the reduction in state allocations to Michigan colleges and universi- ties. Snyder's proposed 15-percent reduction is more than five times greater than the 2.8-percent cut in state appropriations for public universities in the 2411fiscal year. University President Mary Sue Coleman said in an interview after the University's Boa'rd of Regents meeting yesterday that University officials had been expecting another cut to higher education funding in the upcom- ing fiscal year and are now in the process of determining how this will impact the University. "We didn't know what to expect actually, but we knew, just looking at the revenues of the state, that things were going to be tough, of course," Coleman said. "I'm all for investing in our edu- cation because I think it is the key to the future, but we haven't had time to analyze (the cuts) yet." University Provost Philip Han- lon echoed Coleman's statements and said University administra- tors had been monitoring the state budget in anticipation of cuts to higher education funding. Despite Michigan's challenged economic environment, the Uni- versity will continue to work toward sustaining University operations, Hanlon said. "We've been watching the state budget closely for a number See SNYDER, Page 5 At regents meeting, several push for longer tenure clock By MICHELE NAROV Daily StaffReporter At the University's Board of Regents meeting yesterday, Uni- versity Medical School faculty voiced concerns about the need for a more flexible tenure clock, asking for a maximum 10-year probationary period. Established in 1944, the Uni- versity's current tenure pro- gram, as stated in the regents' bylaw 5.09, allows for up to an eight-year probationary period, including one terminal year. The proposed changes will add two more probationary years to the tenure program. Several years ago, an advisory board that reports to the Uni- versity provost proposed to alter the tenure probationary period. During a Jan. 24 Senate Assem- bly meeting, University Provost Philip Hanlon introduced the idea to the assembly members. In an interview before the Jan. 24 meeting, Hanlon said the proposed change would be an option for the various schools and colleges at the University, rather than an enforced change. He said the lengthened period wouldn't extend the require- ments needed to become ten- ured, but could increase the time faculty members have to make their case. During the January Senate Assembly meeting, members of the University's leading faculty government body voiced their displeasure with the proposal to extend the maximum tenure probationary period. Among their concerns were worries that an increased pro- bationary period would result in too much of a time commitment to the University that couldn't be redeemed if the Univer- sity refused the faculty tenure See TENURE, Page 3 BOARD OF REGENTS GSIs and GSRAs raise pre -negotiation concerns WADING ACROSS fCAMPUS~ Regents also discuss Israel study abroad ban By MICHELE NAROV DailyStaffReporter At the University's Board of Regents meeting yesterday, graduate student instructors and graduate student research assistants spoke about the need for University administrators to recognize issues that impact the two groups. During the public comments segment of the meeting, mem- bers of the Graduate Employ- ees' Organization addressed several issues, including eco- nomic distress amonggraduate students and issues affecting disabled graduate students. This year marks the begin- ning of GEO's new negotiation cycle, which takes place every three years. In light of the negotiations, Interim GEO Vice President Chelsea Del Rio stressed the need for GSIs to assert control in their work environments. Del Rio gave examples of GSIs who were asked to grade papers during unsafe weather conditions and others whose health plans didn't cover physi- cal therapy. She emphasized that GSIs play an integral role at the Uni- versity. "GSIs and GSRAs do the See GSI, Page 5 UNIVERSITY TECHNOLOGY Engineering students upset with expected CAEN outage LSA senior Anastasia Henderson walks through sidewalk-wide puddles yesterday. Unseasonably warm temperatures this week have melted snow piles, creating large puddles around campus. GREEK LIFE Humane Society investigates house dog treatment at Lambda Chi Alpha IT director says timing of server repair unavoidable By ALYSSA ADLER Daily StaffReporter Midterm stress may be even more prevalent this weekend for College of Engineering students due to an upcoming service outage on the Computer Aided Engineering Network. Engineering students were informed via e-mail on Feb. 1 about the outage on the CAEN server - an online resource that many Engineering classes, especially programming classes, use for projects and research. The outage is scheduled to start today at 6 p.m. and end at on Sunday at 4 p.m., CAEN Direc- tor Mark Giuffrida wrote in the e-mail. The reason for the outage is that the University's primary data center, the Michigan Aca- demic Computing Center, is scheduled to conduct a diagnosis of all electrical equipment prob- lems, including some MLibrary services such as Deep Blue and See CAEN, Page5 Fraternity violates no-pets policy in house lease By SARAH ALSADEN Daily StaffReporter After Lambda Chi Alpha fra- ternity's house dog Yikes was injured, support from friends of the fraternity and members of the University community flooded in to help finance Yikes's necessary surgery. However, the efforts have drawn negative attention fromthe Humane Society. The Humane Society of Huron Valley has pursued an investiga- tion into Yikes's living situation since the organization found out about his injury. In addition, Engineering junior Gabe John- son, who is Yikes's official owner and the house manager of the fraternity located on Washtenaw Avenue, has been suspended by the fraternity's international organization for having Yikes in the house. Lambda Chi members believe Yikes - a Brittany spaniel - was hit by a vehicle, which resulted in his elbow becoming dislo- See LAMBDA CHI, Page 3 WEATHER HI: 40 GOT A NEWS TIP? Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail TOMORROW LO: 28 news@michigandaily.com and let us know. NEW ON MICHIGANDAILY.COM INDEX AP NEWS.. .............2 NEWS ........................5 UMHS launches new website catering to patients Vol. CXXI, No. 97 S U D0K U.....................3 A RTS........................6 MICHIGANDAILY.COM/BLOGS/THE WIRE 011 The Michigan Daily O P I N I O N......................4 SP O RTS.......... 8 m ichigandaily.com