The Michigan Daily = michigandaily.com
Friday February 25, 2011-- 3A
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Friday, February 25, 2011 - 3A
NEWS BRIEFS
LANSING, Mich.
Pure Michigan ad
campaign in line
for $10M boost
The state's popular Pure Michi-
gan tourism campaign will be
able to do more spring, summer
and fall advertising because of an
additional$10 millionapproved by
state lawmakers yesterday.
The bill, passed 35-1 by the Sen-
ate, is headed to Republican Gov.
Rick Snyder for his signature. The
House already had approved the
bill.
The legislation allows an addi-
tional $10 million to be trans-
ferred into the campaign from the
state's 21st Century Jobs Fund.
That's double the previously allot-
ted amount and raises overall Pure
Michigan funding for this budget
year to $25 million, as requested
by Snyder.
The tourism funding bill could
become one of the first signed by
Snyder, who has been governor for
less than two months.
NEW YORK
Cost of the WTC
transit hub grows
Planners of the new World
Trade Center say they need anoth-
er $180 million to finish a major
transit hub at the site.
An official at the Port Authority
of New York and New Jersey told
the agency's commissioners yes-
terday that the price of the train
and subway station has climbed to
$3.44 billion.
Construction director Steven
Plate says soaring steel arches
designed for the building by archi-
tect Santiago Calatrava will cost
$221million, about twice as much
as estimated.
Plate says designers had to add
extra steel to protect against ter-
rorist attacks. Shipping costs also
rose after planners decided to use
aforeigncontractorthathadexpe-
rience with Calatrava's designs.
TOKYO
Japan hosts first
robot marathon
The world's first robot mara-
thon is under way in western
Japan, with five two-legged par-
ticipants racing on an indoor
track.
The race kicked off yesterday
with the 1-foot (30-centimeter)
-tall, battery-charged robots
competing around a 110-yard
(100-meter) racetrack. They will
have to cover 26 miles (42 kilo-
meters).
Japanese robot maker and
event organizer Vstone Co. says
the "Robo Mara Full" race in
Osaka will demonstrate the
machines' durability and maneu-
verability.
Vstone robots took an early
lead, while two entrants by Osaka
University of Engineering teams
got off to a shaky start. The race is
expected to last through Sunday.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.
Ivies reinstate
early admissions
Harvard and Princeton say
they are restoring their under-
graduate early admissions pro-
grams.
Harvard dropped its early
admissions program four years
ago, saying it wasn't easy for dis-
advantaged students to access
and contributed to high school
student anxiety. Princeton fol-
lowed suit, hoping other schools
would join in, but the idea didn't
catch on.
The two schools announced
yesterday that they will restore
their respective programs. Both
also say students accepted early
will have until the regular spring
deadline to decide whether to
attend.
Harvard also says it is boost-
ing financial aid to coincide with
a nearly 4 percent increase in
tuition. The total cost of attend-
ing Harvard next year is estimat-
ed at nearly $53,000.
It also pledged to improve
recruiting of students from more
modest academic backgrounds.
-Compiled from
Daily wire reports
SPRING BREAK
From Page 1
same number of employees will
be working at the restaurant
during the week.
Carmen Fernando, general
manager of Ashley's Pub on
South State Street, said the
week of spring break is typi-
cally slower, but she said the
pub will hold special events
throughout the week to attract
customers.
"Hopefully, focusing on
doing beer events and all that
will definitely offset any impact
that we're having from the kids
that are not in town," Fernando
said.
Stacy Amwake, manager of
The Brown Jug on South Uni-
versity Avenue, said even if stu-
dents' week off has a negative
impact on business, she expects
more customers on Monday
and Tuesday because students
who are still in town won't have
GUATEMALA
From Page 1
them, and while they might not
be able to fully diagnose them,
they can probably screen them
and say if there's a problem or
not."
Skinner said that each year,
about 1,500 Guatemalan babies
are born with cardiac defects.
He said these deficiencies could
lead to major health complica-
tions later in life. According to
Skinner, about two-thirds of
Guatemala's population lives
in rural areas without access to
the developed health care sys-
tems of urban hospitals.
Because it is such a "labori-
ous trip" to go to the city, Skin-
ner said rural residents don't
get screened on a regular basis
and are unable to detect car-
diac defects. He said he hopes
the remote stethoscope will
encourage rural residents to
go to city hospitals for medical
help more often.
"Now, they might be able to
get some feedback from people
that listened to their electronic
vitals and say, 'Oh, I hear some-
CONFERENCE
From Page 1
ety-at-large are, as we know
too well, at risk of harassment,
discrimination and assault to
property and person," he said.
The event will bring national
attention to Ann Arbor's role
as a national leader in LGBTQ
rights, Toy said. The first-ever
Gay Pride Week was held in
Ann Arbor in 1972, and the city
amended its non-discrimina-
tion policy to protect gender
identity and expression in 1999.
"(The) conference's presence
and influence will necessarily
point up Ann Arbor's leader-
ship in supporting all of us in
our human worth and dignity,"
Toy said.
The Spectrum Center's 40th
anniversary feels "fabulous and
at the same time unreal," Toy
said.
"When we founded the office
through the generous risk-
taking of the (University), we
as much school work and will
be able to go out.
"It will hurt us a little, but
it kind of evens it out. It gives
us more businesses on our slow
days," Amwake said.,
With the economic recession
still affecting the region, busi-
nesses might not see as large a
decrease in customer traffic as
they would if people had more
money to spend on vacations or
other spring break escapades.
"I noticed actually starting
last year, that the impact (of
spring break) wasn't as severe
as it's been in the near past,"
Fernando said. "I can't exactly
say why that was. Maybe not as
many people were leaving for
spring break due to the econo-
my.
She added, "I'm not going to
under-staff too much this year
just considering that last year
was a pretty good spring break
for us."
Dave Jones, owner of White
Market on East William Street,
thing that's a little irregular.
You should probably come in,'"
Skinner said. "And they might
take the risks involved in tak-
ing that trip into the city."
After the excursion this
break, M-HEAL will create a
more developed version of the
device. All versions of the tool
will undergo such "rapid and
extensive" changes, Skinner
said, that the initial device will
probably not be recognizable in
a year.
"It's just kind of proof-of-
concept. We're not going to be
using it on people down there,"
he said. "It's sort of a working
prop so that we can see how the
people will interact with it."
According to Skinner,
M-HEAL aims to leverage the
engineering skills students
learn at the University to tackle
health problems. The Appropri-
ate Technology Collaborative,
an Ann Arbor-based non-prof-
it organization, approached
M-HEAL in November with
the request for a device to meet
this specific need in Guatemala.
ATC is associated with the
Aldo Castaneda Foundation in
Guatemala - named for Har-
couldn't have predicted this
event, which brings together
so many TBLGQ students and
allies from schools across the
Midwest," he said.
The Spectrum Center not
only serves as a resource to
LGBTQ students, Toy said, but
it is also vital to the University
community as a whole.
"The human sexual-
ity threads of our total identity
tapestry are bound together
with all the other elements of
our identity," Toy said. "There-
fore Spectrum responds to and
highlights the interconnection
of oppressions. As we know - it
can't be said too often - no one
is free until we all are free."
University alum Howard
Bragman, founder of public
relations firm Fifteen Minutes
in Los Angeles, expressed his
support for the Spectrum Cen-
ter's work on campus. Bragman
worked with the University
when Andrew Shirvell, a for-
mer Michigan assistant attor-
ney general, targeted Michigan
said he expects a significant
drop in activity next week.
"We figure it's about 30 to
35 percent less for the week,"
Jones said.
The specialty gift store
Middle Earth on South Uni-
versity Avenue also anticipates
a lull in business, according
to the store's owner Cynthia
Shevel, who expects business
to decrease about one-third in
sales.
"Much of our business is stu-
dents and other people associ-
ated with the University, so if
they are not here, it definitely
impacts." Shevel said.
According to a Noodles &
Company spokesman Michael
Endres, spring break isn't a
major concern for the chain
restaurant located on South
State Street.
"It's a little down, but it's
something ... that basically we
plan for each year," he said.
"It's nothing that causes a
major impact."
vard Medical School Prof. Aldo
Castaneda, a native of Guate-
mala. With its donations, the
foundation provides pro bono
surgery for needy patients in
Guatemala City.
Skinner said the main goal of
the trip - which the students
will embark on tomorrow - is
for them to get a feel for the
situation and familiarize them-
selves with the people they're
trying to serve.
"It's very important for every-
one in the group to have a much
deeper, more visceral experience
of the conditions, what's avail-
able and the needs of the people
that we're going to be trying to
address with this technology
(in order) to give them the tech-
nology in a way that's perfectly
accessible to them," he said.
Skinner said his goal for the
trip is to solve all the "engineer-
ing and cultural determinants
that have to be flushed out" so
the most appropriate device can
be produced.
"I think there is a lot there,
even before we start churning
out engineering work, just get-
ting in touch with the people,"
he said.
Student Assembly President
Chris Armstrong last year
because of his sexual orienta-
tion. Armstrong is the only
assembly president who has
been open about being gay.
Armstrong is attending the
conference and is also set to
introduce Jim Toy before his
speech on Saturday. He added
that he thinks the conference
will demonstrate the Univer-
sity's commitment to LGBTQ
issues.
"It's a really exciting thing
for Michigan," Armstrong said
in an interview last night. "It's
an opportunity for Michigan to
host the LGTB community."
Bragman said it was "amaz-
ing" how the University sup-
ported Armstrong and fought
against hate speech.
"(The University) never
asked, 'What's the politically
correct thing to do?' They only
asked, 'What's the morally
right thing to do?"' Bragman
said. "It reminded me what a
great place the University is."
GEO
From Page 1
Literatures, held his 17-month-
old daughter as he participated in
the rally.
Marching from the Diag to the
Cube, GEO members passed out
copies of a letter addressed to
University President Mary Sue
Coleman for rally attendees to
sign, which they later presented
to her. The letter asked for Cole-
man's support of GEO's efforts to
improve parental accommoda-
tions at the University, including
the union's push for increased
child care and parental leave
options.
The letter states that union
members want the University to
better accommodate employees'
rights when it comes to child care
and continue to support initia-
tives like making breastfeeding
easier in appropriate places on
campus.
Pous - who, like Kroll, has
been involved in the parent cau-
cus of GEO - said the Univer-
sity's requirement that a spouse
must work or study more than
20 hours a week to have access
to child care benefits should be
eliminated.
GEO President Rob Gillezeau,
a graduate student instructor
in the Department of Econom-
ics and a graduate staff research
assistant for the Center for
Afroamerican and African Stud-
ies, said one of the most impor-
tant efforts of GEO is obtaining
access to child care subsidies for
international students. He said
a current work restriction keeps
international students from get-
ting child care subsidies because
they have a limit on work hours
as foreigners that prevents them
from qualifying for some benefits
under University rules..
In an interview at the rally,
Gillezeau said he and other
GEO members feel the contract
bargaining process is moving
too slowly. He added that the
current contract is supposed to
expire March 1, but GEO plans to
ask to extend the deadline until
March 18 at a meeting to be held
today.
"We will be coming back
strong after the break to ensure
that we don't let this momentum
fall," Gillezeau said to the crowd.
GEO has been bargaining with
the administration since Decem-
ber. Gillezeau said he anticipates
the union will be granted an
extension, which usually hap-
pens during years when the
contract is being negotiated.
The contract is negotiated every
three years.
Patrick O'Mahen, former com-
munications chair of GEO and a
former Michigan Daily colum-
nist, told the crowd that several
University administrators prom-
ised on Wednesday that they
would be getting back to GEO
today with package proposals.
O'Mahen urged those at the rally
to go to the meeting today to bar-
gain with the administration.
"Please come out and support
your local bargaining team, sup-
port yourselves, support your
union," O'Mahen said.
Sam Montgomery, chair of
GEO's organizing committee,
said in addition to GEO's effort
for increased parental rights, the
union is lobbying for disability
accommodations, increased sala-
ries and more rights for GSRAs.
In recent weeks, members of
GEO have been contacting the
University administration -
including through the delivery of
an oversized letter to Coleman's
office - hoping to gain approval
to allow GSRAs collective bar-
gaining rights in the union.
Lauren Reed and Alix Gould-
Werth, GSRAs in the School of
Social Work, said they attended
the rally to express support for
the campaign to have GSRAs
included in GEO's contract.
"The University has been slow
to return proposals, and I think
it's been frustrating for us that
they're unwilling to recognize
that we, as (GSRAs), are work-
ers and that we have the right to
organize," Gould-Werth said.
Jeff Frumkin, the University's
associate vice provost and senior
director of the Department of
Academic Human Resources,
said in an interview last week
that the University" is not inter-
ested in voluntarily recognizing
GSRAs as having the ability to
organize."
Reed said she thinks GSRAs
and GSIs should be included
under the same collective bar-
gaining contract because many
graduate students either hold
both positions at the same time
or switch between the two from
semester to semester.
Gould-Werth said she also
attended the rally to express her
solidarity with GSIs on issues
like child care. She and Reed said
they think many GSRAs in the
School of Social Work are sup-
portive of being included under
GEO's contract.
Members of the Lecturers'
Employee Organization attended
the rally as well. Ian Robinson,
LEO member and a lecturer in
the Department of Sociology and
the Residential College, said he
N~Fiaikll LEO members would
agree that GSRAs should have
the right to unionize.
"There shouldn't be any
impediments put in the way of
people signing up and joining a
union if that's what they want to
do," Robinson said.
At a meeting on Tuesday,
GSRAs from the Department
of Aerospace Engineering and
other attendees expressed
hesitation about joining GEO
to Gillezeau and other union
officers. Some of the meeting's
attendees said they felt there
wasn't a need for GSRAs to
unionize and wouldn't join in
the efforts until they saw statis-
tics expressing that need.
T
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